February 18, 2020
Ephesians Chapter 4
I therefore, the prisoner in the lord, beg you to lead a life worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humanity and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, making every effort to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to the one hope of peace. There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to the one hope of your calling, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is above all and though all in all.
But each of us was given grace according to the measure of Christ's gift. There it said,
"When he ascended on high he made captivity itself a captive: he gave gifts to his people."
When it says, He ascended, what does it mean but hat he also descended into the lower parts of the earth? He who descended is the same one who ascended far above all the heavens, so that he might fill all things.
The gifts he gave were that some would be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors, and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of the ministry for building up the body of Christ, until all of us come o the unity of faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to maturity, to the measure of the full stature of Christ.
We must no longer be children, tossed to and fro and blown about by every wind of doctrine, by peoples trickery, by their craftiness in deceitful scheming. But in speaking this truth in love, we must grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by every ligament with which it is equipped, as each part is working properly, promotes the body's growth in building itself up in love.
Now this I affirm and insist on in the Lord: you must no longer live as the Gentiles live, in futility of their minds. They are darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God because of their ignorance and hardness of heart. They have lost all sensitivity and have abandoned themselves to licentiousness, greedy to practice every kind of impurity. That is not the way you learned Christ! For surely you have heard about him and were taught in him, as truth is in Jesus. You were taught to put away your former way of life, your old self, corrupt and deluded by its lusts, and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to clothe yourselves with the new self, created according to the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.
So then, puttin away falsehood, let all of us speak the truth to our neighbors, for we are members of one another. Be angry but do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, and do not make room for the devil. Thieves must give up stealing; rather let them labor and work honestly with their own hand, so as to have something to share with the needy. Let no evil talk come out of your mouths, but only what is useful for building up, as there is need, so that your words may give grace to those that hear. And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with which you were marked with a seal for the day of redemption. Put away from you all bitterness and wrath and anger and wrangling and slander, together with all malice, and be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another.
What an awesome chapter. We may have flesh enemies but they are not the problem. The real root is with the wicked one. However a true badge of honor is when we put it away from us. Fighting the same person for years is not a badge of honor. It simply means the enemy is playing with reality. What do people say about them? Why do you keep listening to it? How is he keeping you mad at them? What is happening that you think they are doing or not doing? It is not them but it is a wicked force. The root of the problem is not the people or the situation but it is the evil at work. The passage talks about our thinking and I think that the enemy is always working hard in our minds but it is right were we can shut him out or let him dwell there.
Have a blessed day.
I therefore, the prisoner in the lord, beg you to lead a life worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humanity and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, making every effort to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to the one hope of peace. There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to the one hope of your calling, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is above all and though all in all.
But each of us was given grace according to the measure of Christ's gift. There it said,
"When he ascended on high he made captivity itself a captive: he gave gifts to his people."
When it says, He ascended, what does it mean but hat he also descended into the lower parts of the earth? He who descended is the same one who ascended far above all the heavens, so that he might fill all things.
The gifts he gave were that some would be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors, and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of the ministry for building up the body of Christ, until all of us come o the unity of faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to maturity, to the measure of the full stature of Christ.
We must no longer be children, tossed to and fro and blown about by every wind of doctrine, by peoples trickery, by their craftiness in deceitful scheming. But in speaking this truth in love, we must grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by every ligament with which it is equipped, as each part is working properly, promotes the body's growth in building itself up in love.
Now this I affirm and insist on in the Lord: you must no longer live as the Gentiles live, in futility of their minds. They are darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God because of their ignorance and hardness of heart. They have lost all sensitivity and have abandoned themselves to licentiousness, greedy to practice every kind of impurity. That is not the way you learned Christ! For surely you have heard about him and were taught in him, as truth is in Jesus. You were taught to put away your former way of life, your old self, corrupt and deluded by its lusts, and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to clothe yourselves with the new self, created according to the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.
So then, puttin away falsehood, let all of us speak the truth to our neighbors, for we are members of one another. Be angry but do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, and do not make room for the devil. Thieves must give up stealing; rather let them labor and work honestly with their own hand, so as to have something to share with the needy. Let no evil talk come out of your mouths, but only what is useful for building up, as there is need, so that your words may give grace to those that hear. And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with which you were marked with a seal for the day of redemption. Put away from you all bitterness and wrath and anger and wrangling and slander, together with all malice, and be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another.
What an awesome chapter. We may have flesh enemies but they are not the problem. The real root is with the wicked one. However a true badge of honor is when we put it away from us. Fighting the same person for years is not a badge of honor. It simply means the enemy is playing with reality. What do people say about them? Why do you keep listening to it? How is he keeping you mad at them? What is happening that you think they are doing or not doing? It is not them but it is a wicked force. The root of the problem is not the people or the situation but it is the evil at work. The passage talks about our thinking and I think that the enemy is always working hard in our minds but it is right were we can shut him out or let him dwell there.
Have a blessed day.
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