It was Jesus’ intent for His church to be unified, and He provided for this with prayer:

I will remain in the world no longer, but they are still in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect them by the power of your name, the name you gave me, so that they may be one as we are one.

John 17:11 NIV

And with offices:

(11) So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers,
(12) to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up
(13) until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.
(14) Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of people in their deceitful scheming.

Ephesians 4:11-14 NIV

But here’s an important question: we’ve all heard of unity, but what exactly did Jesus mean by it?

Let’s dig into the Greek:

In John 17:11 Jesus’ words were “that they may be one as we are one”. This breaks down to two Greek phrases, “hen” (Greek: ἓν) and “hēmeis” (Greek: ἡμεῖς). In the English verse, these are represented by “one” (the first occurrence, after “may be…”) and “we are one”.

“hen” means “One (neuter); a single thing, or unity in essence, mind, and purpose”. Culturally, it expresses a unity of essence, purpose; community rather than personal identity, distinguishing a unified collective or partnership from a single individual. Individuality being perfected through connection, relationship and shared meaning.

“hēmeis” means “we”, but culturally implies community, shared covenant identity, and collective responsibility over individual notions of self.

That’s a lot of information, let’s break it down into some bullet points about unity:

• A single thing.
• Unity as a core nature (essence) in mind and purpose.
• Individuality contributing and being perfected by being a part of a community.
• Shared meaning.
• Shared identity in a covenant.
• Collective responsibility.

Coincidentally, the singular of “hēmeis” is the word “egō”, sound familiar? “egō” in Greek basically means “I”.

So, to be unified as a church means to be united in our thinking and purpose, having a shared identity given us by the New Covenant (Testament), being collectively responsible for fulfilling the New Testament’s commands and using our individual gifts and spiritual gifts to do this.

But what about those offices in Ephesians 4:11-14? How exactly did Jesus design those with regard to unity?

Jesus gave these offices:

• The apostles – “Those sent forth with a message”, Jesus’ 12 disciples minus Judas, plus Matthias and Paul.
• The prophets – Those that have the spiritual gift that empowers them to “speak the words of God”.
• The evangelists – Those whose specialty is preaching the gospel.
• The pastors – Those who shepherd the flocks of God.
• The teachers – Those who teach God’s Word.

… to train Christians to be servants. To bring Christians to a common faith, with truthful, common knowledge of Jesus. Effectively, this achievement (monumental as it seems!) is the definition of maturity, being fully Christ-like, differing doctrines not plaguing us and creating division, false teachers never being able to get a foothold.

I have to admit, I look at the church today with all it’s different denominations, arguing over doctrines, egotistical leaders and congregation members and have to ask “is this even possible?”. But then I remember Jesus’ High Priestly prayer in John 17 and my faith kicks in and says “Jesus prayed to the Father for it and provided for it, it can and will happen”.

But not without the Spirit.

And Satan knows it.

Satan doesn’t want unity in the church, certainly not in the way that I broke it down above. So what is he going to do about it? Satan loves to create his own counterfeits, so what would his counterfeit unity look like?

• Theological & Doctrinal camps?
• The appearance and feel of unification by demanded uniformity (legalism, for example)?
• Bureaucratic, top-down leadership and control structures?
• Tolerance instead of the correct balance of truth and grace?
• Denominations?

The Holy Spirit continuously leading believers and being the sole source of truth is a necessity for unity. The body of Christ needs its nervous system (the Holy Spirit) that will communicate between the head (Jesus) and the body (us). So this would be another beneficial area for Satan to attack. What is the biggest stumbling block to being led by the Spirit? The world, it’s cares and it’s distractions. Ego, the more confidence (whether founded or not) that you have in yourself and your own abilities, the less you are going to humble yourself enough to look for the Spirit’s leading.

Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.

Matthew 16:24 NIV

“Deny themselves”: Goodbye to the world, it’s cares, amusements and distractions and your own ego.

“Take up their cross”: Your cross refers to whatever persecution, punishment and trials that will come your way as a result of your standing for Jesus. Jesus went with His cross all the way to Calvary, are you prepared to do the same?

“Follow me”: Read your Bible, the instructions for this can be found there.

Satan would be delighted if he could steal the power of the Holy Spirit from you. “How can he do this if I received it at salvation?” I hear someone ask. By convincing you of lies reference what the Spirit does or can do. Either he will get you believing in things that the Spirit does not do or he will convince you that what the Spirit does do doesn’t happen or does not happen anymore (See “Cessation or Continuation”, https://jeremiah2911.blog/2025/06/20/cessation-or-continuation/).

What can you, personally, do for unity? Be continuously led by the Spirit. How? Ask the Lord, He will show you.