Unity
and Salvation in the Body of Christ
[Ephesians
chapter 4, verses 1-16]
When
we left off last week at the end of Ephesians chapter three, the
apostle Paul had just finished composing his prayer for the saints at
Ephesus. Based on the way in which Paul wrote this, there may have
been a pause from when Paul finished chapter three until he began
writing chapter four. The most likely reason for this would be
because the apostle Paul was in prison at the time (as we found out
last week) and so had limited access to what we would call pen and
paper today. Despite these limitations he heroically goes on writing,
taking up where he left off beginning in verse one of chapter four.
“As
a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of
the calling that you have received. Be completely humble and gentle;
be patient, bearing with one another in love. Make every effort to
keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. There is one
body and one Spirit – just as you were called to one hope when you
were called – one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and father
of all, who is over all and through all and in all. But to each one
of us grace has been given as Christ apportioned it. This is why it
says: 'When he ascended on high, he led captives in his train and
gave gifts to men'. (What does 'he ascended' mean except that he also
descended to the lower, earthly regions? He who descended is the very
one who ascended higher than all the heavens, in order to fill the
whole universe).” (Ephesians 4, verses 1-10, NIV)
Live
a life worthy of your calling! (That could be an entire sermon right
there, but I'll save that for another time.) God put everybody here
for a reason, there are no exceptions. Not everybody can be a priest,
a minister, or a rabbi. Not everybody can be a starting pitcher in
major league baseball, or a famous actor or musician, either. But
that's not the point. It doesn't matter how famous you become or how
much money we make. That's what the world wants you to believe,
because those who believe all that junk inevitably take their eyes
off Christ in the process. It doesn't matter whether you're the
president of the USA, a cook, bartender or a janitor. Anyone who
performs their job, or who runs their small business, as if they were
doing it all for Christ instead of themselves, will reap an equal
harvest in heaven when their lives are over here on earth. My case is
a little different, since I'm disabled and on early retirement. I do
mostly volunteer work right here from home with this ministry. But,
since I don't want to retire, I
write non-fiction books
about, among other things, the reasons the US middle class is
disappearing, and the social injustice and economic inequality that
result. I also put up this website
using my own money, and I do so because I want much more than just a
royalty check or a donation.
I aspire to really make a difference with my writing because I
believe that is what God has called me to do.
Multitudes
of people make similar decisions each day, and all in different ways.
Former traffic cops enroll in law school. Former fast food workers go
back to technical or trade schools, earning professional diplomas,
degrees and certifications in the medical field, in technology or in
business. Little kids aspire to become doctors, astronauts or
professional athletes. Everybody has that internal spark that lights
up for certain things that fascinate them, inspire them, and capture
their imaginations. But the ultimate calling we all have is to
acknowledge He who made us, and to love his only-begotten Son because
he loved us first (see 1st
John chapter 4, verses 10-12). And how did Jesus love us first? By
freely allowing himself to be tortured and beaten, then hung on a
cross until He died only to be raised from the dead on the morning of
the third day. All this was for us, to save us all from our sins and
so from eternal separation from God. He obtained eternal life for us
all in so doing, just so we could all be with Him forever.
The “bond of peace” between us all equals Spiritual
unity. I would compare Spiritual unity to that of soldiers on a
battlefield. Without a unified, coordinated plan of attack – or
defense – they will lose the battle and get themselves killed for
their trouble. So it is with the unity of the Holy Spirit. When there
is unity, the Spirit of the Lord will move upon that service or that
group or congregation in overpowering ways – I have personally seen
this occur in my life and that of others I know or have met. The Holy
Spirit is real, you can be very sure of that.
Paul
goes on to define the unity of the Spirit as “one
Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and father of all, who is over
all and through all and in all.”
Paul was clearly flowing in the Spirit as he wrote this, as his
equally flowing prose and elegant writing style shows. But he then
reveals the full scope of the Spirit as he sees it by clarifying what
happened to Jesus for the three days that He laid in the tomb when he
wrote, “he
also descended to the lower, earthly regions... He who descended is
the very one who ascended higher than all the heavens, in order to
fill the whole universe“.
Jesus conquered death by conquering the gates of hell itself. He then
went on the equivalent of a search and rescue mission by descending
into hell, where Jesus gathered together all the souls that were
trapped there, and snatched them back from what would otherwise have
been eternal suffering. The souls of every human being who ever lived
can be saved from hell, and only by Jesus Christ. Each individual
must, in their own heart and mind, come to a point where they
acknowledge their separation from God, and that this is due to their
own sinful nature. Once we recognize we have a problem, the next step
is to ask to be saved. For those of you who haven't done this yet,
now would be a very good time. Having been (hopefully) inspired by
this, let's move on in our study starting at verse eleven.
“It
was he who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be
evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers to prepare God's
people for works of service, so that the body of Christ be built up
until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son
of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the
fullness of Christ. Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back
and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of
teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of men in their deceitful
scheming. Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will in all things
grow up into him who is the head, that is, Christ. From him the whole
body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows
and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work.”
(Ephesians 4, verses 11-16, NIV)
In
this passage we see Paul finishing making his earlier point that we
should all live up to what God has called us to do. Different people
do different things within the body of Christ so that the entire
church is edified for the glory of God. Contrary to what you may have
heard or read, not all speak in tongues and not all are evangelists.
Paul pointed this out 2,000 years ago and, in this respect, his
writings continue to be ignored and misinterpreted to this day by
certain religious denominations, whether by accident or not. One does
not have to speak in tongues in order to have Holy Spirit baptism as
one denomination – whom I will decline to name in the interest of
Christian unity – continues to erroneously preach. You will recall
from our previous study of 1st
Corinthians chapter 14 that there are many gifts of the Spirit.
Although I can and sometimes do pray in tongues, I tend to keep it to
myself since there is no one there to interpret as the apostle Paul
specified. It does not matter what one does within the body of
Christ, and there is no one calling that is any better or worse than
any other. To quote one well-known preacher, “God isn't looking for
ability, He's looking for availability”. Obeying the teachings of
Christ means that everyone has unconditional equality before the
Lord. Human equality is Scriptural and of Christ, but inequality of
any kind is sin in God's sight. This can be inequality based on race
or national origin, on age or with respect to gender, based on
disability or preexisting condition, and worst of all based on
economic inequality due to the hoarding of wealth and liquid assets
by America's “top 1%”.
When
we do all these things, Paul writes, we enable ourselves to become
mature in the Lord, growing in measure of truth and faith as He
enables us. “We
will no longer be infants”,
Paul wrote,
“tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by
every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of men in
their deceitful scheming”. Remember
Jesus' teaching from the four gospels, which was,
“I am the good shepherd, I know my sheep and they know me”?
I believe this was exactly what the apostle Paul was referring to
when he wrote what he did. If we are to be true believers instead of
being mere bench (or pew) warmers, our faith will be rewarded with
discernment and Spiritual wisdom. We will be able to spot phony
preachers and bogus Christians, and we will be empowered to steer
away from cults of various kinds.
The
end result of what happens when we follow all these teachings is that
we will all find ourselves “speaking
the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into him who is the
head, that is, Christ. From him the whole body, joined and held
together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in
love, as each part does its work.” So
when we speak the truth of Christ, we are to do so in love so we may
best exemplify Him, but never with harsh judgment as a few
“Christians” enjoy doing from time to time. It's not our job to
judge others, as the Bible repeatedly warns us, because that's God's
job, and then only at the end of the age as we have visualized it
from His Word. Jesus already taught us what happens in the absence of
humans judging others at the Sermon on the Mount when he said,
“Blessed
are the merciful, for they will obtain mercy” (Matt. 5:7).
God's word is total love, and Jesus Christ is that same love
personified. His new command, wrote the apostle John, is that we love
one another (1st
John 3:11). If we spend the rest of the week thinking up ways to do
that, believers will be well on their way to a deeper and
well-grounded relationship with Christ. But the best part of all is
that many non-believers will find themselves compelled to ask to be
saved as a result of the unconditional love of Christ Jesus. His
blood has already been shed, it's up to us to make the affirmative
decision for Christ. Go ahead, it's OK, just ask him right now!
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