One Body in Christ

KEY VERSE: “There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling.” —Ephesians 4:4

SELECTED SCRIPTURE: Ephesians 4:1-16

THE APOSTLE PAUL recognized the need for unity in the ‘body’ of Christ. He used the human body as an illustration of this unity when writing to the brethren in Corinth. There he said, “The body is not one member, but many.” (I Cor. 12:14) Then he called attention to the diverse functions of the various members of the human body, and their need for one another in cooperation, in order to make the body function properly. Again Paul said, “Now indeed there are many members, but one body.”—vs. 20, Wilson’s Emphatic Diaglott

The need for unity was accentuated in our Key Verse, which reads, “There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling.” (Eph. 4:4) How important it is for us to know that there is only one great, supreme Creator whom we are privileged to call our Father; one Lord Jesus, who purchased us with his blood; one faith once delivered unto the saints, and which we are privileged to share; one baptism, and that it is into Christ’s death; one call during the Gospel Age, and one hope of that calling. The call is to follow Jesus, and the hope is to reign with him if we are willing to suffer with him. Those who understand these things are being guided by one spirit—God’s Holy Spirit—and are one body cooperating with its members.

There is a beautiful prophecy in Psalm 68:18. Paul quotes it saying: “Wherefore he saith, When he ascended up on high, he led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto men.” (Eph. 4:8) This is an illustration of the death and resurrection of Jesus—patterned after a general’s triumphal return home from battle with his victorious army, and with captives bearing gifts. So Jesus left heaven and was made flesh, to be our Redeemer; he conquered death and will release from captivity all that are in their graves. When he returned to heaven he granted us the Holy Spirit.

The gifts he brings to us are the helps we need to achieve unity in the body of Christ. Some of the gifts Paul mentions include: the apostles and the prophets; evangelists, pastors, and teachers, “for the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ: till we all come in the unity of faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.”—Eph. 4:11-13

The Lord Jesus, as a perfect man, is the pattern for developing the body of Christ—not merely any human body. The Lord Jesus is our pattern. But this development does not come easily. There are many interferences, and the Adversary particularly seeks to disrupt this growth in unity. We could be tossed to and fro with every wind of doctrine, being deceived by the craftiness of men. But if we persevere in developing love as our motivating force as we associate with the brethren, this love will have the effect of stimulating the proper growth of the body, and consolidating the unity of the body of Christ.

Paul pleaded with the brethren at Ephesus that they lead a life worthy of the calling to which they had been invited, “with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, making every effort to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.”—Eph. 4:1-3, Revised Standard Version

Paul was not able to go to Ephesus, but he could plead with the brethren in writing. And so he did, not only to the Ephesians, but to us also, with such phrases as: ‘Bear with one another in love’; ‘Speak the truth in love’; ‘Promote the body’s growth in building itself up in love.’ With love reigning in our lives it is possible to maintain ‘one body in Christ.’

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