So, to begin with, let's look at the first verses of Ephesians 4:1-6:
Ephesians 4:1-6 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. (4) There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called in one hope of your calling; (5) one Lord, one faith, one baptism; (6) one God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.
If we look at these verses through the original Greek and Hebrew words, they take on some new meaning. In today's world and vernacular we have come to associate "prisoner" with lawbreakers. Yet, here Paul uses the word "prisoner" in what would be considered a positive manner. He calls us "the prisoner of the Lord." The word "prisoner" here means: captive or bound. We see Paul discuss the bonds of marriage in Romans 7:1-3, but look what he says in Romans 7:4:
Romans 7:4 Therefore, my brethren, you also have become dead to the law through the body of Christ, that you may be married to another—to Him who was raised from the dead, that we should bear fruit to God.
We know that after a marriage ceremony that the man and woman are "bound" together with a commitment that is made between the two of them and the One that brought them together. In fact, the ceremony often concludes with, "What God has brought together, let no man put asunder." Meaning, what God has joined, should not be broken by man. Paul says in Romans 7:4, that we have become dead to the law (remember our Hebrews study?) through the sacrifice of the body of Christ, so that we may be married to Him. Remember, we are the bride of Christ and He is our bridegroom. When we marry our earthly spouses, we begin a new life with them as one unit, working together toward common goals. We (should) no longer participate in many of the activities we participated in when we were single and unmarried. It is a great analogy to what our relationship with Christ should be.
When we come to the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ and we confess that He is the Son ot the Living God, Savior and Redeemer, King and Lord of our lives, we enter into a committed relationship with the Lover of our souls. In that committed relationship comes unity with Him. We are to speak, act, and walk differently than we did, just as we do when we marry our earthly husbands. Behaviors should change. In fact, Paul told the Ephesians to "walk worthy of their calling." Worthy here is appropriately. We are to walk appropriately of the calling in which we are called. Walking worthy includes: in lowliness and gentleness, longsuffering and bearing with one another. Let's look at each of those words and how they relate to unity.
Lowliness: modest or humble
Gentleness: humility
Longsuffering: patience
Bearing with one another: to hold oneself up against or to have patience
Do you see the theme above? We are to have humility and patience. It is difficult to be in unity bonds with someone that is full of pride that everything is all about them all the time. Selfishness and pride can destroy the bonds of unity. We all know that one person that has to be the center of attention, that truly believes they are most important person in the room. And they are difficult to be around aren't they? They are annoying and have a tendency to rub people the wrong way. This is not how we bring unity. Paul said to the Romans:
Romans 12:3 For I say, through the grace given to me, to everyone who is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think soberly, as God has dealt to each one a measure of faith.
We are to think soberly, with clear minds, and in humility. If we look again at Ephesians 4:3 we are to endeavor to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. What does that mean? Look at Colossians:
Colossians 3:12-13 Therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, put on tender mercies, kindness, humility, meekness, longsuffering; (13) bearing with one another, and forgiving one another, if anyone has a complaint against another; even as Christ forgave you, so you also must do.
God has extended so much grace and mercy to us on any number of occasions. Yet we can be so quick to hold a grudge against someone. How often have you said, "I can forgive, but I won't forget"? Is that truly extending grace and mercy to someone? Is it showing the love of Christ to a fellow human being? Does it bring or keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace? OR does it cause anger, resentment, hurt, bitterness, and division? Now, look at Colossians 3:14
Colossians 3:14 But above all these things put on love, which is the bond of perfection.
Perfection in the scripture above means "the state of completeness mentally or morally" in the original Greek. Can we claim victory if we are not in a state of completeness mentally or morally? The battle is in our minds and the control we have over our emotions. How do we gain that victory over our minds? We will discuss that next. Without learning how to claim victory in this area, we cannot be victorious in others. We have to remember, just like verses 4,5,6 say in Ephesians 4. We are in One spirit, those of us that are Christ's. There is ONE Bride for ONE Bridegroom. Unity must exist for there to be ONE Bride for the King of Kings. There is ONE God. He is ONE Father to all. He is everything to everyone. He exists in everything, and He is in us all. IF we have One God, One Father, One Savior, One Spirit, One Baptism, One Faith that led us all to believing knowledge and salvation of Jesus Christ, then we must ALL behave, act, and think as though we are ONE. In unity and peace, with the bond of the Spirit keeping us bound together. The world is watching us, Christians. The world is determining whether we are real and united based only on what they see and hear from us. What we project to the world has to be real and tangible...as the love of Christ is for us.
Those that do not believe will act as unbelievers. Christians that have not left behind their days of sin will act as unbelievers. We cannot expect a heathen or unbeliever, to behave any way other than their nature. Our nature as NEW CREATIONS in Christ should reflect the bond of peace that comes with unity in the spirit. Showing the Love of Christ that should be flowing through us shows that bond in the spirit.. Meaning, our words reflect love and our minds reflect love. We don't hold onto bitterness, anger, resentment, etc. because none of the builds within us the bond of perfect love that is the love of Christ.
So, we will continue this in the next post. Victory is ours, in the name of Jesus!
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