QUESTION: What is "the unity of the Spirit?
ANSWER: "There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling" (Eph. 4:4). All true believers are in this verse. When the Holy Spirit came down in Acts 2, He baptized the believers in that upper room into one body. By the Holy Spirit's presence in them, they were all livingly united to Christ, the Head on high, and to each other. This was a new thing on earth, the fruit of accomplished redemption, and as one after another believed the gospel and received the Holy Spirit, they were added to this body, whether they had before been Jews or Gentiles. And so it is up to this present time. Every believer is livingly a member of Christ, a member of the body of Christ, and members one of another (Rom. 12:4-5; 1 Cor. 6:15, 17, 19). We are also children of God the Father (Rom. 8:15; Gal. 4:6; 1 John 3:1-2).
Many believers do not realize these relationships for themselves. God declares them to be true of all His redeemed people of this present time. Believers who lived and died before Christ came did not possess these blessings, though they were born again as well as we. God can show His grace in these ways, because of accomplished redemption (John 12:24; John 7:39; Acts 10:43-44).
What a great favor to be put in living union with our Lord Jesus Christ by the Spirit! What a new light it throws on the Church of God! We see ourselves united to Christ in glory and to even, true believer on earth. At the beginning all were together; not so now, though they ought to be, for faith takes in the truth that God has made us one by that one Spirit, and we therefore should act as one.
This is the unity of the Spirit. It is the inward realization and behavior consistent with the truth that we are one body—a behavior produced by subjection to the leading of the Holy Spirit.
Ephesians 4 begins with the Apostle beseeching those saints to walk worthy of the vocation, the new relationships, he has unfolded to them, including the mystery that we with Christ are one. Some might wrongly think from verse 2 that this is impossible, considering their varied tempers, dispositions, etc., and it would be, unless the grace of God rules in their hearts and controls them. So he exhorts them, with all lowliness and meekness with long-suffering, forbearing one another in love, to endeavor to maintain this unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.
It is not unity of spirit only, but the unity of the Holy Spirit in the ways and truth of God. The unity of the body is formed and maintained by God. Our obedience or our failures do not alter it, but if we do not seek to be led by the Lord, we must grieve and quench the Holy Spirit, who will not fail to carry us through to the end of our journey in this life. What unhappiness in life this makes for many of the Lord's dear ones. The Holy Spirit ever puts the Lord before us as our object and center. His is the only name given to be gathered to (Matt. 18:20).
But though we cannot walk with all believers, yet we must think how He loves all His members, and love them as occasion is given. We may not like their ways in many things, nor can we walk with them in ways contrary to the Word of God, but we must in our hearts love them because they are dear to Him. Carefulness becomes us not to do anything that would hurt them or influence them to walk in ways not pleasing to the Lord.
It is quite true, sad to say, that many of Christ's members are linked up with divisions and associations quite contrary to the Word of God (2 Cor. 6:14-7:1). And now, if true to the Lord, we could not go with them in paths of disobedience, but as far as the truth of God will allow us, we should walk with and help them to advance in the truth. This is our privilege toward every member. To be in divisions or sects is carnal (1 Cor. 3:3). It would not help them for us to go there, and we would put ourselves in wrong ways. It may seem egotistic, but Christ is the center because He is the Head of the body, and there each member should be. He is our guide and His Word is sufficient to show us the way. The Holy Spirit will not lead us any other way than by the Word.
Then Matthew 18:18-20 is important. If we maintain the unity of the Spirit, we recognize the action of the two or three who, with Christ in their midst, are acting for Him. We must recognize that we are in one fellowship with all that are so gathered. It is not a union of assemblies, but it is a recognition that they are all one though in different localities. If the man in 1 Corinthians 5 was put away at Corinth, he was put away for the whole Church on earth. Letters of commendation are given to receive those coming from other places as strangers.
We see in Scripture how serious has been the Church's departure from this truth of the unity of the Spirit in divisions (Rom. 16:17), in departure from the truth (2 Tim 1:15), in self-will and self-exaltation (Acts 20:30).
The question for us is: Whose are we? Do we own the Lord's claims over us? Then we have no choice. If we ask Him, "Where dwellest Thou?" His answer to us will be, "Come and see" (John 138-39).