Therefore I, a prisoner for serving the Lord, beg you to lead a life worthy of your calling, for you have been called by God. Always be humble and gentle. Be patient with each other, making allowance for each other’s faults because of your love. Make every effort to keep yourselves united in the Spirit, binding yourselves together with peace. For there is one body and one Spirit, just as you have been called to one glorious hope for the future. There is one Lord, one faith, one baptism, and one God and Father, who is over all and in all and living through all.
Ephesians 4:1-6
There is one other connection we have to consider before beginning to look at this segment further. It is clear that this is the part of his letter where Paul switched from the theological and theoretical, principles and doctrine to the application of that doctrine. In all of Paul’s letters there is a point at which doctrine changes to practical aspects of Christian living. In other words how you practically work out the doctrine he has been sharing. This is the moment in Ephesians. In Romans that point is found at the beginning of Chapter 12. In all of Paul’s letters you will find the line of demarcation between doctrine and practical outworking somewhere.
In Romans the thought behind it is “in view of God’s mercy to us”, going all the way back to the end of Romans chapter 8, the only reasonable, spiritually logical thing to do is give God your all. Here in Ephesians the sense is, I, Paul, am a prisoner because I am the Apostle to the Gentiles, and so I beg you (Gentiles – and believing Jews too) to live out the things you believe. Above all make sure you are one, united in this cause together. Jew and non-Jew part of the one body. The dividing wall has been removed so because of that: be humble, gentle, patient with each other, make allowances for each other, make very effort to preserve unity and bind yourselves together in peace. You have been incorporated into one body, you share one Spirit, you have the same hope for the future. You have the same Lord, you are of one faith and you have been baptized in the name of the same God and Father before Whom all ought to live their lives.
Wow that is pretty clear. And by inference, if Jew and Gentile ought to live together as one in unity then what about fellow Jews and/or fellow Gentiles. If the major dividing wall has been removed then there is no excuse for enmity to exist between the lesser factions. You are one in God’s eyes so be one. He has called you and made you one. So be humble, gentle, patient, forbearing, bound together in peace. And if Jew and gentile can do it, anyone can do it. There is no reason for there to be factions between Jew and Jew and Gentile and Gentile if the major differences have been removed between Jew and Gentile.
Give us a Christianity that helps us LIVE. We can all DIE without assistance!
Rick Godwin
Nothing will change in your life until you identify who is responsible for your behavior. YOU!
A R Bernard
When I am full of myself I’m empty of God.
Rick Warren
Being a Christian is not cutting yourself off from real life, it is entering into it more fully. It is a journey into the heart of how things really are.
Rob Bell