Group Guide: Ephesians 4:1-6

After laying out all of the ways that God has blessed these New Testament believers, Paul exhorts them to live in a way that is worthy of such spiritual blessings, and he begins by charging them to preserve the unity and peace that Christ has established among them. Believers manifest the manifold wisdom of God by living in peace and unity with each other. Such unity glorifies the one who created the unity, namely Christ, but such unity is always challenging. These verses point to three things that contribute to our living in unity and harmony with each other.

First, Paul mentions their calling (verse 1). A Christian’s calling is a call to salvation. It is a call out of the Kingdom of Darkness, a call into His Kingdom of Light, and a calling to be united with each other. All who respond to this call are given the gift of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is essential to unity among believers because it is the Holy Spirit that creates a desire for unity, a desire for glorifying God. Any person who doesn’t desire to glorify God and desires to do so by being at peace with other believers doesn’t possess the Holy Spirit.There is no unity in the church that doesn’t begin with a desire for such unity, which comes from the Spirit’s work in one’s life.

Second, Paul describes the Christian’s character that facilitates unity. He mentions four things which are humility, gentleness, patience, and tolerance.

Humility is the opposite of pride. Humility was not seen as a virtue in the Greek-Roman world. The Greeks valued self-assertiveness, self-promotion, self-reliance, and self-grandeur. However, the Christian’s life should put the needs, interests, and feelings of others above one’s self.

Gentleness or meekness is best understood as controlled strength, not weakness. Meekness is power and strength under control. A meek or gentle person is strong enough not to retaliate, strong enough to lose an argument, strong enough to forgive, strong enough to forgive, and strong enough to continue to work toward unity.

Patience means “long souled.” A patient person sees beyond the immediate and has the ability to “look down the road” and imagine a different outcome. A patient person striving for unity with a brother or sister in Christ allows for the continued sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit in their own life as well as in the life of the other person.

Tolerance is accepting and loving people who hold different opinions, feelings, and sometimes beliefs than one’s own. Christians are to tolerate one another in love. Combined, these are the characteristics necessary for preserving unity in the body of Christ.

Third, Paul makes mention of the Christian’s confession. Verses 4-6 are perhaps portions of an early Christian creed, hymn, or confession. When taken as a whole, this confession is what we proclaim to be true. There is only one body, one Spirit, one hope, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, and one God. We confess that there is no room for division in the faith we proclaim and the Lord we follow. Therefore, if a believer is to make such a confession, he or she should live in a manner that demonstrates that these are more than just words, but truths that shape our lives and truths that cause us to “bend over backwards” to preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.

Christ has made peace between us and God, and he has made peace between us and everyone else in the church.We bring glory to God as we strive to preserve this unity by the power of the Spirit. May our lives reflect the confession of our faith.