Walking in unity (4:1–6)

Ephesians 4:1–6 NIV84

As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit— just as you were called to one hope when you were called— one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.

Introduction:The first three chapters the apostle Paul lays out the theological underpinnings for proper ethics in the Christian life. He lays a theological foundation in the first three chapters of the book and then in the last three gives us the practical application.

Thus far always talk about all the spiritual blessings we have in

Christ: is calling he chose us in him before the foundations of the world were laid.

His calling was based on love vv1:4-5

he makes known to us the mystery of Christ vv 1:9

Our inheritance is God’s people 18

NIV Ephesians 4:1 As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received.

A. the salvation of Paul and his listeners is assumed.

therefore Paul is turning now from the theological to the practical.

a. Since we had been brought together into one body- that one body has a head ie. Christ he will give us direction for our lives.

B. Since Christ has saved us, he has a rightful hold upon our lives.

Because we like our freedom, In the flesh, we resist this naturally however…As we learn to trust his love, we start to flourish in a way that was never before possible.

As the child of God, realizes he is actually one of God’s beloved sheep, in the good shepherd’s flock, he is Able to acquiesce to the desires of the shepherd realizing that he’s loved and his welfare is the great concern of the shepherd.

This is not an irksome obligation, rather an appropriate response to the one who loves us and gave himself for us.

2 Corinthians 5:18-19

18 All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation:

19 that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people's sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. (2 Cor. 5:18-19 NIV)

19 Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own;

20 you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies.

(1 Cor. 6:19-20 NIV)

22 For the one who was a slave when called to faith in the Lord is the Lord's freed person; similarly, the one who was free when called is Christ's slave.

23 You were bought at a price; do not become slaves of human beings. (1 Cor. 7:22-23 NIV)

Ephesians 4:1 live a life worthy of the calling you have received.”

We have a special gift given to us by God at the moment of salvation.

The spirit of truth feels assented to day redemption.

If we have something special like that we guard it.

7 But we have this treasure in jars of clay... to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us.

8 We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair;

9 persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed.

10 We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body. (2 Cor. 4:7-10 NIV)

The troubles that Paul faced a direct result of his calling, and the mission that God had placed upon him. The importance of the mission outweighed the risks involved.

ex. Every military person understands that Uncle Sam has a hold on you. We have a new set of laws that we live by God and the uniform code of military justice. There is a commitment to mission accomplishment that requires sacrifice and even death. We willingly lay down our rights to our freedoms so that others may enjoy the heirs in brief the all too rarefied air As the winds of freedom Blow across our great country.

Think of how carefully a pregnant woman guards the life she’s carrying.

C. Paul saw Himself as a prisoner of Jesus Christ.

He uses the preposition in to describe The closeness of relationship with Christ.

In other passages the apostle Paul describes the similarities to the church in Christ to that of marriage.

31 "For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh."

32 This is a profound mystery-- but I am talking about Christ and the church.

33 However, each one of you also must love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband. (Eph. 5:31-33 NIV)

Ephesians 5:31–33 NIV84

“For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh.” This is a profound mystery—but I am talking about Christ and the church. However, each one of you also must love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband.

 2 Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love.

Complete humility Lowliness of mind. All lowliness

gentleness This is one of the attributes is listed in Colossians 3:12 Therefore, as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. (Col. 3:12 NIV)patience

bearing with one another, to endure Be patient with, give patient attention to.

Middle passive sence - reciprical The one who is patient should expect to receive patients as well. In the reading patient when they don’t receive patients from others.

I don’t know about you but that is so unlike me sometimes but it is not unlike Jesus.

Motivated by love Agape That perfect kind of love that comes from God.

Word Pictures in the New Testament Ephesians 4:3

But there is no peace without love (verse 2).

 3 Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace.

Make an effort - today, cancel culture seems like we don’t listen to anyone that we disagree with, and there is no effort put forward to deal with relationships and the differences that are very diverse, rapidly changing culture contains.

Motivated by Love- agape- phileo, aeros, storge familial love

Agape contains all the other types of love.

Paul indicates that he knows not every relationship will come easily.

NIV Romans 12:18 If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone.

A relationship with Christ, makes unity in the midst of diversity possible when we cooperate.

That means that there is no insurmountable problems we have in the church regarding unity. You can give up in the process of relationships with people if you want to. But consider this when you’re in a church body you’re in the family of God. You can choose your friends we are stuck with your family. It behooves us to make every effort to do as Paul says to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace.

Now almost no matter what anyone does to you, it’s possible to be nice.

I was impressed how my father dealt with silly things like people that aggravate you in traffic with their poor driving habits. I remember one time he was cut off by another driver instead of going into a rage, I dad just said well that’s how they make angels. The logical inaccuracies side, my dad demonstrated how not to make a mountain out of a mole hill.

4 There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to one hope when you were called;

We Share the Same Identity (4:4)

Just as an individual is made up of body and spirit, the apostle reminds the people that the church, despite its many different members, is one body indwelt by one Spirit (Eph. 4:4; 2:22).

“Remember the Titans” The healing of the race relationships in the South.

Diverse gifts and talents in the church gives much opportunity for conflict if we continue with our own fleshly selfish behavior. However if we relinquish control levers of our lives to his guidance we will find that rather the conflict we have a life of joy peace and fulfillment in the Holy Spirit as we enter into a deep loving relationship with God and his family here on earth.

This is Thought to be part of an early creed within the church.

We are not a creedal church, however there are great benefits in memorizing an understanding with the creeds mean. And if you do this prior to the time that the person is saved and properly catechized, by the time they reach the age where they come to Christ, sometimes occurring concurrently with catechisms/confirmation.

 5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism;

We Share the Same Testimony (4:5)

We have many different stories how the evangelism process played out in our lives but we have one God to whom we have come.

One God

One Lord, One absolute ruler, only one God by nature.

You can make a got out of anything, but there is only one God by nature

10 "You are my witnesses," declares the LORD, "and my servant whom I have chosen, so that you may know and believe me and understand that I am he. Before me no god was formed, nor will there be one after me.

11 I, even I, am the LORD, and apart from me there is no savior.

12 I have revealed and saved and proclaimed-- I, and not some foreign god among you. You are my witnesses," declares the LORD, "that I am God. (Isa. 43:10-12 NIV)

In another passage Paul addresses a problem within the church and again appeals to the unity that we have as Christians.

4 So then, about eating food sacrificed to idols: We know that "An idol is nothing at all in the world" and that "There is no God but one."

5 For even if there are so-called gods, whether in heaven or on earth (as indeed there are many "gods" and many "lords"),

6 yet for us there is but one God, the Father, from whom all things came and for whom we live; and there is but one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom all things came and through whom we live.

7 But not everyone possesses this knowledge. (1 Cor. 8:4-7 NIV)

One Lord ------In Paul’s day emperor worship was prevalent , as well as idolatry of every type, temple prostitution.

one faith There is the sense in which Christianity is exclusive.

Before we speak to this and want to tell you what Jesus says of himself.

6 Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. (Jn. 14:6 NIV)

People mistakenly think that God is unfair That he should be so exclusive regarding faith in people and where it is placed and how we get to heaven.

I tell people it’s not a matter of fairness it’s a matter of God putting before us the one and only map it’s gonna lead us to the treasure. Eternal life. Pick another way if you want but it’s not can it take you where you want to go. And if you purposely choose your own path, does it make sense that we blame God?

one baptism one method of Identification with Christ

Identified with Christ

symbolic of sins being buried in the waters of baptism and being raised in newness of life.

one God and father all

Here is where God is not exclusive. Choose his path or don’t choose his path. Whichever path you choose has a corresponding destiny. If you don’t want to follow God maybe you won’t. If circumstances in life change your heart where you’re open to a relationship with God, you will find that he is gracious and loving, he will take all the hurts and cares and concerns and pain and sin and suffering that you have, and lay the blame for your life problems on Jesus,And correspondingly so you take up his concerns for the advancement of the gospel telling the world that they are loved by him and that he died for them and he invites them to come to him if they will.

The Bible says whoever will may come. Some will and some won’t the only one that you’re responsible for in this regard is you.

What have you done and/or what will you do regarding Salvation

 6 one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all. (Eph. 4:1-6 NIV)

We Share the Same Family (4:6)

Ephesians 4:1–16

To show the unity within the Trinity as ultimate basis for the unity of the church, the apostle, turning now to the Father, writes, one God and Father of all, who (is) over all and through all and in all

The inference here should be clear that if God father son and Holy Spirit work in a unity in the midst of their diverse functions in the Godhead as part of God’s family team unity is to be reflected in two and through us.