We Are One (And Actually Meaning It)

What the Seven Ones of Ephesians 4 Have to Do with Ancient Christian Unity

Maybe you remember it from youth camp. Arms around each other, swaying gently in the firelight, singing: "We are one in the Spirit, we are one in the Lord... and they'll know we are Christians by our love."

It's a beautiful sentiment. But have you ever really stopped to consider what you're declaring?

We are one.

Not "we should probably try to get along." Not "we agree on most of the major stuff." We are ONE, despite our differences in background, ethnicity, skin color, gender, and economic status. One body. One family. One church.

And yet, it doesn't always look that way, does it? Sometimes it seems like the only thing Christians can agree on is that our disagreements make unity impossible. They sing the wrong songs. They do communion differently. They have different views on women in leadership. The list goes on. And somehow we've arrived at a place where Christians are better known for their divisions than their love.

Then the last line of that old camp song hits differently: "We pray that all unity may one day be restored."

Isn't this exactly what Jesus prayed before he went to the cross?

"I pray not only for these, but also for those who believe in me through their word. May they all be one, as you, Father, are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us, so that the world may believe you sent me." (John 17:20-21, CSB)

Before making the ultimate sacrifice, Jesus was thinking about us. He was praying for unity among his people for generations yet to come. The question worth sitting with is this: has that prayer been answered? And if not, what do we do about it?

The Formula We Keep Ignoring

Paul gives us a clear starting point in Ephesians 4:

"Walk worthy of the calling you have received, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, making every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace." (Ephesians 4:1-3, CSB)

Two things stand out here. First, unity is not optional. It is woven into the calling we've received. And it starts not with our doctrines, our degrees, or our denominational distinctions, but with our attitudes: humility, gentleness, patience, and love. Get the doctrine exactly right but treat each other terribly? Doing it wrong. Love-bomb each other but quietly let the core teachings of Christ slide away? Also doing it wrong. Earlier in Ephesians, Paul called us to "speak the truth in love." Love plus truth equals unity. That's the formula.

Second, the unity we're after is the unity of the Spirit. We're not rallying around a charismatic leader or the next big church trend. We are united by the Spirit of God who dwells within and among his people. God does the building. God causes the growth. God brings us together. Far be it from us to disrupt that.

Seven Anchors for a Divided Church

But Paul doesn't stop at attitudes. He knows a church united only by good vibes isn't a church at all. It's a social club. We are also meant to be united in our beliefs. And so he gives us what many have called the Seven Ones:

"There is one body and one Spirit – just as you were called to one hope at your calling – one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is above all and through all and in all." (Ephesians 4:4-6, CSB)

Over the centuries, church leaders crafted short, memorable statements of faith called creeds, attempting to distill the essentials of Christian belief into something that could be taught, recited, and shared across cultures and generations. One of the oldest, still recited by Christians around the globe today, is the Apostles' Creed. Its earliest form dates to around AD 180, developed to combat heresies spreading through the early church, and it serves as a remarkable echo of Paul's Seven Ones. Let's walk through them.

I believe in God, the Father almighty, Creator of heaven and earth, and in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died and was buried; he descended into hell; on the third day he rose again from the dead; he ascended into heaven, and is seated at the right hand of God the Father almighty; from there he will come to judge the living and the dead. I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy catholic Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and life everlasting. Amen.

One God: The Father We Didn't Expect

Paul saves what he considers the most essential for last: "one God and Father of all, who is above all and through all and in all." The Apostles' Creed opens with God the Father, Creator of heaven and earth, echoing Hebrews 11:3, that the universe was made from things not visible by the word of God.

But don't skim past the radical nature of calling the Almighty Creator "Father." This was Jesus' innovation ("Our Father who art in heaven..."). The Jews knew God as the Father of their nation and the Father of the coming Messiah, but no righteous Jew dared to address YHWH as his personal Father. The Greeks and Romans didn't do it either. In Rome, there was only one "son of the gods," and that was Caesar.

The gospel begins with this extraordinary truth: God Almighty, Creator of heaven and earth, is our Father, and he calls us his beloved children.

One Lord: It's Not Caesar

Paul declares one Lord, and he's pointedly clear it isn't Caesar. The Roman Emperor was routinely hailed as "Lord of All." Even the religious leaders at Jesus' trial shouted, "We have no king but Caesar!" But for followers of Jesus, there is one Lord, one King, one Savior, and no president, prime minister, or dictator even comes close.

"Christ" is a title, not a last name. It's the Greek equivalent of the Hebrew "Messiah," the long-awaited anointed deliverer. Nobody predicted the deliverance would be from sin and death. Nobody imagined the crown would be thorns or the throne a wooden cross. There was no category in the Jewish imagination for a crucified Messiah. And declaring Jesus as Lord was a political statement against Rome. Declaring him as Messiah was a statement against the religious establishment in Jerusalem. It remains countercultural today.

One Spirit: The Main Character We Overlook

Paul has mentioned the Spirit repeatedly throughout Ephesians. We are sealed by the Spirit, who is the down payment on our future inheritance. The Spirit grants wisdom, empowers us for good works, and is the means by which we have access to the Father. The Spirit is what makes the Temple of God's people a living thing rather than a building.

If you read through Acts and highlight every mention of the Holy Spirit, you'll quickly realize he is the main character. Jesus called him the Comforter, the Counselor, the one who walks alongside us. Jesus told his disciples it was actually good that he was going away, because then he could send the Spirit. This Spirit guides us into all truth and reveals things beyond our ordinary understanding.

One Faith: The Non-Negotiables

The Apostles' Creed walks through the essentials of the Gospel: the virgin birth, the life, the death, the burial, the resurrection, the ascension, the coming return and judgment. Jesus was fully human and fully divine, the Word made flesh. These are not matters of preference.

There are voices today who identify as Christian while rejecting the literal, bodily resurrection of Jesus. Paul draws a hard line here. If the resurrection didn't actually happen, he says, then our faith is useless, we are still in our sins, and we are of all people most to be pitied (1 Corinthians 15). We may graciously disagree on many secondary matters, but the apostles, the early church leaders, and Jesus himself mark these events as the non-negotiable center of the Faith.

One Baptism: More Important Than We've Made It

This is one of the more controversial of the Seven Ones, though it probably shouldn't be. The Greek word for baptism literally means "to immerse." Jesus was baptized in the Jordan. He commanded baptism as the entry point for new disciples. Every conversion account in Acts includes it. Paul writes about it extensively.

The overwhelming biblical witness points to the full immersion of a believing adult as the symbol of salvation, a reenactment of Jesus' death, burial, and resurrection, connected to the forgiveness of sins and the receiving of the Holy Spirit. It's not a footnote. It's a doorway.

Even the Restoration Movement leaders who shaped our own heritage, Alexander Campbell and Barton W. Stone, wrestled with this. They agreed on baptism's importance but disagreed on the edges. The tension isn't new. But the practice itself? That goes back to Jesus.

One Body, One Hope: The Big Picture

In a world of church shopping, competing denominations, and congregations jostling for the best worship experience, hearing Paul say there is "one body" can feel almost naive. But the Apostles' Creed declares it plainly: there is one holy catholic (universal) church, a communion of saints that stretches across cultures, national borders, and centuries.

God's family is massive. Billions of individual members across all of human history, united by the same Spirit, the same Lord, the same faith. And our shared hope holds it all together: forgiveness of sins, resurrection of the body, and life everlasting. We already have it, and we eagerly await its fullness. Already forgiven, awaiting a future free from sin's grip. Already alive in Christ, awaiting our own resurrection. Already living eternal life now, while anticipating the full arrival of the Kingdom.

Getting Back to Basics

Maybe it's time for the church – the whole worldwide church, not just our congregation – to get back to the basics. To find the unity of the Spirit. To come together around the things that matter most, held together by humility, gentleness, patience, and love.

And in the meantime, may we keep praying that old camp song prayer: that all unity may one day be restored.

May it all be done in love, and may the glory be to God.