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Sermon preached on Ephesians 4:4-6 by Rev. W. Reid Hankins during the Morning Worship Service at Trinity Presbyterian Church (OPC) on 03/15/2026 in Petaluma, CA.
Sermon Manuscript
Rev. W. Reid Hankins, M.Div.
Last week, we began the second half of Ephesians which focuses on how we ought to live as redeemed Christians. We said that there is a manner of living that is in keeping with our Christian calling as those saved by grace through faith in Jesus. Paul began this exhortation by urging us to eagerly maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. He was speaking about the unity we have in the church with our fellow Christians regardless of our differences. Those differences might be outward differences like one’s race or culture. Or they might be spiritual differences, like the state of one’s Christian growth or maturity. Whatever differences may exist among Christians, Paul urges us to seek the peace and unity of the church, even as we also pursue its purity.
Today’s verses expands on this by explaining why and how we have such unity in the church. Paul declares seven aspects of our unity. If you are a born-again Christian, then you share these seven things in common with all other Christians. Because of this fundamental unity, Paul calls us to eagerly maintain it. To clarify, since this unity is ultimately something God has accomplished for us, it is not something we create ourselves. Rather, we are called to express and live out the unity that God has already given us.
So then, my plan for us today is to consider each of these seven aspects of our unity. We will consider this one body, one Spirit, one hope, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, and one God and Father of all. (I love how this declares the unity of the church through connecting us with the three persons of the Trinity!) The goal is to strengthen our grasp of this unity, so that we might be stirred to greater eagerness in maintaining it.
Let us begin by declaring with Paul, that Christians have one body. This uses the analogy of a physical body to describe the entire Christian church. The analogy was first introduced back in 1:22, where Jesus was described as the head of the church which is his body. So, the analogy is of one complete person, with Jesus as the head and all Christians together as the body. Later in chapter 4, Paul continues this analogy by describing us each as different body parts of this one body. We are all joined and fit together, growing up into one full and mature body, the stature of the fulness of Christ.
This analogy speaks to how we ultimately are one single church of Jesus Christ. Jesus doesn’t have multiple bodies, he has one body. Christians may organizationally gather throughout the world in various local churches. Those specific congregations may be part of larger denominations that they enjoy a greater organizational unity with. Yet, this is what we see in the Bible, that while local churches exist, all true churches are fundamentally a part of the one ultimate church of Jesus Christ, described as one body.
When thinking about the one body of Christ, we recognize that the communion the saints with Christ our head is ultimately a spiritual reality. On earth, the visible church will express this imperfectly, because some who outwardly belong may in fact be heretics, hypocrites, or apostates. Such are not truly part of Christ’s body. This one body also includes those saved saints who have already died. They are already with Christ and too remain members of this one body. This then is what all Christians share in common, one body, that is, one single overarching church of Jesus Christ, made up of all true saints, whether alive or departed. Let us see other true believers in Christ as members of the same body, even if they belong to different churches or denominations than we do (I’m not talking about apostate or heretical churches, of course).
Let us next declare with Paul that Christians have one Spirit. This is surely a reference to the Holy Spirit. God’s saving power comes to our hearts by the agency of the Holy Spirit. As 1:17 says, the Spirit of wisdom and revelation is what enlightens the eyes of our heart. When we were born again, it was the work of the Spirit inside us. When we came to truly know the gospel, it was the Spirit teaching our souls. Then, having become a Christian, we receive the gift of the Holy Spirit dwelling inside us. Ephesians 1:13 says Christians are sealed with the promised Holy Spirit. Paul goes on to pray in chapter 3 that our hearts would continue to be strengthened with power by the Holy Spirit. Later in in chapter 5, we’ll see how the Spirit aids us in godly living. In chapter 6, we’ll read that when we use God’s Word, it is using the Spirit’s sword. Chapter 6 will even mention how we are to pray in the Spirit.
While we can see how the Holy Spirit works personally in the life of each Christian, let us also appreciate how he works in all of us collectively. Remember, in 2:22, Paul said that the church is being built into a holy temple where God dwells in us by the Holy Spirit. So, both collectively and individually, one and the same Holy Spirit is at work in us. While Jesus accomplished our salvation, it is the Spirit who brings that salvation to us. Paul’s declaration that there is one Spirit tells us that this what all Christians share in common. There is no other manner by which we come to enjoy salvation other than by the Holy Spirit working in our hearts. Let us recognize that other true believers have the same Spirit at work in them.
Let us next declare with Paul that Christians have one hope. Paul emphasizes that hope is closely related to our Christian calling. In 2:12, Paul said that before we became a Christian, we had no hope. Chapter 1:12 spoke of how becoming a Christian means we have begun to hope in Christ. Chapter 1 went on to describe how we have been called to hope of the riches of God’s glorious inheritance in the saints. In other words, the hope we have looks to something beyond this life. If we were not a Chrisian, we would be hopeless because after this life we would experience God’s wrath and judgment and be cast into the eternal lake of fire for an eternal conscious punishment. But now, we have been redeemed, forgiven of our sins, and adopted as sons into God’s family. We have the hope that in the age to come we will dwell with God in a new creation in a place of everlasting peace and blessedness. Given all the troubles of life under the sun in this age, we are so thankful to have such a hope. Paul’s declaration that there is one hope tells us that this is what all Christians share in common. It’s not like some Christians will enjoy one kind of afterlife, and others a different kind. No, we all will end up in the same paradise with the same perfected souls and imperishable bodies. Let us see our fellow Christians all as pilgrims headed to the same place and gladly support each other along the way.
Let us next declare with Paul that Christians have one Lord. This is surely referring to Jesus, as Paul repeatedly refers to Jesus as our Lord in Ephesians and in all his epistles. There are many titles that the Scripture ascribes to Jesus. For example, he is often called our Savior. For there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved than the name of Jesus. He accomplished our salvation for us by living the life we could not live and dying in our place to pay for the guilt that we could not pay. And yet, the most common title in the Bible for Jesus is Lord. To refer to Jesus as Lord is to describe his sovereignty over us. We belong to him and owe him our allegiance and submission. He is our Lord, our Master, our King, the one in charge. Since Jesus is the Lord, he speaks, and we ought to obey. He tells us how to live, and we should look to live that way. In 5:10, Paul says we should try to discern what is pleasing to the Lord. He goes on there to say we need to understand what the will of the Lord is. Along these lines, Ephesians will talk about out the earthly masters we will serve, and repeatedly says that we need to serve them as unto the Lord. We should serve earthly masters in the way we would serve Jesus, because obeying earthly masters is something Jesus commands us to do.
Paul’s declaration that there is one Lord tells us that all Christians serve the same master and have the same instructions for how to live. Jesus has given us those instructions in the Word so we don’t have to be unsure of what he desires from us as his redeemed people. Let us together with all the saints acknowledge Jesus Christ as our sovereign Lord, and in reliance on the grace of God, seek to serve him with all that is in us, forsake the world, resist the devil, put to death our sinful deeds and desires, and lead a godly life.
Let us next declare with Paul that Christians have one faith. Saving faith involves what we know, believe to be true, and therefore trust in. When speaking of one faith, we can think both of our action of believing as well as the object of our faith. Christians all believe in the same thing and have one common creed. Ultimately that is faith in Jesus as Paul says in 1:15. To have faith in Jesus is to also believe in the gospel. We have faith in Jesus unto salvation. As Ephesians 2:8 says, we are saved by grace through faith. Faith is that instrument by which we take hold of the salvation freely offered in Jesus Christ. We believe that Jesus died on the cross for our salvation. So, then, our faith is so instrumental to our Christian religion, that we often use it as a term to describe it. Our religion is “The Christian Faith”.
Paul’s declaration that there is one faith tells us all Christians are supposed to believe the same thing. Later in this chapter, in verse 13, Paul speaks about the importance of attaining to the unity of the faith. That implies that while Christians have one faith, there is still room to grow for us all to fully enjoy this unity. To be Christian, there are certain essentials of the faith that are, well, essential to being a Christian. Yet, we know that Christians sometimes differ in their beliefs on some secondary doctrines. These differences do hinder our full unity in the one faith. So, we must further pursue unity in matters of faith.
Let us next declare with Paul that Christians have one baptism. Under the old covenant, the people of God were marked with the sign of circumcision. Now, we are all marked with the sign of baptism. All who are officially brought into the covenant community receive the sacrament of baptism. Every single Christian who officially joins the visible church receives this sign and seal. There is no other way given to Christians to join the church of Jesus Christ. You could imagine how problematic it would be for a group that required different ways to join or had different ways to identify who belonged. But Christians have this one official sign that we belong to the church.
And let us love this sign. That waters of baptism signify the cleansing that we have in Jesus Christ, who washes away our sins by his shed blood. As 1 Peter 3:21 explains, these waters are not about an external cleansing of physical dirt, but about the saving work God is doing inside us, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Elsewhere, our baptism also is said to signify our union with Christ, for we are baptized into Christ. As Colossians 2:12 explains, our baptism unites us with Christ in both his burial and his resurrection. As Galatians 3:7 says, all of us who are baptized into Christ have put on Christ.
Paul’s declaration that there is one baptism tells us that all Christians have been officially united to Christ in his church, washed clean by his atoning sacrifice. There is no other baptism, just as there is no salvation in anyone else and no atonement for sin elsewhere. This is why we should not require people to be rebaptized when they come to us from another Christian church. As we recognize the baptisms done by other denominations, we are affirming that there is only one baptism.
Let us next declare with Paul that Christians have one God and Father. To have one and the same God affirms not only monotheism but the Triune God of the Bible. For indeed, there are many false religions that affirm a single god, yet worship a false god. Christians, on the other hand, all worship the one true God. But Paul also explains that this one God is also our Father. Referring to God the Father not only acknowledges the Trinity, but it also infers the doctrine of adoption which Paul has emphasized considerably in this letter. God has adopted us into his family and household. We rightly pray to him and relate to him as our Heavenly Father.
Paul adds yet further here when speaking of our one God and Father. He says that our God is over all, and through all, and in all. Based on context, I believe the “all” that he has in mind here refers to Christians. God is the God and Father over all Christians, and is through all Christians, and in all Christians. This language brings to mind Paul’s prayer request at the end of last chapter where he gave that Trinitarian prayer that the fulness of God would fully fill us the church. Let us appreciate what it means for God to be over us, through us, and in us. For God to be over us is to express his transcendence and his sovereignty. He is gloriously far above us! For God to be both through us and in us is to express his immanence and participation in our lives. He is gloriously near us and with us!
Paul’s declaration that there is one God and Father tells us that Christians have all come to know and worship the same God. If we would properly value what it means to know and worship this awesome God, how can we disregard a brother or sister who is also in communion with our God? Let us recognize our common adoption as God’s children and affirm that we are all spiritually part of the same one family.
So then, having walked through these seven aspects of oneness that Christians enjoy together, let me offer three implications of what Paul has told us.
First, this is a declaration, not a command. While we might imply commands, Paul is chiefly declaring what we already have as Christians. Paul is not saying we have to go and find a way to make us united. He is saying we need to eagerly maintain this unity we already have.
Second, other religious are not true religions. They don’t have these seven things. They aren’t a part of the body of Christ. They’ve not tasted of the Holy Spirit. They’re without hope in this world. They don’t know the Lord Jesus Christ. They don’t have faith in him. They’ve not been baptized into him. They’ve not come to know the true God and Father, nor be known by him. This calls us to evangelize those deceived by false religion.
Third, we need to use discernment when applying today’s message to how we relate to others. What I mean is that the term Christian can be used very broadly today. Some who identify as Christians do not meet the biblical definition of Christian. If they don’t have these seven things in common with us, then we don’t have this unity with them. We will need to exercise some discernment. Now let us acknowledge that there is no perfectly pure Christian church on earth. Some churches are more pure, and some are less pure. Sadly, some have so departed from the truth that they are no longer true churches but synagogues of Satan. Other denominations of Christians are either part of the true Christian faith, or they are not. If they are, even if they suffer from many impurities in their faith, yet we need to embrace them as brothers and be eager to find ways to responsibly express the unity we have together in Jesus. As fellow Christians, we share together with them in these seven glorious ways. But if they are not part of the true Christian faith, but are really apostate churches, then we need to recognize them for what they are. We do not help them or us to pretend there is unity when there is not unity. Today’s passage can help us assess any so-called church. Are they part of the same one body, and do they have the same one Holy Spirit? Do they have the same one hope? Do they know the same Jesus we do? Do they have the same one faith? Have they received the same baptism, being united to Christ? Have they known and come to commune with the same God and Father?
In conclusion, may we be encouraged that God has united us. He is continuing to work in and through us to unite us more fully. God will fully perfect our unity at the day of Christ. As we all seek to more eagerly express our unity, we will all be better off. For as the next passage will go on to explain, God will use each of us to help build one another up. The more the church fragments itself, the more it separates one another from the gifts God gives to grow us in maturity, including in greater unity.
So then, we’ve joined with Paul today in declaring the oneness of the church of Jesus Christ. May this declaration also become our prayer, that our God and Father would continue to rule over us and work in and through us until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.
Amen.
Copyright © 2025 Rev. W. Reid Hankins, M.Div.
All Rights Reserved.
