The Circle of Oneness

How to Use This Study

This is a six week study for a small group, a family, or one person sitting with a cup of coffee. Each week walks through a piece of the Expanded teaching and gives you a few verses to read together and some questions to talk about. You do not need to rush. Read the passage out loud, let it sit, and answer the questions in your own words.

Our anchor for all six weeks is Ephesians 4:4-6, the seven "ones" printed on the back of the ministry card: one body, one Spirit, one hope, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God. Read the whole passage together at the start of every week:

A simple rhythm for each meeting: open in prayer, read the week's passages, talk through the questions, and close by praying for the unity of your own church and family.

Week 1: One Body

We belong to each other

Paul begins chapter 4 with the word "therefore." Everything he taught in chapters 1 through 3, that we were chosen, saved by grace, and made one new man out of Jew and Gentile, now leads to a way of walking. He asks us to keep the unity of the Spirit, not to invent it. The body is already one, because Christ made it one on the cross. A body is alive, connected, and has one head. And oneness is not sameness: many parts, many gifts, one body.

Verses to sit with

Ephesians 4:1-3 • 1 Corinthians 12:12-27 • Ephesians 2:14-16 • Colossians 1:18

Questions for discussion

1. Paul says "keep the unity," not "create the unity." What changes when we see unity as something already given to us?

2. Ephesians 4:2 lists humility, gentleness, patience, and bearing with one another in love. Which of these is hardest for you in a church setting, and why?

3. In 1 Corinthians 12, the eye cannot say to the hand, "I don't need you." Where have you seen one part of the church treat another that way?

4. Read 1 Corinthians 1:10-13. What are the modern versions of "I follow Paul, I follow Apollos"?

5. Ephesians 2:16 says Christ reconciled us "in one body" through the cross. How does remembering what that unity cost change how you treat a brother or sister you disagree with?

6. Colossians 1:18 says Christ is the head. What happens to a body when the parts stop listening to the head?

7. Name one person in your church or family whose gifts are very different from yours. How has God used the difference to bless you?

Week 2: One Spirit and One Hope

Sealed, and anchored

The Holy Spirit is the one who makes the body one. He seals us, he is the deposit guaranteeing our inheritance, and he testifies with our spirit that we are God's children. Jesus called him the Spirit of truth, who guides us into all truth, and John says the Spirit is the truth. One Spirit means one truth, and that is why we are told to test every spirit against what God has already said.

Paul adds that we were "called to one hope." Biblical hope is not wishful thinking. It is a confident expectation of what God has promised, and the hope is a person: Christ in you, the hope of glory. It is an anchor for the soul, firm and secure.

Verses to sit with

Ephesians 1:13-14 • John 16:13 • 1 John 4:1-3 • Galatians 5:22-23 • Colossians 1:27 • Hebrews 6:19 • 1 Peter 1:3

Questions for discussion

1. Ephesians 1:13-14 says the Spirit is a seal and a deposit. What does it mean to you that God has marked you as his?

2. John 16:13 says the Spirit guides us into all truth. How does the Spirit usually guide you: through scripture, through other believers, through conviction? Give an example.

3. 1 John 4:1-3 tells us to test the spirits. What are some voices today that sound spiritual but do not line up with the written word?

4. Which fruit of the Spirit in Galatians 5:22-23 do you most want to see grow in you this year? Which do you see most clearly in someone else in the group?

5. Where are you tempted to place your hope in something other than Christ: an election, a job, money, health? What does Hebrews 6:19 say an anchor does in a storm?

6. Colossians 1:27 says the hope is "Christ in you." How is a hope that is a person different from a hope in a circumstance?

7. Peter says we were born again into a "living hope." Share a time when hope in Jesus carried you through something hard.

Week 3: One Lord

Jesus holds the authority

Israel's great prayer began, "The Lord our God, the Lord is one." Paul holds Father and Son together in that confession: one God, the Father, and one Lord, Jesus Christ. God has given him the name above every name, and every knee will bow. There is no other name by which we must be saved, and no other mediator between God and man.

To say "one Lord" is to say Jesus is more than a teacher or a good example. He holds the authority, over the church, over my family, and over my own heart. And there is freedom in it: with one Lord, I do not have to please a hundred masters.

Verses to sit with

Deuteronomy 6:4 • 1 Corinthians 8:6 • Philippians 2:9-11 • Acts 4:12 • Luke 6:46 • Matthew 6:24 • 1 Timothy 2:5

Questions for discussion

1. Deuteronomy 6:4 is the prayer Israel prayed every day. Why do you think Paul draws on it when he writes about Jesus?

2. Philippians 2:9-11 says every knee will bow. What difference does it make to bow now, willingly, rather than later?

3. Read Luke 6:46. Is there something Jesus has clearly said that you have been slow to do? What would obedience look like this week?

4. Matthew 6:24 says no one can serve two masters. What are the other "lords" competing for your loyalty: approval, comfort, politics, a tradition?

5. Acts 4:12 and 1 Timothy 2:5 say there is one way and one mediator. How do you speak about this to a friend with kindness and without compromise?

6. How does it feel to know you serve one Lord who loved you and gave himself for you, instead of many masters you have to impress?

Week 4: One Faith and One Baptism

Trust, truth, and the public line

Faith in the Bible has two meanings. It is trust: we are saved by grace through faith. And it is the body of truth handed to us: "the faith that was once for all entrusted to God's holy people." Once for all means it was delivered one time, finished, complete. That is why the gospel cannot be remixed, and why the Bible closes with a warning against adding to or taking away from it.

Baptism is the public line in the sand. In it we are buried with Christ and raised to walk in new life. Believers have debated how and when to baptize, but Paul points at something deeper: there is one baptism, one door, and every believer in every century has come through it to the same Lord.

Verses to sit with

Ephesians 2:8-9 • Jude 3 • Galatians 1:6-9 • Revelation 22:18-19 • Romans 6:3-4 • Galatians 3:26-28 • Matthew 28:19-20

Questions for discussion

1. Ephesians 2:8-9 says faith is a gift received, not an achievement. How does that change the way we relate to people who are "newer" or "weaker" in the faith than we are?

2. Jude 3 says the faith was entrusted "once for all." What are some ways people today try to update, trim, or add to the gospel?

3. In Galatians 1:6-9, Paul says even an angel should not be believed if he preaches a different gospel. How seriously do you take the written word over a new experience or opinion?

4. Revelation 22:18-19 warns against adding or taking away. Where do you feel the pull to soften a hard passage of scripture?

5. Romans 6:3-4 describes baptism as burial and resurrection. What does your own baptism mean to you? If you have not been baptized, what is holding you back?

6. Galatians 3:26-28 says all who are baptized into Christ are one. How can we hold differing convictions about baptism and still stand together in Christ?

7. Matthew 28:19-20 sends us to make disciples. Who is one person you could invite closer to Jesus this month?

Week 5: One God and Father of All

Over all, through all, in all

Here is the summit of the passage. "I am the Lord, and there is no other." Paul uses three small words to show how this one God relates to everything: over all, through all, in all. He is sovereign over us, working through us, and dwelling in us by his Spirit. And he is Father. By the Spirit we cry, "Abba, Father."

Look at how Paul arranged the last three verses: Spirit, Lord, Father. The whole Godhead is set across these verses with the believer's life gathered around them. And Jesus prayed that we would be one just as the Father and Son are one, so our unity is meant to be a picture of God himself to a watching world. A last note: when Paul says one body of Jew and Gentile, he does not mean one replaced the other. It is one new man out of two, with the Gentile branch carried by the root.

Now step back and count the ones: seven, the number the Bible uses for completion (Genesis 2:1-3). The seven ones do not complete God, since he was never lacking. They show us the completeness of who he already is. And notice it is a circle: from the body, to the Spirit, the hope, the Lord, the faith, and the baptism, all the way up to the one God and Father, and then grace comes back down to each of us (Ephesians 4:7). It is not a closed loop. Every time you come back around there is more: his mercies are new every morning, and he is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine.

Verses to sit with

Isaiah 45:5 • Malachi 2:10 • Romans 11:36 • Acts 17:24-28 • Romans 8:15 • John 17:20-23 • Ephesians 2:11-22 • Romans 11:17-24 • Genesis 2:1-3 • Lamentations 3:22-23 • Ephesians 3:19-21

Questions for discussion

1. Romans 11:36 says all things are from him, through him, and to him. Where in your life do you most need to remember that God is over all?

2. Acts 17:28 says "in him we live and move and have our being." What does it mean that God is also through all and in all?

3. Romans 8:15 says we cry "Abba, Father." Is it easy or hard for you to see God as Father? What has shaped that?

4. In John 17:21 Jesus prays that we would be one, as he and the Father are one. How might a divided church give the world a false picture of God?

5. Read Ephesians 2:14-16 and Romans 11:17-24. What does it mean that Gentile believers are grafted in, and that the root carries the branch?

6. Why is it important that the one body honors Israel instead of replacing her? What attitude does Paul want from Gentile believers in Romans 11:18?

7. Which of the three words, over, through, or in, is the one you most need to remember today?

8. The seven ones do not complete God; they show his completeness. In your own words, what is the difference, and why does it matter?

9. Read Lamentations 3:22-23 and Ephesians 3:19-21. Where have you found God to be "always more than enough" when you came back to him again?

Week 6: Keeping the Unity

One voice, one truth

Paul does not leave us with a lovely statement and no way to live it. Christ gave the church apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers so that we grow in unity and maturity. The way is "speaking the truth in love." Truth without love is a clanging cymbal; love without truth has nothing to stand on.

It helps to separate the center from the edges. The seven ones are the center, and we guard them with courage. Around the center are disputable matters, where sincere believers can differ without breaking fellowship, and we hold those with grace. And all of it begins at home, at the kitchen table, before it ever reaches the pulpit or the public square.

Verses to sit with

Ephesians 4:11-16 • Colossians 3:12-15 • Romans 14:1-8 • Romans 14:19 • 1 Corinthians 13:1-7 • Deuteronomy 6:6-7 • John 17:20-23

Questions for discussion

1. Ephesians 4:15 says to speak "the truth in love." Where is it easiest for you to lean toward truth without love, and where toward love without truth?

2. What are the "seven ones" at the center that we must never compromise? What are some examples of disputable matters at the edges?

3. Romans 14:19 says to pursue what leads to peace and mutual edification. Is there a relationship where you need to make the first move?

4. Colossians 3:12-15 describes a wardrobe: compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, patience, and over all, love. Which piece do you need to put on this week?

5. Deuteronomy 6:6-7 starts unity at home. What is one practical step toward more unity at your own kitchen table?

6. John 17:20-23 is Jesus praying for you. How does it feel to know he prayed for your unity with other believers before the cross?

7. Look back at all seven ones. Which one spoke to you most in these six weeks, and what will you do differently because of it?

Going Deeper

Thank you for walking through these six weeks. If you want to go deeper, the Teaching version of this study walks through all seven ones in one sitting, and the Expanded version goes the furthest, with every passage opened up, the hidden pattern in Ephesians 4:4-6, the one new man, and a full list of scriptures for further study. Either one will be a good next step for your group.

One body, one Spirit, one hope, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all. One voice, one truth.