Transcript

A.W. Tozer, in his book, The Pursuit of God, wrote of how to gain greater unity: “Has it ever occurred to you that one hundred pianos all tuned to the same fork are automatically tuned to each other? They are of one accord by being tuned, not to each other, but to another standard to which each one must individually bow.

“So one hundred worshipers meeting together, each one looking to Christ, are in heart nearer to each other than they could possibly be, were they to become ‘unity’ conscious and turn their eyes away from God to strive for closer fellowship.”

It is true that the Church will find unity by looking to its Lord and Savior. And the unity of the Spirit teaches us to look to our “one Lord.” God desires that the Church look to the “standard” of the unity of the Spirit and its truths to bind our hearts together.

In doing so, this unity of truth unites us according to what God is doing today under grace. God’s truth from His Word is to be what unites us. The unity of the Spirit is the foundational truth for the oneness in the Body of Christ that God wants for His Church.

Ephesians 4:3-4: “Endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling.”

The word, “Endeavoring” means to make every effort, to labor, to be earnest and diligent.

And the Church is taught here to earnestly make every effort “to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.”

Paul does not teach the Church to create or make unity but “to keep the unity of the Spirit.” The “word” keep means to guard, to attend to carefully. We are instructed to keep the unity which the Holy Spirit has already made.

This is a doctrinal unity. Doctrine, the teaching of God’s Word, is what is to bind and unite the church together. This unity of the Spirit concerns the foundational doctrines for the Church under grace.

And Paul teaches the Body of Christ to keep, guard, carefully attend to, and take a stand for the seven doctrines contained in the unity of the Spirit.

Preservation of this unity of the Spirit is to be the diligent and earnest concern of the members of the Church. We are to endeavor and labor to that end, Paul wrote here.

It is the unity “of the Spirit,” because it is truth from His Word, the Word that the Spirit inspired. And it is the Spirit who enlightens us to these truths and it is He Who can unite the hearts of believers together under them.

And we are to work hard to guard this unity, Paul says, “in the bond of peace.”

The unity of doctrine has its origin in the Holy Spirit and the bond of believers who guard, stand, and unite under its truths is to be done in the peace which is a fruit of the Spirit and takes place by His enablement (Col. 3:15).

To preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace we need to know the truths that are to unite us in the Church, and importantly, to understand them according to the truth revealed to Paul for the current dispensation of grace.

In verse 4, Paul states of the unity of the Spirit, “There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling.”

There are seven “ones” in verses 4-6 that are true of all believers under grace. And the number seven refers to divine perfection, completion, and wholeness. The unity of the Spirit is a unit, it is seven yet one, as all seven of its planks connect with each other.

First, Paul wrote that there is “one Body.” Ephesians 1:22-23 defines the “one body” as the church. Speaking of the Lord Jesus, this passage reads, “And hath put all things under his feet, and gave him to be the head over all things to the church, Which is his body…”

There are many different churches and denominations in this world, but there is only one true Church. That one Church is the “one Body,” the Church, the Body of Christ.

The Body of Christ is a living, spiritual organism, made up of members who have life in Christ. From Paul forward, all who have trusted the gospel of grace that Christ died for our sins and rose again is a member of the one Body. Believers are joined to Christ and made members of the Body of Christ the moment they believe.

The Body is made up of Jews and Gentiles without distinction. As Paul wrote in this letter, that Christ has made “in Himself of twain [or Jew and Gentile] one new man, so making peace; and that He might reconcile both unto God in ONE BODY by the cross…” (2:15-16).

In time past, and in time future, the Scriptures concern the nation of Israel and God’s plans and purposes through her to be a blessing and a light to the world. Israel is the focus of God’s eternal purposes for the earth.

However, after Israel fell in her unbelief and rejection of her Messiah, God raised up a new apostle and gave him a revelation that had been hidden in the mind and heart of God.

Paul told the Ephesians in chapter 3: “If ye have heard of the dispensation of the grace of God which is given me to you-ward: How that by revelation he made known unto me the mystery…Which in other ages was not made known unto the sons of men.”

Within the revelation that Christ gave to Paul is the truth of the “one Body.” The one body is unique to the epistles of Paul. NO OTHER WRITER of Scripture mentions the Church, the Body of Christ. It was a truth unknown before Paul. The “one Body” is the Church of the present dispensation of grace.

And the Body of Christ is the focus of God’s eternal purposes for the heavens.

Today, Israel no longer holds a position of prominence over the nations. Israel has been temporarily set aside and God has turned to the nations to have a program with the Gentiles.

And in this dispensation, God is saving individuals out of ALL nations when they trust the gospel of grace, and then making them members of the “one Body.” And then He gives us our own separate position and blessings in Christ.

When Paul says that there is one body, it is not an exhortation, but a declaration. The meaning is not, “Let us be united in one body,” but instead that, under grace, there is one body, the Body of Christ. This is the one true Church today.

And as Romans 12:5 says, “So we, being many, are one body in Christ, and every one members one of another.”

Second, Paul wrote that there is “one Spirit.” Doctrine concerning the Holy Spirit, and His work under grace is the source of much division. But the truth of the “one Spirit” and His current working in the dispensation of grace is to be a unifying doctrine for the Church.

The one Spirit, the same Holy Spirit, indwells, every believer in the One Body.

Paul asked the Church in 1 Corinthians 6:19, “What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God…” Each believer is a temple of the Holy Spirit.

The same Spirit that dwells in me as a believer, dwells in you as a believer, and dwells in every single member of the Church, the Body of Christ. And that makes us one.

Believers individually are temples of the Holy Spirit. And believers collectively are one temple in the Lord.

Earlier in this letter, Paul wrote, “In whom [or Christ] all the building fitly framed together groweth unto an holy temple in the Lord: In whom ye also are builded together for an habitation of God through the Spirit.”

1 Corinthians 12:13 refers to the work of the Spirit at the moment of salvation, and how He baptizes, or He fully identifies, joins, places, and makes us members of the “one Body.”

“For by ONE SPIRIT are we all baptized into ONE BODY, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit.”

Under grace, the Spirit is the seal of all who believe the gospel of the grace of God. He is your seal, my seal, and the seal of all in the Church. Thus, He joins us to the Church and makes us members of the One Body forever.

In Ephesians 1:13, Paul wrote, “In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise.”

In this letter, Paul also tells us, that we can be “strengthened with might by His Spirit in the inner man” (3:16). The Spirit works in and through our inner man to empower us to serve the Lord, to strengthen us to put off the old man and put on the new.

As we yield to Him, the one Spirit produces His fruit of” goodness and righteousness and truth” in our lives.

And the “one Spirit” under grace, enlightens us to God’s truth in His Word and what it means to our lives. He can illumine what the unity of the Spirit entails in each of its seven elements and how it applies to the dispensation of grace.

He can enlighten us to how He works under grace: which is quietly but powerfully, behind the scenes, pointing the Church to Christ, and working through His Word and prayer.

Third, Paul wrote, “even as ye are called in one hope of your calling.” We are members of the same Church, the “one Body,” and we each are indwelt by the same “one Spirit.”

And each of us in the Church have the same hope. Every member of the Body of Christ is called to one destiny: heaven.

Israel has an earthly hope and calling, they have a promised land, a glorious kingdom on earth to look forward to with Christ their King ruling over them.

However, for us in the one Body, Ephesians 2:6 tells the Church that God “hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in HEAVENLY places in Christ Jesus:”

Colossians 1:5 teaches the Church of “the hope which is laid up for you in HEAVEN, whereof ye heard before in the word of the truth of the gospel.”

Our one hope is heaven. Our calling is to live and reign in Christ in heaven forever.

In Ephesians 1:17-18, prayed for the Body of Christ, That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him: The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of his calling…”

There are many who think our hope and calling is the kingdom on the earth. There are others who think we’ll go to heaven for a while and then come back for the kingdom.

There are still others who believe we’ll be in the new Jerusalem and be walking that street of gold in that glorious city for the eternal state.

But God wants His Church enlightened and joined in heart and mind in understanding the “one hope of YOUR calling,” not the calling that is for believing Israel on the earth.

He wants you to see and know from His Word that your ETERNAL home and hope in the Body of Christ is heaven.

By God’s grace, heaven is God’s eternal inheritance for the redeemed in the one Body, and He wants us united and joined in rejoicing together in that “one hope” of our calling.

Paul wrote in Ephesians 1:11: “In whom [Christ] also we [believers in the Body of Christ] have obtained an inheritance [heaven], being predestinated [or by God determining beforehand that heaven is the hope of the Body of Christ] according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will.”

We are seated in the heavenly places in Christ and being seated there means we will remain there and we will dwell in heaven forever.

And we know that because after stating that we, the Body of Christ, is seated in heavenly places, the next verse in Ephesians says, “That in the ages to come [that is, in our seated position in the heavenlies] he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus.”

Ephesians 4:5-6 says, “One Lord, one faith, one baptism, One Lord, one faith, one baptism, One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.”

Fourth, Paul wrote that there is “one Lord.” Our one Lord is the Son of God, the Lord Jesus Christ. Lordship speaks of authority. Christ is the truest and highest Authority of all. He is our Sovereign Master and Ruler. And the same Lord that is over me, is over you, and is over all of us in the Church.

In light of His coming from heaven to die the death of the Cross, Philippians 2:9-11 says, “Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name: That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; And that every tongue should confess that JESUS CHRIST IS LORD, to the glory of God the Father.”

As believers, we willingly accept His Lordship over us. We gladly bow the knee to Him in submission and worship and we gladly confess that Jesus Christ is our Lord.

Our Lord is our Savior Who paid for our sins and bought us by His shed blood, and we belong to Him. And He has the right to rule over us as our Lord and Savior.

Spiritual oneness in the Church results as we put focus and praise upon our one Lord, and as we grow to know Him more and are conformed to His image. We all are called to live for Him and His glory. And we are constrained by His love to serve Him and others.

Today, the Lord Jesus Christ, is seated at God’s “own right hand in the heavenly places, Far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named…” (Eph. 1:20-21).

The unity of the Spirit as it relates to our “one Lord” is to follow and obey Christ according to what He is doing today in the dispensation of grace.

Many desire and attempt to follow the one Lord according to His earthly kingdom teachings for Israel under the law. But when the unity of the Spirit says there is “one Lord” it means in relation to His current heavenly ministry under grace.

In His exaltation far above all, He has sovereign authority over the Church of today, the Body of Christ. He rules and reigns supreme over it.

The “one Lord” is our living Head. Ephesians 5:23 states that “Christ is the Head of the church: and He is the Savior of the Body.”

Christ rules preeminent over the Church. The Church is His, it is His Body.

Christ as Lord has absolute authority over it. He rules, directs, guides, controls, and governs it. And the Church is led by the “one Lord” as we follow and apply the grace instructions He has revealed for it in the pages of Paul’s epistles.

Ephesians 5:26 tells us that that our “one Lord” sanctifies and cleanses the Church in its daily walk by the Word that He revealed to Paul for today. And in His love for each of us, Ephesians 5:29 says that Christ nourishes and cherishes His Church.

Fifth, Paul wrote that there is “one faith.” This “one faith” includes first, the gospel of salvation for the current dispensation of grace, a gospel that is called the gospel of the grace of God. This is the one way to God today.

This gospel is, “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: not of works lest any man should boast” (2:8,9). This gospel for today is faith alone in Christ, that Christ died for our sins, was buried and rose again.

The moment one personally trusts this good news of salvation, they are saved by God’s grace through faith. No works, no confession of sins, no water baptism, no turning from your sins, just faith alone in Christ.

And at this moment of salvation, of personal faith in the “one Lord,” or Jesus Christ as Savior, the “one Spirit” by the “one baptism” places the believer in the “one Body,” and gives them “one hope” of heaven.

But this “one faith” is vital for the Church to understand under grace, because it is the faith that explains and teach about each part of the unity of the Spirit under grace.

One faith refers to the body of truth that was committed to Paul by the risen and exalted “one Lord,” for this current age, which Paul calls the revelation of the mystery.

Earlier in this letter, Paul wrote that Christ by revelation made known unto Paul, “the mystery.” This faith, the mystery, had “been hid from ages and from generations, but now is made manifest to his saints,” Paul told the Colossians.

And Paul wrote the Corinthians, “But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom, which God ordained before the world unto our glory” (1 Cor. 2:7).

The mystery is the faith, the body of grace truth for the current dispensation. This wisdom was planned and ordained by God before the world, but was hidden, hid in God, and never revealed until Christ revealed it first to Paul. This wisdom concerns the glory of the Church, the Body of Christ, and our hope and blessings in Christ.

This “one faith” explains the truth of the “one Body,” the Church under grace which is not mentioned outside of Paul’s letters. This “one faith” explains how the “one Spirit” works and operates under grace, and He enlightens believers to this truth in His Word.

The “one faith” explains the “one hope,” the hope of heaven, which is not the hope made known in the rest of Scripture for Israel that concerns the kingdom on earth.

The “one faith” teaches about the “one Lord” and His ministry at God’s right hand as the Head of the Church, and the one faith is His direct will that He revealed for His Church, the Body of Christ. The “one faith” is the body of truth found in the letters of Paul.

And the Church is called here to unite under the “one faith” for this age.

Sixth, Paul wrote that there is “one baptism.” While the subject of baptism has divided the church, God would have it united under the one baptism. To find the truth regarding the one baptism, we must look to the “one faith” for today to define it.

The word “baptism” refers to thorough and complete identification. It means to be identified with, joined to, and united perfectly.

Ephesians and Paul’s epistles often refer to the preposition of “in Christ” and “in Him” (1:1,3,4,10). How a person is placed into Christ and spiritually united with Him, and is so thoroughly and completely identified with Him, that the Word of God says that we are actually “in Christ” is through the one baptism.

It is the “one Spirit” Who carries out the “one baptism” under grace. And every single believer has experienced the one baptism.

Though we don’t see or feel it, the moment we trust Christ as our personal Savior, we are baptized, baptized by the Holy Spirit into Christ.

Through the one spiritual baptism, the believer is identified completely with and united eternally to Christ AND is placed into the one body, the Church.

Again, 1 Corinthians 12:13 says, “For by ONE SPIRIT are we all BAPTIZED into ONE BODY, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free…”

The “one faith” teaches that the “one baptism” by the “one Spirit” places us into the “one Body,” and joins us to the “one Lord.” And due to that inseparable union, we have our “one hope” and we have an eternal relationship with the “one God.”

And this one divine, spiritual baptism unites us with Christ AND with His finished work.

Romans 6:3,4 says, “Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into His death?…” Colossians 2:12 adds that we are “Buried with Him in baptism, wherein also ye are risen with Him…”

The moment we believe the gospel, the Holy Spirit unites us with Christ and with His death, burial, and resurrection. This being so, we have newness of life in Christ, and we are complete in Him.

Seventh, Paul wrote that there is “One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.”

In the unity of the Spirit, Paul has said there is “one Spirit” or God the Holy Spirit, and there is “one Lord,” or God the Son. Completing the Trinity in the unity of the Spirit, Paul says there is “One God and Father of all.” The unity of the Spirit revolves all three members of the Godhead and the working of God under grace.

Verse 6 refers to God the Father and His relationship to all believers in the Church. The “all” in this verse refers to “all” the Body; it is what is common to all the Church.

God is the Father of “all” the Body of Christ, “Who is above all” the Body, “and through all” the Body, “and in…all” the Body.

God is the Father of all the Church. As believers, we each have God as our Father and we are the children of God. God is sovereign and is “above” and over all the Church. He acts and works “through” all the Church. And He dwells “in” all believers in the Church.

On commentator put it well, “That comprehensive statement points to the glorious, divine, eternal unity that the Father gives believers by His Spirit and through the Son.

“We are God-created, God-loved, God-saved, God-Fathered, God-sustained, God-filled, and God-blessed. We are one people under one sovereign.”

The unity of the Spirit teaches us that we are all part of the same Church, the one body; the one Spirit dwells in every member of that one Body.

Every member of the one body has the same heavenly hope; we each have same Lord; we all have one faith to follow and live by in the Church; and we are joined to the body by the same spiritual baptism.

And in that one body, we all bow in worship and have a relationship with the one God and Father, who is above us all, through us all, and in us all.

May we be about the important work of “Endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.”