In Christ: Know It, Live It - 41 (A Unity that Already Exists)

In Ephesians we hear God calling us to live up to the calling of being His one family, the body of Christ. In 4:3 we are told, as members of this body, that we should be "...eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace." It is important to note here that the UNITY of the church ALREADY EXISTS. We are not called to CREATE unity, but to MAINTAIN unity. WHO DID create that unity?

Perhaps the most important verse in the NT in this regard is 1 Corinthians 12:13...

"For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body - Jews or Greeks, slaves or free - and all were made to drink of one Spirit."

When we repented of our sin and trusted in Christ, His Holy Spirit BAPTIZED us (placed us into, made us a part) of the body of Christ. Like the blood that unites all the parts of our body together with life-giving oxygen and food, so the Spirit of God ORGANICALLY unites all believers into ONE BODY. He is our life. Our unity, therefore, is because of something far greater than all human efforts to "visualize" or make peace. Our unity is the result of the sovereign work of the Spirit. Our "badge" of membership is the Holy Spirit.

Unity therefore, is something INHERENT to the church. We are called to understand this and then to live in such a way as to maintain it. I have heard it said in certain divisive situations in churches that "We failed to create any unity." This is a misunderstanding that works against unity. When there is DIS-unity, then we must first teach the unity that ALREADY EXISTS in Christ's true church. Then we must seek to restore this unity to RELATIONSHIPS by reconciliation, and then to give ourselves to what this text teaches will MAINTAIN that unity (we'll look at these things in the coming days).

God is VERY SERIOUS about the unity of the church. When there is disunity, we have not failed to create unity, rather we have DESTROYED unity. And the warnings against destroying the church's unity are sobering. Paul wrote to the Corinthians, who were dividing the church into cliques that followed certain teachers, "Do you not know that you are God's temple and that God's Spirit dwells in you? If anyone destroys God's temple, God will destroy him. For God's temple is holy, and you are that temple" 1 Corinthians 3:16,17.

This is no idle threat. To see this we only need to look at Paul's words to this same church in chapter 11:30: folks were causing a fracturing within the church over how they ate the Lord's Supper. Because of this some were ill and some had died.

The church is precious to God. It was purchased with His own blood (Acts 20:28). In order for it to survive as a body, it must have an organic unity that allows all the parts to operate and support one another AND to remain attached to the HEAD.

"Oh, awesome Lord, grant us a love for our brothers and a desire to maintain the unity You have sovereignly built into your church. Then we will know your pleasure and blessing and share your joy."