Unity in the Body, 2/1/26, Pastor Josh Lilly, Eph 4:1-6

So we go on and we see Paul write that we're to be eager to maintain the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace. Here's what he's saying. A church is not gonna wake up one day and accidentally drift its way into unity. Doesn't work that way. There should always be a fight in the church. You're going, wait, what pastor? What do you mean? There should always be a fight for unity in the church. We should always be fighting for unity, eager to maintain unity. The spirit of God is the bond of peace. [00:39:00] (38 seconds)  #FightForUnity

As we look at our text today, we really ask the question, what does it take to maintain unity in a local church? As we walk through Ephesians, we find ourselves right here at the beginning of chapter four. And Paul helps us understand what it takes to maintain unity in a local church. Now, I hope you saw that word maintain in verse three. That's very important. What we need to understand is simply this, we don't create unity in the body. Jesus has done that. The Holy Spirit does that in our local body. We don't create unity, but we are called to maintain it eagerly. [00:17:42] (45 seconds)  #MaintainUnityEagerly

But there's a whole other layer of being the church in Ephesus in the first century. And that's what we saw in chapter two. That there is no longer Jew or Gentile in the church, but that in Christ, we see in chapter two, God has made one new man. One new creation. They are a new creation. And here's what that means. These Jewish people and Gentile people who literally have nothing similar, nothing in common at all are now called to walk together because their unity is found in Jesus. It's found in the blood of Christ. [00:23:32] (46 seconds)  #OneInChrist

So the first character trait that we see here that helps us maintain unity is the foundation of humility. You know, sometimes when we come to list in the bible whether it's old or or new testament especially character list. I find it helpful to think about what's the opposite of that. It helps me think about what is God really calling me to do, and and and how's he calling me not to live? So he's saying, live in humility. Why? Because pride fractures. Pride fractures everything, but humility holds together. [00:29:56] (41 seconds)  #HumilityHolds

Boy, it's easy to walk in a manner worthy of the calling when relationships aren't strained, when there's no misunderstandings, when people don't disappoint us. But it's when there are strains, when there are disappointments, when there are difficulties, that the watching world can better see and most visibly see our calling. It's when there are difficulties, that now the church really shines light in the darkness. Wow. I can't believe those Jewish and Gentile people can hang out together. [00:26:48] (34 seconds)  #ChurchShinesInTrials

It's a bit of what Paul is saying here, but you know the bible never gives us a command without first telling us why. Why get along? Well, Ephesians one, because you are one in Christ and your unity represents the gospel. Walk in a manner worthy of the calling. [00:26:18] (30 seconds)  #UnityRepresentsGospel

So Paul goes on and we see Paul write that we're to be eager to maintain the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace. Here's what he's saying. A church is not gonna wake up one day and accidentally drift its way into unity. Doesn't work that way. There should always be a fight in the church. You're going, wait, what pastor? What do you mean? There should always be a fight for unity in the church. We should always be fighting for unity, eager to maintain unity. The spirit of God is the bond of peace. [00:39:00] (38 seconds)  #SpiritIsBondOfPeace