LET’S WALK TOGETHER (Ephesians 4:1-6)

When you look at Paul’s letters they all contain a beautiful balance between doctrine and duty. We see this here in the book of Ephesians also. The first three chapters deal with doctrine, our riches in Christ, while the last three chapters explain duty, our responsibilities in Christ. The key word in this last half of the book is walk, while the key idea in the first half is wealth.

Before we get into this chapter in detail, we must note two important words in Ephesians 4:1: therefore and beseech. The word therefore indicates that Paul is basing his exhortations to duty on the doctrines taught in the first three chapters. The Christian life is not based on ignorance but knowledge, and the better we understand Bible doctrine, the easier it is to obey Bible duties. It does make a difference what you believe, because what you believe determines how you behave!

The word beseech indicates that God, in love, urges us to live for His glory. He does not say, as He did to the Old Testament Jews, “If you obey Me, I will bless you.” Rather, He says, “I have already blessed you—now, in response to My love and grace, obey Me.” He has given us such a marvelous calling in Christ; now it is our responsibility to live up to that calling. The main idea in these verses that we will be studying is the unity of believers in Christ. The oneness of believers in Christ is already a spiritual reality. Our responsibility is to guard, protect, and preserve that unity.

I. The Grace of Unity (Eph. 4:1–3)

1 I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you to walk worthy of the calling with which you were called, 2 with all lowliness and gentleness, with longsuffering, bearing with one another in love, 3 endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.

A. Unity is not uniformity.

Unity comes from within and is a spiritual grace, while uniformity is the result of pressure from without. Paul used the human body as a picture of Christian unity. Each part of the body is different from the other parts, yet all make up one body and work together.

If we are going to preserve the “unity of the Spirit,” we must possess the necessary Christian graces. For the life worthy of the calling of God is a life in the fellowship of the people of God.

B. Lowliness, or Humility

Someone has said, “Humility is that grace that, when you know you have it, you have lost it.” Humility means putting Christ first, others second, and self last. It means knowing ourselves, accepting ourselves, and being ourselves to the glory of God.

God does not condemn you when you accept yourself and your gifts. He just does not want us to think more highly of ourselves than we ought to—or less highly than we ought to.

C. Meekness and Long-suffering

Meekness is not weakness. It is power under control. Moses was a meek man, yet see the tremendous power he exercised. Jesus Christ was “meek and lowly in heart”, yet He drove the money changers from the temple.

Allied with meekness is long-suffering, which literally means “long-tempered,” the ability to endure discomfort without fighting back. This leads to the mentioning of forbearance, a grace that cannot be experienced apart from love. “Love suffereth long and is kind”.

D. Endeavor and Peace

Endeavor is the next grace that contributes to the unity of the Spirit. The verb used here is a present participle, which means we must constantly be endeavoring to maintain this unity. The spiritual unity of a home, a Sunday School class, or a church is the responsibility of each person involved, and the job never ends.

The final grace is peace—“the bond of peace.” If a believer cannot get along with God, he cannot get along with other believers. When “the peace of God” rules in our hearts, then we build unity.

II. The Ground of Unity (Eph. 4:4–6)

4 There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called in one hope of your calling; 5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism; 6 one God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.

Many people today attempt to unite Christians in a way that is not biblical. While not all Christians agree on some minor matters of Christian doctrine, they all do agree on the foundation truths of the faith. Unity built on anything other than Bible truth is standing on a very shaky foundation. Paul names here the seven basic spiritual realities that unite all true Christians.

A. One body

This is, of course, the body of Christ in which each believer is a member, placed there at conversion by the Spirit of God. The one body, the Church, is the model for the many local bodies, the local Church, that God has established across the world. The fact that a person is a member of the one body does not excuse them from belonging to a local body, for it is there that they exercises their spiritual gifts and helps others to grow.

B. One Spirit

The same Holy Spirit indwells each believer, so that we belong to each other in the Lord. There are perhaps a dozen references to the Holy Spirit in Ephesians, because He is important to us in living out the Christian life.

C. One Hope of Your Calling

This refers to the return of the Lord to take His church to heaven. The Holy Spirit within is the assurance of this great promise. Paul is suggesting here that the believer who realizes the existence of the one body, who walks in the Spirit, and who looks for the Lord’s return, is going to be a peacemaker and not a troublemaker.

D. One Lord

This is our Lord Jesus Christ who died for us, lives for us, and one day will come for us. It is difficult to believe that two believers can claim to obey the same Lord, and yet not be able to walk together in unity Acknowledging the lordship of Christ is a giant step toward spiritual unity among His people.

E. One Faith

There is one settled body of truth deposited by Christ in His church, and this is “the faith.” The early Christians recognized a body of basic doctrine that they taught, guarded, and committed to others. Christians may differ in some matters of interpretation and church practice; but all true Christians agree on “the faith” and to depart from “the faith” is to bring about disunity within the body of Christ.

F. One Baptism

This “one baptism” is probably the baptism of the Spirit, that act of the Spirit when He places the believing sinner into the body of Christ at conversion. As far as the one body is concerned, there is one baptism—the baptism of the Spirit. But as far as local bodies of believers are concerned, there are two baptisms: the baptism of the Spirit, and water baptism. We are commanded to be filled with the Spirit (Eph. 5:18), but we are never commanded to be baptized with the Spirit, for we have already been baptized by the Spirit at conversion.

G. One God and Father

The marvelous oneness of believers in the family of God is evident here, for God is over all, and working through all, and in all. We are children in the same family, loving and serving the same Father, so we ought to be able to walk together in unity.

Paul is quite concerned that Christians not break the unity of the Spirit by agreeing with false doctrine, and the Apostle John echoes this warning. The local church cannot believe in peace at any price, for God’s wisdom is “first pure, then peaceable”