Ephesians 4:1-6 at React Summit 5/27

Introduction- It’s my honor, joy, and privilege to be here tonight at the React Summit preaching the word of our most Holy God. We’re going to be in Ephesians 4:1-6. Now, before we dive in, I believe it’s important for us to understand the context prior to our Scripture of focus (this is a good, responsible practice whenever we handle any text from the Bible).

So, I want to read our text, pray, and then I want to explain a bit of context to help us understand how the apostle Paul got to this point. I would encourage you to follow along in your Bible.

Ephesians 4:1-6

PRAY

Please keep in mind here that there’s so much to unpack even just specifically in chapter 4. But we’re going to attempt tonight to focus on these first 6 verses and by the grace of our mighty God glean a better understanding of biblical unity in the local church. So Paul is spurring on the church at Ephesus here to unity. I’m sure that’s at least part of the reason why most of us are here tonight, to focus on and be encouraged toward unity.

Paul first gives some distinctives regarding what it looks like to walk (or live) as a Christian, then he exhorts the church to unity of the Spirit, and then he gives the basis of the unity he’s calling for. But, Paul doesn’t just jump to a focus on unity here. The context of the whole letter of Ephesians actually shows us that he spent a large chunk of the letter (about half of it) laying a theologically robust foundation before he spends another large chunk of the letter calling the church to action. Here are some examples:

Ephesians 1:3-10 “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love he predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved. In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth.”

Ephesians 2:1-10 “And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.”

Ephesians 3:1-6 “For this reason I, Paul, a prisoner of Christ Jesus on behalf of you Gentiles— assuming that you have heard of the stewardship of God’s grace that was given to me for you, how the mystery was made known to me by revelation, as I have written briefly. When you read this, you can perceive my insight into the mystery of Christ, which was not made known to the sons of men in other generations as it has now been revealed to his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit. 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.”

This seemingly miniscule detail in the arrangement of Paul’s letter is something I believe we overlook often in the local church today. For example, we often read and quote the words of Jesus in John 17:20-23 “I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me. The glory that you have given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one, I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me.”

If we’re not careful, we can take bits and pieces away from this amazing truth proclaimed by our Lord and Savior, STRIPPING from it the glorious weight it holds in all its original content.

Christ doesn’t just pray for church attenders to be one, He prays to the Father for those who BELIEVE in Him (His DISCIPLES), through the word of the apostles, that THEY would be one. He prays for those whom He’s given His glory to (which many scholars and commentators wrestle with, I would go home and study this for yourself), that THEY may become perfectly one.

Therefore, my goal is to, by God’s grace, get us to understand that unity is not the prize. It’s NOT the goal nor is it the main focus! It’s the byproduct of cherishing the Lord above all else! Maybe you’re rethinking why in the world you’re here then. My aim isn’t to get us to cherish unity any less. Unity is an amazing gift from the Lord, but it must only be cherished in its proper place.

Without the proper foundation, unity can ONLY BE superficial and will crumble every time. For example, holding my wife’s hand is a good thing. She loves it. It shows her I love her, makes her feel loved, shows to everyone we pass by that I love this woman. Holding my wife’s hand is a good, even great thing. So, since its a good thing, I’m gonna focus ALL my attention, effort, and affections toward this task. I’m not gonna worry about anything else but holding her hand. I’m going to pay zero attention to anything outside of the good thing that is holding her hand.

Sounds great, right?! OF COURSE NOT! How ridiculous would it be to forsake anything and everything that’s not hand holding. Any reasonable, sound minded person would say “You fool, kiss her! Date her! Make her laugh, hug her, spend time with her! CHERISH HER!”.

I fear this is what we do with unity in the local church. We see some discord, maybe some angry people here and there, or perhaps true disunity rises its ugly head, and instead of going to the One who is the answer, we run after the result. Like WE can fix it if we just buy a few t-shirts, hang out with a few more people from other churches, and talk about it a lot. Our Sovereign God is the only One that can truly bring biblical unity, not us.

CHRIST is the goal, HE is the prize! Philippians 3:12-14 “Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.”. My aim is to get us all to prize and focus upon Christ alone, far above any other person or result! For life is truly found ONLY where Christ is truly prized.

Ephesians 2:4-7 “But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.” The Lord saves His Church, makes us alive with Him, and seats us WITH Him! What kindness! This is the only way to have true, living unity, by God’s grace and salvation! Any other unity is simply dead. A.W. Tozer says “One hundred religious persons knit into a unity by careful organizations do not constitute a church any more than eleven dead men make a football team. The first requisite is life, always.”.

If the Lord is the prize, the focus unto whom we direct all of our affections in the Holy Spirit, unity will be a natural byproduct brought forth by HIM. We will see this and how we’re called as believers to maintain unity, be eager for it, but not idolize it in the following verses.

Ephesians 4:1- Paul uses “therefore” to transition from his focus on doctrine in the previous chapters, to how the church should live in response to the doctrine he’s laid out. He was imprisoned in Rome, though he makes the important claim that he wasn’t a Roman prisoner, but a “prisoner for the Lord”. Paul then urges the church to live in such a way that is “worthy” or consistent/matching with their calling, God’s sovereign call to salvation.

It’s crucial to pay attention to what Paul is focusing on as a first step of practical application of the sound doctrine he’s previously laid out. The calling to which the church has been called. He’s referring to the call to salvation, not a vocational call. 2 Peter 1:10 “Therefore, brothers, be all the more diligent to confirm your calling and election, for if you practice these qualities (faith, virtue, knowledge, etc.) you will never fall.”. John 6:44 “No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him. And I will raise him up on the last day.”.

After laying a firm foundation of doctrine in the first half of the letter, his first exhortation to believers is to live the way the Lord wants them to live, consistent with their regeneration. The structure here particularly matters because this first exhortation sets the stage for whats to come. He’s clearly addressing believers.

Ephesians 4:2- Paul’s addressing born-again believers, whom he then commands to walk out the Christian life in some specific ways, all of which are key components found in the byproduct that is unity within the local church. Humility, gentleness, and patience. Gentleness and patience specifically are fruits of the Spirit, with humility closely tied to gentleness.

All three ways as commanded by Paul are necessary to bear with one another in love. And notice, he doesn’t just command “bear with one another” or “tolerate each other for a time”, but “bear with one another in love”. 1 John 2:5b-6 “By this we may know that we are in him: whoever says he abides in him ought to walk in the same way in which he walked.” We are to care for each other and bear one another’s burdens, just like Christ did and continues to do.

Ephesians 4:3- Furthermore, Paul commands the church to be eager in maintaining the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. Now, as you’ll see if you’ve been following along in your Bibles, verses 1-3 that we’re talking about here are one continuous thought. They flow together. If you’re a born-again follower of Jesus then you are to actually live that out, with all humility, gentleness, and patience, bearing with your brother and sister in the church in love, eagerly maintaining the unity that the Holy Spirit brings in peace that holds us together.

This is the initial call. That’s all incredibly important, but what I really want to try to highlight is verses 3-6. Beginning here in verse 3, notice the word Paul uses here, “maintain the unity of the Spirit”. Not “stir-up” or “generate” or “bring about”, but MAINTAIN unity! Unity within the church isn’t brought forth by us, but God Himself! This is a glorious and relieving truth!

1 Corinthians 12:12-13 “For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and all were made to drink of one Spirit.”. We can’t create unity, but we must maintain the Spirit given unity in the church. The word for “maintain” here is “tereo” which can also mean guard or attend carefully.

I believe this is one of our major plights today. We think, pray, preach, and act like we MUST conjure up unity, like its on our shoulders. I pray that as we read this verse, we feel a large weight removed from our shoulders. Unity is not up to us or our own creativity/productivity, its ultimately up to the Holy Spirit to bring it forth. And then He empowers us to maintain it.

And not just maintain it, but we are to be eager to maintain it. We’re to exert ourselves and endeavour to maintain this Holy Spirit given unity. Again, what I’ve been advocating for is not for us to forget about unity entirely and just “let it happen”. As we see here in verse 3, we absolutely must fight for biblical unity in the church, for we’re all in danger of pride taking over and causing divisions (verse 1).

Ephesians 4:4-6- So far, we’ve covered Paul’s shift from doctrine to application, which is crucial. Doctrine without application is just head knowledge. However, we mustn't take this so far as to forsake doctrine. Its both doctrine AND action. And we see how important Paul holds both of these in his shift once again to doctrine here in verses 4-6.

Here is highlighted the “oneness” of our historic orthodox Christian belief. One body, one Spirit, one hope, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all who’s over all through all and in all. Paul leads us here into the basis for the unity he’s just commanded us to eagerly maintain. As I’ve already emphasized, he doesn’t just leave a commandment for unity here, but provides what biblical, God glorifying unity is based off of.

There are 7 “one’s” here, made up of 4 that refer to our salvation and 3 that highlight our triune God. It appears to be no coincidence that Paul particularly brings to our attention the oneness that is seen in sound doctrine. As Albert Barnes puts it, “...as there is really but one church on earth, there ought to be unity.” “All the gifts of prayer, and of preaching; all the zeal, the ardor, the love, the self-denial in the church, are produced by the same Spirit. There should be, therefore, unity.” “...Christians have the same hope, and they should therefore be one. They are looking forward to the same heaven; they hope for the same happiness beyond the grave.” “...there ought to be unity among Christians, because they have one Lord and Saviour. They have not different Saviors adapted to different classes; not one for the Jew and another for the Greek; not one for the rich and another for the poor; not one for the bond and another for the free. There is but one.” “...Christians should be united because they hold the same great doctrines; and also, because they have the same confidence in the Redeemer in their hearts, They hold the same system as distinguished from Judaism, Paganism, Mohammedanism, Deism; and they should, therefore, be one.” “(Christians) are all baptized in the name of the same Father, Saviour, Sanctifier. They have all in this manner been consecrated unto God, and devoted to his service.” Christians have “The same God; therefore there should be unity” and “One God who is the Father of all; that is, who is a common Father to all who believe.”.

What we have here is another example of the importance of the foundation of our unity. Paul gives the charge for the church to eagerly maintain Holy Spirit given unity in verse 3, and then immediately reminds the church what correct belief that unity consists of in verses 4-6! The basis matters! We can be unified on anything. Satan and his angels are incredibly unified! But only blood bought unity contains ultimate substance and strength.

Sound, biblical doctrine is what distinguishes us from the world, from false teaching. It’s also what unifies us as Christ’s Church. This is why we reject broad ecumenism! Ecumenism simply defined is “the principle or aim of promoting unity among the world's Christian Churches”. On the surface, this could seem to be a most holy effort. However, take caution brothers and sisters!

More careful study of this movement will reveal that what many so called “Christians” (I’m sure of which there are genuine, well meaning believers who may be caught up in this) advocate for that adopt the term “ecumenism” is blind unity. A mere satisfaction with a simple confession of the lips that “I believe in God”. How foolish! How dangerous! How prone to destruction. The ESV expository commentary says “Only a unity theologically grounded in the reality of the triune God and His gospel will be able to survive attacks from without and pressure from within”.

Certainly we can affirm a careful, more narrow definition of the term. A better definition would perhaps be “the principle or aim of promoting unity among the universal, biblical, Trinity affirming, Jesus following, humanity and divinity of Jesus confessing, salvation by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone, as revealed by Scripture alone, to the glory of God alone believing Christian Churches”. Kind of a joke, kind of not.

What I really hope we all see here tonight during this first session is that what we’re unified about matters. This was demonstrated for us tonight through Paul’s letter to the church at Ephesus, but a focus and careful handling of the truth is seen all throughout Scripture. That should awaken us to the importance of the foundation of our unity.

Although it may seem like a God-glorifying endeavour, we can not blindly unify ourselves with just anyone. It is simply unwise and unbiblical to advocate for, as biblical Christians, unity with Roman Catholicism, Jehovah's Witnesses, and Mormonism just to name a few (there are many sects of so-called “Christians” to be weary of). Why? Because of Ephesians 4:3: “eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.”.

We’re to maintain the unity that the Holy Spirit has given amongst His people, not whomever we please. Now, please hear me. I’m not suggesting legalism nor inaction. I’m not saying that we shouldn’t evangelize to these groups, love on these groups, or associate with these groups. By the grace and mercy of God, please do all three! But there’s a difference between loving your neighbor as yourself and the precious unity of the Church of the Lord Jesus Christ.

I want to leave you with a warning and a charge. First, a warning. PLEASE don’t think that this or ANY one conference or one ministry will solve whatever perceived unity problem we observe in our current cultural climate within the church. Peluso and Noah, I promise this is not a shot at you guys or what you’re both doing. You’re both brothers in Christ and I love you both. Keep serving and glorifying our God.

But, it’s not up to these guys! It’s not even up to us as mere people. It’s ultimately up to the Holy, Sovereign God. Who, by His mercy and NOT because He’s impressed with us, has chosen to accomplish His will and purposes through us. Empowering us in the Holy Spirit. Specifically, all within the context of the local church.

And that’s the charge: give yourself and your family to a biblical, local church. Get plugged in, love on the people there, glorify God there, and be fed through the singing and preaching of the Word. On top of all that, give yourself there eagerly to the work of maintaining the unity the Spirit of God has given us in the bond of peace.

Please be encouraged, beloved. The Lord is at work. Trust in Him, seek Him, and look to our one God, who is completely unified in 3 persons.

PRAY