Unity

Therefore I, the prisoner of the Lord, implore you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, showing tolerance for one another in love, being diligent to preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. Ephesians 4:1-3

Unity is a common word within the church today. There are two basic views of unity. One where there are those who strive for unity only with those who are like them, refusing to associate with those who may not hold to their exact interpretation of scripture. Then on the other end you have those who unite, regardless of scriptural standpoint, where many times doctrinal correctness and fundamentals of the faith are sacrifices to maintain cohesiveness. Both of these viewpoints are common and both are dangerous.  These next three days we will take a look at what God has to say about unity in the church and how it can affect our ministry. 

Unity is determined by our walk
Paul tells us that we need to have a walk that is worthy of our calling.  The bible says:

·      We all have a calling (Galatians 3:26)

·      We are called to a higher life and higher calling than we were before we came to Christ

Paul gives us 5 characteristics that should be present in our walk - Humility, Gentleness, Patience, Forbearance, and Love

• We need to strive to be humble “Not get a big head” this done in light of not only God’s greatness but God’s great sacrifice, for our benefit.
• To be gentle implies that we bear with one another without irritation or resentment, the faults of others.
• Patience, “To have a long temper” this is probably the hardest of all, we want what we want and we want it YESTERDAY!!! (Same quality God has towards us)
• Love, this is the greatest of all, this is the all-encompassing affection and characteristic for which we should strive

Look Familiar?
This list here looks quite familiar, what does it remind you of? (Fruit of the Spirit, Galatians 5:22)
The four graces Paul recommends here are all aspects of love, exemplified to perfection in the person of Christ.  Paul tells us that we should be diligent in all these actions. He is telling us we should be ever seeking in these areas.  There is nothing that can keep two persons in Christ apart. 

Satan’s Joy
Satan’s joy, if he cannot devise a scheme to keep men from following Christ, is to create ways to divide sincere men to keep them from serving Christ.  He wants nothing more than to see Christians divided.  When we are divided, we are weaker.  He knows our weakness.  Such division causes men to focus on one another and expend their energies attempting to correct one another instead of spreading a message of hope and ministry of compassion to a lost and hurting world. He knows where to work his way in. We have to be careful.  We have to form a bond strong enough to not let him through.     

David Lipscomb said “To divide the body is a CRIME against God”.  There is only one side to be on in a church and that is God’s side.  His is the side of Unity.  We are to maintain the bonds of peace!

Scripture to Claim:
If you keep on biting and devouring each other, watch out or you will be destroyed by each other.   Galatians 5:15