December 01 2025

Monday December 01

The Spiritual Gifts of Unity

Ephesians 4:7-11

7 But to each one of us grace was given according to the measure of Christ's gift. 8 Therefore He says: "When He ascended on high, He led captivity captive, And gave gifts to men." 9 (Now this, "He ascended"--what does it mean but that He also first descended into the lower parts of the earth? 10 He who descended is also the One who ascended far above all the heavens, that He might fill all things.) 11 And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers,

Today we're going to move on to the next few verses, Ephesians 4:7-11. As we have been talking about unity in the church, we must remember, as the Apostle Paul also reminded the church at Rome that we cannot have peace at any price where we compromise the doctrine, the purity of truth, just to have peace with others around us. Paul makes this very clear in Romans 16:17-20. In verse 17, he writes to the church at Rome, “I urge you, brethren, note those who cause division and offenses contrary to the doctrine which you learned and avoid them”.

The Bible also teaches us in James 3:17, “That the wisdom that's from above is first pure, then peaceable..”. Yes, “first pure”. God's wisdom is pure. His holy truth is pure and holy and cannot be compromised. Then after the purity, comes the peacefulness. This is the peace that comes along with a pure doctrine, a pure truth that we are practicing and believing and that is bringing the unity in our churches. That's why the previous verses mention, “one body, one Spirit, one baptism, one faith, one God and Father,” and so forth.

Now we are looking at the unity that especially needs to be there because of the gifts of the Spirit which differ for individuals in the church. In the body of Christ, the Church, we have different gifts, but we should still have unity because we need each other, with each other's Spiritual gifts to be built up in the body of Jesus Christ. We're going to see that this is what Paul is talking about in these verses.

So, in these verses 7-11, Paul moves on from what all Christians have in common to how Christians differ from each other. He's discussing the variety and individuality within the unity of the Spirit because God has given each believer at least two to three gifts. You find this taught in 1 Corinthians 12:4-11: “Now there are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit. And there are differences of administrations, but the same Lord. And there are diversities of operations, but it is the same God which worketh all in all. But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit withal…..But all these worketh that one and the selfsame Spirit, dividing to every man severally as He will.”

Did you notice that the “Holy Spirit gives to each man severally as He wills." I believe that's speaking of at least maybe two to three gifts. I believe we have one primary spiritual gift along with a few others. I also believe we can still all practice many of the Spiritual gifts such as serving, giving, faith, and so on. You find these Spiritual gifts listed in three main passages in the New Testament: Romans 12; here in Ephesians 4, and also in more detail in chapters 12 through 14 in 1 Corinthians. There you'll find the list and the discussion of Spiritual gifts by the Apostle Paul to these three churches: The church at Rome, the church at Ephesus and the church at Corinth.

Remember that the church at Corinth was having major divisions over the use and purpose of Spiritual gifts. It is also very important that we understand from 1 Corinthians 12 and from this Ephesians 4 passage of Scripture that the Holy Spirit gave the gifts for the unity and the building up of the body. One of the best definitions of a Spiritual gift I have found is that: A Spiritual Gift is a God-given ability to serve God and other members in the church in such a way that Christ is glorified and believers are edified. Which means when the gifts are being exercised properly in the Church, they build up the others as they build up the body of Christ.

This is what Paul really keys in on here in this passage before us. We'll be looking at these verses the next few days and how we have a wonderful Christ Who has given these gifts because He's “ascended”. The Holy Spirit has been given to the church. He is the “gift of the Spirit” (Acts 2:38-39). You receive this “Gift” at the moment of your salvation. But then there are the different gifts of the Spirit that build up the body of Christ. You personally also receive your specific particular gifts at the moment of your salvation even though you might discover them at a later time. This is what we will be studying over these next few days.

Today, do you know what your Spiritual gifts are?

God bless!