Introduction
We should always want to turn to Scripture for instruction on what to do where we are. We ought to minimize the study of Scripture that focuses on what might happen to us some other time. Application should always be now, obedience should never be a matter of postponement.
The Text:
“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; Endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace . . . 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 the 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” (Eph. 4:1–16).
Summary of the Text:
After laying the foundation of the first three chapters of Ephesians (all indicatives), Paul moves on to the last three chapters, which are full of ethical imperatives. The foundational imperative is that we “walk worthy” (v. 1). We are to be humble with one another, forbearing with one another (v. 2). We do this as we endeavor to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace (v. 3). Paul then notes the essential unity of the faith (vv. 4-6). Nothing about it is fragmented. Each believer is given a measure of grace (v. 7). Jesus ascended into Heaven, and then gave gifts to us (v. 8). The one who ascended is the same one who descended (vv. 9-10). The gifts that He gave were church offices—apostles, prophets, evangelists, and pastor/teachers (v. 11). The reason for giving these gifts is so that the saints might be perfected for the work of ministry, as the body of Christ is built up (v. 12). The result of that is that we will all come to the unity of the faith (v. 13), growing up into a perfect man. That will prevent us from being blown all over by crafty false teachers (v. 14). Rather, speaking the truth in love, we will grow up into unity (v. 15). The result will be the entire body knit together in love (v. 16).
Two Kinds of Unity:
In short form, there are two kinds of unity in this passage. There is the unity that we already have, which is “a given,” and there is the unity we are growing up toward, a unity that we do not yet have, and are not supposed to have.
The first kind of unity is found in verse 3. There we are commanded to endeavor “to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.” The word keep could also be rendered as preserve or guard. It obviously refers to something that is already a present possession. You can’t guard or keep something you don’t have. So as Christians we have “the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.” We are told to keep it, and we are also told how. This indicates the nature of the unity. It is the unity of personal fellowship, the kind of unity that would be disrupted by the opposite of lowliness, meekness, patience, and forbearance.
The second kind of unity is found in verse 13. This is a unity we do not yet have because it is the unity of maturity. In order to get us there, Jesus Christ gave us . . . church government and gifted men to function in that government. As these men do their work, when they do their work, the result is that the saints are perfected, the body is edified, and we all come to the unity of the faith.
A Construction Project:
The apostles and prophets did the foundational work (Eph. 2:20). They poured the concrete, and are no longer on site. We who remain have the responsibility to build whatever we build in line with what they did, and to do nothing else. The walls all have to go up on the actual foundation. We can’t throw up a wing where there is no concrete. The evangelists are the loggers and sawmill operators, and the pastor/teachers are the contractors and hammer slingers on site.
Back to the First Kind:
The first kind of unity needs to be maintained through the entire process. Love is not like the apostolic teaching, which can be poured two thousand years ago, and considered done. Love has to govern the entire process. As we grow up toward the kind of unity we do not yet have, we must do it maintaining the kind of unity that we do have. We are to build, speaking the truth in love (v. 15), and as the body grows, it does so “in love” (v. 16).
One Kind of Growth:
The kind of growth we want is therefore quantitative and qualitative together. This is how healthy life works. You cannot choose one over the other.
Some people simply want quantitative growth. Bigger, more, now! But morning glory grows. Cancer grows. Bigger is not necessarily better. Growth is not automatically good.
Others want to guard against that kind of thing by keeping everything small and pure. If I bought a house that was ten by twenty, it would be easier to keep clean. There’s that. But smaller has its own temptations. Smaller is not automatically good. I saw a bumper sticker once in a small farm town—you don’t see much here, but what you hear makes up for it.
So Bring It Home:
In the growth of the church over time, there are therefore two kinds of patience that we must cultivate. We must cultivate patience with those people in the church who exasperate us, and we must cultivate patience under the eschatological purposes of God in history. The church will be unified in that sense in the final day.