The One Source of True Unity

There is an awful lot of talk and not a little action about divides today. In this post I want to talk about unity, and the only ground we have for true unity, and to take this from a Biblical perspective. A very good maxim to have is this:

Man is foolish God is wise.

Consider how often the world operates on the principle that “God is foolish, we are wise”, it is the basis on which our society operates, which just might have something to do with the multiple messes that we are experiencing. So let’s look to God for wisdom, especially in the context of unity.

The Bible is clear that there are a number of ways in which we are all united. We were all created by God. We are all sons and daughters of Adam (Rom 5:12-14). That’s good! Except it means we are all united in sin. Remember that! We need to remember that Jesus told a parable about taking the plank out of our own eye before we embark on the task of taking the speck out of someone else’s eye (Matt 7:1-5). All of us should look first at our own lives, we should consider our own guilt before considering anyone else’s. Now notice that Jesus closes that section with the words “and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye”. There are times when we should correct one another, but we do it from a standpoint of knowing our own sin, not one of superiority.

So we are all sinners, that sounds like bad news. “For there is no distinction, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Rom 3:22,23). Thankfully there is good news about unity, “[all] are justified by His grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus” (Rom 3:24). This is the “righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe.” (Rom 3:22). There is an awful lot of unity here!

The great passage on unity in the Bible is Ephesians 2:11-22. It talks about how the divide between Jews and Gentiles has been abolished in Christ. In Eph 2:12 it talks about us Gentiles “having no hope and being without God in the world”. It then goes on Eph 2:13 to say that in Christ we have been brought near by His blood. Jesus is our peace and has broken down the wall of hostility.  Jews and Gentiles are reconciled to God through the cross. Jesus came and preached peace, and we now have access in the one Spirit to the Father (Eph 2:18). I closes in Eph 2:22 by saying that we are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit.

In these days and times I would implore all of us to make sure that we are not swept along by the spirit of the world. Let us look at ourselves first, before we look at others. Let us consider the prize that is offered by the true unity that is found only in Christ, and compare it with whatever the world is offering.