Jesus wanted there to be unity among His followers. He wanted them to grow into mature Christians. Paul said Jesus provided five gifts to “equip the saints” and to “build up the body of Christ” (Ephesians 4:11-13). These gifts were to be used continually “until we all attain the unity of the faith,” implying it is possible and expected for there to be unity among believers. This will require uninterrupted, consistent work. Believers should be perpetually striving and searching for unity among themselves. This unity is going to be about “the faith.” In this context, “the faith” is defined as the entire revelation God gave to the “apostles and prophets” who have preached it to the world and have written it down for our learning. It is possible and expected for Christians to read this information and come to the same conclusion as intended for the original readers. We can have the same unity that congregations had as a result of Paul and others preaching the gospel in various locations. Today, there must be unity because there is only one faith. These gifts will also produce maturity as seen by believers coming to a deeper “knowledge of the Son of God, [becoming] a mature man, [reaching] the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ.” All of this implies that a Christian is to be growing. They will be developing just like a newborn baby develops into a mature adult. A mature Christian must truly understand who “the Son of God” really is. This will require learning about the Son of God either in Bible study at church and in a private setting at home. It would require more than reading someone’s thoughts about the Son of God. It would require reading the original source, the New Testament gospels, thinking about them, and coming to an understanding of what the original writer meant. A person must put into practice this knowledge they have learned from the teachings of Jesus, the apostles and the prophets. In most cases, this will require a change in lifestyle. The ultimate goal of being a mature Christian is “obtaining” a “stature” that looks like Christ. This concept may best be illustrated by a child wanting to “grow up to be like” their parents. The Christian should endlessly be striving to become more and more like “the Son of God,” which can only be obtained by using the gifts Christ provided to the church. By using these gifts, there will be unity among believers and individuals will be achieving the maturity Jesus desired of His followers. This unity and maturity will be seen because all Christians will be living God’s way. Carlton G. McPeak (carlton_mc@msn.com) is an evangelist working in the Florida Gateway region. Scriptural quotations from the NASB.
