Bond of Peace
Walking in "gentleness, with patience, showing tolerance for one another in love," as instructed by Ephesians 4:2, does not allow us to ignore "being diligent to preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace." Love is tough at times and it includes rebuke. But, love's toughness or harshness is part of the bond of peace. For Example: Stephen was the prime non-original-disciple-example of preserving the "unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace." His example can be seen completely parallel to Jesus's own testimony of unity with the Father. Stephen spoke the words the father gave him. He did the things Jesus did, and God testified to that bond with signs and wonders. Yet, Stephen's love turned out to tough and harsh to the people Stephen spoke with.
Here's how. The Bible explicitly testifies about Stephen's character in Acts 6:5, 8 and to his words and behavior in chapter seven. Compare this with Jesus in the following verses:
That kind of obedience to the faith comes the same way it came to Jesus. "Although He was a Son, He learned obedience from the things which He suffered." Hebrews 5:8 The topic of Jesus' suffering in order to learn obedience will be discussed in greater detail in the article entitled "Purpose for Rebuke."
For now, it is enough to know that the bond of peace is a specific testimony modeled first by Jesus and repeated by His disciples and even Stephen. Their testimony moved God to perform signs and wonders. Although, not all those signs and wonders felt good or made recipients stand and marvel. The sign and wonder produced by God as a result of Stephen's testimony at the end of Acts 7, literally cut people to the quick and forced all of them into the valley of decision. They chose death rather than the life Stephen modeled.
The bond of peace is Unity in the Holy Spirit.
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