There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call—

Verse 4 brings us to a statement of fact. There is one body and one Spirit. The church is the body of Christ and each true Christian believer is a member of that one body. Member is not member in the sense of a Lion’s Club member. It is meant in the way that your finger, ear, and leg are members of your body. We’ll get into more of this later, but even though there are many local churches, there is one body. A Christian who is a member of a particular church in the U.S. is part of the same body as a Christian who is a member of a church in Germany or Nigeria.

There is one Spirit. Just as you have a spirit that pervades your body, there is one Spirit, the Holy Spirit, that is at work throughout the body of Christ world wide. As Paul explains in 1 Corinthians 12, there are different manifestations, different workings, but the same God and Spirit that is at work throughout the body.

Paul has just told us in verse 3 that we are to maintain the unity of the Spirit. The reason is because there is only one Spirit in the church.

Finally our calling as believers is focused on just one hope. There are not multiple hopes. As Paul writes in Colossians 1:27 – Christ in you the hope of glory. When all is said and done, Jesus Christ will be the focus of the entire universe. Christians, who have trusted in Christ, will rule and reign with Him in glory as joint-heirs with Him of that glory.

Exported from Logos Bible Software, 9:30 AM January 15, 2021.