Christianity: THE UNITY OF THE SPIRIT.....THE UNITY OF THE FAITH

 "And He gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers: for the perfecting of the saints, for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ: till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ."    Ephesians 4v11-13

The word unity only occurs in Ephesians 4, and means unanimity, oneness of mind, thought, and purpose.  There are two aspects of this unity--the unity of the Spirit(v3) and the unity of the the faith(v13).  

The unity of the Spirit is a fact, it is inviolable, unbreakable, the Divine side of our salvation.  We are not asked to make it, we are simply asked to keep it (guard it with military might).  We did not and could not create it but we are asked to observe it in all that we do.  The reality of this, that the Spirit has bound all believers together in vital and indivisible union, is evident in every picture of the entity, the church, in holy writ.  In the mind of God, and by the power of the Spirit, the church is one.

Exodus 36v13, in the imagery of the tabernacle "And he made fifty taches of gold, and coupled the curtains one to another with the taches: so it became one tabernacle."

Matthew 13v46 "...one pearl of great price..."

John 17v21 "...that they all may be one, as thou Father art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us that the world may believe that thou hast sent me."

1st Corinthians 12v13 "For by one Spirit are we all baptised into one body, whether we be Jew or Gentile, whether bond or free: and have all been made to drink into one Spirit."

Galatians 3v28 "...ye are all one in Christ Jesus."

Ephesians 2v15 "...one new man.. "

Ephesians 4v4-6 "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."

This is the UNITY OF THE SPIRIT; it is created by Him, is a fact, and we should acknowledge it, and preserve it.  It is that every believer, regardless of their nationality, or cultural background, is vitally and indivisibly linked to the Head which is Christ, and to every member, in the same way the members of a human body are livingly and essentially linked to each other, and to the head.

There is no call for us to create a unity, it is already done; however we do have to guard it with everything we have.  The words used are very strong "endeavouring" and "keep" in Ephesians 4v3.  Endeavouring is spourazo which calls for urgent effort and diligence, an exertion of oneself, straining every nerve and sinew.  We are to display maximum effort, do our utmost to preserve what God has created.  The question is, have we ceased the effort, have we lapsed into a comfortably apathy to the living entity He has created, preferring to seclude ourselves in our little cliques, which become more and more exclusive?  The second word is "keep", which is guard as in a military fortress, to yield nothing to defend stoutly against all opposition.  This will require humility of mind, as it says in verse 2 "...with all lowliness, and meekness, with longsuffering, forbearing one another in love."  Humility, not arrogance, becomes those who are recipients of the grace of God.  This is basic Christianity, we are to endeavour to keep what God has created, the one church, the one body, the one bride, the one temple, the one priesthood.