The Unity Of The Spirit

A        WHAT is "The Unity of the Spirit"?

        1.  It is a Unity generated by God's Holy Spirit within the hearts of believers:

             It is spiritual in origin, spiritual in nature and has very little to do with doctrine:

          (a) John 17:21                               (b)  Psalm 133 (Anointing ointment)

     

          (c) 1 Cor 6:17                                (d) Origin 2 Tim 1:9 and  Cor 2:7 

          (e) Luke 1:44: Discuss                  (f) David & Jonathan

          2.   Unity is the opposite of discord, or the absence of strife, a place where

                love reigns and truth is valued.  Man can desire it but never create it:
                

                (a) 1Cor 1:10          (b) Phil 1:27              (c)  Phil 2:2

                (d) Acts 4:32           (e) 1 Peter 3:8           (f) Romans 14:19 /15:5

           New Testament: Greek.                               Old Testament Hebrew

 B   Is  U.O.T.S (Unity of the spirit)  .the same as  "U.O.T.F? (unity of the faith)

 No!  Chalk and cheese:  {U.O.T.S comes before U.O.T.F.}

In Ephesians 4:3 & 4:13 Paul makes reference to two different kinds of unity.

• Endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. (verse 3)
• Till we all come in the unity of the faith. (verse 13)

It is not coincidental that Paul refers to the unity of the spirit first. Without Unity of the Spirit we will never realize the unity of the faith.

U.O.T.S is gifted to us and we are instructed to "maintain it"

We cannot create it: Arrange it: Set it up:  We can only recognise it:

U.O.T.F. is something we will eventually arrive at by revelation rather than imposition..

To understand Unity Of The Faith look at the 7 Pillars of Eph. chapter 4: 

(a) One Body. What is it? Believers? Jews? All creation?

(b) One  Spirit.  Holy Spirit of God who acts as He did in bible.(Holy)

    

(c) One  Hope: What is that one Hope? Cars & riches down here or ...?

          

(d) One Lord  i.e. The Lord Jesus Christ who died and arose from the dead

(e) One  Faith   Are we all on same page here yet? Don't think so!

        

(f) One  Baptism: Water Baptism?  Holy Spirit ? Other?

              

(g) One God and Father: How many can read and believe 1 cor 8:6 yet? 

N.B.  I'm not there yet. But longing to reach that goal:

                    New Testament: Greek.                               Old Testament Hebrew

{However we can fellowship together on basis of 1 Co 15 v 1-3 Historically we have seen many attempts at the unity of the faith, which have all resulted in greater disunity. The above 7 Pillars of (a) to (g) are not a prerequisite for fellowship together: Those doctrines will only be arrived at by personal revelation and not by imposition, as history has shown} 

C       Is U.O.T.S. the same as Having Fellowship?

I should be able to fellowship with any believer on the basis of  (a) & (b) below:
I use Fellowship here in the root meaning of being able to meet, chat, pray, and enjoy each others company with an emphasis on spiritual things: In the last 100 years Fellowship has been used in a different sense of denomination or grouping and the particular set of beliefs they adhere to: That is a million miles from what I mean by fellowship in this study:

Look how utterly simple these qualifications are:

(a) Believe the Gospel as in 1 Cor 15: 1-3, 2 Cor 5 :16--21

(b) All who follow the Lord Jesus Christ out of a clean heart

Personally I want and long for fellowship  with all believers on the above basis, be it on the streets, cafés,  house meetings, any place and any time of any day or night. If I refuse to have fellowship with a believer based on any other criteria than (a) and (b) above then I'm falling short of the goal. Remember  God chooses to fellowship with us despite the fact He must often  disagree with our theology: Be like God in this . Don't set the bar even a jot higher than (a) and (b) above: That's pride: A false sense of superiority!

I can fellowship then with a large with a broad group and anticipate Unity Of The |Spirit with all of them. Where I find any hint of it I am to maintain it as scripture exhorts. In reality though most of us only find real Unity Of The Spirit with a small few. With those people it's like God knits you in spirit with one another and an inseparable bond deep in the spirit is formed , like between david & Jonathan. When Elizabeth met Mary that type of Unity was manifested also and Elizabeth cried out: "The minute I heard the sound of your voice the babe in my womb leapt for joy"

Try as you might you won't be able to explain this unity: It's of God: It's precious: It's that Leap Of Joy within: You just love and long to be in that persons presence: It is inner circle stuff: It is Jesus focussed: It is clean and simple: They may utterly differ from you on issues like Sunday worship, head dress, tongues, church structures etc but the bond is of the Spirit and remains:  You must maintain it by being lowly and humble and walking in the spirit: Sin will damage it but  always seek to have it restored. If sin comes between you and that unity with another then examine your own life first before seeking to correct the other: Spend many hours in prayer: Hold onto a spirit of meekness and humility: What is at stake is too precious to throw away:

D   What Does U.O.T.S. look like?

     It looks like Psalm 133! Discuss anointing, dew, command a blessing

            "How good and how pleasant it is when brethren dwell together in unity."

      Discuss emphasis on togetherness & brethren in this psalm

It looks like Mary meeting Elizabeth:  Discuss Mary's response.