“Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity” (Psalm 133:1).

There are only five places in Scripture where we find the word “unity,” or “unite.” We would all agree that believers should dwell together in unity. What great problems arise when there is disunity in the body of Christ. The first type of unity found in the Bible is negative unity. Jacob prayed in Genesis 49:6: “O my soul, come not thou into their secret; unto their assembly, mine honor, be not thou united.” Godly Jacob did not wish to be united with the sins of Simeon and Levi (vv.5–7). Unity begins in the heart of the individual believer. David prayed in Psalm 86:11, “unite my heart to fear thy name.” This is eternal unity. It is a unity of the believer’s heart with the Lord’s heart. David prayed that he would be one with the Lord in every goal and purpose, with nothing coming between him and the Lord. Unity continues when the believer—who is one with the Lord—meets together with other believers whose hearts are also one with the Lord, as in our text. This produces external unity. When God’s people are internally and externally united with the Lord and one another, then they will experience mature unity. “Till we all come in the unity of the faith . . . unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ . . . grow(ing) up into Him in all things” (Ephesians 4:13,15). Christians will grow and mature where unity is found. Internal, external, and mature unity will produce peaceful unity. “Endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace” (Ephesians 4:3). This is the direct result of the Spirit’s working. Endeavor means to exert one’s self, to put forth an effort. Believers do not automatically slip into unity. They must make a concentrated effort. NPS