Unity in New Life
Ephesians 4
Unity in the Body of Christ
I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit--just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call-- one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all. But grace was given to each one of us according to the measure of Christ's gift. Therefore it says, "When he ascended on high he led a host of captives, and he gave gifts to men."
(In saying, "He ascended," what does it mean but that he had also descended into the lower parts of the earth? He who descended is the one who also ascended far above all the heavens, that he might fill all things.)
And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes. Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.
The New Life
Now this I say and testify in the Lord, that you must no longer walk as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their minds. They are darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, due to their hardness of heart. They have become callous and have given themselves up to sensuality, greedy to practice every kind of impurity. But that is not the way you learned Christ!-- assuming that you have heard about him and were taught in him, as the truth is in Jesus, to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness. Therefore, having put away falsehood, let each one of you speak the truth with his neighbor, for we are members one of another. Be angry and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, and give no opportunity to the devil. Let the thief no longer steal, but rather let him labor, doing honest work with his own hands, so that he may have something to share with anyone in need. Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear. And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.
First thing Paul does is urge the Ephesians to walk in a mannor worthy of the calling! With humility, gentleness, patience, love, and Unity in the Spirit through peace.
How often do we let ourselves get sidetracked, lead away from this? We get into arguments over the smallest of things and to what end? Paul says there is only one Spirit, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all!!! This is all about Christ as Paul goes on to say! Our calling is Christ, we are to spread His Gospel and exalt His Name on High!
Paul moves on to say that Christ has given us the Apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers all to equip and teach us and build us up in the Body of Christ! Many people look at Pastors and think that it is their job to be evangelists and missionaries, this is not what Paul says here, they are to equip everyone else! Yes, they should also be out sharing their faith, but they have a greater responsibility and that is to teach everyone else! James 3:1 "Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers, for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness."
Also this teaching and equipping is done so that we can attain unity and knowledge of Christ and attain maturity and grow up in Christ. That we also may speak "Truth in Love" through Christ Jesus as He holds together His Body in Love.
Paul next warns us about living like we used to live before we knew Christ. He says that we lived in the futility of the mind, darkened in understanding, alienated from the life of God because of ignorance and hardness of heart. But we are to put off this old self and be renewed in the spirit of our minds and to put on the new self created in the likeness of God, in righteousness and holiness!
After putting on the new self we must speak truth to one another. If we get angry with someone, we must confront them about it so that we don't sin or give Satan any opportunity to tear us apart. We are to speak to build each other up, not tear each other down!
Also, we should not grieve the Holy Spirit. There are many different ways to grieve the Holy Spirit that Paul lists, bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, slander, and malice. But I would not limit the list here, as Paul and others have written about other things also, like sexual immorality filthiness, foolish talk, and crude joking. But, rather we are to be kind to one another, tenderhearted, and forgiving!
But one of the coolest things that Paul says is in vs. 30 "And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption." Wow, that is a very strong word, sealed! We were sealed by the Holy Spirit of God! When we believe in Christ and Confess His name as the only way that we can be saved, we are SEALED by the Holy Spirit! Talk about Assurance, God Himself seals us for the day of redemption!!!!
Ephesians 6:23-24 "Peace be to the brothers, and love with faith, from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Grace be with all who love our Lord Jesus Christ with love incorruptible."
In Christ,
Dave
Unity in the Body of Christ
I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit--just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call-- one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all. But grace was given to each one of us according to the measure of Christ's gift. Therefore it says, "When he ascended on high he led a host of captives, and he gave gifts to men."
(In saying, "He ascended," what does it mean but that he had also descended into the lower parts of the earth? He who descended is the one who also ascended far above all the heavens, that he might fill all things.)
And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes. Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.
The New Life
Now this I say and testify in the Lord, that you must no longer walk as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their minds. They are darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, due to their hardness of heart. They have become callous and have given themselves up to sensuality, greedy to practice every kind of impurity. But that is not the way you learned Christ!-- assuming that you have heard about him and were taught in him, as the truth is in Jesus, to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness. Therefore, having put away falsehood, let each one of you speak the truth with his neighbor, for we are members one of another. Be angry and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, and give no opportunity to the devil. Let the thief no longer steal, but rather let him labor, doing honest work with his own hands, so that he may have something to share with anyone in need. Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear. And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.
First thing Paul does is urge the Ephesians to walk in a mannor worthy of the calling! With humility, gentleness, patience, love, and Unity in the Spirit through peace.
How often do we let ourselves get sidetracked, lead away from this? We get into arguments over the smallest of things and to what end? Paul says there is only one Spirit, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all!!! This is all about Christ as Paul goes on to say! Our calling is Christ, we are to spread His Gospel and exalt His Name on High!
Paul moves on to say that Christ has given us the Apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers all to equip and teach us and build us up in the Body of Christ! Many people look at Pastors and think that it is their job to be evangelists and missionaries, this is not what Paul says here, they are to equip everyone else! Yes, they should also be out sharing their faith, but they have a greater responsibility and that is to teach everyone else! James 3:1 "Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers, for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness."
Also this teaching and equipping is done so that we can attain unity and knowledge of Christ and attain maturity and grow up in Christ. That we also may speak "Truth in Love" through Christ Jesus as He holds together His Body in Love.
Paul next warns us about living like we used to live before we knew Christ. He says that we lived in the futility of the mind, darkened in understanding, alienated from the life of God because of ignorance and hardness of heart. But we are to put off this old self and be renewed in the spirit of our minds and to put on the new self created in the likeness of God, in righteousness and holiness!
After putting on the new self we must speak truth to one another. If we get angry with someone, we must confront them about it so that we don't sin or give Satan any opportunity to tear us apart. We are to speak to build each other up, not tear each other down!
Also, we should not grieve the Holy Spirit. There are many different ways to grieve the Holy Spirit that Paul lists, bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, slander, and malice. But I would not limit the list here, as Paul and others have written about other things also, like sexual immorality filthiness, foolish talk, and crude joking. But, rather we are to be kind to one another, tenderhearted, and forgiving!
But one of the coolest things that Paul says is in vs. 30 "And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption." Wow, that is a very strong word, sealed! We were sealed by the Holy Spirit of God! When we believe in Christ and Confess His name as the only way that we can be saved, we are SEALED by the Holy Spirit! Talk about Assurance, God Himself seals us for the day of redemption!!!!
Ephesians 6:23-24 "Peace be to the brothers, and love with faith, from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Grace be with all who love our Lord Jesus Christ with love incorruptible."
In Christ,
Dave
posted by Mark 1:17 at 3:02 PM
1 Comments:
I second that amen! Veronica found my blog a while ago and has encouraged me. I found your blog through Veronica and YOU have encouraged me. It is so great to have found people devoted to God with the intensity that I strive after. God's blessings are truly on His children!
Diana
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