Therefore I, the prisoner in the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling you have received: with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, and making every effort to preserve the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace.
There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to one hope when you were called—one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.
But to each one of us grace has been given according to the measure of the gift of Christ. This is why it says: “When He ascended on high, He led captives away and gave gifts to men.” What does “He ascended” mean except that He also descended to the lower parts of the earth? He who descended is the very One who ascended above all the heavens, in order to fill all things.
And it was He who gave some to be apostles, some as prophets, some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers, to equip the saints for works of ministry and to build up the body of Christ, until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God—as mature people, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.
Then we will no longer be infants, tossed about by the waves and carried around by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of men in their deceitful scheming. Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will grow up in all things into Christ Himself, who is the head. From Him the whole body, fitted and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love through the working of each individual part.
Notes
This section marks a Spirit-led transition from identity to practice—from what God has done to how the Church must walk. Paul urges believers not to strive for calling, but to walk worthy of the calling already received. This call is grounded in grace, not performance. And the character of that walk—humility, gentleness, patience, and love—flows not from self-effort but from union with Christ.
At the heart of the walk is unity, not manufactured but preserved—because the Spirit has already created it. This unity is grounded in deep, unshakable truths: one body, one Spirit, one hope, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all. This sevenfold unity is a complete theological framework for the New Covenant community
(cf. 1 Corinthians 12:13; John 17:20–23).
Yet unity does not mean uniformity. Christ, the ascended Lord, has given gifts to His body. These gifts are people—apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers—not to control, but to equip the saints. The purpose is not hierarchy but maturity. The body builds itself up when every part works properly, and the measure of maturity is not behavior but conformity to the fullness of Christ.
The Church grows by speaking the truth in love—this is not cold doctrine or sentimental affection, but gospel-shaped words lived in gospel-shaped relationships. Truth and love are not opposites in the New Covenant—they are companions.
The result of this life together is stunning: no longer infants, the Church becomes a body fitted and held together by Christ Himself. Each ligament matters. Each part contributes. And the whole grows up into Christ, the Head, from whom the body derives life, direction, and strength
(cf. Colossians 2:19).
This is the worthy walk of the New Covenant Church: unified by the Spirit, gifted by Christ, shaped by love, and growing into His fullness. The Law never produced this. But grace does. And it does so through Christ, who descended, ascended, and now fills all things.
Moe Bergeron 
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