Ephesians 4

Ephesians was a letter written by Paul, to Ephesus. To the Christians in Ephesus. The providence in asia. Paul was in his three year imprisionment in Rome while he wrote the Ephesus Christians this letter.
Here is ephesians 4:1-32
TEXT OF EPHESIANS 4, FOR YOU!!
Eph 4:1 I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called,
Eph 4:2 with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love,
Eph 4:3 eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.
Eph 4:4 There is one body and one Spirit--just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call--
Eph 4:5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism,
Eph 4:6 one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.
Eph 4:7 But grace was given to each one of us according to the measure of Christ's gift.
Eph 4:8 Therefore it says, "When he ascended on high he led a host of captives, and he gave gifts to men."
Eph 4:9 (In saying, "He ascended," what does it mean but that he had also descended into the lower parts of the earth?
Eph 4:10 He who descended is the one who also ascended far above all the heavens, that he might fill all things.)
Eph 4:11 And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers,
Eph 4:12 to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ,
Eph 4:13 until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ,
Eph 4:14 so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes.
Eph 4:15 Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ,
Eph 4:16 from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.
Eph 4:17 Now this I say and testify in the Lord, that you must no longer walk as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their minds.
Eph 4:18 They are darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, due to their hardness of heart.
Eph 4:19 They have become callous and have given themselves up to sensuality, greedy to practice every kind of impurity.
Eph 4:20 But that is not the way you learned Christ!--
Eph 4:21 assuming that you have heard about him and were taught in him, as the truth is in Jesus,
Eph 4:22 to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires,
Eph 4:23 and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds,
Eph 4:24 and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.
Eph 4:25 Therefore, having put away falsehood, let each one of you speak the truth with his neighbor, for we are members one of another.
Eph 4:26 Be angry and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger,
Eph 4:27 and give no opportunity to the devil.
Eph 4:28 Let the thief no longer steal, but rather let him labor, doing honest work with his own hands, so that he may have something to share with anyone in need.
Eph 4:29 Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear.
Eph 4:30 And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.
Eph 4:31 Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice.
Eph 4:32 Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.


NOTES ON EPHESIANS 4, FOR YOU!!!!
I did a study on all of Ephesians recently.
This is only Ephesians 4 but this week I will post the rest of my notes on all of epheisans.
Please enjoy!!!

Ephesians 4:1-16
Uniting in Diversity.
Although believers posses different gifts and callings(vs.7-12) they are unitied in Christ and by their common faith. (vs. 4-6). Their different gifts and callings are complementary enabling those in the church to minister one another and grow.

Ephesians 4:1
The Greek expression "to walk" is re-written in the NIV "to live". Paul was unfolding the life or "walk" of good works mentions in Epheisans 2:10.
Calling-In 1:18 and 4:4. Paul Spoke of a hope to which believers are called; here he focused on the life to whcih they are called. He had already provided strong indications of its shape and significance. (Ephesians 1:4, 12, 14; 2:10; 3:10)

4:2-3 look up other corresponding Scriptures that go hand in hand with this one.
look up matthew 7:12; 22:39; Rom 12:10 and Matthew 5:3-12

4:4-6 The Word one is repeated seven times in vs's 4-6 (three times of members of the God head and four times of our redemption) one body and one Christ.

4:7 But to each of us all christians have a common bestowal of grace: We all have Salvation as Christians through grace (Eph2:5,8). But we Each christian is given some particular gift of grace to benefit the church. Paul spoke of his own in Ephesians 3:2,8

4:8 Paul is referring to Psalms 68:18 the celebration of God's triumphant march from Mount SInani to Mount Zion and his enthronement in the temple and then Christs ascent into heaven.
When he says Captives in his train he's talking about:
The spiritual forces of darkness Christ defeated and disarmed at the Cross (eph 3:10; 6:12)
I was reading in a commentary that in Jewish worship this psalm had come to be associated with Pentecost and it may have come to Pauls mind for this reason. Paul In Corinthians emphasized the way the Holy Spirit empowers the church for ministry. In Ephesians Paul wrote more of the individuals who enable ministry.
4:9
In view of his overall purpose of encouraging believers to adopt a pattern of life like Christs, Paul inserted in Parenthesis to remind readers that it was through Christs humilation (his incarnation to "the lower. earthly regions") that the son came to the exalted postion he now enjoys. Read Phi 2:1-11 and Ephe 5:2
4:10-13 read
4:11
Apostles- those who had been with Jesus and had seen the risen Lord. who had experienced a special revelation of the risen Jesus or who had been commissioned by Jesus to be founders of the church and special bearers of revelation. (Ac 1:21-22 and 1 Coe 15:1-9)
Prophets-Persons who served as vehicles of direct and special revelation in the early church. Their function included prediction, exhortation, encouragement, warning and explanation. (Ac 11:27; 13:1)
Because their teaching laid the foundation for the church (2:20) fundemental ascpects of the apostles and new testament prophets work appear to be unrepeatable.
Evangelits- People in (*any age) especially gifted in the task of expanding God's Flock. (Ac21:8; 1Cor 1:17; 2 TIm 4:5)
Pastors and Teachers- I looked this up in a coupld of commentaries and got this definition for this verse =Sharing a single definate article in the Greek. (these words refer to a single set of individuals who bothe sheperd and instruct God's flock.
4:17-19
Strongly reminiscent of Pauls critique of Gentile culture in Romans 1, Paul had previously spoken of the Gentiles alienation from Gods people in Ephesians 2:12.
Here Paul spoke of their alienation from God himself (the walking dead of Chapter 2) Willfulness hardening of their hearts lead to death. This also gave birth to ignorance.
Ephesians presents the same dynamic from the human side: "having lost all sensitivity they have given themselves over". This goes hand in hand with the verse of searing your conscience. When you burn your foot or burn a piece of flesh on your body, Medically speaking you look sensitivity and nerve endings in that area. So if you were to put that same burnt foot on a log in a fire, you wouldn't be able to feel it. Because your pain receptors would have been seared off, and unable to work. SO you wouldn't know you were in danger of loosing your own foot. So it is spiritually, when you justify sin so much it only leads to death. Paul here is speaking of people who have lost All sensitivity. He's talking of the ones that give themselves over to their own evil desires. They no longer know right from wrong but have seared their conscience, and everything pretty much goes for them. They have no moral standard.
4:20-21
Literally heard him (i.e. in th emessage proclaimed about him)
God had broken the cycle of death by giving these Gentiles an understanding of his SOn and of hi work on their behalf (1;13,15)
4:22-24
What are some ways to pu off our old self an dput on our new self?
4:25-5:5 Paul speaks of ways to put on our new self and put off our oldselves.
4:29
Easy enough, dont slander anyones name.
4:30-31
Do not grieve, that is by destructive use of the motuh (vs 29)
This verse shows us That the Holy Spirit can be saddened. This is telling indication of his identity as a personal being rather than an impersonal force.
This isn't a new idea either Pauls citing here a prophet in Isaiah 63:10.
4:32
Forgiving other christians, just as Christ forgave you.