well the title of the message
this week is biblical christian unity biblical christian unity
and we're looking at the first few verses of ephesians chapter
four biblical christian unity now many who call themselves
christians would look at us and they would say well look how
few of them there are there's so few in number and they'd say
those people they know nothing of the meaning of Christian unity
look what they've done isolating themselves like that I mean we're
called Nebworth Grace Church but we don't join what's called
the Nebworth family of churches in fact I imagine most of them
don't even know that we exist there's a there's a so-called
reformed baptist evangelical church just up the road from
us but they don't recognize us even as a bible-believing church
how can we know anything about christian unity surely we can't
dare to say anything about unity when we're so isolated but you
know every now and then some of us go to Merton and uh... we have joint services together
And it's a truly blessed time. Because there are people that
we don't normally meet who believe exactly what we believe. And
because they believe exactly what we believe, we're absolutely
hearts united together. We're knit together. We're joined
together by that which the world knows nothing of. Whenever we
come together, the annual New Focus Conference, and you get
people that you see only once a year. and what blessed times
we have with people who are of a light mind. We had the sad
news this week. of our brother Cody Groover,
missionary in Mexico, who was taken. He's died of a heart attack,
only aged 57. A wonderful servant of the Lord
in Mexico, preaching the gospel of grace in Spanish. His parents
have been there for years, and he went back there about 20 odd
years ago, I think it was, with his wife Winner, and they've
got children there. What a shock it must be to them,
but the Lord has taken him home. But why I mention him is, About
ten years ago, he came to this country with Todd Nybert, he
and his wife. And I spent, well, several of us spent, over about
three days, quite a lot of time with Cody. Never, ever seen him
before. Never knew him before. Oh, I
tell you, how sweet was the unity that we had in the Gospel. All
of the Free Grace Radio preachers, do you know, Remember this last
summer, back in May, the Curtis family came, Clay and Melinda
and their two children, Emma and Will. Had we ever met them
before? I'd never met them before. Never
met them. Met them at Heathrow within five minutes of meeting. We're completely comfortable
in one another's company. We spent the sweetest four or
five days together. Several of you did as well. What's
that all about? It's unity. It's true, biblical,
Christian unity in the gospel of grace. So those that say we're
so isolationist, how on earth can we speak about unity? We
must have something, mustn't we? We have spiritual union. We have what Paul writes about
here. You know, there are some things
that you try and force to mix. If you get half a litre of water
and half a litre of oil and you put them in a bottle and you
shake them up. If you shake hard enough for long enough you might
look like you've got a mixture but you set it down on the shelf
and you leave it for an hour and they'll separate out. They'll
separate. You won't be able to make them
stay together. You buy these dressings that have got components
of water and oil. They always separate out. You
always need to give them a good shake. Some things you just cannot
force to mingle and other things just mingle naturally. The unity
of believers is exhorted and it's essential. Look what Paul
says here, endeavouring. He says with all lowliness, well
let me go back to verse 1, I beseech you He's a prisoner. He hasn't
got his liberty at the time. He's in prison, he's in house
arrest in Rome and he's writing them. I beseech you that you
walk with, live your lives worthy of the vocation, the calling
with which you are called. It's a high calling is the Christian
gospel calling. If you've been called to it,
there's a worthy way. Not a self-righteous way. Not
a I'm better than you way. Not a I'm holier than thou, don't
stand near to me way. No, with all lowliness. and meekness,
with long-suffering. Forbearing one another. Forbearing
one another. You know, we've got sharp edges
and rough edges, and we cause people anguish by what we are
and what we do. But forbearing one another. What's
the key to it? In love. Endeavouring to keep
the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace. Endeavouring to
do it. We're exhorted. Look what it
says in the word of God. John 17, now some of these scriptures,
if you can keep up, then do, but I'm not gonna give you time
to keep up. If you can't keep up, just listen to what I read
to you. In John 17, the Lord Jesus Christ
is praying before he goes to the cross. It's called the high
priestly prayer of the Lord Jesus Christ. And he prays that all
his people, verse 21, that they all may be one. As thou, Father,
art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us, that
the world may believe that thou hast sent me, and the glory which
thou gavest me I have given them, that they may be one, even as
we are one, I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made
perfect in one, and that the world may know that thou hast
sent me, and hast loved them as thou hast loved me. You see
that? A high priestly prayer of our
Lord Jesus Christ is that his people on earth should be unified. There should be a unity between
us. Go back to one of the Psalms,
Psalm 133. It's only three verses long. Psalm 133, just three verses
long. Behold, how good and pleasant
it is for brethren to dwell together in unity, isn't it? where there's
so much strife, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren
to dwell together in unity. You know, the fellowship that
I've spoken about already, that we have. The world knows nothing
of it. You can have worldly friendships,
but nothing comes close to this good and pleasant thing when
brethren in the gospel of grace are dwelling together in unity
the psalmist goes on and says it's like the precious ointment
upon the head that ran down upon the beard even Aaron's beard
that went down to the skirts of his garments I don't particularly
like lots of grease and oil being poured over me, but if you live
in a very dry climate where your skin is very dry, there's nothing
more soothing than lovely, soothing oil. And this is the picture,
that this is soothing. It says, the Jew of Hermon, and
as the Jew that descended upon the mountains of Zion, for there
the Lord commanded the blessing, even life forevermore. You see
how tied up it is with eternal life. It's an essential aspect
of what Paul calls walking worthy of the gospel. Living your life
as a reflection of the truth of the gospel of grace that you've
heard. It's an essential part of it.
Because the gospel is a high calling. Philippians 3.14 talks
about it being a high calling. It's a calling to Christ. It's
a call of Christ to the doctrine of His grace, to the truth of
His grace, to the salvation that He has accomplished, to the forgiveness
of sins that is in the Lord Jesus. That's the calling. Come there,
because there's an eternal calling, an eternal calling to glory,
where there will be no sin. called to experience spiritual
life in Him. We were thinking about it last
week in chapter 3, in verses 16 to 19, that God would grant,
according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with
might by His Spirit in the inner man, that Christ may dwell in
your hearts by faith, that ye being rooted and grounded in
love may be able to comprehend with all the saints, what is
the breadth and length and depth and height, and to know the love
of Christ, which passes knowledge. That's what it is. It's to experience
spiritual life in him, and to walk worthy involves lowliness. You know, when the world talks
about walking worthy, you know, there's been the Remembrance
Day parades, which we always have in November, this time of
year. and you see people dress up in their uniforms and you
know the word that always grates on me whenever I see interviews
of people there it's what's the feeling today and the word is
always proud proud proud we're proud of what we are we're proud
of what we've done well yes in a way, yes I know you did an
honourable thing for your country and all that, but look, this
is what believers are called to, lowliness, meekness, long-suffering,
not intolerance with one another, long-suffering, forbearing one
another, consideration for one another, in love, in love. Look, verse 3, it requires effort,
endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of
peace. Does it not require effort? It doesn't just happen. Endeavouring. Paul is encouraging the prisoner
of the Lord, endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit.
It requires effort. There are situations where it
doesn't come naturally. There are situations where it
goes against your hurt pride. There are situations where you
feel so justified in being right, you feel so outraged that somebody
hasn't seen it your way. And that's why it requires effort,
endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit. If you go down
to verse 22, and this is probably going to be the message next
week, again, regarding this walking worthy of the vocation with which
you're called, that ye put off concerning the former conversation
of the old man, which is corrupt. And be renewed in the spirit
of your mind, in verse 24, that you put on the new man. It's
just like the effort that's involved in taking off a load of dirty
old soiled clothes, and putting on some nice clean new ones.
That's what he's talking about. Put off and put on. Unity stems
from something held in common. That's what it stems from. Unity
comes from things we share. People might be members of the
same sporting club, a rugby club or a football club. People might
be members of a choir and love singing together. People might
love playing snooker together down at their local snooker club.
Others might join together as a sewing club. Something common
holds them together. So what is it that unites true
believers? That's what I want to look at
in verses three to six this morning. And I've got three points. This
is what unites us together. There is one body, there is one
Lord, and there is one binding together. One body, one Lord,
and one binding together. There is one body, first of all.
He says in verse four, there is one body. Endeavoring to keep
the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace, there is one body.
One body, a unity in that one body. The church is described
in scripture as the body of Christ, as well as being the bride of
Christ, the company of the believers of Christ, those who are saved
by his grace. It is the body of Christ. Look
down to verse 12 even of chapter four. For the perfecting of the
saints, for the work of the ministries, given ministry gifts, for the
edifying, the building up, This is what it's for, the building
up of the body of Christ. The body of Christ. The church
is the body of Christ. 1 Corinthians 12 verse 27 says,
now you, believers, you are the body of Christ. And members,
each one of you in particular, individually, you're members,
but you're one body. You're one body in Christ. In
what sense? In what sense Christ's body?
Now, Christ obviously has a real body of flesh and of blood and
of bones. He came to this earth born as
a baby in Bethlehem, born made of a woman, born of a virgin.
He came, the infinite God contracted to a span and clothed in flesh
and blood and bones like we are, exactly like we are, for a particular
purpose. for a particular purpose. What
was that purpose? He had to come in a body to save
his people from their sins. He had to come in flesh and blood
and bones to satisfy offended justice on behalf of his people.
And so it says in Hebrews 10, Verse five, wherefore, when he
cometh into the world, speaking of Christ, he saith, sacrifice
and offering thou wouldest not. He didn't want them. Those Old
Testament pictures of animals being sacrificed, they only went
so far as a picture, but a body hast thou prepared me. Christ,
the second person of the Trinity, very God of very God, had a body,
a human body, like yours and mine, yet without sin, prepared
for him. In burnt offerings and in sacrifices
for sin, animal ones, thou hadst no pleasure. Why not? Because
animal sacrifices can only picture, they can never satisfy justice. Then said I, Christ, this is,
then said I, lo, I come. In the volume of the book it
is written of me, to do thy will, O God. How did he come? In the
body that was prepared. Christ had a real body, the body
that God had to inhabit in order to satisfy offended justice for
his people. For human sin to be paid for,
it's sin debt to be paid for, the soul that sins, it shall
die. For human sin, human blood had to be shed, for the life
is in the blood. There had to be a human body
that Christ had to inhabit, that he might shed precious human
blood to pay the law's price for the sins of his people. So
he has a real human physical body with which he walked this
earth, and there's a glorified body now in heaven, the body
like we shall have when we go to be with him. But Christ also
has a mystical body, which is his church. Turn back to Ephesians
1, just a page back, and verses 22 and 23. where we read, he has put all
things under his feet, under Christ's feet, and gave him to
be head over all things to the church. He is the head of the
church. Now, what is this church? This
church is his body. It's his mystical body. He is
the head, and the body is his church. And it's the fullness
of him that fills all things. his church is his body both the
universal church of all people from from Adam and Eve and Abel
right the way down to believers today and those that shall be
in the future who will all be gathered together in heaven in
that multitude that John saw an innumerable multitude a multitude
that no man can number but also that church that mystical body
of Christ is manifested locally in individual places So to the
saints which are at Ephesus, to the saints which are in Corinth,
to the saints which are here this morning, and the ones listening
to us. He has a local manifestation
of that church. Hebrews 12.23 talks about the
general assembly and church of the firstborn, which are written
in heaven. They're all of the many sons,
Hebrews 2. Hebrews 2 talks about Christ
bringing many sons to glory. He means daughters as well. He
means men believers and women believers. The General Assembly
and Church of the Firstborn, which are written in heaven.
Where are they written? in the Lamb's Book of Life. All
of them, the many sons that he came to bring to glory, all the
people he came in flesh, call his name Jesus, for he shall
save his people from their sins. He came in the flesh to save
his people from their sins. This is the church, this is his
mystical body, every one of that innumerable multitude in eternity,
the people that God the Father chose in Christ before the foundation
of the world. Are you a believer? than you're
a member of that mystical body of Christ. Now then, let me ask
you a question. What could be more uniting than
that knowledge? Are you a believer? then you're
a member of that mystical body of Christ. There's only one.
What could be more uniting than that? Think of your own body.
Think of how disuniting it is when your foot doesn't work.
We went out for a walk the other day and my sons used to laugh
at me when they were a lot younger because I've always had trouble
with tendons in my feet. all of a sudden starting to hurt.
And we set off walking, and I just could not set my weight on my
left foot. It was agony, because the tendons
get themselves twisted or something like that. And, you know, my
ankle was saying, oh come on foot, walk, and my foot was saying,
I can't, I can't. Screaming out. it very quickly
passed and it got untangled and five minutes later it was absolutely
fine. But you know how disuniting it feels when a little bit of
your body is not working quite right. You pull a muscle, you
twitch something or other. How disuniting it is. In the
one body it's good when things work together in harmony. In
1 Corinthians chapter 12 Paul talks about this. He talks about
the church as a body. And he says, there are those
of you that say, I'm not an eye, I'm an ear, therefore I'm not
of the body. Don't you need eyes and ears? Oh, I'm not one of
the eyes or the ears. I'm only a big toe. Therefore
I'm not of the body. Oh, doesn't your body need a
big toe? Oh, it really does. Remarkable
how much it needs it. All the different members thinking
like people do when they get twitchy and offended about things,
thinking they're not united together. Of course, every bit of the body
is an essential part of it. Of course, we have disagreements
in the body. we don't always see things a
hundred percent eye to eye. There's an illustration I read
of this which I think is very good and I was rather hoping
from the weather forecast it was going to be a bit windier
than it actually is this morning because down at the end of our
garden we can see some quite big trees and they've lost most
of their leaves now and they're waving around in a gentle breeze
but it was supposed to have been quite a gale this morning. And
you see when you look down there intertwined branches and twigs. Thousands of them. And they're
rubbing and chafing in the wind. Look at them, they're so close
together. As the wind blows, they're rubbing and chafing together. But you trace them back down.
The twigs become branches. They're united in a branch. And
the branches come together in bigger branches. And the bigger
branches come together in the one trunk. And the whole thing
is fed and sustained from the same root system. even though
in the wind they're rubbing against each other. Sometimes, sometimes,
even true believers genuinely misunderstand each other. They
rub the bark off each other like tree branches in a gale, but
they're still alive in a common root. This is important, listen
to me, have any of you, is there anybody listening who's had a
serious falling out with another true believer? You know, oh it
was a matter of principle and that person was absolutely wrong
in what they said to me. Hold on, hold on, hold on, think
about what you are, you know, you're branches of the same tree.
from the same rootstock. What does verse two say? With
all loneliness and meekness, with long-suffering, forbearing
one another in love, endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit
in the bond of peace. Ah, but no, my principle is so
right that I cannot... Can't? Really? Really? Christ
is coming again. When is Christ coming again?
You don't know, but treat it as if it's today. Christ is coming
again. Get ready. Settle your differences
quickly, said Christ to his disciples. Don't let the sun go down on
your anger. Esteem each other. Ah, but he
doesn't deserve my esteem. Look at what he's done and said.
Esteem each other more highly than yourself. There's one body,
and we're members of the one body. Is that not a reason to
be united in the things of Christ and your own pride and your own
self-righteousness to just bow down in the dust a bit and say
that the unity of the body is more important than my injured
pride and do what is necessary to make things right? Then secondly,
why else should we endeavor to keep the unity of the spirit
in the bond of peace? It's because there is one Lord
There is one Lord. Verse five, there is one Lord. Why should you endeavor to maintain
unity with fellow believers? It's because we're members of
the same body, but also we claim allegiance to the same Lord. In verse six, there is one God
and Father of all, who is above all and through all and in you
all. There is one God and Father of all. were members of the same
family. Verse 15 of chapter 3, of whom
the whole family in heaven and earth is named. Ephesians 3,
15, the whole family in heaven and earth is named. Who? Named
by who? The Father of our Lord Jesus
Christ. Were members of the same family.
Were spiritual siblings. We've got a common parentage.
Father, Abba. We cry Abba, Father, to the same
God in the Lord Jesus Christ, in the gospel of his grace. You
know, you see stories of siblings who were separated in childhood,
you know, for whatever reasons of poverty or other things that
come and happen and split families up and they go their separate
ways and one sibling's taken off to Australia and another
one remains in this country and then they're in their fifties
or sixties and it's a news item that they found each other they
knew that they had a brother or a sister and they've looked
and they've searched and they've inquired and you see the cameras,
the news cameras are there at the airport when they meet and
they've never seen, apart from when they were little children
when they were separated as children. And now they're grown up, they're
in their 50s, their 60s, their 70s even, and they meet at the
airport, and they embrace. Because they're separated siblings. They've got a common parentage.
They're from the same background. So with our one Lord, there's
one God and Father of all without distinction of maturity. Some
are young believers, some are middle-aged believers, some are
old believers, but he's God and Father of all without any distinction
of maturity, and he is above all. This one God that we worship
and we seek to serve and we owe allegiance to, he is so much
higher than anything that could divide us. Think of the things
that divide us from genuine believers. I'm not talking about divisions
from people who actually blatantly deny the gospel, trying to make
out that they stick to the true gospel. I'm talking about those
that genuinely, genuinely believe the same gospel that we do. God
is above all things that might divide us. He's through all and
in you all. The picture is of us all immersed
in God. Like a great big swimming pool
and we're all immersed in it. We're all of us immersed in God.
We're infused with the same God. So what is there of significance
that now divides us one from another? Think about it. God
is above all and through all and in you all. The greatness
of God saturates all human differences by which I mean it swamps them,
it drowns them. In our kitchen there is an electric
kettle and I know some of you might find the same thing but
because we live in a hard water area you're trying to listen
to the radio or you're trying to have a conversation and you
put the kettle on and when it starts to sing it is so noisy
you cannot hear one another speak, you can't hear conversation you
can't hear what the radio is saying because the kettle saturates
all other sounds in the room well think about differences
between genuine believers does not the greatness of God saturate
swamp drown out all those differences we have the same heavenly father
We all, as children of God, His believing children, we cry, Abba,
Daddy, Father. That's what we cry. That's what
the people of God cry. Think about your differences.
Endeavour to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of
peace. We have one Lord Jesus Christ in 1 Corinthians 8. verses 5 and 6. 1 Corinthians
chapter 8, verses 5 and 6. For though there be that are
called gods, whether in heaven or in earth, as there be gods
many and lords many, but to us there is but one God, the Father,
of whom are all things, and we in Him, and one Lord Jesus Christ,
by whom are all things, and we by Him. In our Lord Jesus Christ,
there is one Lord Jesus Christ. One Lord Jesus Christ is the
one who commands us to love one another. He said, by this shall
those observing, all men, know that you are my disciples. What
is it? What is it that will show them
that you are my disciples? That you love one another. Not
that you're fighting and squabbling, but that you love one another.
But oh, how strife arises. The disciples walking this earth
with the Lord Jesus Christ in Mark chapter nine, we won't turn
to it now, 33 and 34. And they're actually disputing
about who is the greatest and who's going to have the prominent
position in heaven. And is it not like in the Queen's
presence, the Queen's courtiers quarreling about who should do
what? It's unthinkable, unthinkable. He is the head. Christ is the
head of the body. The control of the limbs is from
the head. We're all limbs in that body,
we're all members of that body, and He is the head. How can we
allow disagreement when one head, one and the same head, directs
us all? And then next, there is one spirit. There is one Holy Spirit in Ephesians
chapter 4, there is one spirit. There is one, verse 4, there
is one body and one spirit, even as ye are called in one hope
of your calling. There is one spirit, one Holy Spirit. In 1
Corinthians chapter 12, I referred to it earlier, because it talks
a lot about the body of Christ. In verses 4 to 6, Paul says this. There are diversities of gifts,
differences, but the same spirit. Not all of you are able to do
the same things. Not all of you are. There are
diversities of gift, but the same spirit. There are diversities,
there are differences of administrations, but the same Lord. There are
diversities of operations, but it is the same God which worketh
all in all. In verse 13 of that same chapter,
It says, for by one spirit, this one same Holy Spirit, we are
all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether
we be bond or free, and have all been made to drink into one
spirit. The body is not one member, but
many. And so he goes on, shall the
foot say, I'm not because I'm not a hand, I'm not a, no, of
course not. All of it works together. All
baptized by one spirit into one body. if believers share the
same father the same Lord Jesus Christ the same Holy Spirit which
we must have for if any man have not the Spirit of Christ he is
none of his says Paul in Romans chapter 8 is it not reasonable
that we strive in loneliness and humility to be and to remain
united? we're thinking about unity between
true believers. We're thinking about unity between
members of the same body of Christ, of the same family of God in
his three persons. But also we saw an illustration
a couple of times ago at the end of chapter two of Ephesians
that the church of God is likened to a temple. In verse 20 of chapter
two, you're built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets,
Jesus Christ being the head cornerstone. In 1 Peter, chapter 2 and verse
5, Peter says to them, ye also, you believers, as living stones,
lively stones, are built up a spiritual habitation, a spiritual house,
a habitation of God through the Spirit, says Paul at the end
of chapter 2 of Ephesians. You're built together. Have you
ever watched a bricklayer? I know that I've had a go and
some of you have had a go at actual bricklaying. What is it? The mortar wraps around the bricks
and binds them together. I know smart people say the mortar's
not to stick the bricks together, it's to keep the bricks apart,
but have you ever tried to take down a wall that's been built
with modern mortar? Boy, you have to hit it hard
to get it to come apart. If anybody tells me that mortar
doesn't stick bricks together, I don't think they've actually
seen a wall that's been built with proper mortar. It binds
the bricks together. The mortar binds the bricks together.
So this is our third and final point. The binding together.
In one body, we have one Lord, but we're bound together in the
same way. What is it that wraps around
the bricks in the wall? It's the mortar that the bricklayer
uses. What is it that binds living
bricks in the living temple of God, a habitation of God through
the Spirit? What is it? Well, we see it here.
He says in verse 2, forbearing one another in love. He says
it in verse four, you are called in one hope. He says it in verse
five, one Lord, one faith. This is it, faith, hope, and
love. There is one faith that we hold
in common. One faith we hold in common,
not many equivalent ones. If there are many faiths, then
the worship of Baal is as good as the worship of God, isn't
it? If that's what the modern ecumenical notion seems to think,
oh well let's not bother about being divided about doctrine,
you know, that's secondary. No, you don't worship God in
the way that we do, but that doesn't matter, it's all fine,
anybody's, no, there's one faith, one faith, one true faith. Jesus
said, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man comes to
the Father but by, ah, but the Muslim way, no it's not. Jesus
said he is the way. There is none other name under
heaven given among men whereby ye must be saved, and that of
Jesus Christ. There are not multiple ways,
there is one faith, and that one faith is the gift of God. Is he going to divide it up and
make it different for one and for another? No. By grace are
you saved, through faith, and that not of yourselves, it is
the gift of God. There is one faith which binds
individuals as diverse, think of Hebrews chapter 11. Do you
remember Hebrews chapter 11? By faith. By faith, Noah built
the ark. By faith, Enoch walked with,
by faith, Abraham went out from the land of his idolatrous family
to a land that God showed him. By faith, by faith, Sarah bore
Isaac. By faith, Moses, though he was
a comely child, though he was a proper child, though he was
a, by faith, Moses considered the reproach of Christ better
than the riches of Egypt. By faith, Rahab, What binds together
a great rich man like Abraham and a harlot? What she was? Common prostitute. What binds
together Abraham and Rahab? Faith. Faith. They shared the
same faith. They looked to the same Christ
for salvation. One faith binds all of those
together in that gallery. One faith of which Jesus is the
author and finisher, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher
of our faith. And then there's one hope, one
hope of your calling to heaven. Do you have a hope of heaven?
You do if you're a child of God, if you believe the gospel of
grace, for God has given you many, many promises concerning
eternal glory. You've got a calling to heaven,
to eternal life, to all that God has promised his people.
We hold that same hope in common, don't we? If we're believers
together, it binds us together. Do you have a dispute with your
brethren? Well, think about your faith. Are you justified in a
different way to that other person? Do you hope to go somewhere different
to that other person when you die? No. So in the light of these
things, doesn't your dispute melt away? Doesn't it? The thing which causes division
and not unity, doesn't it melt away? And then finally, love. Forbearing one another in love. Love is the key. Esteem for other. Consider the other better than
yourself. For as John says in 1 John 4,
8, he that loveth not knoweth not God. For God is love, faith,
hope and love. These are the three key marks
of all true saints that bind us together. You read the epistles,
wherever you read an epistle, Paul will say, when I heard of
your faith, when I heard of your hope, when I heard of your love
for one another, I knew that you were believers in the same
body with the same Lord. We're not talking about artificial
ecumenical unity, we're talking about biblical Christian unity. Individuals with shared faith,
with a common hope, with mutual love, because we form one body
of Christ, with one head, filled with one spirit, crying Abba,
Daddy, to one Father. Now then, Re-evaluate your disputes
with other believers in the light of these considerations, and
let us together, as Paul exhorts, endeavour to keep the unity of
the Spirit in the bond of peace, thanking Him for that unity that
we experience and know in our Lord Jesus Christ.