How can Christians live in unity? This is a question many of us have asked in 2020. The Bible says that the desires that battle within us, in other words ‘sin’ is at the root of divisions in the church (James 4:1). Our sins are taken away in Christ, and so can our disunity be taken away in Christ. The ultimate purpose of Jesus’s death on the cross is to reconcile all things to God and restore unity in all of creation that was lost at the fall because of sin (Col 1:19). So, unity is not our meager human attempt at friendliness but it is the work of Christ in us. Let us look at some verses to understand better the biblical foundations for unity in the church.
Eph. 4:1-6
1 I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you to walk worthy of the calling with which you were called,
2 with all lowliness and gentleness, with longsuffering, bearing with one another in love,
3 endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.
4 There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called in one hope of your calling;
5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism;
6 one God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.
I. Walking In Unity Is Demanded By Our Common Calling in Christ (Eph. 4:1)
We Have All Been Summoned To A “Heavenly Calling” and We Have the responsibility to live worthy of that calling.
Eph 1:3-4 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ. Just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love
Rom 12:4-5 For as we have many members in one body, but all the members do not have the same function, so we, being many, are one body in Christ, and individually members of one another.
Eph 4:11-13 And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ;
All believers have been blessed with every spiritual blessing, not for fulfilling individual desires, but to participate in God’s grand plan of restoring all creation unto Himself. We are all members of one another, with a diversity of gifts to serve one another. The demand for unity is not amidst uniformity but in diversity. It cannot come about by the actions of some members but by the actions of all members, as they recognize how best they fit in relation with the whole body. The word, “equipping,” katartismos, used as a noun here in Ephesians 4:12, has an interesting medical history in classical Greek. “To equip often meant to put a bone or a part of the human body into right relationship with the other parts of the body so that every part fits thoroughly. It means to realign a dislocated limb.” Only as each part does its work in harmony with other parts, in submission to the Lord, will we see unity in the church, and thereby the church can grow into maturity to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.
While we are called to eagerly desire individual spiritual gifts, it is not the spiritual gifts in themselves that produce unity, but it’s humble submission to God and other members of the body in love, that leads to unity. Just as in a human body, where every part that is connected to the brain influences another part of the body, every believer living in unity with another, acts like a joint of supply for life-giving power for spiritual maturity when connected to the head who is Christ. Paul exhorts us to pursue both love and spiritual gifts (1 Cor 14:1) as we can have spiritual gifts, but without love the gifts are useless (1 Cor 13:1). When we live in unity and also possess spiritual gifts, there will be a greater impact toward the witness for Christ (Acts 1:8). So, what we need is spiritually mature Christians living in unity, helping each other mature, to attain corporate maturity in Christ. When we act together as Christ’s body, the world can see Christ through us (John 17:21).
A spiritually mature Christian lives a life worthy of the calling, a walk that conforms to our new position in Christ and not to our old position in the world. A worthy walk is to conduct ourselves in such a way that it adds weight to the gospel and the cause of Christ. We are his representatives on earth, and our lives must show it.
Eph 2:2: in which you once walked cording to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience
2 Peter 5-8: But also for this very reason, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue, to virtue knowledge, to knowledge self-control, to self-control perseverance, to perseverance godliness, to godliness brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness love. For if these things are yours and abound, you will be neither barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.
II. Walking In Unity Is Displayed In Our Common Character (Eph. 4:2-3)
Romans 12:2: And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.
As we renew our mind daily with the word of God, our character is slowly reshaped; our thinking changes, our opinions, values, and attitudes are changed to comport with the nature and character of Christ. The Spirit of God leads us into all truth revealed in the Word of God (John 14:26).
1. Character for Christian Unity is produced internally
THE 1ST FOUNDATION STONE OF CHRISTIAN UNITY IS HUMILITY
Phil. 2:1-4 Therefore if you have any encouragement in Christ, if any comfort from His love, if any fellowship with the Spirit, if any affection and compassion, then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being united in spirit and purpose. Do nothing out of selfish ambition or empty pride, but in humility consider others more important than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others
THE 2ND FOUNDATION STONE OF CHRISTIAN UNITY IS GENTLENESS
Gentleness (or meekness, strength under control) goes hand in glove with humility. Gentleness is consideration towards others; not insisting on our own rights (meekness); not asserting ourselves at the expense of others. The strong use their rights in such a way as to not cause the weak to stumble in their faith.
1 Cor 9:12 If others have this right to your support, shouldn’t we have it all the more? But we did not exercise this right. Instead, we put up with anything rather than hinder the gospel of Christ.
THE 3RD FOUNDATION STONE OF CHRISTIAN UNITY IS PATIENCE
To be patient is to be willing to wait, to be “longsuffering”, just as God waits in patience, holding back his judgement on this world, waiting for people to turn to him.
Our patience is to be expressed by bearing with one another in love, by tolerating one another’s faults out of love for one another. Love is the underlying virtue upon which both “patience” and “forbearance” are based.
2. Peace should be the overriding character of unity among Christians
Ephesians 2:14–16: For He Himself is our peace, who has made both one, and has broken down the middle wall of separation, having abolished in His flesh the enmity, that is, the law of commandments contained in ordinances, so as to create in Himself one new man from the two, thus making peace, and that He might reconcile them both to God in one body through the cross, thereby putting to death the enmity.
God has already established peace through our Lord Jesus Christ and our role is to maintain that peace. This kind of peace is not accomplished through forced external conformity, but by conforming to Christ internally, and ministering to each other in love. As we decrease, God increases in our lives, and the peace of God that Jesus bought comes forth.
III. Walking In Unity Is Driven By Our Common Confession (Eph 4:4-6)
Paul reminds us of our common confession of faith as brothers and sisters in Christ as he exhorts us to keep unity.
- Unity Of Formation: “One Body” And “One Spirit”
1 Cor. 12:13: For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free—and have all been made to drink into one Spirit.
The Holy Spirit in us is the basis of our oneness. There is one body (the church), which is comprised of all believers.
- Unity Of Destiny: “One Hope Of Your Calling”
Tit 2:13: looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ
We all have a common hope – namely, the hope of being with and like Christ.
- Unity Of Headship: “One Lord”
Rom 5:1-2 Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.
The church’s primary confession is that Jesus Christ is the sovereign Lord, the head of the body
- Unity Of Belief: “One Faith”
Phil. 1:27: Only let your conduct be worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or am absent, I may hear of your affairs, that you stand fast in one spirit, with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel
Faith of the gospel (in a nutshell): For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life (John 3:16)
- Unity Of Ordinance: “One Baptism”
Romans 6:3-6 Or do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? Therefore, we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. For if we have been united together in the likeness of His death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of His resurrection, knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin.
Christians may differ as to the ‘form’ of baptism but there is only one baptism in the sense that true baptism expresses one truth – namely, faith in, and union with, Christ.
- Unity Of Godhead: “One God And Father”
The unity of the church is most fully expressed in the unity of God himself. It is through our relationship with the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit that Christians participate in this unity.
Application
Rom 15:1, 7 We then who are strong ought to bear with the scruples of the weak, and not to please ourselves…Therefore receive one another, just as Christ also received us, to the glory of God.
We have been called to “walk in Unity” through our common calling, common character, and common confession. We are not to reject those whom Christ has already accepted. Whether a brother is weak or strong in Christ, we accept them, because we are all called to walk together in unity.
This does not mean that all the other teachings in the Bible that are not in the common confession are not important. Nor does it mean that we don’t try to strive for theological clarity from the word of God on other issues. There however seems to be an implicit distinction between doctrines of primary and secondary importance both in the words of Jesus and Paul. In Matt 23:24-25, Jesus Himself suggests some errors are gnats and some are camels, and some are weightier than others. Paul likewise speaks of truth of first importance (1 Cor 15:3). The “first principles of the oracles of God” (Heb. 5:12) are listed in Hebrews 6:1-2, and these are starting point for Christian maturity (Heb. 6:1).
We must certainly take stand against false teachings, especially those that go against the common confession and those that are very clearly defined in the Bible. However, when there are disputable matters that lack biblical clarity, it is an opportunity to bear with one another in love with those who share our common confession. In situations, where Paul made judgements about what constitutes a weak and strong Christian (Rom 14, 1 Cor 8), he still did not pass hard and fast rules about the disputed matters but called the church to accept each other in Christ and reminded that our accountability is before the Lord. Until we see God face to face, we will not have perfect knowledge (1 Cor 13:10). We are not to destroy the work of the Lord for the sake of secondary minor differences (Rom 14:17-20). So, though we may not agree on every secondary detail of understanding, we can be united on the gospel and work toward unity and maturity in Christ, both individually and corporately. This is not easy and can only can be done by the strength of the Holy Spirit. As we refocus on our identity in Christ, he will help us toward that healthy balance of valuing all his teaching while still walking in love with his people.
To walk worthy of our calling means (1) to live by what is demanded of our position in Christ; (2) to display our new character in Christ; and (3) to be driven by our confession of faith in the gospel. Spiritually mature Christians living in unity, helping each other mature, to attain corporate maturity in Christ.
In his book Mark of the Christian, Francis Schaeffer writes “We cannot expect the world to believe that Jesus’ claims are true, and that Christianity is true, unless the world sees some reality of the oneness of true Christians”
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