The Unity of the Spirit

Dear Christian, what is it that makes all Christians one? Is it doctrinal agreement? Is it a common purpose? Is it cherished fellowship? Why is discord among believers such a plague upon the Body of Christ in our day?
How it must deeply grieve the heart of our Savior to see His children so willing to clash over the most nonessential things, when on the eve of His crucifixion He prayed, “that they may be one even as We are one” (John 17:11). Since the Son and the Father abide in perfect union, we must conclude that His request for oneness has been granted. Why then does the church seem so splintered in our day?
In the fourth chapter of the Book of Ephesians, the Spirit of Christ has disclosed many precious principles concerning the unity of His Church. In Ephesians 4:15, 16 we read, “But speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in all aspects into Him who is the head, even Christ, from whom the whole body, being fitted and held together by that which every joint supplies, according to the proper working of each individual part, causes the growth of the body, for the building up of itself in love.”
In this passage, the Lord illustrates the unity of His people with the human body. His point is this: just as our physical bodies are one, even though they are made up of many individual members; the Lord’s Body, the church, is one, even though it is made up of many individual members. And just as the individual parts of our physical bodies all share the life of our head, unifying our individual parts; all Christians share the life of Christ who is our head, unifying all Christians.
Every Christian, according to the Spirit, is one with every other Christian because of each believer’s union with the Head. Therefore, it is a wonderful truth that Christian unity is not something believers need to create; it is something believers need to enjoy!
This is why in Ephesians 4:3; the Spirit does not tell us to create unity, but to preserve it. He writes, “Preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.” In other words, we are to guard that which Christ has already created through His finished work on the cross.
If the

church of
Christ is ever going to begin to fully enjoy unity, we are going to have to stop trying to create it, because every time we try to create it, we end up working against it.
Many, in their endeavor to create unity, often confuse unity with uniformity. Some think that Bible unity results when all Christians are identical. But it is not the desire of the Holy Spirit to make clones, where we all look alike, talk alike, serve alike, and gather alike.
This is the best that man can do in his attempt at unity because man’s unity is based on conformity. Either you conform to the norm or you are not welcome. But that is not Bible unity, dear Christian. Bible unity is oneness in the midst of diversity. It is having different functions and styles and appearances yet all enjoying the same life coming from the same head – the Lord Jesus.
It is amazing how the Holy Spirit develops this truth. And when it was first unveiled to my heart I was surprised. I did not expect it. I am referring to what the Holy Spirit identifies as the source of unity among His people. In other words, what makes all Christians one? To answer that question, let me (for emphasis only) separate Ephesians 4:3 and Ephesians 4:13 from the parenthetical section of Ephesians 4:4-12.
If we combine verses 3 and 13 this results: “Being diligent to preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace...until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure and stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ.”
In these verses, the Spirit of God is declaring that one day in heaven all Christians will come to maturity, and when they do they will possess the unity of the faith. The word faith is not used here in the sense of a personal trust in the Lord but more in the way of doctrine or truth as in Jude 3 where we read: “Contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints.”
One day in heaven, the Spirit says, all Christians will agree on every point of doctrine and this will lead to a unity of creed among believers. But on earth we are not there yet.
Yes, it is true that all genuine believers hold to the essentials of faith. (To be true Christians, we must lay hold of the great foundations.) But when it comes to those things that are not essential to salvation in Christ, genuine Christians disagree because we have not yet reached full maturity in Christ.
Now, the Lord knew this would happen. He knew that on this side of heaven, true Christians would disagree on the perimeter issues of His Word. He knew that we would not all agree on matters of faith and doctrine, so He commanded that we “preserve the unity of Spirit in the bond of peace.” Until all believers attain to the unity of the faith, we are to keep the unity of the Spirit.
What is the unity of the Spirit? According to Ephesians 4 it involves mutual headship. In other words, if Jesus is my head and Jesus is your head, we share the same life – His life, and therefore we are one. According to God’s word, the source of Christian unity is not doctrinal agreement. The source of Christian unity is the life of Christ within each Christian.
When most believers think of unity, they generally think of the unity of the faith (vs 13). Many Christian fellowships base their oneness on the unity of faith. But the Lord bases the oneness of His church on His shared life in every believer. Christians are one not because of common doctrine; they are one because of common life – the life of Christ! May the Lord open our hearts to this glorious truth in our Savior!
Now, when it comes to the foundational truths essential to salvation in Christ, light has no fellowship with darkness. But many of God’s people today base their unity with others on doctrinal things far beyond the essentials. The Lord never does!
He knows that on earth Christians will not agree on all doctrinal issues and therefore, until all Christians do agree on all things in heaven, God commands us to recognize our oneness with all other Christians regardless of whatever weird peripheral ideas they may hold. As long as they hold to the essentials, and desire to follow the Lord in righteousness, they are one with all who belong to Christ.
Dear Christian, it is okay for Christians to disagree on secondary issues. It is okay for believers to discuss and debate all things. But may the Lord deliver us from attacking each other’s character and questioning each other’s love for the Lord because we disagree on peripheral things. And by God’s grace, may we learn to hold all of our beliefs in such a way that it promotes unity not discord in the Lord’s Body.
In Proverbs 6:16-19 we read: “There are six things that the Lord hates, yes, seven which are an abomination to Him: Haughty eyes, a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that devises wicked plans, feet that run rapidly to evil, a false witness who utters lies, and one who spreads strife among brothers.”
In this passage, we see a style of writing used quite often for emphasis in the Old Testament. In this case a list of six things is quickly changed to seven things. This method is used to draw the reader’s attention to the seventh thing. It is the seventh thing in this passage that the Lord is emphasizing.
And His point is this: There are many things the Lord hates, but one stands out at the top of His list and that is spreading strife among brothers. The Lord regards it a very evil thing when Christians choose to fight and hold fellowship from each other over teachings that are not essential to salvation in Christ. How evil?
Consider the things that did not make it to the top of the list: “hands that shed innocent blood, a lying tongue, feet that ran rapidly to evil, pride.” God hates those things, but not as much as He hates those who spread strife among His people.
This is the heart of our Lord, dear believer. We are commanded by our Savior to recognize our oneness in Him with every believer, and in all we do and say seek to preserve the unity of the Spirit in peace.
In John 13:35 Jesus said, “By this shall all men know that you are My disciples if you have love for one another.” The church speaks often in our day about evangelism. This is Bible evangelism: love for the brethren! May I encourage you, dear Christian, to trust the Lord to enable you to disagree in love with all in His Body.
There is a story about a Bible teacher named Harry A. Ironside, who one day was riding on a train sharing thoughts from God’s Word with a small group of fellow passengers. As he reached his destination, someone asked him his denomination affiliation to which he replied, “I am a companion of all those who fear Thee and of those who keep Thy precepts.”
Dear believer, please do not misunderstand. In no way am I encouraging compromise. I am not saying that in order to keep peace we must throw out what we believe or make room in our hearts for false teaching. (God forbid!) By His grace, may we stand firm in what the Lord teaches us from His Word. I am simply echoing the Lord’s mandate not to fight or withdraw fellowship from others in the church over things not essential to salvation in Christ.
May we find this responsibility not a bondage but a delight as we trust the Lord to live it in and through us by His Spirit that He may increasingly, through His church, have His testimony upon this earth.