Book of Ephesians
Commentary
Commentary
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Author: Christopher J. E. Johnson Published: Feb 10, 2023 [creationliberty.com] |
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Introduction
Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.
-Matthew 28:19-20
These things have I written unto you concerning them that seduce you. But the anointing which ye have received of him abideth in you, and ye need not that any man teach you: but as the same anointing teacheth you of all things, and is truth, and is no lie, and even as it hath taught you, ye shall abide in him.
-1 John 2:26-27
If you would like more information on these topics, I recommend the following resources here at creationliberty.com:
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At the time this epistle (letter) was written, Ephesus was one of the biggest cities in Asia minor, located specifically in ancient Ionia, today known as the region of Anatolia, which now encompasses most of the eastern and southeastern parts of Turkey. Ephesus was not only well known to be a port city along the Mediterranean coast, but it was also a beacon for heathen to worship Diana, the highly revered pagan goddess of the moon and hunting in Roman culture (also known as Artemis in Greek culture), and a majestic temple was dedicated to her, which received countless visitors every year.
After spending much time in Corinth, Paul spent only a short time preaching in Ephesus and moved on, but when he returned later during his travels, he found a few disciples who had been converted to Jesus Christ, and so working together with them over the next couple of years, they formed a large church that preached the Gospel. Paul wrote this letter to Ephesus while he was a prisoner in Rome (Eph 3:1), and the Holy Spirit had given Paul discernment of false teachers that would rise up from among them, so he set out to reassure them of the truth of the Gospel of Salvation, its foundations in the mercy of Christ alone, being pardoned of our sins by His blood, not of works, that they would be well guarded against those who would bewitch them into a false gospel.
Chapter 1
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[v1] Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, to the saints which are at Ephesus, and to the faithful in Christ Jesus:
As is common with formal letters written by the apostles to the churches, Paul introduces himself according to his calling in the Lord Jesus Christ, not by giving himself a fancy title to proceed his name, but declaring very simply the work Christ set for him to do, emphasizing that it was by the will of the Lord, not his own will, which indicates that he is a servant of God among men, that he would not be considered to be a lord set above them. This epistle (i.e. letter) was written to the church in the city of Ephesus, specifically to the "saints," which are all those who have come to repentance (i.e. grief and godly sorrow for sins) and remission (i.e. forgiveness/pardon) of sins (Luke 24:47) through faith in cleasning blood of Jesus Christ. (Rom 3:25) Paul also adds that it is not just those who are called "saints," for there are many who are labeled as such, but those true saints who are faithful to the Lord Jesus Christ, continuing in His Word as dedicated disciples (John 8:31), adhering to His doctrines, and teaching those things openly with sincerity and truth. (1Co 5:8)[v2] Grace be to you, and peace, from God our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ.
This is Paul's common wish, hope, and prayer of blessings on the church as a whole. (Rom 1:7, Gal 1:3, etc.) The grace Paul wished to be imparted to the saints was not of saving grace, which all born again Christians have as a foundation, nor grace in the sense that they lacked God's merciful blessings on their daily lives, but grace in the sense that whatever mercies God granted to them, those mercies would be stacked up plentifully, that they would all be richly blessed by God in everything they say and do.[v3] Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ:
Paul points the church back to God the Father, who is the giver of all blessings, and who we are taught (by Christ) to speak to in prayer. (Mat 6:9) Though we do not receive all blessings in this word (which is why Paul prayed that the church would receive as many blessings as possible in this world), we do receive all spritual blessings in heaven, which are the rewards that will be received after the death of our flesh, in which Christ will bring us home to our family in heaven, and we receive the gift of inheritance that our faith hoped for. (Heb 11:1)[v4] According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love:
Some corrupt religious entities might want to attribute this choosing of the election of grace to only the apostles, or the initial disciples of Christ who walked and talked with Him while He was in the world in the form of a man, or perhaps attribute this only meaning to those who Paul deemed worthy in Ephesus, but the word 'us' in this context is clearly meant to distinguish all those who have come to repentance and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, no matter where they are in the world, no matter what time frame they lived in, addressing the church as a whole rather than individuals. This choosing is done by the Lord God according to His good will and infinite understanding, and it is done in secret, meaning that those who are chosen are (in most cases) not openly identified by any miraculous means of knowledge.God chose these men and women (whoever they are) before the world began, which is more evidence that the Lord is omniscient, meaning that He is all-knowing of all things. Time itself was created for man (e.g. the word 'beginning' implies time, Gen 1:1), and since time is a creation, the Lord God not bound by it, and therefore, what we may see as chance from our perspective (being unable to know all things in our limited understanding) is predestined by God from His perspective because all things were planned according to his omniscience and His everlasting love for His children.
We are not holy or without blame in ourselves, but only through the righteousness of Christ imputed to us (Rom 4:22-24) do we have any kind of sanctification. (i.e. set apart for a holy use) Therefore, because of Christ's sacrifice and the mercy of God the Father, by His infinite understanding, selected us, that we would become holy and without blame through the sanctification process of the Holy Spirit, both in this life (demonstrated by our good works unto Christ) and in the inheritance of eternal life to come.
[v5] Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will,
Our predestination to the election of grace is not by our worthiness of it, nor by any particular value that we bring, but by God's mercy alone, in which He saw fit that we should be adopted into an eternal loving family that we in no way deserved. It is not in our capability to understand why God chooses some and not others, and the Bible makes it clear to us that He shows mercy on who He chooses to show mercy (Exd 33:19), and since the Lord is the standard of all goodness, His choices are good apart from our understanding. The Lord's work is perfect, as are all His judgments (Deut 32:4), and therefore, we should simply be thankful that He chose us, and work so that others might be saved (Pro 11:30), if peradventure (i.e. by chance, according to our limited perspective) God will give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth. (2Ti 2:25)[v6] To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved.
It should be noted that the Lord God has no need of children, but adopts them anyway because of His great mercy, which is one of the many things that makes Him worthy of all praise and glory. Because He converted us and cleansed our spirits, he has made up accepted among the family of God, both in this world (i.e. through the brethren in the church), and in the Kingdom of Heaven.[v7] In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace;
Redemption is from the root word 'redeem', which means to liberate, rescue from captivity, and/or purchase back, and thus, we are liberated from the shackles of sin and death by Christ (Col 1:14) because He purchased us (1Co 6:20) with His blood on the cross at Calvary. The Lord God is rich in grace, as His children know well, for a man would not give his own son to die for criminals, and yet, God did this out of love for us, who did not deserve it. (Rom 5:6-9)[v8] Wherein he hath abounded toward us in all wisdom and prudence;
The Lord God provides wisdom to all those who ask of Him with a solid foundation of faith in Him to deliver it (Jms 1:5), and so Paul is likely not referring to this general wisdom, but rather, a wisdom that is given to us through the doctrines of His Word. This is why Paul includes the word 'prudence', because even wisdom without prudence cannot be called true wisdom, since prudence is the foresight and avoidance of sin and evil, and therefore, since experience alone cannot prepare a man for all pitfalls of evil, the study of Scripture is the best preparation for prudent wisdom.[v9] Having made known unto us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure which he hath purposed in himself:
This supports the idea that the previous verse is specifically pointing to Biblical wisdom, because the mystery of the will of God is made known to us through the Holy Scriptures He has preserved for us. According to the majesty of God's good will, a number of mysteries are revealed to the church in His Word, such as the Godhead (i.e. the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit), the nature of Christ (i.e. being the Son of God and God at the same time, while being in the form of a man on earth), the calling of the Gentiles into the adoption of spiritual lineage, the fulfillment of the law and prophets, the communion of the saints with Christ, the work of the Holy Spirit on the souls of the saved, the resurrection of the dead in the final day, and much more.(Read "The Godhead vs The Trinity" here at creationliberty.com for more details.)
[v10] That in the dispensation of the fulness of times he might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth; even in him:
The word 'dispensation' comes from the root word 'dispense', which is the act of dividing up portions and distributing them according to certain standards. The Lord God deals with certain groups of men in various nations or time frames according to His will. For example, God dispensed certain laws of His governing rule over Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, but once they had sinned and were removed from the Garden, they were given new governing rules, and this is the general concept of dispensations. Therefore, in the dispensation of the final days (in the season of His choosing), the Lord Jesus Christ will gather together all those who are His servants, namely, men (both Jew and Gentile) and angels.[v11] In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will:
This is not referring only to the inheritance of eternal life, but specifically to the portion that we receive in heaven, which is dispensed to us according to God's own will. He counsels with no man or angel on such matters, but the Godhead only counsels with Himself, as God the Father is good and merciful, and has proven His countless mercies time and again, we have hope in those things which He has promised, which were also presdestined for us before the universe was created.[v12] That we should be to the praise of his glory, who first trusted in Christ.
The way this sentence is phrased may seem odd at first glance, but the context of this passage so far is concerning predestination to the family of God and the inheritance that comes with that adoption. So when Paul says 'we' in this instance, he is referring to the Jews who were the disciples of Christ and His apostles, who first trusted in Christ before the Gentiles of Asia Minor (of which Ephesus was a part), which contrasts with Paul speaking to 'ye' (i.e. the Gentile disciples) in the next verse. Therefore, Paul is saying that his coming to Ephesus to preach the Word of God is praise worthy, but not to himself; rather, the praise and glory of the work of the apostles should be given to the Lord God.[v13] In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise,
This is obviously not referring to the seal of election, which Paul already pointed out was predestined before the world began, in which all believers are known of God (2Ti 2:19), because Paul said that AFTER they believed, they were sealed with Spirit of promise. The evidence of the seal he is referring to is mentioned in the next verse.[v14] Which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory.
The seal is the love of the truth (2Th 2:10), which we did not have before Christ redeemed us, and that results in our desire for the inheritance, which we have faith that we will receive (i.e. "the substance of things hoped for," Heb 11:1) in the day of our redemption in which Christ purchased us, which is also sealed, as Paul will mention later in Ephesians 4:30. Although our inheritance was guaranteed by Christ (John 14:3), we have not yet received it because the day has not yet come, so it is something we, who are faithful to Christ, wait for with earnest (i.e. eagerness, longing desire) and patience.[v15] Wherefore I also, after I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus, and love unto all the saints,
As Paul traveled and preached, he received word of their faith, not in a general sense of belief in Christ, but of their faith shown by their words and actions (Jms 2:18), in which they welcomed the brethren, no matter their gifts or station in life, and they welcomed the doctrines of the apostles, seeking to understand all the Lord Jesus Christ taught and embrace it, to apply it to their lives and do good unto others.[v16] Cease not to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers;
As Paul just told them that they should praise God for good works of the apostles for their benefit, so Paul in turn gives thanks to God for them, which are good fruits of his labor that were also given by the Lord Jesus Christ. The very existence of the church in Ephesus was encouraging evidence of God's handiwork, and so he not only gave thanks to God for them, but also prayed on their behalf, and told them so in order to encourage them in return, and express his love for them.[v17] That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him:
Though Jesus Christ and God the Father are one (John 10:30), Paul calls Him "the God of our Lord Jesus Christ," in that God prepared a vessel in the form of a man for Christ the son to be the redeeming sacrifice and Mediator for all men. The Holy Spirit which we are given when we are born again in Christ is the giver of wisdom and unlocking of our understanding by the will of God the Father, and this spiritual wisdom that Paul prays over the church is important the purposes that he goes on to list out in the following verses.[v18] The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints,
This enlightenment is not simply a hearing of the doctrines of Christ by casually sitting in the pew of a church buildings, but rather, it is the grace of the Spirit of God to allow knowledge to permeate the mind. This is given to us by the Holy Spirit that we would not only understand the dreadful nature of sin, but our inability to attain to some whimsical idea of righteousness in ourselves. Also, this enlightenment gives us a deep understanding that Christ alone is not only sufficient to cleanse us from all unrighteousness in full, but also necessary, in that no other work that can be done that would equal the value of payment Christ paid for us on the cross.Those of us who have been given that understanding can then go further in understanding that His calling (which, in this context, is meant the calling unto the Kingdom of Heaven as children of God) is the end of our hope. In that day, all things will be revealed and given unto us that were promised, and the fullness of Christ's glory will be made known to all, as will the dedication of His saints as He rewards them for their suffering for His sake.
[v19] And what is the exceeding greatness of his power to us-ward who believe, according to the working of his mighty power,
The working of the power of God in us is that we were spiritually raised from the dead, in that our spirits were dead in sin, but we were resurrected by the power of God through the Holy Spirit in our faith in Jesus Christ to save us. That power alone shows God's might and authority, as well as His exceeding greatness in mercy, to those of us who are predestined for election of grace and adoption into the Kingdom of Heaven, but also shows us that He is continually working for our sakes without rest, and therefore, we should trust Him in that regard, even for those things which seem on the surface to be dreadful to us, they will work together for our good if we remain faithul to His calling. (Rom 8:28)[v20] Which he wrought in Christ, when he raised him from the dead, and set him at his own right hand in the heavenly places,
God the Father did this work and demonstrated this power through Jesus Christ according to His good will. Paul reiterates that Christ was killed on the cross at Calvary, He was raised from the dead by God (John 2:19-21) For this, Christ was set above all honors in heaven and earth, to be in authority at the right hand of God the Father, where He can continue to mediate and make intercession for the saints. (Rom 8:34)[v21] Far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come:
The word principality comes from the base word 'prince', which is one who is set to supreme power over a state or territory, as well as those who inhabit it. Those with principality, power, might, and dominion, whether they be on earth (kings, chancellors, presidents, etc) or in spiritual places (angels or devils), the Lord God far exceeds them by infinite measures we cannot fathom, having complete dominion over them, setting up and tearing down highly esteemed rulers as if they were no more important than a drop in a bucket of water. (Isa 40:15)[v22] And hath put all things under his feet, and gave him to be the head over all things to the church,
This is a reference to Psalm 8:6. Christ is set as the head over all the church, which is the Kingdom of Heaven (Mat 5:3), that He would be rightfully glorified in His finished work on the cross to save those faithful elect who were predestined unto Him.[v23] Which is his body, the fulness of him that filleth all in all.
That is, the Body of Christ, which is the church as a whole, even those faithful who relied on the grace of God before the time of Jesus Christ. We all drink of the same spiritual drink of the Holy Ghost through Christ, even in the Old Testament before His name was revealed. (1Co 10:4) Christ the Son and God the Father are one (Rev 22:12-13, Rev 22:20), and all things were created by Christ and for Christ (Col 1:16), which means that Christ fills all, whether it be people born into the world, grace, powers, ordinances, knowledge, wisdom, understanding, and of course, prophecy fulfilled, giving the glorious gift of His salvation to those underserving sinners who have been humbled to repentance (i.e. godly sorrow) of their sins, and trust in His shed blood to redeem them.Chapter 2
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[v1] And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins;
The word 'quickened' in this context means to be made alive, in that when we dead in our sins, our spirits were corrupt and deserving of eternal punishment in hellfire, but Christ saved us and cleansed us with His shed blood. (1Jo 1:7)The words "hath he quickened" were not in the original text of this sentence, but were taken from Paul's own words a few verses later in Ephesians 2:5. These were added to this verse by the King James translators, and based on my reading of this passage, I believe their purpose of repeating those words here was to clarify for readers who exactly was being spoken to in both verses, since Paul says "you" (i.e. second person plural, addressing a group) in verse 1, while saying "we" and "us" in verse 5, they believed there was need to add that those being addressed were quickened, to avoid any doctrinal confusion, or the creation of corrupt doctrine, in that some might willingly mistake Paul's words, and create an idea that he, as an apostle, was somehow separating himself from the church in Ephesus in regard to those who were made alive by Christ.
[v2] Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience:
As indicated in many other Scriptures, walking is used in the sense of a walk of life, in that we live our lives according to a particular philosophy (i.e. way of thinking), which Paul points out in this verse that there is a way of walking according to the philosophy of the world, that is opposed to Christ. (Col 2:8) This is the wide path that Christ mentioned in Matthew 7:13-14, warning us that most people in this world will stay on that wide path that leads to the wide gates of hell, and few will find the narrow path of Christ that leads to eternal life.Because the world remains in the corruption of their spirits, and until the Lord opens their understanding, they refuse to hear the truth about their wickedness that has left them with a corrupt spirit. Thus, they will imitate their father, which is the father of lies, Satan (John 8:44), and just as the Lord God works in us according to His will, so Satan works in his children of disobedience according to his demonic will.
[v3] Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others.
At one time, we all participated in the same worldly traditions and passions that follow after the lusts of flesh, which are not of God the Father. (1Jo 2:16) The desire of the flesh is the affection of carnal things, in which man participates in vain wordly rituals and sinful activities with passion, to fulfill temporary excitements to appease the flesh, while being willingly ignorant and despising those who teach the truth of the Word of God, being "by nature children of wrath" in that they make their deep seeded hatred in their hearts known by their words and actions, and many of them are vessels destined to suffer the wrath of God in the final days. (Rev 8)[v4] But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us,
Mercy is the nature of God the Father, and knowing that mercy is essential to all men, not only for the salvation of their souls, but for their daily needs in this life, we praise God for his wonderous mercy, and are thankful to Him that He is abundant in it. The love of God is also great, specifically His love (i.e. in this context, His favor) for those predestined elect, His children, who He foreknew before the world began, and because the children are a reflection of the father, as Paul just pointed out, we children of God should also be rich in mercy towards others, being ready and willing to forgive at the first sign of genuine repentance. (Luke 17:3, Psa 86:5)[v5] Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;)
As I pointed out in verse 1, Paul is identifying himself and the church in Ephesus as one group, all the children of God made alive in Christ, according to the good will and rich mercy of God the Father. When we are made alive, we are changed, which is not seen by evidence, in that one comes to understanding how he cannot justify himself by works of the law, seeing clearly the great value of Christ's remission (i.e. pardoning) of sin, and looking to Christ alone to impute His righteousness to him.It is only by the working of the Holy Spirit within a man who has been given understanding that he can consider himself made alive unto God the Father through Christ the Son. Thus, Paul adds that we are saved by the grace of God the Father (specifically by His authority, though in perfect harmony with Christ and the Spirit), as the process of events of this world over the past six thousand years, since its creation (and even before time itself was created), was orchestrated by His plan.
[v6] And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus:
This can refer both to raising us up in the sense that we are made alive in Christ through the regeneration of our spirits by the Holy Ghost, and to the raising up in that God has nutured us with all things needed for babes in Christ, and given us the merciful gifts of knowledge, understanding, and wisdom for discernment to go forth to preach His Word and do His good works. As a result of this work done in us, by His grace through the faith authored in us by Jesus Christ (Heb 12:2), we are adopted into the family of God, and after our flesh dies, we are brought to the heavenly places were He resides, that we can sit together with our Lord Jesus Christ.[v7] That in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus.
The age that is to come is the time in which Christ will return to rapture His elect, and the Lord God will put an end to all sin by throwing the unrepentant into hellfire for eternity, and bringing the faithful (clothed with the righteousness of Christ) into His kingdom. Then, the "exceeding riches" of God's grace will be revealed to us, which He has hid from our understanding (i.e. Scripture does not give us much description of Heaven), and demonstrate how kind He is by sending us Jesus Christ from Heaven to come to earth to suffer for our sakes, that we might join Him there.(Read "The Beginner's Guide to Christian Rapture" here at creationliberty.com for more details.)
[v8] For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:
It is by the grace, mercy, and kindness of God that we are saved, and that it is not of ourselves, meaning that, we cannot work for it. There is no special duty or ritual we can do in order to gain righteousness unto eternal life because the sowing of sin reaps death and destruction that have eternal consequences, which is why we must be born again (John 3:7), meaning that our spirits must be raised from the dead through the regeneration of the Holy Spirit. (Tts 3:5) Thus, it is only by the gift of God's grace that we might be saved, and that neither faith nor repentance are works of any kind (i.e. godly sorrow and belief on the finished works of Christ are not works, 2Ti 2:25), but Paul explains that faith unto salvation (which is absolute trust in, and reliance on, Christ's sacrifice being sufficient to make us clean) is the doorway through which God's grace flows.[v9] Not of works, lest any man should boast.
The pride of men is built up in their religious works, to such a degree that those who do them (with a hopeless belief that they will add righteousness to themselves) are, in most cases, completely closed off to hearing the Gospel of Salvation in Jesus Christ, and despise those who would tell them the truth, simply because the truth makes void (or in other words, devalues) their works. The Catholic places high value on a pagan rosaries and demonic Eucharists, the Jehovah's Witness places high value on his door knocking and meetings, the Mormon places high value on corporate ceremonies, the Seventh-day Adventist places high value on conferences and study of false prophets, etc. These people place high value on their own works to earn grace, instead of placing high value on the finished work of Jesus Christ to receive it, and therefore, they glory (i.e. boast) in themselves, which provokes them to anger and contention against anyone who would tell them this truth, namely, that not only are their works unnecessary for saving grace and justification, but that it is impossible that their works can acheive such holy things.(Read Why Millions of Believers on Jesus Are Going to Hell here at creationliberty.com for more details.)
[v10] For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.
There are none who do good, nor understand, nor seek after God on their own (Rom 3:10-12) and therefore, these things must be given to us by God working in us, and therefore, it nonsensical that our work could add anything unto Christ's finished work, God's rich mercy, and the regeneration of the Holy Spirit. It is only because of God's workmanship in us that we can do good works, and so good works are a necessary component to the life of a born again Christian, because it is the will of God that we do good works as a demonstration of God's grace working in the world, but those good works are not a foundation for our faith; rather, faith is a foundation upon which we go forth to do good works in Christ. (Jms 2:18)[v11] Wherefore remember, that ye being in time past Gentiles in the flesh, who are called Uncircumcision by that which is called the Circumcision in the flesh made by hands;
Paul calls the Ephesians to remember who they were before Christ (Isa 51:1), namely, Gentiles in the flesh, following after vanity and sin in hopelessness, fulfilling the lusts of the flesh in blindness and ignorance. The Jews hated the Gentiles, calling them uncircumcised peoples, because the Jews were so focused on the outward appearance of the flesh, and cirucumcision is performed on the flesh by the hands of men, therefore they called the Gentiles "unholy" because of their works, being willingly ignorant that they were just as blind to the grace of God as their Gentile counterparts. We who are of Christ are called "Uncircumcision" because our hearts have been circumcised by the Holy Spirit. (Deut 30:6)(Read "The Biblical Understanding of Circumcision" here at creationliberty.com for more details.)
[v12] That at that time ye were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world:
The identity of Christ was unknown to the world before that time, and so they were without fellowship and communion with Him. Also, they were strangers concerning to both the civil and church governments, since it was forbidden that the Gentiles were to live among them, nor was it allowed for the Jews to live among the Gentiles, nor eat with them, nor fellowship with them.Although those of us who have been born again in Christ have been adopted into the covenant of spiritual circumcision that God gave to Abraham, we were once ignorant of it, and the precious value it has in God's grace. At that time, we had no hope of the promise of the Messiah because, even though we may have heard of Christ through various interactions we had in the world, our understanding was locked, and we had no knowledge of God in Christ, but rather, we only had an idea of God in our minds, either through our own assumptions, or influence we gained from others, often from corrupt religious institutions.
[v13] But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ.
Though we were secretly in Christ, sealed away before the foundations of the world, now we are visibly of Christ, to be openly known as one who was presdestined by the grace of God. This should be taken in great appreciation and awe of God's grace, knowing not only the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, which is love in its ultimate form, but also that God's love is wonderous and merciful, that He looked upon thieves, murderers, drunkards, fornicators, adulterers, socerers (i.e. drug addicts), backbiters, and haters of God, knowing the ones who would be saved before the end, and not only suffered them to commit those sins in His glorious patience, but also adopted them into the Kingdom of God by sacrificing His own Son for them.[v14] For he is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us;
The "middle wall of partition" is a metaphorical reference to the law, which the Jews believe was used in the Song of Songs (or Song of Solomon, Sng 8:8-9), in which two sisters are compared. The elder sister who has matured into a woman is a symbol of the Jews, while the little sister has not yet developed her womanly features is a symbol of the Gentile church established in Jesus Christ, but the mistake of the Jews was that they believed the reference in the Song of Songs (i.e. "If she be a wall") was a partition (i.e. a separation), when in fact, it was the prophecy of the coming church, a strong wall established in faith of Christ.Thus, Paul refers to the "middle wall of partition" for the sake of the Jews who learned this from their religious teachers, that there was a wall of ceremonial law separating the Jews and Gentiles, and many of the Jews loved this wall because they thought it made them "holy" and sanctified from evil, while many Gentiles scoffed at the Jews in return. However, Jesus Christ has broken down that wall, fulfilling the law in charity, and made one church with both Jew and Gentile. (Gal 3:28)
[v15] Having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances; for to make in himself of twain one new man, so making peace;
One of Christ's purposes of coming to this world in the flesh, by the will of God, was to end the enmity (i.e. unfriendly dispositions, the state of being an enemy) between the Jews and Gentiles. The commandments of the law contained in the ordinances included animal sacrifices, which was a heavy burden to mankind, constantly suffering grief and loss for sins, and so Christ put an end to it by sacrificing Himself once for all sin. (Heb 7:27)Through this sacrifice, the two separated people become one, not in the sense that their bloodlines change (i.e. Gentiles do not become Jews in the physical sense, nor vice versa), but rather, they are united in spirit, all being adopted into the spiritual lineage of Abraham, and they all must come to the same Rock of foundation (e.g. Christ) to drink from the same spiritual drink. (1Co 10:4)
[v16] And that he might reconcile both unto God in one body by the cross, having slain the enmity thereby:
The Gentiles, in their heathen idolatry, were made separate from the blessings of God upon the Israelites, and now, through repentance and faith in Christ, they had access to these blessings freely. The Jews had amassed countless sins in violation of the ceremonial and moral laws of God, but through repentance and faith in Christ, they could be reconciled with God.The phrase "in one body" is not referring to the church as a whole in this verse. Although it is correct that all those who have come to repentance and faith in Christ are a part of the body (i.e. the church), in this verse, Paul is referring to Christ's physical body, which means that by one sacrifice "in one body," He has slaim the enmity, namely, the ceremonial laws that the Gentiles used as a justification for hatred against the Jews, while the Jews fallaciously used them as a pretense for righteousness to look down upon the Gentiles.
[v17] And came and preached peace to you which were afar off, and to them that were nigh.
Those who were afar off are the Gentiles, specifically those in Ephesus, who Paul is speaking to in this passage, as he defined a few verses earlier. (Eph 2:13) It should be noted that Christ did not preach to those who "were afar off" because when He was in this world in His physical body, He did not preach to the Gentiles (i.e. He preached to the Jews, or rather, "them that were nigh"), which means that when Christ is referred to in this passage, it is not in the physical sense, but in the spiritual sense, in which Christ preached to the Gentiles via the Holy Spirit which He sent to the apostles, that they might hear the truth.[v18] For through him we both have access by one Spirit unto the Father.
Through confidence (i.e. faith) in Christ, that His blood payment is sufficient to atone for all sins, all have access not just to salvation in Jesus Christ, but as a mediator, He now gives us access directly to God the Father. We are adopted spiritual children, which is stronger than any blood relation, and so as I mentioned in my notes on Ephesians 1:3, we are taught by Christ to speak to the Lord God (our Father) in prayer (Mat 6:9), having direct fellowship with Him through the Holy Spirit, despite the fact that many corrupt religious institutions create heresies of other mediators that one must address first.[v19] Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellowcitizens with the saints, and of the household of God;
We are children of God, saved by His grace through our faith, as Paul pointed out in verse 8, and adopted as children, so therefore, it only makes sense that a father would want his sons and daughters to come to him directly with their requests and fellowship with him at his table. This is why, for example, it makes no sense for the corrupt Catholic Church to teach (as they do) that you need to address Jesus to let Him go to the Father, but you cannot address Jesus directly, so you have to go to the pagan goddess they call "Mary" to get her to go to Jesus on your behalf, but only after go to a priest first. Of course, I say that this makes no sense under the context of the truth of God's Word, but from a pagan Catholic perspective, it makes sense because they believe they must earn grace through works (which is impossible), and therefore, because they are not part of the family, they believe they must go through religious red tape to get to the Father.(Read Corruptions of Christianity: Catholicism here at creationliberty.com for more details.)
[v20] And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone;
The Lord Jesus Christ is the foundation of our faith, as Paul testified that no other spiritual foundation can be laid (1Co 3:11), and so Paul is now speaking of the Holy Spirit (who is one with Jesus Christ) who came through the apostles and prophets (as indicated in verse 17), even those of the Old Testament (Acts 1:16), to lay that foundation through the mouths of men who were chosen by God to do so. Christ is the chief cornerstone (Psa 118:22, Isa 28:16), and so all of us who are born again in Him will be clothed with His righteousness, which is how we are able to enter the Kingdom of Heaven.[v21] In whom all the building fitly framed together groweth unto an holy temple in the Lord:
That is, the building is the church itself, as a whole; not a building made by the hands of men. (1Co 3:9) Therefore the "holy temple" is not a physical building, but a metaphor of the faithful that are built up over time, laid first by the foundation of Christ through His apostles, which is the groundwork by which we, who are the framework and stones (fitted together perfectly according to God's will and guidance), rest upon as we grow the church.(Read "The Church is Not a Building" here at creationliberty.com for more details.)
[v22] In whom ye also are builded together for an habitation of God through the Spirit.
Paul includes the Ephesian Christians in this statement, and it is meant for us all, which is why this was preserved for our understanding. Just as a building's parts are all designed to fit together, and work together to keep the building stable against the elements of nature, so we are also a habitation of God, having the Holy Spirit in us and among us, a holy church that He has sanctified for His glory and our benefit.Chapter 3
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[v1] For this cause I Paul, the prisoner of Jesus Christ for you Gentiles,
Paul was in prison because of the Jews, who hated that Paul (a Jew himself) was preaching to the Gentiles, an act that they forbid in rejection of God's will through Jesus Christ. (Gal 4:16) Though prisons are the home of many thieves and murderers, prisons have also been the home of men who have stood up to do what is right in the face of evil, and Paul spent lengthy sentences in prison on behalf of the Gentile brethren in Christ, having committed no crime, but charged only with preaching Christ crucified for sins, a stumblingblock to the Jews. (1Co 1:23)[v2] If ye have heard of the dispensation of the grace of God which is given me to you-ward:
That is, referring to those in the church who had heard Paul often preach these things to them while he spent roughly three years in Ephesus. The word 'if' is used, not because they had not heard these things, but also understanding that there are new Christians that would have joined the church in his absence, and so those who witnessed his preaching could testify hearing "of the dispensation of the grace of God," which is the message of the grace of God, given freely to those who have been humbled to repentance and faith in Christ. (Mark 1:14-15)[v3] How that by revelation he made known unto me the mystery; (as I wrote afore in few words,
These mysteries include many things, such as the Godhead (i.e. the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost being three separate entities and one God at the same time, Rom 1:20), the dual natures of Christ (i.e. being a man and God at the same time, 1Ti 2:5), the justification of Christ by His blood, the imputing of righteousness to man by grace through faith, the many changes that take place in disciples of Christ, the communion with have with Christ, and much more. Paul points out that he had aforementioned many of these subjects briefly in the first two chapters of this letter.[v4] Whereby, when ye read, ye may understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ)
This verse is a continuation of his note from the previous verse, that Paul prefaced this letter (in the first two chapters) the revelation of mysteries in the dispensation of grace, so that the readers would know that he had a good understanding of these mysteries, and that they were revealed to Him by Christ for the express purpose of sharing that knowledge with the rest of the church.[v5] Which in other ages was not made known unto the sons of men, as it is now revealed unto his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit;
Pieces of the Gospel of Christ were revealed to Adam, other pieces later revealed to Abraham, others revealed to Moses, others revealed to David, etc. The prophets of the Old Testament also had many pieces revealed to them, but the fullness of the doctrine was not clearly seen until Christ came to this world and revealed it unto mankind.By the phrase "his holy apostles and prophets," this is not to say that the apostles and prophets were holy of themselves, because they were men just as we are (Mark 10:18), but that they were given holiness and righteouesness by the Spirit of God, who revealed to them the mysteries of the Gospel for our benefit. The prophets foretold the coming of Jesus, that men who believed could have full assurance of who He is, and the apostles were given the mission of explaining the fullness of the doctrine to the church, that we would be blessed with a complete understanding of the Gospel of Christ that was known to God before the world began, but revealed to us in due time.
[v6] That the Gentiles should be fellowheirs, and of the same body, and partakers of his promise in Christ by the gospel:
These things were revealed in the time they were, that the Gentiles might also become spiritual heirs to the Kingdom of God, that we might also be one with the Jews in faith unto Christ (for all those who believe), enjoying the same blessings of grace (in everything from daily needs to eternal security), and the blessings of knowledge of His Word, which grows our confidence in Him and prepares us to boldly preach the truth to others (Acts 19:8), that they might have the same.[v7] Whereof I was made a minister, according to the gift of the grace of God given unto me by the effectual working of his power.
Though Paul was a very well educated man, this ministry was not formed by his own power and intellect, but was given to him by God for the purpose of his mission. Even the Paul, knowing the effects and results of his work among the Gentiles, did not take credit for himself of his own effectual working, but rather, he knew that he could not convert anyone of his own power, and so glorifies the working power of the Holy Spirit, sent by Christ according to the will of God, to win souls.[v8] Unto me, who am less than the least of all saints, is this grace given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ;
Those who we consider to be the greatest of all saints, whether in the Old Testament (e.g. Abraham, Moses, Joseph, David, Jeremiah, etc) or in the New Testament (e.g. Paul, Peter, John, Luke, Matthew, etc), are all still sinners before the Holy God, just as we are, and therefore, it is the natural humble disposition that the Holy Spirit places inside of the children of God, to view other saints to be greater than themselves. Paul, knowing his own sins against Christ and His church, finds himself to be "less than the least of all saints," that he should be given the great honor of being a teacher to lay the foundation of doctrine for the church (being unsearchable or understandable by the will of men, 1Co 2:14), and to set an example of what we ought to do, but it is the pleasure and good will of God to take the least esteemed among us and lift them up. (1Co 1:26-31)[v9] And to make all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the world hath been hid in God, who created all things by Jesus Christ:
It is the Spirit of God that brings men to understanding by unlocking the knowledge in their minds, and with repentance and faith, they are born again in Jesus Christ, by which they can have fellowship together in the mystery of Christ's Gospel that is hidden to the eyes and ears of men (who have no desire to be healed by Him, Mat 13:15) having this mystery stored away until the time it was good for it to be revealed unto the repentant sinners. The Lord God created all things by Jesus Christ, which is meant as a cooperation, in which both God the Father and Christ the Son are co-creators, working together as one to create the world, and all inhabitants therein. (Col 1:16)[v10] To the intent that now unto the principalities and powers in heavenly places might be known by the church the manifold wisdom of God,
The principalities and powers in this context means the working of the angels of heaven, who travel between heaven and earth according to God's purpose, that we might know the intent of Lord God in this regard, for God is wisdom, and His wisdom is in perfect harmony with His good will, which is that as many as possible might come to repentance and be saved (2Pe 3:9), although it is prophesied by Christ that few would be saved. (Mat 7:13-14) Thus, Solomon, who God gave more wisdom than any man had, nor any man will ever have, said, "he that winneth souls is wise" (Pro 11:30), for the preaching of the truth unto winning souls of men to the Kingdom of Heaven is the ultimate act of love, fulfilling the eternal purpose and vision of the creation before time began.[v11] According to the eternal purpose which he purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord:
This reveals to us that which is outside of time, and gives us understanding of the purpose He set forth in Jesus Christ. The Lord Jesus Christ did not suffer and die on the cross to simply roll the dice and find out who would come to Him by chance, but rather, those who are saved are appointed unto salvation in Him from before the world began, according to good will of God the Father. Perhaps to put it another way, nothing can occur to God, or rather, there is no new idea or enlightenment that He can attain, and therefore, all things that have happened, that are happening, and that will happen must be according to His infinite knowledge and good will that existed outside of time before the creation of the universe.[v12] In whom we have boldness and access with confidence by the faith of him.
In the Old Testament, it was a fearful thing to go into the Temple of God and enter into the Holy of Holies with the Ark of the Covenant, as one could be struck dead if he entered unworthily, but now, the Holy of Holies is within each individual Christian, born again and regenerated by that very Holy Spirit that resided in Solomon's Temple, which now resides in us. (1Jo 2:27) Once we have been regenerated (by grace through faith of a repentant heart), we are given free access to God through His Spirit, which gives us boldness to preach the truth of His Word to others, and confidence in Him, by His faithfulness in us to fulfill the things He promised to us, that Christ mediates on our behalf in Heaven, and that our prayers are heard and answered in due time.[v13] Wherefore I desire that ye faint not at my tribulations for you, which is your glory.
Paul suffered many tribulations for the sake of the Gospel of Christ (2Co 11:23-27), which caused some to be disheartened, distressed, and depressed by his sufferings, but Paul reassured them that they should look upon these things with a better understanding. Paul suffered these things willingly for the sake of the Lord Jesus Christ and His church, and so rather than fainting from those sufferings, they should be the more bold, knowing that Paul had done no crime for his sufferings, that these things were to be done by the will of God for the sake of the church, and that they could boast (i.e. glory) of Christ's great love for them, for the church of Ephesus came to be through the sufferings of Paul by the will of God.[v14] For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
Some of the saints in various churches might faint and lose confidence when hearing of Paul's tribulations, either by argument from heathen who would falsely accuse Paul of being a criminal, or to have their faith shaken that God may not protect them as a church, but for the cause of edifying the church to be more emboldened unto the faith in Christ, Paul fell to his knees in prayer. This does not mean that every Christian must fall to their knees in prayer in order to attain some symbol of holiness as many false religion imply (because righteousness and holiness can only be given to us by the Lord Jesus Christ), but this was Paul's way of physically expressing his heart before the Lord, and so we all have our way of expressing the humility of our hearts before the Lord in prayer when we are in secret, alone in our rooms, that we might come before God to plead with Him on behalf of others in the church.[v15] Of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named,
That is, the Lord Jesus Christ has every member of His family named, both of those in heaven and in earth, and those who are yet to be born, who God knows before they are conceived. (Jer 1:5) Those who are part of God's family get the privileges of being a member of the family, in love, honor, and inheritance.[v16] That he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man;
This is what Paul was praying for on his knees, as he indicated in verse 14, that the church would be granted the riches of the grace of God in terms of confidence in Him, that the Christians would be strengthened and emboldened by the sufferings of Paul. We Christians are still men, who stumble and grow weary, but by the blessings of the Holy Spirit, we perservere, and therefore, we need to be refreshed at times, to be reminded of our mission, and the source of our strength, that our "inner man," or our hearts and minds, would be established in the grace and faith of Christ.[v17] That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love,
Of course, the Living God is omnipresent, meaning that He is in all places at all times at the same time, and we know that Christ is on His throne at the right hand of the Father, but in this sense, it is meant that Christ, through the Holy Spirit (i.e. because Christ and the Holy Spirit are one), lives in our hearts, and so when Christians need motivation, resolve, fervency, and focus, we must turn to Christ through the Holy Spirit living within us for strength. The grace of salvation we have received from the Lord Jesus Christ is certain, as is our inheritance in the Kingdom of Heaven, which are the greatest demonstration of love the world has ever known, we, still living in the flesh, are limited in our sight (1Co 13:12), and stumble due to various circumstances, which lead us into doubt and call into question God's love for us, but we must return to the Holy Spirit and the Word of God time and again to be "rooted and grounded" in His love, that our philosophy would remain established in the promises of Christ. (Col 2:8)[v18] May be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height;
This is not said in the sense of actual dimensions, although some may suspect that Paul was referring to the dimension of the spiritual building that is spoken of in Revelation 21:15-16, nor is this a description of God's person, since He is infinite in nature. Rather, in the context, this is referring to the love of God, and therefore it is spoken in some sense of irony, as the love of God has no boundaries, and has reached all through time and space, showing patience, longsuffering, and goodness (which are charitable acts of love) even to those who hate Him (Rom 15:4), that they might obtain the same gift of salvation that we have been given. (2Pe 3:15) Thus, we should be established and grounded in the roots of His understanding, that His love for us is greater than we may be able to fathom in our present state as men in the flesh, which gives us confidence in Him no matter what we might suffer, knowing that we are predestined to the trials and tribulations of this world, but no matter our end, we will be forever with the family of God in the heavenly home that awaits us. (Rev 21:3-4)[v19] And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God.
The disciples of Christ can understand this knowledge to a degree because we have experienced it in part, that is, from our perspective, for we have not seen the things that God has done from us apart from our experience and faith in His Word to document those things which He has done for us. It would be one thing for God to tell us that He loves us, but it is a completely different thing for Him to send His own beloved Son (in their unified agreement) to suffer and die in our place, which is the love of Christ demonstrated, and it passes knowledge to us. Thereby, we might more fully understand the mysteries of Scripture, and have confidence in Him that, even when we cannot see clearly His love, we are reminded that He has the utmost of all love for us, and works continually on our behalf. (Rom 8:28)[v20] Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us,
This is not to say that God will always do "abundantly above all that we ask or think," for not everything we ask or think is according to the will of God, which infinitely greater in love and understanding than ours. We also have to consider that God cannot do all things (e.g. God cannot lie, Tts 1:2, God cannot give more wisdom to any man than He already gave to Solomon, 1Ki 3:11-12, etc), and therefore, what we ask of Him must be in alignment with His will and promises, which is why the Spirit makes intercession for us when we do not have understanding of how we ought to pray. (Rom 8:26)That being said, Paul points out that God's capability to do for us as we humbly request to Him far exceeds our understanding, and that it is within His power in most cases to do far more than we ask or think. This is done "according to the power that worketh in us," which could be meant both in the common blessings of the Holy Spirit that works in every individual Christian, and the miraculous workings of the Holy Spirit through the apostles, which were done for the establishment of the church, and documented and preserved for our understanding, which strengthens our confidence in Him.
[v21] Unto him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen.
Paul ends this section by offering a praise to God for His great goodness and mercy, by which He is beyond deserving of all glory and honor. He sends to His church endless spiritual mercies, many of which we do not see, and continually provides grace and patience for us in all our weaknesses. The praises that men give unto God are unacceptable, unless they are given through Christ and the Holy Spirit, because all righteousness can only be imputed by Christ, and so the working of Christ in us is forever, His great sacrifice lasting throughout all ages, and the world, which is meant to be the church (where the blessings of grace are given to be everlasting), will not end. Paul ends this chapter with "Amen," which means "truly" or "of truth," which adds the desire of his heart to that statement of truth.Chapter 4
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[v1] I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called,
Paul now calls himself a "prisoner of the Lord," to emphasize the fact that he had harmed no man, nor committed any crime. He was in prison for preaching the truth while helping the poor and needy, and thus, by calling himself a "prisoner of the Lord," it may help the Ephesians to walk more boldly in faith, knowing that Paul, the apostle who first preached to establish the church in the city of Ephesus, was in prison because it was the will of the Lord for him to do so.The vocation referred to here a calling by the will of God, which is not in a specific sense concerning their skills or station in life, but in the general sense that all Christians are called. The Lord Jesus Christ laid a foundation of faith in us, and set us free from our bondage of sin and death, and therefore, we should walk according to His will, preaching the truth boldly and demonstrating His love to others. (Mat 22:36-40)
[v2] With all lowliness and meekness, with longsuffering, forbearing one another in love;
Christians ought to have lowliness of mind, in that they see themselves unworthy of least of the graces of God and others, but rejoicing in that they have received grace. They are open to accept correction and instruction even from the least esteemed of the church, and do not envy the gifts and blessings others in the church receive from the Lord, but rather, they are thankful to God that He has given these good things to the brethren.Christians ought to be longsuffering, in that they are temperate, not immediately and easily provoked to anger, and not quick to seek revenge (i.e. justice for wrongdoing) for every offense suffered. Christians ought to forbear one another in love, which means to be quick to forgive others of offenses, to put yourself in their situation to see things from their perspective and have sympathy for their plights, and to address others in the church about their sins in faithful duty to Christ, with gentleness and meekness, because there is nothing more loving than the truth.
[v3] Endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.
The children of God in the church are united in the Holy Spirit under one head, which is Jesus Christ (1Co 11:3, Eph 5:23), and therefore, we being under one head should be unified unto Christ, as well as one another. Paul does not issue a commandment to create this unity because, as opposed to the corrupt doctrines of many new-age religious cults (who try to create a unity under false doctrines of the world), the unity of the church already exists, and so we are commanded to make effort (i.e. endeavor) to preserve that unity by not only judging ourselves (1Co 11:31) with righteous judgment (John 7:24), but also by addressing the faults within the church "with longsuffering, forbearing one another in love," and removing from the church those who insist on keeping bitter contentions in their hearts towards one another. (1Co 11:16, 1Co 5:9-13)[v4] There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling;
There is one body, meaning that, there is one church, which is not to say that there are not corrupt churches that are filled with leaven and led by false teachers, but rather, it is meant that there is one true church as a whole, worldwide, without denomination (1Co 1:10-13), who must have many churches only because, in the flesh, we are limited to where we can travel, and only have 24 hours in a day, leaving us with a necessity to have local churches in various regions. Thus, there is no validity in "window shoppers" (i.e. churchgoers who shop around for a church building to attend, often looking for a skilled orator, or fanciful music and entertainment) because the church is one body, and there should be no divisions among them, meaning that all should operate according to the same philosophy and doctrine.(Read "Denominations Are Unbiblical" here at creationliberty.com for more details.)
This body, which is the church, all drink a spiritual drink from the same well, which is the Holy Spirit, from which we get all blessings of knowledge, wisdom, and understanding. We who are born again in Christ are called unto this body (which is the family of God) by the Spirit of God (which we all share), and to the hope of our calling, which is the inheritance laid for us in the Kingdom of Heaven together with our Lord Jesus Christ. (John 14:2)
[v5] One Lord, one faith, one baptism,
The Lord Jesus Christ is the head of all the body, so why should there be divisions as if there is more than one Lord? There is only one Lord, and therefore, all the servants should be one one mind in one accord. (Phil 2:1-4)There are many faiths in this world, but only one faith in the grace of Jesus Christ to redeem the souls of men by the regeneration of the Holy Ghost. Likewise, because there one faith, there is only one doctrine of that faith, and therefore, many corrupt teachers of false faiths. (Mat 24:11, 1Jo 4:1)
In the Old Testament, the Jews were commanded under the law to participate in many different baptisms (i.e. cleansing rituals), but John the Baptist came preaching one baptism of repentance (Acts 13:24), which is to be done in the name of God the Father, Christ the Son, and the Holy Spirit. This is one of the few rituals that we Christians are commanded to do, and it is only to be done once, when done correctly under one Lord and one faith.
(Read "The Biblical Understanding of Baptism" here at creationliberty.com for more details.)
[v6] One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.
There is one God (Mal 2:10), who is the Godhead, which is one God and three entities at the same time, however, God the Father is the head of all, being above all, inifinite in His eternal knowledge and power. He is through all, not in the sense that His hands have created all living things, and all living things persist by and through Him (even though it is true that God's authority reigns over all, and His presence is everywhere, overseeing all), but rather, "through" and "in" us is used in the sense that God lives within us in the church, who are born again in Christ, having the Holy Spirit residing within us.[v7] But unto every one of us is given grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ.
All blessings and gifts are given of grace, not of debt, because the Lord God owes us nothing, and thus, everyone in the church who has been regenerted by the Holy Ghost are given grace, not just saving grace in Christ, but the gift of liberty, in which the Spirit of God guides us with knowledge, understanding, and wisdom for discernment, while giving us freedom to choose. There are also graces in terms of ability, and some of us are given the gifts of ability of greater magnitude than others, but all are according to the measures (i.e. portions) that were divided up and distributed by Christ according to the will of God.[v8] Wherefore he saith, When he ascended up on high, he led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto men.
Paul is quoting from Psalm 68:18, and although Jewish authors have interpreted this to be Moses ascending up Mount Sinai, the "on high" is not referring to the top of a mountain, but rather, it is referring to heaven (Psalm 102:19), which is where Jesus "ascended up," and gave gifts unto His servants. It is Jesus Christ who "led captivity captive" which is written with a sense of irony, in which the "captivity," which is referring to the principality and powers of sin over the world, led by Satan and his devils, has taken men into the slavery of sin and death, but Jesus took the "captivity captive" by gifting the grace of the Holy Spirit to the faithful children of God.[v9] (Now that he ascended, what is it but that he also descended first into the lower parts of the earth?
Paul is referring back to Psalm 139:15, which logically follows, since Christ had to first descend before He could ascend, not just from earth to heaven, but also from the "lowest parts of the earth" (as stated in Psalm 139), which is when He fulfilled His prophecy of being in the "heart of the earth" for "three days and three nights. (Mat 12:39-41) This is not to say that Christ went to hell to suffer, as some corrupt religious cults teach, but rather, He went to preach to the "spirits in prison" (1Pe 3:18-19), and to lead the faithful in paradise (which was partitioned separate from hell in the heart of the earth, Luke 16:23, where the repentant thief who suffered together with Christ on the cross at Calvary that day joined the rest of the faithful, Luke 23:40-43) up into the Kingdom of Heaven that He prepared for them.[v10] He that descended is the same also that ascended up far above all heavens, that he might fill all things.)
This is a key verse that disproves many false doctrines that preached by men of corrupt minds, in which they teach that Christ was a created being, and not eternal in His divinity as a member of the Godhead. Paul is teaching that Christ first had to descend, meaning that He had to come from His place in Heaven first before he could ascend, and thus, this Scripture (written by Paul through the Holy Spirit) is evidence that disproves such notions that seek to undermine Christ's sole authority over the church.Christ ascended "far above all heavens," meaning that His ascent with the saints in paradise goes far beyond any visible heaven, whether the atmosphere or the stars in outer space. Christ fulfilled all things by this last act of His ascent because, not only did He come to the world in the form of a man, teach, suffer, and die brutally as a payment for our sins, but He also took His place on the throne as king, to be the sole mediator between God and men (1Ti 2:5), defeating sin and death, which will all be thrown into the lake of fire in the final day (Rev 20:14), and to bringing joy and peace to His church. (Gal 5:22)
[v11] And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers;
The apostles were given gifts by Christ to qualify them to be apostles, namely, miracles that would show that what they preached was the truth by the authority of the Lord God. (These miracles were particularly for the early church, and today, apostles are more commonly known as "missionaries.") They were given a mission of work to do, guided by the Holy Spirit, not being confined to any particular church (like a pastor might do), and are listed first among these because the work of an apostle must be done first to establish the church in a region before the other gifts of offices may follow.The prophets are not meant here in the common sense, by which one might teach the Word of God (even as what I am writing here is a form of prophesying, which is to take the Word of God and interpret it for the church; that is labeled under the classification of "teacher" later in this verse), but it is meant of those who had the extraordinary gift of foretelling future events. For example, Agabus prophesied a great famine that would encompass all the world, which did happen as the Lord showed him, during the reign of Claudius Caesar. (Acts 11:27-30)
The evangelists do similar work to the apostles, but are not apostles themselves, meaning that they were not given the gifts of miracles as the apostles were given, but they did travel and preach. (e.g. Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, etc.) An evangelist, in general, is one who openly preaches in public, or who writes concerning the Gospel of Jesus Christ, but not having any binding of responsibility to a particular church in a region.
Pastors and teachers are mentioned together because they have very similiar duties, in that they are teachers of the Word of God, but the difference between them is that a pastor is given responsibility over a particular church in a particular area, to oversee it for the purpose of care and protection (Acts 20:28), to be examples of kindness and charity, not to be a heavy-handed lord to reign over the church. (1Pe 5:2), whereas teachers are not bound to a particular church, but serve in whatever capacity the Lord leads them, whether they be helpers as deacons among the church, or individuals running a ministry on their own. For example, Timothy was a teacher who was also an evangelist that was a close friend and helper of Paul, and in Paul's epistle to Timothy, he pointed out that teachers of the Gospel should not be women, and that it was part of the punishment from the fall of Adam and Eve (1Ti 2:11-14), which is not to say that women cannot teach in general (e.g. a school teacher), but that they have no spiritual authority to teach the church.
[v12] For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ:
These offices were established by the Lord Jesus Christ not to have any one member of the church superior to another, for such things cause envying and strife, which are a symptom of the sins of the flesh (1Co 3:3, Jms 3:16), but rather, such offices were established to be servants to Christ and the church, to be in a lower position than the rest of the church, working for their benefit according to the will of God, to build up the church in foundation of faith and fruits of the Spirit, to teach them the ways of Christ's great mercy, which is the perfection which Christ commanded to us. (Mat 5:48, Luke 6:36)(Read "The Biblical Understanding of Perfection" here at creationliberty.com for more details.)
[v13] Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ:
That is, Christ suffered and died on the cross, rose from the dead, ascended to Heaven, and sent gifts unto His servants, that they would take up the work of ministry, for the purpose of preaching, teaching, and caring for the church, until all the saints come in the unity of faith, which is not meant in the sense of the general unity of love which the church is called to, but in the unity of understanding, which true faith requires, and which the Holy Spirit delivers to those who have been regenerated. (Mat 13:18-23) This is not meant to be a general knowledge of Christ (i.e. that one would know His name and His accomplishments), but a spiritual knowledge, in which a full understanding is gained from God by having one's understanding unlocked, and this should persist until we are made perfect in the final days of this world, in which Christ will return with all the saints, and translate the saints still living in the world, to bring us all together in the perfection of the body.[v14] That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive;
When we were babes in Christ, newly saved without much knowledge or discernment, we were like unto children in our understanding at that time, who are vulnerable to the deceptions of men, and need their mature and experienced parents to look out for them. The "wind of doctrine" is false doctrine, and the analogy of wind is that the air is seemingly empty, having no weight, no understanding, nor does it have a set direction, changing its path without notice, which is a fitting comparison to the doctrines of false teachers, pointing to their inconsistency, vanity, and uncaring nature.Furthermore, false preachers are sly (i.e. "the sleight of men"), in that they will fool and deceive the hearts of the simple with smooth words that seem good in appearance (Rom 16:17-18, Isa 30:10), scratching the itching ears of their audience. (2Ti 4:3) Such men are experts in deception, which means they are cunning in their craftiness, secretly waiting to jump on the next person they can fool into following their false doctrines because they are greedy of gain, for fame and/or fortune, (Isa 56:11), while appearing on the outside to be gentle, kind, and faithful pastors and elders.
[v15] But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ:
Rather, those who are the true preachers of Christ, being given the gifts of wisdom and understanding from the Holy Spirit, will speak the truth in love, meaning that they care enough about others to tell them the truth, even when others hate them for it. Our purpose in telling others the truth is that they may understand the Lord Jesus Christ, and grow in His knowledge, to follow Him in all things, and though this is meant for the church, it also applies to the unsaved outside the church (or churchgoers who feign repentance and faith), and even unto our enemies, that their souls would be saved and their families would be blessed. (Mat 5:43-48)[v16] From whom the whole body fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint supplieth, according to the effectual working in the measure of every part, maketh increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in love.
This is the fullness of the body (Eph 1:23), which is under the sole authority of Christ, who are closely knit together in the love of Christ, working together for all things that are needed for each member work, to fulfill Christ's purpose for us. It is Satan who creates many faiths, many lords, many bodies, many versions of the Bible, many ways to heaven, but in Christ we are united under one faith, one Lord, one body, one Bible (i.e. the King James Bible), one way to heaven (Mat 7:13-14), etc, so that when new babes in Christ are added to the church, they are not led astray, and they can be raised up on the unbreakable foundation of Christ, growing to speak boldly in faith of His promises.[v17] This I say therefore, and testify in the Lord, that ye henceforth walk not as other Gentiles walk, in the vanity of their mind,
Though written through inspiration of the Holy Spirit, Paul is speaking as a "prisoner of the Lord" (Eph 4:1), testifying to the Ephesians that they would turn from their old ways, from before they were saved, in which they walked (i.e. lived) according to a philosophy that was void of the fear of the Lord, the grace of Christ, and the blessings of the Holy Spirit. The unsaved (and even those who claim to be "Christians" under false pretenses) follow after the cares of this world, the deceitfulness of riches (Mark 4:19), the lusts of the flesh, the pride of life (Gal 5:16, 1Jo 2:16), the vanity of idolatry (1Co 10:14), and many other things which Christ has now saved us from by grace through faith. (Eph 2:8-9)[v18] Having the understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart:
This is not to say that the world does not have understanding of anything, because many do have understanding of worldly matters of civilization and nature, but Paul is referring to spiritual understanding, in which they not only have no blessings of understanding from the Holy Ghost, but they have purposefully closed their eyes and ears. (Mat 13:15) They are alienated from the life of God which He lives with His children in Heaven, from the comforts and blessings which He abundantly shares with them, because of their ignorance and willlful blindness, being willingly ignorant of what sin is, its corrupt hold over them, and God's punishment of it, as well as their stoney or thorny hearts, in which the seed of the preaching of the Word of God falls on it, is ineffective on them, having a greater desire to be enslaved to sin than to be free from it.[v19] Who being past feeling have given themselves over unto lasciviousness, to work all uncleanness with greediness.
In this context, Paul is not referring to the emotions of the heart in general, for a man to rely on such things as a foundation of understanding is deception and foolishness (Jer 17:9, Pro 28:26), nor is he referring to a feeling that one used to have (i.e. past tense), even though he is talking about remembering the time in which we used to be Gentiles. Rather, Paul is saying that they are "past feeling" in the sense that their consciences have been seared with a hot iron (1Ti 4:1-2), by which they have hardened their hearts to the point that they are impenitent, having moved past the ability to express any sorrow for sins, and instead sin openly with pleasure, defend their sin, glorying in the shame of their sin (Phil 3:19), and mock all those who rebuke their sin, without any fear of judgment to come.Without their consciences to hinder them in their quest to fulfill the lusts of the flesh, they give themselves completely over to their sin, to the point that they are lascivious (i.e. animal-like desire, sin without restraint), in which they willingly become slaves to sin, growing in the lusts, adding more sins over time, being greedy in the sense that the sins become a great addiction, and they evil deeds must become darker and deeper to satisfy their flesh.
[v20] But ye have not so learned Christ;
This is not to say that a Christian does not sin, for to be sinless is impossible in the flesh, but rather, that when a Christian does sin, it might be enjoyable to the flesh for a moment, but it is not an enjoyable experience overall because the spirit grieves. We did not learn Christ according to the pleasures of the flesh, but we learned Christ in the sense that we have been instructed on what is pleasing to the Godhead, the great sacrifice of love that Christ made for us, according to the grace and good will of God the Father, and the rich blessings of the Holy Spirit, who came to us in our broken state to save us and give us many gifts, and therefore, when we sin, it is a great burden that weighs on our hearts, knowing that we have sinned against our Father who loves us, and against others who we may have done wrong in the process.To put it another way, what we have learned in Christ is the foundation of repentance (Heb 6:1), which drives us to war against the lusts of the flesh. Although we work to do good for the sake of Christ (and are rewarded in the Kingdom of Heaven for our good works), it is not of ourselves that we have been sanctified in this way, but Christ did it for us, and that is the reason we are different from the world in that regard. The world sees the difference as a mark of pride, in which they think we think ourselves better than them, but we are only sinners saved by Christ, and so if we are better than them in any way, it is only because of Jesus Christ that we walk in the light, on the narrow path, and inform them that because it is not of our own works, they may have the same if they come to Him in repentance and faith, just as Jesus preached. (Mark 1:14-15)
[v21] If so be that ye have heard him, and have been taught by him, as the truth is in Jesus:
Paul is not saying that they had to personally hear Jesus preach these things to understand them, nor is he saying that they had to hear Christ preached from the mouth of a man, although the Ephesians did hear the preaching of Christ, as did many of us, but rather, they need to hear internally, in their spirits, having their understanding unlocked by the Holy Ghost, for many hear external preaching, and yet, only few hear and understand. This also does not mean that we learn from Christ personally, in the sense that He walks together with us as a man in the flesh to preach to us, but we "have been taught by him" in the sense that we have been given understanding from the Holy Spirit (1Jo 2:26-27), and we also learn of His doctrine by the preaching of the brethren who have been giving the gifts of teaching and wisdom.[v22] That ye put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts;
This is not a literally putting off, in the sense that one might be removed from the church for lack of repentance of sins, but rather, this concerns the old man who was a slave to sin, who gave himself up to the power of sin over the spirit. This position of slavery to sin is deceitful, meaning that for temporary pleasures, we receive eternal damnation, demonstrating its deceitfulness, promising good things, while delivering death. After being regenerated by the Holy Spirit, our flesh, which remains corrupt even after we are saved, has lost its stranglehold on the spirit, and therefore, with our spirits being born anew in the light of Christ, and set to liberty by His grace, our spirits throw off the rule of the flesh over the spirit, and no longer serve as slaves to sin.[v23] And be renewed in the spirit of your mind;
The mind is a spiritual entity, even though the world defines the mind and the brain to be the same thing. The brain is simply the physical device that God has created to allow our spirits (i.e. the seat of our thoughts and reasons) to be able to communicate with the physical world. Our minds/spirits are God creation, being eternal in nature, and therefore, it stands to reason that is the core in which the Holy Spirit works, to renew the spirit of our minds, making us new creatures in Christ (2Co 5:17), by which we should speak and act accordingly to that renewal.[v24] And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.
The new man is the renewed nature, which could also be seen as Christ Himself, for it is His handiwork that has created us to be new men (in the spirit, not in the flesh), not in our own righteousness, but the righteous cloak of Christ, in which we imputes His righteousness to us. We are called to "true holiness" which contrasts against the fake holiness of hypocritical churchgoers and false preachers, in which, just like most of the Jews in that day, they pretend to be holy and righteous of themselves because of their religious ceremonies and church-ianity traditions, by which they use money, fame, and attendance as cheap tools for feigned justification, in a pathetic attempt to disguise themselves as children of God.[v25] Wherefore putting away lying, speak every man truth with his neighbour: for we are members one of another.
Jesus Christ is the truth, as He told us (John 14:6), and therefore, the truth is a core foundation to our salvation, meaning that we are given a love of the truth from the day we are born again. (2Th 2:10) This does not mean that a Christian will never say anything that is not true, for we can still speak things that we believe are true in ignorance and there is no sin in such things (as long as we are humbly open to correction and instruction when needed), but we ought to put away lying, which is to purposely speak falsely against the truth, or to hide oneself from the truth while murmuring deceitful words of self-justification, or to lie for the purpose of "good intent" which is against the moral law of God.Whether in worldly affairs (e.g. business, government, etc) or in religious discussion, we Christians should speak the truth. We who are of Christ are all members of the same body, and therefore, we should be honest with one another. We should also remember that all mankind are brothers and sisters in the flesh, being descended from Adam and Even (and later from Noah), and therefore, being related to one another in that sense, we should not lie. To lie is to deceive, and deception comes from hatred in the heart, which means to lie is the equivalent of hating one's brother. (Pro 26:28)
(Read "God Does Not Justify Lies" here at creationliberty.com for more details.)
[v26] Be ye angry, and sin not: let not the sun go down upon your wrath:
Anger is not a sin, for if it were, God would be a sinner, and God cannot sin. We can be angry at sin, even at our own sin. It is good to be angry with the sins against the poor and needy, which is sometimes known as righteous indignation, that comes from a true passion for the good things of God, but only when that anger does not become sin itself, in which a man would develop a deep seeded hatred of a person, instead of the sin, because we must remember that, while a man is still living, there is a chance he could be saved by the hearing of the Gospel of Salvation.Paul may have been referring to Deuteronomy 24:14-15, although not specifically to the point made in those verses (because contextually, it was concerning an employer paying his employee his wages in a timely fashion), but more of an proverbial analogy, which the Jews used in some of their own proverbial expressions, in that we should not take our anger to bed with us and sleep with it lingering in our hearts and minds. The anger that we have for the evil of the day is sufficient (Mat 6:34), and therefore, we should let it go before the day has ended, not harboring bitterness, lest it should fester and grow, and become a swelling sin of hatred and malice. (1Co 14:20)
[v27] Neither give place to the devil.
When we do something deceitful and hateful against others, even within our own hearts, Satan and his devils are pleased with it. This also applies those sins which are the lusts of the flesh, in which we are not vigilant to be on guard against the temptations of the devil, and passively give in to them without fighting back, we are given "place to the devil," allowing him to have his way in our hearts, minds, and tongues.[v28] Let him that stole steal no more: but rather let him labour, working with his hands the thing which is good, that he may have to give to him that needeth.
Thieves take away the resources of another man, not earning them for himself through hard work, and thereby reduce the value of another man's hard work, stealing his very life (and that of his family) by removing that which he earned by his time in labor. Therefore, we who stole from others in time past (living according to the "old man") should no longer steal, but should adopt a charitable mindset, in that not only would we work hard to labor for all those things which we desired to purchase for our own good, but also to have extra to give to others who are in need, providing for some of their needs which they cannot produce for themselves due to misfortunes and/or infirmities, they would have no need to commit the very same sin of theft from which we were saved.[v29] Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers.
Although lies are corrupt communications, Paul has already mentioned lies, and so this refers to other corrupt things that are spoken, which reflect the unclean heart of the flesh that would give place to the devil, such as profanities, religious oaths, arrogant words, derogatory statements, or any other filthy thing that is unbecoming of a servant of Christ. Though the world scoffs when we explain to them that they should take caution of the things that proceed out of their mouths because they hate having to work to do something they do not care about, we Christians ought to put a bridle on our tongue (like reigns on a horse, Jms 1:5), because we know that what proceeds out of our mouths comes from our hearts (Mat 15:18), and that all men will be held accountable for every word they speak, even in idle conversation. (Mat 12:36)The conversation which we have with one another should be "good for the use of edifying," which is not meant in the sense of conversational formalities and societal niceties, but of substance for the building up of a strong foundation in the church, such as the strengthening of faith, the encouragement of grace, the blessings of peace, joyful support of those in need, etc. The things we speak should minister (i.e. serve) others with the grace of God, teaching them a deeper understanding of God's grace, and bringing them to sound faith in His mercy.
[v30] And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption.
The Holy Spirit is grieved by the unrepentant sinners who refuse to acknowledge the truth, but the children of God should not speak in a way that is like unto them, with malice, strife and contention, which would bring further and greater grief to the Holy Ghost, but rather, in a gentle way, that is apt to teach, with patience and meekness, which is becoming of a servant of Christ. (2Ti 2:24-25) This, we ought to work daily to do, until the day of redemption, which will be the day in which Christ will unite Himself with His saints, give to us new spiritualized bodies that will be without sin, and conform us to Him in company with all the saints, that our conversations would be pure in all things.[v31] Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice:
These things can come out of the mouths of the saints, otherwise, Paul would not have corrected the saints on these points. Bitterness is a poison that lingers in the heart, which often comes from corrupt philosophies and heretical doctrines, which leads to Christians having malicious attitudes towards others in the church. From that bitterness springs forth heated spirits of wrath, sinful anger, murmuring, contentions, brawling, slander, and libel, of which all should be put away from us because they are the deeds of the "old man." (Eph 4:22)[v32] And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you.
We ought to do good to one another, being considerate and understanding with each other, just as Christ commanded us that we ought to love our neighbor as ourselves (Mat 22:39), in that we should treat them the way we would like to be treated by others. (Mat 7:12) As opposed to the cruel, unforgiving, and vengeful nature of the world, we ought to be "tenderhearted," which is to be abundant in the passions of pity and kindness, being ready and willing to forgive one another of trespasses, just as Christ has shown us the greatest acts of mercy and love in forgiveness of our many trespasses.Chapter 5
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[v1] Be ye therefore followers of God, as dear children;
This is not said in the sense that we must be like God, in all his infinite wisdom and power, for such a thing is impossible for created beings, but rather, we should do all good acts of benevolence and mercy towards others, as He has done with us. (Luke 6:36) This should be done as "as dear children," not just as children reflecting the mercy of their Father, but as DEAR children, which are children that are most beloved and favored by their parents.[v2] And walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweetsmelling savour.
We should live as Christ lived, in that He spoke the truth for the good of the people, and did those things which were geared towards kindness and selfless sacrifice for others. Christ gave Himself for us as a blood sacrifice, which "a sweetsmelling savour" unto God, just as Noah's sacrifice "smelled a sweet savour" unto the Lord (Gen 8:20-21), or in other words, it was pleasing to God (in a similar, desirable manner that sweet smelling cooked meated might be pleasurable to our tongues) that these things were done because His good will is pleased that men should be brought to repentance and faith in Christ, to be reconciled to God through the Holy Spirit. (2Co 5:18)[v3] But fornication, and all uncleanness, or covetousness, let it not be once named among you, as becometh saints;
Paul focuses on sexually-charged sins, as they are common among men, and have had place in some churches, to the shame of those saints. These are "fornication," which is any sexually-motivated interaction outside of marriage, "uncleanness," which is encompasses adultery, incest, sodomy/homosexuality, pedophilia, and any other unnatural lust, and "covetousness," which is an inappropriate, untempered, greedy lust of the flesh, in which a man, in his addiction, cannot control his appetite.Paul is not saying that they should not be named in the sense of covering up sins committed in secret, that we would continue to live in sin and that we would only avoid being discovered. Rather, he is saying that we should live in a way that we would give no one cause to accuse us of these things (that we would not be rightly named as hypocrites for participating in such acts), and that the only speech we should give to the sexual sins of the flesh should be condemnation, that is, to declare such sin to be utterly wrong and abhorrant.
[v4] Neither filthiness, nor foolish talking, nor jesting, which are not convenient: but rather giving of thanks.
Paul goes on to include in this any other filthy thing (audible or written), which includes, but is not limited to, clothing, symbolisms, gestures, and euphamisms, which are provacative in the sense that they bring to mind the lusts of the flesh. This also includes any other types of speech which are inappropraite and unclean, which can change from culture to culture, but have similar purposes, which is to excite lust.Paul is not referring to every foolish thing that has ever been spoken, because there are foolish things which are spoken from the mouths of children (for example), and yet are not sinful in nature, but rather, those things which are sinful, corrupt, vile, and lacking the fear of God's judgment. Likewise, Paul is not saying that everything that is spoken in jest (i.e. joking) is wrong or evil, because laughter is a creation of the Lord, and even the Lord Himself laughs at irony (Psa 2:4), but rather, the type of jesting that is perverted, deceitful, and vicious, which are inconveniences to the saints because they are opposed to goodness in the will of God.
If a Christian cannot understand the difference between what is appropriate and inappropriate in his speech, he should be silent, and instead give thanks to God, specifically for His mercies, to those He gives in this life, and the spiritual mercies He gives us in eternity. It is better that a Christian would use his speech edify the church, and to praise and encourage the good works of men.
[v5] For this ye know, that no whoremonger, nor unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater, hath any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God.
Whoremongers are those who sell sex for money, and unclean persons are those who live their lives in fornication, adultery, incest, sodomoy/homosexuality, pedophilia, etc. The covetous man is one who will do whatever it takes (even deceitful and unlawful things) to gain riches, and all these (e.g. whoremongers, unclean perosns, covetous men, etc) are considered to be idolators because they worship that which they seek, considering the object of their lusts to be sacred, and puts their confidence in those things.This is not to say that no one who has ever done any of these things will not inherit eternal life in the Kingdom of Christ, because all men have sinned and come short of the glory of God. (Rom 3:23) However, those who continue to live according to their sins while rejecting the imputed righteousness of Jesus Christ by grace through faith, will not inherit the Kingdom, because only those who are the spiritual children, having been regenerated by the Holy Ghost, can enter Heaven to be with Christ.
[v6] Let no man deceive you with vain words: for because of these things cometh the wrath of God upon the children of disobedience.
The vain words being spoken of here would be those of false preachers, whether in the church or without, who preached corrupt doctrines, teaching the people that these sins (which Paul just listed out) were not condemned, or that they were minor infractions, accusing the apostles of teaching false doctrine, in order to justify themselves to continue in them, and justify others who were idolators of those lusts. (Rom 2:15) It is because of fornication, adultery, uncleanness, coveteousness, filthiness, foolish talking, jesting in such ways that reflect the defilement of sin in their hearts (Mat 15:18), that the fierce anger of God pours out upon mankind, whether in this life, or on the day of God's wrath to come after the rapture of the saints.[v7] Be not ye therefore partakers with them.
Therefore, being regenerated in the Holy Spirit, and being covered with the cloak of Christ's righteousness by His great sacrifice and gift of wonderous mercy on us, we should not sit at the table of sins and partake with the unbelieving, heretics, and hypocrites, who feast on their lusts without restraint. If there are any among them who claim to be of Christ, we ought not sit back and restrain ourselves from rebuking their sins, for it is that truth that reveals the corruption of man, and also, by logical conclusion, demonstrates the goodness and longsuffering of God to lead men to repentance. (Rom 2:4)[v8] For ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord: walk as children of light:
We, who have been saved and born again in the Lord Jesus Christ, were at one time darkness itself, being willingly blind and ignorant of the spiritual things of God, but now we have the light of Christ (2Co 4:6), who gave us the understanding of the darkness of sin, to see sin as sin (as opposed to feigned "goodness" and fleeting pleasures, as the world sees it), and therefore, we should walk (i.e. live our lives) as children of light, not living in darkness, but reproving it, as Paul will go on to say in the following verses.[v9] (For the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness and righteousness and truth;)
Paul refers to the analogy of the "fruit of the Spirit" in a tree whose roots are Jesus Christ, which feeds us all, and by which the Ephesians (as well as all of us Christians) were grafted into it. (Rom 11-16-24) With the root being Christ, it means that the roots are founded in goodness, righteousness, and truth, which means that the branches, and therefore, the fruit, which we are, should reflect the same as the roots, meaning that we should show the fruits of the Spirit because we are the handiwork of Christ. (Gal 5:22-23)[v10] Proving what is acceptable unto the Lord.
What is approved of God should not be guessed at, nor come from a "burning in the bosom," which is often done by corrupt religious cults, in which they insert their opinions about what they want God to accept. What is acceptable to the Lord should be proved by His Word, because He instructs us on these matters, starting with the death, burial, and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ, to the conversion of repentant sinners, which receive salvation by grace through faith, to the dutiful practices of the children of God, showing the same grace and mercy to the poor and needy that Christ as shown us, and to continue in His Word and doctrine, that we would shape our philosophy (i.e. way of thinking) to that of Christ.[v11] And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them.
This is not to say that we are not to dwell among the workers of darkness, nor to have communication with them in society, for to avoid them completely would be impossible unless we depart from the earth (1Co 5:9-11), and it would contradict the commandments of Christ to preach to the lost souls of this world, as well as the instructions that Paul has given in this verse to reprove them. Rather, we should not fellowship with them in the sense that we would have close, intimate communiion with them, to consider them to be close friends as we would with the brethren of the church, and that we should reprove them, which means that we should convince them of their guilt of sin, that they might come to see sin for what it is (Rom 7:8-12), and come to repentance of it.[v12] For it is a shame even to speak of those things which are done of them in secret.
Shame is an emotional pain of guilt for having done something wrong, and so Paul's argument here is that if it is shameful to simply speak of the things the workers of darkness do behind closed doors (and even some openly without shame), then it logically follows that it is much more exceedingly shameful to do the dark deeds in question. Though the workers of darkness may spark a vicious hatred in their hearts against us for telling them the truth, especially when we reveal the secrets they hide from men, it is necessary for us as children of light to walk in the manner Christ did, in which He had fellowship with penitent and faithful men, but rejected any fellowship with the workers of darkness, and exposed their sin. (Mat 23:23-31)[v13] But all things that are reproved are made manifest by the light: for whatsoever doth make manifest is light.
It is the light of Christ that reveals all spiritual truth, and so that which needs to be reproved, which is the sin of this world, is only reproved by the light of Christ. Therefore, we who receive sustenance from the roots of Christ are the ones who make manifest (i.e. open clearly for all to see) the darkness of the workers of iniquity, revealing that the Lord God's judgment sees all and knows all. Just as the sunlight reveals all dark things in nature, so Christ reveals all dark things in the spirit.[v14] Wherefore he saith, Awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light.
If there is a verse of Scripture in the Old Testament that Paul is referring to, I am unaware of it. Many people have come up with theories on what he could be referring back to, but looking over them, I have not seen any substantial evidence for it that I found convincing.Therefore, it could be said that Paul is not referring to any particular verse, but rather, he is referring to what a man might say if he was making dark works manifest in the light of Christ. A man who has been regenerated by the Holy Ghost, would speak that which is true of the Holy Ghost, and call others to awake from their sinful slumber, to look upon the light that exposes their sin, to see sin for its vile and disgusting nature, and to arise from the dead, in the same sense that Christians have been born again in the spirit in the moment they came with a repentant heart in faith of Christ for the remission (i.e. pardon/forgiveness) of their sins, and that Christ would give them the same light that the born again speaker has, which is given by grace and mercy alone, by faith, and cannot be earned by any works. (Eph 2:8-9)
[v15] See then that ye walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise,
The word 'circumspectly' is built from the same source where we get the word 'circumference', which indicates an encompassing of a whole area, in all directions, and so the Holy Spirit (through Paul) is instructing us to be watchful in every way, being cautious, and taking precautions to guard against dangers and evil surprises. We ought not to walk as fools, which are unreasonable people who have little or no moral aptitude, having lamps with no oil (i.e. they have a Bible in their hands, but no Spirit to guide them, Mat 25:8), walking in wretched, blind nakedness and thinking they have need of nothing (Rev 3:17), thinking themselves wise in their own conceit (Pro 26:12), and being willingly blind to the pitfalls that are in front of them. (1Co 10:12); rather, we should walk in the wisdom of the Lord, being stedfast in His doctrines of faith and charity, adopting His understanding of patience, diligence, strength, courage, prudence, accuracy, and thoroughness, to not only protect ourselves, but also the church, to set a good example for others, and to glorify Jesus Christ by doing so.[v16] Redeeming the time, because the days are evil.
The majority of this world does not have Christ, which means there are wicked men abound, even when they try to portray themselves as "good people" (Rom 3:10-12), and therefore, because the days we live in are evil, we ought to redeem the time we have been given by the Lord, with circumspect diligence (i.e. dutiful focus on doing good works and preaching the truth, while taking caution against enemies who persecute us), that we use it to the best efficiency that we can for the Lord Jesus Christ, that we use the wisdom He has given us to win souls for Him (Pro 11:30), and to attend to the care of the church. (1Pe 5:2-3)[v17] Wherefore be ye not unwise, but understanding what the will of the Lord is.
A wise man makes good use of his time, always seeking how he can turn a profit on the work he is doing (either for himself or, in this context, for his Master), and doing good for his family, as well as the poor and needy. Therefore, it is important for Christians to understand the will of the Lord, which is found in the Scriptures, not in detail to every context, but a general understanding of philosophy, the way we ought to think like Him in each situation, studying and rightly dividing God's Word to gain insight (2Ti 2:15), then patiently waiting for the facts of a situation to present themselves (even if we are under attack by those who seek to do us harm, trusting in the Lord for His protection, 1Th 5:14), and then making decisions based on those facts in wisdom and charity.[v18] And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit;
That is, a servant of Christ should not indulge themselves in excess of liquors, to become drunken on them, for it is common that man who does such things develops an addiction to it, and increases in foolishness over time, harming himself and his loved ones in the end. Rather, Paul exhorts the church to be filled with the Holy Spirit in contrast, of which, if we drink of that spiritual drink (1Co 10:4), we will increase in wisdom over time, develop an addiction to the merciful gifts of God, which is good for our souls, as well as our loved ones.[v19] Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord;
Because of my influence with the church buildings of America, when I was a young Christian, I attributed these verses to things like hymns sung from hymn books in their services, but that is not what Paul is referring to in this passage because those were written by the works of men. This is referring to the Book of Psalm, or the Psalms of David, which are traditionally called "hymns" by the Jews, and are the only "spiritual songs" we have access to, not in the sense that hymns written by men are unfit to be sung (depending on the context of who or what they are singing about), nor do I mean that traditional hymns do not speak of spiritual things, but rather, that the Book of Psalm are songs written by the Holy Spirit through the mouth of David (Acts 1:16), by which they are spiritual because they came from God.(Read Christian Music: For the Love of Money here at creationliberty.com for more details.)
Thus, Paul is telling us that we should speak to ourselves in the spiritual things of the Word of God from the Scriptures. Furthermore, when there is a melody in the heart of our spirit, we can use our voice to agree with the spirit, and use the tongue to sing praises, as the Holy Spirit spake to David (Psa 47:6-7), which is not to say that what we sing is the same as the Holy Scriptures, but that our spirits are communicating the love and gratitude for the Lord in the time when simple words are not enough to express our thankfulness for His mercy.
[v20] Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ;
We give thanks not only for those things with are earthly, for needs, securities, and preservation of our lives and families, but also for the spiritual blessings of Christ in salvation, as well as the graces of liberty, charity, patience, wisdom, and understanding, which He perpretually gives us in great abundance. We give thanks to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ because it is by His good will that Christ be glorified in all that He has done for us, and all things that we received come through Christ, since He is the sole mediator between God and men. (1Ti 2:5, Gal 3:20)[v21] Submitting yourselves one to another in the fear of God.
Though some may attribute this verse to submission to government, and though submission to sound and honest government authority is one of our duties to Christ (Rom 13:1-4), the context of this verse is concerning the church, and therefore, we ought to submit ourselves to one another in these sense of humility towards one another, and the authority of the apostles, elders, and pastors over the church. This is not to say that those in the church should yield to all that pastors and elders command or demand, whether right or wrong, for that is a blind faith in men (Jer 17:5), since it is the duty of all Christians (including those in an oversight position) to be in obedience to Christ first and foremost, searching the Scriptures on their own to gain understanding (Acts 17:11), but when those pastors and elders are in submission and obedience to Christ, and serving in humility to the rest of the church, rightly dividing and preaching the truth (2Ti 2:15), then the rest of the church should submit to their doctrine and instruction (as long as they are in accordance with the Word of God), for the sake of the work of the Gospel (1Ti 5:17), and the unity of the church. (Rom 12:16)This should also apply to others who do not have any official position within the church, but offer wisdom and understanding on certain matters. The younger ought to submit to the elder, those who are weak submitting to those who are strong, those who are weak to a sin to those who are strong against it, and all of us being humble towards one another, fearing God, who resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble. (1Pe 5:5)
[v22] Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord.
The context of these verses has to do with authority, and so Paul is setting up an argument along with these commandments from the Holy Spirit about submission to authority which is over us. For all those instructions which the husband renders to the wife, namely, those that are good, honorable, and charitable, which have no sin involved in them, she ought to obey in honor to the authority over her head, which is pleasing to the Lord.The definition of a husband is a good manager (not to say that every man is a good manager of his home, but that he ought to be), in which he manages the household, running it as he sees fit for the good of his wife and children, and therefore, the wife should trust the husband to the overseeing of the household, and assist him with the care of the family, with faithfulness, through good times and bad times. The wife is under the direct authority of the husband, that she ought not to heed the commands of any other man concerning the instruction of the household, whether they be family or neighbors, showing obedience, loyalty, and love to him as she would to the Lord, not the in the sense that her husband should be worshiped (for such worship is reserved for God alone), but in the sense that she sincerely submits to that which the Lord has commanded her, so she will do the same with her husband in earthly matters concerning the home, family, and marriage.
[v23] For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church: and he is the saviour of the body.
The church is the body of Christ, and so Christ is the head over the body in a similar sense to the husband being the head over the wife. The husband has a duty to provide all things for the wife and childern (to the point that the Lord labels a man "worse than an infidel" if he does not uphold that duty, 1Ti 5:8), just as Christ provides all things to the church, and protects it.[v24] Therefore as the church is subject unto Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in every thing.
The phrase "in every thing" is not meant in the sense that she is to submit to every command of a husband who may abuse his children, or that she ought to suffer sin in the household, but rather, to be subject to the husband should be in the sense that, because she is wholly dependent on him, relying on his protection, consistency, confidence, comfort, and to provide all things needed for the family's daily living, she highly esteems him with respect and love, cheerfully and sincerely giving him all authority in things concerning this world, whether it be domestic, civil, political, or religious. It is by this example that women, as wives (through their actions, in how they treat their husbands), can teach the world the deamnor and honor that the church should have towards the Lord Jesus Christ.[v25] Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it;
Likewise, the men (through their actions, how they treat their wives), can teach the world the love and charity that the Lord Jesus Christ has for the church. When a man gives himself to a life of suffering, in that he suffers daily work to earn a living and bring it home to benefit of his wife, what reason would he have to harbor anger and animosity towards the one which he willingly gives himself to provide?Therefore, love in this example is not only meant in the sense of selflessly sacrificing for one's wife, but also to have a strong affection for them. Though there are women who are brawlers that make a household miserable (Pro 21:9), the duty of the husband is to love, even when it is inconvenient, just as the Lord Jesus Christ has loved the church and made intercesssion for them, even in times when they are disobedient (Luke 15:4-7), He protects them from harm, giving His very life to save them, covers their inquities, showing them all mercy and charity that is for their good.
[v26] That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word,
The Lord Jesus Christ does not leave His church destitute in their sin, but rather, just as the husband would rather take the hardships so that his wife would be clean, so the Lord took hardships so that His church would be clean, but in this sense, giving Himself as the ultimate sacrifice to make atonement for them, to justify them completely by His work in them, and to bring them into His Kingdom forever. This is done by "the washing of water," which is not baptism, because baptism does not cleanse sin, but rather, this is done by the Holy Spirit washing us clean with the blood of Jesus Christ (1Jo 1:7), through His sacrifice on the cross at Calvary, which is brought to us by the deliverance of His Word through the preaching of the Gospel.(Read "The Biblical Understanding of Baptism" here at creationliberty.com for more details.)
[v27] That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish.
With the righteousness of Christ's cloak on our shoulders, we are presented holy and unblamable (despite the inperfections and corrupts of our flesh), as a chaste bride presented to the bridegroom, without "spot, or wrinkle." When a Jewish man of wealth or power made an agreement of espousal to a young maiden, that agreement would sometimes come with conditions, that she had no particular unpleasant defects, to which, if she was found with them, would nullify the marriage contract on the basis that the maiden and family lied, and so Christ presents His church to be without defect by His power and mercy, leaving us without "spot, or wrinkle" in the sense that we are free from living in sin, and sanctified from the hypocrites and false doctrines of the world.[v28] So ought men to love their wives as their own bodies. He that loveth his wife loveth himself.
Because the man is one flesh with his wife (Gen 2:24, Mat 19:6), therefore, it logically follows that to love one's own wife is to love his own flesh. This men ought to do for his wife in the same way he does it for himself, or rather (and in the same manner), he ought to do so more than himself, because she is the weaker vessel (1Pe 3:7), and the doctrines of Scripture teaches us that the purpose of strength is to care for the weak. (Acts 20:35)[v29] For no man ever yet hated his own flesh; but nourisheth and cherisheth it, even as the Lord the church:
No man starves himself unto death, nor does he remove his clothing during a blizzard to torture himself unto death, but rather, he eats to feed his flesh and protects his flesh from harsh conditions, and thus, moreso for the wife, who is the weaker of the two. Likewise, the Lord Jesus Christ never hated the church; He loved the church from before the universe was created, and therefore, He "nourisheth and chrisheth" the church in a similar manner to that of a loving husband to a loyal and cheerful wife, providing grace, liberty, understanding, wisdom, and all manner of needs in this world, and I would argue, Christ does these things with even more benevolence and dedication than mankind is capable of doing.[v30] For we are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones.
This is a metaphor, not a literal intepretation because if our flesh was part of the flesh of Christ, then His flesh would have been corrupt as our flesh, which is not only impossible for the Lord to bring corruption into Himself, but would have made His sacrifice on the cross vain, because the blood sacrifice had to be from the perfect Holy Lamb, without spot or blemish. This is reference to the husband and wife being one flesh, but in this instance, we are the body of Christ, and therefore, we are united in spiritual union in the manner of a spiritual wedding between Himself and His church. (Rev 18:23)[v31] For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall be joined unto his wife, and they two shall be one flesh.
Though polygamy was practiced by men who God favored (Jacob, David, etc), and is not condemned in Scripture, marriage was created between one man and one woman for the purpose of this analogy, that we would understand this point. The man and woman are joined together in union as a metaphorical representation of the spiritual union between Christ and the church. Thus, if we, as Christians, want to set a good example to the world for the sake of Christ, we ought to keep marriage between one man and one woman.[v32] This is a great mystery: but I speak concerning Christ and the church.
The union of Christ and His church is a mystery, meaning it is not well understood by us who only have knowledge of the flesh, who cannot see and understand the deep spiritual things, and therefore, Paul speaks to us according to the institution of marriage as an analogy. Again, the man's strong affection for his bride, and his desire to bring her into his home, is an analogy of Christ's strong affection for his church, and to bring the church into his home.It should not be ignored that the creation of Eve from Adam was no accident, and was meticulously executed according to plan, in order for us to understand the analogy of Christ and His spiritual bride, which is the church. Adam was asleep while Eve was created, which is not to say that Christ was asleep in the same sense, but was "dead" in the heart of the earth (John 2:19-21, Mat 12:40) while the spiritual children of God were being brought from paradise into heaven, and God made Eve out of sacrificing one of Adam's ribs (Gen 2:22), just as the church was founded on the sacrifice of Christ through blood and water (1Jo 5:6), being pierced in His side, where His ribs were located (John 19:34), and once Adam had awoken, his bride was brought to him to join in union together, to be together forever.
[v33] Nevertheless let every one of you in particular so love his wife even as himself; and the wife see that she reverence her husband.
Therefore, Paul reiterates the duties of a husband and wife, especially for those who are members of the body of Christ, to understand the gravity of what God instituted, and how the men are to treat their wives in love and charity, as an example of Christ's love and charity towards the church, while the women are to treat the men with reverence (i.e. veneration, fear mixed with respect, esteem, and adoration), as an example of the church's reverence to the Lord Jesus Christ.Chapter 6
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[v1] Children, obey your parents in the Lord: for this is right.
In previous chapters, Paul started at the head, which is Christ, to describe what He has done for us, moved to the husband (the next head below Christ) and his responsibilities, then to the woman (the next head below the husband) and her responsibilities, and now to the children, male or female, who are under all. The parents are mentioned here, which is not necessarily the biological parents, but rather, the man and woman who are the guardians and caretakers over the children, even those who are adopted into the family, and live under the household that is owned and operated by the man and woman in charge of it.Obedience is commanded here, which is not a blind, unquestionable obedience, for there are parents who give instruction to do things that are sinful and/or unlawful, and such things should be respectfully rejected by the children, because the head of all is God the Father and Christ the Son. However, in matters of instruction where there is no moral or lawful doubts, the children should be obedience because it is instructed from heaven by the law of God, which is for the good of the family, and reasonable from the perspective of nature, that those with the most privilege (i.e. the children) have the least authority, while those with the least privilege (i.e. the father) has the most authority.
[v2] Honour thy father and mother; (which is the first commandment with promise;)
This is not to say that we are under the Old Testament law by the commandment from the Holy Spirit (through Paul's writing), but charity dictates that those who have suffered greatly, through blood, sweat, and tears, in selfless sacrifice, to bring forth and raise a child in this world, should have all respect and honor for doing so. (1Ti 5:4) The first four commandments in the Ten Commandments came with warnings of punishment, but the fifth commandment (Exd 20:12) came with a positive reward.[v3] That it may be well with thee, and thou mayest live long on the earth.
Paul is referencing to Deuteronomy 5:16, which is not to say that a man's life would be lengthened beyond the standards of nature (i.e. a man would not be extended to live for hundreds of years beyond what is normal), but that he would have extended life beyond what is average for many others. This is not to say that we who are of Christ want our days extended for so long, because we long to die of the flesh and be with Christ, but that we might see some good things in the church, and to experience the joy of seeing the generations that would come from our descendants.[v4] And, ye fathers, provoke not your children to wrath: but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.
This is not speaking of little children, but the absue of the children when they are little, that when they have grown into adults, would have wrath and disgust for their father, who provoked them to hatred by continually offering contemptuous words, disapproval of accomplishments, consistent scolding over vain matters, frequent angered expressions, unreasonable punishments, severe and cruel lashings, neglect of educational duty, wasteful spending of resources, and leaving nothing them with nothing for an inheritance. This is not to say that a parent should not discipline their children when necessary, using reasonable words and actions against them when they are impenitent and disobedient, for that is the responsibility of a parent (Pro 23:13-14), and part of the duty in bringing them up to respect and honor the Lord God, to understand the way they ought to live their own lives (Pro 22:6) nor is it to say that such wrath in a child is justified for one who is born again in Christ because we who are the children of God should love our enemies (Pro 25:21-22, Rom 12:20), but that fathers should give no reason to bring the children to wrath, and should lay up all that he has for their good (2Co 12:14), as the children ought naturally to do in return.[v5] Servants, be obedient to them that are your masters according to the flesh, with fear and trembling, in singleness of your heart, as unto Christ;
Paul also addresses servants, which refers to bond servants, or hired servants, who were under masters, both male and female alike, and often were less formal in their dealings, impatient, and apathetic in their service to their masters, having obedience only under the threat of law, and not out of love, as the children to the parents would have. For the Christians, a master in the flesh is noted because our true master is Jesus Christ, and our masters in the flesh are but temporary in this life, but nonetheless, for the sake of Christ, we should serve and work "with fear and trembling," meaning that we ought to have respect of them, and humility towards them, that we would not cause any undue offense, "in singleness of heart," which is to avoid any double-hearted attitude, in which one has secret, hidden evil intentions, and ultimately, as the Holy Spirit dictates to us that we ought to serve them in similar honesty and charity as we would serve the Lord Jesus Christ.[v6] Not with eyeservice, as menpleasers; but as the servants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart;
The "eyeservice" means that a man will do the work he is called to do, but he will only do it under the watchful eye of his overseer, or in other words, when no one is watching, he does nothing. Instead, the man puts on a disguise of diligence, to appear to be dutiful and helpful to impress those around him, seeking to gain the praise and honor of those around him for his feigned deeds, instead of working genuinely from the heart, whether someone notices or not, to do that which is good, without hope of reward in this life. Those of us who have been born again in Christ ought to work well, on our own, without hope of earthly reward, but with hope of eternal reward upon His return (Luke 12:42-46), doing good for our Master cheerfully (2Co 9:7), and although the Lord is always with us wherever we go, we should do our work without Him having to stand over our shoulder to monitor our every move.[v7] With good will doing service, as to the Lord, and not to men:
This is not to say that every job we do is pleasing, for there are many duties that we do in this life that are difficult and distressing, but we do them willingly for the sake of the Lord Jesus Christ, reminding ourselves daily that we serve Him, and that doing these duties without reluctance or discontent is His good will for us; not that we would please men, but that we would please the Lord, to have a cheerful disposition of well-doing that comes genuinely from the heart.[v8] Knowing that whatsoever good thing any man doeth, the same shall he receive of the Lord, whether he be bond or free.
That is, whether a man has been born into bondage, or was born a free man to make his own decisions, he received this position, being predestined and born into it by the will of God, and therefore, as a child of God, He will receive the grace of God for His work, both in this life and the next, which is the will of God for men who do good work, whatever it be, for their masters, with diligence.[v9] And, ye masters, do the same things unto them, forbearing threatening: knowing that your Master also is in heaven; neither is there respect of persons with him.
This is not referring to a particular work ethic, since the masters were in charge over the servants in that regard, but rather, this means that masters ought to, with cheerfulness and singleness of heart, do good unto their servants. The masters were to provide for the servants sufficiently for all their needs, with proper and adequate food, clothing, and shelter, to give them fair wages for their work, to consider them in their times of need, having compassion on them for their suffering and losses, and to encourage them for their faithful labor.The word 'forbear' in this instance does not mean that threats are not sometimes necessary, or that the masters should not issue threats at all, because there must be consequences for actions, and warnings are an act of mercy, to prevent having to issue punishments, but rather, if at all possible, avoid threats, encourage well doing, and reward the cheerful workers. This should be done knowing that Christ also rewards the cheerful workers of His Kingdom in the same way, being a Master to us servants, and therefore, knowing that a position of prestige and title, being male or female, being Jew or Gentile, being bond or free (Gal 3:28), will neither save anyone from punishment for inquity, nor earn anyone reward, for the Lord does not respect the persons of men in judgment, nor should we (Jms 2:9, Deut 16:19), and so we should consider how we treat one another, no matter what position we hold in this world.
[v10] Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might.
Paul expresses that this is the final point of encouragement he is making to the church of Ephesus in this letter. In earlier chapters, Paul talked about the things that were beyond the control of mankind, and how Jesus, before He created the world, predestined for things to happen in a particular way, according to the good will and timing of God the Father, and so Paul encourages us to rely on His strength and power for those things over which we have no control, and trust in Him that we will be able to endure with all longsuffering and doctrine (2Ti 4:2), and perform those duties which He has given us.[v11] Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.
That is, the entire armor, which is created to be used as a whole, not one piece here or there, but in its entirety, having all parts combined together to fight against the enemy of Christ. It is foolish for men to consider Satan to be unintelligent in his operations, because in reality, the Devil is a crafty military genius, and so we are up against an enemy far more powerful than we are, but we have a Father that is infinitely more powerful than our adversary, and has prepared for us armor with which to defend ourselves from his attacks.[v12] For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.
We Christians do not fight and war against an enemy that has a physical body, with "flesh and blood," which is why Paul did not refer to the physical strength of the church, but to the spiritual strength, trusting with full confidence in the Lord to provide for us what we cannot do for ourselves. Therefore, this armor is not a carnal armor, made by the hands of men to protect the flesh, but is a spiritual armor, that does not involve mankind's weapons of war. (2Co 10:4)The words 'principality' and 'power' sometimes refer to the evil kings and dark rulers of this world, which do operate according to their spiritual father, the Devil (John 8:44-45), but in this context, Paul is referring to the fallen angels who lead men into temptation of sin and destruction. These "principalities" and "powers" work in tandem with "the rulers of the darkness of this world," which are the dark kings they use as puppets, and with "spiritual wickedness in high places," which are devils working in league with political powers and religious leaders, and set up their thrones in places high above others, to look down upon the world and scheme where they might attack us most effeciently.
[v13] Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.
Again, Paul repeats for emphasis that we, as Christians, ought to equip ourselves with full armor, not in part, but as a whole, in order to defend ourselves against the cunning strategies of Satan and his fallen minions, so that, on the days we enter into fierce battle against him, we would stand victorious, being conquerors through Christ who strengthens us. (Rom 8:37, 1Jo 4:4) These days are not those in which we simply do our business from day-to-day, although the armor is needed even for those days, but rather, in a day of extreme evil, where the wicked walk on every side, that we would be able to stand through all of it (seemingly alone, but secretly with angels protecting us, Luke 4:10), and prevail by the strength of Jesus Christ against all adversity, even unto death. (Phil 4:13)[v14] Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness;
We should stand, not in the physical sense, but in the conceptual sense, as a soldier might stand boldly on the battlefield to face his enemy, having our "loins girt about with truth," which is unique in the sense that our loins (i.e. the area of our torso between the ribs and the hips) are one of the most sensitive, unprotected areas on our body, and those learned in combat techniques take extra time to train to protect. Metaphorically, this area is where many of our vital organs are placed, which take the norishment we receive and process it, and therefore, the truth should take first defense priority, which not a general truth of the world, but the spiritual truth of the Word of God, being in study of it, and equipped with it, that we would be able to speak it efficiently and boldly.Much of what follows comes from Isaiah 59:17. The "breastplate of righteousness" protects the breast, which covers the heart and lungs, which are vital organs for living, without which we cannot survive but a moment, and so the renewal of the Holy Spirit was breathed into our spiritual lungs, and the righteousness of Christ imputed into our spiritual hearts, by which He provides us with grace that gives us spiritual protection from hell, and temporal protection from the wrath of God which will be poured out on those who are condemned.
[v15] And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace;
The Gospel of Salvation is called "the gospel of peace," not because it never makes men angry, for it is certain that we suffer persecution and tribulation in this world for preaching to men who hate us for it, but rather, it is the Gospel of Peace because, when men are brought to the humility of repentance and faith in Christ, they are given the common gifts of the Holy Spirit, among those is meekness and temperance (Gal 5:22-23), which changes the behavior of men to speak and act according to peace, because Christ is the king of it. (Heb 7:1-2) Therefore, our feet, which is the base of pillars on which we stand, and by which we move from place to place, should be covered with "the preparation of the gospel of peace," in the sense that we should study the Word of God, to have knowledge of that gospel, as we take time to put on our footwear, making sure the shoes are on firmly and securely, and stand firmly on them, without being moved, prepared to earnestly contend for the Gospel of Peace. (Jude 1:3)[v16] Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked.
A man can be fully armored, but without a shield, there are still small areas of vulnerability, which can make it difficult to defend oneself against a barrage of ranged attacks, and therefore, a shield is necessary, because it not only encompasses a large area, but can be moved quickly to the area it is needed, and a soldier can make himself small, bringing himself low to the ground, and hide behind the safety of it when needed. Paul speaks of "fiery darts" instead of fiery arrows, because the darts are thrown by hand, requiring the assailant to get close to use them, and this is what Satan does when he tempts us to sin, excite us to lust, build up our pride, ignite our wrath, and lead us to vengence, which a shield a faith can fully defend against when we turn to the Lord for our help, having full confidence in the perfection of Christ's sacrifice for us, His infinite power, His faithfulness to fulfill His promises, His exceeding goodness to His children, and His eternal truth.[v17] And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God:
The helmet covers the head, which covers the brain, which is the organ that allows the spirit of our mind to communicate with the physical world, and the nervous system that passes orders to the rest of the body, and therefore, it also receives the communications of affliction, persecution, tribulation, and other pains of this world. When the head is covered with the hope of eternal life to come by the salvation of the Lord Jesus Christ, it is sufficient to guard against these things, knowing that they are temporary, and that Christ has already defeated the enemy at Calvary.The "sword of the Spirit" is the first weapon mentioned by Paul in this passage, that is intended for offense, but can be used for defense. It is a double-edged sword, meaning that it cuts both ways, or in other words, it can cut deep into us if we are laden with sin and unprepared to use it in combat.
This sword is quick and powerful, and pierces the hearts of men, down to their very joints and bones, discerning thoughts and intents of the heart. (Heb 4:12) One side of the sword is the law, which convicts men of their sin, exposing the fact that there is no goodness in them, and reveals the looming death creeping upon them, in which the wrath of God will bring them to utter destruction, and the other side of the sword is the Gospel of Salvation in Jesus Christ, to bring them to their knees in repentance, that they may be brought into the Kingdom of God, and join the saints in the battle for the souls of men.
[v18] Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints;
This is not to say that we are to pray always without ceasing, for if we were to do that, we would not be able to get any work done that is necessary for our survival in this world, nor could we do all that Christ requires of us in this world by praying non-stop, nor is it to make a consistent show of prayer (Mat 6:5), as many people in false religious cults do, but to pray in the heart (of our spirits, which resonate with the Spirit of God), or with the mouth when occasion calls for it. Paul is not being redundant with this verse when he writes "praying always with all prayer" because he is emphasizing that praying should be done with all types of prayers that we offer on various subjects, such as thanksgiving for the many graces and mercies of God, for blessings on the church, our neighbors, and even our enemies, for justice in the oppression of the poor and needy, for the protection of those who risk their lives to help others and preach the Gospel, etc.Paul adds a very important point that we should be "watching thereunto," for the purpose of "perseverance and supplication for all the saints," which is not only to look to God's Word as a direction for how we ought to pray, but prayers that would support the saints in the church, pleading with God's mercy on us continually, and thanking Him for his blessings on us. However, it is not only to watch for God's working among us, but also that we would not rely completely on prayer alone, and that we should be watchful to our brethren and considering how we might help them in their struggles, to lift their burdens, because if we speak only, and do nothing to act, then we are nothing more than hypocrites putting on a show of prayer, without the charity of works to manifest true faith. (Luke 11:46, Jms 2:14-20)
(Read "The Biblical Understanding of Prayer" here at creationliberty.com for more details.)
[v19] And for me, that utterance may be given unto me, that I may open my mouth boldly, to make known the mystery of the gospel,
Although Paul was given great miraculous gifts from the Holy Spirit, he remembered that he was nothing more than a saved sinner who had once persecuted the church, and so in humility, he pleaded with the Ephesian Christians to pray for him in like manner, that he would be blessed by the Spirit of God to have the truth of the Word of God ready on his lips against all those who battled with him, and that, even under threat of death, he would speak the truth of Christ boldly to all who would hear. The mystery of the Gospel in the context of this epistle are those things which Paul previously spoke of, which is the doctrine of the Godhead (i.e. the mystery of God being three distinct entities, and one God at the same time), the mystery of the Christ being God in the flesh, the mystery of the regeneration of the spirit of man by the Holy Ghost, the mystery of Christ's communion with the saints, the mystery of the resurrection of the dead, and many other like things which we, in the flesh, have great difficulty understanding because we see through a glass darkly. (1Co 13:12)[v20] For which I am an ambassador in bonds: that therein I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak.
That is, Paul is speaking of his ambassadorship in Christ, that he was ordained and sent directly by Christ to do this work, and that he was in "bonds" or prison chains, while writing or rather, dictating this letter to them (i.e. written down by Tychicus, as indicated by the KJB's translators in the note the added at the end of this chapter), which, once again, was not because of any crime that Paul committed, but that he was persecuted for the sake of the Gospel, and therefore, he says he is "an ambassador in bonds" because the bonds are the will of Christ for him during his ambassadorship. These bonds were, therefore, not seen by Paul as a negative symbol, as the world may see it, but as a symbol of honor, given to him by Christ, that with the faith and strength to speak boldly, as he was called by God to do, Jesus might be glorified through the sufferings and weakness of Paul. (1Co 1:26-29)[v21] But that ye also may know my affairs, and how I do, Tychicus, a beloved brother and faithful minister in the Lord, shall make known to you all things:
Paul assures the Ephesian church that he would let them know how is doing, how their charity was being used for the good of Paul and the Gospel, specifically what condition he was in, what support he had, where and when he was headed, and what was going on with his court case in Rome. In order to relay this information, which would be far too much to put into one letter, Paul sent Tychicus, one of his companions, to travel to Ephesus (2Ti 4:12), among other places he was sent to relay this information (Col 4:7), because he had been a long-standing and faithful companion, ministering to the needs of Paul and the other saints.[v22] Whom I have sent unto you for the same purpose, that ye might know our affairs, and that he might comfort your hearts.
The purpose for Paul sending Tychicus was for two reasons, the first being the relay of information on Paul's condition, as well as those who traveled and suffered with him on a daily basis. The second reason was for Tychicus to act in his stead, meaning that Tychicus was coming for the comfort of the saints, to help relieve the afflictions of their persecutions and tribulations, just as Paul would have done if he were present with them.[v23] Peace be to the brethren, and love with faith, from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
Paul wished blessings of the Gospel of Peace on to the brethren in the church, that they would grow more confident in God the Father and Christ the Son, and continue to grow in love (not just in deed, but in affections) to one another with faith in the promises given to us in Scripture.[v24] Grace be with all them that love our Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity. Amen. (To the Ephesians written from Rome, by Tychicus.)
Paul ends by focusing all their attention onto the Lord Jesus Christ for His many great mercies, wishing and praying even more graces (both physical and spiritual) onto them for their faith and works in Christ. This last blessing is not meant for those who have a fake faith, who were among the Ephesians in atempt to lead them astray unto a false gospel, but for those with true faith, who trusted in the Lord Jesus Christ with all sincerity, holding fast to the doctrines they learned from the apostles and the Scriptures, that it is through the grace of Christ alone that we are saved, and Paul ends this with "Amen," which is a declaration and confirmation of the truth.
