Eph 4:2–6 — The Unity of the Spirit

Introduction

Review — verse 1: the standard of obedience to which we as Christians are bound is the calling with which we have been called What is this calling, this destiny?

Paul uses various expressions to describe our calling:

The revelation of the mystery God’s eternal purpose in Christ Jesus. The administration suitable to the fullness of the times. The central, defining moment of this calling is the resurrection and exaltation of Christ in these last days. Although the mystery, the eternal purpose, was hidden in the eternal counsels of God himself. It wasn’t set in motion on the historical level until Jesus came into the world and died on the cross and rose again and ascended into heaven God at that moment laid his hand upon us, snatched us out of the depths, and called us with a heavenly calling, a heavenly destiny to be heirs of the glory of God’s eternal purpose in Christ According to Paul in Eph. 4:1, we must walk worthy of this calling, this destiny To walk worthy of our destiny means to live in a way that accords with our destiny If that is our calling, our destiny how can we live the way we used to live before we were saved by grace?

This is what we mean by the indicative and the imperative See how differently the indicative speaks in contrast to the Law. The Law says, “Do this and you will live” The indicative says, “Though once you were dead, you have been made alive in Christ and have been placed above the curse of the Law for you are lodged in the heavenly realms with Christ;

therefore act in accordance with your privileges”

Transition

Now in the text before us, Paul gives us a very concrete and specific application of this This morning we are going to see this applied to a specific issue - that of Christian unity Unity is a deeply misunderstood topic. The ecumenical movement presupposes an institutional concept of unity Unity does not exist at the present time. Therefore, we must create it by removing all denominational differences. But Paul’s approach to Christian unity is very different because he grounds the imperative in the indicative According to Paul, the church’s unity isn’t something we must create by our ecumenical efforts but a fact that already exists on the basis of the church’s identity as the body of Christ. This can be seen in the very structure of our text this morning Verses 2-3 - the imperative Verses 4-6 - the indicative Since there is only one Head, our ascended Lord, there can be only one body united by the Spirit to Christ the Head. Therefore, we must maintain the unity of the Spirit by confessing our common faith in Christ and by treating all who confess him with all humility and gentleness and patience.

(1) Verses 4-6 - the indicative: Christian unity is already a fact

There are 7 acclamations of unity here but they are collected into 3 sets.

a. One body, one Spirit, one hope

Why are these three things connected together?

Paul seems to be thinking of Pentecost when the exalted Christ poured out the Spirit upon the new covenant church That same Spirit also came upon the first Gentile believers and demonstrated that they too were fellow members of the same body Acts 10:44-48 While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit fell upon all those who were listening to the message. 45. All the circumcised believers who came with Peter were amazed, because the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out on the Gentiles also. 46. For they were hearing them speaking with tongues and exalting God. Then Peter answered, 47 “Surely no one can refuse the water for these to be baptized who have received the Holy Spirit just as we did, can he?” 48. And he ordered them to be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ.

The experience of the Spirit in the early church was a tangible demonstration of the fact that in Christ the church was a new humanity a transcultural, transracial entity in which all the cultural and racial boundaries had been erased. Why is this connected with “one hope of your calling”?

Because the Spirit’s presence within the body of Christ was a downpayment of the church’s common eschatological hope. The shared fellowship of the Spirit not only erased the cultural boundaries but it established a cohesive unity grounded in a shared eschatological hope the hope of eternal glory with Christ in the ages to come.

b. One Lord, one faith, one baptism

Having established the unity of the church on the basis of the church’s sharing in the same Spirit and the same eschatological hope, Paul now rises one step higher and points out that the unity of the eschatological Spirit is grounded in a yet more fundamental unity, namely, the fact that there is only one Lord. The term “Lord” or kyrios in Greek is a title of great majesty ascribed to Jesus Christ in his exalted position at the right hand of God. Thus, by referring to the oneness of the Lord Paul is establishing the prior reality that was the basis for the pouring out of the Spirit at Pentecost, namely, the one Lord who descended into hell and ascended into heaven having accomplished redemption. Why “one faith, one baptism”?

Because the oneness of the Lord is expressed in concrete terms within the visible church by means of the church’s united confession of faith that Jesus is Lord. The faith referred to here is not the subjective state of belief by which I as an individual receive salvation but the objective truths of the gospel, the faith once for all delivered to the saints. One baptism is connected to the one faith because baptism in early church was the central defining moment when the first Christian converts confessed their faith in Jesus Christ. The notion that there is only one baptism is not intended to convey the idea that there is only one acceptable mode or method of baptism. There is only one baptism because there is only one Lord Jesus into whose death and resurrection we are incorporated by means of the sacrament of baptism.

c. One God and Father of all

Paul has started at the lowest level of unity the unity of our shared experience of the eschatological downpayment. He has then risen one level higher to consider the basis of our experiential unity, namely, the oneness of the church’s Head, Jesus our Lord, whom we confess in baptism. Now he ascends still higher to the ultimate unity of God himself which towers even above oneness of the church’s Head. The cosmic unity of God himself “The God and Father of all, who is above all and through all and in all” The repeated use of the word “all” must be understood cosmically. All denotes the whole universe God the Father is supremely transcendent Creator and sovereign Lord who is above all creation. How does universal sovereignty of God relate to the previous emphasis on the unity of the body of Christ?

For Paul God’s universal sovereignty is manifest in the Spiritual oneness of the church centered on Christ the Head God’s universal rule is being brought to its climactic expression in Christ and his body. The church is thus the eschatological outpost of God’s rule, the first installment of the cosmic unity of all things In the church God has set in motion an eschatological new creation, the full dimensions of which at the level of the physical universe are yet to be realized at the second coming Paul moves from the oneness of the church (one body) to the oneness of the church’s Head (one Lord) to the oneness of him who is the Father of our Lord (one God and Father). Now you see why we cannot create unity in the church. It is already an accomplished fact rooted in the very unity of the triune God.

(2) Verses 2-3 - the imperative: maintain the unity of the Spirit

Our task, then, is to “preserve or maintain the unity of the Spirit” But how?

Verse 2 - the attitudes that are needed to fulfill the imperative Humility, gentleness, and patience.

Humility and gentleness

means considering others more important than yourself putting their interests and needs ahead of your own To do this, you have to consider others as better than yourself a proper evaluation of oneself and of one’s brother an evaluation founded on the sovereign, eternal grace of God that Paul has so profoundly elaborated upon in chs. 1-3 Realization of one’s own utter need in God’s sight, of one’s own total dependence on God’s grace Equally, we must apply this same realization to our brother recognizing that they too are the objects of God’s grace and are therefore of great worth in the sight of God.

Patience, bearing with one another

is needed when others sin against us or when their shortcomings are a source of frustration to us. It literally means “having a long temper” as opposed to a short fuse that explodes in anger and frustration with others. We need to put up with their failings not in the sense of overlooking sin but having a readiness to forgive again and again. We accept one another fully, warts and all, as a new creation in Christ Consider the amazing patience of Jesus with his disciples Their lack of faith, of spiritual insight, is startling James and John wanted the best positions of power in the kingdom. They didn’t understand that the sufferings of the cross must pave the way for the glories to follow. All the disciples forsook Jesus in the end. Do we not see the same earthly-mindedness today among the followers of Christ?

Are we not tempted too?

And yet Jesus did not abandon his disciples in frustration. He gently admonished them and restored them As we bear with one another’s weaknesses and failures in the midst of tensions and conflicts and disagreements we demonstrate our faith in the divine, unseen reality of the church’s Spiritual unity in Christ.

Conclusion

Paul wants you to believe in the holy, catholic church. In the Apostles’ Creed it is as much an article of faith as believing in the Holy Ghost. You cannot see the Holy Ghost, and you cannot see the holy, catholic church either. But by faith you believe it as sure as the sky is blue.

Meditate on the indicative - the fact of our unity as the body of Christ a unity created by the Spirit Reckon it as a Spiritual reality that cannot be empirically proven and which often seem to be empirically disproven Convinced that the unity of the Spirit is an unshakable divine reality, make every effort to preserve that unity, to not allow it to be broken.

The single most important way to do this is by embracing all who profess that they are trusting in Jesus Christ alone for salvation as brothers and sisters in Christ.

But in addition, make every effort to maintain the unity of the Spirit in this particular congregation of believers. There is only one way you can do this, and that is by refusing to regard one another in any other way than as a regenerate person united to Christ.