Unity in the body of Christ isn’t something we create through effort or agreement. Unity is something Jesus has already purchased, and we are called to live in the good of what He has done.
Conflict comes naturally. In churches, relationships, and even among believers, division can surface quickly. And one of the easiest things to do is assume the problem is always someone else.
But Paul doesn’t start with behavior—he starts with the heart.
In Ephesians 2, he reminds us that pride fuels division, but grace produces unity.
Unity Begins with Grace
There is one lens that transforms how we see others:
Not “I’m greater than you.”
Not “I’m less than you.”
But this:
We are both under God’s grace.
“It is by grace you have been saved… it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast.”
Grace humbles us. It reminds us we are not self-made people—we are grace-made people.
Remember Where You Were
Paul urges believers to remember life before Christ: separate, excluded, without hope, without God.
When we forget where we came from, pride grows. But when we remember grace, gratitude grows—and grateful people are harder to divide.
Jesus Is Our Peace
Unity is not just a good idea. It is a gospel reality.
“He himself is our peace… and has destroyed the dividing wall of hostility.”
Jesus came to reconcile us to God and to one another. The cross puts hostility to death and makes us one.
A Call to the Larger Body of Christ
Associational life reminds us the Kingdom is bigger than one church, one style, or one background.
So let’s be a people gripped by grace.
Let’s lay down what divides.
And let’s pursue unity with a heart posture that reflects Jesus.
Because in Christ, we belong to one another.
Bob Bickford
Executive Director
Nashville Baptist Association