Well, after all the excitement of getting my first show ready for Radio CIA, and then the excitement of the auction of Harry Reid's attempt to squelch the First Amendment rights of a private citizen, and then an attempt to upgrade my 60G hard drive with a new 120G drive (my hubby will figure it out, don't worry!) I think it's time to get back to studying Ephesians, don't you? If you like, you can read what I've already written - here, here, here, here, here, and here - in order.
So, let's move on to Ephesians 4, verses 1-6:
I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you to walk worthy of the calling with which you were called, with all lowliness and gentleness, with longsuffering, bearing with one another in love, endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.
Dear Paul... I just love this guy! Look how he now moves from the doctrinal issues to practical application:
I... the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you...
"Hey, folks, I've been-there-done-that, I am the worst of sinners and I'm in jail for my faith right now! Keep that in mind as you listen to what I have to say to you..."
After all Paul has been through, after all he has endured, his faith is strong and his apostleship is obvious. He speaks with authority - and yet he humbly pleads with the Ephesians (and us) to listen and obey.
... walk worthy of the calling with which you were called...
Well, what kind of calling did you have? You have a calling from each Person of the Trinity:
- A calling from God the Father, who is absolutely holy, righteous, and just
- A calling from God the Son, who came in humility, gentleness, patience, and love
- A calling from God the Spirit, who is given to us as our Comforter, our Helper, and our Guarantee
Therefore, if we are to walk worthy of such a high calling, we must lead Godly and holy loves. We must love virtue and justice, and hate sin and perversion. We need to cultivate Christ-like qualities of humility and love, and we need to go out to the world and do his work. We need to obey the Spirit's leadership and offer comfort to the weary, help to the needy, and trustworthiness in all we say and do.
All of these qualities come from our God, who is three Persons in one Being, and so they should be evident in our lives. As we walk along the path God has laid out for us, these qualities should become more and more evident in our character as we integrate our new spiritual life into our daily routine.
Overall, our lives should show progress towards a godly character - we will never be perfect while we live here on earth, no, but every Christian should be able to look back and say "I'm more faithful now than I was 'x' ago, I'm more Christ-like, I'm more obedient to the Spirit" etc. It may not be huge progress - we all have our problem areas - but progress of some sort should be there!
...with all lowliness and gentleness, with longsuffering, bearing with one another in love, endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.
And look at how we are to treat each other, in particular. Paul is addressing Christians here. Now, of course, he's not negating the need to treat people outside the Church in a Christ-like manner, but inside the Church, among family, we should be especially kind and loving and unified. After all, Jesus Himself said:
A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.
One of the ways the Church proves her call from God is the tender, sacrificial love we have for each other. We are supposed to be unified in the Spirit! We are all saved by grace, and followers of our Lord, Jesus Christ, and so we should show a similarity of minds and hearts. I'm not saying - and neither was Paul (see verse 11 and following) - that we should all be the same, but that we should all be working towards the same goals: glorifying God, bringing people to Christ, and increasing holiness in our lives.
Look at what Paul says next:
There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.
One... One... One... One... ONE!!!
- εν σωμα "en soma" - ONE body
- εν Πνευμα "en Pnuma" - ONE Spirit
- μια ελπιδς "mia elpis" - ONE hope
- εις Κυριος "eis Kurios" - ONE Lord
- μια πιστις "mia pistis" - ONE faith
- εν βαπτισμα "en baptisma" - ONE baptism
- εις Θεος "eis Theos" - ONE God
Look at all those "ONES." The Greek word here - en, eis, mia - all mean... ONE. Like, "primary numeral." It doesn't mean "a," like an indefinite article, it means one-in-number, one-ONLY.
Christians are members of ONE body - the Church. Everyone who has truly placed their faith in Jesus Christ are in the body of the Church. We are called to be Jesus' hands, feet, eyes, heart, muscles, etc. in the world. Remember, God has prepared works for us to do! When Jesus was living here on earth, He did all that His Father told Him to do - and now it is our responsibility to continue His work of witnessing and teaching and healing and glorifying God.
Christians are partakers of ONE Spirit - the Holy Spirit. He lives inside each and every believer and unites the Church throughout the world and through all the ages. He does not divide Himself up into little pieces-parts so He may indwell each believer, He Himself is really in, wholly in, each believer! And so, since we all have the Spirit of the One God, we, too, must be united in purpose and mission as the three Persons of the Godhead are.
Christians have ONE hope - peace with God. We are assured that through our faith in Jesus Christ, we are forgiven and redeemed and are no longer under the condemnation and wrath of God:
Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.
We now stand before the Creator of the universe, and we are no longer in sinful rebellion. We have been transformed into His family, and brought close to Him through the blood of His Son.
Christians have ONE Lord - Jesus Christ, our Savior. For those who condemn or dislike the exclusive claim
Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.
... I would simply point them to what Christ did for us in His life, death and resurrection. The King of Kings and the Lord of Lords, for the love of His Church and the glory of His Father, descended from Heaven to live among us and to give His life for us... Hasn't He proven that He is worthy to be our one-and-only Lord? Hasn't He proven that He has that power and authority? And again, He is ONE Lord - He unifies His Church in Himself.
Christians have ONE faith - Romans 10, verses 9 and 10:
...if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.
Faith in Christ - in who He is, and what He has done - is the critical foundation of our faith.
Christians participate in ONE baptism - we are baptized into Christ and His abundant life. I do not believe, in context, that this refers to actual water baptism, but instead
For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus.
This is the spiritual baptism, the moment of salvation where we are transferred from the kingdom of darkness into His Kingdom of light:
He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love, in whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins.
It is the ONE God who has done this for us. It is His power, His choice, His sacrifice, and His mercy that has made His children ONE in Him. He is our Father - the Father of all His children. He is above all things, He works through all things, and He is in each of His children.
God is the omnipresent, omnipotent Creator and He is all in all. I want to be careful here, because I do not want to give the impression that God is "in" His creation in an animistic or pantheistic sense. No, He is transcendent over all His creation - He is high and lifted up, far above it. However, He is also immanent - His is in His creation, but not part of it. It is a narrow gap of demarcation, but is is a critical, distinctive difference.
one God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.
This phrase is emphasizing God's sovereignty, His power and His glory. There is none like Him - there never was, there never will be. He is God and there is no other, and we owe Him our worship and obedience and gratitude.
Because He is ONE God - three Persons, yes, but ONE BEING - we should imitate Him and be unified within the Church. We should act as one body, each part having a different task but all working together for the great call of glorifying our God and Savior.
So Paul, writing from prison and in chains for Christ, is pleading with the Church to put aside ungodly divisions and focus on what we have in common. When you examine this passage - six simple verses! - you see how awesome our commonalities are, and how powerfully they ought to push aside our differences.
Yes, there are hills to die on in the Christian faith - but too often we allow ourselves to be divided on points of Christian liberty or more minor points of doctrine. Long hair or short, pants or skirts, pre-Tribulation or post-Tribulation, Saturday or Sunday, guitars or violins, red carpet or green - folks, those are things we can disagree on and debate, but which are not critically necessary for salvation!
Let us learn to come together in love and humility. Let us learn to consider ourselves as each others' servants, and indeed proclaim that we are His disciples:
A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.
