Maintain Unity and Fidelity

There’s a lesson here that will prove true throughout the history of the church. It may sound cliché, but it is true, the biggest dangers to the church always emanate from within the church. Now it’s not to say that the outside doesn’t matter, the outside also often provides the pressure points, the temptations, the areas of compromise, but it’s from within the unity that is fragile and the fidelity that must always be pursued and notice the reason God’s people here could have unity is because it proved that they actually had fidelity. Unity must always be based on fidelity. Ephesians 4, one faith, one Lord, one baptism, that chapter begins by calling us to be eager to maintain the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace. This is how unity works in the church, it’s not a papered over unity, it says maintain, it says look around, if you really have one faith, one Lord, one baptism, one God and Father of all, you believe the same things about God, about the gospel, about faith, about Christ, about obedience. If you have that spiritual unity, Ephesians 4 says work so hard to maintain that in the bond of peace.

Now sometimes you can only do what you can do and the other person isn’t willing to put any work and Roman says, “In so far as it depends on you be at peace with all people.” But there it is, work hard to maintain unity where there exists fidelity. This is why churches must practice church discipline, it’s why we cannot excuse serious doctrinal error or excuse flagrant sin. The reason for unity and for fidelity is right there in verse 31. We know today that the Lord is in our midst.

This clip is part of the sermon “The Lord is in Our Midst” delivered by Dr. Kevin DeYoung at Christ Covenant Church in Matthews, NC on February 9, 2025.