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Father, thank you for another occasion to share your Word with my brothers and sisters. Father, thank you for the unity we have with you and your son, the Lord Jesus Christ. Open our understanding so that we know what this unity is and how to perform it. In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, Amen.

Key points from the July 2020 teaching:

• To achieve spiritual growth, our foundation must be built on God's Word rightly divided.
• Jesus Christ, as the son of God, is the foundation of our spiritual growth.
• We renew our minds daily with our understanding of God's Word, and align our walk (actions) on God's Word.
  

This month's teaching is on One God in Unity. We will define the word "unity" and discuss how to have unity with God our Father and His son the Lord Jesus Christ. Ephesians 4, verses 1-3 will be reviewed, and we will look at some Greek words and their meanings.

In our current environment, unity is just a dream. It is a concept that is manmade, often temporary, and is talked about but never fully achieved. However, there is a unity that is everlasting. This everlasting unity can only be achieved with God our Father and His son the Lord Jesus Christ.

What is unity?

True unity is what God's Word says it is. The Greek word for "unity" documented in Ephesians 4:3 is henotees which means "oneness, at-one, togetherness." Unity is to walk in alignment of oneness, at-one, and togetherness with God, His Word and His son! The peak of God's love is unity with Him, His Word and His son! God our Father is the most important entity in our life; in Him we live and have our existence.

How can I have unity with God our Father and His son the Lord Jesus Christ?

You cannot have unity with God and His son, until you have been taught His Word, believe it, and act on it. You do this by confessing with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised him from the dead. Romans 10:9-10 instructs:

For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.

Once you do this, God creates His Spirit in you (John 4:24). This is the gift of holy spirit (Acts 2:38), the inner man (Ephesians 3:16), the new man (Ephesians 4:24), and Christ in you the hope of glory (Colossians 1:27). We become part of the whole family of God (Ephesians 3:15) and have unity with Him and His son! Unity, strength and order comes from our spiritual Father and His son the Lord Jesus Christ by our walk on God's Word!

God's Word is divinely inspired. We are told in 2 Peter 1:21:

For the prophecy [Word of God] came not in old [any] time by the will of man: but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.

Psalms 12:6 goes on to tell us that "the words of the Lord are pure words."

All of God's Word is divinely inspired and pure! The Word of God is the Will of God! Every divinely inspired and pure Word that makes up God's Word has a divine purpose. 2 Timothy 2:15:

Study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that needs not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.

We must continually renew our minds to practice the Word of God! Let us review Ephesians 4:1-3 in order to understand this unity with God and His son the Lord Jesus Christ. We will also look at some Greek words and their meanings in these verses.

Ephesians 4 focuses on our walk of unity and our fellowship with God our Father. What a glorious walk of unity it is! Blessed be the Lord God Almighty who has called us to walk worthy of His calling! Ephesians 4:1:

I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called.

To understand this verse more fully, let's break down the meanings of the key words. The word "I' is the personal pronoun which refers to the Apostle Paul in this verse. The word "beseech" means loving implores you, the born-again believers. The word "walk" is an action by the believer. The word "worthy" is the Greek word axios which means "suitably, in a becoming manner, in a manner of equal value with the thing referred to." To summarize, this verse says "I, Paul, lovingly implore you, my brothers and sisters in Christ, to make an intense, meticulous effort to walk in unity with God our Father's Word and will."

So, we can better understand these usages, let us look at the first and last usage of the Greek word axios for "worthy." Romans 16:2:

That ye receive her [Phebe our sister] in the Lord, as becometh [axios - worthy] saints, and that ye assist her in whatsoever business she hath need of you: for she hath been a succourer [aid, strength] of many, and of myself also.

Phebe had become a worthy saint because she walked in the way of the Lord and had been an aid and strength to many believers and to Paul. When we walk in the ways of the Lord and become an aid and strength to our fellow sisters and brothers in the body of Christ, we are worthy saints.

3 John 6:

Which have borne witness of thy [Gaius] charity [the love of God in the renewed mind in manifestation] before the church: whom if thou bring forward on their journey after a godly sort [axios - worthily of God], thou shalt do well.

Gaius was worthy of God because of his love of God in the renewed mind in manifestation before the church, the body of Christ.

Back to Ephesians 4:1, the word "vocation" is the Greek word kleesis which means "a call, a summons, invitation, a calling." Who called us? God in Christ Jesus! Philippians 3: 14 tells us:

I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.

Let's continue with Ephesians 4:2:

With all lowliness and meekness, with longsuffering, forbearing one another in love.

We must, as sons and daughters of God our Father, walk with lowlines, humility, modesty and demeanor. We must walk with meekness, gentleness, tenderness and enduring all things with an even temper. We must walk with longsuffering, patience, endurance and forbearance. We must walk, upright, we must hold up, hold out, endure and bear with one another in unity. And the only way we can do this is with the love of God in the renewed mind in manifestation!

Ephesians 4:3 tells us why we walk in this manner:

Endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.

We are instructed to do our utmost to keep like a treasure the unity of the Spirit. God created this unity of the Spirit when He gave His Spirit based on the accomplished works of His only begotten son the Lord Jesus Christ. When we confessed with our mouths Jesus as Lord and believed in our hearts that God raised Jesus form the dead (Romans 10:9), we have unity with God and His son and with other born-again believers.

Let us understand some of the key words in Ephesians 4:3. The Greek word for "endeavoring" is spoudazo which means "to make haste, as manifested in diligence, earnestness, zeal; to do the utmost." We, as God's sons and daughters, must make haste, manifested diligence, earnestness, and zeal to do our utmost to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.

Let's look at two of the usages of the Greek word spoudazo.

Galatians 2:10:

Only they would that we should remember the poor; the same which I also was forward [spoudazo - make haste, as manifested in diligence, earnestness, zeal; to do the utmost] to do.

2 Peter 3:14:

Wherefore, beloved, seeing that ye look for such things, be diligent [spoudazo - make haste, as manifested in diligence, earnestness, zeal; to do the utmost] [purpose] that ye may be found of him [God] in peace, without spot, and blameless.

In Ephesians 4:3, the Greek word for "keep" is teereo which means "to watch over, take care of, keep an eye upon, observe attentively." Two usages of this Greek word teereo include:

Matthew 28:20:

Teaching them to observe [Greek word teereo- to watch over, take care of, keep an eye upon, observe attentively] all things whatsoever I [Jesus Christ] have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world.

Without the teaching of God's Word, we wouldn't know what the unity of the spirit is or how to keep the unity of the spirit! Paul said in 1 Thessalonians 5:23:

And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved [teereo - to watch over, take care of, keep an eye upon, observe attentively] blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Let's continue with looking at the meaning of the words in Ephesians 4:3. In the Old Testament, the Hebrew word "unite" meant "to become one, to be united, joined, to make one, to unite." There are only three usages of this word in the Old Testament.

Genesis 49:1:

And Jacob called his sons and said, gather together, that I may tell you what shall befall you in the last days.

Jacob prophesied over his twelve sons before he died.

Genesis 49:6:

O my soul [Jacob], come not thou into their [Simeon and Levi] secret; unto their assembly, mine honor, be not thou united [to become one, to be united, joined, to make one, to unite]: for in their anger they slew a man, and in their self-will they dig down a wall [an oxen].

Jacob didn't want to be united with Simeon and Levi because in their anger they slew a man, and in their self-will, they dug down an oxen.

Psalm 86:11:

Teach me thy way, O LORD; I will walk in thy truth: unite [to become one, to be united, joined, to make one, to unite] my heart to fear [respect] thy name.

Psalm 133:1:

Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity [to become one, to be united, joined, to make one, to unite]!

Remember, the Greek word for "unity" is henotees which means "oneness, at-one, togetherness." There are only two usages of this word in the New Testament and they are both in Ephesians 4. The first one is Ephesians 4:3:

Endeavoring to keep the unity [henotees - oneness, at-one, togetherness] of the Spirit in the bond of peace.

The second one is Ephesians 4:13:

Till [until] we all come in the unity [henotees-- oneness, at-one, togetherness] of the faith [pistis or believing], and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ.

When all the believers come together and are as one in believing and have knowledge of the Son of God (unto a perfect man and unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ), we will have unity. This will only happen with the return of Christ! Until Christ's return, we endeavor and make haste, as manifested in diligence, earnestness, zeal, to do our utmost to keep the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace. We stand together with each other because we are all God's children and in the same household.

As we stay committed individually and striving together in God's household, we shall prevail in unity in this life and be victorious! Our hearts, our minds, our intellect, our wills, our emotion, our abilities, our personalities, are to be in unity with oneness with God's Word documented in the seven Church Epistles (Romans, Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, and Thessalonians). These are addressed to the current administration of Grace.

Back to Ephesians 4:3, the Greek word for "spirit" is punma which means the "gift of holy spirit." The Greek word for "bond" is sundesmos which means "that which binds together, a band or bond; that which is bound together, a bundle." Let's read two of the usages of the Greek word sundesmos documented in the New Testament.

Colossians 2:19:

And not holding the Head, from which all the body by joints and bands [sundesmos] having nourishment ministered, and knit together, increaseth with the increase of God.

The source of the body, the Church, is God who has put all things under Christ's feet. Christ is the head over all things to the church, which is his body. The fullness of Christ fills all in all. Christ, as the head, is the foundation of all guidance and action of the body. We, the members of this body, take our directions from Christ, who God our Father made the head of this body! Christ is what binds us together! He is the bond or cohesive agent of the body of believers! We are knitted together with him! Where the head (Christ) goes, the body (the believers) follows.

Colossians 3:14:

And above all these things put on charity [the love of God in the renewed mind in manifestation], which is the bond [sundesmos - that which binds together; a bundle] of perfectness.

We, therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, put on the love of God in the renewed mind in manifestation which is the bond of perfectness.

Back to Ephesians 4:3. The Greek word for "peace" is ireenee which means to "join to the right source, rest, the end of strife." When we are born-again of God's Sprit, we are joined to the right source; we have rest and end of strife! We will read two usages of this Greek word for "peace."

Matthew 10:13:

If the household is worthy, let your peace [ireenee - to join, rest, the end of strife] come upon it. But if it is not worthy, let your peace [join, rest, the end of strife] return to you.

Ephesians 2:14:

For he [Christ Jesus] is our peace [ireenee - to rest, the end of strife], who hath made both [Judean and Gentile] one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us.

The Greek words help us get back to the original text and give us a better understanding of the meaning of that word in the scripture. The translation from Greek to English provides us with the meaning of that word in context of that verse. One English word could be translated by several Greek words. For example, there are hundreds of occurrences of the Greek word pistis in the Bible which translates to our English word "faith." But there are only five separate usages of pistis - believing, faith of Jesus Christ, manifestation of believing, family faith, and fruit of the spirit believing.

Greek words help us know the meaning of that English word in that passage of the scripture. As we study to show ourselves approved unto God, we are a workman that needs not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth (2 Timothy 2:15).

Key points in this month's teaching:

• There is no true and everlasting unity without God and His son the Lord Jesus Christ.
• To have unity with God and His son the Lord Jesus Christ, you must confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised him from the dead. For with the heart man believes unto righteousness and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation (Romans 10:9 -10).
• We must, as sons and daughters of God our Father, walk with lowlines, humility, modesty and demeanor. We must walk with meekness, gentleness, tenderness and enduring all things with and even temper. We must walk with longsuffering, patient, endurance and forbearance. We must walk, upright, we must hold up, hold out, endure and bear with one another in unity. And the only way we can do this is with the love of God in the renewed mind in manifestation!
• As we stay committed individually, and striving together in God's household, we shall prevail in unity in this life and be victorious!
• Our hearts, our minds, our intellect, our wills, our emotion, our abilities, our personalities, are to be in unity, oneness with God's Word documented in the seven Church epistles (Romans, Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, and Thessalonians) that are addressed to the current administration of Grace.

Father, thank you for Your Word which tells us what spiritual unity is and how to keep it like a treasure. Father, thank you for my brothers and sisters in your household walking in unity with you, your Word, your son and one another. Father, thank you for all of your sons and daughters doing their utmost to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace in your household. In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, Amen.

Next month's teaching will continue with the focus of One God in Unity in Ephesians 4:4-7.

In the Lord,

Ministry of Reconciliation
Son of God through Jesus Christ
Ambassador for Christ

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