Ephesians 4:1-10
ONE
Ephesians 4:1 I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord,
beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called,
Therefore - because of all the things he had written
in the first three chapters, here is how the believer should respond. Paul reminded the Ephesians that he was in prison due to his
mission ordained by the Lord to preach the gospel (the good news of salvation
through Jesus Christ to all who believe) to the Gentiles. His imprisonment was in
accordance with divine design. This would remind them that
service to the Lord Jesus could come at a price to them as well. Paul
admonished them to live a life worthy of their salvation and the specific gifts the Holy Spirit had bestowed on them.
They should be worthily living out the purpose for which they were created. Not that they earned salvation in any way, but that their
behavior would be evidence of the change brought about in them by the Holy
Spirit.
Ephesians 4:2 With all lowliness and meekness, with
longsuffering, forbearing one another in love;
John
MacArthur Study Bible:
4:2
lowliness. “Humility” is a term not found in the Lat. or Gr. vocabularies of
Paul’s day. The Gr. word apparently was coined by Christians, perhaps even by
Paul himself, to describe a quality for which no other word was available.
Humility, the most foundational Christian virtue (James 4:6), is the quality of
character commanded in the first beatitude (Matt. 5:3), and describes the noble
grace of Christ (Phil. 2:7, 8).
Matthew 5:3 (NIV) “Blessed are the poor in
spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Our Lord Jesus became human, and in that state of being a man, He was the perfect example of
humility.
Philippians 2:7-8 (NIV) rather, he made
himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness.
8 And being found in appearance as a man, he
humbled himself by becoming obedient to death— even death on a cross!
The Creator and Sustainer of the universe
humbled Himself to be born as a human baby. We are to be like Him, not thinking
ourselves better than others but realizing we are all in need of the
forgiveness and grace of God. A synonym for longsuffering
is longanimous:
longanimous
- adj showing patient and unruffled self-control and restraint under adversity;
slow to retaliate or express resentment. “was longanimous in the face of
suffering” Synonyms: forbearing patient.
Great word I’d never heard! Slow to retaliate
reminds me of the instruction in Romans 12.
Romans 12:21 Do not be overcome by evil, but
overcome evil with good.
Believers should be consistently characterized by humility
and patience toward others by the power of the Holy Spirit working within them.
Ephesians 4:3 Endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit
in the bond of peace.
If we are walking in the Spirit rather than
in the flesh (by our own desires), the bond of peace would be the result. Our longsuffering and seeking peace are a direct result of the
love the Holy Spirit gives us for our fellow (sister) believers. Divisiveness
in the church is harmful not only to those failing to come together in unity,
but also harms those observing this behavior.
Colossians 3:14 (NIV) And over all these
virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.
Ephesians 4:4 There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye
are called in one hope of your calling;
The one body is the church, the Messianic community, those who believe Jesus to be the
Messiah promised in the Old Testament. The one Spirit
is the Holy Spirit, the third person of the Trinity who indwells every
believer. Our only hope is trusting Jesus, believing He
died to redeem us by the grace of God.
Ephesians 4:5 One Lord, one faith, one baptism,
Jesus is the one Lord. Jesus is the second
person of the Trinity, but He and the Father and the Holy Spirit are One God.
Hard for our finite minds to comprehend, but true. One faith would be the doctrine we believe as revealed in the
Old Testament and brought to light in the New Testament, the understanding that salvation is by grace alone through
faith. One baptism would be the water baptism of a believer as a
public demonstration of that faith.
Ephesians 4:6 One God and Father of all, who is above all,
and through all, and in you all.
God is the Father of all people in the sense
that He created them. He is sovereign over all creation. However, He only makes His home in those who have trusted Jesus and the
redemption He accomplished through His death on the cross and subsequent
resurrection from the tomb.
Ephesians 4:7 But unto every one of us is given grace according
to the measure of the gift of Christ.
All believers have been given immeasurable
saving grace. Each believer is given spiritual gifts according to how Jesus has
crafted them for His use as His workmanship. Not all
are given the same gifts, but the gifts of each individual fit with the gifts
of other believers to meet the needs of the church. Just as we are stones (jewels) or bricks in His temple, our
gifts, like mortar, help to fit us together to strengthen the living building
of the Messianic Community.
Ephesians 4:8 Wherefore he saith, When he ascended up on
high, he led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto men.
When Jesus ascended back into Heaven, he
abolished our captivity to sin and death. It was after this ascension, that the
Holy Spirit filled the believers at Pentecost and each believer from that time
on. The Holy Spirit activates the gifts Jesus has for His followers. He had
explained to His disciples that the Holy Spirit would not come until He had
returned to Heaven.
John 16:7 (KJV) Nevertheless I tell you the
truth; It is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the
Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you.
Ephesians 4:9 (Now that he ascended, what is it but that he
also descended first into the lower parts of the earth? 10 He that descended is
the same also that ascended up far above all heavens, that he might fill all
things.)
Jesus descended to earth as we noted earlier
in the passage from Philippians chapter two, and served as the portrait, the
example of humility and service. The lowest parts
of the earth may refer to Jesus’ descent during the three days His body was in
the tomb to announce his victory to the demons imprisoned there (1 Peter
3:18-19).
Now that Jesus has ascended back to Heaven,
He is at the right hand of the Father fulfilling His position as Chief Priest
and intercessor for all who believe. He also sustains
the earth since He is restored to His rightful glory as a member of the
God-head.
Hebrews 1:3 (NIV) The Son is the radiance of
God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by
his powerful word. After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at
the right hand of the Majesty in heaven.
Ponder this: The Holy Spirit, through this
letter of the Apostle Paul, repeatedly emphasized the word ONE. The Lord is
drilling into us the unity that believers have and should experience in Christ.
There should be no rifts between believers as there are in the world. When we
share trust in the Lord Jesus, we should be able to have fellowship with one
another within the church, between churches, in our communities, and around the
world.
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