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. (Ephesians 4:1-3)
As Christians we are the recipients of a high calling. Throughout the book of Ephesians, this calling takes the corporate shape of a unified people in Christ. This unified people, the church, is described with such language as, “one new man in place of the two” (2:15), “fellow citizens” (2:19), “members of the household of God” (2:19), “a holy temple” (2:21) and, “a body” (3:6). All these descriptions have one thing in common: unity. We have been called to live as a unified people in Christ.
What then is it to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which we have been called? It is, in the words of Paul, to be ‘eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.’
The Holy Spirit created unity we all share in as the body of Christ is held together by the bond of peace, which itself is made up of five constituent parts: humility, gentleness, patience, mutual forbearance and love. God expects each one of us to maintain the unity of the Spirit by developing, demonstrating and displaying these five moral virtues in the way we relate to one another.
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