The second item that we must see in this passage is the virtues of our walk that enable and strengthen our unity. Eph. 4:2-3 says, “2 With all lowliness and meekness, with longsuffering, forbearing one another in love;3 Endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.” The first thing about the walk and unity of Christians is not the command to get the outer man spruced up but rather to get the inner man strengthened. Our soul is never strengthened through pride or performance. Our churches are never stronger because we are puffed up. The glory of God is not manifested where the pride of man is bubbling over. These two verses will show that our earthly walk is to be one of humility and love. Ultimately, these virtues are Christlikeness and fruit of the power and presence of the Spirit within us. Our life will only be worthy of our saved position when lived out in these virtues. Christian living is not only being saved, but walking in Christ, with Christ, and through Christ. The closer we walk to Him the more Christlike we become. This is God’s plan and purpose for you (and all believers) throughout eternity. Eph. 4:2-3 gives us the virtues of our walk but specifically two different aspects of how we are to walk.
One, Eph. 4:2, deals with the attitude of walking in these virtues. Virtues are first developed inwardly before they can be displayed outwardly. God desires to do a work in you to produce a work through you. These attitudes that this verse expresses are simply the attitudes and attributes of the Lord Jesus Christ. Christlike virtues are vital to Christian growth and unity. Christlikeness is the measure of our maturity and unity. If we must understand anything or take anything away from this entire passage it is this, if each of us grows in Christlikeness then we will grow in our union together with and in Him. Now, let’s look at each of these attitudes of the virtues that it takes to walk worthy in unity in Christ.
The first attitude is “lowliness”. Paul has presented us our lofty heavenly position and now plummets us down to absolute and complete humility. You don’t have humility is you boast of how humble you are. Pride keeps us in the heavenlies without seeing the reality of our belief and behavior on the earth. Pride tells us that our walk doesn’t have to match our wealth. This word is one that was foreign to the Greek mind, but it is central to Christ and those who will grow in Christlikeness. Lowliness is complete humility. It is to esteem yourself small and all others greater than you by staggering degrees. It is a dismissal of your personal rights. Lowliness recognizes our inability and insufficiency. The wealth that we have in Christ should humble us because our position and possessions in Christ are all by grace, not by our merit. When we consider the height of doctrine that has been preached, how could we not be humbled? When we consider the breadth, length, and depth, and height of God’s love, how can we be filled with pride? Andrew Murray puts it this way, “The humble person is not one who thinks meanly of himself; he simply does not think of himself at all!”
The second attitude is “meekness.” Someone who is meek is gentle in their attitude and actions. They live with guard rails that keep them on the road. More than that, meekness is keeping it between the lines of the road. It is staying in our lane without a desire to pass others, wreck others, or find ways to “get ahead.” Meekness is not weakness but rather it is power under control. The meek person is not one who is reactionary or emotionally tossed about or unpredictable. They are steady and solid. Both “lowliness” and “meekness” make up the main ingredients of humility and unity. There is neither humility nor unity without these two holding it all together. Lowliness and meekness are Christlikeness. In Matthew 11:28-30, Jesus says, “28 Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” If we are to cultivate togetherness we must do so through submission to God in Christlike humility. Jesus didn’t seek His own gain but the Father’s glory. He didn’t seek retaliation against His opponents but rather their redemption.
The third attitude is “longsuffering.” The idea of being longsuffering is that of being steadfast in persevering difficult circumstances or provocation against us. There can never be the development of Christian unity without lowliness, meekness, and a continue longsuffering attitude. To be longsuffering means that we respond to what is happening around us, in us, and to us. It is responsive, not reactionary. It is slow to speak and act. It considers and ponders before taking any action, if any at all. This too is Christlikeness, because the Lord was reviled but didn’t react (Lk 23 and 1 Pt. 2:23-25; 3:13-22). Reacting in the flesh never promotes a worthy walk or unity amongst the body of Christ.
The fourth attitude is “forbearing.” To forbear is to tolerate other personalities, weaknesses, and faults. It is an attitude of forbearance and forgiveness that expresses humility and enables unity. You can’t strengthen unity with those that you don’t forbear or forgive. Forbearance forfeits one’s personal rights (including the right to be right) in exchange for unity in relationship to others. Because God has been eternally forbearing and forgiving to us in Christ, shouldn’t we be the same. Do we care more about our alleged rights, or do we care more about our relationship with Christ and one another?
All these attitudes of the virtues of our walks are Christlikeness and are Christ’s outworking on His inward work in our hearts. Only He can produce lowliness, meekness, longsuffering, and forbearing virtues in us. Only He can produce unity, but He does so through us as we by faith yield to His work within. Notice too, that all these virtues are held together by love. This love is one that gives and has no desire to receive. There is nothing by absolute humility in absolute love. Love mixed with pride is not love. Love is the motivation and power behind the other virtues. It is love that can smother out sin and take the burn away from wrongdoing. It is love that summarizes our walk and unity in Christ.
We must also see our activity in relation to these virtues. Eph. 4:3 says, “3 Endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.” The word “endeavouring” means zealous concentration and diligent effort. Although we don’t produce unity we must make every effort to protect and preserve it. To “keep” means to guard, watch over, or protect it. We should make every effort to live in Christian maturity and unity. What cost is too high? Love and humility combined keeps the “unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.” Yes, we have peace with God but it is so that we would walk in peace with one another who are also in Christ. We do not war with one another. We are at war with the world, the flesh, and the Devil. The activity of faith that endeavors to guard our unity with and in Christ is only done by the power of the Spirit who produced peace with God in our hearts and produces peace with one another in Christ. Don’t think for one second that you can live in these virtues of humility and love in your own strength. On our own we will be filled with pride, selfish love, and no inward or outward peace. We need Christ to live out in our walk these critical Christlike virtues.
We have seen the vocation and virtues of our walk but now we need to see the vitals of our walk. It is the following vital fundamental beliefs that unite us together in belonging so that we may behave according to the above virtues in our daily walk. Paul now makes it abundantly clear the basis of our unity. Truth unites us. Without truth we have no unity. We are to walk in truth and unity through humility, faith, and love. Eph. 4:4-6 gives us these vitals of our walk saying, “4 There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are 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.” J.C. Ryle said, “Unity without the gospel is a worthless unity; it is the very unity of hell.” God wants us to walk in unity but it is being united in these vital truths that the virtues are built upon. When it comes to doctrine there are some vital things that we will see that are non-negotiable. Doctrine both unites and divides. While biblical unity is commanded so is biblical separation. If someone (individual, church, or denomination) is unbiblical in their stance on these vital truths then there is no real fellowship that can be had. Praise God that Heaven will take care of every single difference and division that we currently have. All doctrine matters but not all things are worth dying for or killing for. As the puritan Richard Baxter put it, “In necessary things, unity; in doubtful things, liberty; in all things, charity.” That takes care of that, now, doesn’t it? In the vitals of our worthy walk of unity we see that there are binding beliefs that must be affirmed and they become the building blocks of our unity when applied to our walk. The following vital truths must be affirmed and applied to have a worthy walk and to walk in unity with one another. As Amos 3:3 says it, “Can two walk together, except they be agreed?” The theme of unity will also be further expressed through the continual pairing of a truth with the word “one” in front of it signifying the singular truth that unites us together in Christ.
First, there is “one body.” As Paul clearly established in Eph. 2, there is not a Jewish body of Christ (church) or a Gentile one. There is one body of Christ, the universal Church made up of all who are in Christ regardless of national background. Implied as well is that the singular body has a singular head which is the Lord Jesus Christ (Col. 1:18). This one body is what we may call the universal or invisible church of Christ. The one body is made up of all believers universally but is expressed and experienced locally. The invisible or universal church of Christ is seen expressly through the local visible church. So, no matter where you are a local member, if you are in Christ you belong to the same body of Christ that all other believers belong to.
Second, there is “one Spirit.” There is no such thing as a believer without the indwelling Holy Spirit. The indwelling Holy Spirit is perhaps one of the greatest privileges that we have under the New Covenant in Christ as Paul has already discussed in Eph. 1:13-14 and 3:16-17. There are not a variety of Holy Spirits, no, there is the eternal Holy Spirit of God who prepared you for salvation, proves your salvation, and provides your strength in your walk as a saved sinner. There are no second-class believers without His presence actualized and His power available.
Third, there is “one hope.” This hope rests on our salvation past, present, and future. Our salvation is that we have been saved from sin’s penalty (justification), are being saved from its power (sanctification), and will one day be saved from its presence (glorification). We are saved, being saved, and will be saved. We all have the same assurance of our salvation and the blessed hope of Christ calling His body and bride to be with Him one day.
Fourth, there is “one Lord.” Jesus Christ is the only sovereign ruler of all things, including the Church, and each individual believer. Christ alone has all authority and therefore can express His authority over our lives. He is the one that we answer to. He is both Judge and Savior. The Church is united under His lordship, not man. Church life and Christian living is not a democracy or democratic republic. It is a theocracy where God Himself rules completely and carefully over His people. We are simply called to be a part of it through submission to His lordship in us and through us. Only as each of us submits to Christ as Lord are we able to walk in unity because we realize that nobody, including ourselves is in a position of authority, only Christ.
Fifth, there is “one faith.” This is our united faith in the Gospel and the fundamental and foundational truths in Christ. It is faith that unites us to Christ and by faith communes with Christ. It is faith that unites us together with each other in Christ and communes with one another through Christ. There is no salvation or unity without faith. Faith gives us our belonging to Christ and one another but also directs our behavior toward one another.
Sixth, there is “one baptism.” There is a two-fold truth in this matter. One, it is Spirit baptism that unites us to Christ in our salvation. The moment of our salvation we are baptized into Christ (Rom. 6) signifying our identity and initiation into Christ and His body, the Church. Two, there is baptism by submersion that is an outward sign of our inward union with Christ and the Church. This is why baptism is required for church membership. One must be baptized into Christ before water baptism by immersion. We must be immersed into Christ so that we can be immersed in His Church.
Last, there is “one God.” This truth expresses not merely a monotheistic faith but the very triunity of God. There is one God in three persons who are co-equal, co-eternal, yet distinct: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Paul dealt with this truth in detail regarding our position in Christ in Eph. 1-3. All our Christian life, both our wealth and walk, our position and practice are accomplished by the work of the Triune God.
As we see, we base our unity on these vital truths. These doctrines direct our duty and devotion to Christ and one another. We suck the motivation out of our daily Christian duty when we ignore or are indifferent to doctrine. Doctrine matters. God cares about doctrine because it is by doctrine that we may know Him, grow in Him, and what we are to preach. Whatever we affirm in belief will be applied in our behavior. This is why what we believe about Christ, His Church, and ourselves matters. This is why Paul stars with the exposition of doctrine before going into the exhortation of duty. We must agree on these binding beliefs but there is room for disagreements in many secondary and tertiary issues amongst us. M.R. DeHaan says, “We need not all agree, but if we disagree, let us not be disagreeable in our disagreements.” If we practice the virtues of Eph. 4:2-3 then when there is disagreement with others beyond these vital truths in Eph. 4:4-6 we won’t be disagreeable, divisive, or destructive.
These binding beliefs are the building blocks of unity as we affirm and apply them in faith. They unite us to Christ and one another in humility and love. We must understand that where there is no response of obedience to the truth then there will be no application or transformation in our walk. Walking with and in Christ will cause us to walk like Christ and in Christian unity. The way that we preserve and protect our unity together is through affirming and applying these virtues and vital truths in the worth walk of our vocation that we have been called to.
God desires us to not only have a strong individual walk but one that is strengthening the unity that we have with one another in Christ. God wants us to maintain this unity at all costs. Unity is worth it. Walking worthy is worth it. Living for and in Christ is worth it. It is worth everything. Christian unity will cost you your pride. It will cost you your time, effort, energy, gifts, and rights. Are you willing to pay up? Psalm 133:1 says, “Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity!” This is God’s desire and was Christ’s prayer for us the night of His betrayal (John 17). God loves unity and He hates disunity amongst His children. Do you believe God can hate? You better believe it. Go read Proverbs 6:16-19 and tell me if you think God tolerates those who don’t walk in unity but choose to walk in pride and disunity. What are you doing today to promote, protect, and preserve unity in your church? When we aren’t faithful (attendance, giving, serving, witnessing etc.) then we aren’t working to promote, protect, and preserve the unity that we have in Christ. Satan loves it when we go that route. The Devil wants you to care more about your rights that your relationships in Christ. Charles Spurgeon says, “Satan always hates Christian fellowship; it is his policy to keep Christian apart. Since union is strength, he does his best to promote separation.” God works and manifests Himself in a united local Church. D.L. Moody once said, “I have never yet known the Spirit of God to work where the Lord’s people were divided.” Have you allowed division into your heart, home, and pew? Do the Christlike virtues in this passage describe your walk? What is keeping you from being connected to His Church? The answer is you. You will be as united to Christ and His Church as you decide to be. Don’t be a lonely island, lone ranger, or indifferent member of the body. Live and walk a worthy walk of unity in Christ. Preserve unity. Protect unity. Promote unity. At all costs. At all times.
Grow with me as we study the believer’s wealth and walk in Christ.
Grow deeper.
Grow higher.
Grow wider.
Grow With Pastor Joe 
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