“And He came and preached peace to you who were far away, and peace to those who were near; for through Him we both have our access in one Spirit to the Father. So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints, and are of God’s household, having been built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus Himself being the corner stone, in whom the whole building, being fitted together is growing into a holy temple in the Lord; in whom you also are being built together into a dwelling of God in the Spirit.”
The way to begin a sermon on Scriptural unity, I think, is to define the Christian. After all, there is no Scriptural unity in anyone or between any people who are not Christians, so if we are to discuss Scriptural unity, we need to make clear from the outset just what a Scriptural Christian is.
C. H. MacKintosh describes him this way;
“A Christian is one whose sins are forgiven, who possesses eternal life, and knows it; in whom the Holy Ghost dwells; he is accepted in and associated with a risen and glorified Christ; he has broken with the world, is dead to sin and the law, and finds his object and his delight, and his spiritual sustenance, in the Christ who loved him and gave Himself for him, and for whose coming he waits everyday of his life. This...is the New Testament description of a Christian.”
Now if we are to be realistic and not bury our heads in the proverbial sand, we have to acknowledge that there is such thing, however you label him, as what I call the ‘cultural christian’.
A cultural christian is the person who has entered the church for some purely human motive. Seeking fulfillment, meeting an emotional need; I suppose they are many. But the fact is that there has never been true repentance for sin, there has never been a work of regeneration done; yet this person has found the church environment comfortable and has stayed. In some cases, the cultural christian has been around so long and been so successful in looking like a Christian on the outside, that he or she has risen to a place of prominence and leadership in the church; and no one but God knows that person is spiritually dead.
Of course, if we were to follow the admonition of Jesus, we would observe their fruit over time and realize that nothing of an eternal value comes from them.
Now, I am well aware; all too aware, that true Believers often act according to the flesh, and not all the problems in the church are caused by these cultural christians. Otherwise there would be no exhortation in scripture to confess our sins, with the promise that out of God’s faithfulness and according to righteousness, forgiveness would flow out to us from Him.
Nevertheless, people who have deceived themselves into thinking they are Christians because they have made their lives so significantly linked to the church and yet have never known Him, are in our midst, and unfortunately, they often have a very strong influence over the inner workings of a church. Especially if a church has left its moorings and begun to be run as a business instead of a spiritual house.
And that does happen; it is our tendency unless we stay always vigilant, for the sin nature to ease us way from our true course.
“Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it,
Prone to leave the God I love;” - Robinson
But the nominal christians are there, and it will be to them, sadly that in the end Christ will say, ‘Depart from Me, I never knew you”; those whose self-deception is made apparent by their claim to heaven based on works they have done.
This distinction I’ve made is important you see, because the difference between the cultural christian and the Scriptural Christian is life and death. In the same way, there is a sort of cultural unity; the kind of unity men everywhere talk about and generally agree upon, that extends itself even into the church. But it is not the kind of unity the New Testament teaches, and again, the difference is life and death.
Therefore, in truth, the terms ‘cultural christianity’ and ‘cultural unity’ are misnomers. Sort of like saying ‘Grape Nuts’. They’re not really grapes, and not really nuts.
I want to take these two verses today, and break them down and study them phrase by phrase, and ask the Spirit to let us see that the only unity that is scriptural is the kind He creates; and that indeed, true believers are the only ones who can possibly have it, and that is why we are exhorted to diligently preserve it in a bond of peace.
1. OUR ACCESS TO THE FATHER
Paul has just reminded his readers that as Gentiles, they have been brought near to God by the blood of Christ. Brought near from what he calls, ‘far off’. Brought near in life from death. In hope from hopelessness. In Christ, being made from those separate from Christ, into one body, reconciled to God.
In verse 17 he quotes the prophet Isaiah, as Paul often does, and reveals the mystery that these words are a prophetic reference to Jesus Christ as Messiah, which he also often does.
“AND HE CAME AND PREACHED PEACE TO YOU WHO WERE FAR AWAY, AND PEACE TO THOSE WHO WERE NEAR”.
And then he is quick to point out that it is ‘through Him’, we both (Jews and Gentiles) have our access in one Spirit to the Father.
Breaking this down further then, let us take note that it is all, ALL, in and through Christ. There can be no doubt that this is what Paul is impressing upon us, when we look at the frequency with which he finds opportunity to mention Christ and/or His atoning work. Listen as I skim down through these verses, from 13 to the end of the chapter:
vs 13 In Christ Jesus, you who formerly were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.
vs 14 For He Himself is our peace
vs 15 By abolishing in His flesh the enmity...that in Himself He might make the two into one new man...
vs 16 and might reconcile them both in one body to God through the cross
vs 17 And He came and preached peace
vs 18 For through Him
vs 20 (referring back to the accomplishments of verse 19), having been built upon the foundation of which Christ is the corner stone
vs 21 in whom the whole building, being fitted together...
vs 22 In whom you also are being built together
Through Christ and Him only, we have our access in one Spirit (capital “S”) to the Father.
Folks, this one verse of scripture, verse 18 of Ephesians 2, although it is by far not the only passage of scripture that teaches this doctrine, but if there were no other, this one verse standing by itself establishes forever that scriptural unity is through Christ, in the Holy Spirit.
What I referred to earlier as a sort of ‘cultural unity’, does exist. There is a kind of unity where people come together for a certain cause; to accomplish a certain goal; to reach a commonly desired end. They are united for a time in that particular purpose, sometimes even when otherwise they are deadly enemies, but when that cause is reached; that end met; or one side or the other tires of the struggle, the unity ends.
It happens between nations and cultures, and it happens on church committees.
It was never Scriptural unity. What is the difference? Scriptural unity is through Christ, in the Spirit, to the father; always that formula ~ that progression, and it does not end ~ it doesn’t break down ~ because it is a Spirit-born unity.
And it does not end, because it is not in any way, to any degree, dependant upon us.
We do not bring Scriptural unity to the church or to our lives. Scriptural unity is in the Holy Spirit, and as in the work of justification, it is something He does. He assembles believers spiritually, to Christ and in spiritual unity with one another.
Therefore, anything we discuss in the church, onto which we tag the admonition to work toward unity, or be united, or be one, although it may be a good idea for the particular moment, is not Scriptural unity. Not what Paul is talking about when he speaks of being one body, unified by the Spirit, through Christ’s blood, and given access to the Father.
Now, consider the magnitude of that. You have access to the Father!
Go browse the dusty old books of Norse and Roman and Greek mythology, and please find me even a false god, who lovingly and freely grants to his subjects, 24/7 access to his throne.
Let me offer this illustration. I am an American, born. A Yankee Doodle Dandy. In the military I held a Top Secret clearance. Some men somewhere very closely investigated my past and my present life (at the time) and deemed me worthy of their trust with some of my nation’s most sensitive secrets during the Viet Nam era and especially, the days of the Iron Curtain.
So if I want to, I can drive to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington D.C., drive through the gate with a wave and a nod at the guard there, march up the front steps, saying ‘good mornin’ to the Marine who opens the door for me, stroll into the oval office and say, “G.W., wha’sup?” Right?
NO!
How many of the citizens of London can walk freely into Buckingham Palace and knock on the Queen’s door and be granted immediate access with their petitions and requests? Not many!
Who can? Who can talk to our President any time they want to? Who can confidently enter the Queen’s chambers and engage in small talk?
FAMILY!
Many of us remember scenes of John-John in his little shorts and button-down shirt, strutting into the oval office and climbing into Daddy’s lap right in the middle of a meeting with heads of state.
Family. Access as family members; adopted sons and daughters, to the very presence of the Father. And I’m not just talking about ~ Paul is not just talking about those times we go to Him in prayer.
Not just our morning devotional time. Not just those times when the circumstances of life rear up and threaten to trample us down. Not just those times when the Lord has brought a wonderful blessing into our lives and with praise-filled hearts we laugh and say ‘Praise be to God! Thank you Lord!”
He’s talking about an access that is established in the heavens and unbroken. Uninterrupted. Not a going in and out and having a sort of revolving door policy with God.
He’s talking about an assembling; a bringing-in. Christ has purchased us with His blood, called us to Him, ushered us into the presence of the Father and declared, “Behold, I and the children Thou hast given Me”. And there we stand, spiritually; Justified, sanctified, ... and in the economy of our God who is from eternity to eternity and sees the end from the beginning... glorified. A truth we have yet to fully comprehend and experience, granted; but according to Romans 8:29, 30 it is a finished work. A done deal.
Believer, you and I have access and stand in Christ’s righteousness in the presence of the Living God.
Please let that revealed truth minister to your hearts right now, and let it give you some inkling of how important God must deem you to be. How personally precious you must be in His sight, that He would pay such a price... in order to grant such high honor.
Access to the Father!
2. MADE FELLOW CITIZENS WITH THE SAINTS
Next I want you to see that we have been brought from being strangers and aliens, and made fellow citizens with the saints.
Now I’m certain it is unnecessary in this gathering to clarify this point, but just so it doesn’t go unsaid; all believers are saints. We all understand that here, correct?
May I see a show of hands; all here who are saints of the Lord, raise your hands?
Can you say, “Amen”?
Ok, now I want you to keep your place in Ephesians 2, but just for a moment turn to Romans 10, and read verses 14 and 15 with me:
“How then shall they call upon Him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in Him whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher? And how shall they preach unless they are sent? Just as it is written, ‘HOW BEAUTIFUL ARE THE FEET OF THOSE WHO BRING GLAD TIDINGS OF GOOD THINGS’!”
That has absolutely nothing to do with my sermon today, I just wanted you to know how special us preachers are. You may go back to Ephesians now.
We were strangers and aliens. Unknown and unwelcome. The borders shut up tight, guards posted to keep us out.
Since the day the man and the woman were expelled from God’s perfect place and an angel with a flaming sword commissioned with the task of keeping them out, mankind has been shut out, called ‘strangers’, cast away for his own sin, having no hope and without God in the world.
He said in his heart, “I will be like God, I will be god unto myself”, and the result was precisely the opposite; his spirit died within him and he utterly and hopelessly alienated himself from the God who had so lovingly provided him with life and breath, and all things ~ and only the shed blood of an innocent, willing sacrifice could redeem him from his useless, self-inflicted condition.
But Christ, having reconciled us in one body to God through the cross, by it having put to death the enmity, has made us fellow citizens with the saints.
From the moment Adam and Eve accepted God’s covering and believed the promise of One who would come and crush the serpent’s head, every man and woman of their race who has by faith believed in that same promise, has been called a saint of God. Sanctified. Set apart. Sealed in Him. Called holy and blameless through the vehicle of belief that God calls into being that which is not, and is able to give life to the dead.
Saints, all. Enoch. Noah. Abraham. Isaac. Melchizedek. Jacob. Joseph. Moses. David. Elijah. Esther. Ruth. Deborah. All the named patriarchs and prophets of the Old Testament and millions upon millions not named for us.
Into the New Testament; the Apostles. The fathers of the new church. The martyrs. The quiet faithful serving in the shadows. The ones who have lived and served and passed on without notoriety, without fanfare, often without thanks and without honor...
...saints all.
And you, believer, here today, gathered with the elect, have fellowship with them that cannot be interrupted; cannot be broken; cannot be rescinded; because it is a state and a status born of the Holy Spirit, in Christ, to the praise of the Father’s glory.
“Behold, I and the children Thou hast given Me”.
3. OF GOD’S HOUSEHOLD
Finally, I want you to consider what it means to be ’of God’s household’.
“Household”. The same word is used in Gal 6:10, and refers to ‘kindred’ ‘family’.
“So then, while we have opportunity, let us do good to all men, and especially to those who are of the household of the faith”.
Of the household. Again, harking back to this concept of family and the freedom and privileges inherent in it:
Our youngest is now 10. During the lazy, hazy, crazy days of Summer, she comes and goes pretty much as she pleases.
She hollers, I’m going to Leah’s, and she’s out the door, and unless we need her for something, we may not see her for hours.
But when she chooses to return home; to stop in for lunch or to just check in and find out if she’s been sought for anything, she doesn’t knock. She doesn’t seek permission to enter.
She walks boldly in the door kicks her shoes off by the sofa, and has immediate, free access to any part of the home. She goes to her room which contains all of her possessions, arranged in some random order that is beyond my ken... and typically, an unmade bed. Or she goes to the refrigerator, opens the door, sticks her head inside and comes out with whatever snack in there pleases her present fancy.
Or she plops down in a chair and turns on the cartoons or puts in one of her favorite children’s movies.
Or she hugs her dad or her mom and just basks in the comfort of being in the warmth and safety of this place she calls ‘my house’.
She is OF the household of Tanner. Her life is intimately intertwined with the lives of all the others who are of the household of Tanner.
She generally knows where everyone is and what they’re doing at the moment; but if she doesn’t, she only needs to ask and no one questions her right to know.
Just by virtue of the fact that she is a member of the household, there are things about the household of Tanner that she is privy to, which no one outside the household can know.
You and I, fellow citizens, who have been granted free and unlimited access to the Father, are of God’s household; the household of the faith.
Can you begin to fathom the depths of this today? Can your heart and mind begin to grasp the enormity of these astounding facts laid out for us by the Holy Spirit through the Apostle’s pen?
In Him we stand justified before the throne of the Father, who loved us so much... desired our company and our fellowship so much... that He sacrificed His Son in order to redeem us to Himself and make us an eternal fellowship of sanctified sons and daughters, making us family, together enjoying all the warmth and safety and security and privilege of being of God’s household.
We have His own assurance that in Him we are eternally secure. He has promised us that nothing can separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord; neither death, no matter how it comes, nor life, no matter what it brings.
He has commissioned us to go and tell this message to men and women everywhere, making them His followers also, baptizing them and teaching them His ways.
I wonder how powerful our personal ministries and our ministry as an association would be if we allowed these truths to redirect and sharpen our focus.
Just a few weeks ago at Cornerstone, in the morning worship service we took a look at the infant church. The pre-Ananias & Sapphira church. The early months, when people were freshly filled with the Holy Spirit and very little teaching had been done yet, beyond the repetition of the gospel message daily in the temple and from house to house.
We saw that these first Christians were filled with awe at what God had done for them and what He was now doing through them. The pastors were performing miracles by the Holy Spirit. The people were having fellowship, sharing meals, with gladness and sincerity of heart, and they were constantly praising God.
And here’s the amazing thing folks; you can read it in Acts 2:47; this is the part that just knocked my socks off. I had never focused on this line before and really thought about the significance of it: They were being looked upon with favor by the people. That’s how much the love of Jesus was shining out from them.
I submit to you today, brothers and sisters in Christ, that very much of what we do both in our churches and as an association, is by and large ineffective at best, because it is conceived, planned, implemented and carried out, in the spirit of cultural unity. We call one another to unity, mistakenly thinking what we have in mind is a scriptural, spiritual unity.
Oh, we talk about it like we’re practicing some thing that the world knows nothing of; yet the cults, entirely devoid of the Spirit, and human organizations entirely denying the existence of the Spirit, enjoy that same type of unity, and do it better than we do!
I believe that if we ask the Lord to bring the reality of His Holy Spirit-born unity home to our hearts... caused us to understand that as believers in Him we are united, however we tend to look upon each other in the flesh... that by the very nature of this unity we all stand on level ground before His throne, fellow citizens with the saints and as welcome in His household as our own young children are in ours... that our future endeavors and our future inter-actions with one another would begin to take on a whole new flavor.
I believe that if we took these things to heart as undeniable scriptural truth and began to see who and what we are in His eyes instead of our own, that He would finally begin to use us as one body, in step with one another, with Christ as our head, marching forward to do kingdom work in the leading of the Spirit.
What wondrous things would we witness God doing in our midst, if every one of us, in all of our churches, laid aside all things of the flesh ~ projects, forms of worship, the man-made rules of cultural christianity ~ and focused on Jesus?
Not just what we can learn of Him in the scriptures, but focusing on His person; believing His word when it says we are fellow citizens with the saints and have free and constant access to the Father as children of His household, and relating to one another accordingly.
I believe there would be many amazing changes in the way we worship and the way we work together as an association. But one effect I can confidently assert to you that we would see, church, is that the cultural christians would no longer have any influence in our churches. They would be relegated to what they really are; just chaff, waiting for the wind of the Spirit to move them on. And that is not said without compassion; the most dangerous thing of all for a person without the Spirit, is to feel comfortable around God’s people, and never know conviction or repentance.
But true believers would enjoy sweet fellowship, gladness and sincerity of heart, and as we openly praise God and exalt His name in our communities, we might even find ourselves, as time goes by, being looked upon with some degree of favor and respect, by a society that presently despises us for the way they’ve been treated by the church and its representatives.
We would witness God adding to our number day by day those being saved.
We would witness revival in our church and awakening in our region.
I believe this with all my heart.
Constant and undisturbed access to the Father, fellow citizens with the saints, of the household of God. Let’s stop being so afraid to say it my family... we’re pretty special.
Let’s treat one another accordingly, and by our manifested love, and diligence in preserving the Holy Spirit’s unity, compel the world around us to declare that we must be followers of Jesus.
