How to Maintain the Unity of the Spirit in the Church

There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.(Ephesians 4:4-6)

Maintaining the Unity of the Spirit

Welcome to our study of Ephesians. In our last study, we left off in Ephesians 4:3. As discussed previously, Ephesians is divided into two halves. The first is dedicated to theology, and the second half applies that theology to our conduct. Put another way, the first half tells us what God has accomplished through Christ, and the second half shows how that should impact our lives. Paul closes chapter 3 with a prayer for the church, asking that the Holy Spirit would strengthen us from within, grounding us in love and enabling us to comprehend the incomprehensible love of Christ.

He reminds us that God can do far more for us than we can possibly imagine, and through the work of Jesus in the church, God is glorified. The apostle begins his shift in chapter 4, urging us to walk worthy of what God accomplished through Jesus Christ. We walk worthily when we pursue lowliness, gentleness, longsuffering, forbearance, and peaceableness with our brethren. He also encourages us to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace, a concept he describes in the next few verses. Earlier in chapter 2, Paul  describes how Christ unifies Jews and Gentiles.

The Foundation of One Baptism

The cross of Christ fulfilled the Law of Moses, thus removing the wall that separated one group from the other. Those who believe in Jesus are now one body, one temple, one kingdom, and one people. Christ achieves this unity by sending the Holy Spirit to dwell in every believer. As 1 Corinthians 12:12-13 states, we were all baptized into one body and made to drink into one Spirit. When we believe in Jesus and are baptized in His name, Jesus gives us the Holy Spirit, thus uniting us into a single, unified body regardless of our background.

One body means there is only one church, one kingdom, and one family. Jesus accomplishes this unity through the ministry of one Spirit. He calls the world through the message of one hope—salvation and eternal life in His name for everyone who believes. There is one Lord, Jesus Christ, and only one faith, which is belief in Jesus and the doctrine He preached. One baptism unites all believers under the auspices of one God, the Father. We keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace by holding true to these fundamental core Christian doctrines.

Defending the Core Christian Doctrines

The Apostle John (1 John 4) vigorously opposed those who denied Jesus manifested in the flesh. Paul (Galatians 1) condemned those who altered the gospel, declaring them accursed. Jude exhorts us to defend the one faith from subversive false teachers and teachings. The Holy Spirit unites us into one body when we are baptized; we maintain that unity by remaining true to the fundamental doctrines of the Christian faith. Of these seven core elements of Christianity, we should focus on one: one baptism. The Greek word “baptisma” means immersion, submersion, and overwhelming.

Jesus taught we are reborn of water and the Spirit in John 3:5. His disciples practiced water baptism in John 4:1-2, and Jesus commanded his apostles to baptize all believers in Matthew 28:19-20. Peter promises that God gives us the Holy Spirit when we repent and are baptized in Acts 2:38-39. All of the conversion accounts in the Book of Acts include baptism. Paul teaches that God unites us with the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus through this essential and unifying act.