Ephesians: Our Identity in Christ~Part 13
The Path of Unity
Ephesians 4:1-16
Unity of the Spirit
1. Therefore I, the prisoner of the Lord, implore you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have been called,
2. with all humility and gentleness, with patience, showing tolerance for one another in love,
3. being diligent to preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.
4. There is one body and one Spirit, just as also you were called in one hope of your calling;
5. one Lord, one faith, one baptism,
6. one God and Father of all who is over all and through all and in all.
7. But to each one of us grace was given according to the measure of Christ’s gift.
8. Therefore it says,
“WHEN HE ASCENDED ON HIGH,
HE LED CAPTIVE A HOST OF CAPTIVES,
AND HE GAVE GIFTS TO MEN.”
9. (Now this expression, “He ascended,” what does it mean except that He also had descended into the lower parts of the earth?
10. He who descended is Himself also He who ascended far above all the heavens, so that He might fill all things.)
11. And He gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers,
12. for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ;
13. until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ.
14. As a result, we are no longer to be children, tossed here and there by waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, by craftiness in deceitful scheming;
15. but speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in all aspects into Him who is the head, even Christ,
16. from whom the whole body, being fitted and held together by what every joint supplies, according to the proper working of each individual part, causes the growth of the body for the building up of itself in love.
We have already seen in the first three chapters of Ephesians that we are now citizens of a new kingdom and members of a new family. In these first three chapters, we have seen what Christ has done for us. We have seen our privileged position in Him. We have seen the biblical basis of who we are. The position and privileges of the believer's identity in Christ have been described and now the call comes to live according to who we are. The obligations and requirements of this new society come along with the privilege of being a part of it.
Ephesians 4:1-16, is packed with instruction worthy of many messages. In order to understand the call issued in the first three verses we must look at the whole context which illuminates that call. The call is a call to unity.
Let me read one of Aesop’s Greek fables; In the forest, there lived four oxen. They were very good friends and always went together to graze in the fields. However, every time they went, a hungry lion tried to attack them. The lion longed for their meat. But they withstood his attack by fighting him as a team. They attacked him with their horns and the lion fled to another forest. One day, the four oxen fought among themselves. They started going to the forest separately.
When the lion returned, he saw that the group was divided. He planned to take advantage of this situation. Finding the first ox grazing in the fields alone, he crept from behind and ate him up. The next day, he attacked the second ox and killed it too. This way he killed the third and the fourth ox too. Had the four oxen stayed together, they wouldn't have lost their lives. Moral Lesson: "United we stand, divided we will be killed. From where came the popular phrase, "United we stand, divided we fall". That could be a song, in fact I think it was a song. You may be familiar with a popular song "United We Stand" written by Tony Hiller and Peter Simmons and was first recorded in 1970 by The Brotherhood of Man. The concept is that unless people are united, it is easy to destroy them.
What is the path to unity? What is the basis for unity in the church? Upon what does that unity depend? And how are we to maintain that unity? These are important questions, and they are all answered in our text. Here we find what we need in order to walk down the path of unity. But a mere understanding of the concepts will not be enough. What we have before us is a pattern for living. As we fulfill our obligation to obey what we find here, then we will experience unity.
The Grace of Unity
1. Therefore I, the prisoner of the Lord, implore you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have been called,
2. with all humility and gentleness, with patience, showing tolerance for one another in love,
3. being diligent to preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. (4:1-3)
As this chapter opens, Paul issues a call to a worthy walk. It is, in effect, a plea. It was a plea based on his understanding of what Christ was doing in His church. Paul understood Christ's purpose. And he saw all things as they related to that purpose. Sometimes we tend to see things only as they relate to us. But this is limited vision. The challenge for those who lead God's people is to avoid limited vision to see the broad view of how things impact the whole. So, Paul's plea is based on the overview his position as a leader had given him.
The plea is to walk worthy of the calling with which you have been called. This is not merely a suggestion by Paul. He entreats us. The word translated entreat means “to call alongside” in order to admonish or exhort. As a spiritual leader, he is calling those in the church to live according to the standards of their calling.
But he is not calling us to do anything that we have not already been given grace to do. So, what follows is not only what we are obligated to do, but also what we have been given grace in order to be able to do. It is the grace which enables us to live in such a way that we preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.
Look at the characteristics of this grace. It seems that unity can only be preserved as we apply words like humility, gentleness, patience, forbearance, love, diligent, and peace to our lives.
Humility means seeing one's self aright. It means being honest with yourself. Gentleness could also be translated “meekness.” Meekness is not weakness and gentleness doesn't mean being soft, or wishy-washy. The idea behind gentleness is “power under control.” In the Greek language, the word was used of wild horses that were broken and trained. Patience is sometimes translated by “long-suffering.” Humility and gentleness combine to produce patience. Forbearance is also a product of humility, gentleness, and patience. The idea here is to hold one another up, or to sustain or support one another. We are told this operates in love. All of these are characteristics of Christ. They are the characteristics which combine to produce the nature of Christ in us. Only as we have these characteristics do we find ourselves in a place where unity is possible.
If these characteristics abide, then we will find ourselves being diligent to preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. The word diligent means that we are eager or zealous in our efforts. We are eager because the unity of the Spirit is worth guarding. The word translated as preserve literally means “to guard” or “to keep.” But we are not guarding organizational unity, we are guarding the unity of the Spirit. The Spirit of God has brought us into the bond of peace by reconciling us to God. Now we enjoy peace with God, the peace of God, and peace with one another. That is what is meant by the unity of the Spirit. And the characteristics of humility, gentleness, patience, and forbearing love all collaborate together to make us eager to preserve that unity.
The Ground of Unity
4. There is one body and one Spirit, just as also you were called in one hope of your calling;
5. one Lord, one faith, one baptism,
6. one God and Father of all who is over all and through all and in all. (4:4-6)
He says there is one body. Every believer is placed into the Body of Christ when they are born again. And this one body has its expression in the local church.
There is one Spirit. The same Spirit dwells within each believer, so that there is an interconnectedness to us all. And it is this Spirit which produces unity.
There is one hope of your calling. This is the hope we have of Christ's return to take us all to heaven. Those who are expecting Christ to return will tend to be peacemakers rather than troublemakers. A firm hope in the return of our Lord Jesus will turn our thoughts from earthly things to heavenly things.
There is one Lord. As believers, we all serve the Lord Jesus Christ. If we serve the same Lord, then we should be able to walk together in unity. But if our lord is our own preferences and desires, then we will be divided.
There is one faith. This is the central body of truth which Christ has given to His church, and revealed in His Word. Jude calls it “the faith which was once delivered to the saints.” If you depart from “the faith,” then you bring about disunity within the Body of Christ.
There is one baptism. Here Paul is probably referring to the baptism discussed in 1 Corinthians 12:13. This is the baptism whereby the believer is baptized into the Body of Christ at conversion.
And finally, there is one God and Father. This may be another way of simply saying that we are all in one family. It is the family of God. Those who have been born again can now refer to God as their Heavenly Father. In the Lord's prayer we do not pray “My Father,” but we pray “Our Father.” In the family of God there is a sense of community.
So we see that the ground of our unity is not simply that we all agree, but it is that God has made us one by placing us together in Christ. We have a positional unity in Christ which we are expected to maintain in practical ways.
The Gifts of Unity
7. But to each one of us grace was given according to the measure of Christ’s gift.
8. Therefore it says,
“WHEN HE ASCENDED ON HIGH,
HE LED CAPTIVE A HOST OF CAPTIVES,
AND HE GAVE GIFTS TO MEN.”
9. (Now this expression, “He ascended,” what does it mean except that He also had descended into the lower parts of the earth?
10. He who descended is Himself also He who ascended far above all the heavens, so that He might fill all things.)
11. And He gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers,
(Ephesians 4:7-11)
It might first appear that Paul is moving from what we have in common to how we differ from one another. Here he begins to discuss the spiritual gifts which have been given to believers and the gifted ministries which have been given to the church. But Paul is not simply emphasizing our diversity, but unity in diversity. He is emphasizing the inter-relatedness of the gifts which are distributed to individuals but which are necessary for the welfare of the whole church.
All of us have been given gifts by the grace of Christ. These gifts are given to each one of us. And all of us can function in diversity for the common good of the Body of Christ. This distribution of spiritual gifts is for the benefit of the body the whole church. In 1 Corinthians 12-14 we are instructed that the gifts of the Spirit are given so that the whole church can be built up. Unity is enhanced by spiritual gifts because we come to understand that we need one another.
In verse 11, he mentions several equipping gifts. These are not gifts given to individuals, they are gifted individuals who have been given to the church. He mentions apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers.
Again, he is emphasizes the inter-relatedness of all the members in the Body of Christ. We need all the gifts and all the gifted individuals God can supply. We need one another. And our inter-relatedness is based on the activity of the Spirit in our midst. It is not based on tradition or style. It is based on the life of the Spirit in the community of those who have been made alive by the Spirit.
The Growth of Unity
12. for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ;
13. until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ.
14. As a result, we are no longer to be children, tossed here and there by waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, by craftiness in deceitful scheming;
15. but speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in all aspects into Him who is the head, even Christ,
16. from whom the whole body, being fitted and held together by what every joint supplies, according to the proper working of each individual part, causes the growth of the body for the building up of itself in love. (4:12-16)
The equipping gifts are for our growth. Apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers are leadership gifts. God equips people and gives these people to the church. In fact, God places this leadership in the church in order to change us. The call of every Christian is to be being conformed to Christ. This is the task of those called to lead.
These people are given for the equipping of the saints for the work of service. Contrary to popular belief, the job of spiritual leaders is not to do all the ministry. It is to equip the saints so that the saints can do the work of ministry. All of us are ministers. We are not all called to be pastors. But we are all called to the work of service or ministry.
Notice the result of this activity. It is for the building up of the body of Christ; until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ. What a powerful result!
God has ordained this to be the means whereby the church is strengthened. He will use this method to bring us to the unity of the faith. He will use this to bring us to a mature man. Our lives will be characterized by the fullness of Christ. So the first result of this training process is maturity.
Another result of this training process is stability. Verse 14 tells us that as a result, we are no longer to be children, tossed here and there by waves, and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, by craftiness in deceitful scheming. In other words, God wants us to come to the place where we are stable in what we believe. This stability will be evidence both negatively and positively. Negatively, we will not be tossed here and there by everything we hear from every strange teacher that comes down the pike. Children are characterized by that, but mature saints should not be.
Positively, by speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in all aspects into Him, who is the head, even Christ. From a positive standpoint, truth and love are joined together. Indeed, both must collaborate together for any positive effect to be experienced. Truth without love is harsh and judgmental. Love without truth is condoning and produces no change. When truth and love are joined, we are enabled to grow up. Truth and love produce growth.
Not only do we need maturity and stability, we also need cooperation. And this is the final result of our growth in unity. Verse 16 describes the whole body, being fitted and held together by that which every joint supplies, according to the proper working of each individual part. This is a description of the cooperation that exists as individual members of the church use their gifts to accomplish the work God has for us.
God has placed us together. But we are not placed together in order to do our own thing. We are held together by that which every joint supplies. As each individual part is properly working, this causes the growth of the body for the building up of itself in love.
The unity of the Spirit is not something we manufacture, but it is something we must maintain by our willingness to cooperate together for God's purposes in our midst. We must each make a personal decision to submit to the leadership of His Spirit in our midst if we are to experience the unity only He can give.
We must ask Him to produce His character in us to enable us to deal with one another in both truth and love. We must see that we are one body in Christ, and members’ one of another.
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