Walking Together

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.

Ephesians 4:1-6

Introduction

• One way of looking at the first three chapters of Ephesians is in terms of the doctrines that Paul wants us to be aware of:
  1. Our spiritual “possessions” in Christ
  2. Our spiritual “position” in Christ
• In the remaining three chapters of this epistle, Paul will focus on “duty” – responsibilities that are ours because of the blessings we enjoy, as described in the previous chapters.
• Of the blessings described, one which Paul elaborated is the “unity” that we have in Christ by virtue of His work on the cross (Ephesians 2:14-16, 3:6).
• It’s not surprising then that the first duty that Paul exhorts us to fulfil is “to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace” (Ephesians 4:3).
  • Christ attained this unity by His work on the cross.
  • It is our task now to maintain it.

1. The Attitudes for Maintaining Unity (v. 1-3)

• These are qualities that are important for every believer to have so that the church will be a united church.
• Note that what we want to achieve here is ‘unity’ as opposed to just ‘keeping the peace’.
• The title of the lesson is ‘walking together’ not ‘standing in one place together’.

1. Lowliness/Humility
   • Having a humble opinion of oneself, a deep sense of one’s moral littleness
   • A state of modesty, humility, or lowliness of mind
   • This virtue is necessary in order to properly value others around you
   • Without this virtue, members in the body begin trying to be the “head” of the body, a role reserved only for Christ
2. Gentleness
   • This can be translated as mildness or meekness, but should not be mistaken for weakness, but for power under control.
   • It is being gentle even when there is a potential or temptation for being harsh
   • Being gentle does not equate to being weak; Moses was a meek man, yet he was capable of great strength and boldness; Jesus was meek and lowly in heart, yet we see how He was when He drove the money changers out of the temple.
3. Long-suffering
   • Patience, forbearance, slowness in avenging wrong (“slow to anger”).
   • When the body consists of members who are not perfect, and often sin against each other, maintaining unity is not possible unless they are willing to endure each other’s imperfections.
4. Bearing with one another in love
   • Similar to the above, this means to sustain or to endure.
   • What makes these two possible is the virtue of “love” (1 Corinthians 13:4-5)
   • The virtue of love is the tie that binds all these virtues together (Colossians 3:12-14)
   • Displaying these virtues does not come naturally nor easy
   • Thus there is a need for much effort, as Paul uses a word which means “to exert one’s self; give diligence”

2. The Basis of Unity (v. 4-6)

• These are the reasons for which we are striving for unity.
• They constitute the “unity of the Spirit” that as Christians we must be ever diligent to keep “in the bond of peace”.
• They are all of equal merit, and not one is inessential.

1. One Body
   • This refers to the body of Christ, the church
   • Also, in a universal sense, the body of saved believers throughout the world, of which Christ is the “head” and “saviour of the body” (Ephesians 5:23)
   • While there may be many “local” churches or congregations, there is only ONE “universal” church, with ONE head – Jesus Christ
2. One Spirit
   • This refers to the Holy Spirit, the “guarantee of our inheritance”, by whom we have access to the Father.
   • This is the revelation of the mystery of Christ to believers, the seal by which God strengthens with His might and power the inner man.
3. One Hope of Your Calling
   • For Paul, this pertains primarily to the “resurrection of the dead”, which necessarily includes the concepts of “salvation” and “eternal life”
4. One Lord
   • This refers to Jesus, whom God has made both Lord and Christ.
5. One Faith
   • This is the body of truth that we believe in, “the faith”, which Jude says was “once [and] for all delivered to the saints” (Jude 3)
6. One Baptism
   • This is the baptism commanded by Jesus, preached and continued by His apostles, by which those who submit to are added to the Lord’s body, the church (Acts 2:42, 47)
7. One God and Father
   • This is the Father, who, with the Son and the Spirit, make up the “Godhead”
   • Note that Paul emphasizes both His personality (“Father of all”), and His transcendence and omnipresence (“who is above all, and through all, and in you all”)