Unity Of The Body Series

Unity In the Body

Text: Eph. 4:1-6

Introduction

1. Illustration: There can be union without unity: tie two cats together by their tails and throw them over a clothesline. There you will have union, but certainly not unity!

2. A wise Christian leader once said, "In essentials, unity; in differences, liberty; in all things, charity [love]."

3. For any church to succeed there needs to be unity.

4. There are two things that Paul says we need to do.

a. Lead a Life Worthy of Your Calling

b. Be United in the Spirit

5. Read Eph. 4:1-6

Proposition: For us to succeed as a church we need to be united in the Spirit.

Transition: First, Paul tells us to…

I. Lead a Life Worthy of Your Calling (1-2).

A. Lead A Life

1. Paul now moves from his pastoral prayer to expectations he has for the church.

2. In v. 1 Paul says, “Therefore I, a prisoner for serving the Lord, beg you to lead a life worthy of your calling, for you have been called by God.”

a. Whenever you see the word “therefore” it connects what was said previously with what the author is about to say.

b. Paul has talked about the blessings we have a believer’s all because of the grace of God. It is because of these blessings that we should act as those who have received this wonderful grace from God.

c. Paul refers to himself as “a prisoner serving the Lord,” so he knows all about living what he preached. With that in mind he “beg you to lead a life worthy of your calling...”.

d. How can we live “worthy of our calling?” The Greek word translated “worthy” refers to a balance, like on a scale. As believers, we are to live in balance, in other words, what we preach and how we act should be in balance.

e. As one bible scholar put it, “If God’s love is so great, if his salvation is so powerful, if God has granted such reconciliation, then believers should live accordingly. They should value God’s love enough to be shaped by it” (Snodgrass, K. (1996). Ephesians (p. 196). Zondervan).

f. If God’s love, blessings, and grace is so awesome we ought to be changed by it!

3. One of the things I love about Scripture is that it doesn’t just tell us to do something and then leave us hanging; it tells us how to do it! So how do we lead a life worthy of our calling? Here, Paul gives us a list of four things to do in living out our faith. We don’t just go to church, we are the church, and so we must be together, serve together and worship together. In v. 2 Paul says, “Always be humble and gentle. Be patient with each other, making allowance for each other’s faults because of your love.”

a. Both Greek and Roman culture thought very poorly of humility and gentleness. They thought of them as weaknesses rather than strengths. However, in the OT we see a very different picture. In Is. 57:15 it says,

b. “The high and lofty one who lives in eternity, the Holy One, says this: “I live in the high and holy place with those whose spirits are contrite and humble. I restore the crushed spirit of the humble and revive the courage of those with repentant hearts.” (Is. 57:15)

c. And Jesus certainly saw humility as something to possess. In Jn. 13:13-15 he says, “You call me ‘Teacher’ and ‘Lord,’ and you are right, because that’s what I am. 14 And since I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you ought to wash each other’s feet. 15 I have given you an example to follow. Do as I have done to you.” (Jn. 13:13-15).

d. Now being humble is an attitude and gentleness is the action that results from it. Gentle people do not try to step over others in order to move up. On the contrary, gentle people are considerate of others.

e. If everyone in the church displayed characteristics of humility and gentleness, we would see a whole lot less trouble among believers.

f. Those who show patience are able to deal with the shortcomings of others. An early church father, a man named John Chrysotom, referred to this as have a “wide and big soul.” Patience is the exercise of a largeness of soul that can endure annoyances and difficulties over a period of time (Snodgrass, K. (1996). Ephesians (p. 197). Zondervan).

g. This leads us to “making allowances for each other’s faults.” This is patience in action and is the willingness to forgive one another’s faults. Doing this is proof that we love one another. Let’s be honest, there will be times when we will all get on one another’s nerves. But we need to make allowances for the fact that none of us is perfect and we all make mistakes.