Love First Love: One / Ephesians 4:1-6
From Belief to Behavior
Ephesians chapter four, if you’ve got a Bible. We are going to do some work there this evening. If you are a guest among us, or maybe you’re joining us for the very first time here at The Well, for the better part of the last two months we have been studying the book of Ephesians in the New Testament. We have covered the first half of the book—three chapters down, three to go.
In those first three chapters, we saw a snapshot of God’s redemptive purposes in history: the summation of all things in Jesus Christ, and God’s eternal plan for the ages and for His church. In chapter one, we saw that God’s primary purpose is to redeem a people for Himself to serve unto His glory, bestowing upon them every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus. In chapter two, we saw how this was accomplished through the gospel. The bad news was that we were sinful, alienated from God, under the penalty of death, with no ability in ourselves to make things right. But God, being rich in mercy, made a way through Jesus Christ. By placing our faith fully in Him, He grants us forgiveness, new life, and reconciliation to the Father. And the beauty of chapter two is that the gospel doesn’t just reconcile us to God; it reconciles us to one another. In Christ, the dividing wall of hostility is torn down. There is no longer Jew or Gentile; we are all one in Christ. Then in chapter three, Paul bursts into a prayer of praise.
Everything in those first three chapters is pure doctrinal belief. It is the foundation of who God is, what He has done for us, and who we are as a result. In fact, in those first three chapters, there is not a single command. Paul hasn’t told the church to do anything other than to rest in the lavish grace provided in Jesus Christ.
Now, as we step into the second half of the letter, we move from having zero commands to having over fifty commands in the next three chapters. Paul shifts from the paradigms of Christian belief to the practice of Christian behavior—from calling to conduct, from identity to the implementation of that identity. The gospel is not merely an abstract concept for us to philosophize about; it is a reality that sets us free to walk in newness of life.
Before we dive in, let me offer a critical warning. There is a strong tendency in Western Christianity to polarize belief and behavior into two independent categories. We look at chapters one through three and say, “Look at everything God did for me!” Then we hit chapter four and think, “Now it’s my turn to pay Him back.” If we aren’t careful, the rest of the book becomes a checklist of moral duties we perform to earn God’s favor or prove our worth.
That idea is completely foreign to Scripture. Belief and behavior are inextricably linked. The same gospel that saves us in chapters one through three is the exact same gospel that sustains our behavior in chapters four through six. This false dichotomy was alive in Galatia, too. People embraced the gospel at conversion, but then thought, “Thanks, God, I’ll take it from here.” They turned God’s grace into a mere starting block, reducing their faith to moralism and trying to pull themselves up by their spiritual bootstraps. Paul confronted them directly on this error.
Galatians 3:3 (NASB)
Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh?
What began by the Spirit cannot be perfected by the flesh. The commands we will study in the coming weeks are not human efforts to polish ourselves up; they are the natural outworking of what we have already received in Christ.
The High Call of Our Identity
Notice how Paul bridges these two halves of the letter in chapter four, verse one.
Ephesians 4:1 (NASB)
Therefore I, the prisoner of the Lord, implore you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have been called,
The calling Paul refers to is everything detailed in chapters one through three. In light of that calling, your identity, and the gospel that rescued you, Paul says: simply walk it out. Put what you have already been given on display so that the power of the gospel is visibly demonstrated in the people of the gospel.
The Greek word translated “worthy” is axios, which is where we get our word axis—the balance point around which something rotates, or the axle of a car. It conveys equality, weight, and balance. When someone says they found a “worthy cause,” they mean they found something that matches their convictions. In the same way, the way we live as new creations in Jesus Christ should simply equal, match, and overflow from the reality of what He has done in us. Our behavior, empowered by the Spirit, should reflect our belief without contradiction or hypocrisy.
The “Summerlin Boys” and Distorting the Name
I learned this lesson vividly toward the end of my college years. Throughout high school and college, I loved playing basketball anytime, anywhere. But the day I graduated, my student ID stopped working, and I couldn’t get into the university gyms anymore.
Around that time, I was discipling several freshmen and sophomores. They decided to honor me by forming an intramural basketball team and naming it “The Summerlin Boys.” At first, I thought, That’s slightly creepy and bordering on idolatrous, but also pretty cool. They invited me to their first game, saying, “Come out! Since you can’t play anymore, we want to play for you.”
I went to the campus gym and sat in the elevated bleachers looking down onto the court. In walked the team wearing custom-made jerseys: “Summerlin Boys” across the front, and “Summerlin” plastered across the back. It felt surreal—until about two minutes into the game.
One of the guys I was mentoring decided to go up and throw down a dunk over an opponent. In our intramural league, dunking was strictly against the rules and resulted in an automatic ejection. When the referee ejected him, this guy I had been pouring into turned around, made an obscene gesture at the official, and unleashed a barrage of profanity. The referee immediately technical-fouled the entire team. Tempers flared, players charged off the benches, and within seconds, a full-scale brawl broke out in the middle of the gym with chairs flying.
I sat in the stands in horror, thinking, No! You’ve got my name on your back! I sprinted downstairs, pushed through the gate, ran onto the court, and grabbed the guy who started it. I shouted, “Man, you cannot do this!” He looked at me and asked, “Why not?” I said, “Because you’re wearing my name on your jersey! You are supposed to be representing me!”
That crazy moment gave me a sobering picture: I wonder how God feels when we step onto the court of the world representing His name. When our conduct completely contradicts our confession, we distort the character of Christ and misrepresent His gospel.
Jesus prayed about this very issue in the Upper Room.
John 17:18-21 (NASB)
’As You sent Me into the world, I also have sent them into the world. ’For their sakes I sanctify Myself, that they themselves also may be sanctified in truth. ’I do not ask on behalf of these alone, but for those also who believe in Me through their word; that they may all be one; even as You, Father, [are] in Me and I in You, that they also may be in Us, so that the world may believe that You sent Me.
Jesus prayed for the twelve disciples, and then He explicitly prayed for us—those who would believe through their message. His prayer was that we would be one, so that our love and conduct toward one another would offer an undeniable witness to the world of the Father’s love.
Living Out Our Calling: Starting with the Church
Over the next three chapters, Paul outlines several practical arenas where we are called to display this gospel walk.
In chapter four, he tells us to live out our calling in contrast to our former way of life, and in the way we use our speech—using words that build up rather than tear down. In chapter five, he tells us to live out our calling through holistic worship, and then addresses three core relationships marked by mutual submission: marriage, parenting, and the workplace. In chapter six, he calls us to stand firm in spiritual warfare and to walk faithfully through suffering for the sake of Christ.
Yet before Paul addresses any of those arenas, he starts somewhere else. Before we can effectively display the gospel to the world outside, we must learn to demonstrate it among the redeemed inside the church.
Ephesians 4:3 (NASB)
being diligent to preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.
Notice Paul does not say we are to create unity or achieve unity. He tells us to preserve the unity of the Spirit. This assumes unity already exists. As we saw in chapter two, the cross of Jesus Christ has already demolished the dividing wall. In Christ, distinctions of race, socio-economic status, and cultural background lose their power to separate. Christ’s blood covers it all. Our responsibility is not to manufacture oneness, but with all diligence to fiercely protect the unity God has already established.
Preserving Unity vs. Enforcing Uniformity
What does biblical unity mean? Does it mean we must all look the same, share the exact same musical preferences, dress identically, or live in the same neighborhood? Does it mean there should only be one single congregation in a city?
No. That is uniformity, not unity. Scripture never calls the church to uniformity. Uniformity demands that everyone conform to a single set of human preferences. In verse seven and onward, Paul will show that diversity within the body of Christ is intentional, beautiful, and vital for the church’s maturity. Unity is not the absence of diversity; it is the presence of a shared foundation in Christ amidst that diversity.
Seven Pillars of Christian Oneness
How do we maintain unity among people from diverse backgrounds with varying perspectives? Paul provides seven essential doctrinal pillars we must stand upon.
Ephesians 4:4-6 (NASB)
[There is] one body and one Spirit, just as also you were called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all who is over all and through all and in all.
Seven times in three verses, Paul repeats the word “one.” These are not suggestions; they are doctrinal assertions about what unites us.
First, three of these points center on the Trinitarian Godhead: one Spirit, one Lord, and one God and Father of all. We serve one God revealed in three distinct persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. We cannot build Christian unity on a vague pluralism that treats all religions as equal paths to the same destination.
John 14:6 (NASB)
Jesus said to him, ’I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.
Our unity is rooted in one God, accessible through one faith in Jesus Christ alone.
Second, we are united in one baptism and one body. To be baptized into Christ, as Paul describes in Romans six, means to be spiritually united with Him in His death and resurrection.
Romans 6:3-4 (NASB)
Or do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus have been baptized into His death? Therefore we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life.
At the moment of conversion, the Holy Spirit regenerates our hearts, identifies us with Christ, and seals us. Water baptism serves as the outward symbol of this inward reality. When someone is immersed in water, we celebrate their union with Christ in His death. When they are raised out of the water, we celebrate their new life in His resurrection.
By being baptized into Christ, you are immediately adopted into one body—the universal church. You are connected to every believer who has ever trusted in Jesus, from the early church fathers two thousand years ago to faithful Christians gathering in congregations across our city today. We are on the same team.
Finally, we share one hope of our calling. Our hope is rooted in everything God has accomplished in chapters one through three, our current mission in the world, and the assurance that one day we will stand face to face with our Savior.
These seven pillars anchor us: theological unity, relational unity, and missional unity. We have been saved from the penalty of sin, saved into one family, and saved for the glory of God.
Four Attitudes for Preserving Unity
How do we practically protect this unity in a culture dominated by selfishness and division? Paul provides four essential postures.
Ephesians 4:2 (NASB)
with all humility and gentleness, with patience, showing tolerance for one another in love,
First, we preserve unity through humility. In the original Greek, humility means “lowness of mind”—putting aside self-exaltation to serve and elevate others. In ancient Greco-Roman culture, humility was considered a shameful weakness; society celebrated pride and dominance. Yet Jesus redefined greatness.
Philippians 2:5-8 (NASB)
Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, [and] being made in the likeness of men. Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.
Jesus laid aside His privileges, took on human flesh, and went to the cross for our redemption. True humility is not weakness; it is strength under the control of love. When we gather as the church, we must check our pride, our status, and our self-importance at the door for the good of our brothers and sisters.
Second, we walk in gentleness. The Greek word for gentleness is often translated as meekness. It is the term used to describe a powerful stallion that has been bridled. It does not mean being timid; it means possessing power but choosing self-restraint. When Christ was mocked on the cross, He had the authority to summon legions of angels, yet He restrained His power so that His death might bring us life. In the church, people will hurt your feelings, disappoint you, or rub you the wrong way. Gentleness means choosing grace and self-restraint rather than retaliation.
Third, we need patience. The Greek word literally means “long-tempered” or “long-suffering.” It recognizes that every believer in this room is still a work in progress. Because God has been infinitely patient with our flaws, we must extend that same patient endurance to one another.
Fourth, Paul calls us to show tolerance for one another in love. The biblical idea of tolerance means forbearance—to shoulder a burden and walk alongside someone in their growth. Our culture has distorted the word tolerance into complete moral relativism, demanding that we validate every behavior without question. But true love does not hand matches to a toddler. Biblical tolerance means stepping into each other’s struggles with grace and truth, pointing one another toward Christ while bearing with each other’s weaknesses.
Fighting Tribalism in the Kingdom
Preserving this unity extends beyond the walls of our specific church. One of the most heartbreaking trends in modern Christianity is tribalism—the arrogant attitude that our local congregation is God’s only true gift to the city while looking down on other churches. While theological discernment matters, there are many gospel-centered, Bible-believing churches around us that serve the exact same Lord, under the same faith, baptism, and hope. We are called to lock arms with them for the sake of the kingdom.
My wife and I recently bought a house here in town. During the escrow process, our loan officer called to review our checking account activity. She asked about a $145 deposit, which happened to be an expense reimbursement check from our church.
She asked, “What church do you go to?”
I replied, “I’m a pastor on staff at The Well Community Church.”
She said, “Oh, wow! Did your church host that citywide serve day last weekend?”
I told her we did.
She said, “Our congregation wasn’t able to participate directly, but we spent time during our Sunday morning service praying specifically for your church as you served our city! And my close friend’s church did the exact same thing!”
I sat on the phone amazed, thinking, What a beautiful picture of the kingdom. That is the witness of a unified church. When an unbelieving world sees Christians loving, praying for, and supporting one another across congregational lines, the reality of the gospel is put on display.
Communion: A Tangible Picture of Oneness
There is no better way to embody this oneness than by gathering around the Lord’s Table. As we transition into communion, this meal serves three vital purposes.
First, communion invites us to look back. When you take the wafer, remember that you could not save yourself; Christ had to offer His body on your behalf. When you dip the bread into the cup, remember that His shed blood secured total forgiveness for your sins. We look back with deep gratitude at what Christ accomplished at the cross.
Second, communion calls us to look ahead. These elements are merely a foretaste and a shadow of a greater reality. A day is coming when the redeemed will sit at the marriage supper of the Lamb, enjoying the presence of Jesus face to face. We take this meal with eager anticipation of His return.
Third, communion reminds us of who we are together right now. As you move from your seat to take the elements, you will navigate around brothers and sisters in Christ. Salvation is not an isolated, individualistic experience; we have been adopted into one family. When we partake of this meal, we do so together as one body, proclaiming the Lord’s death until He comes.
If you have not yet placed your faith in Jesus Christ, we encourage you to let the elements pass for now. Instead, use this time to consider the good news of Jesus and the great love He demonstrated for you on the cross.
Father, thank You for Your provision in Jesus Christ. Thank You for His broken body and shed blood. Thank You for the gospel that rescues us from death, grants us eternal life, and tears down every dividing wall between us. As we take this meal, deepen our love for You, renew our hope for the future, and strengthen our unity as one body in Christ. It is in His mighty name we pray. Amen.