Exhortation to Unity (4:1-6)

Introduction:

We’ve been studying together Paul’s letter to the Ephesians saints, and because we learned early on in our study that this was a circular letter, meaning that it was meant to be passed around, and that these things were written for our instruction (Romans 15:4 “4 For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, that through endurance and through the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.”), we know that it was meant also for the saints at New Life Bible Fellowship Church. We have learned much from the indicative section of this book, chapters 1-3, which declared to us numerous facts regarding how we, his church, fits into God’s eternal purpose. Let’s review some of these facts:

Chapter one, is an overview of the Spiritual Blessing we have in Christ Jesus:

God chose us in Christ before he created the foundations of the world.

This choosing predetermined that we would be adopted as sons through Jesus Christ.

This adoption required Jesus to redeem us through his blood, thus providing forgiveness of all our trespasses.

This redemption was made sure by the sealing of the Holy Spirit who also provided a guarantee that an inheritance is awaiting our arrival in heaven.

This work of Christ, through his resurrection and subsequent seat of honor on the right hand of the Father, showed his Lordship over all things, including his exclusive headship of his body, the church.

Chapter Two, takes a step back and gives a more detailed description of the process:

We begin with the reality that all of us began life as spiritually dead men, naturally following this world system, under the leadership of the prince of the power of the air, Satan.

Because this is the way we began, we who were chosen by God, had to be made alive, or as the apostles John and Peter tell us, to become born again.

However this new birth was not static, nor was it an end in itself, but was to be dynamic, as God created masterpieces of us that reflect his glory by doing good works.

We also found out that these masterpieces were made into one new humanity which contained both Jews and Gentiles from every nation, tribe and tongue, who were fellow citizen together of the household of God.

Chapter Three, gives us more detail into this binging together of Jew and Gentile, by unveiling this mystery of God’s plan:

This mystery was reveal by revelation to Paul, and declares that it was always in God plan to include the Gentles in his true church along with the redeemed Jews.

The true church makes known God’s glory to the rulers and authorities in heavenly places, and has been given boldness and access with confidence to the very presence of God.

Such truths are so overwhelming that Paul breaks out in a closing doxology declaring God’s infinite ability to carry out this eternal purpose in his one true church throughout all generations.

So as we begin chapter 4, we now transition into a series of responsibilities or imperatives that take their direction and strength from the indicatives we just reviewed from chapters 1-3. It’s like saying, “You have now been equipped with the best of training and the best of tools, so you are now responsible to put it all to work!” Interestingly enough, Paul begins this new section, this section of responsibilities, by an exhortation to unity in Ephesians 4:1-6.

Text: Ephesians 4:1-6

Ephesians 4:1–6 ESV

1 I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, 2 with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, 3 eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. 4 There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call— 5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism, 6 one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.

Main Idea: Because the one true Church was birthed by the one true God, it has as part of its DNA, the necessity of unity.

I. Unity Flows From Our Calling (1-3)

A. Call to Unity (1)

Paul rallies the troops and reminds them of their call…verse 1 is the overall theme verse for not only the verses we will unpack this morning, but also this entire section of chapters 4-6. Now that we’ve been given the facts of our great redemption in chapters 1-3, we have a responsibility to act accordingly as those who are redeemed.

(1) I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called,

I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, - Paul’s exhortations have great power, since he himself has taken these matters seriously enough to suffer confinement in the Lord’s service.

[urge] (parakaleo [pre, act, ind] - call alongside; note: noun form is used of the HS in John 14) you [to walk] (peripeteo [aor, act, inf] - to live or behave in a specific manner) - Throughout the second half of this letter, Paul unfolds the “walk,” or life of good works, first mentioned in 2:10. This figure of speech for moral conduct is common in Scripture.

[in a manner worthy] (axios [adverb] - suitable, fitting or deserving of) [of the calling] (klesis [noun] - the condition one enters upon when accepting a summons) to which [you have been called] (kaleo [aor, pas, ind] - to become subject to the authoritative demand for ones presence or participation),- Paul earlier spoke of a hope to which believers are called (1:18; 4:4); now he focuses on the life to which they are called. He has already provided strong indications of its shape and significance (1:4; 2:10).

Christians are to live in a manner worthy of the adoption, holiness, and unity to which they were called (see 1:4–5; 4:4).

Ephesians 1:4–5 ESV

4 even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love 5 he predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will,

1 Peter 2:9 ESV

9 But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.

Paul gives this same exhortation in Phil 1:27; Col 1:10; 1Thess 2:12; 3John 6, but what does this unity look like in the church?

B. Work of Unity (2)

Unity is not just a nice word to say, talk about, or discuss, true unity is hard work...

(2) with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love,

Humility (tapeinophrosyne [noun] - valuing or assessing oneself appropriately, especially in light of one’s sinfulness; many times it is used in our relationship with the holy God) - It begins with a proper understanding of who we are in relation to God. It sees us as sinners who are constantly being cleansed by the blood of Christ, and have no other worthiness apart from him.

1 Peter 5:6 ESV

6 Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you,

Once we understand our littleness before the almighty, holy God, we are now properly positioned for...

gentleness (prautes [noun] - mild, even tempered, meek) - as humility is to God, gentleness is to one another. It is sometimes translated as meekness, or strength under control. It has no desire to show superiority to one another but instead pushes others forward.

James 3:13 ESV

13 Who is wise and understanding among you? By his good conduct let him show his works in the meekness of wisdom.

1 Peter 3:15 ESV

15 but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect,

[with] (preposition of manner ) [patience] (makrothymia [noun] - long-suffering) - the idea that being meek requires also endurance, being long-suffering, and is further described as...

[bearing with] (anechomai [pre, mid or pas, par] - to endure something unpleasant or difficult on the behalf of ...) [one another] (allelon [pronoun] - each other) - because of our proper understanding of who we are before God, and our desire to not overpower others in a display of our strength, we are called to difficult and unpleasant tasks of endurance with each other.

However, in saying this we do not always mean exactly what the apostle has in mind. We may simply be referring to suffering injury without open resentment, though we “boil” within! Paul, however, very aptly combines the forbearance of which he is speaking with the inner disposition of love.

in [love] (apage) - the catalyst in which all is done. Love, God’s love, since we are to filled with it, as we learned in 3:19, is what we draw from to make our unified relationship with one another happen.

So what should we be thinking as we engage in these works of unity? Well certainly we should not be thinking that it will be a one-and-done activity in our local churches. For though we are the redeemed, the true church of God, we are still sinners and in need of daily repentance, cleansing, and renewed unity…which is what we see next in the...

C. Perseverance of Unity (3)

(3) eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.

[eager] (spoudazo [pre, act, par] - zealous, intense desire, devotion) [to maintain] (tereo [pre, act, inf] - to watch, guard, to keep in a certain state) [the] (ho [definite article]) [unity] (henotes [noun] - oneness) [of the Spirit] (pneuma [noun] - of the Holy Spirit) - Because of what we have is supernatural, not of man but is of the Holy Spirit, we zealously work hard, by the power and presence of the Holy Spirit, to keep our unity from fading. We keep on recognizing our littleness before God, which restrains us from runner over others, but instead, we endure unpleasant and difficult people and circumstances so that in agonizing perseverance we keep going, ...

in the [bond] (syndesmos [noun] - sinews, ligaments) of peace. We are being held in place by an inseparable bond brought on by our peace with God, and the peace of God, maintained through our working together in unity.

Finally, we see that not only does unity flow from our calling, and is manifested through that call in persevering works with one another resulting in peace, but we also see that...

II. Unity Flows From God’s Plan (4-6)

To be unified is not some far fetched idea by some religious dreamers who are staged outside of reality, but it is built into the very fabric of who God is and all that flows from him. Thus, to be unified is to be imitators of God, and to be part of that which flows from God. Let’s take a look at the details of oneness which is used 7x in verses 4-6, which you will notice, takes its meaning from the triunity of the Godhead in which we shall see the individual roles of each in these verses.

A. Oneness Identifies the True Church (4-5)

(4) There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call—

There is one body and one Spirit - in the context, this one body is the true church, which finds its existence, power, identity, and function by and through the Holy Spirit, who birthed it and called it into existence at Pentecost. Note that the church takes orders from one source, the Holy Spirit.

just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call— - here we are given the reality that there are not many ways to be part of the body, but one, and that this one hope is the confident expectation that we will become all that called us to be.

(5) one Lord, one faith, one baptism, - progressive realities of the true church

one Lord - The Lord Jesus Christ, is exclusively the head over the church, not one of many.

one faith - One and only one faith, referring to the doctrinal truths that all true Christians commonly confess founded in the truths of God’s word.

one baptism, - through our exclusive faith in our one Lord, we are baptised, or immersed into one body, the true church.

1 Corinthians 12:13 ESV

13 For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and all were made to drink of one Spirit.

As we look at these individual progressive parts, it is better to take the whole sentence as expressive of a single fundamental fact: ‘one Lord Jesus Christ, in whom we all trust in that body of doctrinal truth as reveled in the gospel, and are subsequently baptized into his name, in which water baptism is a symbol.’

B. Oneness Reveals God’s Sovereignty (6)

(6) one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all. - oneness identifies the sovereign reality of the Father’s eternal plan, as its originator...

one God and Father of all, - identifies the ultimate beginning of all things.

who is over all and through all and in all. - we see here both God the Father’s transcendence and immanence; he is over all, and outside of all, yet through and in all his creation, superintending his plan to completion. Because God is also omnipresent, He is where the true church is, the “one body”, wherever its separate congregations may be found throughout the world.

So What?

Do we understand that unity isn’t just a nice thing to have or some lame-brained idea of an idealistic mind, but it is to be what naturally flows from the true Church.

The world talks of unity but has no means to achieve it. The true church of God is to be the guiding light of what and where unity is and comes from.

When we do not work hard at maintaining unity in the local church, we display nothing new to the world around us that is anything different from what they have.

Do we understand that the unity of the one true church is fashioned by the triunity of God himself?

Because God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit are one, all that flows from God must characteristically also be one.

Oneness is a function of godliness. This is why the institutions established by God are to move and operate as one.

In Marriage, husband and wife are said to be one flesh

The government, is to be one as the vice-regent of God, operating in the wisdom and fear of God, instituting the commands of God.

The church, the unified body of Christ, under one head, and functions for one specific purpose, to glorify God.