From what has been thus far before us, as to the unity of the Spirit and what it comprehends, it is plain that it has two very distinct aspects, intimately connected the one with the other, and yet capable of being viewed separately, and of being, too, practically separated. They both equally depend upon the Spirit, and flow out of what the Spirit produces, as much in the one case as the other, though the one aspect goes further than the other.
They bring two distinct and important truths before the soul, according as one or the other of these aspects is before the mind. The first of these truths, and perhaps relatively the more important of the two, is that, through Christ, "we both [Jew and Gentile] have access by one Spirit unto the Father." (Eph. 2:1818For through him we both have access by one Spirit unto the Father. (Ephesians 2:18).) The second is that, "by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free." (1 Cor. 12:1313For by one Spirit are we all 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. (1 Corinthians 12:13).) According as the unity of the Spirit is seen in connection with one or the other of these truths, its aspect will be, so to speak, either moral or ecclesiastical. The one has to say to our communion and walk together before the "Father"; the other, to our walk together as members of the "one body." In any one intelligently "endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace," these two truths will unite to regulate the walk; and hence, it will be readily seen that in proportion as the one, or the other, of these truths is powerfully engaging the soul, will the moral or ecclesiastical aspect predominate, and with corresponding practical consequences; the danger lies in making it either exclusively moral, or entirely ecclesiastical.
Now, although all believers have equally access by "one Spirit unto the Father," and are all baptized by one Spirit "into one body," they may be intelligently very deficient as to either or both of these truths, and consequently unable, through ignorance, to answer fully to the apostle's exhortation to "walk worthy of the vocation with which they have been called."
If we apply practically what we have written to the present and actual condition of things amongst true Christians, we shall find all will acknowledge a common life and relationship before the Father, obtained through Christ, and sustained in the power of the Holy Ghost; they "cry Abba Father," and they realize their relationship to one another as His children, and with this allow, however feebly and failingly carried out, the obligation to walk together "in lowliness and meekness, with longsuffering forbearing one another in love;" and they recognize a spiritual unity, flowing out of a common relationship, that they ought to endeavor to maintain in "the bond of peace."
Many get no further than this, they know nothing, or at least very little, of a relationship one to another as members of "one body." If it engages their thoughts at all it takes the form of an "invisible church," and really, as far as their intelligent understanding of it goes, does not rise above the thought of a divine relationship in which they are set with others by the possession of life and the Holy Ghost. Doctrinally the basis of this state is the 1st Epistle of John; they know, though perhaps in some cases not without doubts, that their sins are forgiven for "his name's sake," and they know the Father; they know, too, that they are "passed from death unto life, because they love the brethren," and that God dwells in them and they in God, "because he hath given us of his Spirit."
This is the divine and eternal ground in which they are set in blessing, and, though their souls may not be intelligently conscious of all it involves, they have the instincts of divine life and the actings of the Spirit, that dwells in them, leading them to the Father, and to the seeking fellowship with one another as His children. The family bond is felt and acknowledged, and that a lowly and loving walk, in peace and unity with other believers, is the moral obligation that rests upon them. The desires of the Lord as to the practical unity of His own, given us in John 17, affect their hearts and consciences, and they feel that this unity of believers must be suited to the character of a "Holy Father " and a "righteous Father." Thus many of them really endeavor "to keep the unity of the Spirit" in its moral aspect; that "good and pleasant" thing which, like the precious ointment on Aaron's head, is fragrant worship before our God, and, like the dew on Hermon, descending on the mountains of Zion, is blessing and joy amongst His people.
It is impossible to overrate the essential blessing of all this, and the importance of this endeavor to walk in fellowship with God and one another, even though no true thought of the church enter into it. According to the light they have, they are owned and blessed of God in this endeavor, even though by their ignorance they are kept in systems contrary to His word, and dishonoring to His name. Did they intelligently know the truth of the church, whether as the "one body," or as the "habitation of God through the Spirit," they could not stay in them. The anomaly is this, that while believers in system may be morally endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit, they are at the same time ecclesiastically breaking it by the very fact of their being in their respective systems.
When we come to those who, knowing the truth of the church as the "body of Christ" and "the habitation of God," are gathered, outside systems, to the name of Jesus, upon the ground of the "one body," the ecclesiastical form of the unity of the Spirit is added to the other, and perhaps becomes prominent. The ordering of the house of God in unity, whether as to the exercise of gift and communion, or discipline, based upon the headship of Christ and the unity of the body, as unfolded by the apostle Paul, comes into question, and we have a visible unity of believers under an ecclesiastical form, and as far as it goes, without attempting to display the whole positions, the manifestation of the unity of the body is secured. The unity of the Spirit, in this aspect of it, declares itself, 1st, in the communion of saints at the Lord's table in partaking of "one loaf "- "The bread which we break is it not the communion of the body of Christ? For we being many are one loaf, one body; for we are all partakers of that one bread." (1 Cor. 10:16,1716The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not the communion of the body of Christ? 17For we being many are one bread, and one body: for we are all partakers of that one bread. (1 Corinthians 10:16‑17).) 2nd, in the exercise of gift towards all saints as "holding the Head, from which all the body by joints and bands having nourishment ministered, and knit together, increaseth with the increase of God " (Col. 2:1919And not holding the Head, from which all the body by joints and bands having nourishment ministered, and knit together, increaseth with the increase of God. (Colossians 2:19)); and 3rd, in discipline being the same in all places, so that one put out of fellowship, say, in England is out of fellowship in New Zealand- the Spirit being one, and acting under one Head, His ruling must be the same in all places. Those gathered upon the ground of the "one body" cannot escape from this fact, and though discipline does not connect itself directly with the unity of the Spirit, but rather with that of the unity of the body in its manifestation, and has for its object the maintenance of the holiness of God's house rather than that of the maintenance of unity, it cannot be separated from the endeavor to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. Independency in the church of God cannot, in faithfulness to the Lord, be tolerated by those who stand for His rights, and the truth He has revealed to them as to the unity of the body. It must be refused at all costs or the testimony of God would be surrendered, and following "righteousness, faith, charity, peace, with them that call on the Lord out of a pure heart" would be rendered impossible.
The maintenance of the unity of the Spirit in its ecclesiastical aspect, having respect to what is visible and external, has this danger, that it can be separated from the moral, and we may here have the anomaly of those who are endeavoring to keep it ecclesiastically breaking it: morally; it is apt to become itself an object before the mind, and, being thus separated from Christ, the heart and conscience lose that which alone can keep both in God's, presence, and a rigid ecclesiastical unity may be maintained with a sad lack of the gracious feelings of Christ towards those so dear to Him, and without sufficiently respecting their consciences: in this way a judgment or rule, right enough in itself, is accepted without the divine conviction of its being God's, and thus, even unintentionally, the will and rule of man take the place of Christ's. Party feeling and action may spring up in connection with a doctrine, even a true one, and with this there will be the danger of evil being left unjudged lest the external unity be endangered.
All this being so, and surely few in the main will question it, what we have to do is to minister Christ to souls according to their need, and to teach those in system the truth of the church, and induce them to endeavor to keep the unity of the Spirit ecclesiastically as well as morally; and, also, to press upon those who, gathered to the Lord's name outside the systems of men, are maintaining it ecclesiastically, that they use great diligence to keep it better morally, so that there may be no breach between its inward reality and outward manifestation.
It is of the utmost importance to see that, irrespective of all ecclesiastical ideas or formal gathering together, saints have to walk with one another in unity according to the Spirit's power in their daily and hourly intercourse, where everything in them morally is constantly being put to the proof; and here the true test of how far we are really "using diligence to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace" comes in; here, too, the need will be felt of those gracious dispositions of the mind that alone can enable us in any degree so to keep it. It is only as we are near Him, and learning of Him who says, "learn of me, for I am meek and lowly of heart," that any lowliness and meekness will be found in our hearts; unless lowliness and meekness be in us before God, and with this longsuffering and forbearing one another in love, to keep the unity of the Spirit morally is impossible. The "bond of peace"- that walking as Christ walked, can alone be exerting its holy uniting influence on others, as the peace of Christ, "to which we are called in one body," is ruling in our hearts, and, with it, that "wisdom which is from above, first pure, and then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be entreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy."
Have we sufficiently recognized our unceasing obligation to keep it in this way? Are our consciences exercised as to how frequently we fail thus to maintain this blessed unity? Is the moral breach of it less serious before God than the ecclesiastical? Will He accept the one without the other, or rather will He not blow upon the latter if it be not maintained in the power of the former? Above all let us remember it is the SPIRIT'S unity, a unity of which He, as God, is the living Center, source and power; and if on the one side He be "the Spirit of Grace," He is on the other the "holy Spirit," nor can there be any true unity, whether moral or ecclesiastical, save as we walk individually, and together, with Him who says, "Be ye holy for I am holy," and of whose house it is recorded, "Holiness becometh thine house, O Lord, forever." C. W.