Mission Venture Ministries

“Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace.” (Ephesians 4:3) 

If you’re a believer in Jesus Christ, God’s Spirit is at work in you whether you feel His presence or not. He’s conforming Christians to the image of the Savior, and the evidence of this transformation is known as the fruit of the Spirit which is: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control (Galatians 5:22-23). These godly character traits are not something we can generate on our own but are divinely produced in us as we yield to the Spirit and walk obediently with Him. 

We should never underestimate the impact of spiritual fruit when unbelievers observe how we respond to pressure, temptation, suffering, or an avalanche of problems. By demonstrating peace rather than anxiety or practicing patience instead of speaking a sharp word, we bear witness to the beauty of the gospel. 

One way God uses Spirit-filled lives is to create curiosity in the unbeliever—and opens the way to the message of salvation. Wherever you are or whatever you do, you can be powerful witness for Jesus Christ when you walk obediently with the Holy Spirit each day. 

Shortly before He went to the cross, Jesus prayed for unity among His followers: “Holy Father, protect them by the power of your name, the name you gave me, so that they may be one as we are one” (John 17:11). 

Later in the same prayer, Jesus asked “that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us. . . . 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—so that they may be brought to complete unity” (John 17:21–23). Obviously, Christian unity is important to our Lord. 

Jesus not only prayed for unity, but He gave the reasons that Christian unity is important: He asked that all believers may be in the Father and the Son, “so that the world may believe that you have sent me” (John 17:21). 

And then Jesus prayed for “complete unity” so that “the world will know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me” (verse 23). When Christians are united in Christ, the world sees two things clearly: Jesus was sent by the Father, and Jesus loves His church. 

In Romans 15:5–6, we see another, more general reason why Christian unity is important: “May the God of endurance and encouragement grant you to live in such harmony with one another, in accord with Christ Jesus, that together you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.” The bottom line is God’s glory. God’s people should be speaking with one voice in glorifying God. 

Christian unity comes with Christian maturity and it is always something that we strive to attain. Paul instructs us to “make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace” (Ephesians 4:3). Helping us toward that unity are the gifts of the Spirit. God has given each Christian different gifts and their exercise in the edification of the church leads to more and more unity. One purpose of the gifts is that “we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ” (Ephesians 4:13). 

To promote Christian unity, God presents the church in 1 Corinthians 12:12–27 as a living body. The body has many members, each with specialized work to do, but all the parts are united in the Head of the Body, which is Christ (see also Ephesians 4:15). 

Christians from many different backgrounds working in unity display the power of the gospel and the universality of its saving message (Galatians 3:26–28). Christians bring honor to God’s name by pursuing unity in the power of the Holy Spirit who brings us together as one through faith in Christ. 

Christian unity is a virtue, but there are some things that can and should limit unity. We don’t pursue unity simply for the sake of unity; it is Christ and His truth that unite us. Scripturally, we are to separate from professed brothers and sisters in Christ who live in persistent, unrepentant sin (Matthew 18:15–17; 1 Corinthians 5:1–2) and from those who teach false doctrine (Revelation 2:14–15). And we need to “watch out for those who cause divisions and put obstacles in your way that are contrary to the teaching you have learned. Keep away from them” (Romans 16:17). 

As Ephesians 4:13 intimates, we won’t reach full Christian unity until we attain “to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ;” but we should strive for it every day. 

We should ask our heavenly Father to give us the desire to achieve unity every day and to follow thru in our obedience to Him.

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