THE TWO UNITIES
By WARREN LEWIS

In Eph. 4 we are presented with the most systematic thought of the entire New Testament on the subject of the unity of Christians. Here the realities of salvation in Christ, the importance of spiritual maturity in the fruits of love and brotherly affection, and practical advice for maintaining the peace of the Church are all drawn together into a single theology of unity.

After a masterful presentation of the cosmic, universal miracle of the Gospel of Christ and what it means for the salvation of the world, in chapters 1-3, Paul makes an application for Christian living based upon this divine teaching. He urges the brethren to lead a life worthy of such a divine reality, to lead a life of unity.

The basis of this unity is two-fold: something spiritual and something doctrinal. In verses 2-3 he lays down the absolute necessity of certain spiritual fruits which must be in evidence if there is to be unity. There cannot be unity in doctrine alone. There cannot be unity either in forced agreement or in unconscious agreement. There cannot be artificial unity that ignores the problems. But there cannot be unity at all if there is not a selfless lowliness, meekness, patience, forbearance in love, and an eagerness to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.

Where there is no unity, we may reason in reverse order, there must be lacking these spiritual gifts. Where these spiritual gifts are lacking there must certainly also be lacking salvation. This is however, the first unity, the unity of the Spirit. This unity is based on no doctrine, no interpretation of Scripture, no understanding, no issue: it is predicated and it is maintained simply and solely on the basis of the spiritual unity of brothers and sisters who are experiencing the reality of Christ in their lives, that is, the Holy Spirit.

There follows Paul’s list of the seven-fold basis for doctrinal unity. He lists seven points on which there must be at least a general doctrinal agreement. If these seven areas of doctrinal content were not held by Christians, there would in fact be no Christianity. And these seven unities are, according to Paul: one body (the Church), one Spirit (the Holy Spirit), one hope of our calling (the hope of eternal salvation), one Lord (Jesus Christ), one faith (that Jesus is the Christ, Son of God and Saviour), one baptism (immersion in water in the name of Jesus for the remission of sins and renewal by the Holy Spirit in the inward man), and one God (the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ).

After giving this list, Paul describes the process of coming to maturity in the second unity which he is describing, the unity of the faith. Here he envisions a life-long, age-long process controlled by the glorified Lord Christ who is dispensing blessings and gifts through his Holy Spirit. He gives gifts to men, measure upon measure to the various ranks and orders of Christians, according to need, according to ability, and all with the view of equipping the saints that they may become servants of one another in order to build up the body of Christ. And this whole process is aimed at the goal of the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God. When it is attained, it will be a mature manhood, a measuring up to the fulness of the stature of Christ (Eph. 4:7-16).

The means of this process is the inter-locking, inter-working unity of the Spirit maturing us towards the unity of the faith rooted in the seven-fold basis of doctrinal unity in the area of faith and knowledge, and grounded upon the above-mentioned spiritual fruits and gifts in the area of the unity of the Spirit.

He goes on in Eph. 4:32 to say: “Be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.” Here is the test of love and the proving of unity. God in Christ forgave us when we were considerably more sinful than we are now, when we were vastly more mistaken and in error than we are now. But now, in Jesus Christ, we are in a position to be forgiven no matter what our sin or error or mistake might be. Therefore, forgive!

Here is Paul’s wise understanding that every one who goes to heaven will go there in spite of his errors and sins. No one, not me or you or the person with whom we agree the most, is absolutely right in every detail. And yet we never become so wrong that we are unforgivable. Since I can never be 100% right, you are going to have to accept me even though I am to some degree wrong. Since you are never going to be 100% right, I am going to have to accept you with all your short-comings. We are to forgive one another even when we cannot see our own mistakes.

To what extent can a Christian be wrong and still be a Christian? Paul has given the answer: as long as a man remains tractable, manifesting the unity of the Spirit and desiring to maintain the bond of peace through all those fruits and gifts, and as long as he does not deny his faith in the seven doctrinal unities. He remains my brother and in my fellowship as long as he is this way, and I am bound to forgive him of any other error, no matter what it is. He too is obligated to forgive me of any other errors, for there can be no requirement beyond the seven unities.

The second kind of unity is the unity of the faith. This will never be fully realized until we get to heaven, so it is something we are always striving for, full stature in Christ. Every newly baptized babe in Christ begins this process. Each new generation must study for itself and have its own experiences in “bodily growth, up-building itself in love.” Never in any one man’s lifetime or even that of an entire generation of people will it be possible to say We have arrived.

We must not expect every one to agree on everything doctrinally, for this is humanly impossible. But unity is not based on total agreement, for even if we were in total agreement growth in understanding would stop. So, we preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace even while we are building up and tearing down, climbing and laboring towards, the unity of the faith. But the basis of it all is the seven unities of the one body, one Spirit, one hope, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, and one God. These are the building blocks of doctrinal truth.

As long as a brother preserves the unity of the Spirit and is true to the seven unities of the faith, no matter what other disagreements may arise, no matter how wrong we think he is or what heresy we think he holds to, he remains our brother in Christ and he continues to be in our fellowship. We are to love and respect him and welcome him as a Christian, a first-class citizen in the kingdom of God. We forgive him if we think he is wrong, and we are to teach him the error of his way; but if after we have explained to him what we think is the more perfect way of the Lord, he still believes that his position is the right one, we are still to receive him regardless of his supposed error. This is proper since we too are wrong on some things, and when we realize our own wrongs it is easier for us to forgive the wrongs of others.

If someone were to ask brother Paul: “Do you mean to say, Paul, that you would fellowship a man who is in error?” Paul would answer: “Is there any Other kind?”

Warren Lewis, graduate of ACC, Harvard, and the Pontifical Institute of Toronto, is soon to receive the Ph.D. in medieval studies from Tuebingen University in Germany.