Perfect Bond Of Unity

⏱️ 5 minutes.

Greetings, friends,

Today, let’s explore Paul’s instruction on how to attain and maintain unity:

“Above all these things put on love, which is the perfect bond of unity.”
Colossians 3:14

Paul starts this verse by saying “above all” because this is his conclusion to an ongoing thought that he started back in verse 12:

“So, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, put on a heart of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience.”
Colossians 3:12

He identifies the Colossians as the elect of God, meaning that the basis of their faith is because God chose them before the foundation of the earth. Therefore, Paul, having identified them as elect, urges them to do that which would bring glory to God: to put on a heart of compassion, kindness, humility, and gentleness.

In the next verse, Paul goes on to express how a life that puts on this heart will look:

“bearing with one another, and graciously forgiving each other, whoever has a complaint against anyone, just as the Lord graciously forgave you, so also should you.”
Colossians 3:13

If the attitude that the Colossians carry is one of compassion, kindness, humility, and gentleness, then the results they should expect are the ability to bear with one another and to forgive one another.

Paul is focused on the relationships between believers. We know he’s speaking about believers because in the previous verses he called them the elect of God. With this focus, Paul urges believers to take steps to make sure they live in harmony with one another.

By giving this instruction, Paul anticipates that as believers live among one another, there will be different challenges that will eventually lead to some form of disunity. To get ahead of this, Paul shared this revelation, reminding them that as believers, they are already equipped with what they need to have unity as they live among each other.

Paul appeals to the identity of believers to access the tools they need to live in harmony. We see this clearly in verse 13: “just as the Lord graciously forgave you, so also should you.”

In this same verse, we also see that Paul anticipates complaints against fellow believers: “whoever has a complaint against anyone, just as the Lord graciously forgave you, so also should you.” We can also see it in Paul’s instruction for believers to bear with one another.

Such is the case in our own churches and community of believers. Since we are still in the flesh and the perfect has not yet come, there are times when we will find ourselves stepping on each other’s toes. Despite diligently making all efforts to live in peace with fellow believers, there will inevitably come a time when our differences will get the best of us.

When a time like this comes, Paul has laid out instructions that we can follow. This leads us to his summary in verse 14: he urges the elect of God to put on love.

Here, the phrase “put on” suggests that it is something done by the subject in question. Paul is saying that there are actions they need to take. There’s a sense of responsibility and accountability in Paul’s instruction to “put on love.”

This instruction suggests that they need to intentionally take on the responsibility to love one another. It is also important to note that, having called them the elect of God, this task of putting on love is not something only done by the Colossians. Rather, it is through the enablement of the Holy Spirit that dwells within every believer. This is very similar to Paul’s exhortation in another one of his prison epistles:

“So then, my beloved, just as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure.”
Philippians 2:12-13

Here, he exhorts the Philippians to work out their salvation but also reminds them that it is God working within them.

This is similar to what he’s helping the Colossians understand. He’s telling them to put on love but also reminding them that they are God’s elect and hence have this enablement by the power of the Holy Spirit to put on love.

Finally, Paul says this love that the Colossians have to put on, this love that they need to have for one another as believers and elect of God, is the perfect bond of unity.

There’s no unity without love. True unity comes only where there’s genuine love. This love among believers comes on the basis of faith in Jesus Christ.

Simply put, in order to have true unity among believers and be able to forgive and bear with one another through all the challenges that life will present, the believer has to tap into that love that comes from God.

Here are some questions to reflect upon:

Am I in the elect of God? Have I denied myself, repented of my sin, and submitted to Christ by placing my faith in Him?
Do I bear with and forgive other believers?
Do I put on love every day in order to have this perfect bond of unity with other believers?

I pray for peace and unity among us, the elect of God.