November 22 2025

Saturday November 22

The Grace of Unity

Ephesians 4:1-3

1 I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you to walk worthy of the calling with which you were called, 2 with all lowliness and gentleness, with longsuffering, bearing with one another in love, 3 endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.

Today we're looking at grace of unity in Ephesians 4:1-3. In the first three chapters of Ephesians Paul describes the doctrinal position that we have in Jesus Christ, the riches, the wealth that we enjoy in Christ as followers of Christ, which lays foundation of the unity that we have in the body of Christ, the church. In the last three chapters Paul writes about how it should be practically lived out in our lives every day in the church. Church members should get along with each other.

When Paul wrote the letter of 1 Corinthians, he told them, "Because you are carnal, acting like babies, there is strife and division among you.” Some of you are saying you're of Paul. Others are saying, 'I'm of Peter.' Others  claimed to be in the Apollos crowd, while some were saying, 'We're more spiritual than the rest because we're of Christ.'" Because of this problem Paul wrote the First Corinthian letter to correct them because of this disunity, the disharmony, the strife and division that exist in the church there in Corinth. Sounds like too many churches today!

Now in this letter to the church at Ephesus, after Paul gives them their position in 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 experienced that the church that's focused on Jesus, the church that's focused on who He is,  on what He has done for us, focused on being obedient in fulfilling the Great Commission, is a church full of people that will get along with each other, love each other, care for each other, work together for the glory of God, as they set their own agenda, ambitions, and preferences aside.

How important this is and that is what Paul is addressing in the first three verses here. 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 calling in Christ. We do that with all “lowliness”, which of course is humility (v. 2). Jesus began His first public message with these words, “Blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of God”. The first beatitude is being humble, being a beggar, realizing how helpless you are without the Lord. The moment you think you have humility is the moment you lost it, my friend. Because it's an attitude, where every moment of every day, you die to yourself, and you're alive in Christ unto God for the glory of God, loving one another. So lowliness, humility, is the first grace of unity we see.

The second grace of unity is “gentleness”, which also is translated “meekness”. Moses was the meekest man in all the earth. Meekness does not mean weakness. It means power under control. It means you have yielded your ambitions, yielded your preferences. You've yielded your ownership of everything in your life to the Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus said, “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth”. Meekness means that you give up your right to yourself as you die to self and you live unto the Lord and let Him live His life through you. A “gentle” attitude goes a long way in building unity in the church!

Then there is “longsuffering” (v. 2). “Longsuffering”, which means “long-tempered”, is the ability to endure discomfort without fighting back. Then it goes on to say “bearing with one another in love”. Remember, “love suffers long” (1 Corinthians 13:4). Have you noticed that these graces of unity are basically the same as the “fruit of the Spirit” that we find in Galatians 5:22; “The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law”. How wonderful. When you're filled with the Spirit, the fruit of the Spirit is being displayed in your life and there is the unity.

Then there must be “endeavoring”. “Endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit…” (v. 3). Literally it reads "being eager to maintain, or guard, the unity of the Spirit." Finally, there is the grace of unity that is “the bond of peace”. Peace within your own heart. Peace between members. 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.

When we all do that, there is this grace of unity that rules in the body of Christ and that displays the love of God to a lost world around us. May God help us to experience this unity today.

God bless!