Ephesians 4:1-3, Exegesis.

Tuesday September 22, 2020

 

Before we get into some exegesis on this passage, let’s be reminded that the truths or doctrines of Eph 1-3 that are to give us each peace that protects our souls, making the unity of the body of Christ possible.

 

Love and peace (headliners of the fruit of the Spirit) are the bond of unity.

 

There is one Spirit who baptizes all believers into Christ Jesus, which fact cannot be affected by anything human.

 

By the Holy Spirit we are all made a part of one body with Christ as its head and that forever, which is what Paul will allude to in his next sentence.

 

EPH 4:4-6

There is one body and one Spirit, just as also you were called in one hope of your calling; 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 4:1-3

I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, entreat you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have been called, 2 with all humility and gentleness, with patience, showing forbearance to one another in love, 3 being diligent to preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.

 

COL 3:15

And let the peace of Christ rule [act as an umpire] in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body; and be thankful.

 

The peace of Christ was what He promised to us, despite our tribulation in the world.

 

PHI 4:4-9

Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice! 5 Let your forbearing spirit [synonym of patience; literally “very reasonable] be known to all men. The Lord is near. 6 Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. 7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, shall guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

 

8 Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, let your mind dwell on these things. 9 The things you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, practice these things; and the God of peace shall be with you.

 

The Greek word brabeuo means to arbitrate or to act as an umpire. The peace of Christ, in the members of the body of Christ, is to arbitrate our decisions and our reactions. We know the phrase, “keep your head,” and we need to “keep His peace” within us. We do this through faith. Faith believes the truths of Eph 1-3, so incredibly blessed and graced out by God that we have nothing to want or fear, but rather we have expectant hope, looking with joy at our future, excited to see what God will do in our lives and the lives of others. The world is always on its ear about one thing or another. There is always a crisis being used by Satan, broadcast by his media, to rob the people of the world of any peace. Not so with the body of Christ. One can see that the devil must hate us.

 

EPH 2:14-16

For He Himself is our peace, who made both groups into one, and broke down the barrier of the dividing wall, 15 by abolishing in His flesh the enmity, which is the Law of commandments contained in ordinances, that in Himself He might make the two into one new man, thus establishing peace, 16 and might reconcile them both in one body to God through the cross, by it having put to death the enmity.

 

The body of Christ, the Christian community is to be one filled with love, humility, gentleness, patience, showing forbearance to one another in love, being diligent to preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.

 

Love and peace coexist.

 

GAL 5:22

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace,

 

COL 3:14-15

And beyond all these things put on love, which is the perfect bond of unity. 15 And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body; and be thankful.

 

The qualities: lowliness, meekness, patience, mutual forbearance and love are the qualities of unity worthy of our calling. Paul prayed that we would “in love be rooted in grounded  … and to know the love of Christ,” EPH 3:17-19, and now he appeals to us to live in that love.

 

Paul doesn’t begin his exhortation to unity with some form of church structure. Structure is important, but moral quality is far more important, and the only way to unity. Love is the perfect bond of unity.

 

EPH 4:1-3

 I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, entreat you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have been called, 2 with all humility and gentleness, with patience, showing forbearance to one another in love, 3 being diligent to preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.

 

The first word in the sentence is “entreat.”

 

“I entreat (beseech) you …” - parakaleo = to call to one’s side. It is used of every kind of calling to a person which is meant to produce a particular effect, hence it has various translations: comfort, exhort, desire, call for, beseech.

 

Its noun form, paraklete, is a title for both the Lord Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit. Paul is calling us to his side, entreating us, as God would since Paul is the apostle to the church; God’s messenger.

 

The verb parakaleo is in the first person singular, as it must be, but to it Paul adds the personal pronoun ego (I). In English we have to write the pronoun, but in Greek it is not necessary, which provides a marvelous vehicle for emphasis.

 

“ego” - I [entreat] = emphatic personal pronoun. He doesn’t need to use it, but does to emphasize his authority as apostle.

 

Also of note, Paul is not using the imperative here, command, but is calling to us as one member of the body to another, after completing his incredible first three chapters, exhorting us to live our lives in a worthy manner of our calling. It is obvious that we have to choose to do so, and Paul exhorts us as Christ’s prisoner to be diligent to do so.

 

As in 3:1, he again describes himself as a prisoner of the Lord. He is both a prisoner of Christ and a prisoner for Christ. In 3:1 Paul uses the genitive “of” the Lord for emphasizing belonging to the Lord, and in 4:1 he uses the dative, or indirect object with the preposition en, meaning “in the Lord.” He is a prisoner of Christ and for Christ, and in both ways bound to Christ by chains of love and in custody out of loyalty to Christ’s gospel and mystery of which he is a steward. From this position he begs the church to live a life worthy of its calling.

 

“walk” - peripateo = our lifestyle. Walk worthy of God (1TH 2:12), of the Lord (COL 1:10), walk by the Spirit (GAL 5:16), walk as children of light (EPH 5:8), walk in newness of life (ROM 6:4), walk by faith (2CO 5:7).

 

There are others.

 

Walk worthy of the calling (klesis: noun) with which you were called (aorist passive indicative of kaleo: verb). Using both the noun and the verb brings emphasis on our calling. Paul emphasizes his authority as an apostle in exhorting us, and he emphasizes our calling or election as what he is exhorting us to.

 

You were called - aorist passive indicative of kaleo = at salvation God called you. You couldn’t call yourself.

 

Aorist points to the moment of your salvation, passive means that God called you and that no one elects themselves, and the indicative means that your calling is not in doubt.

 

It is of extreme importance that a believer know without a doubt that he is elected. I read and hear of false doctrines concerning salvation hitting the church, which they always have. I think lordship salvation is making another surge against the church, which states, sometimes very blatantly and sometime subtly, that unless your life is completely holy then you’re probably not saved; carnal Christians are out. Such a lie, not in the scripture, though the scripture implores us to be holy it does not at all state that our salvation depends upon it, can plant seeds of doubt in a son or daughter of God who is struggling with certain weaknesses. It is the confidence of knowing that God has severed you from Adam that will give you the power to overcome the Adamic nature.