Chapter 4
Almost immediately, we come to these verses:
4 There is one body and one Spirit--just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call-- 5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism, 6 one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all. [Eph 4:4-6 ESV]
Having just shown that through Jesus both Jew and Gentile are redeemed from slavery by the same blood - and that not of bulls and goats but of one man one time - and that the Old Covenant is abolished, such that the distinction between citizens and non-citizens has been abolished, everything required is the same now, for all. Both Jews and Gentiles are to be baptized. It is not that Jews, being circumcised don't need to be baptized. Baptism is the symbol of inclusion in the New Covenant, of intent to conform to that covenant. That is what this is about. The theme is unity, not baptism. MSB note adds little to this. In an earlier note, MSB says vs 4 emphasizes the Spirit, vs 5 the Son, and vs 6 the Father, showing that the three are unity.
2021-2, The one baptism here is baptism by the Holy Spirit, which began on the Day of Pentecost, and continues to this day. That baptism did not occur under the Law. Under the Law, there was baptism into Moses through the Red Sea. In Noah's time, 8 were saved by water - that is, all were in the ark, baptized "into" a new covenant on a de-populated earth. I think that's what is in view here. He just went through the whole thing about Jews and Gentiles being one now, and there being only one way now. He is talking about Christ and the church. Christ and the indwelling Holy Spirit unite all in the church.
2022 - These verses compared:
8 Therefore it says, "When he ascended on high he led a host of captives, and he gave gifts to men." [Eph 4:8 ESV]
18 You ascended on high, leading a host of captives in your train and receiving gifts among men, even among the rebellious, that the LORD God may dwell there. [Psa 68:18 ESV]
This one says he gave the gifts, but the original, in Psalms, says he received gifts from men. MSB says Paul is using the OT verse as "...an interpretive rendering of Ps 68.18 as a parenthetical analogy..." In Psalm 68, God, as King, is ascending Mt Zion in triumph. As Kings did in those days, those taken prisoner in conquering Zion follow in his wake - he leads a LOT of captives. I believe in Psalms, it is talking about gifts given by the residents of the city to the new King in order to gain favor with the new King, and to retain their homes, their wealth, their sons and daughters, and indeed their very lives. The King brings with him, in addition to all these captives - his slaves now that he has conquered - the spoils of battle. So this King is loaded up to the top with all the wealth and riches of this place he has captured, and it is in his power to keep or distribute those things as he pleases.
Paul is saying this, not about God as he ascended Zion in those days after the capture of Jerusalem from the Jebusites, but about Christ as he ascended back to heaven after his resurrection. All things were given to Christ, by God, after the cross. The primary gift was the Holy Spirit - given through baptism of the Spirit , which now inhabits all in the kingdom, both Jew and Gentile so long as they believe in Christ, and all equal in the sight of God - and through the Holy Spirit, power in various forms also was given, as a gift. Then the gifts are listed beginning in vs 11.
2021 - Vss 11-14, one of the places where spiritual gifts are enumerated. The other place is in I Cor 12 I think. Here, as there, there is a separation of the gifts. MacArthur's book says that the ones at the front are "gifted men", that is God calls some to hold offices in the church and gives them what they need to perform well in those offices. Then there are the general gifts, spread in various quantity and proportion among the whole of the church. Here are the verses, all four because there is no "period" until the end of 14. Note it is THE apostles, THE prophets, and so on, through shepherds. Teachers seems to be a different thing - a gift rather than a gifted man - but perhaps a Greek scholar would be better to make this call. I believe teachers are an office, and that teaching is a gift, and I think if you put 1 Cor 12 with this you can pull that out without stretching. There are also prophets as an office and prophesying as a gift. And so on. I would also note that the definite article shows up before EACH of those first four, but is missing before teachers. Just the same, the word used is didaskolos, and is the word translated "Master" when used of Jesus 40 different times. The point is that this word is teacher - as in position, not teaching - as in vocation. That being noted, I would have to say that all five of these are positions in the church, to be held by men gifted and called to serve in those positions. The purpose of the gifts is described in detail here also. To "grow" the church and its members in maturity, understanding, full knowledge of Christ, and so that the body may work properly in order to make "...the body grow so that it builds itself up in love." Eph 4:16b.
11 And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, 12 to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, 13 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, 14 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. [Eph 4:11-14 ESV]
2020 - All are given abilities, gifts maybe, though the word is not used, or maybe all are given "roles" is the best way to say it. These roles are to be exercised in equipping for ministry. We are to mature in our knowledge of God and Christ, to mature, to "grow up". We are to do this individually, but also the whole church is to mature as a body, unified to one purpose. Reminds me again of the athletes training to win, not just to run.
2022 - Some of the power was given to "the apostles", some to "the prophets", some to "the evangelists", "the shepherds" and I think it should say "the teachers". It's a compound phrase and the article would apply to both nouns. That's what I think it means. I think all these, all five, are what MacArthur refers to as "gifted men". In these early days, as the gospel is first proclaimed to the world and preached as a universal invitation to salvation, not just a gospel for the Jews, God gave gifts to those he chose to "light the fire". Look at this list...apostles. We know that was pretty exclusive group - 12 +1 and that 1 was constantly being accused of usurping the title. Few, if any, seriously claim there are apostles anymore. Apostles wrote scripture, they could heal anyone of any disease, they were the first hand keepers of the words of Christ - and the meaning behind his words. They were first-hand witnesses to all that Jesus did, to the truth of the works he performed. No one else can be one. "The prophets" of those days (and I think this definite article showing up means JUST THESE were so gifted, specially gifted, and none that followed were so gifted. I think all these titles are like this, even evangelists and teachers. We saw in Eph 1 and 3 that Paul puts himself in a special group to whom God gave additional revelation of scripture beyond the OT. He goes to some lengths to separate himself from the "rank and file" in the church at Ephesus. And now he defines others, set off by the definite article, who are also specially chosen for specific positions. MacArthur says that some of these still exist - shepherds/pastors in particular - and that some are no more - I have good notes on that book, but don't remember exactly which is which. I don't know that I agree with him. As I'm reading this in 2022, I see these five groups as set apart in Paul's day, and no longer extant. At least not at all in the sense that Paul means right here. That is how we explain the complete absence of apostles, the difference in how prophets functioned back then as opposed to now, and so on. The gifts are much much much less powerful now than they were at the first. I don't think we can say any but apostle is just completely gone, but I think we can say just as certainly that the power associated with all these gifts is much less than it used to be.
2022 - I had never noticed the phrasing of this verse before:
13 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, [Eph 4:13 ESV]. The term "we all" and "grown up MAN" are connected here. Are we to believe that Paul includes women as "grown up men" in this statement, or that he is directing these remarks EXCLUSIVELY to the men in the Ephesian church? Come on! This is how he says it, this is who he is addressing, but even so, WE KNOW that women are included in the gospel. BECAUSE IT SAYS SO ELSEWHERE! There need not be some "re-interpretation" of the original Greek works to "sometimes" include women. I do not think these words in those days EVER meant women. Aner is a a male, exclusively. And even so, since it is wrong to pick out one verse and build a whole "male only" doctrine around it, you have to look elsewhere, and when you do it is obvious that Paul is not excluding women from these things even though he is absolutely not SPEAKING TO women in this letter!!! I go further, and say that the gifts that include the definite article back in vs 11 were given ONLY and EXCLUSIVELY to men. And if we want to know how these same gifts, with much less power, play out today - and who can get them and should therefore use them - we need to look elsewhere. I don't think these gifts - this quality of gift - still exists.
2022 - This verse:
16 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. [Eph 4:16 ESV]. In this verse, we see for certain that Paul intends what he is saying to be taken up not just by men, but by the "whole body". Even as he says this, he is addressing the men, only the men, who are to pass on the instructions to the whole body - women and children included. Surely it is not possible for a body to grow properly unless EVERYTHING is functioning properly. And that also is a key phrase. Each part has a function, and we get into that whole "foot wanting to be a head" argument. The goal of the gospel, and the goal of all the gifts, is to mature the body of Christ...in the way that God intended the body to grow and mature.
The subject seems to change at this verse:
17 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. [Eph 4:17 ESV]
Paul is going to give us some character traits of the regenerate man.
He starts by telling them they are not to live as Gentiles any more. He describes how Gentiles live apart from God. His description is much like Romans 1, where the wrath of abandonment is described, and people sink to depravity in the absence of God's guidance. This verse:
19 They have become callous and have given themselves up to sensuality, greedy to practice every kind of impurity. [Eph 4:19 ESV]
I know this feeling. Even after salvation, this persists to a greater or lesser degree. It is always a fight.
2022 - Vss 17-19. Who does Paul have in view here? Is he telling those who are in the church to continue shunning the old Gentile ways from which they came? Or is he saying that, as in Corinth, some in the church are continuing to abuse the freedom of salvation to do even worse things than they did before they were saved? In vs 17 he talks about "their minds". Their means others, means not us, but them. So Paul seems to be saying that Gentiles in the church, saved Gentiles, ought not behave as those "other" Gentiles. Yes...this gets more clear as the passage goes on.
Then in 20-24, Paul describes the aspirations of the regenerate, contrasting them with the old man, "greedy to practice...impurity". The new man instead strives:
22 to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, 23 and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, 24 and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness. [Eph 4:22-24 ESV]
Our goal is to get away completely from the things that drove us, that dictated our behavior, and look instead to a new standard, the likeness of God.
He lists many specific attitudes that the regenerate should have. These should mark our character to all. Among them, tell the truth, don't steal but instead work so you can freely give to those in need, watch what you say at all times, put away bitterness, anger and wrath. This list is worth in-depth study.
2021 - You know, Paul would not have to say this if there were not some in that church who were practicing this behavior. There were some who still made a living thieving after being saved. Paul has to tell them to stop that. And then there were many "talking sins". People were saying what they ought not to say, had bad attitudes towards others in the church, and so on. This was going on back then. This is going on in the church today. Why are we surprised??? What we should be doing - and what no church I ever heard of is doing - is addressing those who are in the church but daily "practicing sin". Very first thing that comes to mind is unmarried church members living together. That is adultery, that is just like stealing for a living. It is sin, it is wrong, you should not be doing it and if you are the church ought to address it! And lest we get too self-righteous, gluttony is in there too! Foul language is in there. But is there any church at all today that knows its members so well that such things can be addressed? Is there any church where members go to each other first, as they should, and confront brothers AND SISTERS!!!! with ongoing sinfulness in their lives? And how strong, how mature, how bright in a dark world can our church be if we are not first correcting our own selves internally!!!