Paul points to unity growth in Christ

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This segment of Eph 4 is verses 4–6, where Paul says, “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.”

We can see that this passage is brought to us by the number 1; Paul is really emphasising the oneness of the body of Christ, the oneness of the church. Of course, this is an implication of much of the argument through chapters 2–3—Jew and Gentile being brought together [and] forming the one temple of God, the one building in which God would dwell by His Spirit.

The Church as the Body of Christ

So the oneness of God’s people has already been developed theologically. This is kind of a recap, emphasising the point in this chapter about the body of Christ. But it’s worth going through each of these elements that Paul lists. He says that “There is one body” in verse 4. In 1:22–23 he refers to Christ’s body as being the church, the people of God who belong to Christ. We’ll see more about this body later on in chapter 5.

One Church

His point is [that] there is one body; there is one church. And I think, by this, Paul means that there is one universal church. Sure, there are thousands of different churches and many different denominations and so on and so forth, not that the denominations existed in Paul’s day. But Paul is saying that the one church consists of every individual who truly knows Christ and who is truly saved. That is the one church of God.

Emphasis on Unity

One Spirit

“There is … one Spirit” (verse 4), one Spirit that binds the body together. In 1:13, Paul said the believers are sealed with this Spirit. He said, in 2:18, that Jews and Gentiles have access to the Father through the one Spirit. In 2:22, he says they’ve been built together into God’s dwelling place in the Spirit. So there is one Spirit that binds together the one church, which is the one body of Christ.

One Lord

He says, in verse 5, there is “one Lord.” There are not many lords that would divide our allegiance—“Well, I follow this lord, and you follow that lord.” No, there is one Lord Jesus Christ; there is one head of the body.

One Faith

Also, in verse 5, there is “one faith.” Paul says we have been saved by faith (2:8) and we have access to God through faith (3:12), and Christ dwells in our hearts through faith (3:17). There is one faith, which means there is one path. By “faith”, what he means here is one confession of trust in Christ. Of course, each individual has their own faith; if you like, their own trust in Christ for themselves. Otherwise, you can’t be a Christian. You can’t be saved. But he is saying there is one confession of faith. We all believe in the same Lord and what He’s done for us. That is the faith that we hold.

One Baptism

Verse 5 [says] there is “one baptism.” This probably refers to baptism in the Spirit. Obviously, there is more than one baptism. If there is more than one person in the church, each person is baptised as they become a Christian. But again, he is referring to this in a broader sense. He means that there is one conversion—one way of being united to Christ—because baptism for Paul has largely become a metaphor or figurative way of speaking about conversion.

One God

Also in verse 6, Paul refers to there being “one God.” There is one true God, and we know this God; we have access to this God. The God I pray to is the same God that you pray to, and therefore, we have unity in that fact.

In Summary

So, through these verses, Paul has emphasised the oneness of the body. There is one body, one Spirit, one faith, one baptism, one Lord, [and] one God, but as we’ll see in the following verses, there’s also diversity within it, and this diversity is highlighted by different gifts given to the church.


Campbell, C. R. (2017). .

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