Remarks on the Unity of the Spirit
Table of Contents
Remarks on the Unity of the Spirit: Part 1
The touching earnestness with which "the prisoner of the Lord" appeals to the Ephesian saints "to walk worthy of the calling wherewith ye have been called, with all lowliness and meekness, with long-suffering, bearing with one another in love; using diligence to keep the unity of the Spirit in the uniting bond of peace," (Eph. 4:1-3) is sufficient proof of how much he had, at heart, as one in fellowship with Christ, that saints should in their walk one with another, as "the habitation of God in the Spirit," keep that unity.
That energy may have its proper aim and effect, the object before the mind, that should call it out, must be clearly apprehended and desired. It may seem rather late in the day, when "the unity of the Spirit " is on every tongue, and on the tip of many pens, to ask the question, What is the unity of the Spirit?- what is comprised by this term- what in God's mind it is that His people are enjoined to keep? Still we are convinced the question is not out of season, and that much confusion of mind, to say the least, is abroad concerning it.
With no desire to be dogmatic, but with the simple wish to help others, so that there may be more unitedness of aim and object amongst those that are "called in one body," we make the following few remarks, looking earnestly to the Lord, that, in a matter that concerns so much His glory, and the comfort and joy of "His own which are in the world," we may write nothing that will mislead or stumble the weakest. We will first try and make clear what is not "the unity of the Spirit;" and then attempt to unfold briefly what, as we believe, it is.
It is not the unity of the body, though it is intimately connected with it, and if fully carried out, secures its manifestation.
It is not the unity of believers, though it results in and effects this, where it is kept.
To make it either of these, would be to reduce it, either to the manifestation of the unity of the body, in connection with fellowship at the Lord's table, maintained through discipline; or to the agreement of believers one with another, where what would tend to separate is by common consent excluded, keeping together being the object aimed at, but with the effect of producing a sect.
Making it the unity of the body or the church, so that the realization or manifestation of that unity is the object with which diligence is to be used, is the principle that underlies Popery- an external unity, maintained at all costs, where man can have his place, and his will and rule take the place of God's and the holiness that becometh His house forever. It is the fatal error of making the church, instead of Christ Himself, the object before the mind.
It is a great mistake to regard the unity of the Spirit as an accomplished fact- as something now here in unbroken existence. The unity of the body, or "the body" more correctly, is this, therefore we are not enjoined to keep it as if it could be broken, which the expression, "using diligence to keep," plainly supposes possible. Now, though we have not to make the unity of the Spirit, we are enjoined to keep it, but this is not the same thing as saying, the Spirit has formed such a unity, in the sense of its having been formed and existing now as once formed. This would be to confound it with "the body" into which Jews and Gentiles have all been baptized by the one Spirit, and which exists in unbroken unity at all times.
That we are all, and always, responsible to seek to manifest the unity of the body, of which Christ is the Head in heaven, none will surely deny, and more, that to tolerate anything in doctrine or practice that would destroy or enfeeble the expression of this blessed unity is one form, if not a gross one, of the iniquity that those who name the name of Christ should refuse and depart from; nor could any one truly endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit make light of the importance of that which is itself a part of what is involved in endeavoring to keep that unity; but to make it one and the same thing, is practically to lose both; and, where it is a question of dealing with evil, it is to confound the demands of God's holiness in His own house, with the gracious bearing of saints towards one another in what affects themselves, and in which they are to exercise lowliness, meekness, and long-suffering, forbearing one another in love.
A moment's reflection will convince any godly person that where dealing with evil is in question according to the claims of God's nature in holiness, forbearing one another in love would be totally mistaken; hence we find in scripture, that when evil has to be dealt with the very reverse of such a line of conduct is enjoined. Saints are not, then, besought to exercise all the gracious ways of Christ toward one another, so that they may walk together in the Spirit's unity, but the manner of Him who could say, "the zeal of thine house hath eaten me up," and who unsparingly denounced and drove out the evil that was there, is sternly forced upon them. The word now is, "Get thee up; wherefore liest thou on thy face, Israel hath sinned:- "Up, sanctify the people;" " Purge out therefore the old leaven;" " Put away from among yourselves that wicked person"; "Come out from among them and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing, and I will receive you"; and "Let every one who names the name of the Lord withdraw from iniquity." Surely none will say that this means, "bearing with one another in love; using diligence to keep the unity of the Spirit in the uniting bond of peace." A bond of peace enjoined in connection with the toleration of evil, of any kind or degree, would be corruption of the worst sort. A making grace minister to sin, and Christ the companion of Belial; it would, I believe, be the doctrine of the Nicolaitanes “which thing I hate," saith Christ.
A view long held, and still acted upon by many, is that the Spirit has formed a unity that embraces all the members of Christ's body, and that this is the unity that we are enjoined to keep, acknowledging all to be in and of this unity, save those whom discipline, according to the word, excludes from it. Now, what is this unity? It cannot be the body, for we cannot be enjoined to keep it, and, thank God, to exclude any from it, even by discipline according to the word, is impossible. It cannot be the house of God- that which is "builded together for an habitation of God in the Spirit," for to be enjoined to keep God's house would be equally out of the question; though discipline is here thoroughly in place, but surely not "forbearing one another in love" in connection with it.
There is a manifest incongruity in such an association of ideas, besides which there is the danger, that evangelists and pastors who have souls specially before them are peculiarly open to, that in regarding things from the side of love for souls, and with a feeble sense of God's holiness and the Lord's claims, the unity of the Spirit might be stretched, so to speak, as far as possible in dealing with evil, lest any should be excluded from it that the Lord would have retained. The question then would really be, if fairly looked at, how much of what we acknowledge to be wrong in one another, we can forbear with and tolerate ere we exclude them from our fellowship at the Lord's table. In this way the plea of unity might be used to cover sin and retain it amongst us, lest we should break the unity, or sin against the Lord by reason of harshness to those that are His.
There is also another danger that flows out of this view of the unity of the Spirit, and that runs in a totally different direction, a danger to which teachers, especially those who have the truth of the church and the well ordering of God's house at heart, are open to. With such, any breach of this unity is so serious a matter that exclusion from fellowship at the Lord's table is considered imperative; and intelligence as to the truth of the church, with open separation from the systems around, are desirable, if not absolute pre-requisites for the reception to the fellowship of this unity. Hence there is a tendency to harshness, the gracious and tender feelings of the Lord's heart towards wayward, and it may be willful, members of His body, are not realized. With this there is often lack of interest in souls requiring the gospel, and we cannot but express our conviction that, allied with this, the principle of legality, with a subtle form of self-righteousness, is unconsciously working, the absoluteness of divine grace, upon which all divine government in the church rests, not having been fully apprehended. It will not be difficult to see that the outcome of this view may be two widely separated and antagonistic parties; the one characterized by looseness, and the other by exclusiveness.
By the misuse of a leading and influential truth the heart and conscience are alike put into difficulty and act in a wrong direction, and this misuse of scripture is one of the cleverest and most effectual ways by which the enemy works to dishonor Christ, and rob His saints of their best blessings.
We have, we think, said enough to show what "the unity of the Spirit" is not, and to make it plain, too, that discipline, all-important as it is, connects itself with the unity of the body, and not directly with the unity of the Spirit. The one is ecclesiastical, and engages the mind and conscience with what is at the circumference; the other is moral, and occupies the heart and energies with what is at the center, a distinction of the utmost importance. C. W. (To be continued.)
Remarks on the Unity of the Spirit: Part 2
Before directly taking up the "unity of the Spirit," and attempting to define it, it will help to clear our subject if a few words be said on the three aspects in which believers corporately are viewed in the latter part of Eph. 2 We find there: 1st, Jew and Gentile reconciled "unto God in one body by the cross;" 2nd, "fitly framed together as that which groweth unto an holy temple in the Lord;" 3rd, builded together for an "habitation of God through the Spirit." All these three aspects of the assembly commenced at Pentecost with descent of the Holy Ghost, and are in present existence on the earth, but it is important to distinguish between them as, though co-existent, they are not all co-extensive, nor can the terms by which they are respectively described be used interchangeably.
"The body," as we learn from 1 Cor. 12, is formed by the baptism of the Holy Ghost, and comprehends all true Christians. They are vitally united by the Spirit to Christ as the Head in heaven and to one another to form His body on earth. The body, in scripture, is always regarded as a complete organic whole, having its sphere of display and activity on the earth, though growing from the Head in heaven "by joints and bands, having nourishment ministered, and knit together, increaseth with the increase of God" (Col. 2:19), and so compacted together that there "can be no schism in the body" (1 Cor. 12:25); while so intimate is the union of one part with the other that if one member suffer all the members suffer with it, and whatever affects the members on earth reaches the Head in heaven. (Acts 9:4.)
No outward ruin of the church, or apparent scattering of the members of the body, touches this vital unity, nor enfeebles in the least degree the living and divine sympathy, or interdependence of one member on the other. It may not be intelligently or consciously recognized that the condition of the members in Australia affects that of those in England, and that the well-being, or otherwise, of one member reacts upon the whole body in spite of all ecclesiastical disorder and separation, but it is so nevertheless. This is a blessed and soul-subduing fact, though a sad and solemn one in view of practical denial. In the body all is the Spirit's work from first to last, without any human instrumentality.
"The holy temple" is being built by the Lord Himself, and is growing to completeness, each stone being fitly framed and put into its place by the hand of Him, who says in Matt. 12, “I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it." It is of this holy and growing temple that Peter speaks in 1 Peter 2:4-5, "To whom coming, as unto a living stone, disallowed indeed of men, but chosen of God and precious. Ye also, as living stones, are built up a spiritual house." The holy temple is composed entirely of true believers, and here, as in the body, no human hand comes in; it is all the Lord's own work, and will have its completeness at His coming, when the last living stone has been put in its place.
"The habitation," begun by God Himself instrumentally by man, and thus set up perfect, is built by man and committed to his responsibility, consequently conditions are found in it in entire contrast with those that obtain in either the body or the holy temple. In both of these all is divine, and hence all perfect. In the “habitation " it is God's building, and the sphere of His working in the world, but man being the actual workman failure comes in, and good and bad materials are found in this building in its subsequent development. Its formation and history we get in 1 Cor. 3. Paul, as a laborer, "together with God," and as a "wise masterbuilder," says, "I have laid the foundation and another buildeth thereon. But let every man take heed how he buildeth thereupon. For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ."
As commenced by God, working in and by man, the habitation or house, and the body were equally composed only of true believers, and were thus co-extensive, but very soon the absolute work of God by the Spirit, and that instrumentally wrought by man, in which room was left for man's responsibility to declare itself, parted company, and, while at the beginning all those who confessed Christ and were baptized were true and living believers, very soon the weakness of man's hand showed itself, and mere professors, destitute of living faith, were brought in on confession and baptism, and builded together with the true believers, and the habitation enlarged itself beyond the body, being composed of dead and living stones builded together, but not united one to the other by the living bond of the Holy Ghost. The building continued the sphere of God working, and the place of His dwelling with its blessed privileges and solemn responsibilities for faith unaffected by the state of those composing it. Still is it God's house, and will remain so to the close, as the solemn warning of Peter tells us. "For the time is come," he says, "that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God?" (1 Peter 4:17.) It is this external, visible building or "habitation of God by the Spirit," and still as much as ever "the house of God," that has fallen into ruin and disorder, and which will close its history on earth, as man's work, in judgment, to reappear in heaven, according to God's mind made good in His own infallible power, as "the tabernacle of God." (See Rev. 21;3.)
But besides the formation of the church as the body; the commencing of the holy temple: and the building of believers together externally and visibly as the habitation of God, another thing came into existence at Pentecost, in fulfillment of the prophecy of Caiaphas, that Christ "should gather together in one the children of God that were scattered abroad" (John 2. 52), and the Lord's prayer- "neither pray I for these alone, but for them also that shall believe on me through their word: 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 " (John 17:20,21), and that was that all believers, "as called in one body," were brought by the Spirit's power and presence into a divine and moral and practical unity of mind, heart and purpose, as we read, "all that believed were together, and had all things common " (Acts 2:41), "and the multitude of them that believed were of one heart and of one soul, neither said any of them that ought of the things which he possessed was his own; but they had all things common" (Acts 4. 32), this is "the unity of the Spirit;" a unity where all is according to God's mind, flowing out of, and sustained by, the presence of the Spirit amongst believers, and based upon the great principles given us in the latter part of Eph. 2, "one new man;" "one body;" "access by one Spirit unto the Father;" and "builded together for an habitation of God."
The unity of the Spirit in its perfection is then the power of the Spirit which produces divine accord amongst believers, and enables them to realize their relationship to all saints, thus securing the manifestation of the one body on earth; and taken in its completeness it cannot be separated from the one body, yet it is not the same thing, for "there is one Spirit," and "there is one body."
Practically the "all may be one," and the "one in us," of John 17 is the unity of the Spirit, and this is what believers are enjoined to use diligence to keep "in the uniting bond of peace." Jews and Gentiles gathered out to Christ at Ephesus were not to follow their own separate interests, or quarrel, but to walk together in "all holiness and meekness with longsuffering, forbearing one another in love;" visibly together, and in divine concord by the power of the Spirit which made God's mind and theirs all one here on earth. Reconciled to God and to one another by the cross, and before the Father in communion by the one Spirit, their walk was to be together according to that communion. The unity of the Spirit begins here, but develops itself practically out in accordance with what the children of God are in connection with all other saints, as "the one body" and "habitation of God by the Spirit."
Abstractedly the unity of the Spirit is the mind of God, and when the mind of one believer with another believer goes on together with the mind of the Spirit it is practically kept, but when saints do not see together, so that the mind of God is not made good in them, the unity of the Spirit is not kept, even though there may be no outward breach. They may be together outwardly as "one body," but they are not inwardly one in divine accord, as being "of one heart and of one soul," the "one in us" is not there.
At the beginning, at Pentecost, the unity of the Spirit was fully kept, and all believers were outwardly and inwardly together in one, and the unity of heaven shone brightly on earth for a brief space, but soon Satan entered the heavenly scene, and in Acts 5 and 7, we find the unity of the Spirit is gone, though the power for its manifestation remained. The unity of the body remained untouched, and even its outward manifestation was still maintained, but the unity of the Spirit had not been kept. A sad and solemn fact! C.W. (To be continued.)
Remarks on the Unity of the Spirit: Part 3
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. 2:18.) 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. 12:13.) 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. 10:16,17.) 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. 2:19); 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.