The joy of a new year dawning upon a Christian! It is a time of celebration to praise God for every good and perfect gift that He has provided through 2012, but it is also a great time to seriously reflect on the state of our relationship with Him. This special series of articles encourages us to consider the power of Jesus’ statement in John 3:5, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.” We, who are born again, have set our passions to live by the Spirit and thus, the articles within this special edition provoke our heart to continuously re-evaluate and make appropriate spiritual course corrections. Paul told the Christians in Rome, “The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God” (Rom. 8:16). Have I prayed daily? Have I been reading the Scriptures with regularity? Have I been seeking to develop and deepen my relationships with God, family, community, and brethren in comport with the instructions from the Holy Spirit as taught in the New Testament? Have I been seeking opportunities to spread the gospel of Jesus? Let’s use 2013 to challenge our hearts: a new beginning, based on the power of the Scriptures to prod, rebuke, and correct our daily path towards righteous living.

The task of this article is to consider our need to strengthen our resolve to Keep the Unity of the Spirit in the Bond of Peace. You will find this expression, word for word, from the quill of Paul towards the Christians in Ephesus in Ephesians 4:3. Brethren, if you want to be immediately uplifted, let me encourage you to read this great letter as it begins by enumerating so many wonderful, spiritual blessings that God has graciously bestowed upon us because we are in Christ (Eph. 1:3). Paul continues to emphasize that we belong to Jesus through the power of His blood. Jesus has made peace – real peace, through the sacrifice of His flesh on the cross and through Him, we have access by one Spirit to the Father (Eph. 2:18). As we read the third chapter, we can easily feel the affection of God towards men as He has planned before the dawn of time that He would have a special “called out” group to call His own – they would be His family, wearing His holy name and reflecting His glory throughout the ages. As Paul begins the fourth chapter, he challenges us (as many of these articles are doing) to serious “self” reflection, deep within, as our words and deeds are based upon the desires of our heart. Paul has given his life to have a walk that is worthy of his calling, and, based on everything he has written, this should be our desire as well!

This expression in Ephesians 4:3 begins with the concept of endeavoring to keep. Keeping this simple, Paul is challenging them to “endeavor”: “to exert one’s self, to give diligence, to be eager to; zealous.” To “endeavor to keep” means “to hold firmly, not to leave.” When you put both terms together, you get: “exert yourself with genuine zeal to hold firm.” That reminds me of the spiritual song proclaiming that principle often made within the Psalms, “I shall not be, I shall not be moved.” This principle inspires us to “firm up” our resolve: not go wobbly or be shaken from the foundation of the church. As Paul finished up the last chapter, every generation has this challenge before it: be firm, do not leave! I shall not be, I shall not be moved!

As we continue to learn from this Biblical passage, we are challenged to be firm with the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. Paul has been pressing the idea of peace throughout this letter as he spoke about the peace that Jesus brought in chapter two. He has made peace by bringing all divergent groups of men together through His broken body and shed blood in one blessed place – His church. He powerfully presents this message in Ephesians 2:19-22 as he reminded these Christians that they are members of the household of God, the holy temple of God, the dwelling place of God in the Spirit. It is in this place that God’s children will find unity, bonding, and peace! It is this place that God foreordained before the foundation of the world where men would be able to find true unity and peace with God. It is this place that God has chosen to build up a holy priesthood, a chosen nation, God’s own special people who will think, speak, and act like pilgrims on a journey to an eternal kingdom that is far better than this world! This is what the Hebrew writer was writing about in Hebrews 12:28, “Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us have grace, by which we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear.” Our mindset in the midst of this great spiritual kingdom is: unity, peace, and fellowship as the Holy Spirit directs. This is not some pseudo-unity or a “unity in our diversities” – this is unity and peace as the Holy Spirit explains.

As we continue to read from Paul, the challenge is heightened in Ephesians 4:4-6, “There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were 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.” The Holy Spirit has spoken: unity, peace, “oneness” – we shall not be moved from these very clear, identifying marks of “oneness” He has set before us as Christians. What we read from these seven markers bear two specific areas we must “be firm” or unified in. The first speaks to the nature of God Himself: one Father, one Lord, one Spirit. As Christians, we must be firm in understanding who Peter referred to as the Divine Nature of which we have become partakers (2 Pet. 1:3). As we are composed of soul, body, and spirit and these three are one; there is God the Father, God the Son, and God the Spirit and these three are one. With a careful examination of passages like Genesis 1:26, John 1:1-3, John 10:30-31, Colossians 1:13-17, 1 John 5:7-8, and Revelation 5:6, it is obvious to see that the Father, Son, and Spirit are the Godhead or Godhood: all three are unique individuals, yet all three are the true God of all creation. We are required by the Holy Spirit to understand and uphold these Biblical truths.

The second challenge is far more daunting and many “believers” in our generation have failed miserably to accept the truths that Paul is insisting on through the Holy Spirit. He stated that there is one body, one faith, one baptism and one hope in Ephesians 4:4-6. We are “to be firm” in these things, we shall not be moved from these unifying principles. Only those who accept what the Holy Spirit has taught about these things can correctly claim to have “the unity of the Spirit in the body of peace.” The way in which we react to these four “ones” is critical to our walk with God and if we are moved away from the Spirit’s application of these “ones,” the unity and peace that Paul insists on will fall away in the darkness of man-made religion.

These four “ones” simply speak to the church that Jesus built and purchased, the church that Paul was speaking about throughout this letter. He said that Jesus “reconcile(d) them both to God in one body…” (Eph. 2:16). What is that one body Paul is speaking about? It is the church as he taught in Ephesians 1:22-23, “. . . gave Him (Jesus) to be head over all things to the church which is His body. . . .” Jesus is the head of only one body – His church. For His one body, Jesus has delivered only “one faith” through the Holy Spirit. That faith refers to a system delivered by the Holy Spirit known as the New Covenant or Testament. As Christians did in the first century, we today have this same challenge, “contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints” (Jude 3). At the center piece of the faith is saving men from sin and that brings us to the third area: one baptism. Jesus commanded that the faith be spread to save men and told His disciples in Mark 16:15:16, “Go into the all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. He who believes and is baptized will be saved.” Yes, there is one baptism that saves men from sin. This baptism is absolutely necessary and must be firmly held by those of faith if we would claim to be saved and be members of the one body of Christ.

Thus far, if we’ve been firm in all six of these unifying marks, we arrive to at one hope. This is our driving force in life – the hope of eternal life (Titus 1:2). Jesus is coming again and He is going to eternally save those who are in His body, focused on His New Testament law system, helping others “be born of water and the Spirit.” Resolve this: be firm in the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace in 2013! What better time than a new year – this day, to personally begin endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace