The preachers quoted here say Christian unity is made by the Holy Spirit, who joins believers to one body, and is kept by his life flowing through it. They describe it as agreement around the word of Christ and a shared nature, and warn that strife breaks it. They weigh unity and doctrinal agreement differently.
On the night before he died Jesus prayed for those who would believe, "That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me" (John 17:21). The unity he asks for is modelled on the life of God and has a purpose in the world.
Paul treats it as both a fact and a task. The fact: "There is one body, and one Spirit ... one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all" (Ephesians 4:4-6); "by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body" (1 Corinthians 12:13); "ye are all one in Christ Jesus" (Galatians 3:28). The task: "Endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace" (Ephesians 4:3). The word is henotes, oneness.1 It is kept, not created, by believers, and it is to grow "till we all come in the unity of the faith" (4:13).
Its practice is humility. "Be likeminded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind ... in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves" (Philippians 2:2-3). The first church was "of one heart and of one soul" (Acts 4:32). The psalm says, "Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity!" (Psalm 133:1).
Scripture also sets limits. Paul pleads "that there be no divisions among you" (1 Corinthians 1:10), and yet tells the Romans to "mark them which cause divisions and offences contrary to the doctrine which ye have learned; and avoid them" (Romans 16:17). "Can two walk together, except they be agreed?" (Amos 3:3). Unity in the New Testament is unity in the truth of the gospel.
How to hold these together has been debated throughout church history. Cyprian in the third century tied unity to the visible church and its bishops: "There is one God, and Christ is one, and there is one Church".2 The Reformers located it in the gospel rightly preached.
The unity of the church, then, is the oneness of all who share Christ's life by the Spirit. It is given by God, guarded by truth, and shown in love.
- Strong's Greek 1775, henótēs: "oneness, i.e. (figuratively) unanimity".
- Cyprian of Carthage, The Epistles Of Cyprian, "Epistle XXXIX. To the People, Concerning Five Schismatic Presbyters...".
In their own words
Each line below is quoted exactly from a sermon on this site. Follow the link to hear or read it where it was said.
Christian unity is forged by the Holy Spirit Who alone makes us members of Christ's Body.
Zac Poonen
in Be Diligent to Preserve the Unity of the Spirit in the Bond of Peace
Read in context
The unity of the Spirit is preserved, then, by the Holy Spirit infusing daily life-floods into the one mystical body.
C.H. Spurgeon
in True Unity Promoted
Read in context
Unity is a gathering together in agreement with the word of Christ.
Carter Conlon
in A Last Day Return to the Power of Unity
Listen at 20:58
Unity is not only the absence of disagreement; it is the unity of a similar experience, nature and character.
Keith Malcomson
in True Biblical Unity in the Church
Read in context
Unity is by the spirit and under the spirit and keeping the presence of the spirit.
Michael Koulianos
in Unity of the Holy Spirit
Listen at 46:29
And the unity of the spirit is broken through the strife of men.
Alan Martin
in Unity of the Spirit - by the Bond of Peace
Listen at 44:22
Unity is necessary for revival to come and be sustained, and yet when it comes there will be division.
Glenn Meldrum
in Unity
Read in context
Where they differ
Preachers weigh unity and doctrinal agreement differently. One urges that unity matters more than agreement on every point; another insists that God cannot recognise a union that includes evil.
Unity is more important than being in agreement on every little single point of doctrine.
But unity is not therefore given up out of the thoughts of God; nor can He have recognized union with evil.
John Nelson Darby
in Separation From Evil
Read in context
What Scripture says
- John 17:21 that they all may be one, that the world may believe
- Ephesians 4:3 keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace
- Ephesians 4:4-6 one body, one Spirit, one Lord, one faith, one baptism
- Psalm 133:1 how good and pleasant for brethren to dwell together in unity
- Philippians 2:2-3 of one accord, of one mind, in lowliness of mind
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