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Thoughts of a saint and slave
by Sam Isaacson
This week, one of the most visited passages in my Bible, and always a challenge! The lead pastor in my church is famous for always finding a commentator in every sermon who has said that 'this verse is the most important in the whole Bible' - I'm going out on a limb and will say myself that in my opinion this passage is possibly the most continually relevant and massively important passage for the Church to hear.
'Always be humble and gentle. Be patient with each other, making allowance for each other’s faults because of your love. Make every effort to keep yourselves united in the Spirit, binding yourselves together with peace. For there is one body and one Spirit, just as you have been called to one glorious hope for the future. There is one Lord, one faith, one baptism, and one God and Father, who is over all and in all and living through all.' Ephesians 4:2-6
Our attitude
Paul begins this passage by using one important word, which is surely they key behind all unity in the church as far as our attitude is concerned: humility. He says to be 'humble and gentle', and not only when we feel it is necessary but 'always'. If we are to take anything from this passage then it must be this: be humble. Unity comes from an ability to not judge one another, but rather be united regardless of our differences, and the foundation this is built on is humility. A homeless Christian could walk into a church meeting on a Sunday morning and sit next to a Christian millionaire - it is humility that stops the homeless person from judging the millionaire for not immediately offering finances without knowing about his situation, and it is humility that stops the millionaire judging the homeless person for not having had a wash without knowing about his situation. Regardless of race, sex, culture or social background humility is what will prevent Satan from dividing the house of God.
One Spirit
But we are not called to merely avoid falling out within ourselves, but rather to 'make every effort' to keep ourselves 'united in the Spirit'. A recognition must be made of our need for God - His Holy Spirit lives in us - that is how we know we are the Church! There is a call, however, for us to 'make every effort'. In other words, we cannot simply relax, waiting for God to do some magic trick in our hearts; we are to desire unity, and strive for it at every available opportunity. The key is not to rely on our own efforts, but to put our trust in Him! The same Spirit lives in all of us and so we are united whether we admit it or not - our efforts must be to recognise that and live it out in all humility.
One Lord
Paul goes on to talk about 'one glorious hope' - 'one Lord' Jesus Christ. Every member of the body has been saved in the same way, through the cross of Christ. This one salvation, leading to one future together should cause us as the house of God to desire unity now, and know that as we were saved together so can we live our new lives together. Ironically, and sadly, it is the phrase 'one baptism', by which we are all welcomed into the body of Christ, which non-charismatics (although I do not like that term) use to argue against the practise of spiritual gifts in the church today; Satan must love it when a passage about unity is used, by Christians, to justify their disunity. let us fix our eyes on Jesus, our common Saviour and Lord, rather than our differences.
One God and Father
The end of this passage is on the Father; this is odd because Paul has worked through the Holy Trinity 'the wrong way': Spirit-Son-Father. is this perhaps because he is so aware that our unity must start in our own hearts prompted by the Spirit, that it will only then lead us through to worshipping the Father? In any case the reminder is here that God is sovereign. Whether we want to be united as the Church or not our faith must rest in the God who is in control - He will have His way, which has been recorded in Ephesians 4 as a united body. Our trust should be in Him and only in Him - with this attitude we surely cannot fail to be united and to bring glory to His holy name by corporately worshipping Him in Spirit and in truth!
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