Paul speaks of unity that was created by God when He made the “one new man” of Ephesians 2:15. This unity exists because of God’s plan being brought to pass in history. We are exhorted to preserve it.

The unity that comes from the Spirit through created the church needs to be “preserved.” This means guarded, watched over and maintained. There will always be attacks against the unity that God created through the gospel. This sermon focuses on how gospel preaching, Bible teaching, and God’s ordained means of grace are necessary to preserve unity. We go into Acts where Paul exhorts the Ephesian elders and thus reveals what is most important and warns about the dangers of false teaching. The gospel has doctrinal content and we must fight for “the faith of the gospel.” Those who are to shepherd the flock are charged with teaching the “whole counsel of God” as Paul had done.

We cannot fail to warn people of the need to turn to Christ to avoid eternal judgment. Those who have a different agenda, “make disciples after themselves” and therefore create a false unity. There are many church growth plans that force everyone in the church to follow the pastor’s agenda which does not include the gospel and teaching the whole counsel of God. This is false unity and must be rejected. We are to fight for “the faith once for all handed down to the saints.”

Sermon slides and handout available under Downloads tab.