Ephesians

Unity of the Body of Christ. Paul now turns to exhortation (with three subsections in vv. 1–6, 7–10, and 11–16) based upon the truths he has been teaching—a common format for his letters, in which doctrinal truths are stated first (here, chs. 1–3), then application to life is built on that doctrine (chs. 4–6). The exhortations of Scripture become empty moralism without this gospel foundation.

Exhortation to Unity. Paul exhorts the church to unity based on the truths of the one God and his one work of salvation.

prisoner. Paul’s imprisonment for the sake of the gospel is for the Lord (see 3:1). His exhortations have great power, since he himself has taken these matters seriously enough to suffer confinement in the Lord’s service. Christians are to live in a manner worthy of the adoption, holiness, and unity to which they were called (see 1:4–5; 4:4).

Humility was regarded as distasteful by the pagan world of Paul’s day. Pride was more highly prized. All of the virtues mentioned—humility, gentleness, patience, and most of all, love—were displayed in Christ’s own character and are to be evident in the daily walk of every Christian.

Peace is a state of reconciliation and love and therefore acts as a bond to unite believers in Christ. Believers do not create unity but are to preserve the unity already established.

Since believers are one body, they must maintain unity (v. 3). Though current divisions among Christians are embarrassing, organic unity at all costs does not adequately address these schisms. Given departures from orthodoxy and the church’s expansion, denominations are not only inevitable but may serve to preserve the truth.

Spirit. Just as a human body has one spirit that animates it, so Christ’s body, the church, is enlivened by one Holy Spirit who enlivens Christians to eternal life. one hope. Christians do not have separate “hopes” but are together called to eternal life and to enjoy God forever in resurrection glory. They are also called to express that unity this side of eternity. On the church as a body, see Rom. 12:4–8; 1 Cor. 12:12–31.

One Lord refers to Jesus Christ. One faith refers to the doctrinal truths Christians commonly confess. “One Spirit” (v. 4), “one Lord [Christ]” (v. 5), and “one God and Father” (v. 6) constitute a Trinitarian formula. one baptism. Christians have disagreed about the proper mode of baptism beginning in the early history of the church. “One baptism” here, however, may refer to the baptism of all believers into one body (as described in 1 Cor. 12:13), which is the result of the regenerating work of the Holy Spirit when one becomes a genuine believer in Christ. If this view is correct, water baptism would be an outward sign of the inward reality of the believer being in Christ as the result of the regenerating work of the Holy Spirit (cf. John 3:5, 8; Titus 3:5). There is therefore a profound spiritual unity of all genuine believers who are “in Christ” (see John 17:21, 23), founded on “one faith” in “one Lord,” irrespective of denominational differences. Others hold that the reference here is to water baptism, but would disagree concerning the proper mode.

over all … through all … in all. God is omnipresent (see Ps. 139:7–12; Isa. 66:1). Thus the Christian church is “one body” (Eph. 4:4), wherever its separate congregations may be found throughout the world (see Rom. 3:30).

The Different Gifts. Paul describes diverse gifts in the church. These come from the ascended Christ.

Grace … according to the measure of Christ’s gift does not refer to different levels of saving grace but of grace given to serve Christ’s church. To hold an office in Christ’s church (see 3:2; 4:11–16) requires a special calling from Christ himself, who rules his body as its head (see 1:22; 4:15; 5:23).

Probably Paul adapted wording from Ps 68:18. Instead of receiving gifts from humans (the point of the psalm)—which Christ rightly deserves—Christ lavishes gifts on his people.

it says. Paul cites Ps. 68:18, where the one who ascends is the triumphant Lord God. Paul sees this as referring to Christ Jesus in his resurrection as head of the church. gifts. In Ps. 68:18, the divine victor is seen “receiving gifts among men,” but Paul adapts the passage to his purposes (as NT authors sometimes do in citing the OT) to show that Christ gave gifts to his people from his spoils of victory (interestingly, ancient Syriac and Aramaic translations of Ps. 68:18 also have “gave”). The “gifts” given by Christ turn out to be the church leaders described in Eph. 4:11. The captives over whom Christ triumphed are most likely demons (cf. this theme of victory over demonic forces in 1:19–22).

Some think the phrase “the lower parts of the earth” refers to Hades (metaphorically below the earth). Most, however, agree that these regions are set opposite the “heavens,” from which Christ descended to earth to give gifts to his church.

lower regions, the earth. In the incarnation, Christ descended from the highest heavens to the lowest regions (i.e., to the earth), where he suffered, died, and was buried, but where he also defeated death and rose again. He then ascended (Acts 1:9) 40 days later to be seated in the highest heavens at the right hand of the Father (Acts 2:33).

far above. Christ is the supreme head of the church who fills all things (see 1:23) with his glory, power, and sovereign prerogative to dispense gifts to his people (see 4:11–16).

The Gifts for Edification of the Church. The list in v. 11 is not complete since deacons are omitted. The focus here is gifted people who articulate the gospel.

Christ gives specific spiritual gifts to people in the church whose primary mission is to minister the Word of God (v. 12). For apostles, see note on 1:1. Regarding prophets, different views on the nature of the gift of prophecy in the NT affect one’s understanding of this verse (see notes on 2:20; 1 Cor. 12:10). Since the Greek construction here is different from Eph. 2:20 and 3:5, some see this verse as a broader reference to the gift of prophecy generally in the NT church, rather than a reference to the “foundational” prophets mentioned in 2:20 and 3:5. From the Greek word for the “gospel” (euangelion), evangelists denotes people like Philip and Timothy who proclaimed the gospel (Acts 21:8; 2 Tim. 4:5). shepherds (or “pastors” [esv footnote]). In the OT these are kings and judges (2 Sam. 5:2; 7:7). In the NT, elders “shepherd” by watching over and nurturing the church (Acts 20:28; 1 Pet. 5:1–2). There is some uncertainty as to whether “shepherds and teachers” refers here to two different ministry roles or functions, or whether the reference is to a single “shepherd-teacher” ministry role (cf. esv footnote), since Paul uses a different Greek conjunction at the end of the list, joining the two nouns more closely together than the other nouns in the list. If “teachers” are a separate group, they can be understood as a special branch of shepherds (overseers, elders) responsible for instruction in God’s Word (cf. 1 Tim. 5:17).

Those church leaders with various gifts (v. 11) are to equip the saints (all Christians) so that they can do the work of ministry. All Christians have spiritual gifts that should be used in ministering to one another (1 Cor. 12:7, 11; 1 Pet. 4:10).

The diversity of gifts serves to bring about the unity of Christ’s people. Mature manhood extends the body metaphor used earlier for the church and contrasts with “children” in the next verse (see Heb. 5:11–14). Some people think that the learning of doctrine is inherently divisive, but it is people who divide the church, whereas the knowledge of the Son of God (both knowing Christ personally and understanding all that he did and taught) is edifying and brings about “mature manhood” when set forth in love (Phil. 3:10). The work of the gifted ministers (Eph. 4:11) was to proclaim and teach the word centered on Christ rather than on speculative or eccentric teachings of their own (cf. 1 Cor. 2:2). measure. Christ Jesus is the standard of the maturity to which the church must aspire. Christ’s fullness is the full expression of his divine and human perfection (see Eph. 1:23; 3:19; Col. 1:19; 2:9).

children. Immaturity in the truths of Christian doctrine makes the church like gullible children tossed helplessly by the waves and wind of cunning and deceitful schemes of false teachers (1 Pet. 2:1; 1 John 4:1–3; Jude 4; Rev. 2:2).

The truth must not be used as a club to bludgeon people into acceptance and obedience but must always be presented in love. The truth leads the Christian to maturity, which is defined here as growing up into Christ. As head, Christ leads, directs, and guides the body (see 5:23; 1 Cor. 11:3).

joint. Paul continues the body metaphor to describe the church’s maturity. Every member (i.e., every believer, viewed as a limb, or unit, in Christ’s body) plays a crucial role in this growth. in love. There is no Christian maturity or true Christian ministry without love (1 Corinthians 13), and every act of love in the name of Christ is valued and remembered by him, as each part is working properly (illustrated in Eph. 4:25–32; cf. Matt. 25:31–43; 26:6–13).

Paul’s Testimony. Paul testifies to the new life in Christ experienced by the Gentile Christians of Ephesus.

Paul affirms most solemnly in the Lord that his Gentile readers, as part of the new creation, should no longer live as the Gentiles do (vv. 22–24; Col. 3:9–10). futility of their minds … darkened. Both in antiquity and today, people who reject the knowledge of God think of themselves as “enlightened” (cf. Heb. 10:32). Their ignorance here is not lack of general education; some are brilliant in their own way, but such brilliance is all wasted and futile in the end when combined with hardness of heart toward the truth of the gospel in Christ (cf. Matt. 13:14–15; John 12:40; Acts 28:26–27; Rom. 11:8).

put off your old self. As Christians seek to do this, God makes it a reality, as seen in Col. 3:9–10. Even Paul’s Gentile readers can be part of the new creation in Christ. (As the esv footnote indicates, “self” is the generic Gk. for “man” or “human”—perhaps an allusion to Adamic man apart from Christ.) Ephesians 4:22 describes the negative side of regeneration, while vv. 23–24 point to the positive side. corrupt. People need inner transformation because their hearts are “deceitful above all things, and desperately sick” (Jer. 17:9).

renewed. Paul expressed the negative side of the new creation in v. 22 as putting off the “old self,” while vv. 23–24 express the positive side as an entire transformation of believers’ inner selves, focusing here on their minds (see also John 3:3–6; Col. 3:9–10). Christians sometimes distinguish between knowledge of head and of heart, but the Bible shows that they should love and serve the Lord with all that is in them, including their minds, at all times (Deut. 6:5; 10:12; 13:3; Matt. 22:37; Mark 12:30; Luke 10:27). The “renewal” or “transformation” of the mind (Rom. 12:2) is a process in which believers begin to think in new and right ways as they meditate on the truths of God’s Word.

put on the new self (lit., “man”; see note on v. 22). Paul focuses on the individual aspect of the corporate “new man” as described in 2:15. Believers are created anew in Christ (see also 2:10). Created after the likeness of God further shows the connection with the original creation in Genesis, where “God created man in his own image” (Gen. 1:27; cf. 1 Cor. 15:49).

Exhortation to an Edifying Lifestyle. Paul gives practical examples of how church members build up Christ’s body (cf. vv. 13–16), based on what is true of them as Christians.

Therefore. In vv. 25–32 Paul will show how Christians are to put into practice the truths explored in vv. 17–24.

Though Paul’s literal “be angry” may be a genuine command to righteous anger, many versions rightly take the imperative in a conditional way: “In your anger …” or “If you get angry …”

Be angry. Not all anger is sin, but the believer should not be consumed by anger, nor should one’s anger even be carried over into the next day, as this will only give an opportunity to the devil.

Paul uses the thief to illustrate how repentance impacts one’s lifestyle. Repentance involves both stopping (negative) and starting (positive). The thief must stop stealing and start doing honest work. Stealing arises out of laziness and greed, so the repentant thief must display the opposite: diligence at labor and willingness to share.

corrupting talk. As with the “stopping” and “starting” noted in v. 28, Christians are to stop evil speech, substituting talk that is good for building up and giving grace. “Corrupting” (Gk. sapros) also applies to “bad” (rotten) fruit (Luke 6:43) or “bad” (putrid) fish (Matt. 13:48). To “give grace” in speaking means to benefit others rather than corrupt them through what is said.

Paul thought of the Spirit in personal terms. Those whom God marks as his own (see 1:13) grieve the Spirit when living contrary to his will.

grieve. Grieving the Holy Spirit means to cause him sorrow by one’s sin. sealed. See note on 1:13. The day of redemption is the day of Christ’s return (see Luke 21:28; Rom. 8:23).

All bitterness means “every kind of bitterness.” “All” also modifies the other items in the list, telling readers to put away all wrath, anger, clamor, slander, and malice. “Bitterness” may head the list because it so often leads to the other sins that Paul names. Bitterness comes from a heart that is not right before God (Acts 8:21–23); it is a primary characteristic of an unregenerate person (Rom. 3:10–14); and it causes destruction and defilement (Heb. 12:15). Bitterness and resentment are thus incompatible with Christian character and must be put away. People often are very careless with their speech (“slander”), even though the tongue can ignite a forest fire of harm to others (James 3:5–6).

Being kind, tenderhearted, and forgiving flows from constantly remembering that God first forgave us and that we need his forgiveness daily, as the Lord’s Prayer reminds us: “forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors” (Matt. 6:12; cf. Luke 11:4).