A Call To Unity
(Ephesians 4:11-15)
"He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ; that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting, but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head—Christ— from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love."
The Mystery of Unity
The body of Christ consists of individual believers, each with unique attributes and functions within that body. It is equally true that there is no separation, whatsoever, either between Christ and the members of His body, or between the individuals which comprise it... Far from being the "elementary truths of God's word", this concept is described as a "profound mystery", and understanding this mystery is only possible through the wisdom given by God.
Walking Worthy of the Calling
Paul, a prisoner of the Lord, beseeches us that we not only obtain this wisdom, but, having obtained it, walk in a manner worthy of the calling it implies.
The degree to which we do this will determine our effectiveness in being used by God.
Too often, believers walk through life disinfranchised, aimless, and constantly seeking answers to the wrong questions. That is not the life Christ purchased for us. It is antithetical to the will of God, who gave us a Spirit, not of fear and timidity, but of power, love, and self-discipline. If we are to enjoy the fullness of life which was bought for us by the blood of Christ, we must place ourselves at His feet, like Job, to whom God said, "Brace yourself like a man, because I have some questions for you, and you must answer them."
Preserving Unity in the Spirit
We recognize that it is imperative to God that we operate as a cohesive unit. Paul, therefore, explains that we must "be completely humble and gentle; patient, bearing with one another in love." That it is in this effort that we "keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace," and it is in keeping this unity that we enjoy true fellowship with God, for He does not dwell where there is disunity. If you doubt this, you need only look to Calvary, where it "pleased God to crush Jesus" so that unity could be possible.
For this reason, John explained himself when he said, "We proclaim to you what we ourselves have actually seen and heard so that you may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ." So we see that the sole motivation in John's writing his gospel was that, by laying hold of these truths, we may enter into fellowship with God, which is only obtained by unity, facilitated by the revelation of the Spirit.
Fellowship Through Revelation
The revelation of this truth was expressed fully by Jesus when He said:
Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? Don’t you believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me? The words I say to you I do not speak on my own authority. Rather, it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his work. Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; or at least believe on the evidence of the works themselves. Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it. If you love me, keep my commands. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever— the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you. I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. Before long, the world will not see me anymore, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you. Whoever has my commands and keeps them is the one who loves me. The one who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love them and show myself to them.”
The Advocate and Obedience
And we know that Advocate, The Holy Spirit, is commissioned by God to "teach us all things and remind us of everything He said to us." And what did He say to us but to " Love the Lord your God with all of your heart, and with all of your soul, and with all of your mind?" and, equally as important, to "love one another, just as He loved us"?
So we know that we grieve the Holy Spirit when we act, not in the manner we have been taught, as the "new man, which was created according to God, in true righteousness and holiness," but rather living as if we are separate from the body. Sinning in our anger, stealing from one another, withholding our charity, speaking in a way meant to tear down rather than build up, and every other instance of bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, and malice, all serve to drive a wedge between ourselves and God. These things, more than harming another, harm ourselves by depriving us of the fellowship for which we were created and for which Jesus died.
Grieving the Spirit by Division
Just as there is one God, who enjoys fellowship with Himself through the person of The Father, The Son, and The Spirit, there is also one body. Just as we were called to "one hope, one faith, and one baptism, we are called to one God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in us all." If we are to enter into this fellowship, we must do so through the unity which is provided to us only through Christ
For us to humble ourselves in submission to this body does not mean that we must give up our individual strengths, forcing ourselves into a mold and denying the reality of our uniqueness. On the contrary! For "Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers", Eachof these indwelled with a unique set of skills and employed in carrying out a different function. We are not expected to lay down our individual attributes in favor of universal ones, but rather lay down our individual motivations, so that we may obtain the correct one. For Christ did not give us our gifts so that we might serve OURSELVES, but to "equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may 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.
Gifts for the Body, Not Self
We know that Christ Himself provided these gifts, which are not meant to edify ourselves, but the body as a whole, and the purpose is this: That you may enter into fellowship with God.
The Charge to Ministry Gifts
To those who have been sent as apostles, go and equip his people for works of service. In doing so, you edify the body, bringing glory to God and entering into the fellowship for which you were created.
To those who have been called to prophesy, let them speak boldly, now, not later, without fear of how their report is received. Speaking not on their own accord but as messengers of the Lord, with nothing added or subtracted from His Word. In doing so, you edify the body, bringing glory to God and entering into the fellowship for which you were created
To those who have been called to evangelize, let them go, without delay, not on their own strength but endued with the Spirit who raised Jesus from death to life. Let them bring about the unity of the faith by gathering together all who are called. In doing so, you edify the body, bringing glory to God and entering into the fellowship for which you were created
To those who have been called to teach, let them distribute the knowledge of the Son of God to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ. Not choosing those lessons which are pleasing to the ear but rather those lessons that, being empowered by The Holy Spirit to break up the fallow ground of men's hearts, lead to repentance. In doing so, you edify the body, bringing glory to God and entering into the fellowship for which you were created
Final Call to Maturity
The time has come when those who the Word of God has sanctified are now called to take their stand. Let us then no longer live in the futility of our former thinking, lest we be separated from the life of God at a time when it is abundantly available to us, for we face the threat of being given over, through our pursuit of sensuality, to that darkness which looms, threatening to envelop anyone it may. Let us instead attain the full measure of the fullness of Christ by casting off those things which we have learned are wrong, as we cleave to the source of our strength, receiving direction not from intuition and the searching of our hearts, but rather through revelation and the searching of The Word.