Unity of the Church (Ephesians 4:1-6)

Key Passages: Ephesians 4:1-6

1 Therefore I, the prisoner of the Lord, implore you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have been called, 2 with all humility and gentleness, with patience, showing tolerance for one another in love, 3 being diligent to preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. 4 There is one body and one Spirit, just as also 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 over all and through all and in all.

From Ch. 1-3, we see Apostle Paul’s theological explanation of the mystery of the Gospel. Starting from Chapter 4, he moves to the application. So, in the first three chapters, he explains “what”, then he moves on to the rest of the letter to “how”. So, now, we will be starting the second half of the letter where Paul is instructing the Gentiles in Ephesus on what to do about the indicatives he lays out before. So, let’s review briefly what Paul drives at in the first three chapters.

Paul uses the word “mystery” to refer to the Gospel. It’s not that the Gospel is not knowable, but that through Christ, new revelation was revealed. The forefathers of Israel didn’t have the full knowledge of the Gospel that was to be revealed by the Messiah. But through the atoning death of Christ, by the proclamation of the apostles and prophets, this mystery was made known to us, which we see in Ephesians 3:6,

6 to be specific, that the Gentiles are fellow heirs and fellow members of the body, and fellow partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel,

Paul greatly drives this point through Chapters 2 and 3. Just like the Jews and the Gentiles were separated before Christ by the circumcision and the ordinances of the law, the wall of enmity exists among us to this day. We are divided by different identities based on hobbies we have, prejudices, preferences, occupation, race, political ideology, and denominations, and the theological pets we like to cling on to. The list goes without an end in sight.  It doesn’t matter whether you are a man, woman, Jew, Gentile, slave, free man, paedobaptist, credobaptist, Reformed, Arminian, or whatever flavor of millennialist you are. We are one in Christ, because our identity is not rooted in who we are, but who Christ is. All who are born again have a new identity in Christ. This is the theological framework Paul lays out in the first three Chapters.

Now, Paul lays out an instruction for all of us: walk according to our calling in a worthy manner.

1 Therefore I, the prisoner of the Lord, implore you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have been called.

What is your calling? What is your vocation? It’s based on our new identity. We have been predestined (1:5). We are chosen by God. We are adopted as sons through Jesus Christ (1:5). We have redemption through his blood (1:6). We have obtained an inheritance (1:10). We are predestined (1:10). We are sealed in Christ with the Holy Spirit (1:13). Inheritance (1:14). He made us alive in Christ (2:5). We are seated in the heavenly places with Christ (2:6). We have been saved (2:8). We are God’s workmanship (2:10). If you do not see your calling and your new identity, you will not walk according to your calling. So, how do we walk according to our calling? In a worthy manner. 

2 with all humility and gentleness, with patience, showing tolerance for one another in love,

For what purpose?

to preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.

To not walk in humility, gentleness, with patience, and tolerance, we are walking in an unworthy manner. Moreover, we are despising God and the love of God is not in us. As Apostle John says,

7 Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. 8 The one who does not love does not know God, for God is love.

But we should not be deceived that this manner of walking comes naturally and easily. It’s not. It’s difficult work that we must devote ourselves to. When we are dealing with people in the family and church, we are not dealing with people who are naturally lovable. We are dealing with people who are in sin. Inclined to sin. Self-serving. We sit next to each other with people who are soaked in sinful desires. But so are you. Yet, we are to bear one another in love. Just as Christ embraced you in love, tolerating your sin in love, with patience, gentleness, and with all humility, you who were child of wrath and a son of disobedience, you are to do the same. It is a difficult work to love a proud sinner. 

Absence makes the heart grow fonder; familiarity breeds contempt.

Absence – it is your indifference and distance you create. Familiarity – it is you rubbing shoulders with people and getting to know them at a personal level. As long as you do you and I do me, we are all content. As long as you stay in your boundary and I in mine, it gives no occasion for any friction, right? But when we get closer and spend more time with one another, we get all too familiar with our weaknesses and sins. We find things that irritate us. Things you get envious of. But it is the good will of God and his command us to be one body. It’s for our own good that we rub shoulders and learn to fight well. To handle conflict well. Avoiding conflict and distancing yourself is the graver sin. God uses those moments of friction to sanctify us. That’s how we learn to love deeply.

But it is impossible to do so if we lack humility. This is the very reason why Paul starts the list of worthy manner with humility. 

The first step towards unity is humility; without this there will be no meekness, no patience, or forbearance; and without these no unity. Pride and passion break the peace, and make all the mischief. Humility and meekness restore the peace, and keep it. Only by pride comes contention; only by humility comes love. The more lowly-mindedness the more like-mindedness. -Matthew Henry, Commentary on Ephesians 4.

Why do we need to feel like we need to get at someone when we are offended? Why are you annoyed at what someone is doing and hold a grudge? We fight contempt with contempt, grudge with grudge, insults with insults, and indifference with indifference. Where do these things come from?

Come they not from this, that every one carries his love of himself, and his regard to his own interests, to excess? -John Calvin, Commentary on Ephesians 4.

Indifference and quiet composure always seems more godly and innocent. This is the character of our congregation, Michigan Technological University, and this town. They don’t display a particular lack of self-control. They don’t seem to get easily angry at all. They seem composed. But a man who displays carnal sins – outward sins, may have actually done more work to kill his sin than the man who seems calm. But we can’t judge the godliness of a man just by outward appearance. There is an unknown turbulence and storm of destruction going on underneath the quiet and calm surface of water. Same way, just because you are not causing loud ruckus doesn’t mean Christians are fostering unity in this church. I’d rather want Christians to be loud in your sin than stay hidden. It’s easy to hide in the darkness. But when you let your sins be known, that’s when we can actually work on killing sin and grow in godliness. If you hide your sins in your quiet composure, we will never get to expose the darkness and let the Holy Spirit work in you. Let the words of Martin Luther ring loudly,

Be a sinner, and sin boldly, but let your trust in Christ be stronger, and rejoice in Christ who is the victor over sin, death, and the world.-Letter to Philip Melanchthon.

We are either afraid to make mistakes and show our sins due to the disapproval of others. Even worse, we are making God’s grace small. So, Luther says that we will commit sins while we are here on this earth. We can’t hide sin. We can’t be afraid of showing sin. In other words, stop trying to be so pure that you stop living. You are a sinner; you are going to sin no matter how hard you try. So, instead of being afraid of sin, be confident in God’s forgiveness.

Do you think such an exalted Lamb paid merely a small price with a meager sacrifice for our sins? Pray hard for you are quite a sinner.

Here in this church, you have to be a sinner. If you need to be cleansed, washed, urged, encouraged, warned, then you have to be a sinner. Otherwise, you can go to another church, and be satisfied leaving content after the Sunday service. They’ll never expect anything out of you except show up and pay your tithe. But here, you will have to be a sinner and love sinners. So, get out of your shell. Many of us identify as an “introvert,” but don’t let that be your excuse not to care and take an interest in one another. Paul says, “Be diligent to preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.” This cannot happen when your love looks like absence and indifference. Preserving unity and love is active work. It’s not done passively. Don’t expect others to do it for you.

3 Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves; -Philippians 2:3

Hence, Apostle Paul drills over and over in regards to our unity. 

4 There is one body (Catholic Church) and one Spirit (Holy Spirit), just as also you were called in one hope of your calling (everlasting life and heavenly inheritance); 5 one Lord (Christ our head and King), one faith (Gospel and confession), one baptism (entrance to the covenant), 6 one God and Father of all who is over all and through all and in all.

One last point I would like to address is that the godly humility and unity will always carry consequences. The humility that the world indoctrinates us is contrary to the humility the Scripture teaches us. Unity the world indoctrinates us is contrary to the unity in Christ. When some of the church fathers were rising up against false doctrines, were they committing the sin of schism? Or were they defending the true faith? When Luther and Calvin were preaching on the doctrine of justification, the authority of the Scripture, and pastoral care in their days, were they committing schism? Or, when Paul was preaching the crucifixion and resurrection of Christ to the Jews, was he arrogant, proud, and belligerent? He stirred up places from town to town in all his ministry. Yet, what does the Word of God say about him? 

19 serving the Lord with all humility and with tears and with trials which came upon me through the plots of the Jews; -Acts 20:19

The Jesus that the movies and children’s books portray is the epitome of gentleness and humility. “Look, he is always smiling softly, speaks softly, and deals with people softly.” The churches nowadays sing softly, romanticly, and gently as well. That is how people will portray Jesus, and that is how people will always portray the ideal Christian who is truly humble and gentle. He is never schismatic. He never disturbs the peace. Yet, we must remember the words of our Savior that he came to bring sword and not peace. Because Jesus was humble, he was obedient to the Father’s will. Because he was humble, Jesus confronted the Jews when the people were mistreated, oppressed, and misled. Don’t confuse humility with complacency. As G.K Chesterton says,There is a corollary to the conception of being too proud to fight. It is that the humble have to do most of the fighting. -The Everlasting Man.

Humility means submission to God. Dependency on God. We think of ourselves low, so that others might be lifted up, especially those who are ignored, oppressed, sick, widows, children, elderly, and silenced by the world. So, we rise up and fight the good fight to protect the vulnerable. We fight the good fight by submitting to the Father’s will, who hates sin and evil. The world and so-called Christians who deny the truth of the Bible will call us schismatics. Divisive. Contentious. Obnoxious. Loud. Moreover, faithful churches and pastors who take shepherding God’s sheep to the heart will always be labeled as those contentious and divisive tyrants. Why? Because we take sin seriously. We enforce church discipline. We rebuke sin and call people to repentance. THAT will always be considered as tyrannical and schismatic.

To walk in a worthy manner is a difficult work. There will be a day when even within our own church, there will be complaints – why did you have to confront this man about his sin? It would have been so peaceful if we had ignored it. But we do it because God commands us to be humble and submit to his will. Because we want to pursue true unity of the church, we confront sin, even though it may cause a storm temporarily. When you have a malignant tumor growing, you don’t say, don’t touch it. It hurts. Instead, we say, let’s remove it, so that you may live. Christ is the physician of our souls, who gives comfort and life. So, don’t hide your sin. As Luther said, “sin boldly!” so that the mercy of God abounds more. We are all patients with illnesses that are being treated, so we need to make ourselves known to God and to one another that we may be treated and taken care of. Christ didn’t come for the healthy. He came for the sin. So, be a sinner, and love the sinners around you. That is the only way we will preserve the true unity in Christ.