Sermon preached on Sunday, January 20, 2013 at Garden Valley Chapel during our morning worship service based on Ephesians 4:4-6.

Take your Bible if you will and open it to the book of Ephesians, Ephesians chapter four.

Later in this chapter Paul will pray in Eph 4:23-24 -

23 ... that you be renewed in the spirit of your mind,
24 and put on the new self, which in the likeness of God has been created in righteousness and holiness of the truth.

There in the mind, the seat of understanding, the center of thought, understanding, and belief, in the spirit of your mind where God works to renew you.

It is there that you are brought back and renewed.

It is there that our fundamental way of thinking and of reasoning needs to be renewed. You and I need to think straightly and rightly.

To that end Paul directs us to consider:

The Christian Vocation (v. 1)
The Christian Virtues (vv. 2-3)
The Christian View (vv. 4-6)

Listen as I read this portion of Scripture. Read Ephesians 4:1-6.

CONTENT

The Christian Vocation (v. 1) -

1 Therefore I, the prisoner of the Lord, implore you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have been called,

Though the sovereign, saving calling of God has already been established (i.e. in eternity past, "before the foundation of the world" Eph 1:4), Paul calls us to walk worthily.

This is the Christian´s vocation. This is what you and I as followers of Christ have been called to - a worthy walk.

That is to say that our practical living matches our spiritual position; the way you live your life is in line with who you are in Christ.

My beloved, be renewed to walk in a manner worthy of our calling - one that honors God and is pleasing to Him.

Paul explains what is it to "walk in a manner worthy" when he discusses...

The Christian Virtues (vv. 2-3) -

2 with all humility and gentleness, with patience, showing tolerance for one another in love,
3 being diligent to preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.

Here Paul imparts five virtues, five attitudes, five essentials that our worthy walk is based upon.

Paul begins with the foundation, "humility."

While pride makes us blind, humility allows us to see ourselves as we are, because it shows us before God as He is.

"Gentleness" is what humility produces. It is that mildness which is gentle toward others, not harsh.

"Patience" is the 3rd virtue that characterizes the Christian´s worthy walk. It is a manifestation of meekness. It is "a state of emotional calm in the face of provocation or misfortune and without complaint or irritation."1

"Forbearing love" is the 4th virtue tells us how we ought to walk. We endure the injuries and sins of others.2

Why? It is the nature of true spiritual love to cover sins.

Forbearing love takes abuse from others while still loving them!

"Unity" is the outcome of humility, gentleness, patience, and forbearance.

How we live out humility, gentleness, patience, and forbearance, will affect our unity, our bond with one another.

In the words of Paul in Phil 2:2 -

2 [be] of the same mind, maintaining the same love, united in spirit, intent on one purpose.

And so humility gives birth to gentleness, gentleness gives birth to patience, patience gives birth to forbearance, and all four of these virtues "preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace."

So important is this unity that Paul introduces a new section without any conjunction whatsoever to point us to what we might call...

The Christian View (vv. 4-6) -

4 There is one body and one Spirit, just as also you were called in one hope of your calling;
5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism,
6 one God and Father of all who is over all and through all and in all.

In these words the Apostle Paul gives us a lavish reason, an overwhelming reason why we must "with all humility and gentleness, with patience, showing tolerance for one another in love [be urgent] to preserved the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace" (vv. 2-3).

In these words we have one of the great statements with regard to the doctrine of the Christian Church.

Here lies the New Testament doctrine of the Church.

Q: Someone might ask, "I thought Paul was done speaking about doctrine and that with chapters 4-6 he is now discussing practice?"
A: This is how doctrine and practice are intertwined in the pages of Scripture.

If you recall, to be renewed is to be "renewed in the spirit of your mind" (Eph 4:23). To be renewed has everything to do with the "righteousness and holiness of the truth" (v. 24).

The reality is that we think too much of ourselves. We are too subjective. We place ourselves in the the center of all of life.

This is an area we desperately need to be renewed and consider something outside of ourselves, something bigger and loftier than ourselves.

What about the Church?

Here the Holy Spirit moves Paul to paint a wonderful picture of the Church with words.

Some have thought this was an early Christian confession or hymn but we cannot be entirely sure. These words are few and rhythmic.

What we do know is that there are seven (7) times where the word "one" appears in these verses.

Not only that but each member of the Trinity is mentioned, beginning with the Holy Spirit (v. 4), the Lord Jesus Christ (v. 5), and culminating with God the Father (v. 6).

We also see the word "all" appear four (4) times, all in verse 6 - "one God and Father of all who is over all and through all and in all."

You may not be comfortable with symbolism, but the Scriptures here at this point draw from numbers and heaven to emphasis unity.

Chrysostom explained it this way -

"When the blessed Paul exhorts us to anything of special importance, so truly wise and spiritual as he is, he grounds his exhortation upon things in Heaven."3

What greater motivation could there be given for unity in the Church than to focus upon the oneness of God´s nature, plan, and work?

Rightly did Martyn Lloyd-Jones state -

"The Church is a reflection and a manifestation of the blessed Holy Trinity."4

It is no wonder that Paul "is intense in his zeal and feeling"5 when he speaks of...

Unity in the Spirit (v. 4)
Unity in the Son (v. 5)
Unity in the Father (v. 6)