Introduction to Part II
What does the term “Unity of the Spirit” really mean for Christians?
In Part I we presented insights into this uniquely Christian concept: unity of the Spirit. We are endeavoring to arrive at a practical understanding which is meaningful to our daily walk. We answer questions like:
Is unity of the Spirit an ethereal sixth sense based on feelings or intuition? Is it an intellectual or symbolic type or anthropomorphic construct used to create a theological distinction between Christians and “other” beliefs? How relevant is it to the church today? Is it important to you as a believer? Why? Are we “one” today in the local church, in the “unity of the Spirit” today?
We are examining the three real, tangible and measurable levels of this phenomenon in the church – the body of Christ.
Let’s recap:
The Unity of the Spirit is Real, Tangible, and Measurable
The perfect and highest expression of unity of the Spirit was modeled in the early church after Pentecost:
Acts 2:42-47
42 And they continued steadfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers.
43 And fear came upon every soul: and many wonders and signs were done by the apostles.
44 And all that believed were together, and had all things common;
45 And sold their possessions and goods, and parted them to all men, as every man had need.
46 And they, continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, did eat their meat with gladness and singleness of heart,
47 Praising God, and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved.
Three distinct “levels” of unity of the Holy Spirit are expressed:
Level 1 – LCD (lowest common denominator)
(42) And they continued steadfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers.
Level 2 – Signs & Wonders
(43) And fear came upon every soul: and many wonders and signs were done by the apostles.
Level 3 – A lifestyle of mutual support and sharing all things as needful
(44-47) And all that believed were together, and had all things common; and sold their possessions and goods, and parted them to all men, as every man had need.
And they, continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, did eat their meat with gladness and singleness of heart, Praising God, and having favor with all the people.
Each of these three represents a progressively higher level of unity in the church. And, each of these levels is real, tangible, and measurable.
Discussion of Levels of Unity of the Spirit
In Part I of our discussion, we asked and answered 4 questions about Level 1 unity:
A. What does this level of unity look like in the church?
B. What conditions are necessary for this level of unity to exist in the church?
C. How can the church enter in/rise to this level of unity?
D. What responsibilities do church pastors & clergy have to cooperate with the Holy Spirit in His work of unity at this level?
We continue with these four questions as we examine Level 2 unity These will lead to the answers to the essential questions posed in the introduction.
Level 2 Unity: Signs & wonders through Apostles
(43) And fear came upon every soul: and many wonders and signs were done by the apostles.
The four questions for Level 2 unity:
A. What does level 2 unity look like?
Level 2 unity in the church is characterized by the presence of “signs & wonders”.
Typical in both the OT and NT, these categories of signs and wonders are represented:
- Healings
- Deliverances
- Suspension of nature/natural laws
However, the same Greek words in the NT are used for both heavenly and demonic signs & wonders. And unfortunately, much of the church is turned "off" to signs and wonders due to a fear of the demonic counterfeit. But we want to press in to this higher level.
So, how can we tell the genuine from the counterfeit?
The inferences in Act 2:43 provide some differentiators:
Genuine Signs (Acts 2:43) Counterfeit Signs
-Originate thru several -originate from one man exclusively
apostles
-A sense (awareness) of fear (awe) - no fear of the Lord present
of the Lord
- Testifies of Jesus - testifies to the man performing the act
The acts of Simon the magician (Acts 8) and Peter, Stephen, Paul and others (Acts 3,5,6, etc.) are examples of counterfeit and genuine signs, respectively, which exhibit these characteristic differentiators.
Some of the Greek words that are used in describing genuine signs in Acts 2: 43 include:
Apostle (SC 652) – a delegate; an ambassador of Christ, messenger; from(SC 649): set apart, sent out
Fear (SC 5401) – alarm or fright; (be afraid)
Every (SC 3956) soul – all, any, every, whole; (contrast w/SC 1558 – each,individual)
Taken together these terms imply that the individuals who perform signs are doing so in the name of Christ and there is a reverence for God present with the group overall.
Level 2 unity (evidenced by occurrences of miracles) occurs with preaching and believing the gospel (of the kingdom) as declared in Mark 16:15-18:
(15) And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned. And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues; They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover. (KJV)
Some signs that shall follow believers that exhibit Level 2 unity:
1. Cast out demons in My name
2. Speak in new tongues
3. Take up serpents
4. If one drinks any deadly thing, it will not harm them
5. Lay hands on the sick and they will recover
These are representative but not exhaustive. (Commentary on these signs is pertinent for a sound theology but beyond the scope of this discussion.)
So, what Level 2 unity looks like is this: a body that is both proclaiming and believing the whole gospel and living in the fear of the Lord. And this results in signs and wonders.
B. What conditions are necessary for level 2 unity to exist in the church?
Based on a New Testament review of the bible, where level 2 unity exists in the church, there is always a reverential fear of the Lord (Acts 2:43).
The necessary and sufficient condition for Level 2 unity is therefore fear of the Lord.
That is, Level 1 unity together with the fear of the Lord will produce signs & wonders; and conversely, a body in which signs & wonders are present is sufficient for the fear of the Lord to be present in that body (along with Level 1 unity of course).
This fear and awe towards God in the early body was precipitated by the preaching of the gospel and more importantly, by believing the (full) gospel.
It produced an expectation that God would do wonderful, supernatural things in their midst.
C. How can the church enter in/rise to level 2 unity?
The answer to this question is: by living in the Fear of the Lord.
Let’s look at the state of fear or reverence that was characteristic of this level.
In the Hebrew, there are two types of fear:
Fear (SC 3372) – to fear, revere, frighten (a state of fear)
Fear (SC 6343) – startle, sudden alarm, be afraid (a temporary condition)
In the Greek, just one word:
Fear (SC 5399/5401) – to frighten, alarm, be in awe
The fear of the Lord referenced in the early church in Acts was indicative of a continuing “state of” fear, ie. awe of the Lord, rather than a temporary condition.
The basis for this is that Jesus expected the church to remain in a state of fear of the Lord:
Matt 10:28 And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell. (KJV)
Luke 12:5 But I will forewarn you whom ye shall fear: Fear him, which after he hath killed hath power to cast into hell; yea, I say unto you, Fear him.(KJV)
A brief survey of the rest of the NT reflects this theme of the fear of the Lord in the early church:
Acts 5:5-12
5 And Ananias hearing these words fell down, and gave up the ghost: and great fear came on all them that heard these things.
6 And the young men arose, wound him up, and carried him out, and buried him.
7 And it was about the space of three hours after, when his wife, not knowing what was done, came in.
8 And Peter answered unto her, Tell me whether ye sold the land for so much? And she said, Yea, for so much.
9 Then Peter said unto her, How is it that ye have agreed together to tempt the Spirit of the Lord? behold, the feet of them which have buried thy husband are at the door, and shall carry thee out.
10 Then fell she down straightway at his feet, and yielded up the ghost: and the young men came in, and found her dead, and, carrying her forth, buried her by her husband.
11 And great fear came upon all the church, and upon as many as heard these things.
12 And by the hands of the apostles were many signs and wonders wrought among the people; (and they were all with one accord in Solomon's porch.
Acts 9:31
31 Then had the churches rest throughout all Judea and Galilee and Samaria, and were edified; and walking in the fear of the Lord, and in the comfort of the Holy Ghost, were multiplied.
Acts 13:16
16 Then Paul stood up, and beckoning with his hand said, Men of Israel, and ye that fear God, give audience…
Acts 19:17-19
17 And this was known to all the Jews and Greeks also dwelling at Ephesus; and fear fell on them all, and the name of the Lord Jesus was magnified.
18 And many that believed came, and confessed, and showed their deeds.
19 Many of them also which used curious arts brought their books together, and burned them before all men: and they counted the price of them, and found it fifty thousand pieces of silver.
2 Cor 7:1,11
1 Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.
11 For behold this selfsame thing, that ye sorrowed after a godly sort, what carefulness it wrought in you, yea, what clearing of yourselves, yea, what indignation, yea, what fear, yea, what vehement…
Eph 5:21
21 Submitting yourselves one to another in the fear of God.
Eph 6:5
5 Servants, be obedient to them that are your masters according to the flesh, with fear and trembling, in singleness of your heart, as unto Christ;
Phil 2:12
12 Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.
Also: 1Tim 5:20; Heb 4:1, 12:28; 1 Pet 2:17, 3:2,3:15
Most importantly, the fear of the Lord always results in one key behavior found in 1 Peter 4:1ff:
Forasmuch then as Christ hath suffered for us in the flesh, arm yourselves likewise with the same mind: for he that hath suffered in the flesh hath ceased from sin;
Living in the fear of the Lord always results in the cessation of sin. Pr 28:14 shows the contrast between living in fear of the Lord and otherwise:
Happy is the man that fears always: but he that hardens his heart shall fall into mischief.
The Fear of the Lord is seen to come upon the church in two ways throughout the NT:
External Pressure – God moves supernaturally to respond to sin/evil (Acts 15,19) and the people ‘get’ the fear of God. This is a ‘reactive’ response of the church to judgement of sin.
Internal Submission – Believers cease sinning because of fear/awe toward God. This is a ‘proactive’ response of the church.
Actually, it is the spirit of fear of the Lord that rises up in the heart:
Is 11:2-3
2 And the spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD;
3 And shall make him of quick understanding (he will delight – NASB) in the fear of the LORD: and he shall not judge after the sight of his eyes, neither reprove after the hearing of his ears…
The spirit of fear of the Lord is one (the last) of the 7 spirits of God (Rev 1:4).
The fear of the Lord is a spirit sent by God (Rev 5:6), which rests upon us (IS 11:2).
So, the answer to the question of how the church can rise to this level of unity is:
By living in the Fear of the Lord.
The fear of the Lord may "come" in either of two ways to the church:
a. It comes sovereignly as God exposes and judges sin in the church (Acts 5:5; 19:17; 2 Cor. 7:11).
b. It comes as believers forsake sin and submit to the Holy Spirit (to convict of sin and convince to righteousness and concerning judgment (1 Pet 4:1)).
Finally:
D. What responsibilities do church pastors & clergy have to cooperate with the Holy Spirit in His work of unity at this level?
It is clear from the above that church leaders have a solemn mandate to lead the church into repentance from sin as a lifestyle, and emphasizing submission to the Holy Spirit – both being filled with the Spirit and living by the Spirit. This totally revolves around the centrality of the presence of the Spirit in us. Dead works and legal rules will not bring us to this level of unity.
Level 2 unity will be seen in the last days’ church: signs and wonders, and a body who have ceased from sin, living in the fear of the Lord.
Afterthoughts
a. Once I was engaged in discussion with a mature Christian friend on this topic. He offered an insight that never had crossed my mind. He said “Do you know why there is little to no fear of the Lord in today’s church?” After I replied no, he said “Perhaps the church today does not really believe in the imminent return of the Lord.” On further consideration, I believe he is right. Today the church in large part no longer really believes in the soon coming return of the King like the early church; at least enough to cause us to cease from sin and truly live in the fear of the Lord.
b. Solomon was the wisest man ever to live in the earth according to 1 Kings 3:12, 10:23. Yet he came to a poor end even with all that wisdom. How come? Simply put, he lost the reverential fear of the Lord. How sad.
The next time we will move on to the highest level of unity of the Spirit that is possible in the church while it is on this earth:
Level 3: A lifestyle of mutual support and sharing all things as needful.
