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Ephesians
Chapter Four
I. Content of the Chapter
The Life and
Responsibility in the Body of Christ
A. Be
Worthy of the Calling
with Which We
Were Called (v.1-2)
B. Keep
the Unity of the Spirit in the Bond
of Peace :
1.
The method of the
unity (v.2-3)
2.
The premise of the
unity (v.4-6)
C. Fulfill the Ministry
of the Gifts for the Equipping
of the Saints:
1.
The origin of the
gifts (v.7-10)
2.
The sorts of the
gifts (v.11)
3.
The purpose of the
gifts:
a. For the equipping of the
saints for the work of ministry (v.12)
b.
To a perfect man, to the
measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ (v.13)
c.
That we should no longer be tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of
doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting (v.14)
D. Do the
Work of Ministry to
Edify the
Body of Christ:
1.
Speaking the truth in love, we may grow up in all things into Him who is the head—Christ (v.15)
2.
The whole body is joined and knit together by what every joint supplies (v
3.
According to the effective
working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the
edifying of itself in love (v.16b).
The Conduct of Life
that We Should Have in the New Man
A. We Should no Longer Walk as the Rest of the Gentiles:
1.
In the futility of their
mind (v.17)
2.
Having their understanding
darkened, because of the blindness of
their heart (v.18)
3.
Being past feeling, have
given themselves over to lewdness
(v.19)
B. Believers Shall be Changed:
1.
Since we have learned Christ,
we shall put off the
old man concerning your former conduct
(v.20-22).
2.
We shall be renewed in the spirit of
your mind and you put on the new man (v.23-24).
C. The Conduct of Life that We Should Have in
the New Man:
1.
Put away
lying (v.25)
2.
Be
angry, and do not sin (v.26)
3.
Do not give place to the devil (v.27).
4.
Let
him who stole steal no longer, but rather let him labor, working with his hands
what is good (v.28)
5.
Let
no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth, but impart
grace to the hearers (v.29).
6.
Do not grieve the Holy
Spirit of God (v.30)
7.
Let
all bitterness be put away (v.31)
8.
Be kind to one another (v.32)
II. Verse by Verse commentary
Eph. 4:1 “I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you to walk worthy of the calling with which you were called,”
YLT: “Call upon you, then, do I -- the prisoner of
the Lord -- to walk worthily of the calling with which ye were called,”
Meaning of Words: “walk worthy”: equivalent to, matching, balanced, suitable (it is used to describe the
state of the number on a scale being properly balanced with the goods on the scale); “to walk”: to take a walk, tread;
Literal Meaning: in the original, there is a word “therefore”
at the beginning of this verse,
which means that the following teachings are based on the truth in the previous chapter(s).
Paul once again mentioned
“the prisoner of the Lord” (3:1). Apparently, he saw his being “the prisoner of
the Lord” as an
honor and regarded
it as his qualifications for his speaking.
“Called” shows four
aspects of
significance concerning the salvation that we have received:
(1) we have been selected and called out from the world
to God. (2)
This calling is entirely of God ----
it is passive on the part of man. (3)
Only those who are willing to obey and answer God’s election can have a part of the salvation. (4) That God has elected us to
let us receive a special identity to
carry out a certain kind of special tasks.
“You to walk worthy of the calling with which you were called”, it indicates that our
conduct must be worthy of our
being, so that we may not go against God’s
original purpose of
calling us.
Enlightenment
in the Word:
1) If
we are also “prisoners in the Lord”, like the apostle Paul, we will not do what as we wish in a casual manner, thus “walking worthy of the calling.”
2) God’s
calling does
not ask us to live a life
outside of this world, but live
a life in this world in
accordance with God’s gracious calling.
3) The
Chinese translated text and the Chinese Union version indicate that: God’s
grace should be manifested
by Christians’ conduct of life.
4) The
faith of Christianity is distinct from any
other religion. The specific
differences lie in that ----
the former has provision as well as demand,
and provision first and demand afterwards, but the latter only demands without
any provision. Here the apostle Paul exhorts us to manifest the grace
that we have already received.
5) If
believers have not lived in
the life that is “worthy of
the calling”,
then we have owned to the
grace of God’s calling.
6) To
walk “worthy” means
that we should neither
fall short of something nor add to something. We simply need to manifest the grace
we have received… we need
not expect to
manifest what we have not received.
7) We
can only exhort God’s children rather than those
who have not repented to live a Christian life.
8) Man
shall not be
saved by works, but those who are saved should have good conduct be worthy of our
calling.
Eph. 4:2 “with all lowliness and
gentleness, with longsuffering, bearing with one another in love,”
YLT: “with all lowliness and meekness, with
long-suffering, forbearing one another in love,”
Literal Meaning: “lowliness”, it means neither humbleness or contemptibility, nor humility. Humility is the outward
attitude, but lowliness is the inward intention, that is, to be very
modest. When we look at ourselves, we have
to see our short-comings. And when we look at others, we have to see
their merits.
Therefore, we can
truly “esteem others better than ourselves” (Phi. 2:3, Rom. 12:10).
“Gentleness”: gentle
and mild ---- it
shows that one does not wrestle with others (Matt.
5:5, 1 Pet. 2:23), nor
irritates others with sarcastic words,
including elegance, politeness, considerations
and etc.
“Longsuffering”, one is able
to stand the frustration without any negative response, especially
when one is
harshly treated by others in
the suffering, yet he is
able to stand unwaveringly, e.g. tolerance,
endurance, long suffering,
and yet he
can still forgive.
“Bearing with one another in love”, “bearing
with” is to tolerate
the debts of
others toward us, not count the harm from others to us. Only “love” can make us
genuinely consider the goodness for
others, so that one can
bear with others in love.
“Lowliness and meekness”, we should treat
others with such attitudes, and “endurance and tolerance” are used to receive the treatment from others.
Enlightenment
in the Word:
1) The
way for the oneness of the
church lies in manifesting
the reality of Christ, that is being mutually humble, gentle, patient, and to
mutually accept each other in love and in the “uniting bond of peace” (v.3).
2) True
“lowliness” of
believers stems
from an accurate estimation of themselves.
3) Believers in Christ should not only show
lowliness, gentleness, and longsuffering in mere one or two matters, but in all
things.
4) If
it is only an outward lowliness, gentleness, and longsuffering, yet the
person’s inside is full of embittered resentment, then that is not the kind of
lowliness, gentleness, and longsuffering that the Bible wants of us.
5) He that is humble may be gentle, and he that
is gentle may have forbearance. In fact, gentleness is the
natural outcome of lowliness, and he
who is gentle must be patient.
6) Tolerance
requires a loving heart. If we do
not have a genuine loving heart,
we cannot have the real forbearance for others. How much love we have
determines how much forbearance we’ll have.
7) We
should start from
lowliness if we want to
cultivate the true love among
one another.
8) “Bearing
with one another”, we need not only
others to bear
with us, but others also need us to bear with them.
9) Forbearance
is not giving place to
sins, but accepting those who
have faults or shortcomings, expecting that they will abandon
their faults and
forsake their
shortcomings.
10)
No one can
achieve the demand
of this verse through himself. Paul does
not intent to bind burdens heavy and hard to bear, and lay them on the
shoulders of men (Matt. 23:4). Instead,
Paul uses this verse to remind us ---- the “grace” (v.1) that we have
received is what enables us to live in
the situation of
lowliness, gentleness, and longsuffering.
Eph. 4:3 “endeavoring to keep the
unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.”
YLT: “being diligent to keep the unity of the
Spirit in the bond of the peace;”
Meaning of Words: “bond”: to be bounded together, to bind together into a
bunch, to form a group; “endeavoring”: to do one’s best, earnest
endeavor; “keep”: to guard, safeguard, adhere to, keep watch; “unity”:
oneness, identical;
Literal Meaning: “in
the bond of peace”,
“bond”: to maintain the
existing relationship. Disparagement and
misunderstanding may be unavoidable
when saints get alone with
others so that we have to bind us with
the rope of peace together.
“Endeavoring to keep”,
“endeavoring”: unceasingly
do one’s utmost to bring about
success. “Keep” implies guarding what you have already possessed in order to avoid
loss or changes.
“Unity of the Spirit”, it
is “unity of the Holy Spirit” or “oneness in Spirit” in the original.
According to the expression
of this
verse, the “unity of the Spirit” is an
accomplished fact by the Lord.
It is the same Spirit that dwells in all the saints. Whatever
causes divisions among
believers is
something that violates and offends
the Spirit.
Enlightenment in the Word:
1) There
is no Christian who can live
an isolated spiritual life without
any contact or communication with any
other saint.
2) Our
Lord has already made
peace on
the cross (Eph. 2:14-16).
The work of the cross is to make peace.
Only as we apply the principle of the cross to crucify ourselves (not others), can we truly have peace with
others.
3) Peace
is the means by
which Christians communicate with each other, but it should be manipulated by divisive groups.
4) Believers
cannot make
unity, but can destroy it.
5) Oneness
is a spiritual reality that existed originally ---- what we should
do is to preserve it.
6) “Endeavor
to keep” indicates that keeping the oneness requires us to pay the cost.
7) The oneness is in the spirit, not in the union of the administrative
organization.
8) If
believers do not emphasize their
backgrounds
and customs, they
will be amazed to find that ---- though
there are a lot of differences among us
outwardly, there
is a most important thing in common within us, namely, the life in
spirit.
Eph. 4:4 “There is one body and one
Spirit, just as you were called in one hope of your calling;”
YLT: “one body and one Spirit, according as also
ye were called in one hope of your calling;”
Literal Meaning: “there is
one body”. ---- The
church is the mysterious body of Christ (Eph. 1:23).
Though there are many members, there
is only one body (1 Cor. 12:12), and this body cannot be divided.
“One Spirit”: the
church is comprised of
believers in Christ who have been baptized
into one body (1 Cor. 12:13). The Holy Spirit is both the cause and the content
of the body.
Since there is only one Spirit, the body is also one that cannot be divided.
“Just as you were called in one hope of your calling”, it shows that when we are called, we have
obtained the Holy
Spirit as the pledge of our inheritance until we are redeemed and enter glory (Eph. 1:14) ---- this is
the “hope of our calling”.
Regarding the life of the mysterious
body of Christ, it is the story of “spirit” now and will be the story of “hope” about the future.
From verse 4 to verse 6, it mentions seven bases of keeping the oneness.
They are divided into three groups ---- the first three belongs to the group of the Holy
Spirit, the next three belongs to the group of the Holy Son,
and the last one
belongs to the group of the Holy Father.
Enlightenment in the Word:
1) Since
there is only one body,
all the churches on the
earth can display
the testimony of only one
body.
2) The
oneness of the body
is not the
oneness by
gradually piecing together, but the oneness that was immediate and complete.
3) The body is one,
because the Holy Spirit is one. The oneness that is manifested outwardly is based on the
essence of oneness within.
4) Those
who have not been born again in the Holy
Spirit or who do not have the
indwelling
Spirit cannot be listed in
oneness of the church.
5) There is only one Spirit, and therefore what we have received
is the same Spirit. One’s spirit must be able to commune
with another believer’s spirit.
6) The
Spirit of Christ will definitely bring people into the body of Christ. Otherwise,
it is not the Spirit of Christ.
7) The
oneness in the church
is not systematically, but spiritually.
8) Since
there is only “one hope” for believers,
no matter how great the
discrepancy at present is,
we will eventually obtain
the same hope.
Therefore, we must be far-sighted to see what lies in the future in the communication among believers.
9)
Those who would
not maintain the truth of
one body and one Spirit are definitely unworthy of receiving the hope of eternal life.
Eph. 4:5 “one Lord, one faith, one
baptism;”
YLT: “one Lord, one faith, one baptism,”
Literal Meaning: “one
Lord”, it indicates that
all believers are of
one Lord, namely,
the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the believers’ Savior, and the Lord of their lives, and
all the Lord of all their works.
“One faith”, it
does not simply refer to
our deeds of faith, but
also includes the contents
of faith. All believers come into the relationship with the Lord because of the same
faith ----
we believe that the Lord Jesus is the Son of God, who was crucified on the
cross for the
sake of the sins of the world.
“One baptism”,
believers were baptized in the name
of the Father, the Son,
and the Holy Spirit, thus being unto Christ.
Moreover, this baptism does
not focus on the ceremonies or acts, but on the reality of the significance that it
represents.
Enlightenment in the Word:
1) All
believers have the
same "Lord”,
with whom we came into a living relationship through “faith” and “baptism”. “Faith” is inward, and “baptism”
is outward.
2) If
all the believers truly fear
and obey the Lord Whom they have believed,
they will be
one very spontaneously.
3) If
a believer allows any person or thing to replace the position of the Lord in his heart, it will be very difficult for him to be kept in oneness
with other
believers. Even
if they are
one, it will be a false one.
4) “One” is of Christ, and not of us. We have been of Him because of faith, so we are one. If we come into the union with others,
we have damaged the true “oneness” of Christ.
5) Christ
cannot be divided, nor can our faith be taken apart. The different forms of
baptism cannot be used as reasons for divisions.
Eph. 4:6 “one God and Father of all,
who is above all, and through all, and in you all. ”
YLT: “one God and Father of all, who over all, and
through all, and in you all,”
Literal Meaning: “one
God and Father of all”: “all”, broadly speaking, it refers to
all the creation. Specifically
speaking, it refers
to Christians. God that we worship
is the same
only and true God,
from whom
we have also received
His divine Life, so He
is also our Father.
“Who is above all”, it
speaks of His
being above all to command, govern, and control all things.
“And through all”, it indicates that
He gives care, looks
after, guides
and raises us in
the midst of us.
“And in you all”, it shows that He
inspires,
works and
strengthens us in all of us.
The three phrases above can also be used to describe the Triune God ---- “Who is
above all”, it
refers to the transcendence
of God the Father.
“And through all”, it speaks of the incarnated
Son of God, who came to
dwell in us.
“And in you all”, it
refers to the indwelling
Spirit in us.
The seven “one”s from verses four to verse 6, the foundation of our faith, encompass all the truth in the Bible. He who believes the seven “one”s shall believe everything
in the Bible and shall be saved.
This is the base of our unity.
Enlightenment in the Word:
1) The
only ground
for the oneness of believers is the only Triune God ---- one
Spirit, one Lord, one God, as well as
His only salvation
---- one hope,
one faith, and one baptism, not
any doctrine, system, region, racial or
social class.
2) What
we have received
from the hand of God
are the same, and it is God
Himself that
knits us all together. We have no reason to
create any division.
3) The way to achieve the subjective oneness is that ---- we shall have the will to obey in God’s sovereignty, the attitude of desiring to be one in Christ and the actions in the inspiration and guidance of the
Holy Spirit.
4) From
the view of Paul,
Christians’
being unable to
be one is incomprehensible, for they have already had the basic elements of
oneness. Even though
there are any differences among them,
they may be unrelated
to the great will of God.
Eph. 4:7 “But to each one of us grace
was given according to the measure of Christ's gift.”
YLT: “and to each one of you was given the grace,
according to the measure of the gift of Christ,”
Meaning of Words: “the measure
of”: surveyor’s tool, measurement;
Literal Meaning: the text starts with “but” in the
original,
because the foregoing verses tell us that we have received the same nature in the body. Yet the following verses
are going to show us that our functions in the body are
different.
The first verse of this chapter mentions about our calling and
this verse speaks of the grace we have received.
This verse talks about
the “gifts”
we have received: (1)
the grantor ---- Christ; (2) the recipients ---- each one –
all those who are saved;
(3) the basis ---- according to the measure by Christ ---- He bestows His grace according to the
capacity of each one’s
faith.
Enlightenment in the Word:
1) We
all have the
right and capacity to serve in
Christ, because each of
us has received a distinct gift from Him.
2) Although
the Lord has unspeakable gifts, He grants the “measure”
of grace to us according to
the most appropriate measure for us.
If we want
to receive more
gifts from the Lord, we have
to firstly
ask Him to enlarge our capacity.
3) Since
all the gifts are granted by the Lord, there is no one who can boast the gifts
he has received.
4) Each of us should be content with
the gift we have received from
the Lord. We should neither
be jealous of those
who have received apparently more
visible and honorable gifts, nor despise
those who appear to have fewer gifts.
5) The
gracious gifts are given by
the Lord instead of being
produced from training. Gifts
are manifested in the practical service, and
become experienced in
continual practice of service.
Eph. 4:8 “Therefore He says:
"When He ascended on high, He led captivity captive, And gave gifts to
men." ”
YLT: “wherefore, he saith, `Having gone up on high
he led captive captivity, and gave gifts to men,' --”
Meaning of Words: “gave”:
brought to us;
The Background: in the ancient times, on a triumphant return from a war, the victorious
general brought back
the captives of the defeated foes and the seized goods, and gave
them to his soldiers as well as to the people.
Literal Meaning: “therefore
He says”, it refers to the words recorded in the
Old Testament, Psalm 68,
verse 18.
This verse indicates that
Christ gives gifts to men according to the cross, on which
the Lord defeated Satan and destroyed
the power of
captivating men, including
the sin, the
world, the
death, the flesh and etc.
At the time of His
resurrection and ascension, He brought those who were captivated by Satan but were predestinated to
be of God with Him into the
heavenlies (Eph. 2:6) together,
and gave gifts to them (or they
were given as gifts to the church).
Enlightenment in the Word:
1) Since gifts are captures of Christ’s leading captivity captive, when we practice our gifts
to serve the church,
we have already stood upon the victorious
transcendent ground. Therefore, we should
not be afraid of the attacks or obstructions from the enemy, because the fact
that we have received the
gifts is an evidence of its
defeat. We shall be encouraged
ahead. Even though we have the
smallest gift, we should also
know this fact.
2) The
cross is not only the premise
for Christ to
give gifts to man, but also the means by which the measure of our receiving
the gifts will be enlarged.
Therefore, the more one has been dealt with the cross, the more gifts he will receive.
Eph. 4:9 “(Now this, "He ascended"--what
does it mean but that He also first descended into the lower parts of the
earth?”
YLT: “and that, he went up, what is it except that
he also went down first to the lower parts of the earth?”
Meaning of Words: “lower parts of the earth”: the parts that is underneath
the earth.
Literal Meaning: verse
9 and verse 10
are in parenthesis, especially explaining verse 8 and clarifying that the quoted words refer to Christ. These two verses
help us to associate
the incarnation of Christ as well as His resurrection.
Some Bible expositors interpret the “lower parts of the earth” as Hades. The Lord Jesus had been there after His death (
Eph. 4:10 “He who descended is also
the One who ascended far above all the heavens, that He might fill all things.)”
YLT: “he who went down is the same also who went
up far above all the heavens, that He may fill all things --”
Literal Meaning: “far
above all the heavens”,
after the resurrection of Jesus
Christ, He ascended to the
heavens and sat down on the right hand of God the Father (Eph. 1:20, Acts 1:9,
2:34).
“That He might fill all things”,
after the Lord Jesus had triumphed and ascended
to the heavens, He gave the
spiritual “gifts” to man for building His body. The church
is His Body, the fullness of the one
who fills all in all (Eph. 1:23).
Therefore, to build the body is definitely related to filling of
all in all by Christ. In fact, that He gives gifts is
just for the purpose of attaining to the goal of His filling all things.
Eph. 4:11 “And He Himself gave some to
be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, ”
YLT: “and He gave some apostles, and some
prophets, and some proclaimers of good news, and some shepherds and teachers,”
Literal Meaning: “apostles”, those who are called by God and are endowed with the power of the Holy Spirit, and are sent to
everywhere to preach the gospel
and establish the church.
“Prophets”: those
who are inspired
by the Holy Spirit and have received the revelation of the truth of God. They preach the will of God to edify, comfort, and exhort the believers.
“Evangelists”: those
who have a special burden and capability
of preaching the gospel. They can
penetrate deep into a crowd of people and lead them to believe in the Lord.
“Shepherds and teachers”: in the original, there is only one
definite article before “shepherds
and teachers”, indicating that it is one ministry that performs
concurrently two
functions, which
complement each other and are embodied
in one person who has this gift.
The former (shepherds) emphasizes
feeding and looking after believers’ spiritual life, and
the latter (teachers) focuses on the edification and practice
of the truths.
The apostles mainly do the
“point” work. The “prophets” chiefly do the
“line” work. The
evangelists do
the work on the whole.
And the shepherd-teachers do the “three dimensional” work.
Enlightenment in the Word:
1) Here
we can see clearly
that the spiritual gifts are different.
2) Here, the four or five kinds of gifts
are mainly centered on the ministry of speaking. Furthermore, any believer who would serve the Lord in the church must seek
well before God to be the minister of words.
3) The gift of a certain believer may not be
manifested immediately after they have believed the Lord.
Therefore, the church must provide opportunities
for all the believers to reveal, cultivate, and develop their gifts.
Eph. 4:12 “for the equipping of the
saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ,”
YLT: “unto the perfecting of the saints, for a work
of ministration, for a building up of the body of the Christ,”
Meaning of Words: “equipping”: convalescence, patching,
assembling to cause it to be complete; “ministry”:
work, mission, responsibility;
Literal Meaning: “for
the equipping of the saints”,
to make the saints perform their functions in
life, knowledge,
talents and etc through
various kinds of methods.
“For the work of ministry”,
it means that each of the saint is engaged in the service of God.
This verse refers to
the purposes
of the gifts: (1)
to cultivate
and develop all the saints in the body; (2)
to make every saint fulfill the function in his
service; (3)
to complete the work of building of the body of Christ.
Enlightenment in the Word:
1) Concerning the building of the church of the Lord, it does not
only rely on the provision and
guidance of those who are specially gifted like the apostles,
prophets and etc.,
but also requires
all the believers to take their responsibilities
and give themselves up to the Lord. We are all saints ---- we are just duty-bound
and should not neglect our duty.
2) In
a normal church, it is not that only workers serve in the church, but the
workers lead the whole church to serve together, thus causing each saint to be
used by God, otherwise it is not the body of Christ.
3) Each
member has his own function in the body, and moreover, his function cannot be
replaced by that of any other
member of the body.
Each believer in the church
has his own position and his own portion of work.
4) The necessary attitude
that God’s children ought to have in their work is that ---- may what we can do could also be done by others, and may that there would be always someone who
could do what I could not
do.
5) Gift is something that plays a direct part
in the building of the body
of Christ or some indispensable
speciality. The
dispensable one is not gift.
Eph. 4:13 “till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the
knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the
stature of the fullness of Christ; ”
YLT: “till we may all come to the unity of the
faith and of the recognition of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to a measure
of stature of the fullness of the Christ,”
Meaning of Words: “till”: until we arrived at the goal, achieve the
objective; “faith”: belief, believe in; “come to the unity”: unanimous, arrive at the
identical destination; “to a perfect man”: grow to mature adulthood; “stature”:
highest degree, stature, age;
Literal Meaning: “unity
of the faith”, it indicates that we come into the unity of the objective faith in Christ.
“And of the knowledge of the Son of God”, it shows that we have entered the unity of the subjective
knowledge of the experience of Christ. “Knowledge”: the complete, deep, and precise knowledge, not superficial
knowledge.
“To a perfect man”,
it means that one has passed the
childish and ignorant period and is able to distinguish the truth (Heb. 5:13-14).
“To the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ”, one has grown up to be mature enough in
Christ, until the fullness of Christ is manifested in the church.
Enlightenment in the Word:
1) The
goal of the church
is to grow “to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of
Christ”.
The way of attaining to this goal is to perfect the saints through various gifts (v.11-12), “Till we all come to
the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God”.
2) Today,
the most important thing in the church
is nothing but using all
the gifts to
guide and teach all the saints diligently so that let them come to the
full knowledge of the Son of God. In
this way, the church
will early attain to the full measure
of the stature of the fullness of Christ.
3) If
there is any deviation from
the objective belief of the saints toward Christ, there will be also faults in
their subjective knowledge
of Christ. Likewise, if there
are differences in our knowledge of Christ, we cannot come to the complete
unity.
4) Christians
tend to have some differences in the details of their knowledge of Christ and in the faith in Christ, and such divergences constitute the primary factors that cause split in the churches.
5) The
essence of the church lies in giving Christ the status that He should be in and
allowing the life of Christ to govern the church
entirely.
6) How
much we know Christ determines how much we will yield to Him.
7) The
believers know
Christ not only through the truth, but also our experiences of Him. And only in
this way can we receive the true knowledge the Son of God.
8) Knowing
the truth leads us to the Son of God, but knowing the Son of God enables us to
be mature and be filled with His fullness. For this reason, to know the Son of God is the
goal of our pursuit.
9) Only
genuine knowledge of the Son of God can direct us to maturity, and Christ will
make Himself be filled in the church with His fullness
Eph. 4:14 “that we should no longer be
children, tossed to and fro and carried about with
every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the
cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting, ”
YLT: “that we may no more be babes, tossed and
borne about by every wind of the teaching, in the sleight of men, in
craftiness, unto the artifice of leading astray,”
Meaning of Words: “trickery of men”: throwing the dice, slyness,
craftiness, careful scheming;
“cunning craftiness”: having the stratagem to move; “deceitful plotting”: the method, plan to deceive people;
The Background: “trickery
of men” in
the original is
throwing the dice or crap game. This kind of gambling at the time of the
apostle Paul was already well known as a game of deception.
Literal Meaning: “that
we should no longer be children”,
we should no longer remain in
the immature state as an infant stage in Christ.
“Trickery of men”, it refers to men who have ulterior motives and preach
paradoxical teachings.
“In the cunning craftiness”, it speaks of some magic arts outside of the
church as well as the supernatural signs by those false prophets inside the
church.
“Every wind of doctrine”, the word “wind” of course represents being vain,
impractical and
highly changeable. And all the
doctrines
that have nothing to do with
Christ and distract one’s
attention to things outside of Christ are “wind of doctrine”.
“Tossed to and fro”, it
describes
a ship that is blown by the gale wind,
being swayed
by the waves up and down.
“Carried about”, it describes a ship in midst
of big storm, causing it to run around in circles, without any sense of
direction.
The previous two conditions both have something
to do with the “wind of doctrine”.
“Deceitful plotting”, it is systematized
error.
Enlightenment in the Word:
1) The reason why wrong paths have a bizarre controlling power is that there is a
spirit of falsehood and lies
behind them.
2) A mature Christian is characterized by his firm faith instead of being dominated by falsehoods.
3) All those who do not take the truth as the
basis of faith, and who are blindly believe the interpretations of the Scriptures
and who rely excessively on those supernatural wonders will be easily enticed
by the heresies.
4) All the teaching that do not aim at the “knowledge of the Son of God (v.13)”, no matter how reasonable or
pleasant to ears, are all “winds of doctrines” that scheme to make the children
of God be tossed
to and fro. This is the devil’s
trickery and the cunning craftiness, which may seriously hinder the growth of
the church. We must take heed to and beware of it.
Eph. 4:15 “but, speaking the truth in
love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head--Christ--”
YLT: “and, being true in love, we may increase to
Him all things, who is the head -- the Christ;”
Literal Meaning: “but,
speaking the truth in love”, to live and walk
in the truth and in love. One should not only adhere to the truth for the sake of love, but also manifest the truth
in his walking.
“May grow up in all things”:
to grow up in
all the aspects of
our living in order to attain
to some goal. It also points that every part of our body directs all towards one direction (Christ).
“Who is the head—Christ”,
for Christ is the truth (Jn.
14:6). He who adheres to the truth will be grown up into Christ in all
things.
Enlightenment in the Word:
1) We can deal with the deception of
heresies and the cunning deceits of philosophies by truth only.
2) We
have to speak the truth in love, for the truth is hard and cold, but only love
is warm and filled with life. Love melts men into the body life, thus making them grow up
into Christ.
3) Those
who speak for the Lord have to know the secret of leading
people to believe and obey the truth
---- that
is “speaking the truth in love”, not
great words of wisdom or some lofty hallow words.
4) True words must
be spoken in love. Words spoken without love may often cause misunderstandings.
5) We can endure the
misunderstandings of others toward us
for the sake of loving God, and
hold the truth firmly without any calculation.
6) We
should not be
content with the
progress in some aspects, for it may hinder
our further “growth in Him in all things”.
7) The
greatest difficulty in our pursuit of growth in Him is having not met the Lord.
8) All the activities in the church ---- including reading the Scriptures, praying, serving
and devoting and etc. If these acts have neither
been done in the living fellowship with Christ, nor in the spirit of
honoring
Christ as the Head, they must be dead
works.
9) Only when each member keeps the union with
the head directly and has a normal relationship with the head, can they have a normal relationship with each
other.
Eph. 4:16 “from whom the whole body,
joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share,
causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love. ”
YLT: “from whom the whole body, being fitly joined
together and united, through the supply of every joint, according to the
working in the measure of each single part, the increase of the body doth make
for the building up of itself in love.”
Literal Meaning: “from
whom the whole body”,
on the one hand, the body
depends on the provision from
the head. On the other hand, it has to make an effort by itself.
“Joined and knit together by what every joint supplies”, they
not only knit together, but also coordinate
appropriately with each other.
“By what every joint supplies”,
each joint in the body
has the ministry
of supplying other members of the body.
“Causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love”, the effective working by which every part does its share
is that each member of the body
will grow. And
of course the whole body will also grow accordingly, thus being built in the harmony and
coordination of love.
Enlightenment in the Word:
1) Only
as we “grow up into Him in all things” (v.15) can the whole Body be “joined and
knit together by what every joint supplies in Him”.
2) The
building of
the body of Christ lies in proper coordinated ministration with each other. Moreover, the real
coordination and delightful cooperation can only be realized through each
member’s upholding Christ as the head and growing up into Him in all things.
3) Each
member of the body
of Christ has his own
function. Only as each member performs his
function can
the body be built up. Therefore, in the church, we should not attend to our own work only, but also
that of others. It pleases the Lord to lead others to work together instead of working alone.
4) Relations among the
brothers and sisters are established through
the Lord. When we
have well relationship
with the Lord, we will also have
well relationship with all the
saints at the same time,
and thus the
reality of the body
will be manifested.
5) If
there is only a
single good-gifted worker preaching
God’s word, but most of the
rest members are set aside and enjoy the ready spiritual provision. Such local
church cannot be counted being built.
6) The
practical operation of the
building of the church occupies
the whole church ----
everyone shall stand in his own post,
and every member shall use his gift of grace to serve the Lord together.
7) “For
the edifying of itself in love”,
only love is the element
and atmosphere that facilitates the
spiritual growth. The church
can grow in the atmosphere of love only.
Eph. 4:17 “This I say, therefore, and
testify in the Lord, that you should no longer walk as the rest of the Gentiles
walk, in the futility of their mind, ”
YLT: “This, then, I say, and I testify in the
Lord; ye are no more to walk, as also the other nations walk, in the vanity of
their mind,”
Meaning of Words: “gentiles”: foreigners; “futility”:
void, stupid, vanity, at a lost of how to proceed; “mind”: intellect, the comprehension
faculty;
Literal Meaning: “this
I say, therefore, and testify”: say
resolutely,
testify without
any reservation.
“Walk… in the futility of their mind”, it means in the original that they set the
mind on vain
things, causing their minds to be ineffective. The
unbelieving Gentiles have their life
entirely
controlled by their minds. Their
minds are of vanity, so their walking is also empty
and false.
Enlightenment in the Word:
1) The
life and living
realm between believers and the Gentiles are different, and their
norms of conduct are also different.
2) It is not the
deliberation and conduct that a believer should have ---- desiring
to enjoy privileges without sparing
any effort, desiring to
reap without sowing, and fancying ideally and etc.
Eph. 4:18 “having their understanding
darkened, being alienated from the life of God,
because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their
heart;”
YLT: “being darkened in the understanding, being
alienated from the life of God, because of the ignorance that is in them,
because of the hardness of their heart,”
Meaning of Words: “understanding”: comprehension, thoughts; “darkened”:
to be shaded by darkness; “alienated”: separated, cannot communicate; “blindness”:
numbed, without feeling, hardened
(it refers to hardening medically).
Literal Meaning: “having
their understanding darkened”, it indicates
that the understanding of a man lacks the capability of discernment so that he
is unable to distinguish good or evil.
“Because of the ignorance that is in them,
because of the blindness of their heart”, “ignorance” indicates that they do
not desire to know. Man can know God from the creation of God. Yet men refuse
to know God, and became harden and numb toward God. Finally, they are estranged
from the life of God and are alienated from
Him.
Enlightenment in the Word:
1) The
depravity and corruption of man began with the inner blindness.
Therefore, when we have no
light within (Matt 6:23), we should be watchful, for it is the mark of the beginning
of depravity.
2) From
the walking of a man in his life, we can tell the condition of his spiritual
life.
3) The
numb, recalcitrant, stubborn condition of a man’s heart shows that he is abandoned by God. This kind of man does not fear the judgment of God
when he has sinned against God, still persisting in his
old way and living a care-free and self-pleasing
life.
Eph. 4:19 “who, being past feeling,
have given themselves over to lewdness, to work all uncleanness with
greediness.”
YLT: “who, having ceased to feel, themselves did
give up to the lasciviousness, for the working of all uncleanness in
greediness;”
Meaning of Words: “lewdness”: shameless lasciviousness; “greediness”:
always seeking to gain more; insatiable greed;
Literal Meaning: “who,
being past feeling”, it means making
oneself lose all his feeling. Man
has discarded all his virtuous feelings, like love, justice, kindness and etc.
“Given themselves over to lewdness”, do what one desires without
any inhibition ---- to
hand oneself over
to licentious and evil
behaviors.
“To work all uncleanness with greediness”, one often
considers
how to gain more material or sexual gratification so that he spares no efforts to
engage in all kinds of unclean matters
without and consideration for the profit of others.
Enlightenment in the Word:
1) Man firstly relinquished the inner feeling in conscience,
and then he loosely
indulges
in fleshly lusts and
works out all kinds of filthy
things. Therefore, the way for we
believers to keep holy is to honor the feeling in conscience and in spirit within
us.
2) The
conscience of man is the organ originally used by God to subdue man’s sins. When a
man does not hear
God and is abandoned
by Him, the
thorough exposure
of the lusts and
the unbridled
indulgence will be found immediately
in him.
Eph. 4:20 “But you have not so learned
Christ,”
YLT: “and ye did not so learn the Christ,”
Literal Meaning: the word “but” indicates
that the life of a believer is completely different from that of an unbeliever.
“So learned Christ”, during
a specific period of time in the past, they have already learned two things from Christ: (1) to regard the walking
of Jesus as our model
of our outward living (Matt 11:29); (2)
to let the life of Christ flow out
through us.
Enlightenment in the Word:
1) The
believers have the life of Christ,
so they can
learn from Christ. One receives His life first,
and becomes imitator of Him afterwards.
2) Genuine
faith will definitely have the effect of
sublimation in our lives.
3) Knowing
Christ and putting the
flesh into death
are inseparable.
4) We
are not learning from
any person, but from Christ Himself. If we imitate others, we
just imitate the Christ in them (see 1Cor 11:1).
Eph. 4:21 “if indeed you have heard
Him and have been taught by Him, as the truth is in Jesus:”
YLT: “if so be ye did hear him, and in him were
taught, as truth is in Jesus;”
Literal Meaning: “if
indeed you have heard Him”, have heard of Christ Himself and
His words and deeds.
“Have been taught by Him”,
it means being instructed
“in Him” in the original.
It unveils that the teaching
of the Lord is unlike that of the world, which only teach others outwardly, but the Lord’s teachings are: (1)
pertaining to the inner life; (2)
being received by those who are
in the Lord only.
“As the truth is in Jesus”,
there is no definite
article before the word “truth” in the original. It refers
to all the accomplished
facts by the Lord
Jesus on
the earth (including having put off the
old man). Now
all of these are the divine realities
hid in Christ. Therefore,
He said, “I am the… truth” (Jn. 14:6). The truth we have learned is the living truth and is what lives in
Christ Jesus.
To listen to the Lord’s word
is “knowledge”. To
receive the Lord’s teachings is “faith”. And to learn the Lord’s truth is
“living”.
Enlightenment in the Word:
1) What
we listen, receive and learn is not doctrine or theory, but “Himself”.
2) Truth
is not only something that God makes us see and touch, but
also that the God that we have seen and touched enters us
so that we may live out Him.
3) Listening
to the word of God and receiving His teachings should be linked with the
learning the
truth. He who only hears without neither receiving any lesson nor learning the truth receives no profit no matter
how many teachings he has
listened
to.
Eph. 4:22 “that you put off,
concerning your former conduct, the old man which grows corrupt according to
the deceitful lusts,”
YLT: “ye are to put off concerning the former
behaviour the old man, that is corrupt according to the desires of the deceit,”
Meaning of Words: “put off”: remove
(clothing); “corrupt”: damage;
Literal Meaning: “the
old man with the former conduct”,
“the old
man” refers to the old life inherited from
Adam. This old man,
the source of our life in the past, is manifested through
our conduct in the past.
“Put off… old man”: “put off”, it is an
accomplished fact.
Whenever we believe and receive Christ, we have put off the old man.
“The old man which grows corrupt according to the deceitful lusts”, the old life of
us produces a strong desire called “lust” because of the
temptation of Satan. Then, the old man gets worst and worst,
until it is beyond
redemption.
Enlightenment in the Word:
1) Concerning
the old man, believers need not
try to change it, but get rid of it like taking off the
clothes.
2) The old man of a Christian has been crucified with Christ on the
cross (Rom 6:6). Although it is
an accomplished objective fact, we have not been fully experienced the accomplished salvation by Christ in our subjective experience. Therefore, we have to
continue to put off our old man daily.
Eph. 4:23 “and be renewed in the
spirit of your mind, ”
YLT: “and to be renewed in the spirit of your mind,”
Meaning of Words: “change”:
to put on the renewed…
Literal Meaning: “spirit
of your mind”, it
shows that the new life that we
have received at the time of our rebirth has extended
into our mind so that our mind has obtained a
spiritual likeness.
“Renewed”, the
Spirit of God inspires and governs in our
mind, thus renewing
our mind.
The Gentiles live in the vanity of their mind, and their thoughts are of total vanity. We believers have the
Spirit of God dwelling in us. However, sometimes
we may still be controlled by our own mind.
Therefore, the Spirit of God should enter
our mind to
replace the vanity of our mind, so that our mind may be renewed unto the mature condition of
the mind of the Spirit (Rom 8:6).
At that time, all that we think will be
spiritual.
The passive
form (to be renewed) implies
that it is not renewing
automatically, but that we are being renewed. Besides, the present
tense shows that this renewal is
going on and keeping
advancing.
Enlightenment in the Word:
1) The
salvation of the Lord does not
only deal with
our old life in the negative aspect, but also grants us the new life to renew us n
the positive aspect.
2) The work of the Holy Spirit always starts from the center of a circle
to the circumference. The spirit of man, the habitation of the Holy Spirit, is the center
of a man. Moreover, the
mind of man especially relates to the spirit. Therefore, the
renewing process of a man
always starts from his
spirit to his
mind (Rom. 12:12).
Eph. 4:24 “and that you put on the new
man which was created according to God, in true righteousness and holiness.”
YLT: “and to put on the new man, which, according
to God, was created in righteousness and kindness of the truth.”
Meaning of Words: “true”: truly, reality; “righteousness”: righteous, fair,
straightforward; “holiness”:
be holy, sanctify;
Literal Meaning: “which
was created according to God”, it
means that the new man with the
life and disposition
of God is
created according to
God himself.
“In true righteousness and holiness”, “true”
refers to the truth in
the Lord Jesus.
“Righteousness” speaks of that how we treat others. Men should be righteous when communicating
with others.
Righteousness conforms
to God's laws. “Holiness”
refers to the consecration to God and godliness. Holiness
is to be united with the disposition of God and be separated
from everything that is outside of God.
When Lord Jesus was on the
earth, He
was righteous to men and holy to God, for He
is perfectly right toward God and man.
Therefore,
He is the truth.
Enlightenment in the Word:
1) The
purpose of God who makes us be born
again is to bring us back from the wrong path in order to fulfill the will of
God’s creation of us.
2)
According to the original text, the
“put off” in verse 22 and
“put on” verse
24 are the past tense. The turning points of putting off the old man and
the putting on the new man
are not accomplished by our efforts,
but by the death and resurrection of Christ.
3) We shall manifest God in our
daily life according to the
righteousness and holiness of God, namely, the manifestation of the
disposition of God, rather than that of men.
4) We should have a sincere heart toward God or man, for falsehood can not cheat the true God.
Eph. 4:25 “Therefore, putting away
lying, "Let each one of you speak truth with his neighbor," for we
are members of one another.”
YLT: “Wherefore, putting away the lying, speak
truth each with his neighbour, because we are members one of another;”
Meaning of Words: “putting
away”:
put aside; “truth”: reality;
Literal Meaning: “therefore”
means the words written below is a
connecting link between the preceding and the following. It gives some encouraging words based on the words above.
“Putting away lying”, it
is the past tense in the
original ---- since the
lying is rejected, one will hate it to the point of never using it again. “Lying” includes all kinds of
cheating, deception, or
cunning ---- they
are the main characteristics of the old man.
Everything that comes out of Satan's illusion is false.
The first characteristic of Satan is lying and falsehood. The second one is hatred and killing. Here, it is not encouragement, but the declaration that one has already
put away all the illusive lie of Satan
when he has put off his old man.
“Neighbor”, it refers
to those who are close to
you ---- the brothers
and sisters in the Lord.
“Truth”, it is the same as
the “truth” in verse
21 and
“Speaking truth with his neighbor”, since we live
in the new man, when we talk with brothers and sisters, we shall not speak the vain and false words of
Satan, lest attract their attention to things
outside of God. Instead,
we should speak the truth in
the new creation to brothers
and sisters,
so they may
touch God.
Enlightenment in the Word:
1) The
first thing that a
believer should deal with is our speech,
for speech is the expression of one’s character and the means of our contact with
others.
2) Lies
make men farther, while truth brings men closer.
3) “Honesty”
is the most significant mark that separates Christians from the world. Yet the most serious sin that makes
Christians fall short of the glory of God is dishonesty.
4) We believers
are members of one another. None of the
members
of the body
should give an erroneous or dishonest message to other members. If we give out erroneous or
false message to others, the whole
body will be paralyzed.
Eph. 4:26 “"Be angry, and do not
sin": do not let the sun go down on your wrath,”
YLT: “be angry and do not sin; let not the sun go
down upon your wrath,”
Literal Meaning:
“be angry and do not sins”, it is an imperative
sentence ---- it does not
command believers to be angry, but allows
believers
to be angry. Believers sometimes may be angry with the unrighteous,
ungodly, unlawful conditions of others
(2 Cor. 11:2). What is really
important is
that we should neither be
angry with sinful motivation (e.g. be angry because of insolence), nor be
trapped into sins. If we are angry against sins or at hating sins, that is fine. However,
if we are angry for the sake of letting
off the wrathful emotion
to make ourselves be comfortable,
that is sin.
“Do not let the sun go down on your wrath”, it means we should not feed our anger. There should
be a limit and the time should not be too
long. Hence,
we are exhorted to not be angry when the sun goes down, for it does not please God.
Enlightenment in the Word:
1) Believers
are allowed to be
angry, but it should be
the “righteous anger” rather than personal
feeling or emotional
release, yet it should
not be turned to attack saints.
2) The
righteous indignation against unrighteousness and that rebukes wrong-doing may be right, but if we are not
careful, pride and enmity may creep
in.
3) Everyday,
we believers
have to clean up all the displeasure
at others, so that we may not
accumulate the
enmity in our
hearts.
Eph. 4:27 “nor give place to the
devil.”
YLT: “neither give place to the devil;”
Meaning of Words: “devil”: the one who spread rumor, crafty
one; “give place”:
give opportunity, open the way;
Literal Meaning: every time Satan wants to do some work on God's
children, he always looks
for a ground for him to work. If
we never give him
any ground, he can do nothing. This is our victory.
It means that if you do not stop your anger and continue being angry, it will give place to Satan.
Enlightenment in the Word:
1) The devil often entices us firstly from the
least matter to let us commit sins. If we do not take heed to it, it will be
insatiable and entice us further and pull us into an irremediable place. Therefore,
we have to take heed to it, and give none place to the devil in the least
matter.
2) If we believers
give some places to the devil
in our mind, Satan will never stop here only, but schemes to
gain more ground to capture
our whole mind.
3) He who is angry tends to be wrathful (v.26).
When wrath comes, man will not be able to control himself, thus giving the
devil a chance.
Eph. 4:28 “Let him who stole steal no
longer, but rather let him labor, working with his hands what is good, that he
may have something to give him who has need. ”
YLT: “whoso is stealing let him no more steal, but
rather let him labour, working the thing that is good with the hands, that he
may have to impart to him having need.”
Meaning of Words: “what is good”: useful, beneficial, good,
charity; “give”: give something, share something;
Literal Meaning: “stole”: steal has nothing to do with being angry
and wrath, but relates to giving
place to Satan. Stealing is one kind
of deception originating from Satan.
“Work what is good …that
we may give him who has need”, the
reason for stealing is usually either covetousness or laziness. He who does not work is laziness. He who accumulates so much for himself is
covetousness. Therefore, “working with your hands what is good” is not laziness, and “giving out”
what you have leftover to others is not covetousness. Christian should
always care
for others in livelihood.
We should help those who are
needy if we have sufficient provision.
Enlightenment in the Word:
1) The most obvious “stealing” of Christians is stealing
the glory of God, stealing the gifts of God, and stealing the offerings that are due to God.
2) To love ease and hate work is the
bad nature of the old man. In the new man, we
have to refuse
the concept of reaping
without sowing and develop
the habit of working diligently.
3) The
hand that covets others’
riches has
changed into another hand
that works diligently
and shares the leftover with others. This is a great proof of God's working in
us.
4) “To give” is the
responsibility and the necessary
life of God's children. We live
in order to give to
others. No one should seek his own things only, but
ignore others. Everyone should try to care for and help others.
Eph. 4:29 “Let no
corrupt word proceed out of your mouth, but what is good for necessary
edification, that it may impart grace to the hearers. ”
YLT: “Let no corrupt word out of your mouth go
forth, but what is good unto the needful building up, that it may give grace to
the hearers;”
Meaning of Words: “corrupt word”: rotten, useless, bad, use to
describe the rotten fruits or spoil fish; “edification”: building;
Literal Meaning: “corrupt word”, it will
corrupt the hearers and poison their minds and contaminate their
spirit. Therefore, let no such word proceed out of your mouth.
“Speak what is good necessary for edification”, what man needs is the spiritual edification and life edification.
“Good word”, it refers to the
word out of God,
for only God is good.
“It may impart grace to the hearers”, we speak the good word of God, which is speaking the truth, thus imparting grace to the hearers and making them gain God.
Eph. 4:30 “And do not grieve the Holy
Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.”
YLT: “and make not sorrowful the Holy Spirit of
God, in which ye were sealed to a day of redemption.”
Meaning of Words: “grieve”: suffer, pain, sighing;
Literal Meaning: “do
not grieve the Holy Spirit of God”,
the Devil is near the Christians, but the Holy
Spirit lives in the Christians.
A real Christian's life
is neither giving place to Satan nor grieving the Holy Spirit, so that we may live out the image of God.
“Do not grieve the Holy Spirit”,
it means
that we should obey the governing and guiding of the
Holy Spirit in the life. That is
to forsake the bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, evil speaking,
and all malice ----
all these diseases in the body may
divide the body
of Christ and hinder the unity
of saints. Therefore, these
diseases should be put away.
“By whom you were sealed”, God has
sealed
on us through the Holy Spirit,
which indicates that we are of God and are dominated and governed under the authority of God. The seal
of the Holy Spirit is to seal us to be like God. This seal is living and is working in us all the time in order to let
us live out God in our walking. When we walk outwardly regarding the truth of
Jesus as a mold, the seal in us will work, thus working together, both inside
and outside, which may cause us to
live out the righteousness and holiness.
“The day of redemption”, it refers
to the redemption of the body and the day of being caught up. This is the ultimate
completion of our salvation (Rom 8:23). We have to wait until the second coming of Christ, so “the day of redemption”
refers to the second coming of the Lord.
Enlightenment in the Word:
1) “Grieve”
is a kind of love and can not
bear to forsake. The love that the Holy Spirit to believers is a kind of love of not forsaking.
2) The
Holy Spirit works within the heart of the believers. It firstly inspires, rebukes, forbids, pushes, and then grieves. If believers
still pay no attention to it,
he will be faced with the
chastisement by God. (Isa. 63:10)
Eph. 4:31 “Let all bitterness, wrath,
anger, clamor, and evil speaking be put away from you, with all malice.”
YLT: “Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger,
and clamour, and evil-speaking, be put away from you, with all malice,”
Meaning of Words: “put away”: cut off;
Literal Meaning: “bitterness”, the hatred and evil nature hidden in one’s heart. It describes a person who has been hurt and ignored and carries the intention of retaliation
“Wrath”: react with anger; sudden explosive emotion;
“Anger”: anger that leads to direct
hurt or that relates
to sins.
It is also a habitual irritating emotion.
“Clamor”: be in
anger with
roaring curse, referring to the open quarrel;
“Evil speaking”: evil speaking to brothers
with an insulting
attitude. It also refers to stirring up
controversies.
“Malice”:
the mother of bitterness and hatred,
mean disposition and evil.
All these things are
out of Satan.
Believers should not let
them keep in
their hearts, but let them be put away.
Enlightenment in the Word:
1) According
to the original
text, the commandment here uses the
passive voice. We can not put them away
by ourselves, but He
can. Our responsibility is to cooperate with Him and let His cross work on us.
2) We shall not think that all the evil
thoughts
and terrible emotions in this verse have nothing to do with us since
we are saved. All these states may be disclosed through our facial expression when we are slightly irritated by others. Therefore,
we must pay attention to
deal with these negative things, and let the Lord put them away for us.
Eph. 4:32 “And be kind to one another,
tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you.”
YLT: “and become one to another kind, tender-hearted,
forgiving one another, according as also God in Christ did forgive you.”
Meaning of Words: “kind”:
philanthropy, gracious, used, employed; “forgive”: to grant as a favor, pardon;
Literal Meaning: “kind…
tender… forgiving”: all
these virtues are of the
Holy Spirit and are opposite
to the characters of Satan
in the previous verse.
“Tenderhearted”: to show sympathy for those who
are weak and miserable.
“As God”,
the life of the new man is the
godly life. We shall
have the incarnated life
that the Word became flesh, for once we are saved, we have been born from above. Then
the Holy Spirit brings
us down to the earth and helps us to
manifest the truth in Jesus ---- this is the incarnation again, and Jesus reveals again and lives out the life of
God.
III. Outlines of the Spiritual
Lessons
How to Keep the Unity of the Holy Spirit?
A. With all lowliness and gentleness, with longsuffering (v.2)
B. Bearing with one another in love (v.2)
C. In the bond of peace (v.3)
D. Endeavoring to keep (v.3)
The Elements of the Unity (v.4-6)
A. One body
B. One Spirit
C. One hope
D. One Lord
E. One faith
F. One baptism
G. One God
The Premise of the Unity (v.6)
A. Who is above all
---- the dominating sovereignty of God;
B. Through all ---- Christ as the patron for
all men;
C. In you all ---- the indwelling Spirit;
The Gifts of Christ
A. Giver ---- Christ;
B. Receiver ---- everyone (believer)
C. Measure: according to the measure of Christ
---- differ from one another (v.11)
D. Channel ---- the cross (v.8-10)
E. Sorts ---- some apostles, some prophets, some
evangelists, and some pastors and teachers (v.11)
F. Purpose ---- for the equipping of the saints for
the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ (v.12)
The Ministry in Christ
A.
The foundation of
the ministry ---- the oneness in
spirit (v.1-10)
B. The tool of the ministry ---- various gifts
(v.7-13)
C. The aim of the ministry ---- to equip the
saints (v.12-13)
D. The function of the ministry ---- for the edifying of itself
in love (v.14-16)
The Relation of the Truth with the Building
of the Church
A.
The truth is the foundation of the unity of the church
(v.4-6).
B. The truth is the element for the growth and
building of the church (v.11-12).
C. The full knowledge of the truth is the
ultimate intention of the unity of the church (v.13).
The Perfection of the
Building of the Church (v.13)
A. The church comes
to the unity of the faith
B. The church know the
Son of God
C. To a perfect man
D. To the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ
The Reality of the Building of the Church
(v.15-16)
A. To hold the truth
B. To grow up into Him who is the head----Christ
C. The whole body
is joined and
knits together
D. According to the effective working by which every part
does its share
The Perfected and Grown Saints
A. Every one grows in grace (v.7).
B. Every one grows in gifts (v.7-12).
C. Every one grows in the measure (v.13).
D. Every one grows in love (v.15-16).
E. Every one grows in body (v.15-16).
The Life in Christ
A. Having put off the old man (v.17-19, 22)
B. Having put on the new man (v.23-24)
C. Having been renewed in the spirit of the mind (v.23-24)
D. Conduct in the new life (v.25-32)
The Conduct of the Old Man
A. Being in the futility of their mind (v.17)
B. Having their understanding darkened (v.18)
C.
Being
alienated from the life of God (v.18)
D. The
ignorance that is in them and the
blindness of their heart (v.18)
E. Being past feeling (v.19)
F. Having given themselves over to
lewdness (v.19)
G. Working all uncleanness with
greediness (v.19)
H.
Growing
corrupt according to the deceitful lusts (v.22)
The Life that the New Man Should Live in
A. Putt away lying
(v.25)
B. Be angry, and do not sin (v.26)
C. Give not place to the devil (v.27)
D. Steal not any longer, and work with
one’s hands what is good (v.28)
E. Speak what is good for necessary
edification (v.29)
F. Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God (v.30)
G. Let all be put away.
Be kind to one
another. Forgiving one another (v.31-32).
Seven Kind of life of Growing
up to the Stature of Christ
A.
The life that is worthy of the calling (v.1)
B. The life of love (v.2)
C. The life of unity (v.3)
D. The life of incarnation (v.13-15)
E. The life that every part does its share (v.16)
F. The life in the new life (v.22-24)
G. The life of hope (v.30)
Five Kinds of Hindrance to Grow up to the Stature
of Christ
A. Having not put off the old man (v.22)
B. Be angry and let not the wrath go (v.26)
C. Give place to the devil (v.27)
D. Be lazy and rely on others (v.27)
E. Grieve the Holy Spirit (v.30)
Saints Who Are Changed into New
A. The Mind is Changed
into New
1.
The futile
mind has been
changed into the true mind (v.17).
2.
The dark
mind has been changed into the bright mind (v.18).
3. The ignorant and hardened mind has been changed into wise and soft mind
(v.18).
4. The conscience being past feeling
has been changed into a good conscience (v.19).
5. From believing Christ to learning Christ
(v.20)
6. From putting off the old man to putting on
the new man (v.22-24)
B. The Conduct is Changed into New:
1.
Put
away lying, and speak truth
(v.25).
2.
Be
angry, and
do not sin (v.26).
3.
Do not give
place to the devil (v.27).
4. Do not steal any longer, but rather labor, working with one’s hands what is good (v.28)
5. Speak what is good for necessary edification (v.29)
6. Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God (v.30)
C. The Interpersonal Relationship is Changed
into New:
1.
Put away the malignant tumor of the
old interpersonal relationship (v.31)
2.
Be
kind to one another (v.32)
3. Forgive
one another (v.32)
──
Caleb Huang《Christian Digest Bible
Commentary Series》
Translated by Overcomer Wu & Mary
Zhou