Unity Living

The message of Paul in his Letter to the Ephesians is that God has a Plan to bring all things to completeness and fulfillment in Christ Jesus. In the centre of that process is the Church, which is congregated with Christ in heaven, but whose manifestation is seen in the gathering of God’s people on the earth.

It is evident from Ephesians that the fullness of God’s Plan will come after the rebellion of the evil powers has been fully dealt with and the Church is acting in unity. In principle both these were achieved through the Resurrection of Christ and through the pouring out of the gifts of the Ascended Christ upon the newly created and freshly united gathering of Jew and Gentile believers who are now “one new man” (Eph 2: 15)

In Ephesians 4: 3 we are told that we are to make haste to maintain in the bond of peace the unity which has been accomplished by the Holy Spirit. Put simply, we are to continue a life-long process of outworking what we are! Ephesians 4 and 5 make clear not only that the unity interacts with diversity, but that there are certain ways of behaviour that will be motivated by our gratitude to God for the saving adoption which he planned for us from eternity and which he has given us through the cross of Christ, through his substitutionary death for us.

We have an ongoing commitment to live in repentance (change of mind and direction). Lying (the hallmark of unfaithfulness), filthy talk, and twisted sex are to go out as well as slander, unresolved anger and unforgiveness. These are to be replaced with truth, language that builds others up, pure and beautiful sex (within heterosexual marriage only), and forgiveness.

We need to grasp why these matters are so important. Lying destroys the ability to trust. Truthfulness in behaviour models belief in Truth, which is found in Jesus and in his Word. Twisted sex in modern society moves in many directions, but one of the underlying problems is the popular reversal of “public and private”. The actual conduct of the marriage at a sexual level is considered private, although the Bible indicates that sex within marriage should be “considerate” (I Peter 3), that is, that it should be consensual and free of aggression.

Forgiveness can often be difficult. God in Christ forgave us. We are called on to continue to forgive others, to “place them on the mercy seat”rather than on the judgment seat. This can be difficult. If need be, forgive again, and again!

Lindsay Johnstone

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