Ephesians Chapter 4
Eph. 4:1 I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called,
4:1 So I, the prisoner for the Lord, appeal to you to live a life worthy of the calling to which you have been called [that is, to live a life that exhibits godly character, moral courage, personal integrity, and mature behavior--a life that expresses gratitude to God for your salvation],
A. With this chapter the second part of the letter begins. In the first three chapters Paul has dealt with the great and eternal truths of the Christian faith, and with the functions of the Church in the plan of God. Now he begins to sketch what each member of the Church must be if the Church it to carry out her part in the plan. (William Barclay)
B. Before we begin this chapter, let us again remind ourselves that the central thought of the letter is that Jesus has brought to a disunited world the way to unity. This way is through faith in him and it is the Church’s task to proclaim this message to all the world. And now Paul turns to the character the Christian must have if the Church is to fulfil her great task of being Christ’s instrument of universal reconciliation between man and man, and man and God within the world. (WB)
C. When a man enters into any society, he takes upon himself the obligation to live a certain kind of life; and if he fails in that obligation, he hinders the aims of his society and brings discredit on its name. Here Paul paints the picture of the kind of life that a man must live when he enters the fellowship of the Christian Church. (WB)
D. “I therefore”. Inference not only from last chapter, but the whole Epistle. Paul’s interest in the Ephesians led him to a double application of the great subject which he had expounded:
a. to ask God on their behalf that he would bestow on them the full measure of the blessing to which of his grace they were entitled (Eph_3:14-21); and
b. to entreat them on God’s behalf to live in a way befitting their high calling (Eph_4:6.). To this second application he proceeds now. (Pulpit Comm)
E. “The prisoner in the Lord”. Not merely "of the Lord," but e??, ????´??, the usual formula for vital communion with Christ, indicating that his captivity was the captivity of a part or member of the Lord. An exhortation from such a prisoner ought to fall with double weight. (PC)
F. “Beseech you to walk worthy of the calling wherewith ye were called”. Their call was to be God’s people; this not a mere speculative distinction, but one that must have practical form and that must lead to suitable fruit. True grace in the heart must show itself by true goodness in the life. They were not to conceal their religion, not to be ashamed of it, but to avow it and glory in it, and their lives were not to be disgraced by unworthy conduct, but to be brightened and elevated by their relation to Christ. (PC)
Eph. 4:2 With all lowliness and meekness, with longsuffering, forbearing one another in love;
4:2 with all humility [forsaking self-righteousness], and gentleness [maintaining self-control], with patience, bearing with one another [a]in [unselfish] love.
A. “With all lowliness” –
a. Humility; where the same Greek word is used; compare also the following places, where the same Greek word occurs: Php_2:3, “in lowliness of mind, let each esteem other better than themselves;” Col_2:18, “in a voluntary humility;” Col_2:23; Col_3:12; 1Pe_5:5. The word does not elsewhere occur in the New Testament. The idea is, that humility of mind becomes those who are “called” Eph_4:1, and that we walk worthy of that calling when we evince it. (Albert Barnes)
b. Or humility of mind, having mean thoughts of yourselves because of your former sinfulness and guilt, depravity, weakness, and misery, and your unworthiness of that mercy which God hath exercised toward you; and meekness — Maintaining calmness, serenity, and peace of mind, amid the infirmities and indiscretions of your Christian friends, and even amid the affronts and injuries of your enemies; with long-suffering. (Joseph Benson)
B. “And meekness” - Meekness relates to the manner in which we receive injuries. We are to bear them patiently, and not to retaliate, or seek revenge. The meaning here is, that; we adorn the gospel when we show its power in enabling us to bear injuries without anger or a desire of revenge, or with a mild and forgiving spirit; see 2Co_10:1; Gal_5:23; Gal_6:1; 2Ti_2:25; Tit_3:2; where the same Greek word occurs. (AB)
C. “With longsuffering”, ... - Bearing patiently with the foibles, faults, and infirmities of others; The virtue here required is that which is to be manifested in our manner of receiving the provocations which we meet with from our brethren. No virtue, perhaps, is more frequently demanded in our contact with others. We do not go far with any fellow-traveler on the journey of life, before we find there is great occasion for its exercise. He has a temperament different from our own. He may be sanguine, or choleric, or melancholy; while we may be just the reverse. He has peculiarities of taste, and habits, and disposition, which differ much from ours. He has his own plans and purposes of life, and his own way and time of doing things. He may be naturally irritable, or he may have been so trained that his modes of speech and conduct differ much from ours. Neighbors have occasion to remark this in their neighbors; friends in their friends; kindred in their kindred; one church-member in another. (AB)
D. A husband and wife - such is the imperfection of human nature - can find enough in each other to embitter life, if they choose to magnify imperfections, and to become irritated at trifles; and there is no friendship that may not be marred in this way, if we will allow it. Hence, if we would have life move on smoothly, we must learn to bear and forbear. We must indulge the friend that we love in the little peculiarities of saying and doing things which may be important to him, but which may be of little moment to us. Like children, we must suffer each one to build his play-house in his own way, and not quarrel with him because he does not think our way the best. All usefulness, and all comfort, may be prevented by an unkind, a sour, a crabbed temper of mind - a mind that can bear with no difference of opinion or temperament. A spirit of fault-finding; an unsatisfied temper; a constant irritability; little inequalities in the look, the temper, or the manner; a brow cloudy and dissatisfied - your husband or your wife cannot tell why - will more than neutralize all the good you can do, and render life anything but a blessing.
E. It is in such gentle and quiet virtues as meekness (not weakness, it is power under control; bowing to the will of God. C.M.) and forbearance (Lovingly putting up with all that is disagreeable in other people. C. M.), that the happiness and usefulness of life consist, far more than in brilliant eloquence, in splendid talent, or illustrious deeds, that shall send the name to future times. It is the bubbling spring which flows gently; the little rivulet which glides through the meadow, and which runs along day and night by the farmhouse, that is useful, rather than the swollen flood or the roaring cataract. Niagara excites our wonder; and we stand amazed at the power and greatness of God there, as he “pours it from his hollow hand.” But one Niagara is enough for a continent or a world; while that same world needs thousands and tens of thousands of silver fountains, and gently flowing rivulets, that shall water every farm, and every meadow, and every garden, and that shall flow on, every day and every night, with their gentle and quiet beauty. So with the acts of our lives. It is not by great deeds only, like those of Howard - not by great sufferings only, like those of the martyrs - that good is to be done; it is by the daily and quiet virtues of life - the Christian temper, the meek forbearance, the spirit of forgiveness in the husband, the wife, the father, the mother, the brother, the sister, the friend, the neighbor - that good is to be done; and in this all may be useful. (AB)
Eph. 4:3 Endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.
4:3 Make every effort to keep the oneness of the Spirit in the bond of peace [each individual working together to make the whole successful].
A. “endeavoring” (being eager to maintain; guard; you have to keep working after it), so far as in you lies, (Joseph Benson)
B. “to keep the unity of the Spirit” — That mutual union, concord, and harmony, which is the fruit of the Spirit; (JB)
a. Symphony orchestra tuning instruments – chaos; playing in harmony when under the leadership of the conductor. (Chuck Missler)
b. Unity is not uniformity. (CM)
c. Unity comes from within; uniformity, from without (CM)
C. “in the bond of peace” — In a peaceable, kind, and affectionate disposition toward one another. (JB)
Eph. 4:4 There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling;
4:4 There is one body [of believers] and one Spirit--just as you were called to one hope when called [to salvation]--
A. “There is one body”,.... The church; in what sense that is a body, and compared to one; see Gill on Eph_1:23. It is called "one" with relation to Jews and Gentiles, who are of the same body, and are reconciled in one body by Christ, and are baptized into it by the Spirit; and with respect to saints above and saints below, who make up one general assembly; and with regard to separate societies; for though there are several particular congregations, yet there is but one church of the firstborn, whose names are written in heaven; and saints of different ages, places, states, and conditions, are all one in Christ Jesus, who is the one, and only head of this body: and this is an argument to excite the saints to unity of Spirit; since they are, as one natural body is, members one of another, and therefore should not bite and devour one another; they are one political body, one kingdom, over which Christ is sole King and lawgiver, and a kingdom divided against itself cannot stand; they are one economical body, one family, they are all brethren, and should not fall out by the way. (John Gill)
B. There is one Spirit. The word pneuma in Greek means both spirit and breath/ it is in fact usual word for breath. Unless the breath be in the body, the body is dead; and the vitalizing breath of the body of the Church is the Spirit of Christ. There can be no Church without the Spirit; and there can be no receiving of the Spirit without prayerful waiting for him. (William Barclay)
C. “And one Spirit”; the Holy Spirit of God, who animates, quickens, and actuates the body: there is but one Spirit, who convinces of sin, enlightens, regenerates, and makes alive; who incorporates into the body, the church; who comforts the saints; helps them in their access to God through Christ; makes known the things of Christ to them, is a spirit of adoption, and the seal and earnest of the heavenly glory; and the consideration of this should engage to unity, because a contrary conduct must be grieving to the Spirit of God, unsuitable to his genuine fruits, and very unlike the true spirit of a Christian: and by one spirit may be meant the spirit of themselves, who, as the first Christians were, should be of one heart, and of one soul, of the same mind, and having the same affections for one another; which sense is favored by the Syriac and Arabic versions; the former rendering the words, "that ye may be one body and one spirit", making this to be the issue and effect of their endeavors after union and peace; and the latter reads them as an exhortation, "be ye one body and one spirit"; that is, be ye cordially and heartily united in your affections to one another: (JG)
D. “even as ye are called in one hope of your calling”; that is, the glory hoped for, and which is laid up in heaven, and will be enjoyed there, to which the saints are called in the effectual calling, is one and the same: there are no degrees in it; it will be equally possessed by them all; for they are all loved with the same love, chosen in the same head, and secured in the same covenant; they are bought with the same price of Christ's blood, and are justified by the same righteousness; they are all equally the sons of God, and so heirs of the same heavenly inheritance; and are all made kings and priests unto God, and there is but one kingdom, one crown, one inheritance for them all; and the holiness and beatific vision of the saints in heaven will be alike; and therefore they should be heartily affected to one another here on earth, who are to be partners together in glory to all eternity. So the Jews say, that in the world of souls, all, small and great, stand before the Lord; and they have a standing alike; for in the affairs of the soul, it is fit that they should be all ????, "equal", as it is said Exo_30:15, "the rich shall not give more". (JG)
Eph. 4:5 One Lord, one faith, one baptism, (Popular NT)
4:5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism,
A. “One Lord, one faith, one baptism”. Here we have the way and means of salvation, presented as facts on which unity among Christians rests. A misapprehension of the second and third terms has led to diversity rather than unity.
B. ‘One Lord’ is the Personal Christ. The whole Epistle shows that out of Him there is no unity of the Spirit. He is not only the one object of faith, but the Lord to whom allegiance is due, and the loyal trust in Him, exercised by all who are Christians, is the
C. ‘one faith.’ For ‘faith’ here does not mean what is believed, but the act of believing. The New Testament use of the word upholds this view; the conception of ‘faith’ as a universal dogma belongs to later times, and has not been promotive of unity. Because we all exercise this one belief in the one Lord, we are to preserve unity. The other view—because we need unity, let us lay down one creed—has not been fortunate in its application. To this subjective fact of believing in the one Lord, there is added a third:
a. Refers to doctrine which is relian
b. One faith: refers to the body of truth the early Christians recognized a body of basic doctrine that they taught, guarded, and committed to others. (CM)
c. When this was denied, there where divisions. (CM)
d. There must be a substance to form an adhesion of believers. This substance is correct doctrine. (In essentials, unity; In nonessentials, liberty; In all things love. (CM)
D. ‘one baptism,’ the external sign and seal of faith,’ by which, as a badge, the members of Christ are outwardly and visibly stamped with His name’ (Alford). The importance of baptism is thus emphasized, and it is further suggested that it has no efficacy apart from the ‘one Lord’ and ‘one faith.’ Baptism is named, rather than the Lord’s Supper, since the latter is a manifestation of union preserved, while the former, ‘from its single celebration and marked individual reference, presents more clearly the idea of unity’ (Ellicott), thus furnishing a motive for preserving it. The view that the third term prescribes one mode of baptism not only seems foreign to the drift of the Apostle’s argument, but has proven unfortunate as a means of maintaining unity. In essentials, unity; In non-essential, liberty, In all things, love. Augustine (CM)
Eph. 4:6 One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.
4:6 one God and Father of us all who is [sovereign] over all and [working] through all and [living] in all.
A. “One God”
a. - The fountain of all being, self-existent and eternal; and Father of all, both Jews and Gentiles, because he is the Father of the spirits of all flesh. (Adam Clarke)
b. The same God; therefore there should be unity. Were there many gods to be worshipped, there could be no more hope of unity than there is among the worshippers of Mammon and Bacchus, and the various other idols that people set up. People who have different pursuits, and different objects of supreme affection, can be expected to have no union. People who worship many gods, cannot hope to be united. Their affections are directed to different objects, and there is no harmony or sympathy of feeling. But where there is one supreme object of attachment there may be expected to be unity. The children of a family that are devoted to a parent, will be united among themselves; and the fact that all Christians have the same great object of worship, should constitute a strong bond of union among themselves - a chain always kept bright. (AB)
c. “One God and Father of all” refers to God’s fatherhood of believers. We are reborn into His family. (CM)
B. “Who is above all” –
a. ?? ep? pa?t??? Who is over all; as the King of kings, and Lord of lords. (AC)
b. One God who is the Father of all; that is, who is a common Father to all who believe. That this refers to the Father, in contradistinction from the Son and the Holy Spirit, seems evident. The Spirit and the Son are mentioned in the previous verses. But the fact that the “Father of all” is mentioned as “God,” does not prove that the Spirit and the Son are not also endowed with divine attributes. That question is to be determined by the attributes ascribed to the Son and the Holy Spirit in other places. All sincere Christians worship “one” God, and “but” one. But they suppose that this one God subsists as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, united in a mysterious manner, and constituting the one God, and that there is no other God. That the Father is divine, they all hold, as Paul affirms here; that the Son and the Holy Spirit are also divine, they also hold. The meaning here is, that God is the common Father of “all” his people - of the rich and the poor; the bond and the free; the learned and the unlearned. He is no respecter of persons. Nothing would tend more to overcome the prejudices of color, rank, and wealth, than to feel that we all have one Father; and that we are all equally the objects of his favor; (AB)
C. “And through all” - Pervading every thing; being present with every thing; providing for all creatures; and by his energy supporting all things. (AC)
D. “And in you all” - By the energy of his Spirit, enlightening, quickening, purifying, and comforting; in a word, making your hearts the temples of the Holy Ghost. Some think the mystery of the blessed Trinity is contained in this verse: God is over all, as Father; through all, by the Logos or Word; and in all, by the Holy Spirit. (AC)
Eph. 4:7 But unto every one of us is given grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ.
4:7 Yet grace [God’s undeserved favor] was given to each one of us [not indiscriminately, but in different ways] in proportion to the measure of Christ’s [rich and abundant] gift.
A. “But unto every one of us is given grace”.—This verse should be rendered, To every one of us the grace (the one “grace of the Lord Jesus Christ”) was given—that is, given in the Divine purpose in the regeneration of the whole body, although it has to be received and made our own, separately in each soul, and gradually in the course of life. It was and is given “according to the measure of the gift of Christ.” In Him it dwells “without measure” He gives it to each according to the measure of his capacity to receive it in faith (called in Romans 12:3 the “measure of faith”). Compare with this verse the fuller description of the differences of “gifts,” “ministries,” and “operations” in 1Corinthians 12:4-6, in which passage there is the same general reference to the Three Persons of the Holy Trinity; but the particular reference is there to the Holy Spirit, while here it is to the Son. (Ellicott)
B. ‘THE MEASURE OF GRACE’ Ephesians 4:7The Apostle here makes a swift transition from the thought of the unity of the Church to the variety of gifts to the individual. ‘Each’ is contrasted with ‘all.’ The Father who stands in so blessed and gracious a relationship to the united whole also sustains an equally gracious and blessed relationship to each individual in that whole. It is because each receives His individual gift that God works in all. The Christian community is the perfection of individualism and of collectivism, and this rich variety of the gifts of grace is here urged as a reason additional to the unity of the one body, for the exhortation to the endeavor to maintain the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace. (Alexander Maclaren)
a. Each Christian soul receives grace through Christ.
b. The gift of this grace is in itself unlimited.
c. This boundless grace is in each individual case bounded for the time by our own faith.
Eph. 4:8 Wherefore he saith, When he ascended up on high, he led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto men.
4:8 Therefore it says, “WHEN HE ASCENDED ON HIGH, HE LED CAPTIVITY CAPTIVE, AND HE BESTOWED GIFTS ON MEN.”
The reference seems to be to Psa_68:18, “Thou hast ascended on high, thou hast led captivity captive: thou hast received gifts for men; yea, for the rebellious also, that the LORD God might dwell among them.” See Below
The speaker is God, the author of Scripture, and the place is the sixty-eighth psalm. That psalm is a psalm of triumph, where the placing of the ark on Zion is celebrated as if it had been a great victory. (PC)
A. Psalm 68:18 (Adam Clarke) “Thou hast ascended on high” - When the ark had reached the top of Sion, and was deposited in the place assigned for it, the singers joined in the following chorus. This seems to be an allusion to a military triumph. The conqueror was placed on a very elevated chariot.
B. “Led captivity captive” - The conquered kings and generals were usually tied behind the chariot of the conqueror - bound to it, bound together, and walked after it, to grace the triumph of the victor.
C. “Thou hast received gifts for men” - “And gave gifts unto men;” Eph_4:8. At such times the conqueror threw money among the crowd. Thou hast received gifts among men, ???? baadam, In Man, in human nature; and God manifest in the flesh dwells among mortals! Thanks be to God for his unspeakable Gift! By establishing his abode among the rebellious the prophet may refer to the conquest of the land of Canaan, and the country beyond Jordan.
D. “Yea, for the rebellious also” - Even to the rebellious. Those who were his enemies, who traduced his character and operations, and those who fought against him now submit to him, and share his munificence; for it is the property of a hero to be generous.
E. “That the Lord God might dwell among them” - ?? ????? yah Elohim, the self-existing God; The conqueror now coming to fix his abode among the conquered people to organize them under his laws, to govern and dispense justice among them. The whole of this is very properly applied by St. Paul, Eph_4:5, to the resurrection and glory of Christ; where the reader is requested to consult the note.
F. Ephesians 4:8 (Adam Clarke) “Wherefore he saith” - which, however it may speak of the removal of the tabernacle, appears to have been intended to point out the glorious ascension of Christ after his resurrection from the dead. The expositions of various commentators have made the place extremely difficult. I shall not trouble my reader with them; they may be seen in Rosenmuller.
G. “When he ascended up on high” - The whole of this verse, as it stands in the psalm, seems to refer to a military triumph. Take the following paraphrase: Thou hast ascended on high: the conqueror was placed in a very elevated chariot. Thou hast led captivity captive: the conquered kings and generals were usually bound behind the chariot of the conqueror, to grace the triumph. Thou host received gifts for (Paul, given gifts unto) men: at such times the conqueror was wont to throw money among the crowd. Even to the rebellious: those who had fought against him now submit unto him, and share his munificence; for it is the property of a hero to be generous. That the Lord God might dwell among them: the conqueror being now come to fix his abode in the conquered provinces, and subdue the people to his laws.
H. All this the apostle applies to the resurrection, ascension, and glory of Christ; though it has been doubted by some learned men whether the psalmist had this in view. I shall not dispute about this; it is enough for me that the apostle, under the inspiration of God, applied the verse in this way; and whatever David might intend, and of whatever event he might have written, we see plainly that the sense in which the apostle uses it was the sense of the Spirit of God; for the Spirit in the Old and New Testaments is the same. I may venture a short criticism on a few words in the original: Thou hast received gifts for men, ???? ????? ???? lakachta mattanoth baadam, thou hast taken gifts in man, in Adam. The gifts which Jesus Christ distributes to man he has received in man, in and by virtue of his incarnation; and it is in consequence of his being made man that it may be said, The Lord God dwells among them; for Jesus was called Immanuel, God with us, in consequence of his incarnation. This view of the subject is consistent with the whole economy of grace, and suits well with the apostle’s application of the words of the psalmist in this place.
I. Christ took captivity over Abraham’s Bosom/Paradise/Shoel/Hades and they accompanied Him to Heaven. (CM)
Isa 61:1 The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me; because the LORD hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound;
Eph. 4:9 (Now that he ascended, what is it but that he also descended first into the lower parts of the earth?
4:9 (Now this expression, “He ascended,” what does it mean except that He also had previously descended [from the heights of heaven] into the lower parts of the earth?
“Now that he ascended”,.... These words are a conclusion of Christ's descent from heaven, from his ascension thither; for had he not first descended from thence, it could not have been said of him that he ascended; for no man hath ascended to heaven but he that came down from heaven, Joh_3:13 and they are also an explanation of the sense of the psalmist in the above citation, which takes in his humiliation as well as his exaltation; which humiliation is signified by his descent into the earth:
what is it but that he also descended first into the lower parts of the earth? this the Papists understand of his decent into a place they call Limbus Patrum, which they make to be contiguous to hell; and where they say the patriarchs were detained till Christ's coming; and that he went thither to deliver them out of it; and that these are the captivity he led captive; all which is fictitious and fabulous: for certain it is, that the place where Abraham was with Lazarus in his bosom was not near to hell, but afar off, and that there was a great gulf between them, Luk_16:23 and the spirits or souls of the patriarchs returned to God that gave them, when separated from their bodies, as the souls of men do now, Ecc_12:7 nor did Christ enter any such feigned place at his death, but went to paradise, where the penitent thief was that day with him; nor were the patriarchs, but the principalities and powers Christ spoiled, the captivity he led captive and triumphed over: some interpret this of Christ's descent into hell, which must be understood not locally, but of his enduring the wrath of God for sin, which was equivalent to the torments of hell, and of his being in the state of the dead; but it may rather design the whole of his humiliation, as his descent from heaven and incarnation in the virgin's womb, where his human nature was curiously wrought in the lowest parts of the earth; and his humbling himself and becoming obedient unto death, even the death of the cross, when he was made sin and a curse for his people, and bore all the punishment due to their transgressions; and his being in Hades, in the state of the dead, in the grave, in the heart of the earth, as Jonah in the whale's belly: reference seems to be had to Psa_139:15 where "the lower parts of the earth", is interpreted by the Targum on the place of ????? ????, "his mother's womb"; and so it is by Jarchi, Aben Ezra, Kimchi, and Ben Melec. The Alexandrian copy and the Ethiopic version leave out the word "first" in this clause. (John Gill)
1Pe 3:18 For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit:
1Pe 3:19 By which also he went and preached unto the spirits in prison;
It cannot mean the whole realm of the dead, but only that part of Hades in which the souls of the ungodly are reserved unto the day of judgment. (Pulpit Comm)
Dake says that the spirits are those fallen angels who were present in the generation of Noah.
Eph. 4:10 He that descended is the same also that ascended up far above all heavens, that he might fill all things.)
4:10 He who descended is the very same as He who also has ascended high above all the heavens, that He [His presence] might fill all things [that is, the whole universe]).
A. “He that descended”” - And he who descended so low is the same who has ascended so high. He came to the lower parts of the earth - the very deepest abasement; having emptied himself; taken upon him; the form of a servant, and humbled himself unto death, even the death of the cross; now he is ascended far above all heavens - higher than all height; he has a name above every name. Here his descending into the lower parts of the earth is put in opposition to his ascending far above all heavens. His abasement was unparalleled; so also is his exaltation. (Adam Clarke)
B. “That he might fill all things” - That he might be the fountain whence all blessings might flow; dispensing all good things to all his creatures, according to their several capacities and necessities; and, particularly, fill both converted Jews and Gentiles with all the gifts and graces of his Holy Spirit. Hence it follows: (Adam Clarke)
Eph. 4:11 And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers;
4:11 And [His gifts to the church were varied and] He Himself appointed some as apostles [special messengers, representatives], some as prophets [who speak a new message from God to the people], some as evangelists [who spread the good news of salvation], and some as pastors and teachers [to shepherd and guide and instruct], (Benson)
A. Among other his free gifts; “he gave some, apostles” — His chief ministers and special witnesses, as having seen him after his resurrection, and received their commission immediately from him. The office of an apostle was to declare, in an infallible manner, the whole gospel doctrine: to qualify them for which they were endowed with the plenary and most abundant inspiration of the Holy Spirit, imparting to them a perfect knowledge of all those truths and mysteries which they were to publish to the world.
B. And “some he gave to be prophets” — Whose office it was to explain infallibly the true meaning of the ancient prophecies, and also themselves to predict future events, by virtue of the extraordinary revelations made to them.
C. And some, “evangelists” — Who were to preach the gospel in different Gentile nations, either before or after the apostles, under whose direction they seem generally to have acted. To fit them for this office Christ gave them the gift of tongues, and such other miraculous endowments as were necessary for the exercise of their ministry, and the confirmation of their doctrine. All these were extraordinary officers: the ordinary were some,
D. “pastors”, (called ep?s??p???, bishops, Acts 20:28,) watching over and feeding their several flocks. To fit them for which work, it appears from 1 Corinthians 12:28-31; 1 Corinthians 14:1-5; 1 Corinthians 14:23-26, that Christ bestowed, at least on some of them, the gifts of miracles and tongues, also the gift of prudence, to enable them to govern their particular churches in a proper manner.
E. “And teachers” — Whether of the same or a lower order, to assist them as occasion might require. It is probable the peculiar office of those here termed teachers, as distinguished from those called pastors, was to instruct the young and ignorant in the first principles of the Christian religion. And they likewise were doubtless fitted for their work, by such gifts as were necessary to the right discharging thereof; and some infer from 1 Corinthians 12:28, that supernatural gifts, such as those of miracles and tongues, were also conferred on some of them.
F. 1 Cor. 12:28 “And God hath set some in the church, first apostles, secondarily prophets, thirdly teachers, after that miracles, then gifts of healings, helps, governments, diversities of tongues.”
Eph. 4:12 For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ:
4:12 [and He did this] to fully equip and perfect the saints (God’s people) for works of service, to build up the body of Christ [the church]; (Matthew Pooles)
A. “For the perfecting of the saints”; either for the restoring and bringing them into right order, who had been, as it were, dissipated, and disjointed by sin: or rather the knitting together and compacting them more and more, both in nearer union to Christ their Head by faith, and to their fellow members by love:
B. “For the work of the ministry”; or, for the work of dispensation, i.e. for dispensing the word, and all those ordinances which it appertains to them to dispense; and so it implies their whole work. But there may be a trajection in the words, and then this clause is to be read before the former, and the meaning plainly is:
C. “For the work of the ministry”, which is to perfect the saints, and edify the body of Christ.
D. “For the edifying of the body of Christ”; the same in effect as perfecting the saints, viz. the building up the church, both in bringing in new members to it, and strengthening those that are brought in already, in faith and holiness.
E. The greatest tragedy of our churches: the Biblical illiteracy in the pews. Sometimes in the pulpit. (CM)
Eph. 4:13 Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ:
4:13 until we all reach oneness in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God, [growing spiritually] to become a mature believer, reaching to the measure of the fullness of Christ [manifesting His spiritual completeness and exercising our spiritual gifts in unity]. (Adam Clarke)
A. “In the unity of the faith” - Jews and Gentiles being all converted according to the doctrines laid down in the faith - the Christian system.
B. “The knowledge of the Son of God” - A trite understanding of the mystery of the incarnation; why God was manifest in the flesh, and why this was necessary in order to human salvation.
C. “Unto a perfect man” - ??? a?d?a te?e???? One thoroughly instructed; the whole body of the Church being fully taught, justified, sanctified, and sealed.
D. “Measure of the stature” - The full measure of knowledge, love, and holiness, which the Gospel of Christ requires. Many preachers, and multitudes of professing people, are studious to find out how many imperfections and infidelities, and how much inward sinfulness, is consistent with a safe state in religion but how few, very few, are bringing out the fair Gospel standard to try the height of the members of the Church; whether they be fit for the heavenly army; whether their stature be such as qualifies them for the ranks of the Church militant! The measure of the stature of the fullness is seldom seen; the measure of the stature of littleness, dwarfishness, and emptiness, is often exhibited.
Eph. 4:14 That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive;
4:14 So that we are no longer children [spiritually immature], tossed back and forth [like ships on a stormy sea] and carried about by every wind of [shifting] doctrine, by the cunning and trickery of [unscrupulous] men, by the deceitful scheming of people ready to do anything [for personal profit].
(Albert Barnes)
A. “That we henceforth be no more children” - In some respects Christians “are” to be like children. They are to be docile, gentle, mild, and free from ambition, pride, and haughtiness; see the notes on Mat_18:2-3. But children have other characteristics besides simplicity and docility. They are often changeable Mat_11:17; they are credulous, and are influenced easily by others, and led astray, In these respects, Paul exhorts the Ephesians to be no longer children but urges them to put on the characteristics Of manhood; and especially to put on the firmness in religious opinion which became maturity of life.
B. “Tossed to and fro” - ???d?????´µe??? kludo¯nizomenoi. This word is taken from waves or billows that are constantly tossed about - in all ages art image of instability of character and purpose.
C. “And carried about with every wind of doctrine” - With no firmness; no settled course; no helm. The idea is that of a vessel on the restless ocean, that is tossed about with every varying wind, and that has no settled line of sailing. So many persons are in regard to religious doctrines. They have no fixed views and principles. They hold no doctrines that are settled in their minds by careful and patient examination, and the consequence is, that they yield to every new opinion, and submit to the guidance of every new teacher. The “doctrine” taught here is, that we should have settled religious opinions. We should carefully examine what is truth, and having found it, should adhere to it, and not yield on the coming of every new teacher. We should not, indeed, close our minds against conviction. We should be open to argument, and be willing to follow “the truth” wherever it will lead us. But this state of mind is not inconsistent with having settled opinions, and with being firm in holding them until we are convinced that we are wrong. No man can be useful who has not settled principles. No one who has not such principles can inspire confidence or be happy, and the first aim of every young convert should be to acquire settled views of the truth, and to become firmly grounded in the doctrines of the gospel.
D. “By the sleight of men” - The cunning skill “trickery” of people. The word used here - ??ße?´a kubeia - is from a word (??´ß?? kubos) meaning a cube or die, and properly means a game at dice. Hence, it means game, gambling; and then anything that turns out by mere chance or hap-hazard - as a game at dice does. It “may” possibly also denote the trick or fraud that is sometimes used in such games; but it seems rather to denote a man’s forming his religious opinions by “the throw of a die;” or, in other words, it describes a man whose opinions seem to be the result of mere chance. Anything like casting a die, or like opening the Bible at random to determine a point of duty or doctrine, may come under the description of the apostle here, and would all be opposed to the true mode, that by calm examination of the Bible, and by prayer A man who forms his religious principles by chance, can un” form” them in the same way; and he who has determined his faith by one cast of the die, will be likely to throw them into another form by another. The phrase “the sleight of men” therefore I would render “by the mere chance of people, or as you may happen to find people, one holding this opinion, and the next that, and allowing yourself to be influenced by them without any settled principles.”
E. “Cunning craftiness” - Deceit, trick, art; see 2Co_12:16; Luk_20:23; 1Co_3:19; notes, 2Co_4:2; 2Co_11:3, note.
F. “Whereby they lie in wait to deceive” - Literally, “Unto the method of deceit;” that is, in the usual way of deceit. Doddridge, “In every method of deceit.” This is the true idea. The meaning is, that people would use plausible pretenses, and would, if possible, deceive the professed friends of Christ. Against such we should be on our guard; and not by their arts should our opinion be formed, but by the word of God.
Eph. 4:15 But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ:
4:15 But speaking the truth in love [in all things--both our speech and our lives expressing His truth], let us grow up in all things into Him [following His example] who is the Head--Christ. (Matthew Poole)
A. “But speaking the truth in love”; or, following the truth in love: q.d. Not only let us not be seduced by the craftiness of men, but constantly adhere to, and persevere in, the belief of the truth, joining love with it, in which two the sum of Christianity consists; and this will be a means of our growing up, and being no more children.
B. Truth without love is brutality; love without truth is hypocrisy. Truth unites; lies divided. Love unites; selfishness divides. (CM)
C. “May grow up”; this is opposed to being children; we are not to stand at a stay, but grow to maturity, Hebrews 6:1.
D. “In all things”; in knowledge, faith, love, and all the parts of the new man.
E. “Into him which is the head, even Christ”; our growth must be with respect to Christ our Head, as the end of it; we must grow in our acknowledgment of him, and dependence on him, as he by whom we are influenced, and from whom all our proficiency and strength proceeds; so that whatever increase we make, must tend not to the magnifying ourselves, but exalting our Head.
Eph. 4:16 From whom the whole body fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint supplieth, according to the effectual working in the measure of every part, maketh increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in love.
4:16 From Him the whole body [the church, in all its various parts], joined and knitted firmly together by what every joint supplies, when each part is working properly, causes the body to grow and mature, building itself up in [unselfish] love.
A. “From whom the whole body fitly joined together”,.... By which is meant, the church; see Eph_1:23 sometimes it designs all the elect of God in heaven and in earth, but here the church militant, which only can admit of an increase; this body is from Christ, as an head, and the phrase denotes the rise and origin of the church from Christ, her dependence upon him, and union to him, and of its members one to another; she has her being and form, from him, and all her blessings, as her life and light, righteousness and holiness, her grace and strength, her joy, peace, and comfort, her fruitfulness and final perseverance; and her dependence is upon him for subsistence, sustenance, protection and safety, and for grace and glory; and her union to him is very near, strict and close, and indissoluble; and the union between the several members is also very close, and both are very beautiful:
B. Every believer, no matter how insignificant he may appear, has a ministry to other believers. (CM)
C. “and compacted by that which every joint supplieth, according to the effectual working in the measure of every part.” The Alexandrian copy reads, "of every member"; and so the Vulgate Latin, Syriac, and Arabic versions; the author of the union of the members of Christ's body to one another is the Spirit of God, by him they are baptized into one body; the cement or bond of this union is the grace of love wrought in their souls by him; and the means are the word and ordinances, and these convey a supply from Christ the head to every member, suitable to the part it bears in the body, according to the energy of the Spirit, who makes all effectual: and so
D. “maketh increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in love”; the increase of the body the church, is either in numbers, when persons are converted and added to it; or in the exercise of grace, under the influence of the Spirit, through the ministration of the word and ordinances; and both these tend to the edifying or building of it up; and nothing is of a more edifying nature to the church than love, which bears the infirmities of the weak, and seeks for, and follows after those things which make for peace and godly edification, 1Co_8:1.
Eph. 4:17 This I say therefore, and testify in the Lord, that ye henceforth walk not as other Gentiles walk, in the vanity of their mind,
4:17 So this I say, and solemnly affirm together with the Lord [as in His presence], that you must no longer live as the [unbelieving] Gentiles live, in the futility of their minds [and in the foolishness and emptiness of their souls],
A. Paul appeals to his converts to leave their old way of life and to turn to Christ’s. In this passage he picks out what he considers the essential characteristics of heathen life. The heathen are concerned with empty things which do not matter; their minds are darkened because of their ignorance. (WB)
B. “Therefore”: The Bible was written to be obeyed, not simply studied. We are to be “doers of the Word, and not hearer only”. (CM)
C. “This I say therefore, and testify in the Lord”. There is no sign of the apostle, when he comes to the practical part of Iris Epistle, deeming it of less importance than the doctrinal. The formula is very expressive; the apostle sinks his personality, and brings forward Christ as the Exhorter. (PC)
D. “That ye no longer walk as the rest of the Gentiles walk”. First, he indicates what they are not to be. "Be not conformed to this world." In four particulars they are to be different from Gentiles. The first of these is (Pulpit Comm)
E. Repentance is a change of mind. When a person trust Christ, his entire outlook changes: values, goals, and world-view. (Chuck Missler)
F. “in the vanity of their mind”. The allusion is to their frivolous, empty aims in life, and their unfixed, unsettled impulses. The Gentiles were chasing shadows, blowing bubbles, doing anything to make time pass agreeably; not considering or knowing either what they were, or whence they came, or whither they were going. (PC)
Eph. 4:18 Having the understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart:
4:18 for their [moral] understanding is darkened and their reasoning is clouded; [they are] alienated and self-banished from the life of God [with no share in it; this is] because of the [willful] ignorance and spiritual blindness that is [deep-seated] within them, because of the hardness and insensitivity of their heart.
A. “Having the understanding”; the mind as reasoning and discoursing, and so their ratiocinations and discourses themselves.
B. “Darkened”; as to spiritual things.
C. We have become an entire culture that has lost its perception or moral values. The truth is turned around where right is wrong, and wrong is right. Abortion, Creation We have become and entire culture that has lost its perception of moral values.
D. “Is our biggest problem ignorance of apathy?” “I don’t know and I don’t care.” (CM)
E. “Being alienated from the life of God”; not only strangers to it, (for so are those creatures which are not capable of it), but estranged from it; implying, that in Adam originally they were not so.
F. “The life of God”; a spiritual life; that life which God commands, and approves, and whereby God lives in believers, and they live in him, Galatians 2:19, 20; and that both as to the principle of life, and the operations of it.
G. “Through the ignorance that is in them”; that ignorance which is naturally in them is the cause of their alienation from the life of God, which begins in light and knowledge.
H. “Because of the blindness of their heart”; or rather hardness: the Greek word signifies a callum or brawniness in the flesh, which is usual in the hands of laborer’s. Either this is set down as another cause of their estrangement from the life of God, or as the cause of their ignorance, which, though in part it be natural to them, yet is increased to further degrees by their own hardness and obstinacy, shutting their eyes voluntarily against the light.
I. “Blindness of heart” = hardness of heart. Dulled, as by anesthetic. Sin has a hardening, deadening, blind effect upon people. An unsaved person’s thinking is vanity (futile). He does not know God, he cannot understand the world around him; he cannot understand himself. (CM)
Eph. 4:19 Who being past feeling have given themselves over unto lasciviousness, to work all uncleanness with greediness.
4:19 And they, [the ungodly in their spiritual apathy], having become callous and unfeeling, have given themselves over [as prey] to unbridled sensuality, eagerly craving the practice of every kind of impurity [that their desires may demand].
A. “Who being past feeling” There is a certain pitch of wickedness at which moral insensibility comes on; and when that comes on, the case becomes almost hopeless. There is little prospect of repentance or reformation then. No matter how bad any poor sinner has been, there is still some hope so long as you can get him to feel. It is one of the last and worst symptoms of the soul’s condition when feeling is gone. That is arrived at by most men only after a long continuance in iniquity; and that is an indication which gives sad ground for fearing that the Holy Ghost, without whom we can never feel anything as we ought, has ceased to strive with that hardened soul, has left that obdurate heart alone. We all run a great risk of becoming so familiar with spiritual truths that we shall understand them and believe them without feeling them, without really feeling what their meaning is, and without that degree of emotion being excited by them that ought to be excited. And if it be true that even the converted man, in whom what we may call the organs of spiritual perception have been quickened from their native paralysis, and the capacity of spiritual emotion in some good measure developed, by the working of Divine grace, has to wonder and lament that he believes so much, but feels it so little, we need hardly be surprised to find that in the case of most unconverted men living in a Christian country, and probably frequenting a Christian church, there is a perfect numbness of soul; as regards spiritual things they are, in the full sense of the words, "past feeling." (Sermon Bible)
B. “Who being past feeling”. Without sense of shame, without conscience, without fear of God or regard for man, without any perception of the dignity of human nature, the glory of the Divine image, or the degradation of sin. (Pulpit Comm)
C. Definition: to cease to feel pain for
Usage: (lit: I cease to feel [my] pain), am past feeling, cease to care (suggesting sometimes despair, sometimes recklessness), become callous, reckless.
D. “Have given themselves over to lasciviousness (uncleanness, impurity, sexual immorality, lust) to work all uncleanness”. This is the climax—heathenism in its worst and fullest development, yet by no means rare. The sensuality of the heathen was and is something dreadful. Many of them gave themselves to it as a business, worked at it as at a trade or employment. Details, such as even the walls of Pompeii furnish, are unfit for the public eye. (PC)
E. “Have given themselves over unto lasciviousness” - Lasciviousness, ase??e?a, is here personified; and the Gentiles in question are represented as having delivered themselves over to her jurisdiction. This is a trite picture of the Gentile world: uncleanness, lechery, and debauchery of every kind, flourished among them without limit or restraint. Almost all their gods and goddesses were of this character. (AC)
F. A corpse cannot hear a conversation in a funeral parlor. Satin has blinded the minds of the unsaved. If you are not a Christian, God is not asking you to do the commands in this epistle. Dead men cannot walk no matter how insistently they are urged to. (CM)
G. “With greediness”, ??e??e??´a means the desire of having more, and has reference to the insatiable character of sensual sins. Sometimes it is translated (A.V.) "covetousness," as Eph_5:3. (PC)
Eph. 4:20 But ye have not so learned Christ; [Initiating a change to the new man in Christ.]
4:20 But you did not learn Christ in this way!
A. The Apostle has been describing in very severe terms the godlessness and corruption of heathenism. He reckons on the assent of the Ephesian Christians when he paints the society in which they lived as alienated from God, insensible to the restraints of conscience, and foul with all uncleanness. That was a picture of heathenism drawn from the life and submitted to the judgment of those who knew the original only too well. It has been reserved for modern eulogists to regard such statements as exaggerations. Those who knew heathenism from the inside knew that they were sober truth. The colonnades of the stately temple of Ephesus stank with proofs of their correctness. Out of that mass of moral putridity these Ephesian Christians had been dragged. But its effects still lingered in them, and it was all about them with its pestilential miasma. So the first thing that they needed was to be guarded against it. The Apostle, in the subsequent context, with great earnestness gives a series of moral injunctions of the most elementary kind. Their very simplicity is eloquent. What sort of people must they have formerly been who needed to be bade not to steal and not to lie?
B. But before he comes to the specific duties, he lays down the broad general principle of which all these are to be but manifestations-viz. that they and we need, as the foundation of all noble conduct and of all theoretical ethics, the suppression and crucifixion of the old self and the investiture with a new self. And this double necessity, says the Apostle in my text, is the plain teaching of Jesus Christ to all His disciples.
C. “Ye have not so learned Christ”.—Better, ye did not so learn the Christ. To “learn Christ” is a phrase not used elsewhere; but easily interpreted by the commoner phrase to “know Christ” (see John 14:7; John 14:9; 2Corinthians 5:16; Philippians 3:10), which is still nearer to it in the original, for the word used for “to know” properly means to perceive or “come to know.” It would seem that the name “the Christ” is here used emphatically, in distinction from the “Jesus” of the next verse. “To learn the Christ” is to enter into the true meaning of His office as the Anointed Priest, Prophet, and King, or, in one word, as the Mediator, in whom we as Christians escape from the guilt and bondage of the sins described above. Such learning—like the “knowing” of 2Corinthians 5:14—is not “after the flesh,” by the mere hearing of the ear, but “after the Spirit,” writing Christ upon the heart. (Ellicott)
Eph. 4:21 If so be that ye have heard him, and have been taught by him, as the truth is in Jesus:
4:21 If in fact you have [really] heard Him and have been taught by Him, just as truth is in Jesus [revealed in His life and personified in Him],
A. “If so be that ye have heard him” - If you have listened attentively to his instructions, and learned the true nature of his religion. There may be a slight and delicate doubt implied here whether they had attentively listened to his instructions. Doddridge, however, renders it, "Seeing ye have heard him;". (AB)
B. “And have been taught by him” - By his Spirit, or by the ministers whom he had appointed. (AB)
C. The better you understand the Word of God, the better I know the Son of God, for the entire Bible is a revelation of the Lord Jesus Christ. You have never seen a strong Christian that wasn’t a lover of the Word of God. (CM)
D. “As the truth is in Jesus” - If you have learned the true nature of his religion as he himself taught it. What the truth was which the Lord Jesus taught, or what his principles implied, the apostle proceeds to state in the following verses. (AB)
[Surplus exposition]
“If so be that”—not implying doubt; assuming what I have no reason to doubt, that
“heard him”—The "Him" is emphatic: "heard Himself," not merely heard about Him.
“taught by him”—Greek, "taught IN Him," that is, being in vital union with Him (Ro 16:7).
as the truth is in Jesus—Translate in connection with "taught"; "And in Him have been taught, according as is truth in Jesus." There is no article in the Greek. "Truth" is therefore used in the most comprehensive sense, truth in its essence, and highest perfection, in Jesus; "if according as it is thus in Him, ye have been so taught in Him"; in contrast to "the vanity of mind of the Gentiles"
(Jamieson, Fausset and Brown)
Eph. 4:22 That ye put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts; (Matthew Poole)
4:22 that, regarding your previous way of life, you put off your old self [completely discard your former nature], which is being corrupted through deceitful desires, “That ye put off”; a usual metaphor, taken from garments (implying a total abandoning, and casting away, like a garment not to be put on again): it is opposed to putting on, Ephesians 4:24, (And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.) and is the same as mortifying, Colossians 3:5 (Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth; fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, and covetousness, which is idolatry:), crucifying, Galatians 6:14 (But God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world.).
A. “Concerning the former conversation”; the former heathenish life and manners, Ephesians 2:2. He shows how they should put off their old man, viz. by relinquishing their old manners; the same as putting off. Conversation here means manner of life, conduct, behavior.
B. “the old man with his deeds”, Colossians 3:9 (Lie not one to another, seeing that ye have put off the old man with his deeds).
C. “The old man”; the pravity of nature, or nature as depraved.
D. “Which is corrupt”; or, which corrupteth, i.e. tends to destruction, Galatians 6:8; or, which daily grows worse and more corrupt by the fulfilling of its lusts.
E. “According to the deceitful lusts”; i.e. which draw away and entice men, Jam 1:14; or which put on a show and semblance of some good, or promise pleasure and happiness, but lurch men’s hopes, and make them more miserable.
Eph. 4:23 And be renewed in the spirit of your mind;
4:23 and be continually renewed in the spirit of your mind [having a fresh, untarnished mental and spiritual attitude],
A. “And be renewed in the spirit of your mind”. Or by the Spirit that is in your mind; that is, by the Holy Spirit; who is in the saints, and is the author of renovation in them; and who is the reviver and carrier on, and finisher of that work, and therefore that is called the renewing of the Holy Spirit, Tit_3:5 or rather the mind of man, which is a spirit, of a spiritual nature, immaterial and immortal, and is the seat of that renewing work of the Spirit of God; which shows, that the more noble part of man stands in need of renovation, being corrupted by sin: and this renewing in it, designs not the first work of renovation; for these Ephesians had been renewed, and were made new creatures in Christ; but the gradual progress of it; and takes in, if not principally intends, a renewal, or an increase of spiritual light and knowledge, of life and strength, of joy and comfort, and fresh supplies of grace, and a revival of the exercise of grace; and in short, a renewal of spiritual youth, and a restoration of the saints to that state and condition they were in, in times past: and the exhortation to this can only mean, that it becomes saints to be concerned for such revivings and renewings, and to pray for them, as David did, Psa_51:10 for otherwise, this is as much the work of the Spirit of God, as renovation is at first; and he only who is sent forth, and renews the face of the earth, year by year, can renew us daily in the Spirit of our minds. (JG)
B. “And that ye be renewed in the spirit of your mind”. Between the first and second practical change, derived from being taught by Christ, the apostle inserts this counsel applicable to both. This renewal is the work of the Holy Spirit; how, then, can it be the subject of an exhortation to us? In this sense, that we are to prize, long for, encourage, watch, this work of the Holy Spirit, feeling it to be most vital and essential, not to be neglected without awful sin and danger. Usually the Holy Spirit works in us by stirring up our spirit to desire and endeavor after holiness; to resist these strivings of the Spirit, or even to be indifferent to them, is a deadly and most dangerous sin. (Pulpit Comm)
C. You can’t change your actions until you change your way of thinking. Be renewed. (CM)
Eph. 4:24 And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.
4:24 and put on the new self [the regenerated and renewed nature], created in God’s image, [godlike] in the righteousness and holiness of the truth [living in a way that expresses to God your gratitude for your salvation].
A. “Put on the new man” - Get a new nature; for in Christ Jesus - under the Christian dispensation, neither circumcision avails any thing, nor uncircumcision, hut a new creation. Therefore ye must be renewed in the spirit of your mind. (AC)
B. “And that ye put on the new man” - The new man refers to the renovated nature. This is called in other places, the “new creature, or the new creation” (see the notes on 2Co_5:17), and refers to the condition after the heart is changed. The change is so great, that there is no impropriety in speaking of one who has experienced it as “a new man.” He has new feelings, principles, and desires. He has laid aside his old principles and practices, and, in everything that pertains to moral character, he is new. His body is indeed the same; the intellectual structure of his mind the same; but there has been a change in his principles and feelings which malco him, in all the great purposes of life, a new being. Learn, that regeneration is not a trifling change. It is not a mere change of relations, or of the outward condition. It is not merely being brought from the world into the church, and being baptized, though by the most holy hands; it is much more. None of these things would make proper the declaration, “he is a new man.” Regeneration by the Spirit of God does. (AB)
C. “Which after God is created in righteousness” - Here is certainly an allusion to the creation of man. Moses tells us, Gen_1:27, that God created man in his own image; that is, God was the model according to which he was formed in the spirit of his mind. St. Paul says here that they should put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness, or, ??s??t?t? t?? a???e?a?, in the holiness of truth. Both certainly refer to the same thing, and the one illustrates the other. From the apostle we learn what Moses meant by the image of God; it was righteousness and the truth of holiness. It is not this or the other degree of moral good which the soul is to receive by Jesus Christ, it is the whole image of God; it is to be formed ?ata Te??, according to God; the likeness of the Divine Being is to be traced upon his soul, and he is to bear that as fully as his first father Adam bore it in the beginning. (Adam Clarke)
D. “After God” - ?ata` Te?`? kata Theon. In respect to God. The idea is, evidently, that man is so renewed as to become “like” God, or the divine image is restored to the soul. In the parallel passage in Colossians Col_3:9, the idea is expressed more fully, “renewed in knowledge after “the image” of him that created him.” Man, by regeneration, is restored to the lost image of God; compare Gen_1:26. (AB)
E. “Is created” - A word that is often used to denote the new birth, from its strong resemblance to the first act of creation; see it explained in the notes on 2Co_5:17. (AB)
F. “In righteousness” - That is, the renewed man is made to resemble God in righteousness. This proves that man, when he was made, was righteous; or that righteousness constituted a part of the image of God in which lie was created. The object of the work of redemption is to restore to man the lost image of God, or to bring him back to the condition in which he was before he fell. (AB)
G. “And true holiness” - Margin, as in Greek, “holiness of truth” - standing in contrast with “lusts of deceit” (Greek), in Eph_4:22. “Holiness” properly refers to purity toward God, and “righteousness” to integrity toward people; but it is not certain that this distinction is observed here. The general idea is, that the renovated man is made an upright and a pious man; and that, therefore, he should avoid the vices which are practiced by the pagan, and which the apostle proceeds to specify. This phrase also proves that, when man was created, he was a holy being. (AB)
Eph. 4:25 Wherefore putting away lying, speak every man truth with his neighbor: for we are members one of another.
4:25 Therefore, rejecting all falsehood [whether lying, defrauding, telling half-truths, spreading rumors, any such as these], SPEAK TRUTH EACH ONE WITH HIS NEIGHBOR, for we are all parts of one another [and we are all parts of the body of Christ]. (AB)
A. “Wherefore putting away lying” - It may seem strange that the apostle should seriously exhort Christians to put away “lying,” implying that they were in the habit of indulging in falsehood. But we are to remember:
a. Lying is a contrary-to-fact statement with the intent to deceive. (CM)
b. The Christian is called to be honest, even in the little things. We should never deceive a fellow believer. We are called to loyalty. We must never be unfaithful to a member of the body.
c. That lying is the universal vice of the pagan world. Among the ancient pagans, as among the moderns, it was almost universally practiced. It has been remarked by a distinguished jurist who had spent much time in India, that he would not believe a Hindu on his oath. The same testimony is borne by almost all the missionaries. of the character of pagans everywhere. No confidence can be placed in their statements; and, where there is the slightest temptation to falsehood, they practice it without remorse.
d. The Ephesians had been recently converted, and were, to a great extent, ignorant of the requirements of the gospel. A conscience has to be “created” when pagans are converted, and it is long before they see the evils of many things which appear to us to be palpably wrong.
e. The effects of former habits abide long, often, after a man is converted. He who has been in the habit of profane swearing, finds it difficult to avoid it; and he who has been all his life practicing deception, will find himself tempted to practice it still. It was for reasons such as these, probably, that the apostle exhorted the Ephesians to put away “lying,” and to speak the truth only. Nor is the exhortation now inappropriate to Christians, and there are many classes to whom it would now be proper
B. “For we are members one of another” - We belong to one body - the church - which is the body of Christ; see the notes Rom_5:12. The idea is, that falsehood tends to loosen the bonds of brotherhood. In the “human body” harmony is observed. The eye never deceives the hand, nor the hand the foot, nor the heart the lungs. The whole move harmoniously as if the one could put the utmost confidence in the other - and falsehood in the church is as ruinous to its interests as it would be to the body if one member was perpetually practicing a deception on another.
Eph. 4:26 Be ye angry, and sin not: let not the sun go down upon your wrath:
4:26 BE ANGRY [at sin--at immorality, at injustice, at ungodly behavior], YET DO NOT SIN; do not let your anger [cause you shame, nor allow it to] last until the sun goes down. (JFB)
A. “Be ye angry, and sin not”—So the Septuagint (The Greek Old Testament), Ps 4:4. Should circumstances arise to call for anger on your part, let it be as Christ's "anger" (Mr 3:5), without sin. Our natural feelings are not wrong when directed to their legitimate object, and when not exceeding due bounds. As in the future literal, so in the present spiritual, resurrection, no essential constituent is annihilated, but all that is a perversion of the original design is removed. Thus indignation at dishonor done to God, and wrong to man, is justifiable anger. Passion is sinful (derived from "passio," suffering: implying that amidst seeming energy, a man is really passive, the slave of his anger, instead of ruling it).
B. Anger is momentary insanity. A soft word turns away wrath, but grievous words stir up anger. We should be angry at sin, but loving toward people. (CM)
C. Anger is an emotional arousal caused by something that displeases us. There are times when it would be very wrong not to be angry. We should be angry at nothing but sin. (CM)
D. It is difficult to practice a truly holy anger or righteous indignation because our emotions are tainted by sin. The moment self comes in, my anger is sinful. (CM)
E. “let not the sun go down upon your wrath”—"wrath" is absolutely forbidden; "anger" not so, though, like poison sometimes used as medicine, it is to be used with extreme caution. The sense is not, Your anger shall not be imputed to you if you put it away before nightfall; but "let no wrath (that is, as the Greek, personal 'irritation' or 'exasperation') mingle with your 'anger,' even though, the latter be righteous, [Trench, Greek Synonyms of the New Testament]. "Put it away before sunset" (when the Jewish day began), is proverbial for put it away at once before another day begin (De 24:15); also before you part with your brother for the night, perhaps never in this world to meet again. So Jona, "Let not night and anger against anyone sleep with you, but go and conciliate the other party, though he have been the first to commit the offense." Let not your "anger" at another's wickedness verge into hatred, or contempt, or revenge [Vatablus].
Eph. 4:27 Neither give place to the devil.
4:27 And do not give the devil an opportunity [to lead you into sin by holding a grudge, or nurturing anger, or harboring resentment, or cultivating bitterness].
A. Neither give place to the devil - This has respect probably to the exhortation in the former verse. "Do not yield to the suggestions and temptations of Satan, who would take every opportunity to persuade you to cherish unkind and angry feelings, and to keep up a spirit of resentment among brethren." Many of our feelings, when we suppose we are merely defending our rights, and securing what is our own, are produced by the temptations of the devil. The heart is deceitful; and seldom more deceitful in any case than when a man is attempting to vindicate himself from injuries done to his person and reputation. The devil is always busy when we are angry, and in some way, if possible, will lead us into sin; and the best way to avoid his wiles is to curb the temper, and restrain even sudden anger. No man sins by "restraining" his anger: no man is certain that he will not who indulges it for a moment. (AB)
B. Anger cherished becomes malice; Satan works through a malicious spirit. Malice is anger that smolders. This same anger can suddenly burst forth, which is call wrath. “Anyone can become angry. But to be angry with the right person, to the right degree, at the right time, for the right purpose, and in the right way—this is not easy.” Aristotle (CM)
Eph. 4:28 Let him that stole steal no more: but rather let him labor, working with his hands the thing which is good, that he may have to give to him that needeth.
4:28 The thief [who has become a believer] must no longer steal, but instead he must work hard [making an honest living], producing that which is good with his own hands, so that he will have something to share with those in need.
A. “Let him that stole (properly, the stealer) steal no more”. . . .—In this verse St. Paul treats dishonesty, virtually, although less distinctly, from the same point of view as before. For he is not content with forbidding it, or even with forbidding it as fatal to society; but he directs that it be superseded by the opposite spirit of self-sacrifice, working in order to give to others what is honestly our own, as the fruit of the labor of “our own hands.” In that direction there is a profound wisdom, in striking at the root of that exclusive selfishness which so often and so naturally exhibits itself in dishonesty. But we note in it also a peculiar harmony with the great doctrine of unity; for the sense of unity will always exhibit itself in working what is “good,” that is, gracious, for the sake of “him that needs.” (Ellicott’s Comm.)
B. Work: A lazy Christian robs himself, others, and God. Every Jewish rabbi was taught a trade: “If you do not teach your son a trade, you teach him to be a thief.” Where does our welfare system fit in? (CM)
C. Delinquent payables are a form of stealing. (CM)
Eph. 4:29 Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers.
4:29 Do not let unwholesome [foul, profane, worthless, vulgar] words ever come out of your mouth, but only such speech as is good for building up others, according to the need and the occasion, so that it will be a blessing to those who hear [you speak]. (Popular NT Comm)
A. “Let no corrupt communication”, etc. ‘Corrupt’ is used of what is decayed and loathsome, but the idea of worthlessness is included. It is implied that such things naturally rise to the lips, but they should never be spoken.
B. But whatever; the form is conditional, as if to suggest how rare such speech is. Much speaking is likely to be evil speaking.
C. “Good (i.e., fitting, though possibly suggesting the moral quality) for the building up of the need”. This means either ‘for edifying with respect to the need,’ or more probably,’ for the building up of the need which occasions or calls for it.’ (The E. V. is not correct.) In either case the requirement is, adaptation to place and time, and to the person whose edification is sought; comp. Col_4:6 : ‘how ye ought to answer every man.’
D. “That it may give grace”, etc. This is the purpose of what has just been commanded, and should be made the purpose of those who obey it. ‘Give grace’ is here = confer benefit, impart a blessing, suggesting spiritual benefit, since ‘grace’ usually refers to God’s favor. But it should not be limited to that sense here, nor weakened into ‘that it may be gracious,’ or ‘agreeable.’ Profitable conversation is so rare, because our social intercourse has no such exalted aim as this.
Eph. 4:30 And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption.
4:30 And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God [but seek to please Him], by whom you were sealed and marked [branded as God’s own] for the day of redemption [the final deliverance from the consequences of sin]. (Popular NT Comm)
A. “And grieve not the Holy Spirit of God”, lit, ‘the Spirit, the Holy (Spirit) of God.’ This emphatic form shows the importance of the command. The verb means to disturb, render sorrowful, while ‘and’ shows that corrupt words do thus ‘grieve’ the Spirit, which dwells in us and in others, and can be thus ill treated by foul speech. Believers can ‘grieve’ the Spirit, unbelievers ‘resist’ Him; comp. Acts 5:51. Though the expression is in one sense figurative, it points to a great reality, namely, the sympathetic (not apathetic) presence of the Holy Spirit in Christian hearts.
B. “In whom”, not ‘by whom,’ since God seals us with the Spirit as the Seal (comp. Eph_1:13); ‘in’ suggests fellowship.
C. “Unto the day of redemption”; the day of final and complete redemption; comp. chap. Eph_1:14. The motive is one of love, not of fear, the day of judgment is for Christians the day of redemption. The possibility of losing the seal is not suggested, except as all exhortations imply danger.
Eph. 4:31 Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamor, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice:
4:31 Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor [perpetual animosity, resentment, strife, fault-finding] and slander be put away from you, along with every kind of malice [all spitefulness, verbal abuse, malevolence]. (John Gill)
A. “Let all bitterness”,.... These words are a dehortation (an exhortation against a course of action) from several vices good men are liable to, by which the Spirit of God is grieved: "bitterness" sometimes designs the corruption of nature, which is the gall of bitterness, and bond of iniquity; and sometimes actual sins and transgressions, even those of God's own people, which are evil and bitter things; and sometimes heretical doctrines, which are roots of bitterness; and sometimes sinful words spoken by the saints, one against another; and here perhaps it signifies, the first offence taken in the mind, against any person, upon any account, which should at once be put away, and not encouraged:
B. Bitterness: a settled hostility that poisons the whole inner man. Bitterness leads to wrath . . . it hardens the heart. Basic cause: an unforgiving spirit. Learning how to forgive is one of the secrets of a happy Christian life. (CM)
C. “and wrath”: heat of spirit, which follows upon bitterness, or upon the spirit being embittered and offended; see Eze_3:14.
D. “And anger”; a sinful one, cautioned against before, Eph_4:26.
E. “And clamor and evil speaking”; such as brawlings, contentions, contumelies, reproaches, slanders, &c. arising from an embittered, wrathful, and angry disposition: these should all
F. “be put away from you, with all malice”; being the deeds of the old man, unbecoming such as are born again, and grieving to the Spirit of God.
Eph. 4:32 And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you.
4:32 Be kind and helpful to one another, tender-hearted [compassionate, understanding], forgiving one another [readily and freely], just as God in Christ also
A. “And be ye kind one to another” - Benignant, mild, courteous, "polite" - ???st??` chre¯stoi. 1 Peter 3:8. Christianity produces true courteousness, or politeness. It does not make one rough, crabby, or sour; nor does it dispose its followers to violate the proper rules of social contact. The secret of true politeness is "benevolence," or a desire to make others happy; and a Christian should be the most polite of people. There is no religion in a sour, misanthropic temper; none in rudeness, stiffness, and repulsiveness; none in violating the rules of good breeding. There is a hollow-hearted politeness, indeed, which the Christian is not to aim at or copy. His politeness is to be based on "kindness;" Colossians 3:12. His courtesy is to be the result of love, good-will, and a desire of the happiness of all others; and this will prompt to the kind of conduct that will render his conversation. with others agreeable and profitable.
B. “Tender-hearted” - Having a heart disposed to pity and compassion, and especially disposed to show kindness to the faults of erring brethren; for so the connection demands.
C. “Forgiving one another” - see the notes on Matthew 6:12 = And forgive us our debts, As we forgive our debtors.
Summary of last few verses by Matthew Henry 4:29-32
Filthy words proceed from corruption in the speaker, and they corrupt the minds and manners of those who hear them: Christians should beware of all such discourse. It is the duty of Christians to seek, by the blessing of God, to bring persons to think seriously, and to encourage and warn believers by their conversation. Be ye kind one to another. This sets forth the principle of love in the heart, and the outward expression of it, in a humble, courteous behavior. Mark how God's forgiveness causes us to forgive. God forgives us, though we had no cause to sin against him. We must forgive, as he has forgiven us. All lying, and corrupt communications, that stir up evil desires and lusts, grieve the Spirit of God. Corrupt passions of bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, evil-speaking, and malice, grieve the Holy Spirit. Provoke not the holy, blessed Spirit of God to withdraw his presence and his gracious influences. The body will be redeemed from the power of the grave at the resurrection day. Wherever that blessed Spirit dwells as a Sanctifier, he is the earnest of all the joys and glories of that redemption day; and we should be undone, should God take away his Holy Spirit from us.
