Commentary on Ephesians 4
by Dave Brown
Ephesians Introduction Page
Ephesians 1-3
Ephesians 5-6
Chapter 4
[Paul now goes on to give them instructions as to how to move on toward perfection.]
4:1 I therefore, the prisoner in the Lord, beseech you to walk worthily of the calling wherewith ye were called,
2 with all lowliness and meekness, with longsuffering, forbearing one another in love;
3 giving diligence to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.
[As one who has lost his freedom for preaching the unity of the Jews and Gentiles in the one body of Christ, the church, he calls this to mind again as he instructs them on moving forward. But he does not lord his apostolic status over them but rather begs them to work worthily of their calling in Christ. These are not hollow words, it is difficult for many people even when they become Christians to renounce their personal ambitions and seek the benefit of the Lord and His people. It takes humility, patience with one another, and a gentle attitude – all characteristics of meekness, and yet not at all incompatible with courage. Both Jesus and Moses were called meek, but their courage would never be doubted. This was because their courage was directed at helping others and not advancing themselves personally.]
[Longsuffering is an attribute of love (1 Cor. 13) that indicates our willingness to withstand recurring grievances that would lead most people to seek retribution. Our first thought when tempted like this is: what is this action going to do the local church? If we have love for the work we will be able to suffer much for it. “Forbearing one another.” Since in situations where we are working together with others, there are bound to disagreements that inadvertently arise. We are to think the best of our fellow Christians realizing that their offense could be motivated by an honest attempt to promote the work. We are to exhort and even rebuke each other to produce greater love for Christ. We need to love those who are looking out for our spiritual welfare and thank them for having the courage to rebuke us when we need it. What a beautiful phrase is keeping “the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.” When we all are staying within what the Holy Spirit has delivered to us, this will produce unity. And the bond that we have is not one to conduct war, but one that will preach to the world “the peace that passeth all understanding” (Philippians 4:7)].
4(There is) one body, and one Spirit, even as also ye were called in one hope of your calling;
5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism,
6 one God and Father of all, who is over all, and through all, and in all.
[The purpose of this passage is to emphasize how the unity of Christians reflects the unity of all spiritual things, and must so reflect it if we are to continue to be in Christ. The one body is the body of Christ, the church. While there are many local churches, yet there is only one universal church, which contains all of the saved and only the saved for all time, past, present and future (Heb. 12:22-24). In the first century, there may have been some churches that were almost completely Jewish and others that were completely Gentile. It was imperative both in the first century and now that every effort be made to break down such racial barriers and for Christians to work together for the Lord in a demonstration of this call for unity. It will be noticed that the three divine persons are mentioned before some other items that also illustrated unity. We can understand that there is one Spirit who delivered the word of Jesus, and that being the case, there must be unity of doctrine or the Spirit would be contradicting Himself. This leads to but one hope of our calling – not like those of the world who would have a wide variety of selfish hopes that would rarely be totally compatible with each other.]
[Understanding that there is but one Lord Jesus Christ, and thus but one head of the church, further reinforces the necessity for our being united, not only in doctrine, but in the many judgments necessary to carry out God’s will in the church (Philippians 2:2). This leads to the fact that since our faith is in the one Lord, there must be only one faith. This is not talking about the individual belief itself that is intangible and within the individual soul of the Christian, since what is under consideration here is something that is shared. It must be talking about what we can call a single faith system – or system of beliefs – the word faith being used in the same way that Jude used it when he said: “I was constrained to write unto you exhorting you to contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered unto the saints” (Jude 3). This is the system of faith that Paul describes in Romans 1:16-17 when he says that the gospel is the power of God unto salvation; and then in verse 17: “For therein [in the gospel] is revealed a righteousness of God from faith unto faith: as it is written, But the righteous shall live by faith.” We cannot live by some abstract mental exercise – we must have this system of faith spelled out, and it is in the gospel, the New Testament. This is called “a righteousness of God” not an assertion or proof that God is righteous (such is totally unnecessary to believers), but a system of faith by which humans can be made righteous. That is, salvation is obtained by a righteousness of God as opposed to a righteousness of man, which would be any system of faith other than the gospel.]
[One baptism. And yet we know that there are several usages of this word baptism in the New Testament. There is baptism of the Holy Spirit, baptism in fire, John’s baptism and even the erroneous baptism for the dead. But let us not doubt that at this time within the churches there was but one baptism practiced and that was the baptism in water for the remission of sins. This was the only baptism that was ever commanded after the Holy Spirit came upon the apostles on the day of Pentecost (Acts 2). This is an easy thing to establish merely by using a concordance to review all of the usages of the words baptize, baptized and baptism throughout the New Testament. It will be quickly seen that the baptism in the Holy Spirit occurred only twice in the recordings of the New Testament, in Acts 2 and Acts 10-11 (conversions of the first Jews and the first Gentiles, respectively). Substitute any other baptism in this passage for the “one baptism” and the ramifications of this interpretation become immediately absurd. So why even bring baptism up at this point? We know that there were issues over who did the baptizing in Corinth, and we speculate that perhaps Paul is trying to stem any such issue occurring at Ephesus (see 1 Cor. 1:12-16, where the subject was, much as it is here, dealing with division). It is obvious that Paul and the Holy Spirit felt that the subject of baptism was as important as all of the other unity topics given here.]
[Finally, the “one God and Father of all …” There is certainly a sense in which God is the Father of all mankind regardless of whether mankind recognizes it or not. He is “over all” in a physical sense in that he can take control of all things at any time. He is “through all” physically in that it would be impossible for us to sustain life without the building blocks of life that he has given to us, and in this sense He is also in all of mankind sustaining us. But there is a special sense in which He is the Father to those who clearly recognize him as their Father and Jesus Christ as their Lord. He is “over us” in the sense that we gladly subject ourselves to his authority. He is “through us” in that our lives are lived in an effort to constantly attune ourselves to his majesty. And he is “in us” in the same sense that it states in Romans 8 that both the Holy Spirit and Jesus are in us spiritually when we have killed the old man and been resurrected with a new life in Christ (Romans 6). The words here are quite comparable to the “all in all” phrase used in Eph. 1:23, and we refer the reader to that verse for additional explanation.
7 But unto each one of us was the grace given according to the measure of the gift of Christ.
[This is a transitional statement to introduce the next section of the chapter that will be dealing with spiritual gifts. The word “but” always implies a contrast, and here the contrast is between the unity that they have as members of the Lord’s church and the differences that they might have in their abilities and the grace given to them to serve. The measure of the gift of Christ is the determination by Christ as to the gift that would be given to any one of them. This gift is spoken of as “grace given,” and it is important to recognize that the one who received a given measured gift did not earn it or deserve it – it is all due to the unmerited favor bestowed on us by what Christ has done for us.]
8 Wherefore he said, When he ascended on high, he led captivity captive, And gave gifts unto men.
[This is a quotation from Psalms 68:18, which originally applied to those actions described in 2 Samuel 6, but which also seem to have been applied by the Holy Spirit through Paul here to affirm the allegorical nature of this event. That was physical captivity and physical gifts; this is freedom from the enslavement of sin and the spiritual gifts that will be discussed below.]
9 (Now this, He ascended, what is it but that he also descended into the lower parts of the earth?
[The ascending refers to Jesus ascending into heaven after his crucifixion (Acts 1). The point being made here – that he also descended – shows the Godhood (deity) of Jesus Christ. He was not just another Elijah or Enoch – men who still have human souls and spirits today. Jesus Christ was in the beginning with God and all things were made through him (John 1). He became flesh and dwelt among us (John 1:14) for the space of about three years, was crucified, died and was buried. He rose from the dead and ascended into heaven 40 days later (Acts 1).]
10 He that descended is the same also that ascended far above all the heavens, that he might fill all things.)
[This is a reaffirmation of the authority of Jesus Christ that was confirmed by his ascension and the events surrounding it. “Far above” is to emphasize his total authority over all things, and his “filling all things” further indicates his authority and control over them. We may see this in a physical sense, but in reality it is speaking of spiritual things, some of which may be well beyond our grasp (see 2 Cor. 12).
11 And he gave some (to be) apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers;
12 for the perfecting of the saints, unto the work of ministering, unto the building up of the body of Christ:
[This is not beyond our grasp. The first two of these categories of gifts we generally call “spiritual gifts” or “gifts of the Holy Spirit” in that they are miraculous. They involve both the receipt of new revelation and its confirmation, both of which are miraculous. Their work in this regard is well documented in the book of Acts and referenced in the various letters to the churches. The gift of evangelists, pastors and teachers is not one that creates supernatural effects, but we should recognize that these qualifications and abilities are indeed gifts from the one who arose above all rule and authority, Jesus Christ. It seems the goal here of Paul to emphasize that these various gifts are from the Head of the church, Jesus Christ, and as long as they abide in consistency with His word, they must be regarded as having the full weight of the authority of Jesus Christ. And thus, this is a further explanation for the preceding verses. Their work was of a very serious nature. Moving the saints to a higher degree of spirituality toward perfection, which implies full growth. Their work was a service, not as dictators or kings – it was a ministry, and its purpose was to build up the body of Christ, the church, spiritually.]
13 till we all attain unto the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a fullgrown man, unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ:
[The word “till” implies that these gifts might be temporary until a certain event occurs. In this case it is attaining the unity of the faith, a full-grown man, and the fullness of Christ. Yet, we know that these things are never totally accomplished no matter how mature a given church and its members might become. There are always some weak members, and if the church is functioning to carry out the Great Commission they will be making converts who, initially at least, will be relatively immature. So the need for at least some of these gifts must continue. A similar complementary passage in 1 Corinthians 13 is given in the context of miraculous spiritual gifts indicates that the miraculous gifts (apostles and prophets in this case) will be done away. 1 Cor. 13:8-10: “Love never fails: but whether (there be) prophecies, they shall be done away; whether (there be) tongues, they shall cease; whether (there be) knowledge, it shall be done away. For we know in part, and we prophesy in part; but when that which is perfect is come, that which is in part shall be done away.” The contrast here is not between revelation and some other further event, such as the second coming of Jesus. It is between the partial revelation and a completed perfect (or full grown) revelation. Since we know of no additions that have been made to the bible since its canonization shortly after the first century, we conclude that this would be the point at which “that which is perfect is (had) come.” Relating that to this verse we conclude that while the non-miraculous gifts still continue, those involving miraculous revelation and confirmation have ceased. Two things are established: (1) we need to respect and regard our evangelists, pastors and teachers and recognize the key roles that they play in the spiritual progress of the local churches; and (2) we need to view these men and their talents as gifts that come from the grace of God – not just to them, but to us. When we pray and give thanks for them, let us mention that their talents are gifts to us, and let that motivate us to give them the respect that they deserve.
14 that we may be no longer children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, in craftiness, after the wiles of error;
[The implication is that when we first become Christians we are babes in Christ, and so the exhortation of Peter in 1 Peter 2:2: “… as newborn babes , long for the spiritual milk which is without guile, that ye may grow thereby unto salvation; …” And also Hebrews 5:13: “For every one that partakes of milk is without experience of the word of righteousness; for he is a babe.” It is not a sin to be a babe, but it is a sin to remain a babe. Our spiritual leaders are given to us to help us reach a state of maturity where we are subject to the perils of immaturity: (1) being tossed to and fro like a ship without a rudder or an anchor just going wherever the wind takes us; I am sure you have experienced some who will jump on a suggestion without giving it much thought at all; (2) deceived ty the sleight of men in their craftiness – how easy it is for the immature to be led astray; and (3) after the wiles of error – error itself rarely comes without being clothed in deceit; it looks good and seems good, but it is not consistent with the ways of our Lord.]
15 but speaking truth in love, we may grow up in all things into him, who is the head, (even) Christ;
[It is not just that the words are true, but that they are spoken in love. The motivation behind them is so important, and usually a consideration of such will alter the exact words to make them much more palatable and easy to digest. Our growth is to be “in all things into him” – becoming more and more like Jesus Christ every day of our lives. He is the head of the church but should also be the head of each one of us in our day to day decision-making.]
16 from whom all the body fitly framed and knit together through that which every joint supplies, according to the working in (due) measure of each several part, maketh the increase of the body unto the building up of itself in love.
[Verses 13-16 above use the metaphor of the human body, its growth and maturity, to describe both the growth of the individual Christian and our working together in a local church. The verse is quite sublime in that it describes each individual member as being a member of the body, such as a finger, an eye, an ear, a tongue. As each of us grows spiritually, so does the body. But there is something that is not gained by us maturing independently that is gained by our working together. This is captured by the phrase “every joint supplies.” A joint requires the presence of two members. The implication is that the joint provides something that the individual members acting independently cannot provide. Now it is true, there must be “working in due measure of each several part,” but if we are going to be fitly framed and knit together, it will require collective effort. While collective church activity might help, that is not the main thrust of this verse. It talks more of individual interactions between and among the members on a less formal basis than what might be thought of as a “church program.” This is not speaking against any scriptural collective actions; we are just trying to show that the primary responsibility is (as always) upon the individual. Individuals are saved, not churches.]
17 This I say therefore, and testify in the Lord, that ye no longer walk as the Gentiles also walk, in the vanity of their mind,
18 being darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God, because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the hardening of their heart;
19 who being past feeling gave themselves up to lasciviousness, to work all uncleanness with greediness.
[We will deal with these three verses collectively since they describe the negative things that we need to stay away from. The rest of the chapter will contain positive commands – things whereby we will be able to grow up in Christ. But it is important to get these negative things out of the way first. Clearly Paul is directing these thoughts to individuals, as we stated above. “As the Gentiles” would not be a very politically correct thing to say today because for sure there would be some Gentiles to whom this did not apply. But we know that Paul knows that and that he is speaking in general of the typical Gentile mind set, which was one of selfishness and vanity. “Stop thinking and acting that way!” is the command of Paul (and Jesus). You cannot continue in that way and hope to maintain your covenant relationship with God. Their understanding is darkened, they are alienated from the life of God, they are ignorant of the truth of the Gospel, and they will remain in ignorance because their heart is hardened to the truth. They are “past feeling” and for this reason even when they hear the truth they will reject it out of hand, give reasons that it cannot be the truth, or even try to intimidate and persecute those who lovingly attempt to teach them the truth. Their goal in life has become lasciviousness, loose and lustful thinking, working all uncleanness with greediness. In short, being someone who is self-centered and only thinking about pleasing himself regardless if it is consistent with God’s laws or not. There are many who have partaken in the lifestyle and found that it does not lead to any degree of happiness or self-satisfaction. In many cases they realize that if they continue they will either end up killing themselves or harming others, and so seeking a better life they come to Christ. But the lure of this lifestyle never ceases, and Paul is saying “do not dabble in it – do not let one inch of your being be involved with this type of thing, for if you continue in it you will be drawn into it like quicksand and you will not be able to escape.”
20 But ye did not so learn Christ;
21 if so be that ye heard him, and were taught in him, even as truth is in Jesus:
22 that ye put away, as concerning your former manner of life, the old man, that waxes corrupt after the lusts of deceit;
23 and that ye be renewed in the spirit of your mind,
[This passage talks about the process that must take place in order to escape the wages of sin that will accompany their former lifestyle. The wages of sin is death (Rom. 6:23), and there is no way to avoid those wages without escaping sin. Do not think that you can escape the consequences of sin by some scriptural loophole without changing your life. Many people are on the road to hell with this false belief. So let’s take the above process step by step. First they had to learn Christ, hear (that means prayerfully LISTEN to Him), and be taught in him, since the truth is in Jesus. Next they had to put away the things of their former life. Generally this is called repentance … recall what Peter answered on the day or Pentecost when asked “What must we do?” His response was that they needed to repent and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ into the remission of their sins. Is there any other way for those outside of Jesus to be forgiven of their sins? Baptism also puts one in Christ, and the entire process is laid out quite logically in Romans 6. The final step is to be renewed in the spirit of your mind. We know of no definition of what the “spirit of the mind” is, but for sure what Paul is trying to get through to them and us is that it is not a surface thing. It is not just a mental glitch. It is a complete change in the way you view life. If this does not take place then it is a lie to say that you are in Christ or that you believe in Christ – your actions demonstrated that you do not.]
24 and put on the new man that after God hath been created in righteousness and holiness of truth.
[Let us quote the parallel passage from Romans 6 that addresses this; but we highly recommend that you read the entire chapter. Rom 6:1-11:
6:1 What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound?
2 Absolutely NOT!!! We who died to sin, how shall we any longer live therein?
3 Or are ye ignorant that all we who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death?
4 We were buried therefore with him through baptism unto death: that like as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we also might walk in newness of life.
5 For if we have become united with (him) in the likeness of his death, we shall be also (in the likeness) of his resurrection;
6 knowing this, that our old man was crucified with (him), that the body of sin might be done away, that so we should no longer be in bondage to sin;
7 for he that hath died is justified from sin.
8 But if we died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him;
9 knowing that Christ being raised from the dead dieth no more; death no more hath dominion over him.
10 For the death that he died, he died unto sin once: but the life that he liveth, he liveth unto God.
11 Even so reckon ye also yourselves to be dead unto sin, but alive unto God in Christ Jesus.]
25 Wherefore, putting away falsehood, speak ye truth each one with his neighbor: for we are members one of another.
[This should go without saying but the fact that Paul brings it up shows that it is always a weakness of humans to want to skew the truth or, as they say today, “spin it” in a direction that favors you. It is time for us to put all such falsehood and deceit as far away from ourselves as possible.]
26 Be ye angry, and sin not: let not the sun go down upon your wrath:
27 neither give place to the devil.
[There are times to be angry. We will not list them all here, but examples would be when we see innocent and defenseless people oppressed, when we see gross injustice that hurts the very people it is falsely stated to be helping, when members of our families are mistreated and the like. We are not commanded to be angry in general, but following the lead of Jesus, there are time, such as when the money changers were making a travesty of His Father’s house, the temple, that it is time for us to be emotionally involved. But we need to stay in control of it and do not allow it to drive us to sin. How many good causes have been destroyed because their supporters took the wrong way to accomplish a good end. We are not ignorant of Satan’s devices, and getting good people so zealous for good that they commit evil by taking things to an extreme is certainly one of them. We can see him laughing. One way to control wrath is to resolve not to allow it to affect your sleep. There is a time for it, but the duration of that time is short.]
28 Let him that stole steal no more: but rather let him labor, working with his hands the thing that is good, that he may have whereof to give to him that hath need.
[It is amazing how many otherwise good people think nothing of stealing small objects from their employer or other places, e,g, towels from hotels. They rationalize that if it is not missed, then they must be entitled to it. Just think how cheaply they are selling their souls. Theft does not have to be huge and harmful to be sinful. Others feel that stealing from the government or other large organizations is acceptable, perhaps filing false or exaggerated claims to an insurance company or a governmental agency, or cheating on their taxes. There is no room in the Christian’s life for this type of thing, and while it might tempt some people, the mature Christian will not even allow his mind to contemplate such a thing.
29 Let no corrupt speech proceed out of your mouth, but such as is good for edifying as the need may be, that it may give grace to them that hear.
[While corrupt speech might be subject to interpretation, it covers anything that is in the least bit doubtful. There are many substitutes that are used – these are euphemisms – words that are not quite as bad as the ones that we know are “corrupt.” The problem with such euphemisms is that they communicate the actual word itself. Using the first letter of a word is another example, but if it did not communicate the word itself, it would not make any sense. Trying to get around God’s word in this regard is not the answer. The answer is to absolutely abstain from anything that would communicate corrupt speech. If you have used corrupt speech for a long time and it has become an embedded habit, this will be difficult, especially if you are in the habit of uttering some blazing words when things go wrong, like for example, if you stub your toe. The habit can be overcome by immediately confessing it to God and praying for forgiveness. You will find that within a matter of a few weeks you will have your mouth cleaned up completely, at least in public. You may never clean up your mind from thinking these things and for them being on the tip of your tongue. But get on the path and continually improve … that is what the Lord expects of His own.
30 And grieve not the Holy Spirit of God, in whom ye were sealed unto the day of redemption.
The Holy Spirit has communicated God’s will, and your meditating upon God’s word is part of the Holy Spirt and Jesus being in your heart as indicated in Roman 8. Then you just decide you are going to go ahead and sin anyway, and you do regardless of your knowledge of what the Holy Spirit has stated. This is grieving or quenching (1 Thes. 5:19) the Holy Spirit of God. It was the Holy Spirit that revealed the gospel that convinced you that Jesus Christ was the son of God, and by obedience to that gospel you were saved. A seal in the first century was something that could not be broken legally except by those who were authorized to do so. The promise of the Holy Spirit seals our hearts, and although we must wait for the final redemption of the body, we can be assured that if our faith is in Jesus Christ, God will keep all of His promises, and those promises will be for our benefit. The idea here is that it is a horrendous thing to do this to the Holy Spirit when He has done so much to benefit us.
31 Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamor, and railing, be put away from you, with all malice:
32 and be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving each other, even as God also in Christ forgave you.
[These two verses complement each other, one being the negative and the other being the positive that must take its place or else “the last state will be worse than the first” (see Mt. 12:43-45)
Go to Ephesians 5-6
by Dave Brown
Ephesians Introduction Page
Ephesians 1-3
Ephesians 5-6
Chapter 4
[Paul now goes on to give them instructions as to how to move on toward perfection.]
4:1 I therefore, the prisoner in the Lord, beseech you to walk worthily of the calling wherewith ye were called,
2 with all lowliness and meekness, with longsuffering, forbearing one another in love;
3 giving diligence to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.
[As one who has lost his freedom for preaching the unity of the Jews and Gentiles in the one body of Christ, the church, he calls this to mind again as he instructs them on moving forward. But he does not lord his apostolic status over them but rather begs them to work worthily of their calling in Christ. These are not hollow words, it is difficult for many people even when they become Christians to renounce their personal ambitions and seek the benefit of the Lord and His people. It takes humility, patience with one another, and a gentle attitude – all characteristics of meekness, and yet not at all incompatible with courage. Both Jesus and Moses were called meek, but their courage would never be doubted. This was because their courage was directed at helping others and not advancing themselves personally.]
[Longsuffering is an attribute of love (1 Cor. 13) that indicates our willingness to withstand recurring grievances that would lead most people to seek retribution. Our first thought when tempted like this is: what is this action going to do the local church? If we have love for the work we will be able to suffer much for it. “Forbearing one another.” Since in situations where we are working together with others, there are bound to disagreements that inadvertently arise. We are to think the best of our fellow Christians realizing that their offense could be motivated by an honest attempt to promote the work. We are to exhort and even rebuke each other to produce greater love for Christ. We need to love those who are looking out for our spiritual welfare and thank them for having the courage to rebuke us when we need it. What a beautiful phrase is keeping “the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.” When we all are staying within what the Holy Spirit has delivered to us, this will produce unity. And the bond that we have is not one to conduct war, but one that will preach to the world “the peace that passeth all understanding” (Philippians 4:7)].
4(There is) one body, and one Spirit, even as also ye were called in one hope of your calling;
5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism,
6 one God and Father of all, who is over all, and through all, and in all.
[The purpose of this passage is to emphasize how the unity of Christians reflects the unity of all spiritual things, and must so reflect it if we are to continue to be in Christ. The one body is the body of Christ, the church. While there are many local churches, yet there is only one universal church, which contains all of the saved and only the saved for all time, past, present and future (Heb. 12:22-24). In the first century, there may have been some churches that were almost completely Jewish and others that were completely Gentile. It was imperative both in the first century and now that every effort be made to break down such racial barriers and for Christians to work together for the Lord in a demonstration of this call for unity. It will be noticed that the three divine persons are mentioned before some other items that also illustrated unity. We can understand that there is one Spirit who delivered the word of Jesus, and that being the case, there must be unity of doctrine or the Spirit would be contradicting Himself. This leads to but one hope of our calling – not like those of the world who would have a wide variety of selfish hopes that would rarely be totally compatible with each other.]
[Understanding that there is but one Lord Jesus Christ, and thus but one head of the church, further reinforces the necessity for our being united, not only in doctrine, but in the many judgments necessary to carry out God’s will in the church (Philippians 2:2). This leads to the fact that since our faith is in the one Lord, there must be only one faith. This is not talking about the individual belief itself that is intangible and within the individual soul of the Christian, since what is under consideration here is something that is shared. It must be talking about what we can call a single faith system – or system of beliefs – the word faith being used in the same way that Jude used it when he said: “I was constrained to write unto you exhorting you to contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered unto the saints” (Jude 3). This is the system of faith that Paul describes in Romans 1:16-17 when he says that the gospel is the power of God unto salvation; and then in verse 17: “For therein [in the gospel] is revealed a righteousness of God from faith unto faith: as it is written, But the righteous shall live by faith.” We cannot live by some abstract mental exercise – we must have this system of faith spelled out, and it is in the gospel, the New Testament. This is called “a righteousness of God” not an assertion or proof that God is righteous (such is totally unnecessary to believers), but a system of faith by which humans can be made righteous. That is, salvation is obtained by a righteousness of God as opposed to a righteousness of man, which would be any system of faith other than the gospel.]
[One baptism. And yet we know that there are several usages of this word baptism in the New Testament. There is baptism of the Holy Spirit, baptism in fire, John’s baptism and even the erroneous baptism for the dead. But let us not doubt that at this time within the churches there was but one baptism practiced and that was the baptism in water for the remission of sins. This was the only baptism that was ever commanded after the Holy Spirit came upon the apostles on the day of Pentecost (Acts 2). This is an easy thing to establish merely by using a concordance to review all of the usages of the words baptize, baptized and baptism throughout the New Testament. It will be quickly seen that the baptism in the Holy Spirit occurred only twice in the recordings of the New Testament, in Acts 2 and Acts 10-11 (conversions of the first Jews and the first Gentiles, respectively). Substitute any other baptism in this passage for the “one baptism” and the ramifications of this interpretation become immediately absurd. So why even bring baptism up at this point? We know that there were issues over who did the baptizing in Corinth, and we speculate that perhaps Paul is trying to stem any such issue occurring at Ephesus (see 1 Cor. 1:12-16, where the subject was, much as it is here, dealing with division). It is obvious that Paul and the Holy Spirit felt that the subject of baptism was as important as all of the other unity topics given here.]
[Finally, the “one God and Father of all …” There is certainly a sense in which God is the Father of all mankind regardless of whether mankind recognizes it or not. He is “over all” in a physical sense in that he can take control of all things at any time. He is “through all” physically in that it would be impossible for us to sustain life without the building blocks of life that he has given to us, and in this sense He is also in all of mankind sustaining us. But there is a special sense in which He is the Father to those who clearly recognize him as their Father and Jesus Christ as their Lord. He is “over us” in the sense that we gladly subject ourselves to his authority. He is “through us” in that our lives are lived in an effort to constantly attune ourselves to his majesty. And he is “in us” in the same sense that it states in Romans 8 that both the Holy Spirit and Jesus are in us spiritually when we have killed the old man and been resurrected with a new life in Christ (Romans 6). The words here are quite comparable to the “all in all” phrase used in Eph. 1:23, and we refer the reader to that verse for additional explanation.
7 But unto each one of us was the grace given according to the measure of the gift of Christ.
[This is a transitional statement to introduce the next section of the chapter that will be dealing with spiritual gifts. The word “but” always implies a contrast, and here the contrast is between the unity that they have as members of the Lord’s church and the differences that they might have in their abilities and the grace given to them to serve. The measure of the gift of Christ is the determination by Christ as to the gift that would be given to any one of them. This gift is spoken of as “grace given,” and it is important to recognize that the one who received a given measured gift did not earn it or deserve it – it is all due to the unmerited favor bestowed on us by what Christ has done for us.]
8 Wherefore he said, When he ascended on high, he led captivity captive, And gave gifts unto men.
[This is a quotation from Psalms 68:18, which originally applied to those actions described in 2 Samuel 6, but which also seem to have been applied by the Holy Spirit through Paul here to affirm the allegorical nature of this event. That was physical captivity and physical gifts; this is freedom from the enslavement of sin and the spiritual gifts that will be discussed below.]
9 (Now this, He ascended, what is it but that he also descended into the lower parts of the earth?
[The ascending refers to Jesus ascending into heaven after his crucifixion (Acts 1). The point being made here – that he also descended – shows the Godhood (deity) of Jesus Christ. He was not just another Elijah or Enoch – men who still have human souls and spirits today. Jesus Christ was in the beginning with God and all things were made through him (John 1). He became flesh and dwelt among us (John 1:14) for the space of about three years, was crucified, died and was buried. He rose from the dead and ascended into heaven 40 days later (Acts 1).]
10 He that descended is the same also that ascended far above all the heavens, that he might fill all things.)
[This is a reaffirmation of the authority of Jesus Christ that was confirmed by his ascension and the events surrounding it. “Far above” is to emphasize his total authority over all things, and his “filling all things” further indicates his authority and control over them. We may see this in a physical sense, but in reality it is speaking of spiritual things, some of which may be well beyond our grasp (see 2 Cor. 12).
11 And he gave some (to be) apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers;
12 for the perfecting of the saints, unto the work of ministering, unto the building up of the body of Christ:
[This is not beyond our grasp. The first two of these categories of gifts we generally call “spiritual gifts” or “gifts of the Holy Spirit” in that they are miraculous. They involve both the receipt of new revelation and its confirmation, both of which are miraculous. Their work in this regard is well documented in the book of Acts and referenced in the various letters to the churches. The gift of evangelists, pastors and teachers is not one that creates supernatural effects, but we should recognize that these qualifications and abilities are indeed gifts from the one who arose above all rule and authority, Jesus Christ. It seems the goal here of Paul to emphasize that these various gifts are from the Head of the church, Jesus Christ, and as long as they abide in consistency with His word, they must be regarded as having the full weight of the authority of Jesus Christ. And thus, this is a further explanation for the preceding verses. Their work was of a very serious nature. Moving the saints to a higher degree of spirituality toward perfection, which implies full growth. Their work was a service, not as dictators or kings – it was a ministry, and its purpose was to build up the body of Christ, the church, spiritually.]
13 till we all attain unto the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a fullgrown man, unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ:
[The word “till” implies that these gifts might be temporary until a certain event occurs. In this case it is attaining the unity of the faith, a full-grown man, and the fullness of Christ. Yet, we know that these things are never totally accomplished no matter how mature a given church and its members might become. There are always some weak members, and if the church is functioning to carry out the Great Commission they will be making converts who, initially at least, will be relatively immature. So the need for at least some of these gifts must continue. A similar complementary passage in 1 Corinthians 13 is given in the context of miraculous spiritual gifts indicates that the miraculous gifts (apostles and prophets in this case) will be done away. 1 Cor. 13:8-10: “Love never fails: but whether (there be) prophecies, they shall be done away; whether (there be) tongues, they shall cease; whether (there be) knowledge, it shall be done away. For we know in part, and we prophesy in part; but when that which is perfect is come, that which is in part shall be done away.” The contrast here is not between revelation and some other further event, such as the second coming of Jesus. It is between the partial revelation and a completed perfect (or full grown) revelation. Since we know of no additions that have been made to the bible since its canonization shortly after the first century, we conclude that this would be the point at which “that which is perfect is (had) come.” Relating that to this verse we conclude that while the non-miraculous gifts still continue, those involving miraculous revelation and confirmation have ceased. Two things are established: (1) we need to respect and regard our evangelists, pastors and teachers and recognize the key roles that they play in the spiritual progress of the local churches; and (2) we need to view these men and their talents as gifts that come from the grace of God – not just to them, but to us. When we pray and give thanks for them, let us mention that their talents are gifts to us, and let that motivate us to give them the respect that they deserve.
14 that we may be no longer children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, in craftiness, after the wiles of error;
[The implication is that when we first become Christians we are babes in Christ, and so the exhortation of Peter in 1 Peter 2:2: “… as newborn babes , long for the spiritual milk which is without guile, that ye may grow thereby unto salvation; …” And also Hebrews 5:13: “For every one that partakes of milk is without experience of the word of righteousness; for he is a babe.” It is not a sin to be a babe, but it is a sin to remain a babe. Our spiritual leaders are given to us to help us reach a state of maturity where we are subject to the perils of immaturity: (1) being tossed to and fro like a ship without a rudder or an anchor just going wherever the wind takes us; I am sure you have experienced some who will jump on a suggestion without giving it much thought at all; (2) deceived ty the sleight of men in their craftiness – how easy it is for the immature to be led astray; and (3) after the wiles of error – error itself rarely comes without being clothed in deceit; it looks good and seems good, but it is not consistent with the ways of our Lord.]
15 but speaking truth in love, we may grow up in all things into him, who is the head, (even) Christ;
[It is not just that the words are true, but that they are spoken in love. The motivation behind them is so important, and usually a consideration of such will alter the exact words to make them much more palatable and easy to digest. Our growth is to be “in all things into him” – becoming more and more like Jesus Christ every day of our lives. He is the head of the church but should also be the head of each one of us in our day to day decision-making.]
16 from whom all the body fitly framed and knit together through that which every joint supplies, according to the working in (due) measure of each several part, maketh the increase of the body unto the building up of itself in love.
[Verses 13-16 above use the metaphor of the human body, its growth and maturity, to describe both the growth of the individual Christian and our working together in a local church. The verse is quite sublime in that it describes each individual member as being a member of the body, such as a finger, an eye, an ear, a tongue. As each of us grows spiritually, so does the body. But there is something that is not gained by us maturing independently that is gained by our working together. This is captured by the phrase “every joint supplies.” A joint requires the presence of two members. The implication is that the joint provides something that the individual members acting independently cannot provide. Now it is true, there must be “working in due measure of each several part,” but if we are going to be fitly framed and knit together, it will require collective effort. While collective church activity might help, that is not the main thrust of this verse. It talks more of individual interactions between and among the members on a less formal basis than what might be thought of as a “church program.” This is not speaking against any scriptural collective actions; we are just trying to show that the primary responsibility is (as always) upon the individual. Individuals are saved, not churches.]
17 This I say therefore, and testify in the Lord, that ye no longer walk as the Gentiles also walk, in the vanity of their mind,
18 being darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God, because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the hardening of their heart;
19 who being past feeling gave themselves up to lasciviousness, to work all uncleanness with greediness.
[We will deal with these three verses collectively since they describe the negative things that we need to stay away from. The rest of the chapter will contain positive commands – things whereby we will be able to grow up in Christ. But it is important to get these negative things out of the way first. Clearly Paul is directing these thoughts to individuals, as we stated above. “As the Gentiles” would not be a very politically correct thing to say today because for sure there would be some Gentiles to whom this did not apply. But we know that Paul knows that and that he is speaking in general of the typical Gentile mind set, which was one of selfishness and vanity. “Stop thinking and acting that way!” is the command of Paul (and Jesus). You cannot continue in that way and hope to maintain your covenant relationship with God. Their understanding is darkened, they are alienated from the life of God, they are ignorant of the truth of the Gospel, and they will remain in ignorance because their heart is hardened to the truth. They are “past feeling” and for this reason even when they hear the truth they will reject it out of hand, give reasons that it cannot be the truth, or even try to intimidate and persecute those who lovingly attempt to teach them the truth. Their goal in life has become lasciviousness, loose and lustful thinking, working all uncleanness with greediness. In short, being someone who is self-centered and only thinking about pleasing himself regardless if it is consistent with God’s laws or not. There are many who have partaken in the lifestyle and found that it does not lead to any degree of happiness or self-satisfaction. In many cases they realize that if they continue they will either end up killing themselves or harming others, and so seeking a better life they come to Christ. But the lure of this lifestyle never ceases, and Paul is saying “do not dabble in it – do not let one inch of your being be involved with this type of thing, for if you continue in it you will be drawn into it like quicksand and you will not be able to escape.”
20 But ye did not so learn Christ;
21 if so be that ye heard him, and were taught in him, even as truth is in Jesus:
22 that ye put away, as concerning your former manner of life, the old man, that waxes corrupt after the lusts of deceit;
23 and that ye be renewed in the spirit of your mind,
[This passage talks about the process that must take place in order to escape the wages of sin that will accompany their former lifestyle. The wages of sin is death (Rom. 6:23), and there is no way to avoid those wages without escaping sin. Do not think that you can escape the consequences of sin by some scriptural loophole without changing your life. Many people are on the road to hell with this false belief. So let’s take the above process step by step. First they had to learn Christ, hear (that means prayerfully LISTEN to Him), and be taught in him, since the truth is in Jesus. Next they had to put away the things of their former life. Generally this is called repentance … recall what Peter answered on the day or Pentecost when asked “What must we do?” His response was that they needed to repent and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ into the remission of their sins. Is there any other way for those outside of Jesus to be forgiven of their sins? Baptism also puts one in Christ, and the entire process is laid out quite logically in Romans 6. The final step is to be renewed in the spirit of your mind. We know of no definition of what the “spirit of the mind” is, but for sure what Paul is trying to get through to them and us is that it is not a surface thing. It is not just a mental glitch. It is a complete change in the way you view life. If this does not take place then it is a lie to say that you are in Christ or that you believe in Christ – your actions demonstrated that you do not.]
24 and put on the new man that after God hath been created in righteousness and holiness of truth.
[Let us quote the parallel passage from Romans 6 that addresses this; but we highly recommend that you read the entire chapter. Rom 6:1-11:
6:1 What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound?
2 Absolutely NOT!!! We who died to sin, how shall we any longer live therein?
3 Or are ye ignorant that all we who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death?
4 We were buried therefore with him through baptism unto death: that like as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we also might walk in newness of life.
5 For if we have become united with (him) in the likeness of his death, we shall be also (in the likeness) of his resurrection;
6 knowing this, that our old man was crucified with (him), that the body of sin might be done away, that so we should no longer be in bondage to sin;
7 for he that hath died is justified from sin.
8 But if we died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him;
9 knowing that Christ being raised from the dead dieth no more; death no more hath dominion over him.
10 For the death that he died, he died unto sin once: but the life that he liveth, he liveth unto God.
11 Even so reckon ye also yourselves to be dead unto sin, but alive unto God in Christ Jesus.]
25 Wherefore, putting away falsehood, speak ye truth each one with his neighbor: for we are members one of another.
[This should go without saying but the fact that Paul brings it up shows that it is always a weakness of humans to want to skew the truth or, as they say today, “spin it” in a direction that favors you. It is time for us to put all such falsehood and deceit as far away from ourselves as possible.]
26 Be ye angry, and sin not: let not the sun go down upon your wrath:
27 neither give place to the devil.
[There are times to be angry. We will not list them all here, but examples would be when we see innocent and defenseless people oppressed, when we see gross injustice that hurts the very people it is falsely stated to be helping, when members of our families are mistreated and the like. We are not commanded to be angry in general, but following the lead of Jesus, there are time, such as when the money changers were making a travesty of His Father’s house, the temple, that it is time for us to be emotionally involved. But we need to stay in control of it and do not allow it to drive us to sin. How many good causes have been destroyed because their supporters took the wrong way to accomplish a good end. We are not ignorant of Satan’s devices, and getting good people so zealous for good that they commit evil by taking things to an extreme is certainly one of them. We can see him laughing. One way to control wrath is to resolve not to allow it to affect your sleep. There is a time for it, but the duration of that time is short.]
28 Let him that stole steal no more: but rather let him labor, working with his hands the thing that is good, that he may have whereof to give to him that hath need.
[It is amazing how many otherwise good people think nothing of stealing small objects from their employer or other places, e,g, towels from hotels. They rationalize that if it is not missed, then they must be entitled to it. Just think how cheaply they are selling their souls. Theft does not have to be huge and harmful to be sinful. Others feel that stealing from the government or other large organizations is acceptable, perhaps filing false or exaggerated claims to an insurance company or a governmental agency, or cheating on their taxes. There is no room in the Christian’s life for this type of thing, and while it might tempt some people, the mature Christian will not even allow his mind to contemplate such a thing.
29 Let no corrupt speech proceed out of your mouth, but such as is good for edifying as the need may be, that it may give grace to them that hear.
[While corrupt speech might be subject to interpretation, it covers anything that is in the least bit doubtful. There are many substitutes that are used – these are euphemisms – words that are not quite as bad as the ones that we know are “corrupt.” The problem with such euphemisms is that they communicate the actual word itself. Using the first letter of a word is another example, but if it did not communicate the word itself, it would not make any sense. Trying to get around God’s word in this regard is not the answer. The answer is to absolutely abstain from anything that would communicate corrupt speech. If you have used corrupt speech for a long time and it has become an embedded habit, this will be difficult, especially if you are in the habit of uttering some blazing words when things go wrong, like for example, if you stub your toe. The habit can be overcome by immediately confessing it to God and praying for forgiveness. You will find that within a matter of a few weeks you will have your mouth cleaned up completely, at least in public. You may never clean up your mind from thinking these things and for them being on the tip of your tongue. But get on the path and continually improve … that is what the Lord expects of His own.
30 And grieve not the Holy Spirit of God, in whom ye were sealed unto the day of redemption.
The Holy Spirit has communicated God’s will, and your meditating upon God’s word is part of the Holy Spirt and Jesus being in your heart as indicated in Roman 8. Then you just decide you are going to go ahead and sin anyway, and you do regardless of your knowledge of what the Holy Spirit has stated. This is grieving or quenching (1 Thes. 5:19) the Holy Spirit of God. It was the Holy Spirit that revealed the gospel that convinced you that Jesus Christ was the son of God, and by obedience to that gospel you were saved. A seal in the first century was something that could not be broken legally except by those who were authorized to do so. The promise of the Holy Spirit seals our hearts, and although we must wait for the final redemption of the body, we can be assured that if our faith is in Jesus Christ, God will keep all of His promises, and those promises will be for our benefit. The idea here is that it is a horrendous thing to do this to the Holy Spirit when He has done so much to benefit us.
31 Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamor, and railing, be put away from you, with all malice:
32 and be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving each other, even as God also in Christ forgave you.
[These two verses complement each other, one being the negative and the other being the positive that must take its place or else “the last state will be worse than the first” (see Mt. 12:43-45)
Go to Ephesians 5-6