What sort of Lord allows His subjects to be selective, saying, “We’ll accept and unite on this part of His will, but this other part does not matter”? Either He is Lord over all or Lord over nothing at all. The Gospel call leads us on to complete maturity (Colossians 1:28; James 1:4).
[Teach] them to observe all that I have commanded you (Matthew 28:20).
Speak to the people all the words of this Life (Acts 5:20).
I did not shrink from declaring to you the whole counsel of God (Acts 20:27).
[We] take every thought captive to obey Christ (2 Corinthians 10:5).
Whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus (Colossians 3:17).
[Epaphras prays that] you may stand mature and fully assured in all the will of God (Colossians 4:12).
[May God] equip you with everything good that you may do His will, working in us that which is pleasing in His sight (Hebrews 13:21).
Does this mean all biblical matters are easy to understand and at an equal level of importance? The Lord well knows that some things are “hard to understand” (2 Peter 3:16). He Himself teaches degrees of importance (Matthew 23:23; 1 Corinthians 15:3). But, whether in greater or lesser matters, clear or unclear, we always aim to please our Lord (2 Corinthians 5:9; 2 Timothy 2:4).
Walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to Him: bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God (Colossians 1:10).
“‘One Lord’ deserves maximum submission.”
“One Lord” deserves maximum submission, not “as little as we can get by with.” “One faith” honors the fullness and completeness of the one Lord’s revelation. “One faith” is not minimal, the least on which we humans can agree. Jesus is Lord, not we. The unity is His, bought at the cost of His divine blood (Ephesians 2:13-16). It is not ours to create or to negotiate or to minimize. By His grace, it is ours to enjoy and ours to maintain.