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Ephesians Chapter Four
(Caleb Huang)
Detailed Verse by Verse
Commentary
Eph. 4:1 “I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech
you to walk worthy of the calling with which you were called,”
Literal Meaning of Each Word or Phrase:
“Walk worthy” – equivalent to, matches, balanced, suitableness (it
is used to describe the state of the number on a scale being properly leveled/balanced
with the goods placed on the scale); “to
walk” – to take a walk, our conduct.
Explanation on the Meaning of Words and Phrases
Based on the
original manuscript, there is a “therefore” at the beginning of this verse,
which means that the following teachings are based on the truths presented
previously in the previous chapter(s).
Paul once again
mentioned, “the prisoner of the Lord”
(3:1). Apparently, he sees his being “the
prisoner of the Lord” as a means of honor and regards it as his qualifications
for his speaking.
“Called” shows that there are 4 aspects
to the significance our salvation: 1) We have been selected and called out from
the world to God. 2) This calling is entirely of God’s doing – it is passive on
the part of man. 3) Only those who are willing to obey and answer God’s
election can have a part. 4) God’s election is for us to receive a special and
extraordinary identity that we may carry out a certain kind of special tasks.
“You to walk worthy of the calling with which
you were called”: This is to say that our conduct must match who we are in
order that we may not violate/disobey God’s original purpose in calling us.
Enlightenment in the Word
1)
If we are like the apostle Paul in being a
“prisoner in the Lord” (according to the original Greek the word “in” is used
here), then our walk/conduct will not be according to what we wish or in a
casual manner, but will “walk worthy of
the (our) calling.”
2)
God’s calling is not that we would live a life
outside of this world, but that we would live a life in this world and conduct
ourselves in accordance with God’s gracious calling.
3)
The Chinese translated text and the Chinese Union
version indicate: God’s grace needs the living and conduct of the Christians to
express it.
4)
The Christian faith and other religions are
different. One of the areas of differences is that other religion only
demands/commands but does not provide you with the supply to carry it out. Not
only does the Christian faith provides us with the supply we need, but the
supply usually comes first and then followed by the command/requirement. Here
the apostle Paul exhorts us to live out the grace that we have received.
5)
If the believers do not express a living that is “worthy of the calling,” then we have
fallen short of the grace of God’s calling.
6)
To walk “worthy”
or in a balanced way means that we should not fall short, nor should we add to.
We simply need to live out the grace we have received… we are not expected to
live out what we did not receive.
7)
We can only exhort God’s children and not those who
have not repented or the unbelievers to live a Christian life.
8)
Man cannot be saved by works, but those who are
saved must have a standard of good conduct consistent with our calling.
Eph. 4:2 “With all lowliness and gentleness, with
longsuffering, bearing with one another in love,”
Explanation on the Meaning of Words and Phrases:
“Lowliness”: does not mean to be lowly,
to be contemptible, and it is also not humility; humility is the outward
attitude, but lowliness is the inward intention, that is, very modest. When we
look at ourselves, we need to see our own short-comings, and when we look at
others, we need to see their positive attributes. This way, we can truly “esteem others better than ourselves”
(Phi. 2:3, Rom.
“Gentleness”: That is gentle and mild
mannered, it is not only to be devoid of dispute or contention with others
(Matt. 5:5, 1 Pet. 2:23); rather it is to not give ground for people to use
cold words and hot language to irritate us, including elegance, politeness, to
think on behalf of others, and so on so forth.
“Longsuffering”: That is to bear attacks
without retaliating/responding negatively; especially when we are treated
harshly by others while we are in the midst of misery/suffering, yet we are
able to stand unwaveringly, including endurance, endure long, long suffering,
and yet you can still forgive.
“Bearing with one another in love”:
“bearing” is to be able to tolerate the debt/offenses of others toward us, not
bickering/counting the harm/hurt that others have inflicted upon us. Only “love” can cause us to genuinely consider
the good of others and to be lenient toward them.
“Lowliness and meekness” are toward
special/particular people; “endurance
and tolerance” are the characters we need in receiving the treatment of others.
Enlightenment in the Word
1)
The way for the church to be one, lies in the
saints living out the reality of Christ, that is being mutually humble, gentle,
patient, and to mutually accept each other in love and in the “uniting bond of peace” (v.3).
2)
The true “lowliness”
among the believers stem from their having an accurate estimation/assessment of
themselves.
3)
The believers in Christ are to show lowliness,
gentleness, and longsuffering not just in one or two matters, but in all things.
4)
If it is only an outward lowliness, gentleness, and
longsuffering, yet the person’s inside is full of embittered resentment, then
that is not the kind of lowliness, gentleness, and longsuffering that the Bible
wants of us.
5)
We need to first have lowliness for us to have
gentleness; and we need to first have gentleness for us to have longsuffering.
In fact, gentleness is the natural outcome of lowliness, and longsuffering is
the natural outcome of gentleness.
6)
Tolerance/forbearance requires us to have a genuine
love for others. If we do not have a genuine love, then we cannot have the real
forbearance for others. How much love we have determines how much forbearance
we’ll have.
7)
We need to start from lowliness in order for us to
nurture and teach the saints to love one another.
8)
“Bearing with
one another”: This does not only apply to others bearing with us, but
others also need us to treat them with forbearance.
9)
Forbearance is not to tolerate evil sins; rather it
is to bear with those who have done wrong in the past and repented of it, or
those who have a certain shortcoming with the hope that they can abandon their
past mistake and leave their shortcomings.
10)
There is not a single person who can meet up to the
demand of this verse in their natural strength; and it is not Paul’s intent to
bundle up a difficult, heavy load an put on our shoulder for us to bear (Matt.
23:4). Rather, Paul is using this verse to remind us: The “grace” (v.1) that we have received is what enables us to live out
the condition of lowliness, gentleness, and longsuffering.
Eph. 4:3 “Endeavoring
to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.”
Literal Meaning of Each Word or Phrase:
“Bond” – to be bounded together, to bind
together into a bunch, to form a group.
“Endeavoring” – to do one’s best, earnest
endeavor.
“Keep” – to guard, safeguard, adhere to,
keep watch.
“Unity” – oneness, identical.
Explanation on the Meaning of Words and Phrases
“In the
bond of peace”: “bond” has to do with the existing relations. When the
saints gather together, it is hard to avoid disparagement and misunderstanding.
Thus, we need the rope of peace to bind us all together.
“Endeavoring to keep”: “endeavoring” means unceasingly do one’s
utmost to bring about success and not failure. “Keep” implies guarding what you
already have to avoid loss or changes.
“Unity of the Spirit”: The original Greek
text is “oneness of the Spirit.”
Based on the expression of the wordings of this verse, the “unity of the Spirit” is a reality that
the Lord has already accomplished. It is the same Spirit dwelling in all the
saints. Whatever causes the believers to divide is something that violates and
sins against the Spirit.
Enlightenment in the Word
1)
There is no Christian who can live a life without
any contact or communication with other saints and live an isolated spiritual
life.
2)
Our Lord has already brought peace for us on the
cross (Eph.
3)
Peace is the means and the principle by which
Christians ought to communicate or have contact with each other, but it should
not become a method/principle as a basis for the formation of a
faction/party/divisive group.
4)
Believers cannot manufacture oneness, but they can
destroy oneness.
5)
Oneness is an original existing spiritual reality;
our responsibility is to preserve it.
6)
“Endeavor to
keep” indicates that keeping the oneness requires us to pay a price.
7)
Our oneness is in the spirit, not some kind of
administrative organized unification.
8)
If believers do not emphasize their own background
and habits, they will be amazed to find out: Though there are a lot of
differences between us outwardly, yet there is a most important thing within us
that is in common, which is the Life within our spirit.
Eph. 4:4 “There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were
called in one hope of your calling;”
Explanation on the Meaning of Words and Phrases
“There is one body”: The Church is the mystical
Body of Christ (Eph.
“One Spirit”: The Church is comprised of
believers in Christ baptized into one body (1 Cor.
“Just as you were called in one hope of your
calling”: This is saying that at the time of our conversion, we had the
Holy Spirit as the pledge of our inheritance until we are mature and enter into glory
(Eph. 1:14) – this is the “hope of our
calling.” Regarding the life of the mystical Body of Christ, now is the
story of our “spirit” and the future
will be the story of our “hope.”
Verses 4-6
gives us seven basis of maintaining our oneness. These are divided into 3
groups: the first 3 belongs to the group of the Holy Spirit, the next 3 belongs
to the group of the Holy Son, and the last element belongs to the group of the
Holy Father.
Enlightenment in the Word
1)
Since there is only one Body, all the churches in
the whole earth can only display the testimony of one Body.
2)
The oneness of the Body is not a unity achieved by
gradually assemble the pieces together; rather, it is a oneness achieved
immediately into completion.
3)
The reason why the Body is one is because the Holy
Spirit is one. The oneness that is displayed outwardly is based on the essence
of oneness gathered from within the person.
4)
Those who are not born of the Holy Spirit or
indwelt by the Holy Spirit cannot share in the oneness of the Church.
5)
Since there is only one Spirit and we’ve all
receive one identical Spirit; thus one believer’s spirit to another believer’s
spirit can inevitably commune with each other.
6)
The Spirit of Christ will definitely bring people
into the Body of Christ; otherwise, it is not the Spirit of Christ.
7)
The oneness in the Church is not a manufactured
oneness, but a oneness in our spiritual life.
8)
Since there is only “one hope” for the believers, no matter how great a discrepancy we
see before our eyes, we will eventually all receive the same hope; therefore in
our Christians contact/getting along, we must be far-sighted to see what lies
in the future.
9)
Those who do not have a heart to maintain the one
Body, one Spirit, definitely does not qualify to receive the eternal hope.
Eph. 4:5 “One Lord, one faith, one baptism;”
Explanation on the Meaning of Words and Phrases
“One Lord”: points to the fact that all
believers belong to one Lord, that is the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the
believers’ Savior, the Lord of their lives, and all the Lord of all their
works.
“One faith”: This does not simply mean
our faith’s conduct or our act of believing, but it also includes the content
of our faith. All the Christian believers have the same faith – we believe that
the Lord Jesus is the Son of God Who came and died for the sins of the world on
the cross – and we came into a relationship with the Lord.
“One baptism”: All the believers were
baptized in the Name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit to come into being of
Christ. Moreover, this baptism is not merely a ceremony or a ritualistic
movement, but in the reality of the significance that it represents.
Enlightenment in the Word
1)
All Christians have the same "Lord,” with Whom we came into a living
relationship through “faith” and “baptism.” “Faith” is within while our “baptism”
is outward.
2)
If all the believers truly venerate and obey the
Lord Whom they believed in, then very spontaneously they will become one with
each other.
3)
If a believer allows any person or thing to replace
the position of the Lord at the Preeminent One in our hearts, then it is very
difficult for him/her to preserve/maintain the oneness with all the believers…
even if they gather as one, but their oneness will be a false/fake one.
4)
“One” or
our oneness is of Christ and not of us. We all believe in Christ and became
His; therefore, we are one. If we use our own preferences to attain to this
oneness, that will damage the true oneness in Christ.
5)
Christ cannot be divided, nor can our faith be
taken apart. The different forms of baptism cannot be used as a reason to
create divisions among us.
Eph. 4:6 “One
God and Father of all, who is
above all, and through all, and in you all.”
Explanation on the Meaning of Words and Phrases
“One God and Father of all”: “All” broadly speaking refers to all the
created things, but specifically speaking, refers to the Christians. The God we
worship is the one and only, unique God, from Whom we also received His divine
Life; thus, He is also our Father.
“Who is above all”: This speaks of Him
being above all to command, govern, and control all things.
“And through all”: This speaks of Him
being in the midst of all to care, to protect, to guide and to rescue them.
“And in you all”: This speaks of Him
being in us to inspire us, move us from within, to work, and to strengthen.
The three
phrases above can also be used to describe the Triune God: “Who is above all” refers to God the
Father who is transcendent above all; “And
through all” refers to God the Son Who was the Word of God became flesh and
dwelt among us; “And in you all”
refers to God the Spirit dwelling within us.
The seven ones
from verses 4 through 6 encompass all the truths in the Bible; they are the
foundations of our beliefs. If we believe in all the seven ones, then there is
nothing in the Bible that we do not believe – this is what a believer in Christ
is. And these are the bases of our oneness.
Enlightenment in the Word
1)
The only basis for oneness among the believers is
the one unique Triune God – one Spirit, one Lord, one God, and His only saving
Grace – one hope, one faith, one baptism. Our oneness is not based on some
doctrines, systems, region, racial or social class.
2)
What each one of us received from God are all the
same, and it is God Himself who knit us all together; thus, we do not have any
reason whatsoever to create any kind of division among us.
3)
We way of oneness can be realized subjectively as:
we have the will to obey God’s sovereignty; in Christ, we have the desire to be
one; and put into action what the Holy Spirit is inspiring and leading within
us.
4)
From the standpoint of the apostle Paul, it is
incomprehensible for Christians to not be able to maintain their oneness,
because we already have all the basic factors of oneness. If there are any
differences among us, they are all unrelated and vastly aimless.
Eph. 4:7 “But to each one of us grace was given
according to the measure of Christ’s gift.”
Literal Meaning of Each Word or Phrase:
“Was given according to the measure of” –
surveyor’s tool, measurement.
Explanation on the Meaning of Words or Phrases:
As
appropriately translated in the NKJV version, the original Greek text starts with
“but,” because the foregoing verses
tell us that the nature of what we’ve all received in the Body are all the
same. Yet the following verses are going to show us that our functions are
different.
Chapter four
verse 1 mentions about our calling and this verse speaks of the grace we have
received.
This verse also
mentioned the “gift” we have
received: 1) The giver/grantor: Christ; 2) the recipients: each one – all those
who have received the grace of the Lord; 3) according to – based on Christ’s
degree of measurement; He sees the capacity of each person’s faith and bestows
His grace accordingly.
Enlightenment in the Word
1)
We all have a capability to serve in Christ,
because each one of us has received a distinct, unique gift from Him.
2)
Although the Lord has an unspeakably endless supply
of gracious gifts, yet He grants the “measure”
of grace that is most appropriate to each of us. If we wish to receive greater
gifts from the Lord, then we need to first ask Him to enlarge our capacity of
receiving His grace.
3)
Since all the gifts are granted by the Lord, there
is no one who can proudly flaunt the gift(s) he has received.
4)
Each one of us should be content with the gift we
have received of the Lord. Don’t be jealous of the people who have received
what seems to be the more visible and honorable types of gifts. We should also
not despise those who appear to have lesser gifts among us.
5)
The gracious gifts are given to us by the Lord; it
is not something that we can produce by training. Our gifts are revealed when we
are exercising them in the midst of our serving the Lord; we become experienced
through continual utilization of our gifts.
Eph. 4:8 “Therefore He says: ‘When He ascended on high, He led captivity captive, and gave gifts to men.’”
Literal Meaning of Each Word or Phrase:
“Gave” – brought to us.
Background Explanation:
In the ancient
times, upon a triumphant return from a war, the victorious general take the
captives of the defeated foes and the seized goods and give to his soldiers as
well as to the citizens of his people.
Explanation on the Meaning of Words or Phrases:
“Therefore He says”: This is referring to
the words recorded in the Old Testament, Psalm 68 verse 18.
This verse is
saying that Christ relies on His cross to give gifts to men. On the cross, the
Lord defeated Satan, deprived the power from His captives, including sin, the
world, death, our flesh, and so on so forth. At His resurrection and ascension,
He brought the captives to be a people for God with Him into the heavenlies
(Eph. 2:6), and gave gifts to them (or rather they were given as gifts to the
Church).
Enlightenment in the Word
1)
Since the origin of the gifts is Christ’s plundered
foe’s spoils of war, then as we exercise our gifts to serve the Church, we are
already standing upon the victorious transcendent ground. Therefore, we need
not fear the attacks of the enemy or his obstructions, because the fact that we
are given as gifts to the Church is an evidence of his defeat. We can thus take
advantage of our victorious ground and courageously charge ahead. May even the
smallest gifted member among us realize this fact.
2)
The cross is not only the basis for Christ giving
gifts to man, it is also the means by which we expand the measure of our
receiving of the gifts. Thus, those who have been dealt with more by the cross
have received more of the gifts.
Eph. 4:9 “Now this, “He ascended”—what does it mean but that He also first descended
into the lower parts of the earth?”
Literal Meaning of Each Word or Phrase:
“Lower parts of the earth” – the parts
that is underneath the earth.
Explanation on the Meaning of Words or Phrases:
Verses 9-10 are
sentences contained in a parenthetical word, especially to explain verse 8 and
to clarify that the quoted words are referring to Christ. These two verses
serve to help us associate the incarnation of Christ with His death and
resurrection.
Some Bible
expositors interpret the “lower parts of
the earth” as Hades, since after the death of the Lord Jesus, He did go
there (Rom. 10:7).
Eph.
Explanation on the Meaning of Words or Phrases:
“Far above all the heavens”: After the
death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, He ascended above the heavens and sat
down on the right hand of God the Father (Eph.
“That He might fill all things”: After
the Lord Jesus ascended above the heavens, He gave the spiritual “gifts” to man for the building of His
Body. The Church is His Body, the fullness of the One who fills all in all
(Eph.
Eph.
Explanation on the Meaning of Words or Phrases:
“Apostles”: Those who are called by God,
endowed with His Holy Spirit’s power to be dispatched everywhere to pioneer the
way for the establishing of churches.
“Prophets”: Those who are moved by the
Holy Spirit and have received the revelations of the truths from God; who is
capable of spreading the God’s heart’s desires; one who edifies, comforts, and
exhorts the believers.
“Evangelists”: Those who have a special
burden and ability to preach the gospel; those who can penetrate deep into a
crowd of people and lead people to believe in the Lord.
“Shepherds and teachers”: The original
manuscript only has one definite article for these seemingly two groups of
people, but the definite article indicates that it is one duty/group shared
concurrently as both shepherd’s and teacher’s functions. These two functions
complement each other and embodied upon one person who has this gift. The
former (shepherds) emphasizes the spiritual feeding and the care of the
believers; the latter (teachers) emphasizes on the perfecting the knowing and
the practice of the truths.
The apostles
mainly do the work of a “period”; the “prophets” mainly do the “line” work; the
evangelists mainly do the “overall surface” work; and the shepherd-teachers do
the “three dimensional” work.
Enlightenment in the Word
1)
Here we clearly see that the spiritual gifts are
not only of one kind.
2)
Here these 4-5 gifts are mainly centered on the
speaking-type of gifts; furthermore, they have a heart to serve the believers
of the Lord in the Church. They must be diligent and faithful in serving in
their speaking gifts before the Lord.
3)
There is no one who immediately after believing the
Lord knows what his gift is in the church. Thus, the church must provide an
opportunity for all the believers to cultivate in order to reveal and develop
their gifts/functions.
Eph.
Literal Meaning of Each Word or Phrase:
“Equipping” – convalescence, patching,
assembling to cause it to be complete/perfect.
“Ministry” – work, mission/duty/role,
responsibility, .
Explanation on the Meaning of Words or Phrases:
“For the equipping of the saints”: Using
all kinds of ways to cause the saints to grow in life, their knowledge, talents
until they reach the point of being able to come to their full functions.
“For the work of ministry”: This refers
to each of the saint putting into operation all their works of service to God.
This verse
speaks of the purpose of the gifts: 1) To train/cultivate – to develop all the
saints in the Body; 2) To cause each serving position to unleash their
functions; 3) Thus, complete the work of building up the Body of Christ.
Enlightenment in the Word
1)
The building up of the Church of the Lord does not
only rely on those who are specially gifted like the apostles, prophets, etc.
to supply and lead, but it requires all the saved believers with each of their
portion put into active operation for the Lord.
2)
A normal church does not consist of the workers
serving alone, but the workers lead into action the whole church into service.
Thus, causing each saint to be used by God, else it is not a Body of Christ.
3)
Each member has its own function in the Body;
moreover, his/her function is one that cannot be replaced by another member of
the Body. Each believer in the Church has his own position and his own portion
of work.
4)
The attitude that God’s children ought to have in
their work for the Lord should be: the work that I can do, I earnestly wish
that others can do as well, and what I cannot do, I earnestly wish that others
can do.
5)
In the building of the Body of Christ, those who
put to use their direct function, especially those expertise that cannot be
lacking, are qualified to be called gifts. The ones who are shown to be
dispensable are not considered gifts
by virtue of their own lack of function.
Eph.
Literal Meaning of Each Word or Phrase:
“Till” – until we arrived at the goal,
achieve the objective.
“Faith” – belief, believe in; “come to the unity” – unanimous, arrive
at the identical destination.
“To a perfect man” – grow to
complete/mature adulthood.
“Stature” – highest degree, stature, age.
Explanation on the Meaning of Words or Phrases:
“Unity of the faith”: This refers to our
different aspects of faith in Christ arrived at unity.
“And of the knowledge of the Son of God”:
This refers to our subjective knowledge of the experience of Christ attaining
to oneness. “Knowledge”: relating to
a kind of complete, deep, and precise knowledge, and not a superficial
knowledge.
“To a perfect man”: referring to being
separated from the young, naïve, childish period, and being able to distinguish
and defend the truth (Heb.
“To the measure of the stature of the
fullness of Christ”: That is grown to the point of being adequately mature
in Christ, until the fullness of Christ is expressed in and through the Church.
Enlightenment in the Word
1)
The goal of the Church is to grow “to a perfect man, to the measure of the
stature of the fullness of Christ;” and in order to attain to this goal, we
need the various gifts to perfect the saints (vv 11-12), “Till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the
Son of God.”
2)
Today, the most important thing in the Church is
nothing but all the gifts diligently guide and teach all the saints that they
may attain to the full knowledge of the Son of God. This way, the Church can
quickly attain to the full measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.