A Commitment to
Unity of Body and Teamwork
Text: Ephesians 4:3-10
Dr. Alex Tang
We believe that every member is valuable to God
and is given gifts for work in the
Therefore, we are committed to value each other
and seek to use our gifts to work together to build up the body of Christ.
Ephesians 4:3-10
1.
Unity in the Body of Christ
3 Make every
effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. 4 There is one body and one Spirit— just
as you were called to one hope when you were called— 5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism; 6 one God and Father of all, who is over
all and through all and in all.
2.
Preserving the Unity in the Body of Christ
7 But to each
one of us grace has been given as Christ apportioned it. 8 This is why it says:
“When
he ascended on high, he led captives in his train and gave gifts to men.”
9 (What does “he
ascended” mean except that he also descended to the lower, earthly regions? 10 He who descended is the very one who
ascended higher than all the heavens, in order to fill the whole universe.)
Bible Exposition
1.
The Unity in the Body of Christ
Verse
3
3 Make every effort to keep
the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace.
5 so in Christ we who are many form one body, and each
member belongs to all the others.
(Rom. 12:5)
27 Now you are
the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it. (1Cor
Please note that we are
not to create a unity but to keep
it. Unity in the church is created by the Holy Spirit. It is already here. It
is in existence. Here is the paradox. God
has already created the unity in church. We are totally unnecessary; but on the
other the other hand, we are challenged in this letter the Ephesians to do all
we can to keep the unity. By the way, the letter is to be read in plural. You, the church is to preserve
unity.
Maintaining unity demands
constant attention and zealous effort because there are many powers working
against it and sinful human desires and behaviors disrupting it.
(Eph.4:2)
2 Be completely
humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love.
Attitudes of humility,
gentleness, and patience foster unity among Christians. To keep the unity
demands commitment of the whole community of the church.
all of us caring about it
together.
forgiving and reconciling with
each other.
watching over one another
exhorting one another.
being committed to one another
in the long haul.
Paul emphasize the manner
in which they are to be carried out in one’s conduct: bearing with one another in love and making every effort (the Gr. has a participle, “making every diligent
effort”) to keep the unity of the Spirit
through the bond of peace. Christians are not to make unity but to keep or
guard what God made in creating the “one new man” (Eph.
Verse 4
4 There is one body and one
Spirit— just as you were called to one hope when you were called—
Without a conjunction
Paul listed the seven elements of unity centered on the three Persons of the
Trinity. These provide the basis for the spirit of unity that should exist in
the body of believers.
one Body one Spirit
one hope
One body refers to the universal church, all believers (Eph.1:23;
One Spirit is the Holy Spirit who indwells the church (Eph.
One hope, indicate that all believers have a common hope
regarding their future with God , a confidence that
began at the time they were “called” to salvation. We have this hope in God
the hope of the gospel,
which was preached (Col. 1:23a)
the hope of righteousness
by faith (Gal. 5:5)
hope that God will not
abandon us (Psalm 16, quoted in Acts 2)
hope that God will indeed
keep His promises (Acts 26:6-7)
hope that in nothing we
will be ashamed, but that Christ will be magnified in our bodies, both in life
and death (Phil.1:20)
hope for consolation in
these times (2 Cor. 1:7)
hope of salvation (1
Thess.5:8)
hope for resurrection
(Acts 23:6; 24:15) because of Christ’s resurrection (1 Peter
hope unto the end (Heb.
3:6;
the blessed hope in the
glorious appearing of the Lord Jesus Christ (Titus
hope laid up in heaven
(Col. 1:5)
hope of eternal life
(Titus 1:2; 3:7)
All this is summed up in
the truth that Jesus Christ is our hope and that we have the hope of glory of
God because Christ is in us. Everyone in the Body is united by the Holy
Spirit’s communication of this common hope that is in Christ we participate in
the fulfillment of all of God’s promises.
The Holy Spirit is the one who links Body with hope.
Verse 5
5 one Lord, one faith, one
baptism;
The second person of the Trinity offers us another triangle composed of one Lord, one faith, one baptism.
one Lord one
faith
one baptism
One Lord (cf. Rom. 10:12) refers to Christ, the Head of the church (Eph. 1:22-23; Col. 1:18).
One faith speaks of faith which is exercised by all Christians in Christ their Lord
(cf. Col. 2:7). This is the true faith
in Christ, one that cuts through denominational lines, through Catholics,
Orthodox churches and Protestants. Through Pentecostals,
Charismatic or non charismatics. Through Presbyterian
and the rest.
One baptism refers to water baptism, the outward
symbol and of the inward reality ( the
baptismal life.) It is in acting out the baptismal life or the inner spiritual
life believers demonstrate their spiritual unity. The baptismal life is holy living
or spiritual formation of our souls.
we have all put off our
old person by baptismal death with Jesus (Eph.
we are being renewed
daily by the Holy Spirit (Eph.4: 23)
we are putting on a new
person by means of Christ living in and through us (Eph.
we are part of the Body of
all baptized Christians throughout time and space. There is one flock of sheep
following the voice of one shepherd (John
Lord is
the one who links faith with baptismal life.
Verse 6.
6 one God and
Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.
One God and Father of all who is over all and
through all and in all refers to God the Father and His relationship to all believers. The fourfold use of
“all” refers to “all believers,” not “all mankind.” Certainly these
characteristics are not common to all people. God is the Father “of” all who
believe; they are His children (John 1:12; Gal. 3:26). And He is “over” all
them as their Sovereign. He lives “through” them and manifests Himself “in”
them. The Christian community is knit together by the Father.
one Father of
all
over all
through all
in all
one Body one
Spirit one Lord one faith
one hope one
baptism
Three observations should be noted about this list of seven unifying elements (Eph. 4:4-6).
(1)
The Trinity is an integral part of
the list. The one body of believers is vitalized by one Spirit, so all believers have one hope. That body is united to its
one Lord (Christ) by each member’s
one act of faith, and its identity with Him is depicted by one baptism. One God, the Father, is supreme over all,
operative through all, and resides in all. All seven components are united in
the Trinity.
(2)
The order in the listing of the three Persons of
the Trinity is interesting. Paul began with the Holy Spirit rather than with
the Father. The reason for this is that in the preceding verses he was
discussing “the unity of the Spirit” (v. 3) and in verses 7-13 he discussed the
gifts of the Spirit. The same order of Trinity Members is given in 1
Corinthians 12:4-6, where Paul also discussed the gifts of the Spirit.
(3)
Seven is the Jewish number for
perfection. The Trinity is three. Four is the Jewish number for the whole
world (baptism, hope, faith, body).
2. Preserving
the Unity in the Body of Christ
This unity in the Body is supported by grace and by His gifting. Paul is a practical guy. First he tells us the theology, then he tells us how to apply the theology.
Verse 7
7 But to each
one of us grace has been given as Christ apportioned it.
Previously Paul discussed
the unity of the entire church (vv. 1-6). Now he discussed the diversity within
the church (cf. unity in 1 Cor. 12:12-13, and diversity in 1 Cor. 12:4-11,
14-20). From God each believer
receives grace or gifts (cf. Eph.
3:2, 7-8) as Christ apportioned it (lit.,
“according to the measure [metron, also
used in 4:13, 16]; of the gift of Christ,” i.e., the gift He is pleased to
give).
Each believer is to
function in Christ’s body by God’s grace, proportionate to the gift (spiritual
ability) bestowed on him, no more and no less. This means that a variety of
gifts will be exercised, as seen in verse 11; Romans 12:4-6; and 1 Corinthians
12:4-6. Furthermore, since each believer receives “grace,” clergy and laity—to
use a common present-day distinction—are on the same level in exercising their
gifts.
10 Each one
should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering
God’s grace in its various forms. (1 Peter 4:10)
Verse 8
8 This
is why it says:
“When he ascended on
high, he led captives in his train and gave gifts to men.”
This is a difficult
verse. Most scholars think Paul is quoting Psalm
68:18. A Bible scholar discovered
that we Psalm 68 could be divided into two parts:
(1) The dominant note is that
of the
God that comes: “Let God rise up” (v.1), “God
gives…leads” (v.6), “went out …..and marched” (v.7),
“came from Sinai” (v.17), and “ascended” (v.18).
(2) The second half deals the
presence of God with His people. “who daily
bears up” (v.19), “ in His sanctuary” (vv,24-25), “in the great
congregation”(v.26) and “in the temple at Jerusalem” (v.29).
Psalm 68 holds together
the complementary thoughts that “the God who is on the march, ever active, going
before His people, and the God who stays in their midst, meeting with His
people in the beauty of holiness.”
Verse 9,10
9 (What
does “he ascended” mean except that he also descended to the lower, earthly
regions? 10 He who descended
is the very one who ascended higher than all the heavens, in order to fill the
whole universe.)
In verses 9-10 Paul
commented on the words He ascended. Paul
is so afraid that the Ephesians miss the point that he
gave a footnote. The idea of the passage is the giving of gifts. Before Christ
could ascend He had to descend. To the
lower, earthly regions, literally, “into the lower parts of earth” This
would refer to Christ’s death and His burial in the grave. In His death Christ
had victory over sin and redeemed those who would be given as “gifts” to the
church.
Christ’s ascent above the heavens, in order to fill the whole
universe probably refers to His regal relationship with the whole world,
from which position He bestows gifts as He wills because of His work on the Cross. This fits well with 1:23, which speaks
of Christ imparting all the fullness of His blessings to the church and to the
universe. Christ, who embodies the fullness of the Godhead (Col. 2:9), fills
the universe and is Head over it (cf. Col. 1:18)
Paul uses this Psalm to
reinforce the idea that the unity of the body of Christ is a completed work.
God has gone forth to redeem us and now He is dwelling within us. As He is with
us, He is continually monitoring the needs of the church- both Universal
(Catholic) and local. He gives gifts needed to build up the church. There are
the spiritual gifts. But we often think of spiritual gifts as special abilities
given to Christians. Paul went further than this. Paul implies gifts are also
certain people given to the local church – apostles, prophets, evangelists,
pastors and teachers.
Closing Remarks:
The Core Value Unity and Teamwork
1.
Be serious about the
Major and relax about the Minor.
In major areas of our
faith, we must be serious and accept no compromise. Like Jesus is God, Jesus is
the only way or we worship one God, not three Gods. That’s major. Otherwise
distinguish between major beliefs, church tradition and human fragility. Or to put it another way, things of God and thing of man.
Things of God are major and cannot be changed. Things of man can and should
change with times. What does it matters if..
people lift up their hands in
worship.
sing new contemporary songs
instead of old proven hymns.
wear a nose ring.
seat in your favorite seat in
church.
Let us be gracious about
the things of man. Each of us is different and we journey to God on different
spiritual pathways. Let us accept this difference rather that insisting that
every must follow “my way”. There are only two ways- my way and the wrong way.
My wife has a sticker.
“Next
time you think you’re perfect, try walking on water”
2.
Allow each other room to exercise and affirm
their spiritual gifts.
Holy Light should be the
place where there is room for everyone to exercise their spiritual gifts.
Everyone have gifts. Of course, there must be spiritual oversight, but there
must be room for experimentation. There may be failures but that’s the way we
learn. You cannot make omelets without breaking a few eggs. Anyone tried
walking on water lately?
Encourage and affirm
those who are already exercising their spiritual gifts. As human beings, we all
need affirmations.
3.
Be committed and love one
another.
Commitment and love is
the key to keep the unity in the church. We are all here for the long haul.
(Eph.4:2) 2 Be completely humble and gentle; be patient,
bearing with one another in love.
Be kind to each other.
A matter of give and
take.
Pray for one another.
Forgive one another.
Don’t bear grudges.
Stress here is laid on
the church’s unity. Each of us is linked to Christ and one another. This
oneness is a truth we must accept. Also implicit in this portrait is the notion
that the church lives only as she responds to her Head. Christ alone is Head of
the church. We look to Him for direction and guidance. What is His goal?
Scripture tells us that Christ continues His work in our world. He is absent in
one sense, seated at the right hand of God (1:20). Yet in another, He is
physically here, alive and active in our century. Christ is in heaven, but His
body lives and moves on earth. We who have been “created in Christ Jesus to do
good works” (2:10) carry out God’s hidden plans. You and I, together with all
believers, are called to be a contemporary incarnation of the living God.
Christ reveals Himself in human flesh, the human flesh of His living church.
Soli Deo Gloria