The Unity of the Spirit in the Bond of Peace

Read: Ephesians 4:1-16 (vv. 12-16)

Record: Paul a prisoner to Christ and his gospel urges his readers to walk in a manner worthy of the calling.  He gives several fruit of those who walk in the Spirit: humility, gentleness, patience, loving one another, peace and unity.  The combination of the last two characteristics drive the remainder of the section: “eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace (v. 3)”

That unity manifests itself because there is:

• one body
• one Spirit
• one hope
• one call (inferred)
• one Lord
• one faith
• one baptism
• one God and Father

All Christians receive grace to keep the bond of peace.  The passage then turns to the work of Christ in vv. 8-10 describing his ascending and descending.  Christ both descended and ascended to fill all things: he suffered and then was glorified.  [He left glory to bear the curse of sin in order to conquer sin’s death by his resurrection and return to the glory of heaven above.]  Christ’s gifts are very specific.  Apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers are gifts given by Christ for a very specific purpose: to equip the saints to build up the body.

I’ll describe vv. 12-16 a bit more below.

Respond:  With Ephesians 1-3 as the foundation explaining who we are in Christ (the indicative), Paul now moves the second part of the letter to encourage the walk we live out in Christ (his pastoral encouragement coming in the imperative).  The high call to unity that Paul wants to see comes as a result of the work of Christ’s gifts to the church… namely Christ’s shepherding His church through His pastors/teachers and evangelists now (and His apostles and prophets from their respective redemptive historical periods).

The goal (“to equip…to build up” v. 12):

• attain unity of the faith (v. 13)
• knowledge of the Son of God (v. 13)
• mature manhood (v. 13)
• measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ (v. 13)

The negative reason (“so that” v. 14):

• may no longer be children tossed to and fro (v. 14):
  • by every wind of doctrine (v. 14)
  • by human cunning (v. 14)
  • by craftiness in deceitful schemes (v. 14)

The positive reason (“Rather” v. 15):

• speak the truth in love (v. 15)
• grow up into our Head (into Christ) (v. 16)
• so that the whole body grows together, built in love (v. 16)

Reflect:  When I think about the goals and the reasons Paul gives for the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace, it all hinges on what the Spirit was sent to do in the first place: to testify to the comfort found in Christ.  The Spirit’s work is to lead us to Christ, to glorify and exalt Him, and to mold us into His perfect image.  Everything is centered upon growing in the knowledge of our faith in Christ.  Christ is to be magnified/exalted/glorified, known/studied/heard/spoken, loved/adored, followed, believed, worshipped, gifted, and shared.  Why? So that we won’t be swayed by false teaching like gullible kids, but bolstered in our Head who is Christ so that the body of Christ will love just as its Head has loved us.

This is where Paul is taking us.  Ephesians 5:2 says:

…and walk in the way of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.

Paul’s pastoral thrust of the passage is this: know and believe the love of Christ, grow in the love of Christ, and walk in the love of Christ.  This is my prayer.

In Christ

Read: Ephesians 1:3-14

3 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. 4 For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love 5 he predestined us for adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will— 6 to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves. 7 In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace 8 that he lavished on us. With all wisdom and understanding, 9 he made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in Christ, 10 to be put into effect when the times reach their fulfillment—to bring unity to all things in heaven and on earth under Christ.
11 In him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will, 12 in order that we, who were the first to put our hope in Christ, might be for the praise of his glory. 13 And you also were included in Christ when you heard the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation. When you believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, 14 who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession—to the praise of his glory.

Record: Paul pronounces blessing upon God for all the spiritual blessings in heaven He has bestowed upon us already now.  They are awesome and they are numerous to which nothing compares.  Absolutely nothing:

• For he chose us in him before the creation of the world (v. 4)
• …to be holy and blameless in his sight in love (v. 4)
• he predestined us (v. 5)
• for adoption (v. 5)
• to sonship through Jesus Christ, (v. 5)
• in accordance with his pleasure and will (v. 5)
• to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves. (v. 6)
• In him we have redemption through his blood, (v. 7)
• the forgiveness of sins, (v. 7)
• in accordance with the riches of God’s grace that he lavished on us. (v. 7-8)
• With all wisdom and understanding, he made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in Christ, (v. 9)
• to be put into effect when the times reach their fulfillment—(v. 10)
• to bring unity to all things in heaven and on earth under Christ. (v. 10)
• In him we were also chosen, (v. 11)
• having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will, (v. 11)
• in order that we, who were the first to put our hope in Christ, (v. 12)
• might be for the praise of his glory. (v. 12)
• And you also were included in Christ when you heard the message of truth, (v. 13)
• the gospel of your salvation. (v. 13)
• When you believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, (v. 13)
• who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance (v. 14)
• until the redemption of those who are God’s possession— (v. 14)
• to the praise of his glory. (v. 14)

Reflect: This pericope is larger than is humanly possible to offer adequate reflection in one sitting.  Yet in Paul’s original writing, vv. 3-14 constituted one single sentence, so for that reason, I’ll address this whole section.  It’s perhaps the greatest run-on sentence man has ever had the privilege to read.

The foundation behind the realization of all these blessing is that we are united to Christ.  His work has been made our blessing and reality through the sealing work of the Holy Spirit.

I want to focus my reflection upon the Trinitarian nature of this passage.  Each person of the Trinity is highlighted with specific purposes and accomplishments.  In vv. 4-6 praise of the Father is in order because he is presented as the One who elects.  In vv. 7-12 the Son is declared our Redeemer by His work, and in vv. 13-14, the Spirit seals the work which the Son accomplished.  When Paul is talking about the heavenly blessings, these are essentially blessings which stem from the very being and economy of our Triune God.  That God allows us to participate so deeply in His being is awesome.

Furthermore, because these blessings are rooted in the very nature of our God, they are not bound by time in the way we would normally comprehend a blessing.  Our heavenly blessings are bound to God Himself who was and is and is to come.  in other words, our blessings are both infinite and eternal:

• Our election is from eternity past.
• Our forgiveness is in the present.
• Our ultimate inheritance is in the future.

These heavenly blessings are sealed in God Himself.  They are so intense and weighty, they require all of eternity to be savored.

Respond: Given what I just read and wrote, there probably isn’t a completely satisfying response worthy of a passage like this.  All I can say is, “Thanks.”  All I can ask God is: to help me believe these truths more and more.  To have God help me understand that He, the Triune God, is completely behind my election, redemption and eternal inheritance in the most personal way… that the sum total of my Christian life is that live and move and have my being in him… that I am in Christ is the most edifying and encouraging phrase I can draw from Scripture.

Dear Father, help grow my belief/faith in your fullness and fully live out my union in Christ.