Two Kinds of Unity
In Ephesians 4, Paul teaches us that there are two kinds of unity.
The first is the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace that we are to
labor to preserve (Eph. 4:3).
This means that this unity already exists, created by the Spirit, and
that our task is to not disrupt it. We would disrupt it by refusing to
walk worthily of our calling, by refusing to love, and so on. A few
verses down, he describes the unity of the church, and he says that it
is a unity that we are not supposed to have yet. It is not yet our
possession because the Spirit has not yet given it to us. We are
supposed to grow up into the perfect man, into the unity of the faith (Eph. 4:13).
For us to lament the divisions of Christendom because this unity of
the faith has not yet occurred is to have an over-realized eschatology.
To lament the divisions of Christendom because the session meeting broke
up in a shouting match is to lament something that Ephesians 4 tells us
to lament. If we did not forbear with one another in love, then we
should confess our sin and make it right. That is something we are
supposed to have right now, and if we don’t, we should repent of our
sin. But there is absolutely no need to repent of not living five
thousand years from now, when we will have grown up into the perfect
man.
--Douglas Wilson, Blog and Mablog
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