The Unity of the Spirit and Faith

In Ephesians chapter four the Apostle Paul speaks of “the unity of the Spirit” and “the unity of the faith.” We must begin to see that we will not see the fullness of the Spirit or a high level of faith in our lives until there is true unity in the church. Say tuned and I’ll explain.

In verse 3 Paul makes the strong statement: “endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.” To endeavor means to work hard at something. In the Greek the word for “keep” means to guard with force. The “bond of peace” is the wonderful connection the body of Christ has through the blood of Jesus. We have peace with God because of what Jesus did for us.

Paul strongly encouraged the believers to be diligent to guard the precious unity of the Holy Spirit. Why was Paul so strong on this point? Because he had the revelation that unity is a major key to the success of the church. Without the unity of the Spirit the church would never grow up to up to be a mature bride.

See how the Passion Translon translated that precious verse. “Be faithful to guard the sweet harmony of the Holy Spirit among you in the bonds of peace.” Yes, the harmony is sweet and must be guarded.

Next, Paul talks of the “unity of faith.” In verse 13 Paul says “till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God…” In order to understand what he means we must look at the context. The verses right before say

“And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, 12 for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the [e]edifying of the body of Christ.” (vv.11-12)

So, the unity of the faith can only be accomplished as we sit under the God-designed five-fold ministries. As we sit under those ministries we are “equipped” (fit into place) and “edified” (built up) in Christ. To the person who thinks they can be a spiritual Lone Ranger and thrive are sadly mistaken. God has designed that His body would work together in order to come into its fullness.

Paul goes on to say that those who have the unity of the faith will no longer be immature. Aren’t so many of our problems caused by a lack of maturity? Wasn’t that the case of the prodigal son? Hear what Paul says:

“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.” (vv.13-14)

Are you sick of being tossed to and fro? I know many are. The answer is allowing God to bring us to the “unity of the faith” through the five-fold ministry and the “work of the ministry” by the rest.

By the grace of God let us be diligent to guard the sweet unity of the Holy Spirit in the bond the peace. Ands let us sit under and lean into the spiritual leaders God has placed in our lives. Let each of us be activated by what we hear and do the work of the ministry.