Ephesians 4:1-3 - The Grace of Unity

WhenPaul wrote the letter of 1 Corinthians, he told them, "Because you arecarnal, acting like babies, there is strife and division among you.” Someof you are saying you're of Paul. Others are saying, 'I'm of Peter.' Others  claimed to be in the Apollos crowd, while somewere saying, 'We're more spiritual than the rest because we're ofChrist.'" Because of this problem Paul wrote the First Corinthian letterto correct them because of this disunity, the disharmony, the strife anddivision that exist in the church there in Corinth. Sounds like too manychurches today! Nowin this letter to the church at Ephesus, after Paul gives them their positionin Christ, the first thing he addresses is the need to have unity of spirit,unity of heart, unity of mind, have one goal. My friend, over the years I’ve experiencedthat the church that's focused on Jesus, the church that's focused on who He is, on what He has done for us, focused onbeing obedient in fulfilling the Great Commission, is a church full of peoplethat will get along with each other, love each other, care for each other, worktogether for the glory of God, as they set their own agenda, ambitions, and preferencesaside.  Howimportant this is and that is what Paul is addressing in the first three verseshere. That's the unity that comes from the grace of God that we are enjoying,as we follow Him, live in Him, and walk in Him. We are to walk worthy of our callingin Christ. We do that with all “lowliness”, which of course is humility(v. 2). Jesus began His first public message with these words, “Blessed arethe poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of God”. The first beatitudeis being humble, being a beggar, realizing how helpless you are without theLord. The moment you think you have humility is the moment you lost it, myfriend. Because it's an attitude, where every moment of every day, you die toyourself, and you're alive in Christ unto God for the glory of God, loving oneanother. So lowliness, humility, is the first grace of unity we see. Thesecond grace of unity is “gentleness”, which also is translated “meekness”.Moses was the meekest man in all the earth. Meekness does not mean weakness. Itmeans power under control. It means you have yielded your ambitions, yieldedyour preferences. You've yielded your ownership of everything in your life tothe Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus said, “Blessed are the meek, for they shallinherit the earth”. Meekness means that you give up your right to yourselfas you die to self and you live unto the Lord and let Him live His life throughyou. A “gentle” attitude goes a long way in building unity in the church! Thenthere is “longsuffering” (v. 2). “Longsuffering”, which means “long-tempered”,is the ability to endure discomfort without fighting back. Then it goes on tosay “bearing with one another in love”. Remember, “love suffers long” (1Corinthians 13:4). Have you noticed that these graces of unity are basically thesame as the “fruit of the Spirit” that we find in Galatians 5:22; “Thefruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness,faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law”. Howwonderful. When you're filled with the Spirit, the fruit of the Spirit is beingdisplayed in your life and there is the unity.  Thenthere must be “endeavoring”. “Endeavoring to keep the unity of theSpirit…” (v. 3). Literally it reads "being eager to maintain, orguard, the unity of the Spirit." Finally, there is the grace of unitythat is “the bond of peace”. Peace within your own heart. Peace betweenmembers. We must first experience “peace with God”, then the “peace of God”that rules in our hearts that brings us to peace with one another.  Whenwe all do that, there is this grace of unity that rules in the body of Christ andthat displays the love of God to a lost world around us. May God help us to experiencethis unity today.