Unity of the Spirit
Endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace (Ephesians 4:3)
The unity of the Spirit is the oneness of the members of the Body of Christ. It is established by the Holy Spirit. Christ is the head of the Church, and every true believer is a member of the body of Christ. We must not confuse uniformity with unity; neither should the rich diversity of members be thought of as disunity.
In Exodus 26 the building of the Tabernacle is described. The walls of the Tabernacle were made of wooden boards overlaid with gold. Each board stood on two silver sockets and had four rings. Through these rings ran four external poles. The purpose was to connect the boards together. A fifth bar ran through the centre of the boards. This construction is a striking illustration of the Spirit of God establishing and keeping unity. The four external poles illustrate our responsibility to act to keep, in a practical sense, the unity which the Spirit has produced. The four features of Christ – lowliness, gentleness, longsuffering and bearing with one another in love – are essential to maintaining the unity of the Spirit. These features of Christ are part of the fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23), needed to maintain the unity of the Spirit.
We do this “in the bond of peace” (v. 3). The Lord Jesus “kept” those disciples the Father had given Him (John 17:12). He is the Good Shepherd. To avoid disunity we need the Shepherd’s wisdom to express the “bond of peace”. James describes this wisdom as being from above and “pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality and without hypocrisy” (James 3:17).
In verses 4-6 Paul outlines three relationships which we can think of as three circles. First, there is one body of Christ and one Holy Spirit (v. 4), linked to one calling and one hope. The calling refers to God calling us to salvation and all its blessings. The Ephesians had been without hope and without God (2:12). Then they were called and accepted in Christ (Ephesians 1:6), and possessed the “blessed hope” (Titus 2:13). This first circle includes all true believers who are members of the body of Christ and indwelt by the Spirit of God.
Then there is one Lord, the Lord Jesus Christ; one faith in Christ, and one baptism. This second circle is people’s relationship to the Lord Jesus and includes all true believers, but also professing Christians. It is not enough, however, to be baptised and outwardly profess Christ as Lord. Many people are attached to the Christian faith and have been baptised. But they have never received Him as Saviour and don’t have life in Christ. The last circle is the relationship to the one God and Father of all. God is described as being above all. God is recognised by many people, both within and outside of Christendom.
The Christian knows God in the reality of His person and His power in creation. The Christian has faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and witnesses to a new life in Christ. The Christian is indwelt by the Holy Spirit, is a member of the body of Christ having been called by God, and has the hope of one day being with and like Christ forever. How important it is to express the love of Christ through our unity.
