Scripture Reference: Ephesians 4:1-16
Unity is Logical – Continued
Please read Ephesians 4:4-6 for the background to this section.
What are these seven eternal realities? They are spelled out for us in the following verses: “There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.”
There is “one body.” Each local church is a microcosm, or miniature representation, of the whole church. And the church is a body. Its head is the Lord Jesus Christ, and each member is an organ, such as an ear, an eye or a foot. Those organs are members of one another. They belong to each other and depend on each other. What folly it would be to chop the body up into separate pieces! How illogical and stupid it would be to set eye against ear, and foot against hand! Only unity is logical.
There is “one Spirit.” If you believe the gospel at all, it is because the Spirit has opened your understanding to see the truth of it. If anyone else believes, the explanation is the same, despite what some would like to profess. There are not several spirits bringing people from unbelief to Christ. We are all animated by the one Spirit of God, and it is He who gives us the family-feeling we have towards fellow-Christians. Again, only unity is logical.
There is one calling, “just as you were called in one hope of your calling.” Paul has already talked about the hope God’s calling gives us in Ephesians 1:18. The same God calls us to the same privileges and the same destination. We cannot behave as if we were on different roads bound for different places. Only unity is logical.
There is “one Lord.” That Lord is Jesus Christ. All who believe were chosen in Him. They were are redeemed by Him. They follow Him. It is under His Lordship, and His alone, that they live. They are going to be with Him. On what basis, then, can they think of disowning each other? Once again, only unity is logical.
There is “one faith.” We have heard the same truths, we believe the same truths, and we rely upon the same truths for our salvation. The people who believe the gospel are very diverse indeed, but there is still only one gospel. Saving faith is found in widely differing hearts, but that faith is the same in them all. We came to faith from different starting-points, but the faith we arrived at is identical. True faith does not scatter people. It joins them together. Only unity is logical.
There is “one baptism.” Baptism in the Holy Spirit is what inaugurates you into the spiritual dimension and makes you a member of Christ’s body (see 1 Corinthians 12:13). That is the spiritual reality. Baptism in water is not something different. It is the outward and visible sign of what has happened to you inwardly and invisibly. How can people who have all declared their death to self and their allegiance to the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, how can these people then live as if they were members of warring clans? Only unity is logical.
There is “one God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.” We gather round the same throne and whisper the sweet name of “Father” to the One who sits there. He is our King and “above” us all. We are His temple, so He is “through” us all. The heart of each individual believer is His shrine, so by His Spirit he is “in” us all. In the light of all this, how can we keep apart from each other? To split from other believers is to say that all these truths are lies. But they are not! Only unity is logical.
To Be Continued
FOR THE LOVE OF GOD 
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