Make a Diligent Effort

Dearly beloved, Ephesians 4:3 instructs us to make a diligent effort to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.

What is this unity? It is the unity that God made when He gave every member of the body of Christ the spirit of sonship.

The “unity of the spirit” is in the Genitive Case in the Greek. The Genitive Case expresses a variety of classes. Reading the context is the best way to determine the sense it conveys. Here, it expresses the sense of origin, which would be “unity from the spirit.” The verses that follow reveal the points of this unity.

As you read these verses, note the word “one”; it is repeated seven times in these verses. This is the use of the figure of speech Anaphora, which is the repetition of the same word at the beginning of successive clauses. The repetition of “one,” calls special attention to the seven elements making up the unity from the spirit.

“There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling; One Lord, one faith, one baptism, One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.” Ephesians 4:4-6

God created “one body” of believers, the body of Christ (Ephesians 1:23; 2:16; 3:6). In Christ, each member of this body is complete in him, blessed with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realm.

All the members of this body have “one spirit”. Each and every member in the body has the same spirit, the gift of holy spirit, the spirit of sonship. We receive it the moment we confess Jesus as Lord and believe that God raised him from the dead. Christ Jesus sealed us with the promised spirit. It is the down payment of our inheritance in Christ.

All the saints in Christ share “one hope” – the hope of acquiring or obtaining of the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ. At the time of his return for the Church of the Grace of God, both the living and the dead in Christ will be caught up to meet him in the air. We will be glorified together with him!

All the members of this body have “one Lord”, the Lord Jesus Christ. God made Jesus both Lord and Christ (See: Acts 2:32-36) after his resurrection from the dead and his ascension and his seating at God’s right hand.

There is only “one faith” concerning Christ’s accomplishments. We are all to believe the doctrine God revealed concerning Christ and his accomplishments. The revelation of the Church Epistles, which are the books of Romans to II Thessalonians, instruct us concerning what we are to believe. These epistles are addressed to the Church and they explain what Jesus Christ accomplished.

All the members in the one body share “one baptism”. All in Christ were baptized in the name of Jesus Christ (The name indicates all the resources that name represents) for the forgiveness of sins and received the gift of holy spirit (See Acts 2: 38 and 39, and also the record dealing with the Gentiles in Acts 10: 34-48, and 11:15-19.)

This is not speaking of John’s baptism, which was a baptism done with water in anticipation of the coming Messiah and what he would achieve (This baptism is described in Matthew 3:13-17, Mark 1:8; Luke 3:16; and 11:13; John 1:29-34).

This is the baptism that Christ achieved and made available. The Lord Jesus spoke of it in John 1:33; 3:1-7, 4:23 and 24; 7:37-39; 14:16-18 and 26; 15:26; 16:12-15; 20:22; and in Acts 2:4, 5, 8 (This promise is also spoken of in Luke 24:49). This baptism is in the name of Jesus Christ and with the gift of the holy spirit.

All in the body of Christ have “One God”. He is our Father now. He is from above and throughout all in the body of Christ. He is in every one of His beloved children by the gift of His sonship spirit.

These are the seven points of unity that we are to keep in the bond of peace. There is nothing in these verses about compromising the Word of God to make a corporate, earthly, religious unity.

There is nothing about creeds, confessions, sacraments, or rites that men formulated. God made this spiritual unity in Christ and we are to make a diligent effort to keep it.

Christianity revolves around Christ and his accomplishments. It began with the giving of the holy spirit to the Church and it will end when Christ returns for the members of his body to redeem them from death and the earth. They will be received up and glorified together with him.

God revealed the mystery concerning Christ for all to know and believe for the obedience of the faith.

Dearly beloved, we are so privileged to live in this time of the Administration of the Mystery and of the Grace of God. It is Christ in you, the hope of glory! Make a diligent effort to guard the unity God made in Christ.