One title and many (Ephesians 4:1-16)
Commentary on Ephesians (9)
One and many/(Ephesians 4:1-16)
Ephesians 3 is mainly about faith (credenda), and from chapter 4 onwards works (agenda). It begins, “Walk worthy of the calling to which you have been called.” They are called by one Holy Spirit, but they each have to do different things according to their measure.
First, Five Attitudes Worth Your Calling
1) humility
Traditionally, humility was regarded as that of the weak. But the life of Jesus Christ was, in a word, a life of humility. He humbled himself and was born in a human body, where we find the culmination of his humility. The original word for humility in the Bible is [the attitude of acknowledging that one is a creature before God]. Not admitting this is pride.
2) gentle
Aristotle highly admired meekness. He saw meekness as a virtue of moderation. In other words, I saw it as 'between being overly angry and not being angry at all'. The word meekness is also used of domesticated animals. That is, when a wild animal is well tamed so that it is not ferocious and can carry loads, it is said that it has become 'meek'. Therefore, this meekness never means weakness. On the contrary, it is the softness that a strong person possesses by controlling his power. Humility and meekness go well together. (Matthew 11:29) says, "Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am meek and humble of heart." A humble and meek person is truly a strong person, and is worthy of the call of humility and gentleness.
3) long-suffering
Patience is being patient with those who rebel against us, just as God is patient with us in Christ. We who are called deserve to be patient.
4) Tolerating one another in love
It's about accepting it as it is. [Accept] means 'to accept the other person as they are without the intention of changing it to suit you'. God first accepted us as we are. The refrain of hymn 349 sings this. “Receive me as I am, receive me, who died for me.”
5) To strive to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.
If you look carefully at the text, you will find that we are already one. “The unity of the Holy Spirit” is an event that has already been completed in the past. God has already made us one, but this is Paul's prayer: 'Do not break that unity, and make every effort to keep that unity.'
Second, the seven grounds of unity
1) One body (1 Corinthians 12:13) says, “Through one Spirit, both Jews and Greeks, slaves and free, were all baptized into one body.”
2) One Holy Spirit The work of the Holy Spirit is the work that brings us together. In the book of Acts, there is an incident where, when Peter, who was filled with the Holy Spirit, was preaching, people who spoke different languages heard it in their own language.
3) One calling- The mission of the Holy Spirit is the same calling. Through this call, we have one hope, and that hope is the kingdom of God.
4) One Lord - It is the work of the Holy Spirit that we can confess Christ as 'my Lord'. “And no one can say that Jesus is Lord except by the Holy Spirit” (1 Corinthians 12:3).
5) Same Faith- Our beliefs are essentially the same. Although our beliefs may be slightly different. But in essence, they are all the same belief.
6) Same Baptism- Baptism is an expression of our faith and confession that all our sins have been washed away by the blood of Jesus Christ. This baptism is the same for all of us.
7) One God- The only God we believe in is the Father of all, the God above all, the God who unifies all, and the God who dwells in all.
Third, serving in various ways
In order to build up a unified community (to build up the body of Christ), verse 12 says, "He gave them either as apostles or prophets or evangelists or pastors and teachers." Then in verse 7 it says, “Grace was given to each one according to the measure of the gift of Christ.” It is only one Holy Spirit who gave it, but he has given us offices according to the measure of our faith. The various positions given to us have been given to us as 'gifts of grace' as the text of today says. 'One' is made up of 'many'.
1) Reason for giving the job
Verse 12 says, “To equip the saints for the work of service, for the building up of the body of Christ.” This is the purpose God has entrusted to us with the church. But none of these three goals are easy to see. Then Paul exhorts us in verse 13: “We will all become one in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God, until we reach the stature of the stature of the stature of Christ.” You have to work hard to lose and become a perfect person.
2) results of work
The full ministry has two consequences (verse 14). The first is not to become like a child. A child wants to do whatever he wants. He's selfish, always trying to get, and he's immature. that means it won't. Second, overcome temptation. We fall into the tricks of men and deceitful temptations, and we are not tossed and moved by all the winds of teaching.
3) Final goal
“But speaking the truth in love, you may grow up into him in all things, who is the head, even Christ” (verse 15). Our ultimate goal is to be like Christ. It is a life of faith that grows up to him in all things. We must strive to have mature personalities of faith. At that time, as verse 16 says, "From him the whole body, with the help of each joint, will come into contact and unite and work according to the measure of each member, so that the body may grow and build itself up in love.
In a word, it is possible to achieve a church that is united, a church that grows, and a church that stands strong. When we put into practice the words of the text that Paul, who is imprisoned in the Lord, earnestly speaks to us in our lives, we will finally become God's people.