Preserving the Unity of the Spirit
Posted by: forthrightmag <forthrightmag@...>
http://www.forthright.net
Straight to the Cross
Preserving the Unity of the Spirit
by J. Randal Matheny, editor
The first several verses of Ephesians 4 have long been
recognized as a unity passage. Let's take another look
at it.
Here's the text, from the NET Bible:
4:1 I, therefore, the prisoner for the
Lord, urge you to live worthily of the
calling with which you have been called,
4:2 with all humility and gentleness, with
patience, bearing with one another in
love, 4:3 making every effort to keep the
unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.
4:4 There is one body and one Spirit, just
as you too were called to the one hope of
your calling, 4:5 one Lord, one faith, one
baptism, 4:6 one God and Father of all,
who is over all and through all and in
all. 4:7 But to each one of us grace was
given according to the measure of the gift
of Christ.
1. The Conformity of Unity (1).
It is not by chance that, in this section on unity,
Paul calls upon the Christian to live, or walk,
worthily of their calling. The calling is the
invitation to enter and participate in the kingdom of
God. Unity is a feature of that kingdom, one of its
many blessings. To walk worthily of the calling means
to live in a manner that corresponds to kingdom demands
and reaches the heights of kingdom purposes. It means
promoting the unity God grants.
2. The Attitude of Unity (2).
Some people constantly fight over words or
personalities. God's people love peace and seek every
opportunity to promote it, within the parameters he
sets.
Some charge us with arrogance for what we teach, but to
receive the word of God and proclaim it as only truth
is the essence of humility, for it recognizes that the
capacity for producing truth is not in the human heart,
but in the message of Christ. Arrogant is he who
refuses to recognize God's plain truth.
3. The Effort for Unity (3).
Unity is not created, but received from God; it is
unity of the Spirit. Hence, we preserve it. We are to
make "every effort" to preserve it, even if the
church's building is painted a different color than our
preference.
And when unity is destroyed? We restore it with those
who are willing, like us, to repent and do the will of
God.
4. The Basis for Unity (4-6).
These seven elements express the only basis upon which
God grants unity. At the center is Lord Jesus Christ,
around whom everything in the church revolves. Paul
probably has a concentric or chiastic pattern for these
seven.
A One body
B One Spirit
C One hope
X One Lord
C' One faith
B' One baptism
A' One God and Father
Next week, the Lord permitting, we'll look at these
seven, but suffice it to say here that these elements
are the foundational truths upon which unity is granted
to Christians and upon which they must maintain it.
5. The Diversity for Unity (7).
To speak of diversity in unity is inaccurate; God
created the diversity of the body of Christ to
contribute to unity, because it is not a diversity of
beliefs, but of gifts and functions (see verses 8-16).
In the many areas of service, we speak the same thing.
The one body has many active members and all act in
coordination from the head.
To be one, we must fit ourselves into the divine
pattern of unity.
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