Ephesians 4:1-32

Christian Belief and Behaviour

Ephesians

Les Painter (Bible text by Cynthia Green)

Chapter 4

What Paul taught in Chapter s 1-3 was first about God and his Son Jesus Christ. Then it was about the *church and our *salvation.

What Paul teaches in Chapter s 4-6 is about how to live as Christians. We see practical ways in which God’s *glory enters the *church. Then Paul shows how the *church will express God’s *glory to the world.

4:1-16 ~ To live a life that has value

4:1-6 ~ Try hard to stay together

v1 I am in prison because I serve the *Lord. So I am asking you to live good lives. God has called you, so your lives must give him honour. v2 You should be completely humble, gentle and patient. And you should show love to people who do not agree with you. v3 The Spirit, who gives peace, binds you together. And you must try hard to stay together. v4 God called you to one hope. In the same way, there is one body and one Spirit. v5 There is one *Lord, one *faith, one *baptism. v6 There is one God and Father of all. He is over all. He works by all and he lives in you all.

Verse 1 Christ has chosen us to sit with him in the *heavenly places (2:6). The name of Jesus is a statement about who he is. His name means ‘the *Lord *saves’. He is great and powerful. We are united with Jesus. We are with him at his side. We represent his name in our daily lives. In Ephesians 1:18, Paul speaks about the hope that we have in Christ. He now urges his readers to live as Christ taught us.

Verse 2 Paul now lists 4 qualities. The first is that we need to be ‘humble’. All people are of equal value to God. So no one Christian is more important than any other Christian is. To be humble means to recognise this. We should not be proud. We should not think that we are more important than other people. The *Greeks understood this differently from the *Jews. The *Greeks did not think that people should be humble. They did not want to be humble. To be humble was to be weak. They used a plant to describe it. This plant kept close to the ground and it always seemed to be trying to hide itself. The *Greeks did not like that. They did not think that to be humble was a good quality. Neither do many people today.

Paul, however, gives a new meaning to the word ‘humble’. A Christian should not have too great an opinion about himself. But he will want to know himself as he really is. He will look at the life of Christ. He will compare his life with his *Lord’s life. He will see then how weak and selfish he is. He will see the great difference. Then he will have a true opinion about himself. Because he thinks like this, he will respect other people. He will be kind towards them. Jesus was humble when he became a man (Philippians 2:6-7). Also, Paul says that it is not just ‘be humble’ but ‘be completely humble’. A Christian should be humble in every way.

However, a Christian can think well about himself and he should do so. But this is only when he understands the truth about himself. Yes, he has become the kind of person that God wants. But it is only by the *grace that God has given him. This means that God does not want you always to think that you are a bad person. He wants you to think about yourself for less time.

The second quality is to be ‘gentle’. This means to be under control. It is like a horse. He is strong but in perfect control. It is like a strong man who is able control himself. He uses his strength for good purposes. He is gentle with other people. He will be kind to them. It is like Jesus. He said about himself, ‘my attitude is gentle and humble’. A gentle person will not worry if someone hurts him. And he will not worry if someone does something wrong to him.

The third quality is to be ‘patient’ (or longsuffering). It means not to give up when things are against you. Suppose someone acts wrongly towards you. You must not do the same to them. This is what God is like (Romans 2:4). He does not act badly against us when we act badly against him.

The fourth quality is to be tolerant. This is to practise patience in daily life. It is to ‘show love to people who do not agree with you’. It is to be patient with the faults of another person. You continue to love a person when he does the wrong things. That means things that you do not like. Paul wants his friends to have these qualities only in love. Paul has already prayed for his friends (3:17). He prayed that they would ‘be like plants with roots in the ground of his love’ (3:17). Now he prays that Christians will have all these qualities in love.

Verse 3 Some people describe verses 4-6 as part of an early Christian *hymn. Paul uses the word ‘one’ 7 times. By Christ, we have unity. We should be united in the Spirit of God. This does not happen to us by our own efforts. However, we must work hard to keep it. We do this as we live in peace. The peace is the peace that Christ has given to us. We also live in peace with each other.

Verse 4 The *church is a like a body. It is a body of people - men, women and children. God has joined everyone together. Each person belongs to the other people. It is a group of people who work together for God. So people can see the *church. It is like the different parts of our physical bodies. Our bodies have many different parts. These parts all belong to each other. All the parts work together.

There is also ‘one Spirit’. He is the *Holy Spirit. There is only one body because there is only one Spirit. The *church consists of *Jewish and *Gentile *believers. Its unity comes from the one *Holy Spirit.

The *Holy Spirit is in the *church and he gives it life. He joins the people together. This makes unity in the *church. The *church is not a club or society. It is a body. It is alive and it is always growing. It grows by the power of the *Holy Spirit inside it.

There is ‘one hope’. This hope is that one day we shall all be like Jesus. We will live close to him for ever.

Verse 5 Next comes, ‘one *Lord, one *faith, one *baptism’. There is ‘one *Lord’, Jesus Christ. He is the *Lord of the *church. He is the same *Lord for all people. It does not matter who they are. They can be *Jews or *Gentiles. They can be black or white people. They can be rich or poor, great or small. Jesus Christ joins them all together and he keeps them together with him.

There is ‘one *faith’. All who love God share the same truths. These are truths about Jesus and his plan for our *salvation. *Faith in Jesus Christ means that we trust him for all of our life. All Christians share together in this.

There is ‘one *baptism’. We are not sure what Paul is referring to here. There is a *baptism in water. There is a *baptism into Christ (Galatians 3:27). There is a *baptism into one body (1 Corinthians 12:13).

Verse 6 ‘There is one God and Father of all. He is over all. He works by all and he lives in you all.’ In this one sentence, Paul speaks about the greatness and wonder of God. We live in a world where God is at the head of everything. This is what Christians believe. God is in control of everything. God keeps everything going and he holds everything together (Colossians 1:17). God is in all Christians. He knows about everything that happens. This same God is in us. He is working out his plan by us.

In verses 4-6, we see the Three in One God. We have the *Holy Spirit (verse 4), the *Lord Jesus (verse 5) and God the Father (verse 6).

4:7-12 ~ The gifts of Christ

v7 Christ has given a share of his *grace to each of us. v8 This is why scripture (the *Old Testament) says, ‘When Christ went up to the highest place, he took prisoners with him. And he gave gifts to men.’

v9 (When it says ‘He went up’, it must mean that he also descended into the lower parts of the earth. v10 The person who went down is also the person who went up higher than all things. He fills everything that exists.) v11 It was he who gave gifts to his *church. He gave some *apostles and some *prophets. He gave some people the gift to tell out the good news about Christ. He gave some *pastors and teachers. v12 This is how he prepares God’s people to do his work. He builds them up into one body in Christ.