The Holy Spirit and the Unity of the Body of Christ

Given the high priestly prayer of Jesus in John 17, that his followers would be one even as he and the Father are one, there is little disagreement that the Triune God longs for believers to be unified. There is, however, substantial disagreement as to what this unity entails, how it is achieved, and even its source. Oftentimes these disagreements beget divisions, and divisions beget a sense of hopelessness that Christians cannot produce this oneness God desires for his people. One misunderstanding pertaining to the nature of the unity of believers is that the unity of Christ’s body is manufactured through friendliness and camaraderie, through agreeing on polity and programs. This errant presupposition is pervasive in the church, on a local and universal level. In the body of Christ, one does not find uniformity, but unity in diversity. It is important to realize that the unity that exists in the Church is given by the Holy Spirit and is not something believers have the capacity to create. The unity which the Spirit establishes is rooted in more than cooperation and organization. It is rooted in Christ.

Unity in the body of Christ is among the supreme objectives of the Holy Spirit’s ministry since his coming at Pentecost. The 120 there shared the experience of being filled with the Spirit. Since that time, all who come to Christ, by the work of the Holy Spirit, are baptized by the Spirit and so there can be no independent or isolated believers. Those whom the Spirit regenerates are in the body, while those whom he does not regenerate are not in the body of Christ. Whether it is the narcissistic culture of the day or simply human nature, the trend towards individualism causes believers to focus almost exclusively upon the Holy Spirit’s work in the individual’s heart and life. Clearly, the Spirit effects change in an individual in the process of regeneration and sanctification, but the impact surely extends beyond the individual. The Spirit works in our lives to make us more Christ like not only to produce increased devotion to God but also to one another. Every Christian is a necessary member of the community and every Christian is necessarily a member of a community.

The type of individualism that is pervasive in society today, which is able to conceive of a person being a Christian out of relationship with the people of God, would not have been fathomable to the Apostle Paul. Paul’s letters are replete with concern for community, and he spends an extensive amount of time and energy during his ministry building, stabilizing, and protecting communities of believers. Paul uses imagery such as temple and body when describing the unity between believers in order to promote awareness of the mutual interdependence of the members of the churches to whom he writes. For a better perspective of the unity that exists between believers, it will be helpful to examine a few passages of Scripture in which Paul explains the nature of this spiritual unity and the means by which believers are to preserve it.

There are explicit references to the unity of the Spirit are found in Ephesians 4 (“unity of the Spirit) and Philippians 2 (“fellowship of the Spirit” and “united in Spirit”), while there are implicit references in Colossians 4 (“perfect bond of unity” and 1 Corinthians 12 (“by one Spirit we were baptized into one body”). The starting point in considering the question of unity must be regeneration and the belief of the truth of the Gospel, both of which are works of the Spirit. The unity or oneness of Spirit, written of by Paul, is established when regeneration, faith, and new life joins us spiritually. Every individual in the body of Christ shares a commonality of receiving the work of the Holy Spirit in regards to regeneration (John 3:3-6, Titus 3:5), Spirit baptism (1 Corinthians 12:13), indwelling of the Spirit (Romans 8:9), the seal in salvation (Ephesians 1:13), and the process of sanctification (Romans 6-8) all distinguish Christians from every other creation.

Issues of nationality and ethnicity were critical in the first century church in the discussion of unity. Likewise, throughout the history of the Church, traditions and socio-economics have influenced debate concerning unity. However, what should be paramount in the discussion of unity is that true unity is signified by faith in Christ and the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. All true believers in Christ are united together by a living and indissoluble bond through the Holy Spirit. Christians do not call one another brother and sister because they have been changed into a Christian clone, but rather because they are among those who are called and born of the same Spirit, have been forgiven of their sins, adopted as sons/daughters, and share a hope that extends beyond temporal life. The Church of God is something that grows out of the shared experience of the Spirit.

Come back next week for more thoughts on the HS and Unity of the Church.