Unity in the Body of Christ - Part 1 (1-7)

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Prayer of Repentance and Adoration

Sermon

Introduction

This evening’s message is a continuation in the letter to the Ephesians, but we’re actually going to take the text over the next two weeks. The reason for this is that while we really should work through Vs. 1-16 all in one sitting, we really just don’t have the time for it. So, this week and next week, we’ll be working through all of Ephesians 4:1-16, all of which emphasizes unity within the church—particularly the fact that even though we all have different spiritual gifts given to us by God, we are to be united on the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Because this is all one unit that we’re splitting in two, we’re actually going to read the full passage but when we start working through it be aware that I’m only focusing on Vs. 1-7. Let’s read together Vs. 1-16, after which, I’ll explain how we’ll break up the passage and we’ll dig into the word of God this evening.

Ephesians 4:1–16 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. 7 But grace was given to each one of us according to the measure of Christ’s gift. 8 Therefore it says, “When he ascended on high he led a host of captives, and he gave gifts to men.” 9 (In saying, “He ascended,” what does it mean but that he had also descended into the lower regions, the earth? 10 He who descended is the one who also ascended far above all the heavens, that he might fill all things.) 11 And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, 12 to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, 13 until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, 14 so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes. 15 Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, 16 from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.

As I mentioned, we’re looking at this over two weeks with this week focused on Vs. 1-17 and next week focused on 8-16. Both sections are summed up with the idea of unity within the church or unity within the body of Christ and both sections essentially teach us how we are to live now that we’ve learned that Jesus has made one body out of Gentile and Jewish believers. Or in other words, Ephesians 1-3, gave us the doctrinal premise for application and 4-6 gives us the application.

As we work through Vs. 1-7, we’re going to break it into two parts and each part starts with the same premise, “Since Jesus made one church.” (1) Vs. 1-3, Since Jesus made one church, walk worthy of the calling and (2) Vs. 4-7, Since Jesus made one church, seek unity within the church. And I think, you can see where we’re going with the whole passage—Jesus has made all true believers into one church, this is what we’re supposed to do in light of that truth.

Prayer for Illumination

The whole passage stems from one word that gives the first part of each proposition that we have this evening. Ephesians 4:1, starts with “I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the the calling to which you have been called.”

The therefore tells us that the premise of this passage relies on the previous point but remember with me that last week’s message from Ephesians 3:14-21, wasn’t the point that Paul was driving at.

Ephesians 3:14-21 is a prayer for the Ephesians to be mature spiritually, but it isn’t the point that’s driving Paul’s statements in Ephesians 4.

We actually have to go the whole way back to the beginning of Ephesians 3 to see what’s driving Paul’s propositions in Ephesians 4 and really Ephesians 4-6. We particularly have to look at Ephesians 3:6, “This mystery is that the Gentiles are fellow heirs, members of the same body, and partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel.”

Or in other words, the point that’s driving Ephesians 4:1-16 and really all of Ephesians 4-6, is this, that those who truly believe in Jesus Christ are brought into the universal church by the grace of God.

In addition, I would argue the doctrinal premises of Ephesians 1-3 also apply as reasonings for what Paul is about to say. Not only is it just about the church being united under a common belief in Jesus Christ—it’s also the spiritual blessings that true believers have, salvation by grace through faith and really all of the doctrine that true Christians should hold to.

Since all who have truly believed in Jesus Christ and true Christian doctrine are brought into this universal church, Paul spends a significant amount of time discussing how we are to relate with one another—what our relationships should be like; how we are to live our lives, and how we are to serve one another.

In particular for Vs. 1-16 of chapter 4, Paul states that us being made one church by Jesus should compel us to live a certain way, to seek unity within the true church, and to utilize what God has given us to grow the church more.

Or in other words, Paul is stressing the change in our manner of living due to true belief in Jesus Christ resulting in us being placed in the universal church.

Let’s take a moment to re-read Vs. 1-3, as we dig in.

Since Jesus made one church, walk worthy of the calling (1-3)

Ephesians 4:1–3 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.

Because of Jesus making us into one universal church and including the Gentiles in the plan of salvation, Paul urges them “to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called.”

In this context, the word walk isn’t referring to a physical walk but rather to a manner of life. To walk worthy of their calling means to “live a life worthy of their calling.”

The idea of a calling includes the person’s salvation but also their union into one body. So when Paul states that they are to walk worthy of their calling, he’s telling them that they are to live in a way that is worthy of their salvation through Jesus Christ and their joining of the universal church.

We can put it like this: because you claim to believe in Jesus and you claim to believe in the doctrine that Paul has just wrote about in Ephesians 1-3, you should live in a way that’s worthy of your claim.

And in this particular instance, Paul is focused on their living as a body, so all of his following statements deal with how they should act and react with one another as part of the universal church.

But let me explain one thing, when Paul says that you are “to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called,” he isn’t just talking about how you behave around the church.

How do I know this? Because Paul utilizes the same phraseology to speak of how Christians are to walk in general in other letters. Consider with me Colossians 1:9-12, “And so, from the day we heard, we have not ceased to pray for you, asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understand, so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him: bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God; being strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy; giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in light.”

Colossians 1:9-12 is a prayer of Paul for the believers in Colossi to live in a manner worthy of the Lord. How are they to do this?

By being fruitful in every good work

By steadily increasing in the knowledge of God

By using the power of God to joyfully endure and patiently persevere, and

By giving thanks to the Father for what he has done.

You can also consider Galatians 5:22-23 and the truth that true believers exhibit the fruits of the Spirit or Romans 6:4, which tells us that true believers walk in newness of life.

Or even in 1 Corinthians 11:27, “Whoever, therefore, eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty concerning the body and blood of the Lord. Let a person examine himself, then, and so eat of the bread and drink of the cup.” Or in other words, Paul to the Corinthians tells them to examine themselves prior to the Lord’s Supper to determine if they’re living in a manner that is worthy of their calling.

So, living in a manner that is worthy of their calling extends to more than just their behavior in the church but Paul is especially focused on how they act within the body of Christ in Ephesians 4.

So, he tells them that they ought to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which they have been called. And then he speaks of three attributes or virtues that should enhance or be exhibited alongside of their living worthy. Vs. 2-3, “With all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.”

As they live worthy of their calling they should do so with all humility and gentleness—humility and gentleness goes hand-in-hand. The opposite of humility is pride and a proud person typically doesn’t respond with gentleness. A humble person is more likely to respond with gentleness than someone who is arrogant in their own understanding.

Humility (sometimes referred to as lowliness) is sometimes mistaken for thinking low of yourself; but in reality, thinking low of yourself is a false sense of humility that is rooted in pride. Rather true humility is is a correct understanding of who you are coupled with a genuine concern for those around you.

Gentleness (sometimes referred to as meekness) is the concept of having power and authority but tempering it. It’s almost like having the ability to squash an ant but choosing not to. This would be the boss who rightfully could fire someone but choosing to work with that person to improve them rather than fire them. It’s really an aspect of self-control.

Walking worthy of the call involves having a proper understanding of who you are, a genuine concern for those around you, and self-control.

As they live worthy of their calling, they should do so with patience—another way to think of patience is the idea of endurance. What do I mean by this? Think of anytime that you’ve been impatient with someone else. Your child asks you for the thousandth time “why?” You get cut off by another car in traffic. You’re treated unfairly at work. What is the common attribute in all of these instances? (And don’t just say that you’re being impatient).

In each instance, you aren’t enduring; you’re allowing the situation to cause you to act a certain way. In your impatience you’re resorting to acting in stress, anger, and frustration—you’re resorting to acting how you would have as an unbeliever. You aren’t enduring.

James 1:3-4 tells us that trials in life are utilized by God to perfect our steadfastness. The Greek word translated as steadfastness in James 1:3-4 has a common root with the word translated as patience in Ephesians 4. They’re both related words.

The idea being that as they live worthy of their calling, endurance or patience is going to be a part of their life.

As they live worthy of their calling, they should bear with one another in love.

This is, of course agape love or the same love that’s exhibited by God to us, which is described in 1 Corinthians 13. This same type of love is the love the Jesus commands us to have for him and for our neighbors in Matthew 22:37-38

This is the same type of love that Jesus tells his disciples to have towards each other in John 13 and he even tells his disciples in Vs. 35, that people will know that they are his disciples, if they agape one another.

This is the type of love that’s described as patient and kind. not envious or boastful; not arrogant or rude; not insistent on its own way; not irritable or resentful. It’s the type of love that bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, and endures all things.

To live worthy of their calling includes bearing with or enduring with one another in agape love.

Keeping in mind that Paul is specifically focused on the church in this text, it is no wonder that he argues for humility, gentleness, patience, and love as primary attributes to exhibit in walking worthy of their calling.

Why do I say that? Because anytime you have more than one person in a room, not everyone is going to agree with everything. This is more concerning with issues of personal preference than issues of sin or doctrine.

Sin and doctrine remain the same because the Bible tells us what sin is and the Bible tells us what true doctrine is. So it isn’t really a matter of whether you agree or not—what the Bible says is what it says. If you disagree, you aren’t disagreeing with me and you aren’t disagreeing with the church, you’re disagreeing with God. And let me assure you, that regardless of how you feel, if you disagree with God, you’re wrong.

But issues of personal preference, which can cause contention within any group larger than one person; the proper response is to act in patience, humbleness, gentleness, and love.

For instance, you might not like the way that I dress or you may not like the musical style that we use at church. You might not like that we serve coffee in the morning or that some people drink tea rather than coffee.

And in each of these instances, it is clear that these are personal preference issues and not matters of sin or doctrine.

Which means, that in each of these instances we are to act and react in humility, gentleness, patience, and love.

That means if you have a concern about something—I will humbly listen to you with gentleness, patience, and love.

But that also means that if you have a concern about something—you should humbly listen to me with gentleness, patience, and love.

After we finish hearing the concern, we might agree but we also might not end up agreeing.

If you come and complain about the way I dress, I might listen to your concerns and we might agree to disagree; but we should always agree to be humble, to be gentle, to be patient, and to be loving.

And I would argue that to react in any other way to one another would be sinful.

When it comes to personal preference, we should defer to humbleness, gentleness, patience, and love.

And the reason for this is that when it comes to personal issues, our taste in style or preference isn’t as important as being unified as a body of Christ. Vs. 3, “Eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.”

Paul is encouraging humility, gentleness, patience, and love within the body of Christ for the purpose of maintaining unity of the Spirit and for maintaining peace.

Or in other words, within the true church, we should seek to maintain unity and peace.

And Paul continues in that line of thinking through Vs. 4-7.

Since Jesus made one church, seek unity within the church (4-7)

Ephesians 4:4–7 ESV

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. 7 But grace was given to each one of us according to the measure of Christ’s gift.

What Paul is saying refers back to his statement in Ephesians 3, that all Gentile and Jewish believers have been made into one church. We don’t have a Gentile church and we don’t have a Jewish church, we have one church.

Vs. 4-5, “There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call—one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.”

It seems like he has a lot of different ideas swirling around in these two verses and we could actually take a lot of time discussing the different ideas that he has going on here but in reality he isn’t stressing them as different ideas he’s stressing the concept of unity and to divide each phrase and study each phrase individually would actually diminish his meaning.

He doesn’t mean for us to divide this passage up in order to understand it, he’s trying to emphasize the unity of the church in Jesus Christ.

We could really get the point by reversing everything that he says. We can do it by changing a few words to really drive home his point:

There isn’t more than one body

There isn’t more than one Spirit

There isn’t more than one Lord

There isn’t more than one faith

There isn’t more than one baptism

There isn’t more than one God

He isn’t trying to get us to draw significant meaning out of each phrase, he’s trying to get us to understand the extent of the unity of the true church. Those who truly believe in Jesus Christ and those who believe in true Christian doctrine are united into one body, one Spirit, with one Lord, one faith, one baptism, and one God.

Now here’s the issue, in our modern-time period, we live in a country in which there are hundreds of denominations and thousand of churches. The question is, if we’re supposed to be united, shouldn’t we really just be one church? Let me answer that in two ways:

I’ve intentionally made it a point to emphasize certain words that Paul emphasizes throughout the letter to the Ephesians.

Words like predestined, chosen, or even truth and salvation. Or when Paul makes it a point to say that those who were previously dead but made alive in Christ are the only ones who actually have experienced salvation.

Why did I do this? Because Paul is emphasizing unity within the true church of Jesus Christ, which is made up of only those who have truly repented from their sins and have truly believe in Jesus Christ.

Or in other words, Paul in Ephesians is only speaking to those who are actually Christians according to the Bible—he isn’t speaking to people who claim to be a Christian but reject parts of the Word of God or claims to be a Christian but doesn’t actually believe.

This is emphasized in his word usage and in the fact that he speaks of true, Christian doctrine as being a necessary prerequisite to being united in the body of Jesus Christ.

Or again, in other words, Paul is only speaking about people who are truly saved as being a part of the one body with the one Spirit, under the same Lord, in one faith, one baptism, worshiping one God.

Keeping that in mind, when Paul then tells us to walk in a manner worthy of the calling with all humility and gentleness and patience, bearing with one another in love

What Paul is saying, is that unity and peace should be maintained in the true church of Jesus Christ. Now, you might say, “ok, I understand that, but all of these churches claim to be a true church of Jesus Christ and all of these denominations claim the same.”

Let me point you at something that Jesus says in Matthew 7:21-23. Jesus says, “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’”

What Jesus says is that not everyone who claims to believe in him and minister with his power are actually genuine believers. Just because someone claims to believe and just because someone claims he’s preaching or teaching the Bible doesn’t actually mean that he is.

2 Peter 2:1-3 says, “But false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing upon themselves swift destruction. And many will follow their sensuality, and because of them the way of truth will be blasphemed. And in their greed they will exploit you with false words.”

Paul repeatedly warns against false teaching and false prophets.

Keeping this in mind, we can make the accurate statement that not all who claim to preach and teach the Bible actually is preaching and teaching the Bible. Not every organization that claims to be a church is part of the true church. And not every denomination that claims to be doing the Lord’s work is actually doing the Lord’s work.

And let me be abundantly clear in this, the Bible teaches us to separate ourselves from those who distort the truth whether they’re denying the truth or they’re twisting the truth. Paul writes to the Galatians in 1:6-9, “I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting him who called you in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel—not that there is another one, but there are some who trouble you and want to distort the gospel of Christ. But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to the one we [originally] preached to you, let him be accursed. As we have said before, so now I say again; if anyone is preaching to you a gospel contrary to the one you received, let him be accursed.”

He’s shocked that they would abandon the truth as revealed in Scripture. In 2 John, John warns about this new group of so-called Christians who claimed that all you had to do was obey Jesus and love one another but they neglected truth—in particularly they didn’t believe in the second coming of Jesus Christ.

He says in Vs. 7-10, “For many deceivers have gone out into the world, those who do not confess the coming of Jesus Christ in the flesh. Such a one is the deceiver. . .. Watch yourselves, so that you may not lose what we have worked for, . . . Everyone who goes on ahead and does not abide in the teaching of Christ, does not have God. . . If anyone comes to you and does not bring this teaching, do not receive him into your house or give him any greeting, for whoever greets him takes part in his wicked works.”

Do you catch what John is saying? There are people who are trying to deceive you into believing their warped idea of Christianity. You shouldn’t even entertain them as guests in your home, you shouldn’t even say hello to him.

Sean DeMars writes, “In the context of 2 John, the apostle is almost certainly addressing gnostic teachers who ‘do not confess the coming of Jesus in the flesh.’ Gnosticism may not be a prominent threat in your current context, but the spirit of the deceiver lives on in every teacher who lies about God by preaching a different Jesus. False gospels that preach fake Jesuses come in many different forms:” And then he gives a few examples:

“The prosperity gospel Jesus, who just wants you to be happy, healthy, and wealthy (this would be Joel Osteen, Joyce Meyers, Creflo Dollar, and people like Steven Furtick)

The Mormon Jesus, who is [supposedly] the half-brother of Satan

The political Jesus, who supports every item on our political agenda and opposes everything on the other side of our partisan aisle

The good guy Jesus, who didn’t atone for our sins, but merely set a good example for the world to follow.

And the list could go on.”

So, back to the original question: If we are supposed to be united shouldn’t we just be one church?

When speaking of the universal church that is made up of only those who truly believe in Jesus Christ, we’re already united as one church

But not every local church, not every denomination, and not every person who claims to preach and teach the Bible is actually part of the true church.

And if they aren’t part of the true church, we shouldn’t be united with them according to 2 John and according to Paul’s various writings, and according to Jesus himself.

How do we determine if we should be united with another church? How do we determine if we should be united with another denomination? How do we determine if we should be united with someone else who claims to be a Christians?

First off and most importantly, it has to do with doctrine. The person, church, or denomination needs to teach sound doctrine based on the whole counsel of God’s Word. The Bible and the inerrancy of the Bible should be the most important aspect of their worship and teachings. The centrality of the Bibel needs to be prioritized, guarded, and taught without compromise. Anyone who questions the inerrancy of the Bible or questions the inspiration of the Bible should be rejected. Any church that prioritizes philosophy, psychology, self-help, or illustrations over the Scriptures should be rejected. Any denomination that takes more authority than it gives the Bible should be rejected.

Secondly, anyone who claims to have equal authority or more authority than the Bible should be rejected—rather that person is a pastor, a teacher, a televangelist, or a regular evangelist. Very rarely will someone ever claim to have equal or more authority than the Bible (though the Roman Catholic Church seems to think it does) but more often this is done subtly. If someone disregards the Bible or someone chooses to preach something other than Scripture, he’s essentially made the claim that he has more wisdom and knowledge than the Bible does and he should be rejected.

I could keep going but those are the two big issues that should cause you to not be united with a person, church, or denomination and to be united with a person, church, or denomination knowing that the person or church isn’t preaching and teaching the complete truth found only in the Word of God makes you just as guilty of the wickedness that the person is teaching.

It doesn’t matter if you grew up in a church, it doesn’t matter if you’ve known the person their whole life, it doesn’t matter if your church has always been a part of that denomination—if you know that the church or the pastor or the regular guest preacher is preaching or teaching something that doesn’t line up with what the Bible says and you don’t stop it, you are in sin.

You might think, I spoke up but no one would listen to what I have to say. Let me be abundantly clear, the only right response is to then leave the local church and find a church that is teaching the truth. And I would expect everyone who listens to or attends Grace & Peace Bible Church to do the same. If I teach or preach something that seems off, come and speak to me about it. If I’m in sin and refuse to fix the problem, you don’t just have my encouragement, you have my exhortation to find a better church that only teaches the truth.

The truth of the Gospel and the truth of the whole counsel of God is that important and to continue listening to someone that twists the truth or to continue going to church at a church that doesn’t preach the whole truth is simply sinful.

Unity in the universal church will exist no matter what because the universal church is made up of only those who believe in Jesus Christ and have repented from their sins. The universal church is made up of those who obey the LORD and seek his truth. Unity in the local church should only exist if the people are unified in Jesus Christ and obey jesus and seek his truth but unity on the local church level requires the members of the local church to be humble, gentle, patient, and loving.

As we wrap up, let’s take the last few minutes to discuss application for this text.

Application

Since Jesus made one church, walk worthy of the calling (1-3)—Paul in the first three verses makes it clear that if you claim to believe in Jesus Christ, you ought to live a certain way. In this particular passage, he’s specifically referring to walking in a manner worthy of the calling in regards to how we act and interact with one another within the body of Jesus Christ—with humility, gentleness, patience, and love. And just like when we dug into the text earlier, I want to give you application for a more general idea of what it means to walk worthy of the calling and then I want to give you application for the more specific application from the passage itself. What does it mean to walk worthy of the calling?

It very literally means to walk the talk. If you claim to be a Christian, then actually act like it. If you believe in Jesus your life should reflect that you believe in Jesus. From a more general idea, that means that you should

From Colossians 1

Be fruitful

Be increasing in your knowledge of God

Be patiently persevering and enduring

Be giving thanks to the Father for all that he has done.

That also means that you should exhibit the fruits of the Spirit--your life should be characterized by love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.

And as 1 Corinthians 11 says, just like the Corinthians should examine themselves to make sure that they’re taking the Lord’s Supper worthily, we ought to do the same. But let me encourage you to make the examination of your heart a daily pursuit. Every day, you should be determining whether you are walking worthy of the calling or not.

And when you find yourself in a position where you aren’t walking worthy of the calling, then repent and ask God to help you get back on track.

For a more specific application of the text concerning how we are to walk worthy of the calling in the local church:

We must always treat each other with humility, gentleness, patience, and love with the intent of being unified in Jesus Christ.

This means that unless we’re speaking about clear doctrine in the Bible, we are to be gracious with one another concerning all other aspects of the church.

In regards to our personal opinions or wants, we act with humility, gentleness, patience, and love; seeking to be unified on the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

To allow our personal opinions to break us apart as a church is to act in an unbiblical manner.

So, from this first section—walk worthy of the calling by walking your talk. If you claim to be a Christian, then behave, think, and act like a Christian—both in general as you go about your life but in particular, as we serve together in the church.

Since Jesus made one church, seek unity within the church (4-7)—the second section of the passage has to do with unity in the body of Christ. And I spoke about this unity in two different ways—unity as the universal church and unity as the local church.

Unity as the universal church happens regardless of whether or not we try to unify the universal church. This is because the universal church is made up of only those who truly believe in Jesus Christ and have repented from their sins.

Jesus unified this church with his substitutionary atonement on the cross.

So, our application for the universal church’s unity is actually quite simple, be aware that Jesus has unified the universal church, which means that not every Christian is going to be identical to you

Often in our American culture, we make the assumption that all true Christians look like us—white, mostly middle-class, meeting in big church buildings that are air conditioned, but in reality we’re just a fraction of all the true believers that make up the universal church.

And quite frankly, most of the universal church is made up of other ethnicities, some rich but most poor, meeting in house churches, hiding for their lives.

The universal church is much larger than us—it isn’t just American Christians, it’s made up of every nation and every ethnicity. Be aware of the great diversity within the church.

And be aware, that Jesus has already unified it—worship our God who can unify such a diverse population of people in the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Unity as the local church is something that we must work on. Because the local church has people within it that don’t actually believe in Jesus Christ and the local church has true believers that disagree on various different topics. So, here’s the application for the local setting:

Unity is only supposed to happen when all of the group believes in the fundamentals of Christianity—the inerrancy of Scripture, the creation of man by God, the incarnation and virgin birth of Jesus Christ, his identification as the Son of God, his substitutionary atonement for the sins of mankind, his resurrection from the tomb, his ability to save men from sin, and the new birth by the Holy Spirit; as well as eternal life by the grace of God. If the other person doesn’t agree with these beliefs, we aren’t actually supposed to be unified with them.

And this agreement can either be by word or deed—in other words, even if they claim to believe it but they act like they don’t, we still shouldn’t be unified with them. We could also say, that unity within the local church is only possible when only the Gospel is believed and preached and taught. Any straying from the truth whether a complete denial of the truth or a twisting of the truth demands separation. Some modern-day examples of this would be:

If you visit a church and the preacher says that Jesus broke the law to save you—this is a twisting of what Scripture actually says. If Jesus broke the law, he would not have lived a perfect, sinless life and thus would not be acceptable as our substitutionary atonement—thus, we cannot be united with a preacher or a church that says that or supports it.

If you visit a church and the preacher ties political ideology, philosophical beliefs, or psychological ideas into Christianity—this is adding to what the Bible actually says and thus, we cannot be united with a preacher or a church that says or supports it.

Many denominations, churches, and pastors claim to believe in the inspiration of the Bible but when issues come up they either twist or disregard what Scripture says to combine modern cultural ideas with Scripture—people attempt to tie evolution into creation so they come up with the day-age theory, the gap theory, or any number of other theories. They don’t like what the Bible says about certain sins so they find the passages that call those activities sins and they either ignore the passage or they attempt to twist it to show that it isn’t actually a sin. The issue is, most of the time, the Bible is abundantly clear in these instances, so while they claim to believe in the inspiration of the Bible, the act as if the Bible isn’t truly inspired. Thus, we cannot be united with a denomination, church, or pastor that is willing to ignore or twist Scripture to fit their own belief system.

Which means that we have to discern whether someone, or a church, or a pastor is preaching the truth or if they’re only preaching what they want the Bible to say, which drives me at my application point—just because someone claims to be a Christian, just because someone claims to teach the Bible, just because a church claims to be right doesn’t actually mean that it is. Take time to study Scripture for yourself and learn what it says. And then, if that preacher, church, pastor, or person is teaching the truth, then be united with the church, person, pastor, or denomination. To unite with someone or a church or a denomination while knowing that they’re not teaching and preaching the truth is sinful because you then partake in their wickedness.

However, if you get to the point where you realize that they’re preaching and teaching the truth and they truly believe the Bible and the fundamentals of the faith, unity shouldn’t just be desired, it is to be required.

So we as believers need to live worthy of the calling and live with humility, gentleness, patience, and love with all those who truly do believe the fundamentals and believe in Jesus Christ.

And when we have disagreements concerning personal opinion, we act in humility, gentleness, patience, and love.

Because unity within the local church who believes the fundamentals and believes in Jesus Christ is required by the Lord.

Put simply, what Ephesians 4:1-7 is teaching, is that (1) believers are to walk worthy of the calling to which they’ve been called, (2) believers are to be humble, gentle, patient, and loving, which (3) should result in us as a local body of believers that believes in Jesus and believes in the fundamentals being unified in the Spirit.

When it comes to local church unity—unity for the sake of unity is unbiblical but unity on true doctrine and the Gospel of Jesus Christ is required.

Pastoral Prayer