Pauls Letter to the Ephesians
Part 12
We have come to a significant turning point in our study of Ephesiansfor three chapters now, Paul has been telling believers about their wealth in Christ Jesus and now he turns his focus on their walk in Christ Jesus. A significant characteristic of the Pauline style of writing is to balance doctrine and duty and nowhere is this more evident than in the Book of Ephesians. Thats why its so important to study the Bible in a unit that preserves the context (a book). Study to learn what the author was trying to communicate to his original audience, not to support your beliefs! If you discover that your beliefs conform to the truth of the Biblegreat, but if you discover that your beliefs are in conflict with what the Bible says in context, you might want to reconsider what you believe.
The focus in this last half of the book is walk (Eph. 4:1, 17; 5:2, 8, 15), while the focus in the first half is wealth, but the context of these two is in Christ Jesusapart from Christ, our life on earth is pitiful exercise in defeat and our wealth evaporates in death. In these last three chapters, Paul admonishes believers to walk in unity (Eph. 4:116), purity (Eph. 4:175:17), harmony (Eph. 5:186:9), and victory (Eph. 6:1024). But before he starts his exhortation as to how believers are supposed to practice, Paul has been very careful in the first three chapters to explain the believers position in Christ and Christs position in the believer.
I remember someone doing a sermon series on Ephesians just before Wayne arrivedhe did an excellent job of describing the Christians duty to walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have been called, but I dont remember any mention that it was Christ living His life in and through us that would allow that to happen. Trying to obey the commands of Scripture without understanding that it is Christ who does the obeying in and through the believer, has left many discouraged and without hope that they will ever be able to behave, as they ought. As my sister Judys Sunday School Teacher once said, "Trying to do the dos of Scripture without Gods grace only becomes do-do." I can just hear Wayne saying, "Trying to do the dos of Scripture without allowing Christ to live in and through you only becomes do-do!" I believe that echos the thought in Isaiah 64:6: All of us are dirty with sin. All the right things we have done are like filthy pieces of cloth (NCV).
Lets look at The Grace of Unity found in the first three verses of chapter 4:
Therefore I, the prisoner of the Lord, implore you to walk in a manner worthy
of the calling with which you have been called, with all humility and
gentleness, with patience, showing tolerance for one another in love, being
diligent to preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.
When Paul says, Therefore, to what is he referring?
He is reaching back to all the blessings and exalted position of the believer in Christ that he has been describing for the first three chapters. His exhortation in the next three chapters is grounded in allowing Christ to live His life through the believer.
Why do you think Paul again describes himself as a prisoner of the Lord?
I dont think Paul is trying to stir up feelings of sympathy since I dont think he was feeling sorry for himself. In 3:13, Paul, in effect says, "You Gentiles are of such value that my tribulations (beatings and imprisonment) in order to bring the Good News to you cause me to rejoice." Reminding them of his imprisonment helps them to understand how very significant they are to God and to him. I think that Paul is trying to show them how important what he is going to say really ishe is rejoicing to be imprisoned that they might receive this valuable information.
In the next few questions, Im going to ask you why Paul chose certain words rather than using others to convey his message, but perhaps it would be helpful to clarify whether it was Paul or the Holy Spirit who chose the wordswhich do you think it was?
Why do you think Paul chose the word implore (beseech KJV) to urge the Ephesians to be sure their walk matched their wealth?
What other words could he have used?
Paul certainly wasnt afraid to use the language of authority when writing to the churches (Brothers and sisters, by the authority of our Lord Jesus Christ we command you to stay away from any believer who refuses to work and does not follow the teaching we gave you (2 Thessalonians 3:6)).
The Greek word is parakaleo that comes from two words, para (to the side of, near, close in proximity) and kaleo (to call). The feeling here is that of a shepherd calling his sheep to follow him...Paul uses different approaches at different times, when the circumstances required it, he used his Apostolic authority, but in this case, he encourages the Ephesians with the gentle call of a shepherd.
Why do you think Paul chose the word walk to describe the Christian life?
The Greek word peripateo simply means to "walk about"...I think Paul was trying to communicate that this "Life" to which we are called is one of daily activity...its not passive and certainly is not a "once-a-week" kind of thing, but an everyday experience of social intercourse that demonstrates to others what we believe...our walk matches our talk.
Side Note: When you hear the phrase "body of Christ", what comes to your mind?
What does Paul mean when he says believers are called?
The Greek word is klesis and comes from kaleo that means to call...the KJV reads, the vocation to which you were called, but the NASB95 is more literal, the calling to which you were called. The word vocation seems to emphasize doing while the word calling seems to emphasize a state of being...the word klesis carries with it the idea of being invited to a banquet...that sounds more attractive to me than a vocation. Believers are called to a state of being...in Christ...that state of being is demonstrated in the life of the beleiver when Christ is allowed to express Himself in and through their body...thats why Christians are called "the body of Christ".
Lets skip to verse 3 to see where Paul is going with all thisto preserve the unity of the Spirit.
Whats the difference between unity and uniformity?
According to Webster unity is the state of harmony or accordthe totality of related parts. Uniformity is the quality or state of being uniformall alike. Its important to understand and appreciate the difference.
One of my favorite commentators says, "Unity comes from within and is a spiritual grace, while uniformity is the result of pressure from without." Do you think that statement is true or false?
I think its more true to say that unity comes from allowing Christ to express His life in and through me and uniformity is my attempt to create unity using my own resources. In either case, unity is not uniformityall the body parts dont look the same or have the same function, but apart from Christ, we will keep on trying to make all believers look the same, believe the same and do the sameafter all, the way of truth is a narrow road!
In verses 2-3, Paul says there are seven attributes or graces that will be present in the lives of believers in order
to preserve the unity of the Spirit.What are two possible approaches to insuring that these qualities are in our lives?