Please explain Ephesians 4:4.
Before we read that verse let’s read verses 1-3, “I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you to walk worthy of the calling with which you were called, with all lowliness and gentleness, with longsuffering, bearing with one another in love, endeavoring to keep the UNITY of the Spirit in the bond of peace” (NKJV). In the first three chapters Paul had set forth the “Christian’s calling,” which revealed God’s grand purpose for all those who had been “chosen in Christ before the foundation of the world” (see 1:4). We have been CALLED with a “heavenly calling” which involves “heavenly blessings” and a “heavenly destiny” (1:3). We are the “church of God,” a “heavenly people” who will one day reign with Christ as His eternal bride over the whole universe (see 1:9-11; 22-23). Every blessing we have (present or future) is based on what Christ has done for us and the perfect standing we have “in Him.” In view of this blessed calling and our position in Christ, Paul now exhorts the believer to “walk worthy of the calling with which you were called.” In other words, he encourages us to walk as those who are blessed with heavenly blessings as we make our way to our heavenly home. One of the ways we can “walk worthy” is to “keep the UNITY of the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.” What does that mean? It simply means that since all believers have been formed (by the Spirit, as we shall see) into this heavenly company called the “church,” we should endeavor to show this unity in a practical way by loving one another and not allowing anything to divide us.
In verse 4 Paul emphasizes three vital truths that (as another has said), “form the basis of true Christian unity.” Verse 4 reads, “There is ONE BODY and ONE SPIRIT, just as you were called in ONE HOPE of your calling.” Let’s consider these three things and may the Lord impress them on our hearts, resulting in a greater desire to “keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.”
1) There is ONE BODY. The moment a sinner believes on Jesus Christ as his/her savior, they become a “member in the BODY OF CHRIST,” the true church of Scripture. The church began on the Day of Pentecost as recorded in Acts chapter 2. That chapter closes with these words, “And the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved.” So, we are no longer looked upon simply as individual believers but as a collective BODY of believers known as the church. All the differences that once separated us (racially, nationally, culturally, economically, etc.) have all been done away with and God sees us as ONE “in Christ.” We are ONE BODY in His sight!
2) There is ONE SPIRIT. In 1st Corinthians 12:13 we are told, “For by ONE SPIRIT we were all baptized into ONE BODY—whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free—and have all been made to drink into ONE SPIRIT.” Here we learn that it was the HOLY SPIRIT Who formed us into ONE BODY. Again, if you read Acts 2:1-4 you will see that on the Day of Pentecost the Holy Spirit descended from heaven to indwell the believers who were waiting for Him to come. Jesus had promised this to His disciples in John 14:16-17, “And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may ABIDE WITH YOU FOREVER—the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him, but you know Him, for He dwells with you and WILL BE IN YOU.” On the Day of Pentecost He came and took up residence in each believer and in doing so, He formed the church, the BODY OF CHRIST.
3) There is ONE HOPE. The word “hope” implies something that is yet FUTURE. What is the HOPE of the church? Ah, to be with Christ in heaven forever! Jesus gave us this hope in John 14:2-3, “In My Father’s house are many mansions…I go to prepare a place for you…I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also.” Based on this promise we look for Him to come, as we see in Philippians 3:20 and Titus 2:13, “For our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ….Looking for the BLESSED HOPE and glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ.” And as we wait for Him to come to take us Home, we should, by God’s grace, “endeavor to keep the UNITY of the Spirit in the bond of peace.” When we get to Heaven there will indeed be perfect unity (see Ephesians 4:13), but even now we have the blessed privilege to show to the world that we are ONE BODY, which was formed by ONE SPIRIT, to whom has been given ONE HOPE. (307.7) (DO)