That They May Be One: Part Four

(This is an exegetical article from Eph. 4:1-16 NASB. I have divided it into several parts. For the best reading, get out your Bibles and read the passage, then read these blogs. Enjoy!)

“…we are no longer to be children, tossed here and there by the waves…of every wind of doctrine…but speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in all aspects... (of) the head, even Christ.” (vs. 14-15)

This pursuit of unity is easier said than done. When Paul was ministering and writing these letters, he was confronting thousands of years of a trained thought that Jews and Gentiles were unequal; the Hebrews were God’s elect, and the Gentiles were impure.

We, likewise, have been raised to believe, not about Jews and Gentiles, but that our individual denomination is “the right way.” Whether we have believed a certain way for decades or only several years, our predispositions of right and wrong, as biased as they may be, will take time to readjust with the truth of God’s Word.

But we mustn’t lose heart in the diligence to preserve unity in the bond of peace. For if we are one body, then we each have been uniquely fitted with our particular preference or ability to “fit and hold together” this Body of the Church. We were destined to “work together with each individual part” so that we may “grow in love,” and thereby uniting in purpose to be a light in a dark world (ref. vs. 16; Matt. 5:14).

My personal battle with illness, to realign my individual members of my body, will not be an overnight success. In fact, it could take several years to fully retrain my organs to “rethink” in the way that they should, not against each other, but in agreement with all parts of the unit. But you can bet that I will be diligent in administering the medication to make sure that my body has every opportunity to adjust itself in accordance with the truth, that it was made to work as one and not as many units.

We too, as believers in our One God, our One Christ, our One Spirit, the three in One Deity, must strain to persevere in our love of Him, of His Word, and of His Body, our fellow brethren in the Lord.