Preserving the Unity of the Spirit I. Base Text: Ephesians 4:1-32 II. Context A. Paul wrote what is likely an encyclical letter to Christians of which we have the copy sent to the Ephesians; he began by systematically impressing upon Christians how powerfully God has worked in Jesus to save, reconcile, and bless Christians in the Spirit (57-60; Ephesians 1:1-3:21) 1. Paul began by laying out how God has blessed Christians in Christ with every spiritual blessing, and prayed for their heart to be thus enlightened (Ephesians 1:3-23) 2. Paul then proceeded to lay out the need for and nature of salvation in Christ by God’s grace through faith and the reconciliation God has secured among all mankind in and through Christ (Ephesians 2:1-22) 3. Paul continued by setting forth in more explicit terms the mystery of what God accomplished in Jesus, and prayed for Christians to profoundly know the deep love of God manifest in Christ (Ephesians 3:1-21) B. Paul will spend the rest of the letter exhorting Christians to conduct themselves worthily of this calling they have obtained in Christ (Ephesians 4:1-6:24) C. Paul’s practical exhortations fittingly begin with the means by which Christians would glorify God by building up the body of Christ, the church, and thus to preserve the unity of the Spirit (Ephesians 4:1-32) III. Interpretation A. Unity in the Spirit (Ephesians 4:1-6) 1. Paul, having written to overwhelm the Christian with gratitude and humility for all that God has accomplished in Jesus for them, now turned to provide exhortation for Christian faith and conduct rooted in what God has done in Christ: to walk worthily of the calling with which Christians have been called (Ephesians 4:1) a. Paul as prisoner of Christ, repeated again as in Ephesians 3:1 b. “Calling” as the election, predestination, justification, sanctification, and thus salvation of the Christian c. Paul has highly emphasized God’s work in Christ in all of these aspects, and yet this does not preclude human effort: in fact, as Paul insists, what God has done for the Christian in Christ is now to motivate and ground the transformation of the life of the Christian d. Everything which follows in Ephesians 4:2-6:24 is commentary on how Christians are to walk worthily of their calling 2. Paul continued his exhortation by appealing to Christians toward meekness, humility, and longsuffering, forebearing/tolerating one another in love, giving diligence to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace (Ephesians 4:2-3) a. Paul has spent much of Ephesians 2:11-3:21 speaking of how God has worked to accomplish His purposes in Christ through the church; thus, the first application of how one walks worthily of the Christian’s calling in Christ involves joint participation in the faith b. Yes, humility, meekness (Greek praotetos, also mildness or gentleness (cf. James 1:21, 3:15), and longsuffering are individual virtues which ought to be displayed in all contexts and circumstances (cf. Galatians 5:21-23); nevertheless, Paul here associates them with forebearing/tolerating (Greek anechomenoi, to hold up, sustain, bear, endure) one another in love, striving to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace: note well how these same characteristics are associated with Christians demonstrating love and joint participation in faith in Philippians 2:1-4, 1 Peter 5:5, etc. c. Christians are to keep or preserve the unity of the Spirit: they do not create this unity, for God has already created it through Christ reconciling all men to Himself (Ephesians 2:11-18) d. Unity is located in the Spirit, for we are all baptized into one Spirit, and the Spirit is both dwelling in Christians individually and collectively as the presence of God and working to build Christians together as a Temple in which God may dwell (1 Corinthians 3:16-17, 6:19-20, 12:13, Ephesians 2:19-22) e. Bond of peace: bond as sundesmo, more like a ligament than chains; the peace which Christ has established for us by killing the hostility between us now binds us together as connective tissue (cf. Ephesians 2:11-18, 4:11-16) f. Ephesians 4:2 as the practical outworking of how Ephesians 4:3 takes place: Christians must remain thankful to God, humble and longsuffering toward one another, tolerating one another in love, and thus they preserve the unity of the Spirit in the connective tissue of the reconciliation God secured in Christ! 3. Paul then emphasized the oneness and unity of the faith: one body, one Spirit, one hope of calling, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all who is over all, through all, and in all (Ephesians 6:4-6) a. A passage often cited for polemical purposes, and understandably so: demonstration of the existence of but one body in Christ, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God b. The one baptism is the immersion in water in the name of Jesus (Acts 2:38, etc.); when we are baptized into Christ, we are baptized in the Spirit into one body (Galatians 3:27, 1 Corinthians 12:13) c. As a good Israelite, Deuteronomy 6:4-6 is not far from Paul’s mind: YHWH our God is One, and Paul meditated upon the “oneness” of all God has done in Christ d. Christ has but one body; the ekklesia of Christ is not many, but one e. One Lord and one God: cf. 1 Corinthians 8:1-13 f. One faith, delivered once for all the holy ones: cf. Jude 1:3 g. All of this is “in” God, who is also over all and through all; God sustains us in His being, and in Him we live and move and have that being (Acts 17:27-29) h. In context Paul here is flowing smoothly from establishing the imperative of preserving the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace to how Christians participate in this through their individual gifting and efforts and then how they are to apply that to the body of Christ: all is one in God, and we are to strive to both preserve that unity and to work to build up all in that unity B. Edifying the Body of Christ (Ephesians 4:7-16) 1. There is one God, Lord, Spirit, faith, etc., but God has given to each Christian grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ; Jesus led captivity captive when He ascended and thus is empowered to give gifts to mankind (Ephesians 4:7-10) a. Paul is setting up what he will establish in Ephesians 4:11-16, the equipping of the body of Christ to build itself up in love; this is possible because God empowers individual Christians with gifts in Christ, and Paul anchors this in a view of the fulfillment of Psalm 68:18 b. Gifts are “spiritual,” but not necessarily miraculous; God has made each person uniquely with specific talents and abilities (Romans 12:3-8, 1 Corinthians 12:1-28, 1 Peter 4:10-11) c. Paul is reworking Psalm 68:18 a bit, since in the original David is glorifying God for having ascended on high, leading a host of captives, and receiving gifts from men, even from the rebellious; he is basing his understanding on the Septuagint, which understands the text as ascending on high, taking captivity captive, receiving gifts for man for they were rebellious; “receiving gifts for man” is altered to “gave gifts unto men,” perhaps by Paul quoting from memory; it is an understandable shift, even though all of it is getting away from the original d. Paul then explained the reference to Psalm 68:18: Jesus as having descended into the depths of the earth, then ascended above all the heavens, to fill all things: for fullness, cf. Colossians 2:8-10; the descent into the depths of the earth is certainly a reference to His death, and is often paired with 1 Peter 3:18-21 to provide a picture of the “harrowing of hell,” which may have validity but finds no explicit explication in Scripture; perhaps also another way of describing the defeat of the powers and principalities, as in Colossians 2:15 2. These gifts include establishing some as apostles, some as prophets, some as evangelists, some as pastor-teachers, to equip/perfect the holy ones unto the work of ministry and building up the body of Christ until all attain full maturity in the unity of the faith, of the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, and are no longer as children easily disturbed by various doctrines concocted through human innovations and craftiness; instead, speaking truth in love, Christians are to grow up in every way into their head, Christ, who makes the whole body grow in love when each part works as intended, held together and connected in Him (Ephesians 4:11-16) a. Easily the most concise and compelling mission statement/purpose of the church in Scripture b. Apostles and prophets as those mentioned in Ephesians 2:20, 3:5: not a role continually held by different individuals in successive generations, but the witness of those who served as apostles and prophets in the first century c. “Pastors and teachers” reckoned as “pastor-teachers,” as in 1 Timothy 5:17 d. Some controversy as to whether those in these roles are given for perfecting the holy ones and the work of ministering and building up the body of Christ, or whether those in the roles are given to equip the holy ones so they are able to do the work of ministry and building up the Body; grammatical arguments can be made either way, and since all are called to build up the body of Christ and jointly participate in Romans 12:3-8, 1 Corinthians 12:12-28, 1 Peter 4:10-11, the difficulty is academic, for those in such roles are to themselves do the work of ministry and build up the Body, and are to equip others to do the same! e. The work of equipping the saints and/to ministry is to build up the body of Christ until all reach the fullness of Christ in maturity, no longer as children easily disturbed by false doctrines: the use of storm-tossed imagery is highly appropriate, and Paul speaks with wisdom and experience, for as Christians grow and mature through teaching and service, they are not as easily disturbed by false doctrines, and are better able to discern what is consistent with what God has done in Christ and what are the schemes of the powers and principalities attempting to thwart that work (cf. 1-2 Timothy, Titus) f. In contrast to the deceptive and cunning ways of human craftiness, innovation, and error, Christians are to speak the truth in love: this not a euphemism for “tough love,” but, as in 1 Peter 3:15, to speak the truth of God in Christ according to the ways God manifest in Christ, with gentleness and respect, being forthright, not manipulative (cf. 1 Corinthians 1:19-2:15) g. Paul then blended two images to describe the effects of this work: Christians as simultaneously individually growing more like Christ yet into Christ, framed and knit together in Christ the Head, built up by the efforts of every individual part (cf. Romans 12:3-8, 1 Corinthians 12:12-28) 3. In this way God has built the church to build itself up in love when each individual Christian works according to the roles in which s/he finds him or herself, humbly, meekly, and patiently tolerating one another in love, building one another up, in all things growing more into Jesus, and all empowered through the gifts God has given them to do so, yet requiring their efforts to accomplish the work C. The New Man (Ephesians 4:17-24) 1. In view of how the people of God are to work together to preserve the unity of the Spirit and to build up the Body of Christ, Paul solemnly testified in the Lord how Christians must no longer walk in the ways of the Gentiles, in the futility of their minds, darkened in understanding, alienated from life of God on account of the ignorance in them because of their darkened heart, past feeling, immersed in lasciviousness and greed (Ephesians 4:17-19) a. Paul’s use of “Gentiles” interesting, since his audience is of the nations (cf. Ephesians 2:11-12); throughout the New Testament “Gentile” can easily switch in meaning from people from the nations in general to its standard derogatory use within Israel to describe the debauched people of the nations b. The whole section is parallel to Ephesians 2:1-3, including the understanding that the Christians are to “no longer” walk as such, indicating they formerly did so c. Complementary to Romans 1:18-32: those who no longer honor God as God, alienated from life, living in futility, given over to lascivious, unclean, greedy conduct; an apt description of Roman decadence 2. Christians have not learned of Christ through the decadent, depraved ways of the Gentiles; if they did hear and were taught of Jesus in truth, they would put away the old man, corrupted in his/her desires, be renewed in the spirit of their minds, and thus put on the new man, created according to God in righteousness and holiness of truth (Ephesians 4:18-24) a. In Ephesians 2:1-10 Paul stated the theological foundations of the need for salvation and how God secured it; now here he has established its concluding force, that Christians are to consider as dead their former lives in sin and to live as new creatures in Christ according to holiness and righteousness, to become conformed to the image of God in Christ (cf. Romans 6:3-11, 8:29, Colossians 3:1ff, Titus 2:11-14) b. This is established in being taught of Jesus; Paul’s rhetorical technique here is very effective, for the Christians never learned any of this in paganism, but had to receive illumination in Christ from the proclamation of the Gospel c. Renewal of the spirit of the mind akin to repentance: transformation of mind for the better (Romans 12:1-2) d. Strong idea of Christians as a new creation in Christ here, and in Romans 6:3-7, 2 Corinthians 5:17: still in the old creation, but of a new hope, dedicated to the Lord and becoming more like Him, no longer conformed to the powers of the world 3. Thus, for the body to work together to build itself up in love, its individual constituent members must turn aside from the worldly ways of futility and depravity and become new creatures in Christ, conforming to His will and purposes D. Interpersonal Conduct (Ephesians 4:25-32) 1. Paul concluded his exhortation to no longer be as the depraved Gentiles but as transformed in Christ by declaring what that would mean in terms of interpersonal conduct: put away falsehood, speak truth to one another, as members of one another; one may become angry, but ought not sin, and not let the sun go down on anger, or to give place to the devil; corrupt speech ought not be heard, but that which would build up and give grace to those who hear; the Holy Spirit of God ought not be grieved, for in Him Christians are sealed for the day of redemption; Christians must put away bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, slander, and malice, and ought to be kind and tenderhearted toward one another, forgiving one another as God forgave them in Christ (Ephesians 4:25-32) 2. We can thus see how Paul’s concern remains primarily about joint participation, even though many of the exhortations he provides make reference to individual behaviors: these are the types of things which either corrode or reinforce association in relationship, and will either allow the Body of Christ to grow together or become fragmented and contentious 3. Ephesians 4:25 features a quotation of Leviticus 9:11, Zechariah 8:16 4. The core of Ephesians 4:26 quotes Psalm 4:4 LXX, and Paul develops the theme: anger is a valid emotion which is to be felt, but it must be kept in discipline and controlled lest it become sin, and an enticement for the Devil to have his way with us, as he did with Cain (cf. Genesis 4:6-8) 5. Ephesians 4:28 includes a powerful sign of restitution, indeed, but also as a principle ought to define how Christians look at the material wealth with which God has blessed them 6. Corrupt vs. edifying speech an application to words of the entire premise of all that has been said before in Ephesians 4:1-24: corruption of the world vs. edification of the body; depravity of the Gentiles vs. righteousness and holiness in Christ; the power of language to give grace or to destroy! 7. Much contention exists regarding what it means to grieve the Holy Spirit in Ephesians 4:30 a. Paul directly associates it with the Spirit as the seal of the day of redemption in Ephesians 1:13ff b. To participate in the works of the flesh and to not manifest His fruit would grieve the Spirit (cf. Galatians 5:19-23) c. To distort the Word of life which the Spirit made known would grieve the Spirit d. That the Spirit can be grieved indicates He has personality, no mere force or impersonal entity! 8. Ephesians 4:32 returns to the theme of Ephesians 4:2, bringing the discussion back full circle: to participate jointly, Christians must love one another and be tenderhearted toward one another, forgiving transgressions as God forgave them (cf. Matthew 18:21-35) E. And so, if Christians would walk worthily of their calling, they must participate jointly in the Body of Christ, the church, to build up one another in love, to preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace, having set aside their old life in the world of ignorance, depravity, and hostility, and become transformed in Christ in holiness, righteousness, and love! IV. Application A. Preserving the Unity of the Spirit 1. As with all things Ephesians, so much of Ephesians 4:1-32 has been decontextualized and proof-texted for all kinds of reasons 2. It is often done for the best of reasons, and many times done well and accurately, but we still ought not miss the primary force of what Paul is doing 3. The whole section is an exhortation toward preserving the unity of the Spirit in the Body of Christ, and should be understood toward that end 4. Why should Christians be patient, humble, meek, etc. (Ephesians 4:2-3)? To preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace 5. Why does Paul speak of the oneness of God et al (Ephesians 4:4-6)? To demonstrate the importance of joint participation in the unity of the Spirit 6. Why describe the functioning of the church (Ephesians 4:7-16)? Such is how the singular Body grows and builds itself up, maintaining the unity of the Spirit 7. Wouldn’t turning away from the ways of the Gentiles and embodying life in Christ be an individual endeavor (Ephesians 4:17-24)? Yes, but all to the end of maintaining holiness and righteousness in interpersonal relationships, as members of the same body, thus working to preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace (Ephesians 4:25-32)! 8. Christians do well to recognize the importance of striving to maintain the unity of the faith: the command is on an equal footing with, since it uses the same verb as, the exhortation to be diligent to handle the word of truth rightly in 2 Timothy 2:15 9. Yes, unity without truth is not in Christ who is the Truth; but truth includes unity, for God is one, the Lord is one, the faith is one, and Christians are to be one! B. Oneness 1. It is a sad commentary in the modern world of “Christendom” how the passage which speaks of one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God, etc., is used to point out the existence of division, or to justify divisions as they currently stand 2. If a Christian approaches Ephesians 4:4-6 and their first impulse is to see within it a rebuke of those in denominations, said Christian has missed the import of the passage! 3. If Paul held firm to anything from his heritage in Israel, it is that YHWH God is One (Deuteronomy 6:4-6) 4. What has the one God done through the one Lord? He has effected reconciliation, so all mankind can become one Body in Christ, sharing one faith, having received one baptism, connected in one Spirit, sustained in one hope of their calling (Ephesians 1:3-3:21)! 5. The whole Gospel comes down to God bringing together all into one: it is not primarily a blunt instrument to excoriate division, even though it does that, but primarily a compelling reminder of the power of God and the beauty of what He is accomplishing in Jesus by the Spirit! C. Equipping the Holy Ones 1. Ephesians 4:11-16 is a profound and compelling description of the functional work of the church as the Body of Christ, and worthy of meditation and devotion 2. Yet the key catalyst in it all is the roles of Ephesians 4:11-12 and the work of using gifts to equip the holy ones for the work of ministry and the building up of the Body, and the work of ministry and building up of the Body itself 3. All of what we do is founded on the testimony of the apostles and prophets regarding what God accomplished in Jesus and what the Kingdom of Christ would look like as the church on earth (Ephesians 2:20) 4. Evangelists, shepherds, and teachers all have their work to do in ministry service and their own efforts in building up the Body of Christ, and in many respects their “leadership” is in embodying the example of what it looks like to encourage others in Jesus, and to walk worthily of the calling of Christ (Titus 2:1-14, 1 Peter 5:1-4) 5. Yet an important part of the work of evangelists, shepherds, and teachers is to equip Christians for the work of ministry and to build up the Body of Christ: the work is not only for a few, but is best and most effective when all participate (Romans 12:3-8, 1 Corinthians 12:12-28) 6. All evangelists, shepherds, and teachers must give consideration as to whether and how they are working to equip Christians to serve others in their lives and to build up their fellow Christians in their instruction and example! 7. All Christians need to consider in what ways they may be lacking for service and edification, and seek to be properly equipped to jointly participate in Christ 8. Far too many church models are based in modern worldly wisdom in which Christianity is seen as a practice for specialists, with the “common man” a passive spectator; in Christ all have a share, and all are to participate, and all are to serve one another according to what God has given them 9. On the other hand, the roles some have do not give extra importance as much as responsibility in calling; those who have roles to fulfill ought not vaunt themselves, but dedicate themselves to encouraging, teaching, and embodying service to Christ and edification of Christians, and to equip fellow Christians to do the same! D. Individual Transformation for Healthy Relationships 1. The practical core of Ephesians 4:1-23 is in Ephesians 4:17-32, all of which center of transformation of the individual so as to participate in healthy relationships, facilitating the whole premise of maintaining the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace established in Ephesians 4:1-16 2. We live in a culture which has enshrined individualism as the greatest good and looks askance at any exhortation toward collectivism or collective responsibility, and that influence has become pervasive in many forms of Christianity; it is easy to look at Ephesians 4:17-23 in an individualist and moralist framework and make it all about how you can become your best you in Christ, as if it is all a self-help manual 3. Individual effort is required; such is without a doubt! 4. And yet it is not individual effort based only on individual effort: all of it is empowered through the ability to repent in Christ and because God has made us new people in Jesus, liberated from sin and its powers 5. And, as with so much of individualist “Christianity,” it misses the end purpose: the goal is not to be your best you, but for you to jointly participate in Christ with your fellow holy ones, preserving the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace 6. All of the transgressions listed in Ephesians 4:25-32 disfigure, fracture, and/or destroy interpersonal relationships; all of the virtues exhorted there are designed to heal, grow, or reinforce interpersonal relationships 7. The American fantasy that it is all about us and our personal growth and satisfaction is part of that vanity of the world, the futility of the Gentiles, the darkness in which we once walked: in Christ it is not all about us, but all about holiness and righteousness in joint participation in the Body of Christ, working together to glorify God, and to consider ourselves part of something far greater than we could ever imagine, empowered by God who is able to do far more abundantly than we could ever ask or think! E. We can find healing, redemption, and life in Christ and in His Body; may we come to know the one God, the one Lord Jesus Christ, believe in the one faith, receive the one baptism, be joined together in the one body in the one Spirit, and share in the one hope of our calling! F. Invitation Scripture, Meditation, and Application 1: Giving diligence to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace (Ephesians 4:3). Paul had described all the wonderful blessings God has given Christians in Jesus. He then exhorted them to walk worthily of their calling in Christ, and began by setting forth how Christians are to participate in the Body of Christ. Christians must be diligent to preserve the unity of the Spirit. They did not create it; God did in Christ. How they treat one another, how they work to build one another up, and whether they live as worldly or transformed in Christ dictates whether they keep the unity of the Spirit or grieve Him terribly. Unity is as important to God as truth, for in truth God is one and has worked to make all things one in Christ. May we keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace! 2: There is one body, and one Spirit, even as also ye were called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is over all, and through all, and in all (Ephesians 4:4-6). In the world of “Christendom” we see little but division and fragmentation. And yet God is one; Jesus is one; the Spirit is one. Therefore, there is one faith, one baptism, one hope of the Christian’s calling. In Christ God works to make us all one and to share in oneness with Him. Whatever works toward unity in God according to His purposes in Christ made known in the Spirit is thus commendable; whatever would fragment that unity, or justify division, is not of God. May we jointly participate in the one Body in Christ in the one Spirit, maintaining the one faith in the one God to obtain the one hope of our calling! 3: And he gave some to be apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; for the perfecting of the saints, unto the work of ministering, unto the building up of the body of Christ (Ephesians 4:11-12). In the world people expect certain specialists to take care of specialized work, and everyone else is a passive spectator. The specialists receive honor, power, and authority, and often vaunt themselves over those who have not. This is not so in Christ. Those who maintain roles to serve in Christ do so in order to embody service and edification, and to equip fellow Christians to serve and edify as well. There can be no passive spectators in Christianity; every person who has a share in Christ has their place and work in His Body. May Christians share in the work of building up the body of Christ to God’s glory and honor! 4: Wherefore, putting away falsehood, speak ye truth each one with his neighbor: for we are members one of another (Ephesians 4:25). Paul vividly sets forth why Christians must turn aside from the ways of the depraved world and be transformed in Christ in Ephesians 4:17-32. It is all too easy to make such a passage about the individual on his or her own, as if this is how a person becomes their best self to that end. Paul has made it clear that whereas Christians must work, their work must be in Christ and what God has already accomplished in Him and prepared for them. The end of such holiness and righteousness is not one’s best self, but healthy participation in relationships in Christ. In Ephesians 4:17-32, Christians are transformed in holiness and righteousness to participate jointly in Christ, to build up His body, to glorify God: the danger is to maintain worldly attitudes and ideas and participate in behaviors which corrode and destroy such relationships. May we set aside the ways of the world and find transformation in Christ to work together as members of His body!