Unity: Love and Truth 2014

“I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call—one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all” (Ephesians 4:1-6, ESV).

The unity of the Spirit should be in the heart of every true Christian. The common basis of this unity that already exists between all true believers is the result of God’s grace. In the realm of Christian duty we are to endeavor to keep the unity of the Spirit. This involves energy and effort to maintain, keep, guard, and preserve the unity of the Spirit. It’s a responsibility. We should seek to promote, mature, and increase this unity. This is something we must maintain, and increasingly attain. It’s something that will not be fully and perfectly experienced until the last day. The body of Christ is one, is to become even more one, and will one day be perfectly one. Unity in Christ is intended to be something increasingly observable and visible to the world in the here and now. The implication of that is that we, as God’s people, ought to be very concerned about this. We are to seek to encourage this and to promote this in biblically proper and appropriate ways. How can we properly demonstrate, observe, promote, and express this unity we share with all true believers in Jesus Christ?

—Excerpt from “Unity Among True Believers Part 2,” preached by Jeffery S. Smith.