Ephesians 4
Unity and Maturity in the Body of Christ
4 As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. 2 Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. 3 Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. 4 There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to one hope when you were called; 5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism; 6 one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.
7 But to each one of us grace has been given as Christ apportioned it. 8 This is why it says:
“When he ascended on high,
he took many captives
and gave gifts to his people.”
9 (What does “he ascended” mean except that he also descended to the lower, earthly regions? 10 He who descended is the very one who ascended higher than all the heavens, in order to fill the whole universe.) 11 So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, 12 to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up 13 until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.
14 Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of people in their deceitful scheming. 15 Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is, Christ. 16 From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work.
Instructions for Christian Living
17 So I tell you this, and insist on it in the Lord, that you must no longer live as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their thinking. 18 They are darkened in their understanding and separated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them due to the hardening of their hearts. 19 Having lost all sensitivity, they have given themselves over to sensuality so as to indulge in every kind of impurity, and they are full of greed.
20 That, however, is not the way of life you learned 21 when you heard about Christ and were taught in him in accordance with the truth that is in Jesus. 22 You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; 23 to be made new in the attitude of your minds; 24 and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.
25 Therefore each of you must put off falsehood and speak truthfully to your neighbor, for we are all members of one body. 26 “In your anger do not sin”: Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry, 27 and do not give the devil a foothold. 28 Anyone who has been stealing must steal no longer, but must work, doing something useful with their own hands, that they may have something to share with those in need.
29 Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen. 30 And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. 31 Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. 32 Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.
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In Ephesians 1-3 Paul
lays out 20+ different identities we have in God’s family. In Ephesians 4-6,
Paul gives more than 30 commands of how God’s people are to live. Why do you
think God begins with WHO we are before He clarifies what He wants us to do?
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Ephesians 4: 2-6 Be
completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in
love. 3 Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit
through the bond of peace. 4 There is one body and one
Spirit, just as you were called to one hope when you were
called; 5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism; 6 one God
and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.
Holiness is about
being conformed to the pattern and person of Jesus. What is one characteristic
of Jesus that you want to be more and more reflected in your life? What is one
step you can take to partner with the Holy Spirit as He seeks to grow this attribute
in your heart and life?
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Ephesians 4: 11 So
Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the
evangelists, the pastors and teachers, 12 to equip his people for works of service,
so that the body of Christ may be built up 13 until
we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of
God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness
of Christ.
. What is a call that God has placed on your life or something that He
has led you to do that you would NOT have otherwise chosen. How has your
faithfulness to God’s leading brought Him glory and been a blessing to you and
others?
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Ephesians 4: 14 Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth
by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by
the cunning and craftiness of people in their deceitful scheming. 15 Instead, speaking the truth in
love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who
is the head, that is, Christ. 16 From
him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament,
grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work.
Parents
delight in watching their children grow and excel. Likewise, our heavenly
Father celebrates when we spiritually grow. Can you see how you have grown in
Christ? Explain.
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Ephesians 4: 17 So I tell
you this, and insist on it in the Lord, that you must no longer live as
the Gentiles do, in the futility of their thinking. 18 They are
darkened in their understanding and separated from the life of
God because of the ignorance that is in them due to the hardening of their
hearts. 19 Having lost all sensitivity, they have given
themselves over to sensuality so as to indulge in every kind of
impurity, and they are full of greed. 20 That, however, is not the way of
life you learned 21 when you heard about Christ and were taught in
him in accordance with the truth that is in Jesus. 22 You were
taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old
self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; 23 to
be made new in the attitude of your minds; 24 and to put on the
new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.
What are
some ways the world can draw us away from living in God’s will? How can we
resist these traps?
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Ephesians 4: 25 Therefore
each of you must put off falsehood and speak truthfully to your neighbor,
for we are all members of one body. 26 “In
your anger do not sin”[d]: Do
not let the sun go down while you are still angry, 27 and do not give the devil a foothold. 28 Anyone who has been stealing must steal no
longer, but must work, doing something useful with their own
hands, that they may have something to share with those in need.
As Christ followers, we are to take an action (their
practice) that is in agreement with their change in identity (their position),
from the old man (who practiced lying) to the new man who
is called to speak truth (in love). Apotithemi means we as new men in
Christ are to discard, strip off or cast away lies and falsehood. We are to lay
aside every form of dishonesty, including shading the truth, exaggerating,
failure to keep a promise, betrayal of a confidence, etc. We must also remember
our newness in Christ so we don’t let our anger trap us. Anger is an acid
that can do more harm to the vessel in which it is stored than to anything on
which it is poured . …"Anger is a sin that is its own punishment." Have you had anger trap you? How can you use
this acknowledgement of it being a trap to not let it trap you again?
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Ephesians 5:
1 Follow God’s example, therefore, as dearly loved
children 2 and walk in the way of love, just as Christ loved
us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to
God.3 But among you there must not be even a hint of sexual
immorality, or of any kind of impurity, or of greed, because these
are improper for God’s holy people. 4 Nor should there be obscenity,
foolish talk or coarse joking, which are out of place, but rather
thanksgiving. 5 For of this you can be sure: No immoral, impure or
greedy person—such a person is an idolater—has any inheritance in the
kingdom of Christ and of God.
God expects His "dear children”, who have been
delivered from spiritual darkness and made to be "light in the Lord"
(v.8), to do what we were redeemed to do. He wants us to "walk in love, as
Christ also has loved us" and not to speak or live as unbelievers who have
no share in God's eternal kingdom. We are challenged to remind ourselves daily
of who we are by God's grace so that we can become "imitators of God as
dear children.” When we do what God saved us to do, we'll be living up to the
family name.
How can we “Watch” how Jesus walked and walk like Him?
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Ephesians 5: 8 For you
were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of
light 9 (for the
fruit of the light consists in all goodness, righteousness and truth) 10 and find out what pleases the Lord.
We were
not merely in the dark, but impregnated and as it were identified with the
"darkness" of ignorance and sin. The darkness had been in us, namely,
the darkness of lack of the true knowledge of God. BUT GOD, changed us. God’s power gave us new birth. He has changed
us from being darkness itself into being light in the Lord. We
have a new understanding of God’s Word and a new desire to know God and His
truth more and more. We now hate the sin that we formerly lived in and we long
to be like our Savior. We now walk in the light, rather than in darkness,
because God has made us light in the Lord. God
changed our hearts. “You were formerly darkness, but now you are Light in the
Lord” (Ep 5:8).
How do
we use these verses to push us to grow in Christ?
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Ephesians 5:8 8 For you
were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of
light
To walk in the light is to walk knowing
God’s precious Gospel, remembering His pardoning mercy, our adoption by Him, striving
to be righteous as Christ is. To be brought into the light, remembering we were
once blind, fills our heart with joy. We need to spend time alone with Jesus —
the Light — in prayer, exposing our lives to His presence so that His image,
His character, is burnt into ours. We need to open our Bibles and allow God’s
truth to illumine our eager faces with goodness and righteousness and truth. If
you want to shine in the night, keep in the light of Christ.
How does knowing you are no longer a
child of Darkness, but of light propel you to honor the Lord this week and the
weeks to come?
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