The New Testament presents the Church as one because its source, life, and unity come from God Himself. Though there are many visible communities, traditions, and names, the Church is fundamentally one because it is gathered by one Lord through one Spirit into one shared life. The unity Jesus spoke of is not primarily institutional or cultural but spiritual, modeled on the unity between the Son and the Father. Those who come to believe through the apostolic testimony are drawn into this unity, not by external conformity, but by participation in the same divine life. In this way, all who are gathered by the Lord of the harvest become one people, forming one Church at the level of spirit.
Jesus’ teaching consistently directs attention away from outward markers of religious identity toward inward transformation. His declaration that God is Spirit and that true worship must be in spirit and in truth establishes the foundation for unity that transcends place, tradition, and ethnicity. This teaching is vividly demonstrated in His encounter with the Samaritans, a people separated from the Jews by deep historical, religious, and cultural divisions. Jesus crossed those barriers by speaking prophetically through the Spirit to a Samaritan woman, leading an entire village to faith. Their belief arose independently of the Jewish disciples and could not easily be integrated into existing religious structures, yet Jesus affirmed their faith as genuine. By doing so, He showed that unity would not be achieved by absorbing one group into another, but by each person learning to worship the Father in spirit and truth.
The surprise of the disciples at the Samaritan response highlights how radically Jesus reframed belonging. Faith generated by the Spirit does not depend on shared heritage or proximity to established centers of worship. Where the Spirit reveals truth and hearts respond in faith, genuine unity already exists, even if outward forms remain divided. Jesus addressed inevitable divisions not by eliminating difference but by calling each believer into a deeper, shared spiritual reality. When individuals live by the Spirit and respond to the same truth, they find themselves united at a level that precedes and transcends all visible distinctions.
This vision of unity is carried forward in the gospel proclaimed by the apostles. The apostolic testimony to Jesus Christ, crucified and raised by the Father, calls all people into the same way of life that Jesus Himself lived: a life of submission to the Father and dependence on the Spirit. The gospel does not merely convey information; it imparts life. Jesus’ words are spirit and life, and the Holy Spirit continues to teach, guide, and form believers according to those words. Through this Spirit, believers are shaped into individuals who are no longer driven by the flesh, by cultural instincts, or by mere intellectual effort, but by the spirit within them.
The sending of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost reveals how unity and diversity coexist in God’s design. One Holy Spirit was given, yet manifested in many tongues of fire, resting on each individual. The image is of a single divine fire shared without division, personal yet unifying. Each believer receives the Spirit personally, and yet all are joined into one. This pattern preserves genuine difference while establishing profound unity, showing that unity does not require uniformity. The Holy Spirit, and life lived according to true spirit animates many lives, drawing them together without erasing their distinct histories or identities.
The apostolic mission, particularly as articulated through Paul, makes clear that this unity encompasses both Jews and Gentiles without distinction. There is one gospel, one Lord, one Spirit, and one Father of all. As believers yield to the Spirit’s work, they are drawn into harmony with God and with one another. At this level of shared spirit-oriented life, barriers of denomination, culture, ethnicity, and history are transcended. Though external differences remain, they no longer define identity or fellowship.
When believers worship God in spirit and in truth, they are participating in the worship that pleases Him. Their unity is not manufactured but experienced, not imposed but lived. In this shared life, the Church becomes what it was always meant to be: a living temple composed of people in whom the Spirit dwells. The Father, who is one and uniquely God, makes His dwelling among a people made one in Christ, gathered from many fields by the one Lord of the harvest, and bound together by the life of the Spirit and the testimony of Jesus.
(Wording by AI together with Stephen D Green)
