Today, I am reading and commenting on Ephesians 4-6.

In yesterday’s passage Paul wrote that we were saved through no effort of our own, that we cannot claim credit for our salvation.  The fact that we have been saved does not indicate that we are superior to others.  He also wrote that God saved us in order that we might do good works.  In today’s passage Paul writes that we should strive to be worthy of the salvation which we freely received.  We were not saved because we were worthy of it, but, now that we are saved, we should strive to be worthy of it.  Paul then gives a list of behaviors which we must exercise if we desire to be worthy.  These behaviors are not the goal, they are the beginning of striving to be worthy.  We should be humble, patient, and gentle.  As part of that Paul writes that we should bear with one another in love.  I find it interesting that Paul phrases it that way.  By doing so Paul suggests that we WILL annoy our fellow believers, and that we will be annoyed by them, but we should bear with that annoyance.  And why should we bear with that annoyance?  Because we have been called to be one body worshiping and serving one God, through the activity of one Spirit.  We have been called to unity.  God’s Spirit has given us each different gifts and callings so that we might together build up His Body into unity working together to do His works.  Further, Paul writes us that we will know that we have reached maturity in God only when that unity is displayed.  Paul writes that we can move towards unity by speaking truth in love.  I really like that phrase because it sums up how we should deal with all people.  We should always be truthful, but we should only speak that which love directs us to say.

Paul continues by telling us that we must no longer live as the Gentiles, the pagans, live.  Their failure to accept knowledge of God, and of His gift of salvation, has caused them to lose sensitivity to each other.   As a result they have given themselves over to sensuality, indulging impurity and being filled with greed.  The argument is often made by those who do not know the Lord that they express their love of their fellow man through their sensuality, but Paul tells us that their indulging in sensuality the way in which they do actually demonstrates their lack of awareness of the needs of their fellow man and is a form of selfishness counter to love.  That sensuality is actually an expression of deceitful desires, rather than an expression of love.  Finally, I want to note how Paul connects the sins of sexual immorality with greed.  He shows us that the various sexual sins are one expression of greed, and that greed is idolatry, the worship of something(money, material goods, pleasure, etc.) other than God.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on  Ephesians 4-6.

Paul writes that Christ gave gifts to His people in order to equip them for works of service so that the Body of Christ, the Church, may be built up until we reach unity of faith and knowledge.  The gifts which Paul here lists as being given by Christ, he elsewhere describes as gifts of the Spirit.  This is not a contradiction as Paul makes clear a few sentences later.  Paul writes that Christ joins and holds together the entire Body as it builds itself up in love.  So, Paul tells us that the gifts of the Spirit are given to us in order that we may build up our fellow members of the Body of Christ in love.

Because we are building each other in love, we must no longer live as the worldly live.  We must no longer indulge in sensuality, impurity, and greed.  Such behaviors are neither loving, nor do they assist in building others up.  Rather than doing such things we must be made new in the attitude of our minds.  As the new mind takes root in us we will speak truthfully in love and not allow anger to lead us into sin.  We should avoid unwholesome talk, which breaks down or denigrates others.  Instead let us say only those things which will benefit those who hear us speak.  Let us spend our time doing useful things with our hands so that we have resources which we can use to help those in need.  Let us say and do only those things which are loving and help others become better.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on  Ephesians 4-6.

At the end of his letter to the Church in Ephesus Paul writes that we should put on the full armor of God.  He describes that as the belt of truth, the breastplate of righteousness, fitting our feet with the readiness which comes from the gospel of peace, taking up the shield of faith, wearing the helmet of salvation, and wielding the sword of the Spirit.  All of that is a good summation of how we can be prepared for battle against the spiritual rulers, powers, and authorities of this dark world.  However, I think truly understanding that armor requires us to look at Paul’s instructions from earlier in today’s passage.  We learn the readiness of which Paul wrote by being humble, gentle, and patient.  We truly wear the belt of truth when we speak the truth, and not just any truth, but that truth which is helpful in building up others.  We should never use the truth as an excuse to hurt others (NOTE: sometimes truth which others need to hear in order to become better people hurts, but sometimes we tell ourselves we are telling the hurtful truth because we are trying to help, but we really just want to hurt the other person).  We cannot put on the helmet of salvation until we get rid of bitterness, rage, brawling, slander, and every other form of malice.  Finally, we must put aside all sexual immorality, greed, and idolatry in order to put on the breastplate of righteousness.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on  Ephesians 4-6.

Today Paul expands on his teaching about unity among Believers.  We should be humble, gentle, and patient in our dealings with others, always keeping in mind that there is but one name through which we can be saved, one Lord whom we serve.  The unity of the Spirit grows out of us living to be worthy of our calling by Christ.  Paul explains that we live such a life because we have put off the sinful life we lived before God called us and have put in the new life which God has given us.  That old life which we have hopefully taken off like a suit of dirty clothes is one  of sensuality, impurity, and greed.  Living the new life means speaking truthfully, and allowing only those things which are helpful for building up others come out of our mouths.  Paul calls on us to strive to live without even a hint of sexual immorality, impurity, or greed in our lives.  Instead of such things, Paul urges us to find and do that which is pleasing to the Lord.  We find once again one of the key points of serving God: if we keep ourselves busy doing good, we will not have to do that which is not.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on Ephesians 4-6

Paul continues discussing the unity those who follow Christ should seek and experience.  He goes on to explain how we can truly enter into that unity and avoid the divisiveness which the world is constantly trying to inject into Christ’s Body.  He begins by pointing out that Christ has only one Body, and the Spirit which binds it together is One being.  Christ has given the Church, His Body, apostles, prophets, evangelists, shepherds, and teachers for the purpose of building us up in unity, knowledge, and faith.  As we are built up in Christ, we will become more mature.  That maturity will lead us to avoid living in lust and deception.

That transition happens when we allow God’s Spirit to transform our thoughts and attitudes.  I find it interesting that even though Paul wrote of the destructiveness of lust and immorality, he starts the list of behaviors which we must allow to be transformed by telling us that we must stop lying to our neighbors.  He follows that immediately by telling us not to allow anger to control us.  If we allow anger to control us, we will sin.  It is only after reviewing several other behaviors that Paul comes back to reminding us that sexual immorality, impurity, and greed will create division in the Church. We must carefully examine our lives and do what please God, rather than allowing those things to fester within us.  Our human tendency is to attempt to rule over each other.  We must resist that tendency and allow God’s Spirit to transform us into those who submit to one another out of service to Christ.  Above all, we must recognize that our enemies are not human foes.  In fact, humans are never the enemies of those who serve the Lord.  Rather, the enemies of those who are members of Christ’s Body are the unseen rulers and spirits of this world.  They cannot be defeated using human weapons and methods.

I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on Ephesians 4-6

Paul writes that we should strive to live in unity with other believers.  However, that unity will result as we become mature in Christ so that we are no longer tossed about by every new teaching.  We should not live as the unbelievers around us live.  He warns us that society around us is hopelessly confused.  Our unity as believers should come from our insistence on sticking with the teachings which Jesus and Scripture present.  Every generation will face those who present lies cleverly contrived to appear as truth.  We can avoid falling for such lies by imitating God, which means living a life filled with love.  Love does not mean telling people they will be OK no matter what they do.  Love means warning people that they will hurt themselves if they partake in self-destructive behavior. 

I find it enlightening that when Paul sums up the things we must avoid his list always contains sexual immorality, impurity, and greed.  He often adds other things to his list, but these three are always there.  In fact, the other things which he adds are really just subcategories of one of these.  In this very passage he talks about not being a thief, which would come from being greedy.  He talks about not using foul and abusive language, which would be a subset of impurity.  We could follow how the actions which Paul warns against are expressions of greed, impurity, or sexual immorality, but I think you get the point.  However, Paul does not just warn us against certain types of behavior, he encourages us in appropriate behavior.  As opposed to foul and abusive language, everything we say should be good and helpful.