Unity of the Body Explained

Today the Spirit taught me a great deal about what unifies the church and how it is unified in God's perfect will. I will put these in points as there are several mega-themes I was able to learn through the Spirit today.

1. Ephesians 4:1 " I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called, With all lowliness and meekness, with longsuffering, forbearing one another in love;"
- The word walk in this passage refers to a way of living and we are to live in a Christ-like way. 

   In Hebrew, the word is hlk or Halakah which was the set of laws and traditions governing daily life as seen in 2 Kings 20:3. However, now we are to walk or live in our Salvation in a way that glorifies Christ. (Taken from Zondervan Illustrated Bible Background Commentary)

2. Eph. 4: 4-6 "There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are 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."

What can we unify with? Sometimes, we do not want to unify ourselves with another group of believers because we do not agree on certain beliefs or doctrines. Paul makes it clear what points are essential for unity in the body of Christ.

A. One Body: the fellowship of believers or the church are one body.B. One Spirit: the Holy Spirit which activates the fellowshipC. One Hope: that glorious future in which we are all calledD. One Lord: Christ, to whom we all belongE. One Faith: our singular commitment to ChristF. One Baptism: the sign of entry into the churchG. One God: God, who is our Father who keeps us for eternity. (Taken from Life Application Study Bible)

3.  I want to focus on verse 6. It says that God is above all, "meaning transcendence or He is over all and cares for all. The second statement is that he through all and in all. This refers to his active presence in the world and in the lives of believers or immanence." (Taken from Life Application). Wow!

4. This is the first mention of pastors and teachers as evidenced in verse 11. What is the function of theses spiritual leaders? It is three-fold according to verse 12: the perfecting of the saints (or maturity builiding), work of the ministry in general, and the edifying of the body of Christ or "help[ing] to prepare the various members of Christ's body to serve one another with the overall goal of assisting each person to know Christ better and reflect his chracter in their lives." (Taken from Zondervan)