4:1-6 The Unified Body of Christ Part I - Vital Christianity

5John tells us how we can experience this fruit of love: abiding and obeying (Jn. 15:9-10,12). At the basis of love is self-sacrifice. The ultimate expression of that love is laying downone’s life for someone else (Jn. 15:13; Rom. 5:6-8).Peter pointed out that love covers a “multitude of sins” (I Pet. 4:8). It functions as shockabsorbersin human relations. Just as we feel every bump on the road when we ride in a car withdefective shock-absorbers, so we see every weakness of others when love is missing. Loveenables us to emphasize each others strengths and minimize each others weaknesses.UNITY IS MAINTAINED THROUGH HARD WORK (4:3)unity.As God is one, so is the church. If the church is to serve Christ she must maintain its“Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace.”(Eph. 4:3)Paul commands the believers in the region of Ephesus to work hard at maintaining keepthe unity of the Spirit. He says “Make every effort.” It is not just something that happens. Theremust be concerted effort otherwise our human nature will show its ugly head. Divide andconquer is Satan’s great strategy .“The bond of peace” provides harmony to relationships. Peace has been defined as thecessation of strife and well-being (harmony). The word peace (shalom) is used 88 times in theNew Testament. Next to joy it is the most popular Christian greeting in the New Testament. Paulrefers to the peace of God as “surpassing all understanding” (Phil. 4:7)--peace that goes beyondour reasoning powers.As Jesus spoke of the Comforter to come He assured His disciple, “Peace I leave withyou; My peace I give you. I do not give you as the world gives” (Jn 14:27). The peace that theworld gives is based on circumstances (happenstances).God’s peace is grounded in His character, His promises and faithfulness. Therefore peaceis being secure in His love (Rom. 8:38,39). It comes from experiencing God’s forgiveness. It isthe presence of God in our lives and not just an absence of strife and inner conflicts. The sense ofsuch a presence contributes to the peaceful atmosphere in any situation or relationship.THE NATURE OF CHRISTIAN UNITY (4:4-6)Paul finishes this section by showing the nature of Christian unity:“There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to one hope when youwere called— one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, whois over all and through all and in all” (vv. 4-6).The one body refers to the body of Christ, the church, in which each believer is amember, placed there at the time of conversion by the Spirit of God (I Cor. 12:12-31).