Ephesians 4:1-6

Introduction (Illustration - Trauma Web)

There’s a marketing tactic we’e heard at the end of a number of commercials or read in sales papers. That phrase is “while supplies last”. Granted there might be a limited supply but this was used to create a sense of urgency around what they were selling. The goal was to play with emotions by offering a sense of scarcity. Now in some regard there are some products that were scarce and if you waited too late you either paid an after market price or you went without.

As it pertains to life and salvation, truth be told it derives from a sense of scarcity. We only get one life, in that life we only have the time alloted to us to ensure we walk in purpose and obtain the effects of salvation in eternal life. Typically when it comes to scarcity when there is only one of something we either fight for it or fight over it. This is truthfully the problem we have across doctrinal lines. The issue at the core isn’t who is right or wrong, we have a bible that is the barometer for that, the issue is the desire to be the influencer pushes people to commit acts of oppression and selfish behavior. Over religious history we have completely ignored the phrase in this pericope “endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace”. There are some things doctrinally that we cannot waver on. Paul is very clear in the oneness of this text. “One Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all. Nonetheless with many of the traditional issues we fight over and lose sleep over were never intended to. In some regard many of the greatest divisions we have within the church at large is due to poor or no safe and healthy relationships amongst people we call brothers and sisters in Christ.

It’s quite ironic that Paul pens this from prison begging people to fight for unity, fight for love and remain perseverant. Ignoring the pain of his current circumstance and encouraging people to push for purpose and preservation of the transcendent power of the gospel if we remain unified. The world is already divided. We do not need the spirit of division to destroy anymore churches or help close any doors.

Walk Right

Ephesians 4:1–2 “I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you to walk worthy of the calling with which you were called, with all lowliness and gentleness, with longsuffering, bearing with one another in love,”

Paul is pleading with the church to walk worthy. It could seem quite random unless you know what the saints at Ephesus were up against. They were fighting a number of battles. A lot of times when we have to be perseverant it’s tough to walk with pride when you are hitting obstacle after obstacle and bump in the road after bump in the road. In other words this is an earnest appeal! I’m not just asking but i’m low key begging you to walk with some courage and like you are supposed to be here.

This walk is not a walk of arrogance or pride but a walk of humility, gentleness, patience. The text says you have to bear with one another in love. Walking worthy of the calling you’ve recieved isn’t for the week. It’s going to require a large does of humility. We may think well I’m not in church leadership. That’s okay, God has a calling on your life, at the core we are all called to be Christians. Nonetheless we have some specific callings, being a husband is a calling, being a wife is a calling, being a brother is a calling, being a sister is a calling. Within the confines of those things that you did not choose but God called you to be is going to require some humility, gentleness, patience and bearing with one another in love.

This prompts us to understand that essence or the foundation of the church rest on the relationships. It’s hard enough to bear with each other, but in effort to bear with each other in love requires a heavy sense of patience. When I approach my calling with humility, gentleness and patience, unity doesn’t seem so challenging.

It Requires Effort

Listen, there’s not anything within the kingdom that’s not going to require a large amount of effort. “Making every effort”, pushes us to understand that anytime we have a chance to strengthen our unification with each other we should take full advantage of it.

Here’s the beautiful part of chapters 4—6 of Ephesians, it’s the second part of the letter and it shifts from who were are corporately and from a community perspective to our lifestyle. As Christians it’s more than just Church on Sundays but true fellowship begins when we do life together. If you only know someone from a 2 hour window on Sunday morning you don’t really know them. Harmony and unity is what sustains the church. It’s the core, it’s the true essence of what keeps us strong during the challenging times.

The church community was a mixture of Gentiles and Jews. Culture was different, norms and expectations were different. The only way cultural awareness and cultural humility happens within the church is by spending time to understand each other. Typically, we all come to Jesus with varying backgrounds. Some of our religious backgrounds our different, our upbringing is different, the way we live is different. Considering all of that it’s going to require some effort!

We have to study together, we have to live life together. The encouragement is unity is an effort and it’s a good work. When we commit to each other because of Jesus, by nature we commit to unity. Our relationships with each other is a statement of unity just like we are unified in our doctrine we need to be unified with our relationships with each other. At the core, we are all one!

Ephesians Overview of Ephesians 4–6

As sweet strains of heav’nly music

Blend in one harmonious sound,

So the members of Christ’s body

In blest unity are found—

One in mind, and one in spirit,

One in doctrine, faith, and love;

One in name—oh, precious union,

Like the angel hosts above.

Not like waves upon the ocean,

Tossing wildly, rolling high;

Or the tempest’s great commotion,

As it sweeps across the sky;

But like twilight, gently stealing

O’er the verdant, shady lea,

So the holy saints in Zion

Rest—from all their sins set free.

Clara Brooks, One in Christ

Unity only happens within the scope of peace. Colossians 3:14–15 “But above all these things put on love, which is the bond of perfection. And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to which also you were called in one body; and be thankful.”

Unity must be a practical reality in our daily lives not just on Sunday morning. This word unity is only used twice in Ephesians. Remember Satan likes to use people who want things their way over the oneness of Jesus Christ. The beautiful part with this is it’s Christ personified, two ethnic groups became one because of the power of the gospel.

One in Christ

Ephesians 4:4–6 “There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.”

Unity amongst us is a reflection of our doctrine. How can we say there’s one Spirit, one hope, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and then be divided over sin that Jesus died for. We were called into one body with one authority and one hope! There’s one expectation at the expense of being a part of this body comforted by the Holy Spirit. Our expectation is to spend eternity in one place!

One Lord, all authority is within the hands of the Jesus that died for our sins.

1 Corinthians 1:13 “Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul?”

There is one belief, understand that belief is that Jesus Christ died for your sins and that God is the creator of the world. In effort to teach one belief or one faith we have to teach the same thing. When I understand the oneness I can gather the fact that we are not just a part of the body but being a part of the body we are a part of each other. I don’t just accept Jesus but I accept His children as well.

Romans 12:5 “so we, being many, are one body in Christ, and individually members of one another.”

The church does not create the unity but we maintain it. The creator of this unity is Jesus, his death was the great unifier of the world. We just have to focus on Jesus as the example. We let our own bias get in the way and find ourselves more divided that we should be. Baptism is an invitation of obedience that rids us of the power of sin, and the barometer of forgiveness by being buried with Christ through Baptism. The root word for baptism in this text is “bapto” which means to dip. It is the burial for us as believers to solidify our allegiance to Christ Jesus and no longer be bound to the power of sin.

1 Corinthians 12:13 “For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free—and have all been made to drink into one Spirit.”

This isn’t coming from man, this is coming from God. God is above all, through all and in all. The love of a father so great to accept us as children.

Ephesians Exhortations, 4:1–6

The multi-ethnic Church is still a dream in most meaningful ways. It is a modern phenomenon that the most liberal congregations and denominations tend to be the least integrated; the most conservative are the most integrated. Predominantly Black congregations are more open than the “mainline” congregations. This is an indictment against the First Churches who have not found a way to make their welcome match their rhetoric, not to mention match the biblical witness.

Our welcome and our hospitality has to match our rhetoric. We say we love each other, we say we are all one in Christ but we live in a divided world. It’s up to the church to make our churches as inviting as we possibility can.

In his book The Pursuit of God, A. W. Tozer wrote, “Has it ever occurred to you that one hundred pianos all tuned to the same fork are automatically tuned to each other? They are of one accord by being tuned not to each other but to another standard to which each one must individually bow. So one hundred worshipers [meeting] together, each one looking away to Christ, are in heart nearer to each other than they could possibly be were they to become unity-conscious and turn their eyes away from God to strive for closer fellowship.”

Although Tozer’s comments were written with worship in mind, they reveal the secret of Christian unity. The more we center our thoughts on Christ, the more we will be drawn to one another as His followers and the more our differences will fade into insignificance.

We can have honest disagreements and still have unity, especially if we make it our priority to be in fellowship with Christ. The apostle John wrote, “That which we have seen and heard we declare to you, that you also may have fellowship with us; and truly our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ” (1 Jn. 1:3).

Do you sense unity with other believers? Are you “in tune” with Christ?