We are not told to make or create “the unity of the Spirit,” but rather to “keep” it. “The unity of the Spirit” is not an organizational unity, but an organic unity created when we were “by one Spirit … baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit.” “As we have many members in one body, and all members have not the same office: so we, being many, are one body in Christ, and every one members one of another.” So we are to “keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace,” remembering that “there is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.” We are to remember this in our dealings with all who have trusted Christ. Even in the matter of Scriptural separation, while we are to “have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them,” we are also to “follow righteousness, faith, charity, peace, with them that call on the Lord out of a pure heart.” So “let brotherly love continue,” for “how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity.” |