Instead of Ephesians 4:3 -6 referring back to 1 Corinthians 12 or to

any other company, it is the business of every member of the Body of Christ

to keep the unity already made in the creating of the one New Man.

We have had correspondence with quite a number of believers who have

been distracted by a teaching that lifts Ephesians 4:3 -6 out of its context

and applies it to 1 Corinthians 12 and other passages outside the Mystery.

Most have expressed the truth when they have said:

`We cannot see why Paul, as the prisoner of the Lord, should exhort

believers who are blessed under the terms of the Mystery, to walk in

harmony with some other calling.  How can we walk worthy of the calling

wherewith we are called, by endeavouring to keep some other unity

belonging to a period when the hope before the church was the hope of

Israel?  Is the "one hope of your calling" not identical or at least

parallel with "the hope of His calling"?' (Eph. 1:18).

We believe that the answer to these questions is self -evident.  It is

mischievous and absurd to try to introduce into the practical outworking of

the new revelation of the Mystery, doctrines and practices that belong to

other spheres.  We come back therefore to our opening thought.  It is not

possible to `unite' without `dividing', and unless we `rightly divide the

Word of truth' and keep the revelation of the Mystery clear and distinct, we

shall not walk worthy of our calling, neither shall we keep the Unity of the

Spirit, nor entertain without distraction `the one hope of our calling'.

We have seen that the `endeavour' to keep the Unity of the Spirit and

the `study' to divide the Word of Truth aright are intimately connected.  The

application of the principle of `right division' leads to a recognition of

dispensational truth, and leads us to see that in the epistle to the

Ephesians, we have the revelation of a calling so new that it had never been

mentioned even in Scripture until it was revealed to the apostle Paul as the

prisoner of Jesus Christ for us Gentiles.  The great doctrine of

the Mystery is given in the sevenfold revelation which occupies the first

three chapters of Ephesians.  The corresponding practical section is given in

the sevenfold revelation of practical outworking that occupies the last three

chapters.  Every section in the doctrinal portion has its counterpart in the

practical section.  No item is without its mate, and Ephesians 4:1 -6

introduced by `the prisoner of the Lord', balances Ephesians 3:1 -13

introduced by `the prisoner of Jesus Christ'.  Ephesians 3:1 -13 is concerned

with the revelation of the Mystery, Ephesians 4:1 -6 with its manifestation

in practice.  The harmony of the parts of the epistle is complete, the

balance and structure self -evident, and we are therefore under no necessity

to discuss any further the strange idea held by some that the first item of

practice in Ephesians 4 belongs to another calling and a different

dispensation.  Nothing short of a statement inserted by Paul himself would

warrant such a dislocation of the epistle.

The Unity of the Spirit is sevenfold and is most easily represented by

a lampstand.  This is an illustration simply, and does not mean that the

Mystery in any sense is typified by the Tabernacle.  The central item in this

unity is the `One Lord' and on either side are ranged the One Body, the One

Spirit, the One Hope, the One Faith and the One God and Father.  It is our

privilege and our responsibility to `keep' this unity inviolate, allowing

neither addition nor subtraction nor alteration in any particular.  The