Why Does One Faith Demand You Tear Down Your Walls?

Why Does One Faith Demand You Tear Down Your Walls?

Ephesians 4:5-6 moves like a descent: God above all in sovereignty, through all in His working, in all by His indwelling. The unity of believers is not an achievement we negotiate — it is already a fact in heaven, grounded in one Lord, one faith, one baptism. The only question left is whether we will stop fighting it. 

A reflection on the walls we build, and the grace that asks us to let them fall.

Core Message

True Christian unity begins when we recognise that there is only one Lord, one faith, one baptism, and one God who is above all, works through all, and lives in all believers. Therefore, we must tear down the walls of pride, prejudice, division, and unforgiveness that separate us from fellow Christians and honour God’s presence in one another.  

One. And Only One.

A Wake-up Call from Ephesians 4:5-6

“One Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is above all and through all and in all.”

Ephesians 4 : 5-6

ഒരു കർ‍ത്താവും ഒരു വിശ്വാസവും ഒരു ജ്‌ഞാനസ്‍നാനവുമേയുള്ളു. സകലതിലുമുപരിയും സകലതിലൂടെയും സകലതിലും വർ‍ത്തിക്കുന്നവനും നമ്മുടെയെല്ലാം പിതാവുമായ ദൈവം ഒരുവൻ‍ മാത്രം.

എഫേസോസ്‌ 4 : 5-6

Read the verse again, slowly. Hear how it refuses to stop saying that one word. One. One. One. In a world that has made an art of counting differences, here is heaven counting only what holds us together. And then, as if one breath were not enough, Paul lifts his eyes higher still: one God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in all.

Three small words carry the whole weight of glory. Above. Through. In. They are not decoration. They are a descent — the movement of God from the throne of heaven into the very ground of your soul. And at each step down, this verse stops to ask you a question you cannot dodge. So let us follow the descent, and let it search us.

Above All — But Above You?

“Above all.” It is the language of a throne. It says there is One who reigns over every power that has ever frightened you, every authority that has ever bullied you, every fear that has ever sat on your chest at three in the morning. Nothing is over Him. Nothing.

But here is the wake-up call, and it is sharp: a God who is above all things is meant to be above you. So ask honestly — who actually reigns in your day? Is it the One enthroned above all, or the hundred small lords you serve without noticing? The opinion of others. The ache to be impressive. The grudge you will not lay down. The phone you reach for before you pray.

Paul says one Lord. Your week often says many. A God above all who is not first in your own heart is a King you admire from a safe distance — and admiration was never what He asked for. He asked for the throne. Will you give Him the only seat that was always His?

Through All — And Through People You Did Not Choose

“Through all.” God does not merely rule from above; He works. He moves through history, through circumstance, through the long slow patience of providence — and, most uncomfortably, through people. Through the whole company of the redeemed. Through all of them. Not a select few who share your accent, your tradition, your politics, your taste in worship. All.

And so the second question rises: are you willing to be one of the “all” He works through — standing shoulder to shoulder with believers you would never have chosen? The brother whose theology irritates you. The sister whose style of faith embarrasses you. The congregation across town you have quietly decided does it wrong.

One Lord. One faith. One baptism. Paul stacks them like stones in a single foundation, and a foundation does not take sides. If God is content to work through the very people you have written off, what does it say that you are not content to stand beside them? The unity is not yours to grant or withhold. It is already a fact in heaven. You are only invited to stop fighting it.

In All — So What Are You Doing to the God Within Them?

And now the descent reaches its lowest, most intimate place. “In all.” Not merely above us in majesty, not merely through us in action, but in us — dwelling, indwelling, taking up residence in the ordinary clay of every believing heart. The God who fills the heavens has chosen to live in people.

Then comes the question that should stop us cold. If God dwells in that person you have shut out — the one you avoid, the one you have quietly excommunicated from your affections — then what exactly are you doing when you wall yourself off from them? You are not only dividing yourself from a person. You are turning your back on the God who lives in them.

This is why division among believers is never a small thing, never merely a difference of opinion to be managed. It is a fracture run straight through the dwelling place of God. The same Spirit who lives in you lives in the one you cannot forgive. To despise them is to despise the temple He has chosen. To love them — even when it costs you — is to honour the God within them.

Come Down the Stairs

See what this verse has done. It took the highest truth in the universe — the sovereignty of God above all — and walked it all the way down into the way you treat the believer sitting next to you. Above all. Through all. In all. Heaven descending, step by step, until it stands in the space between you and the brother you have kept at arm’s length.

So here is the wake-up call, plainly. Stop counting what divides. Start with the One who is above you — give Him the throne. Trust the One who works through people you did not choose. And honour the One who lives in every heart He has claimed, including the hearts you find hardest to love.

One Lord. One faith. One baptism. One God and Father of all — above you, through you, in you, and in them. The walls were never yours to build. Today, by grace, let them fall.

A question to carry into the day: Is there one believer you have quietly walled off — and what would it look like, today, to honour the God who lives in them?

Today’s reflection is written by Johnbritto Kurusumuthu, inspired by the verse shared this morning (10 June 2026) by His Excellency, the Rt. Rev. Dr Selvister Ponnumuthan, Bishop of the Diocese of Punalur — a cherished practice he has faithfully continued for over three years.

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RISE & INSPIRE  •  Wake-Up Calls  •  Reflection 156 / Post 1052

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