Introduction – There is one Head
of the Church, the Lord Jesus Christ.
And there is one body. And that
body is to display it’s unity to the glory of God.
The Source of Biblical Unity
(Eph 4:1-3) – Having completed three chapters of glorious doctrine, the first
application of it is given to the believers in these verses.
Walk Worthily
– Our inheritance is a high calling.
Act like it. This means you put
to death the deeds of the flesh and you live in obedience to your King. This, of course, is detailed in the next
three chapters, and is done ‘according to the power that works in us’
(3:20).
A Corporate
Walk (vv2-3) – But get that individualistic mindset
out of your head. He is talking to the
Church, not simply to a clump of autonomous individuals.
Keeping What
You Have (v3) – We are to endeavor to keep the unity of
the Spirit, not make unity. The source
of unity is the work of God (Eph 1:10), not man-made rallies. How do we keep this?
Biblical “lowliness and gentleness”
(Eph 4:2) – These attributes reflect how we view ourselves in the church. Lowliness is humility of mind. It means that you do not think too highly of
yourself. Gentleness (praus – often
translated ‘meekness’) is that disposition of complete dependence upon God
rather than upon one’s own strength (for salvation, for sanctification, for
knowledge, for everything).
Understanding this, it is not ‘meek’ or ‘lowly’ to deny the truths of
the Word, or consider doctrine as unimportant.
The Scripture declares quite the opposite. Relativism or doctrinal apathy is not meek. It is arrogant. Meekness means we do not dare stand against anything the Word
declares.
“…with
longsuffering, bearing with one another in love…”
– These attributes reflect how we view others in the church. We are not yet all on the same page
doctrinally. We do not yet all
understand chapters 1-3 (and the rest of the Bible). This is why God gives the Church her teachers (vv11-16). As we go through this growth process, we
must know what it means to bear with one another.
“Doctrine-less” Unity is not Biblical Unity
(1 Cor 1:10-13) – There was a problem in Corinth. Divisions were arising among the believers. Paul’s answer was not at all like our modern
answer – ‘dumb-down the statement of faith so we can all sign on’.
“I plead”
– This is a strong urging. Paul does
not see these differences of belief as insignificant at all.
“speak the same
thing….no divisions” – Unity requires that we say the same
things about Christ, grace, faith, salvation, the work of the Spirit. We know this because these are the subjects
which Paul corrects in the following chapters.
We cannot pretend to agree through our silence. “Schismata” is a word that pictures the
forceful destruction of unity. God is
of one mind and doctrinal differences do not reflect His lightheartedness about
truth. Divisions, rather, reflect our
carnality (1 Cor 3:1-4).
“perfectly
joined together” – This comes from the Greek word
‘katartidzo’, which means to put in order or to restore to its former
condition. It is used of mending nets
(Matt 4:21). We are told to be so in
the same mind (our articulated doctrine) and in the same judgment (our doctrine
applied).
Various Schisms
– We do not know exactly what schisms existed in Corinth, although the
corrections that follow throughout the rest of the book are probably
related. We know of doctrinal errors
that Apollos and Cephas had to be corrected in at different times (Acts 18, Gal
2). The divisions were doctrinal and
crucial to the integrity and unity of the church.
Reformation – Messiness without a “Party-Spirit”
– Like ‘mending nets’, we are praying for God to reform the church – this
church and the Church generally.
Where We Divide
– The Scriptures teach us there are times to divide. When the gospel is twisted, we must condemn it (Gal 1:6-10). It is not divisive to put a divisive man out
of your midst (Tit 3:10). Today, too
many ecumenical movements stress unity at whatever the cost. Their understanding of unity is muddled.
The Nets Aren’t
Mended – And so we must study the Word of God
together. This might be necessary with
a brother who does not yet see God’s absolute sovereignty. This is necessary as we study the doctrine
of baptism. Nets that aren’t mended
tear easily, and a “party spirit” will split a church.
Denominations
– Corporately, we must repent of our thousands upon thousands of
denominations. Corporately, we must
strive for like-mindedness according to the Sciptures. Unity is preserved and strengthened when the
whole gospel is clearly, sharply, and truthfully proclaimed. The CRE is one attempt at promoting biblical
unity.
God our Father,
The Church our Mother (Gal 4:26) – This concept is very
foreign to the modern Christian, but it is central to building unity in the church. As one man said, “The Church, like a
nursery, can be a messy place at times, ripe with the smell of rebellion and
ignorance”. There are many forces
that will tempt you to keep ‘church’ at a distance, internally and
externally. We must understand Church
as Mother and see the church as the central place where God will grant true
reformation – evangelism, social change, and the good life, will flow from
God’s ordained place of blessing (Mic 4:1-2).