All for One and One for All

I’ve enjoyed being unified in my relationships with others throughout my life. I was unified into a wonderful family with a great Dad and Mom and all eight of us kids. I was unified with my Boy Scout troop, my school class, and my soccer team. Later I was unified with my wife Sherry and our son Elijah. These are all relationships that endeavor to live the old motto “all for one and one for all.”

Unified by One Spirit

When it comes to being united spiritually, every Christian is part of the body of Christ. We are members “in particular” and each have God’s gift of holy spirit. That is our common bond.

I Corinthians 12:12,13:
For as the body is one, and hath many members, and all the members of that one body, being many, are one body: so also is Christ.
For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit.

Ephesians 2:18,22:
For through him [Christ Jesus] we both have access by one Spirit unto the Father.
In whom ye also are builded together for an habitation of God through the Spirit.

Unified in Practical Living

The Book of Ephesians goes on to show how this unity works practically in Christian living.

Ephesians 4:1-7:
I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called,
With all lowliness and meekness, with longsuffering, forbearing one another in love;
Endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.
There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling;
One Lord, one faith, one baptism,
One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.
But unto every one of us is given grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ.

See how simple and clear this is! If we are to walk worthy of our calling in Christ, we must remember where we came from (lowliness), continue to be willing to learn (meekness), endure patiently with life’s challenges (longsuffering), and support each other (forbearing in love). That is how we make our best effort (endeavoring) to keep the spiritual unity that we have in Christ. That will bring a peace that binds us together in everyday life.

Without a strong foundation, no building can stand. A tree’s roots run as deep as the tree grows tall. The same is true for the body of Christ. It is our spiritual depth and stability that allows us to stay unified despite the attacks of the Devil and his forces in this world. This spiritual unity is clear, simple, and true.

This practical section shows we are unified with three foundational realities, made available by three life-giving actions, and established by three eternal truths.

Spiritual Unity: Three Foundational Realities

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

This verse contains three great realities of our spiritual unity. We are together one common body, with Christ as the head. We each have the common gift of holy spirit, the Father’s “incorruptible” seed (I Peter 1:23), in us. And we have one common hope of Christ’s return when our physical bodies will “be fashioned like unto his glorious body” (Philippians 3:21).

Spiritual Unity: Three Life-giving Actions

Ephesians 4:5:
One Lord, one faith, one baptism.

Jesus Christ is our one and only lord. He decided to give his life for us. Now, through the faith of Jesus Christ, we have access to the Father (Ephesians 3:12) when we are saved (Romans 10:9,10). When we believe that God raised Jesus from the dead and confess him as lord, we are “baptized” with the gift of holy spirit. Jesus told his followers before he ascended that John had baptized with water, but they would be baptized with holy spirit (Acts 1:5).

I Corinthians 12:13:
For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit.

Look at these life-giving actions: Jesus Christ gave himself for us so that we can confess him as lord. When we believe on him, we have the life-giving faith of Jesus Christ and are “baptized” with the gift of holy spirit. That makes us one in Christ.

Spiritual Unity: Three Eternal Truths

Ephesians 4:6,7:
One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.
But [and] unto every one of us is given grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ.

Finally, we see the source of all these blessings.  We have only one God, and He is our heavenly Father. There are three eternal truths about our Father: He is above all as God Almighty, through all the body of Christ, and in all—in each and every one of His children. He has given us grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ (“Christ in you,” holy spirit). That is “all for one and one for all.”

Putting It All Together

I Corinthians 8:6:
But to us there is but one God, the Father, of [ek, the source] whom are all things, and we in him; and one Lord Jesus Christ, by [dia, by means of] whom are all things, and we by him.

We have only one God, and He is our Father, the source of all good things. We have only one lord, Jesus Christ, and he is the means and access to the Father. Ephesians 4:4-7 can be arranged beautifully to see how we are unified in Christ.

• One (spiritual) body, one spirit (God’s gift), one hope of a future spiritual body Our foundational realities are based on spirit.
• One lord (Jesus Christ), one faith (of Jesus Christ), one baptism (into all Christ accomplished for us). Christ accomplished three life-giving actions for us.
• One God (our Father) Who is above all, through all, and in all.  These are three vital and eternal truths about the One Who has given us “grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ.”

Let’s do our best each day to walk worthy of such a high calling that is based on such a depth of spiritual unity. We can please our Father as we stay spiritually unified in Christ!