The Power Of Unity | Ephesians 4:1-16

HF: In this passage Apostle Paul writes about the need to eagerly work for the unity of the Spirit that is supposed to be the state of the church.

INTRODUCTION

One day we as a family went and bought a sapling to be planted in front of our house. We then planted it in front of our home, watered it and over the years it grew into a wonderful tree. In a way, we created the right condition for this tree to grow, to flourish, so that it can grow to its full potential. What are the conditions that we need as people, family and church to reach our full potential? Of course, we are not trees, we do not stand in the sun or soil or rain. One of the most important conditions for growth of any unit is to have unity among people. Unity does not mean that we are all the same or we all do the same thing. Being united means despite the differences, we are able to work as one

OUTLINE

Structure of this sentence from 4:1-16

1-6 General admonition

Eph. 4:7-16 Theological basis of unity.

Ephesians 4:1-6 ¹As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. ²Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. ³Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. ⁴There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to one hope when you were called; ⁵one Lord, one faith, one baptism; ⁶one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.

Paul introduces the ethical part of the letter in Ephesians 4. He starts the ethics by writing what the church needs to do to keep the unity?

Ephesians 4:1 As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received.

When Paul says, “As a prisoner for the Lord..,” he is not beginning the letter here. Paul is saying, “Guys listen. I am in prison because I am living out to the calling. Now therefore I urge you to live up to the calling to which you have been called.”

Our Christian Call: It is a calling that calls for a worthy walk. It is a great calling and it has set expectations for moral behavior and community interaction.

We have been called to something and we are to live as those who are worthy of being called the children of God, of being called followers of Christ Jesus. We need to know it is a call that comes with some obligation. It is a call to unity, new identity, and community.

The Church Is Called For Unity

Ephesians 4:3 Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace

Paul reminds the Ephesians that they have been called to unity and they must live up to that calling. Paul underlines clearly that this unity is of the Spirit and must be kept in that bond of peace. Paul asks them to do everything in their power to maintain this unity. Then he gives them some basis for this unity.

Basis of Unity

It is intrigant/interesting in these three verses to find out that Paul is not asking the church to begin to live out, to promote unity. No. He is saying that unity is already there, so you ought to maintain or keep that unity.

The Theme Of Unity Earlier In Ephesians

Remember, Paul has touched upon unity earlier in this letter:

• 2:11-16. Christ has made the Jews and Gentiles one.
• 2:19. Jews & Gentiles have become members of the household of God.
• 3:6. They mystery of God is that the Jews and Gentiles are now shearers of the promises of God.
• 3:6. Jews and Gentiles are members of one body.

That unity is already there. It is a unity that is supposed to be natural. It is almost like saying this, “You are siblings, you are expected to get along.”

ILLUSTRATION

I have always seen that no matter what happens as siblings when they fight, they will come together. We have the expression, “Blood is thicker than water.” Only in some rare cases I have seen that siblings fight and they do not have anything to do with each other.

Paul is saying that in the church we are expected to get along. We could have disagreements but we will have to sit down and resolve it. You are called to peace. That is your DNA. You care called for unity, keep it.

Christian Unity Cup

ILLUSTRATION

The African-American community celebrates the cup of unity between Dec. 16 and Jan. 1. It is a ritual where they drink either wine, grape juice or water from a cup one after the another with a straw.

Here, Paul is giving us a unity cup:

Ephesians 4:1-3 ¹As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. ²Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. ³Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace

Unity Cup:

• Humility
• Gentleness
• Patience
• Mixed with Peace & Love.

If you can put all in that cup, if you can funnel that through and make it real in the church, then the unity of the Spirit will be clear and activated to the highest level in the church.

Humility:

The word humility in classical Greek is a negative word. Uncommon in Greco-Roman word. Humility was a negative word because it sounds as if people are not confident in themselves, as if they are too lowly.

But the early Christians will turn the meaning of this word around and make it a virtue. This is not to feel weak in themselves but that they know who they are and they have no reason to impress the world or an audience who actually gratify in the things of the flesh.

So knowing who they are, they develop this inner attitude of humility by choice. This is not because somebody is oppressing them, not because they have lost sense of identity but they refused to be braggarts culturally. That was countercultural. Now they would do well in today’s terms, they would do well with some people. They will not do well in the church. In the corporate world  they say you need to be able to speak out for yourself, but not a believer.

Gentleness:

Gentleness here has nothing to do with looking good aesthetically but it is a demeanour of politeness, meekness and mildness.

“The two terms together (humility and gentleness), then refer to an attitude that both recognizes one’s true position before God ….and is willing to be kind and gracious to others even when circumstances might excuse one from showing these qualities.”

– Frank Thielman, Ephesians 254

Patience:

One of the key qualities Paul brings here as a key ingredient to keep that unity alive is Patience.

Patience can be translated as:

• Perseverance or persistent in conviction under difficult circumstances.
• Bear up one another.

Persistence is expressed when one is under pressure of in difficult situation. If someone is under strict pressure, what is going to keep their unity alive is not that they lose control and misbehave but they are able to bear up one another.

If you have been in any church, you will know that you need patience. There is a lot of opportunity to allow the fruit of the Spirit to develop in you. People will test you, troubles will come, pressures will come.

Paul says, “Do everything eagerly, do everything to keep the spirit of unity.”

The Basis for Unity; Eph. 4:4-6

He underlines 7 common things they share

Ephesians 4:4-6 ⁴There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to one hope when you were called; ⁵one Lord, one faith, one baptism; ⁶one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.

One Body

Eph. 3:6 – Both Jews and Gentiles are now members of one body.

Eph. 4:4 – There is one body.

One Spirit: Eph. 1:13

Eph.1:13 – Sealed by the Holy Spirit.

Eph. 2:16 – We are strengthened by power through his Spirit in our inner being.

Eph. 2:20 – God’s power is at work within us through the Spirit.

Eph. 4:4 – There is one Spirit we share.

One Hope

Eph. 1:18 – Know the hope to which he has called you.

Eph. 4:4 – We are called to One Hope

They are all called to one hope. He talks about an inheritance and also mentioned that they have now become sharers of the promises.

 One Lord

They have one Lord, the Lord Jesus Christ who is the means by which Jews and Gentiles have become one, who paid the ultimate price on the cross for them to be one.

One Faith

There is one faith, one belief, one shared common foundational doctrine: Jesus Christ came to die for sinners such as us and all who believe and accept him as their Lord and personal Saviour will find salvation, will belong to the community of God.

One Baptism

One God and Father of all

He lists all these things and say and yet there is also one God who is the father of all.

We share the first 6 things and he lists them as one. He brings the word one in front of all of them, so that he would emphasize the oneness and then in the end he put it in a context of relationship. There is one father of all. We are one family. On the basis of these 7 commonalities, the Church should understand that there is every ground that needs to be for unity to prevail.

Theological Foundation for Unity; Eph. 4:7-16

• Christ, The Gift-Giver; Eph 4:7-10
• Christ, The Equipper of the saints; Eph 4:11-16

Ephesians 4:7-10 ⁷ But to each one of us grace has been given as Christ apportioned it. ⁸ This is why it says: “When he ascended on high, he took many captives and gave gifts to his people.” ⁹  What does “he ascended” mean except that he also descended to the lower, earthly regions. ¹⁰ He who descended is the very one who ascended higher than all the heavens, in order to fill the whole universe.

In verse 8 “When he ascended on high, he took many captives and gave gifts to his people” that particular line which seem to be a quotation from one of the Psalms has actually given scholars a lot to talk about. I am not going into that and leave it up to you to figure this out.

Christ gives grace and interestingly Paul does not even use the word charisma in Ephesians. The word for gift that is used in 1 Corinthians and elsewhere.

Grace is given to each member of the community and Grace is given by the Lord.

This Lord gave diverse gifts. This is unity in diversity. Though we have diverse gifts, those who are gifted are equipping the church. He did not give everyone the same gifts and the grace-gifts were given to equip the saints.

Christ, The Equipper of the saints Eph 4:11-16

Ephesians 4:11-16 ¹¹So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, ¹²to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up ¹³until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.

Apostles, Prophets, Evangelists, Pastors And Teachers

What do these words mean?

Apostles:

Linked to the foundation of the early Christian community (Eph 2:20)

²⁰ built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone. 

They are qualified as ‘holy apostles in (Eph 3:5)

⁵ which was not made known to people in other generations as it has now been revealed by the Spirit to God’s holy apostles and prophets.

Paul counts himself as on them, though least of them all (Eph 1:1)

Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, To God’s holy people in Ephesus, the faithful in Christ Jesus:

1 Cor 15:8-9 ⁸ and last of all he appeared to me also, as to one abnormally born. ⁹ For I am the least of the apostles and do not even deserve to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God.

We know the disciples of Jesus are referred to as apostles and Paul counts himself as an apostle, but he qualifies as the least of them all. Apostles here could be referring to Paul, like the 11 disciples of Jesus who were foundational in the formation of the early church. Paul then will be saying God gave some those gifts to be apostles. Not also neglecting the fact that the word could also be those who are sent out but most probably he leans towards these specific people who are giving this grace to work in that capacity as foundational leaders in the early church.

Prophets

For prophets its not referring to old testament prophets here but referring to prophets in Paul’s own time as people who are prompted by the Spirit to speak.

 Acts 11:27-30 ²⁷ During this time some prophets came down from Jerusalem to Antioch. ²⁸ One of them, named Agabus, stood up and through the Spirit predicted that a severe famine would spread over the entire Roman world. (This happened during the reign of Claudius.) ²⁹ The disciples, as each one was able, decided to provide help for the brothers and sisters living in Judea. ³⁰ This they did, sending their gift to the elders by Barnabas and Saul.

Acts 15:32 ³² Judas and Silas, who themselves were prophets, said much to encourage and strengthen the believers.

 Acts 21:10-11 ¹⁰ After we had been there a number of days, a prophet named Agabus came down from Judea. ¹¹ Coming over to us, he took Paul’s belt, tied his own hands and feet with it and said, “The Holy Spirit says, ‘In this way the Jewish leaders in Jerusalem will bind the owner of this belt and will hand him over to the Gentiles.’”

The spirit reveals mysteries to them for the edification of the church

I should emphasize edification because we are talking about gifts here. Paul is not using the word prophet here to refer to his soothsayers. The word prophet here does not refer to what I find in contemporary Christianity whether somebody say I am a prophet. You man I know the colour of your socks. Or I know the address to your home, for what? What does that mean? Why is God revealing somebody’s colour of sock or address to you?

Prophets here are giving these divinely inspired knowledge to edify, to build a church. Occasionally they may have predictable features in their message but most often they are given the message to deliver them as divine utterance.

Evangelist

The evangelists are special people who are equipped to go from place to place to preach the Gospel.

• Literally, the one who brings good news.
• Mentioned in only two other places in NT

Acts 28:8 ⁸ His father was sick in bed, suffering from fever and dysentery. Paul went in to see him and, after prayer, placed his hands on him and healed him.

2 Timothy 4:5 ⁵ But you, keep your head in all situations, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, discharge all the duties of your ministry.

In Acts referring to Philip and his daughters and in 2 Timothy where Timothy is asked to do the work of an evangelist.

Pastors and Teachers 

Pastors/Shepherds

The word literally translates as shepherds.

The word shepherd is not a word that is new in the vocabulary at that time. We know that Shepherd is used as a metaphor for religious leaders in the ancient near East. Even God is portrayed as Shepherd in some OT text, “The Lord is my shepherd I shall not want.”

Isaiah 40:11

He tends his flock like a shepherd: He gathers the lambs in his arms and carries them close to his heart; he gently leads those that have young.

The shepherd guides the sheep.

He is the one who makes the sheep lie down.

He is the one who leads them besides the still waters.

He is also the one who helps restores their soul and lead them in the right paths.

The shepherd feeds the flock.

He gathers the lambs in his arms with tender care and carried them in his bosom.

He gently leads them like a mother leads her sheep.

Ephesians 4:11-13 ¹¹ So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, ¹² to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up ¹³ until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.

The purpose of diverse grace-gifts Eph 4:12

Priesthood of all believers.

Gifted to equipping the saints

When it comes to spiritual gifts as we know in Corinthians for instance, the gifts are not discriminatory. Each one is given the gift.

The Ultimate Result/Outcome Of Unity; Eph. 4:11-16

Ephesians 4:11-16 ¹¹So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, ¹²to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up ¹³until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.

¹⁴Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of people in their deceitful scheming. ¹⁵Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is, Christ. ¹⁶From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work. 

• Body Of Christ Maybe Be Built Up In The Knowledge Of Christ.
• Growth & Maturity.
• Attain The Whole Measure Of The Fullness Of Christ.
• We Will No Longer Be Infants.

Here Paul spells what the church is supposed to be. Members and ministers do their part to function in a community of faith in the spirit of unity, and when they do that the goal is that this gifted people who are equipping the saints so that they will become mature.

CONCLUSION

United we build. We saw Paul in admonishing the church in Ephesus to maintain the spirit of unity based on the unity we have in God. The church is made to be one, the family is made to be one, no one is exempted. Paul is calling them to keep the unity of the Spirit with humility, with gentleness, politeness, meekness, and with that sense of patience for one another because they will need it. Those who have specific gifts have more responsibility and together we should all work to keep that unity and together we will build the body of Christ to be what it is meant to be.

May that spirit of unity that he talks about be something you will pursue. In the doxology in the previous chapter, he unwraps the greatness of God and the ability and capacity for God to do much more than we can think or ask.

I hope and pray that as we go through these teachings that Paul gave for the church, that you personalise it and begin to realise that this is true for you as a follower of the Lord Jesus Christ. That you will do you best to keep that unity that is so needed in the church.

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