EPHESIANS 4v 1-6

The Christian's walk to preserve the unity of the body of Christ

We are to "walk worthy of our vocation"....the word for worthy is axios and is translated mostly as "as becometh";   we are to match our high position with our walk, we are to order our lives commensurate with our calling, which is outlined in chapters 1-3:   individually chosen, predestinated , redeemed, sealed, enlightened, empowered, and glorified;   corporately bound together as members in the same body, as kinsmen in the family, as citizens in the kingdom, as priests in the temple.   In Christ we are heirs of heaven's riches, and sharing the same covenant blessings as Israel.   We are the instruments of angelic education, we are the vehicle of the eternal glory of God in Christ Jesus.  Chapter 2v10 says we were created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God before ordained that we should walk in them"  Now says Paul, order your lives in line with your eternal predestination.   We have the resources as per chapter 3v14-21, now walk accordingly.   He begins by emphasising the need for unity.   This is the only chapter in the new testament with the word unity.   In verse 3 he speaks of the unity of the Spirit;   in verse 13 of the unity of the faith, so he is clearly appealing for unity in verses 1-16.   The unity of the Spirit is a fact that we are to guard, the unity of the faith is that for which we must strive using every available resource   There is no call for us to create anything, it is already done;   we are asked to guard what exists.   This is no fragile creation of man, this is no shambolic collection of people with differing agendas, this is the unity of the Spirit, creating what was planned for all eternity, and which now exists.   Some very powerful terms are used to encourage us in this;

• "With all lowliness"        Although exalted by Divine grace, we should never forget what we once were.   The epistle is full of reminders as to our former state;   chapter2v2 "once ye walked";   chapter 2v3 "our manner of life in times past";   chapter 2v11 " remember...in times past Gentiles in the flesh";   chapter 2v12 "..at that time ye were without Christ";   chapter 5v8 "ye were once darkness";   we are to have lowly thoughts of ourselves.
• "With all meekness"       In the interests of unity we are to accept a lowly position when given it by others, that is, not to react when others put us down.   Humility is taking the humble position, meekness is accepting the humble position from outside sources.
• "With all longsuffering"       Not everyone sees things as we see them, or at the same pace.   We must allow others to differ from us, all the while seeking their best interests.   We are to grow in the things of God "with all the saints" (chapter 3v18).   This side of eternity, none of us is perfect and we must suffer long the imperfections of our brethren.
• "Forbearing one another in love"       Allowing others to make mistakes, covering them with love which covers "a multitude of sins".    The word means to "put up with", to suffer their ways, to bear their irritations.
• "Endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace."       Two very strong words are here;   firstly "endeavouring", which is spoudazo, calls for urgent effort, diligence, an exertion of oneself, straining every nerve and muscle, just as an athlete would to achieve a goal.   It combines the thought of maximum effort with speed to reach the desired end.  Occurs 12 times in the new testament, in 2 Timothy4v21 it is translated "do your utmost".   Next we have "keep", which is terao and is a military term meaning guard as a military fortress, to yield nothing, to defend stoutly.   We might well ask does the unity of all believers come that high in our thinking or have we succumbed to inevitable disunity?   If so we are not walking worthy.   We are not asked to make this unity, we are called to guard what the Spirit has created.   We shall see later in the chapter this does not involve compromise in doctrine, however it may demand personal grace.   We are to guard what God has created and disregard the artificial barriers raised by men.   Chapter 2 teaches that all human barriers were torn down at the cross, and we are called to honour that.   We live in very difficult times when divisions in the visible church are rife.   Care must be taken that such divisions are not perpetuated on sectarian grounds.   Every effort must be made to preserve what God has united.  

The question is....what is unity?   It is not uniformity, He made us all different naturally and so He does spiritually...   He does not want clones.   It is not conformity to any human organisation, or any set of human rules.   It is not meniality, subjecting ourselves to tyrannical leaders.   It is not structural unity, it is a dynamic spiritual unity, such as exists in the Godhead, working in us;   a  perfect harmony of counsel and operation between Father, Son , and Holy Spirit.   This dynamic unity has already been demonstrated in the letter, in the matter of our salvation, and our inclusion in the mystical body of Christ, as follows;   Chapter 1v 3-14 the Godhead united in our redemption;   chapter 1v 17-23  in our spiritual illumination;   chapter 2v 13-22   in our incorporation;   chapter 3v 14-21  in our spiritual growth.   The Godhead is one in all things and they are one in the church and it is our duty in concert with them to maintain that unity visibly.   They appear again together as the uniting bond of peace in the sevenfold unity of the church, such a unity, created and united by Divine power.   When Divine standards are raised, redeemed human beings must respond.   He now gives a description of the unity.

1. There is one body       The body of Christ, the gift of the Father to the Son, ( see chapter 1v 22 and the sevenfold reference to the love gift of the Father in John chapter 17..... interestingly in that chapter there is also a repeated call for unity).   This is the sum total of all believers in the church era, every one of them, by redemption, a member of the body.   They are vitally and indivisibly bonded to each other.   Practically speaking for us it means all who are alive in Christ.   No longer any splintered groups along racial, or cultural, or gender, or religious, or economic lines, one body in Christ!
2. One Spirit                  The Holy Spirit of God, the same Spirit who hovered over a dead planet in Genesis chapter to bring life;   illustrated in the human spirit given by God to bring to life the lifeless body of Adam in Genesis chapter 2, so the Holy Spirit gave life to the church on the day of Pentecost.   Only those indwelt by the Spirit are in the body (see Romans 8 v9).   He breathed the body into life and it continues to this day.   In James 2 v26 it says "...the body without the spirit is dead...", what is true in the physical is also true in the spiritual, and the Spirit of God is the life force of the body and this is true of every believer.   This is the baptism of the Spirit as stated by Paul the apostle in 1 Corinthians 12 v13 "..for by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Gentiles, bond or free, and have been all made to drink into one Spirit."
3. One hope of your calling       Every believer shares the same hope for the future, described in many ways in the bible:    Every believer is called to be saints (1 Corinthians 1v2, 2 Timothy 1v9);   called to eternal glory  (1 Peter5v10);   "begotten unto a living hope....to an inheritance... reserved in heaven..." (1 Peter 1 v3-4).   This hope is not a wish list for things we would like, but a sure hope that will not fail, based on the word of God which cannot fail.   The language of Paul in 2 Corinthians 5 v1 serves to illustrate this thought perfectly, "For we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.
4. One Lord       The first three strands of unity are objective, and refer alone to the work that God has done.   We now come to three strands that are subjective and call for a response from us.   The first of these is the Lordship of Christ over every believer and over every church.   He is Lord, and must be seen to be Lord in all our hearts.   The overall emphasis in teaching from the Acts through to Revelation is that Jesus is Lord.   The title Lord was part of Paul's favourite "Lord Jesus Christ", which he used over 100 times.   Jesus is His title in humanity, Christ is His title in ministry, Lord is His title in authority.   He is Lord of the church, He is Lord in all our lives.   Paul sums this up in 1 Corinthians 8 v6 "..but to us there is but one God the Father, of whom are all things, and we in Him; and one Lord Jesus Christ, through whom are all things, and we through Him."   This brings a deal of responsibility on us, but the Lord will have His way.   We all answer to the same Lord, we all come under His authority.   As the head controls the body physical, so Christ controls the body spiritual, and this calls for our subjection.
5. One faith       We have seen the body of believers, now we see the body of the faith.   Jude speaks of it as "The faith which was once for all delivered to the saints", for which we have to contend.   Paul refers to it in Romans 6 v17 "..ye obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered to you." (or whereinto you were delivered).   The word for form is mould; when a product is moulded into shape the thing is set, there is no changing it's shape.   The new testament is clear that there is an unchangeable truth called "the faith" in our possession.   This is as laid down by the Lord of the body.   It is described elsewhere as "the form of sound words" (2 Timothy1 v13.) "Form" there is pattern or delineation, indicating a line upon line teaching in connection with the Lord Jesus Christ.   In 2 Timothy v v15 Paul calls it "the word of truth."   In 1 Timothy6 v3, Paul speaks of "wholesome words, even the words of our Lord Jesus Christ....the doctrine which is according to godliness."   This binds the Lordship of Christ with the one faith, and confirms words of Christ Himself when He was here;   John 14 v23 "if a man love me he will keep my words";   to Pilate He said "..every one that is of the truth heareth my voice."   To jettison any part of the truth, of the one faith given to the church, is to deny His Lordship, and disturb the unity of the Spirit.
6. One baptism       An integral part of the faith is water baptism, to which this must refer.   The baptism of the Spirit is understood in the one body and one Spirit in verse 4, so he is not repeating that.   It is as if the Spirit anticipated that this rite would become a contentious issue throughout the history of the church, and so He presents it in the context of visible church unity.    It is not the baptism of John, since Apollos, knowing only this baptism, was instructed in "the way of God more perfectly"(Acts 18 v26).   Therefore it is baptism by immersion as taught in the new testament;   it is an integral part of the great commission of Matthew28 v19(there the name of the 2trinity of Father , Son, and Holy Spirit is invoked as the absolute authority for it.)   It was practised by the early church, and, indeed, there is no concept of an unbaptised believer in the new testament.....Acts 2 v41;   Acts8 v12;   Acts8 v16;   Acts8 v38;   Acts9 v18;   Acts10 v48;   Acts 16 v15;   Acts 18 v8;   Acts 19 v5.   Paul expounds it's meaning in Romans6 vv3-11 and Colossians 1 vv12-13.   Peter explains it in 1 Peter3 v21, that although it has no moral value it is an answer of a good conscience toward God.    
7. One God and Father of all     Paul, now, reaches the pinnacle of the truth of unity by relating it to the universal Godhood and Fatherhood of God.   This should be understood as the One to whom all human beings owe homage as the one true object of worship, and the Father of all mankind as being the origin of all.   Essentially we all owe our existence to Him.   This does not suggest He has a spiritual relationship with all, for He does not because of sin, but we all exist because of Him, and are totally dependent on Him.   These things are made clear in other scriptures.....even after the fall it is recorded in Genesis5 v1 "In the day that God created man, in the likeness of God made He him."   In Acts17 v25 "He giveth to all life and breath and all things".....again in verse 26 "hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on the face of the earth...".....again in verse28 "in Him we live and move and have our being......for we are also His offspring."   At the physical level, He is the God and Father of all.   He expands on this in three ways;   "He is ABOVE all..."  He is supreme, He is the Most High, even Satan acknowledges there is none superior to Him.   "He is through all..."    He is the channel through which everything comes and holds together.   "He is in you all..."    He is the life force indwelling every believer;   notice he changes the emphasis here from "all" to "you all", he now refers to those in spiritual relationship, as well as creatorial relationship.   He is higher in rank than all, He is active in all lives and life events, He indwells believers in a unique way.   All of this points to the incredible Divine governance of the universe.   The great God who controls the universe in perfect harmony, has created a new spiritual entity that will only function properly when in perfect step with Him.   The force of this is plain, that any deviation from the perfect creation of God, which is the unity of all believers in Christ through the Holy Spirit, will result in ungodly divisions which will hinder the work of salvation.   Were any of us to divide the body on sectarian grounds, were we to claim exclusive possession of the Spirit, were we to deny the hope of every believer, were we to deny the Lordship of Jesus Christ, were we to deviate from the faith, once for all delivered to the saints, were we to reject new testament baptism, we would be disturbing the unity of the Godhead, and walking contrary to His will.   Such deviations impinge on His government of the universe and His management of church affairs, and may result in undesirable consequences.   Since the benchmark of our salvation in Ephesians is the glory of God, this crucial aspect would be compromised.   Conformity will not be easy for any of us, and calls for a deal of spiritual effort, which is why Paul addresses it from the standpoint of real endeavour and real humility.    We must see things from God's perspective if we are to "walk worthy."