seekeroftruth
Well-Known Member
Ephesians 4:1 As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. 2 Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. 3 Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. 4 There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to one hope when you were called; 5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism; 6 one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.
7 But to each one of us grace has been given as Christ apportioned it. 8 This is why it says:
“When he ascended on high,
he took many captives
and gave gifts to his people.”
he took many captives
and gave gifts to his people.”
9 (What does “he ascended” mean except that he also descended to the lower, earthly regions? 10 He who descended is the very one who ascended higher than all the heavens, in order to fill the whole universe.) 11 So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, 12 to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up 13 until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.
14 Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of people in their deceitful scheming. 15 Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is, Christ. 16 From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work.
I've been using the same commentary all along. Longsuffering, bearing with one another: We need this so that the inevitable wrongs that occur between people in God’s family will not work against God’s purpose of bringing all things together in Jesus — illustrated through His current work in the church.
Chrysostom defined longsuffering as the spirit that has the power to take revenge, but never does. It is characteristic of a forgiving, generous heart.
He Himself: This means that Jesus established these offices. They are the work and appointment of Jesus, not men. Though pretenders may lay claim to them, the offices themselves are a Divine institution and not a human invention.
And of the knowledge of the Son of God: When the gifted offices work right and the saints are properly equipped, Christian maturity increases and there is greater intimacy in the experience of God.
Speaking the truth in love: This speaks to not only how we are to relate to one another in God’s family, but also to how leaders and saints are to deal with deceivers. We should deal with them in love, but never budging from the truth.
Paul seems to be talking to the workers in the church at Ephesus. It just occurred to me... If they wanted to... if they were not instructed to be loving and sharing as opposed to armed and murderous... they could have revolted. After all, they could have claimed the missing body was stolen by the Romans, or the Jews. They could have started a war in Israel over the missing body. They could have gone out into the streets in mass and chanted "Where's the Body?... show us the Body!"
Instead.... Paul is instructing them to "Love one another and act as one". Paul says they have their assignments and they should strive to fulfil their assignments just like Jesus did. We are called to serve with love.
Yesterday, I posted the second post in the book of Revelation. John was writing down what Jesus told him about the Ephesians. They were the first church to be mentioned. Jesus loved their perseverance. Passing the hat was not the highlight of their worship. No one had to say "all rise" so the men could get to their wallets easier while they sang and passed the hat. The church had no interest in idol worship, and Jesus loved that. Jesus himself said they did a good job.
So, I guess if you want to be a good Christian, you will need some kind of pattern to go by. Use the pattern the Ephesians used. It worked. Jesus was happy with them.
As I write this, the news is reporting that Hamas still holds Gaza hostage. A group of men who think they are doing the right thing by getting rid of Israel, have sliced the head off a baby while televising the whole thing. Then, an errant rocket, meant for Israel, landed on a hospital in Gaza... and the whole world decided to disregard the facts. There is footage of the rocket leaving Gaza, not Israel, and landing on the hospital. Gaza told the people Israel did it, and in spite of the visible evidence to the contrary, good people are blaming Israel. What part of slicing the head off a baby on live television is acceptable?
I've seen so many Westerns that used this same plot. The bad guy is holding the whole town hostage. When the good guy comes to save the town, they tell him to go away... he might cause trouble. In spite of the spineless actions of the town's people, the good guy hangs in there and takes out the bad guy. The good guy chases the bad guys down one by one. It's the right thing to do. It's acceptable for Sunday Night Television.
The church at Ephesus would see the lie because they were in tune with the truth. They didn't stop caring for others. They didn't go out and grab up all the gold they could hoard and shake a fist and God.
They stuck to their jobs, teaching, feeding, and healing in the name of Jesus, their Savior.
The church at Ephesus concentrated on what Jesus would have them do.
Do the right thing!
