John 17:20-23

Spiritual unity is simple to understand, but almost overwhelmingly difficult to achieve. In fact, humanly, it is impossible. We will see this in Christ’s Passover prayer:

Jesus mentions oneness for the disciples four times in His prayer here, and another time back in verse 11. Oneness is perfect unity. Jesus prayed for it because only God can bring it about. This unity is not difficult to understand as a concept. The Father and Son are perfectly united—they are one—because they are of the same mind. The Son always submits to the Father, and the Son experienced becoming flesh and dying, which the Father did not, but even so, they are still one in their approach. They have different roles and experiences, but that does not detract from having the same mind.

To have spiritual unity in the church, we must all be of the same mind as Christ. When we are of the same mind as Christ, we will also be of the same mind as the others who are of the Christ’s mind. He is our Standard. We will have unique vantage points and experiences, but we can still be of one mind—Christ’s mind—in our understanding and approach.