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Eventually, all the members of the Body of Christ will “arrive at the oneness of the faith and of the full knowledge of the Son of God, at a full-grown man”—v. 13:
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The oneness of the Spirit in verse 3 is the oneness of the divine life in reality, and the oneness in verse 13 is the oneness of our living in practicality:
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The oneness of reality needs to be practiced and thereby become the oneness in practicality—vv. 3, 13.
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The word arrive in verse 13 indicates that a process is required for us to arrive at the oneness of our living in practicality; the oneness of reality is the beginning, and the oneness in practicality is the destination.
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The oneness in practicality is the oneness of the faith—v. 13:
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The faith refers not to our act of believing but to the things in which we believe, such as the divine person of Christ and His redemptive work accomplished for our salvation—1 Tim. 1:19; 6:10, 12, 21; Jude 3.
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In the church life we have only one thing that is special—the faith; to insist upon anything besides the faith for receiving the believers is to be divisive—Rom. 14:1; 15:7.
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The oneness in practicality is also the oneness of the full knowledge of the Son of God—Eph. 4:13:
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The full knowledge of the Son of God is the apprehension of the revelation concerning the Son of God as life for our experience—Matt. 16:16.
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The oneness of the faith altogether depends on the full knowledge of the Son of God; only when we take Christ as the center and focus on Him can we arrive at the oneness of the faith, for only in the Son of God can our faith be one—John 20:31; Gal. 1:15-16; 2:20; 4:4, 6; 1 Cor. 2:2.
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To arrive at “a full-grown man” is to arrive at maturity in life; maturity is needed for the practical oneness—Eph. 4:13.
Morning Nourishment
Eph. 4:3 Being diligent to keep the oneness of the Spirit in the uniting bond of peace.13 Until we all arrive at the oneness of the faith and of the full knowledge of the Son of God, at a full-grown man, at the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.
The word until at the beginning of Ephesians 4:13 indicates a continuation of the foregoing verses. Verses 11 and 12 reveal that Christ as the ascended Head “gave some as apostles and some as prophets and some as evangelists and some as shepherds and teachers, for the perfecting of the saints unto the work of the ministry, unto the building up of the Body of Christ.”…The word arrive [in verse 13] indicates a process or way in which we are advancing in order to reach a goal.
The goal at which we all need to arrive is, first, the oneness of the faith and of the full knowledge of the Son of God; second, a full-grown man; and third, the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ. These three phrases in verse 13 all begin with at and are in apposition, which indicates that they are one.
In verse 12 Paul implies that we need to be perfected. In every meeting we are being perfected. Our perfecting will continue until we all arrive at the goal. The perfecting is the process and the way by which we progress toward the oneness, a full-grown man, and the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ. (CWWL, 1988, vol. 2, pp. 23-24)
Today’s Reading
The oneness of the Spirit in Ephesians 4:3 is the oneness of the divine life in reality, whereas the oneness in verse 13 is the oneness of our living in practicality. We already have the oneness of the divine life in reality. We only need to keep it. But we need to go on until we arrive at the oneness of our living in practicality. This aspect of oneness is of two things: the faith and the full knowledge of the Son of God. The faith does not refer to the act of our believing but refers to what we believe in, such as the divine person of Christ and His redemptive work for our salvation.The full knowledge of the Son of God is the realization of the revelation concerning the Son of God for our experience. The Son of God refers to the Lord’s person as life to us, whereas Christ refers to His commission to minister life to us that we, as members of His Body, may have gifts for function. The more we grow in life, the more we shall cleave to the faith and to the realization of Christ and the more we shall drop all the concepts concerning minor doctrines which cause divisions. Then we shall arrive at, or attain to, the practical oneness; that is to say, we shall arrive at a full-grown man, at the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.
Many Christians do not know the difference between the oneness of the Spirit and the oneness of the faith and of the full knowledge of the Son of God. The first is the oneness of reality, and the second is the oneness of practicality. Because the Spirit is the reality of our oneness, the oneness of the Spirit is the oneness of reality. Oneness is nothing less than the Spirit Himself. If there were no Spirit, then there would be no oneness. Although we have the oneness in reality, there is still the need for the oneness of practicality. This means that the oneness of reality must be practiced; that is, it must become the oneness in practice.
Between the oneness of reality and the oneness of practicality there is a distance. For this reason, there is the need to “arrive at” the oneness of practicality. The oneness of the Spirit is the beginning, whereas the oneness of the faith and of the full knowledge of the Son of God is the destination. This indicates that we must journey from the oneness of the Spirit to the oneness of the faith and of the full knowledge of the Son of God. In other words, we must travel from the oneness of reality until we arrive at the oneness of practicality. (Life-study of Ephesians, pp. 366-367)
Further Reading: Life-study of Ephesians, msgs. 43, 45