Ephesians 4:4-6

There is one body

This is the church. Paul expresses that there should be one church. To a certain degree there is, however there are many denominations. The two main churches are Catholic and Protestant. Within these two you have several denominations. Catholic (Roman Catholic, Eastern Orthodox Church, Oriental Orthodox Church and the Church of the East) Protestant (Baptist, Methodist, Lutheran, Pentecostal, ect…) These are separated predominately because of doctrinal differences such as apostolic succession, sacraments, baptism, biblical interpretations, governmental structure and other issues. There is one common thread between all Christian churches. This is that Jesus Christ is God’s only son. That He lived a life without sin, died a substitutionary death on a cross, was resurrected from the dead, and will return. Every Christian church is united in this belief.

There is one Spirit

Every believer in Jesus Christ has the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.

However, you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. But if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Him. 10 If Christ is in you, though the body is dead because of sin, yet the spirit is alive because of righteousness. 11 But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you.

16 I will ask the Father, and He will give you another [b]Helper, that He may be with you forever; 17 that is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it does not see Him or know Him, but you know Him because He abides with you and will be in you.

The evidence that a person belongs to the church is not their name on a role, but the evidence of the Holy Spirit in their lives. This is evidenced by the conviction of sin as well as the guidance into righteousness. A person that belongs to the church produces fruit for the Lord.

22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. 24 Now those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. 25 If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit.

25 If we live by the Spirit, let us also [b]walk by the Spirit.

The Spirit of God indwells every true member of the church.

One hope of your calling

26 For consider your calling, brethren, that there were not many wise according to ]the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble; 27 but God has chosen the foolish things of the world to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to shame the things which are strong, 28 and the base things of the world and the despised God has chosen, the things that are not, so that He may nullify the things that are, 29 so that no man may boast before God. 30 But by His doing you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification, and redemption, 31 so that, just as it is written, “Let him who boasts, boast in the Lord.”

Our calling is to live in what Christ has made us.

Wisdom from God - We are to know God through His Word and living by His Word.

Righteousness - We must put to death the old flesh, renew our mind, and put on the new flesh.

Sanctification - Becoming more Christ-like.

Redemption - We are redeemed by the blood of the Lamb. We must share this with others.

One Lord

Jesus Christ is Lord. He is the master of his Church. This means he has authority in the life of every believer. You can choose to follow and obey Him. You can also choose to disobey Him. Obedience to the Lord brings the goodness the Lord wants for his servants. Disobedience results in the judgment that comes from disobedience. The judgments are the natural consequences that follow disobedience. They are principle violations. Make Jesus Lord of your life.

One Faith

What do you have faith in? You can only have faith in something that has not yet come to fruition. You can only have faith in what you believe to be true. You must believe in the information that you know. For the church we must have faith in God’s written Word. It was inspired by the Holy Spirit and written by man. Tell story about little boy with umbrella. Tell story about bigger airplane. Tell story about crossing ice

When we know God’s word, we can have faith in it. When we have faith in it, we will walk in faith. When we walk in faith, we experience God.

One Baptism

Baptism is a means of identification. In the early church, when a person was baptised they were making a public proclamation that Jesus Christ is their Lord. This is what people do today as well. This carried a heavy burden with it. It meant that you were disassociating with the temple. It also meant, that you could possibly lose your family. There was a tremendous price to pay for your baptism. I often wonder what the price of baptism is today? Do people consider the proclamation they are making? When we baptise someone in the church, do you feel like you have an obligation to disciple that person and hold them accountable for their action.

There are too many people that get baptised and live no differently than those who have not been baptised. They bear no fruit in their lives. I believe when a person is baptised there should be an expectation that they should be bearing fruit. I also believe that we need to hold them to a higher standard of living.

One God and Father

The Letters to the Galatians and Ephesians The Basis of Unity (Ephesians 4:4–6)

He is above all; in that phrase is enshrined the control of God. No matter what things may look like, God is in control. There may be floods; but ‘The Lord sits enthroned over the flood’ (Psalm 29:10).

He is through all; in that phrase is enshrined the providence of God. God did not create the world and set it going as we might wind up a clockwork toy and leave it to run down. God is all through his world, guiding, sustaining, loving.

He is in all; in that phrase is enshrined the presence of God in all life. It may be that Paul took the germ of this idea from the Stoics. The Stoics believed that God was a fire purer than any earthly fire; and they believed that what gave human beings life was that a spark of that fire which was God came and dwelt in their bodies. It was Paul’s belief that in everything there is God.

It is the Christian belief that we live in a God-created, God-controlled, God-sustained, God-filled world.