Jesus prays for “complete unity.”1 His death makes us “one new man….one body.”2 He urges Corinthian members to be “perfectly united.”3 Is this kind of unity possible today? Has the world become so fragmented that Jesus’ prayer is no longer relevant or realistic? Has His death failed to bring unity? If Ephesians is right, these questions touch the very heart of the cross. They become, therefore, critical battlefields in the greatest World War of all, the war for souls.
Schemes
Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places (Ephesians 6:11-12). M
Ironically, the devil has most of the world united in believing that unity – especially the church’s unity – is impossible. “The whole world lies in the power of the evil one” (1 John 5:19). He convinces billions of religious people that they have no option but to belong to one faction or another. He fills Christendom with the idea that “unity” may be mystical, but cannot be a practical reality now. (To make Jesus’ unity “impossible” also happens to remove any real responsibility to obey His plan.)
Like Paul, however, we are not unaware of the devil’s “schemes” (2 Corinthians 2:11). His main scheme is to overwhelm people with lies so that no room remains for revealed truth. That scheme works so effectively in Noah’s time that only one family keeps faith.4 The same scheme refills the world with idolatry by the time of Abraham.5 The same scheme sweeps away many generations of Abraham’s descendants.6 By Paul’s time most people accept “gods” like Artemis.7 As the town clerk of Ephesus says so confidently,
And when the town clerk had quieted the crowd, he said, “Men of Ephesus, who is there who does not know that the city of the Ephesians is temple keeper of the great Artemis, and of the sacred stone that fell from the sky? (Acts 19:35)
That old pagan world calls Jews and Christians “atheists.” Belief in one God seems like ignorant unbelief when all the world knows there are many gods! Now, in our time, we face the same overwhelming campaign of lies: All the world knows there are many churches. To insist on “one church,” therefore, is just foolish ignorance. All the world knows that every Christian belongs to one division or another. Trying to escape that reality is naïve, or worse, dishonest and arrogant.
But believers know that Scripture still holds the right answer.8 Is there one God? Does one Lord still reign? Does He give one Spirit? If the answer is “Yes!” then the rest also follows as true. For one Father has one family. One Head has one body. One Spirit reveals one faith that requires one baptism and offers one hope.
4. Genesis 6:5-8; 9:19; note Jesus’ striking question in Luke 18:8
5. Genesis 11:1-8; Joshua 24:14-15
6. Nehemiah 9:16-17,26-30; Acts 7:42-43,51-53; Romans 10:21
7. Research subject – Widespread idolatry: Acts 19:27; Romans 1:18-25; 1 Corinthians 5:10; 8:4-6; 12:2; 2 Corinthians 4:4; Galatians 4:8; 1 Thessalonians 1:9; 1 Peter 4:3; 1 John 5:19; Revelation 9:20
8. Research subject – Authority of Scripture: Acts 17:2,11; 18:28; 1 Timothy 4:13; 2 Timothy 2:15; 3:15-17; Matthew 22:29; John 10:35; 1 Corinthians 4:6. “Scripture” usually refers to the Old Testament, but later includes New Testament writings; see 2 Peter 3:16; 1 Timothy 5:18 with Luke 10:7; 1 Corinthians 14:37; 2 Thessalonians 2:15
Pictures:
- Paul often taught by using things familiar to his readers. Helmets, like this one from the time of Alexander the Great, remind Ephesians to “take the helmet of salvation” (Ephesians 6:17).
- Ephesian sculptors showed Artemis as a fertility goddess with many breasts or symbols of fruitfulness. Her image (at the Ephesus museum) was so well-known that most people then assumed she was a real deity (Acts 19:35).