Do we know “the Lord’s will” about one undivided church? Yes, for He plainly reveals His will, especially in Ephesians and 1 Corinthians. Can we do His will? Yes, for He “works all things according to the counsel of his will” (Ephesians 1:11). God did not plan “before the creation,” just to discover that His “eternal purpose” fails in our modern mess. He still gives His children “incomparably great power” for reaching His goals.31 So the hard questions come back to each of us:32
Am I His child? If I am, then His promises of great power apply to me now.
Do I believe what He reveals? If I believe, then I share the Father’s purpose for one united family. I cannot force others to fit that purpose, but I trust God to work out His purpose in me and in each faithful child.
Am I willing to do His will in this matter also? If I am a true disciple, then I die to what I prefer, and live only for His will to be done. As I count the cost,33 this matter may prove the most costly of all. Divisions are now deeply entrenched as a way of life (and livelihood). Yet I know that Christ wants me for His church, and not for man-made divisions. So I commit myself to being just a Christian, without membership in any faction. I also encourage the local congregation to belong to Christ, rather than to man-made denominations. Have you noticed? These questions add up to the same question about being chosen. To borrow words from Ephesians 1:1, “Am I one of ‘the faithful in Christ Jesus’?”
31. Ephesians 1:19; 3:16,20; 1 Timothy 1:12; Philippians 4:13; Colossians 1:28-29
32. “Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves” 2 Corinthians 13:5
Research Subjects
- “One” in Ephesians
- Christ reigns among enemies
- Paul’s imprisonment
- Removal of the Law’s rule
- “The church”
- Peace, harmony
- Attitudes for unity
- Unity
Study Notes
- Abolishing the Law
Our world – including our religious world – is filled with strife and division. Yet Ephesians has as its theme the difficult matter of unity. It insists that Christ’s death unifies His followers into “one body,” which is to say, one church. The complete unity of the church was Jesus’ design, command and prayer. We today are used to many divisions, and can hardly conceive of one church. So God’s word confronts us with a basic decision: Do we believe the world, or do we believe Jesus? If we choose the latter, we obey the Gospel. Baptized into one body, we then “make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit.” This calls for faith that takes God at His word and trusts Him to use us in His plan for unity, even today.
Memory Verses
- Ephesians 3:6 – This mystery is that the Gentiles are fellow heirs, members of the same body, and partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel.
- 1 Corinthians 12:12-13 – For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and all were made to drink of one Spirit.
- Ephesians 4:1-3 – I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.
Father, please let me adapt the prayer of Jesus in John 17:
“I pray also for those who will believe in Jesus through the apostles’ message, that all of them may be one…
May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that You sent Jesus and have loved them even as You have loved Jesus…”