Ephesians 4:1-6, “United in Christ, by Christ, for Christ!”

[hmp_player playlist=’Eph4:1-6′]

Sermon Notes Below:

March 9th, 2014,

“United in Christ, by Christ, for Christ!”

When you repent and receive Christ as Savior, you become God’s child, you are to live a life of love, as did God’s Son, who loved us and died for us (Eph. 5:1-2). 4:1… Paul urges us to live our life [our walk] according to the calling we have received: 1Corinthians 1:9, “God… has called you into fellowship with His Son Jesus Christ our Lord.” We are to live like we belong to God.

Paul considers himself, “a prisoner for the sake of the Lord Jesus Christ.” Paul’s motives, actions and standards were based on the teachings and the character of Christ.

4:2… To “be completely humble” is from a compound Greek word meaning, “to think or judge with lowliness,” i.e., to live in humility, everything being placed in subordination to God’s holiness and power.

Godly humility will always produce gentleness [or meekness], and you cannot walk in a manner that is worthy of Christ apart from humility and gentleness; patience [being “long-tempered”], will follow, showing in our lives as we “bear with one another in love.”

True Christian character brings glory and honor to God, as we serve Him, living humble, gentle, and patient lives, expressing God’s love to those around us, especially to those who belong to the family of God.

Colossians 3:23, “Whatever you do, work at it with all
your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men.” We follow Jesus (Phil. 2:5-11; 1John 2:6):
1. humility = seeing ourselves in relationship to God
2. gentleness = willfully submitting to God’s control
3. patience = learning to do what pleases God
4. bearing with each other in love = [agape love], i.e., unselfish love that desires the best for the other person.

4:3… Unity is not something added to our fellowship, it is the standard for our relationships in Christ; it doesn‘t come easily, but instead it takes hard work and sacrifice.

God-honoring unity is purposed by the Holy Spirit; at the moment of salvation, we are placed in the Body of Christ (1Corinthians 12), the Church, where we will grow in Christ and serve God with body, mind, and spirit.

Colossians 3:15, “Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful.”

We must choose to allow God’s peace to reign in our lives; as the truth of God sinks deep into our hearts and minds, and is applied to our lives, we will bear fruit that honors God, made evident by our unity in Christ.

4:4… One body of believers – all who trust in Christ as Savior are members of this body, God’s Church, and there is no Gentile, Jew, male, female, slave or freeman here; there is only God’s Church, and the unity among its members is the very heart of this passage.

One Spirit – God’s Spirit lives in every believer, guaranteeing our presence at the marriage supper of the Lamb (Ephesians 1:13-14; Revelations 19:6-9).

When believers walk in obedience to God’s Word, in the power of the Holy Spirit, our doctrine and our demonstration of life together, is unified and purified in the one hope of our calling — to be like Christ.

We have different gifts and ministries, and areas of service, but everything is modeled after Jesus Christ:

1John 3:2, “Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when He [Christ] appears, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is.”

4:5… One Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ (Acts 2:36-38; 4:12; Romans 10:9-10, 13).

One faith based on the body of doctrine revealed in the NT, by which we are to exemplify the character and nature of God, as we apply the principles and precepts of Scripture to our lives, bringing honor and glory to Him.

One baptism [spiritual baptism] places us into the Body of Christ by the Holy Spirit (Mark 1:7-8; John 3:1-8). We identify with Christ’s death and resurrection through water baptism (Romans 6:3-5); it doesn’t save us, but it does proclaim our unity with God.

4:6… One God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all. The oneness of God is foundational to Christianity, and it speaks of total unity: one body, one Spirit, one hope, one Lord, one faith, one baptism.

1John 5:11-13, “And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life. I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life.”
If you have repented of your sins and trusted in Jesus Christ for salvation, you are one with the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.

John 14:15-20, “If you love me, you will obey what I command. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever– the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you. I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. Before long, the world will not see Me anymore, but you will see Me. Because I live, you also will live. On that day you will realize that I am inMy Father, and you are in Me, and I am in you.”

John 17:21-26, “Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one: I in them and you in me. May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me. Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am, and to see my glory, the glory you have given me because you loved me before the creation of the world. Righteous Father, though the world does not know you, I know you, and they know that you have sent me. I have made you known to them, and will continue to make you known in order that the love you have for me may be in them and that I myself may be in them.”

Do you hear the love and the unity in that prayer?

1John 4:7-8, 11, “Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.”

John 13:34-35, Jesus said, ”A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”

As members of the Family of God we are loved by the Father and the Son, and we are therefore to love our brothers and sisters, and to live in complete unity in Christ, by Christ, and for Christ, so that the world will see Christ in us, and we can then tell them how they are to be saved and to come into an eternal relationship with God the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

And all God’s people said? Amen!