The Unity Of The Spirit

“…endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.”
Eph 4:3

A book published in 2011 borrowed Dr. Martin Luther King Jr’s statement 50 years earlier, asserting that Sunday might be the most segregated day of the week. If there is any truth to this statement, the scripture surely teaches us there should not be!  When the world observes the church, they should see that it is here, among the people of God, that such walls are broken down.  We are exhorted to “walk worthy of the calling with which you were called, with all lowliness and gentleness, with longsuffering, bearing with one another in love, endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called in one hope of your calling…” (Eph 4:1-4)

It is not culture or race that unites the people of God.  Per our text, it is the Spirit of God!  It is not the natural experience that binds us for in this spiritual body we are no longer what we once were in our gender, race, culture, or status in life.  We are made new creations in Christ Jesus. (2Co 5:17) “…old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new”!  “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus.” (Gal 3:28) If we feel disconnected from anyone, it should be from those who are yet unredeemed.  That’s the only dividing line now, but it’s a dividing line that we desire no man to be on the wrong side of!

Prejudice has no place in the kingdom of God.  The world in prejudice seeks to alienate or destroy anyone different from themselves.  How differently the body of Christ thinks of those not like themselves!  Instead of pushing them away, we desire that they be drawn to us and ultimately to Christ, pitying them because we were once just like them!  Remembering who we were will remedy our hearts of all prejudice.  The common thread binding all humanity is that “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God”. (Rom 3:23) We are all sinners!  The good news is that group is exactly who Jesus came to save. (1Ti 1:15)

The church is burdened for the lost because “we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the others.” (Eph 2:3) In such a desperate state, we didn’t look inside and fix ourselves.  Rather, the next verse begins, “But God…”  I didn’t save myself.  God did it!!  The fact should eliminate any pride or prejudice from our hearts.  It was God, “who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ…” (v. 4-5) I didn’t deserve it, and I didn’t earn it.  Jesus paid it all!  And so, because we are living proof that there is hope for those dead in sin, we then, “are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were pleading through us: we implore you on Christ’s behalf, be reconciled to God.” (2Co 5:20) Though never at the expense of preserving the truth, the Christian’s desire should be for unity and peace.  “If it is possible, as much as depends on you, live peaceably with all men.” (Rom 12:18) Blessed are the peacemakers…

Jamie

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