Ephesians 4
September 3
Reading: Ephesians 4
1 I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, 2 with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, 3 eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. 4 There is one body and one Spirit-- just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call-- 5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism, 6 one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.
7 But grace was given to each one of us according to the measure of Christ's gift. 8 Therefore it says, "When he ascended on high he led a host of captives, and he gave gifts to men." 9 (In saying, "He ascended," what does it mean but that he had also descended into the lower regions, the earth? 10 He who descended is the one who also ascended far above all the heavens, that he might fill all things.)
11 And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, 12 to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, 13 until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, 14 so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes. 15 Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, 16 from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.
17 Now this I say and testify in the Lord, that you must no longer walk as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their minds. 18 They are darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, due to their hardness of heart. 19 They have become callous and have given themselves up to sensuality, greedy to practice every kind of impurity. 20 But that is not the way you learned Christ!-- 21 assuming that you have heard about him and were taught in him, as the truth is in Jesus, 22 to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, 23 and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, 24 and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.
25 Therefore, having put away falsehood, let each one of you speak the truth with his neighbor, for we are members one of another. 26 Be angry and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, 27 and give no opportunity to the devil. 28 Let the thief no longer steal, but rather let him labor, doing honest work with his own hands, so that he may have something to share with anyone in need. 29 Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear. 30 And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. 31 Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. 32 Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.
Ephesians 4:1 makes a move that is characteristic of many of Paul’s letters as well as 1 Peter. It is a turning point in the letter from theology to practice, from the Gospel to the outworking of the Gospel in the life of the believer. Because God has chosen us to be holy, predestined us to adoption as sons, saved us by grace, redeemed us through His blood, made us alive with Christ, made known to us the mystery of His will, made us heirs, seated us in the heavenlies, and given us the Holy Spirit as pledge; therefore Paul says, “I urge you to walk in a manner worthy” of this calling.
“Walk” is a metaphor for how we live. It shows up again in 4:17. This chapter is all about how we must live as Christians, in particular, how we must live with other believers.
Because we are part of “one body” (vs. 4) we are to treat each other accordingly. Together, we are supposed to grow up together in Christ. The vision for how Christians are to live with one another can be clearly seen in the body metaphor in vss. 15-16. God gives gifts to people, wants us to grow in understanding the truth, warns us about believing lies, and calls us to love each other so that we will grow up together as one beautiful body.
This chapter is full of commands to obey. You might list them. We are here commanded to do things and to not do other things. We are commanded to turn away from an old worldly way of living to a new spiritual way of living. Our new way of living changes how we speak, how we deal with anger, how we work, how we treat others, and how we forgive.
How about you? Do you live different from the world? Do you resist gossip and slander? Do you resist anger? Do you work hard? Do you give to others who are in need? Do you seek to encourage others? Do you really forgive people?
I want to direct your attention to this last command. Notice the pattern for the forgiveness we must have toward others, “Forgive each other as God in Christ has forgiven you.” I have heard people say that we cannot forgive like God forgives. I have heard people say, “I forgive you, but I do not have to forget.” But this verse commands us to forgive as God forgives. Does God forgive but not forget? Does He forgive but continue to hold our sins against us?
You are called to walk in a manner worthy of your calling. This includes how you forgive people. How can you or I say to God, “I know You forgive and forget sins, but I am not going to do that?”