The Holy Spirit and the Unity of the Church (part 1) from last week

While one cannot overemphasize the efficacious work of the Holy Spirit in uniting believers, one must recognize, in refocusing on the Scripture texts, that neither Ephesians 4 nor Philippians 2 state that Christians should conduct themselves in a Godly manner in order to create unity, but rather to maintain it. However, these texts do insist believers have a responsibility in reference to unity. It also should be noted that both references have specific instructions as to how believers are to work toward this end. Members of the body of Christ are to guard this oneness by making their faith and life conform to the Word of God, and this is only done through the work of the Spirit. Paul states plainly in Ephesians 4:3, that this unity is not something Christians are to take for granted but are to “be diligent to preserve it.” In the first three chapters of Ephesians, Paul points his readers towards their union with Christ, and in the last three chapters he shifts his focus to how they are to walk worthy of their calling in true fellowship with Christ in Heaven and fellow believers on earth. The specific actions and attitudes Paul challenges his readers to exhibit are remarkably similar to the fruit of the Spirit, which he lists in Galatians 5. In Ephesians 4 he admonishes them to be humble, gentle, patient, tolerant, peaceful, and loving; in Philippians 2 his list includes love, compassion, affection, and humility; and the list in Colossians 3 contains compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, patience, love, peace, and thankfulness. These are not to be character qualities only to be possessed, but they are to be practiced in community.

With the burden of establishing unity falling upon the Spirit, one might speculate why then there is historically and currently so much division in the church. Certainly the Holy Spirit is powerful enough to produce this unity, so the obvious question is why is it so often not apparent in the Church? Ephesians 4:4-6 provided the immoveable foundation of the unity in the Spirit. There is perfect unity between the members of the Godhead. In light of John 17, it is apparent God desires that same perfect unity among believers. Therein lays the problem. Believers are not yet perfect, and so the body of believers, while possessing perfect unity, do not always practice it as such. Sin is the disruptive force that separates the people of God. Sin produces a constant fight and struggle within individuals and within the church. In typical Pauline fashion, the “already but not yet” tension that is a thread throughout his epistles in terms of salvation and sanctification is applied to the corporate body of Christ. Like the believer, the Church is caught up in the overlap of the ages, unable to escape from the weaknesses of her body. This is seen in Ephesians 4, where verses 3 and 13 parallel one another. Verse 3 pertains to the unity believers currently possess while verse 13 alludes to the unity which Christians are to strive towards as they grow in spiritual maturity.

One last means by which the Holy Spirit ensures unity among believers is the manner by which he distributes spiritual gifts. Ephesians 4 and 1 Corinthians 12 speak of these gifts that are given by the Holy Spirit for the common good (1 Corinthians 12:7) as well as for the equipping of the saints for service and the building up of the body of Christ (Ephesians 4:12). The Corinthians can act as a sample for the Church because they had members who had both inferiority and superiority complexes. Because the Spirit apportions different gifts to different people, it is evident that to function properly, Christians must depend upon one another. Paul’s idea of the body evolves the idea that diversity in spiritual gifts in some ways necessitates unity. This idea gives birth to Paul’s rhetorical questions and discussion in latter half of 1 Corinthians 12. Because the Holy Spirit dispenses the gifts in this fashion, Christians are able to focus more attention on the well being and maturity of the entire community rather than strictly the individual.

In summary, the point that draws and keeps believers together for Paul is not simply a common membership in a congregation but the common experience of the Spirit. Agreements on confessions and creeds may signify unity, but they do not produce it. Surely there are disagreements in regards to theologies and traditions among the body, but they cannot discourage believers from working “diligently to preserve the unity of the Spirit.” Surely there have been negative compromises by some to hollow out their doctrinal beliefs for the sake of ecumenical dialogue, but this err cannot detour Christians from being united in Spirit. The unity of the Spirit is shown to the lost world when within the church there is true fruit of the Spirit, and when Christ is the one who is glorified by all the members of his body working together. Unity is not a product of human energy or efforts, but rather is a product of the Holy Spirit produces because of the cross of Christ.