Called to Unity

v.1:

Christians have unique calling, having been called by the Supreme God, the Almighty Creator of the universe.

God calls everyone, but not all will heed His call.

As I considered this statement, Luke 5:32 came to mind.

God calls all

Luke 5:32

Luke 5:32 NKJV

I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance.”

So, maybe God doesn’t call everyone. Jesus said He doesn’t call the righteous.

But then Romans 3:10; 23 came to mind, and I realized two things: No one is righteous, and everyone is a sinner. Therefore, God has called everyone.

Romans 3:10

Romans 3:10 NKJV

As it is written: “There is none righteous, no, not one;

Romans 3:23

Romans 3:23 NKJV

for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,

So, everyone is called, but not all will answer. However, answering the call is essential and simple.

Answering His call is essential and simple

Romans 6:23

Romans 6:23 NKJV

For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Romans 5:8

Romans 5:8 NKJV

But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

Romans 10:9-13

Romans 10:9–13 NKJV

that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. For the Scripture says, “Whoever believes on Him will not be put to shame.” For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek, for the same Lord over all is rich to all who call upon Him. For “whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.”

Not answering His call leads to death (aka hell).

John 3:17–18 NKJV

For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. “He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.

However, those who do answer His call, by faith, are part of His body…one body.

Paul urges believers to walk worthy of their calling. That is, to walk in a way that honors and glorifies the one who called them.

vv.2-3:

How do we walk in a way that honors and glorifies God?

Walking worthy of His calling

humility and gentleness

patience

love

Eager to maintain unity

As we saw in an earlier message, none of these are stand alone attributes. Each of these attributes works in concert with the others. They build upon each other.

Humility and gentleness:

Humility and gentleness refers to how we treat others. It means that we do not treat them harshly, and that we put their needs before our own.

Romans 12:3

Romans 12:3 NKJV

For I say, through the grace given to me, to everyone who is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think soberly, as God has dealt to each one a measure of faith.

Philippians 2:3

Philippians 2:3 NKJV

Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself.

God exalts the humble, so it is clear that humility honors Him.

Psalm 147:6

Psalm 147:6 NKJV

The Lord lifts up the humble; He casts the wicked down to the ground.

Psalm 25:9

Psalm 25:9 NKJV

The humble He guides in justice, And the humble He teaches His way.

Where there is humility, there is gentleness.

With humility, patience will be easier. A prideful attitude makes it much easier to become impatient with others.

A prideful person is an entitled person, and who person who feels entitled will not be patient.

Patience:

It has been said that you dare not pray for patience, because you won’t like how God will answer, and He will send trials to teach you patience.

Well, trials will happen, no matter what. It is a fact of life for believes.

1 Peter 4:12

1 Peter 4:12 NKJV

Beloved, do not think it strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened to you;

Second, patience is a necessary attribute for a believer. Without it we cannot truly “walk worthy” of our calling, and it is part of God’s working of perfection in a believer.

James 1:4

James 1:4 NKJV

But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing.

I get it, we live in a microwave society. We want everything instantly.

Nowadays, almost any information we desire can be delivered instantly through the internet.

We no longer have to wait to see TV shows and movies. We can watch them any time we want.

Our music is instantly delivered. We no longer have to wait for the radio to play a certain song, or spend time fast forwarding and rewinding tapes to find it.

We get upset when traffic slows us down, or we have to wait in line at the store.

And that package better not take more than two days to arrive.

You want to buy something? Instant credit! You don’t have to wait to save your money for it.

We’ve become accustomed to having everything right now.

This has helped to foster greater and greater levels of impatience, and it affects our relationship with God and each other.

Impatience damages our witness and testimony, making us less effective for Christ.

Our society makes patience hard, but Christians have always been called to be different.

We are to “be patient,” not short-tempered

We should definitely pray for patience, because without a measure of patience love is impossible. The more patience you have, the more you can love.

Love:

1 Corinthians 13:4-8

1 Corinthians 13:4–8 NKJV

Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil; does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails. But whether there are prophecies, they will fail; whether there are tongues, they will cease; whether there is knowledge, it will vanish away.

Love is kind (humility and gentleness)

Love is patient

Love bears all things

You can see that the qualities that we’ve already talked about are part of what makes up love.

To bear with one another means far more than just to tolerate others.

We don’t just put up with people, we show them the proper respect.

1 Peter 2:17

1 Peter 2:17 NKJV

Honor all people. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the king.

In short we are to treat others with love.

Unity:

We won’t be able to maintain unity unless we are humble, meek, patient and loving.

Understand that unity is not conformity. We are not all expected to be the same.

We each have different gifts, which work together to accomplish the same goal.

1 Corinthians 12:4-6

1 Corinthians 12:4–6 NKJV

There are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit. There are differences of ministries, but the same Lord. And there are diversities of activities, but it is the same God who works all in all.

When there is unity, there is peace. It is a bond secured by the Holy Spirit.

When the humility breaks down, so does gentleness. Then patience will be lost, and love will wane.

Unity and peace will give way to discord and strife.

Unfortunately, it happens all the time in our churches, and the results are devastating.

No one is ever going to be perfect here on earth, so we must accept and love other Christians in spite of their faults.

When we see faults in fellow believers, we should be patient and gentle.

Is there someone whose actions or personality really annoys you?

Rather than dwelling on that person’s weaknesses or looking for faults, pray for them. Eventually, you may even learn to like them.

To build unity is one of the Holy Spirit’s important roles.

He leads, but we have to be willing to be led and to do our part to keep the peace.

We do that by focusing on God, not on ourselves.