Walking Worthily Means Walking In Unity Because God had given such great blessings to those in the church and could provide even above what we might ask or think, Paul pleaded with the brethren at Ephesus to live a life that is suited to our great calling. Our calling came from the gospel and is di... [ Continue Reading ]
God's Plan For Unity To have unity, we also must have a plan. The Spirit's message will cause us to realize there is only one body, or church (Ephesians 1:22-23). There is only one Holy Spirit to give us life and peace through his message. Our hope is eternal life in heaven with God and it serves a... [ Continue Reading ]
Gifts Christ Gave to the Church In a few verses Paul is going to deal with special miraculous abilities given to some in the early church to sustain it until God's word could be set down in inspired writings. This verse may refer to those gifts. However, it could safely be said each Christian has b... [ Continue Reading ]
Offices Christ Established As ruler over all, particularly in the church, Jesus set apostles and prophets in the church to reveal his will to man. They were able to do this because of the inspiration of the Holy Spirit and the miracles he empowered them to work (Acts 1:6-8; John 16:13-14; Hebrews 2:... [ Continue Reading ]
Getting Ready for Service The word for "equipping" here comes from a word which suggests setting a bone that has been broken or mending a fishing net. The thought is of getting ready for service. One means of getting Christians ready for use is getting them ready to serve, or perform even the most... [ Continue Reading ]
Growing In Love Again, to be perfect, we have to quit being childish (1 Corinthians 14:20). Children are gullible and will often believe whatever was last told them. Like a cork on the waves, such would be unstable, drifting wherever the wind is blowing at the time. Unfortunately, there are those f... [ Continue Reading ]
The Old Man Walked in Sin If the church would grow to the perfection of Christ, it must turn from walking in the ways of the world. Particularly, Christians would not pursue selfish ways (4:17). When man follows his own desires, he fails to understand the ways of righteousness. God's ways become fo... [ Continue Reading ]
The New Life of Those Taught By Christ Paul did not have any doubt about the teaching they had received. Instead, he is preparing to remind them of Christ's teachings and the life they should live after accepting them (4:21). The old Gentile way of living should be cast aside like a worn out garmen... [ Continue Reading ]
Changes in the New Man The old man would not hesitate to lie if it would help him fill one of his uncontrolled desires. The new man always tells the truth, especially to his brethren because we are all members of the same body (4:25; Colossians 3:9-11). The old man would allow anger to run wild and... [ Continue Reading ]
Do Not Grieve the Holy Spirit Any involvement of Christians in the activities of the "old man" would grieve the Holy Spirit (Isaiah 63:10). Whenever we reject the teachings of the Bible, we are rejecting the Holy Spirit, thereby giving him great sorrow (Psalms 78:40: 95:10-11). Remember, the Holy S... [ Continue Reading ]