Bible Commentaries
Ephesians 4

Verse 1

EPHESIANS: THE WALK
THE CHRISTIAN WALK

I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you to walk worthy of the calling with which you were called… Ephesians 4:1 (NKJ)

The Greek transitional word (oun) in this verse is generally translated "therefore." There is an old bit of biblical wisdom that says, "When we see a 'therefore' in the Bible we need to stop and see what it is there for."

In light of the glorious truths Paul has just revealed; in light of our being "in Christ;" and being part of the new household and new temple of God; in light of the unthinkable new unity between Jew and Gentile; Paul begins to make some everyday applications for our lives. He is essentially saying that since all these things are true, "therefore" we must change the way we are living. Paul does this kind of thing in several of his letters. There is first the great theology that often soars into the heavens and then he brings us down to the practical, the earthly, everyday working out of these great scriptural truths in our lives. As one old radio preacher used to put it, "This is where the rubber meets the road."

So, in chapters 4-6 of Ephesians, Paul deals with the practical application of all his preceding great theology. He wants to make sure we apply the wonderful truths to our everyday lives. There is the story of an encyclopedia salesman who was trying his best to persuade an old farmer to buy his wares. The salesman was enthusiastically telling the farmer all the wonderful things he could learn about farming by just reading the set of encyclopedias. The old farmer at last replied, "Son, I already know a lot more about farming than what I am doing." Is that where we are today as modern and postmodern Christians?

Here we are told that we must walk worthy of our calling. The New Testament was written by Jewish people and the concept of "walking" was a very important concept to them. In the Hebrew language the word for "walk" is "ha-lak." One can almost hear the sandal striking the pavement. Since Hebrew is a very poetic and expressive language, the word for walk has come to symbolize a person's manner of life. It expresses what the person does and how that person lives. In Judaism, the body of commandments and traditions governing the religion has come to be known as the ha-lak-hah. Thus, a person who lives according to halakhah today must be careful to observe all these laws and traditions. For instance, an observant Jew would never eat a cheeseburger, because halakhah forbids the mixing of milk and meat products.

Well, it might surprise us to learn that there is also a Christian halakhah. We see this in 1 John 2:6 where we read, "He who says he abides in Him ought himself also to walk just as He walked" (NKJ). John stresses that the Christian walk involves loving one another with an abiding love (1 John 3:11). We learn more about the Christian walk in other places in the New Testament such as Romans 6:4, Romans 8:4, Philippians 3:18. But it is here in the last three chapters of Ephesians where it is spelled out most clearly.

The evidence points us to the fact that in New Testament times they did not just "talk the talk" but they actually "walked the walk." Much emphasis was therefore placed upon obedience. In the intervening centuries of church history, that emphasis has become tempered somewhat as theologians have focused more upon grace than upon obedience. This emphasis upon grace is important as we have seen so far in Ephesians, but I dare say that if we were somehow thrust into the Apostolic Era, those early Christians might look upon us askance. They might regard us as a little bit heretical because of our unconcern for obedience and of our practical application of Christian teaching.

We can verify this misplaced emphasis by taking a careful look at our New Testament. It may be shocking for us to learn that there are over a thousand commands in it. This does not count the hundreds of implied commands, or the additional hundreds of teachings. Jesus says that if we love him we will keep his commands (John 14:15). He also says that if we love him we will obey his teachings (John 14:23). Jesus himself asks us in Luke 6:46, "Why do you call me, 'Lord, Lord,' and do not do what I say?…"

We soon realize that the faith of the Bible was built upon the principle of obedience to God's commands. Wiersbe comments here, "He does not say, as he did to the Old Testament Jews, 'If you obey me, I will bless you.' Rather, he says, 'I have already blessed you – now, in response to my love and grace, obey me.'"^(F1) We have seen so far in Ephesians that we were chosen in Christ before the world began and even our works were foreordained for us. While we cannot in one sense do good works or keep God's commands, still now that we are "in Christ," it is actually Christ who lives triumphantly in us. In this sense the Bible says in Philippians 2:13: "for it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose."

While it is true that we are saved by faith, and that even our faith, which is part of salvation, is a gift of God (Ephesians 2:8-9), it is also true that faith without works is dead (James 2:26). Faith without works or obedience is a disastrous error and has caused much ruin and lawlessness in the modern church. Peter challenges us not to be swept away with the error of lawless people (2 Peter 3:17). It is clear in the Bible that the last judgment will catch many by surprise. We see this in the parable of the house built upon the sand (Matthew 7:26-29), and in the New Testament pictures of the last judgment found in Matthew 25:31-46. We must not miss this important truth, that while Christ has foreordained our salvation, he has also foreordained our good works.

It is certainly interesting to see a picture of the triumphant saints in Revelation 12:17. It is said of them that they "… keep his commands and remain faithful to Jesus." (cf. Revelation 14:12b). Obviously they have perfected Christian halakhah.

Now the Apostle deals with some great basic words describing the Christian faith. These are the words and concepts that make Christian unity and the Christian walk possible.^(F2)

Verse 2

SOME BE-ATTITUDES

Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. Ephesians 4:2

We might call this a section of "be-attitudes." God not only wants to change the way we walk but the way we think and perceive ourselves. First we see the concept of "humility." Such a concept was almost unknown in ancient societies. It has been said that in the Greek language all words for this concept had some suggestion of meanness attached. In the ancient world humility was a thing to be despised, a thing for slaves.^(F3) So we see that humility is a pagan concept that was transformed by the early church and in time it became an important Christian doctrine. It has come to be looked upon as a fountain from which all other Christian virtues flow.^(F4) It is one of the necessary ingredients to facilitate Christian love and unity.

My old pastor used to tell a story of a man in a certain church who was very humble. The church realizing this got together and awarded him a medal for his humility. The man was so happy with his award that he pinned it on and wore it to the next church meeting. With that, the congregation quickly voted to take his medal away.

The next great word here is "gentleness." This Greek word for this (praotes) is also translated as "meekness." The picture behind this word is that of a wild animal that has been domesticated and trained until it is completely under control.^(F5) There is no idea of weakness in this word. We see in the Old Testament that Moses was the meekest of men (Numbers 12:3) and yet he could fling the commandments of God to the ground and break them asunder because of the wickedness of the people. Christ is also described as meek (Matthew 11:29), and yet with great force he drove the merchants out of the temple (Matthew 21:12-13).^(F6) A meek person has been defined as "one who is always angry at the right time but never angry at the wrong time."^(F7) When we look around us today we don't see too many meek and gentle people. We need more Christian gentlemen and gentlewomen.

We read here that the Christian must also be patient. The Greek word is makrothumia and it also has the meaning of "long-suffering." Perhaps we should spell this word loooooong-suffering. It really means having patience with people. The twenty-first century with its rat race, road rage and numerous other maladies does not produce a good environment for such a virtue to be cultivated or displayed. We are in too big of a hurry for that. In this portion of Virginia Brasier's poem penned some years ago the idea of today's rush and madness is expressed very well.

This is the age of the half read page,And the quick hash and the mad dash,And the bright night, With the nerves tight…And the brain strain, And the heart pain,And the cat naps, Till the spring snaps-And the fun's done…

In our patience we are to bear with one another in love, as 1 Corinthians 13:4 has it, "Love suffers long and is kind" (NKJ). When we make an attempt to really love someone we will soon find out that it takes a lot of time as well as patience on our part.

Verse 3

CHRISTIAN UNITY

Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. Ephesians 4:3

It is amazing that the early church had any unity at all. There were many deep natural divisions among these believers. Some were Jews and some were Gentiles; some kept the law and some did not; some kept kosher and some did not; some ate meat and some ate only vegetables; some observed the Sabbath and some did not regard it as special. Yet in all this great diversity there was still great unity. How do we explain this?

These early believers possessed a wonderful ground for unity and that ground was found in the risen Christ. It is also apparent that they did not focus on peripheral matters but upon core matters of the faith. That would be good advice for us today. Probably over 90 percent of our church divisions result from disagreement concerning peripheral matters. Even many doctrinal disputes are not based upon core matters of the faith but upon marginal ones that should never warrant division.

Paul instructs us that we are to keep the unity of the Spirit. We are not responsible for making this unity, but only for keeping it.^(F8) Christ has already brought about the unity by his death on the cross and by his resurrection. Thus we are charged with maintaining the unity. The idea here is that we must "endeavor" or "zealously give diligence" to keep or maintain the unity.^(F9) This can be accomplished partly by each of us walking in humility, gentleness, patience, forbearing, and love as we have seen. We should be aware that "pride lurks behind all discord."^(F10)

Unity does not mean uniformity. Real unity occurs amidst diversity. Many years ago my wife and I were guests in a particular assembly for a whole weekend. We were amazed that in that assembly everyone talked like the preacher; everyone sang like the preacher; everyone acted like the preacher; there was total conformity. That visit was one of the most spiritually disturbing experiences of our lives. Although everyone totally agreed on everything, there was absolutely no real unity or peace in that place. It has been said that "unity comes from within and is a spiritual grace, while uniformity is the result of pressure from without."^(F11)

We can plant perfectly straight rows in our gardens but the vegetables will not long remain in our straight rows. They will grow according to the laws of life and they will grow in almost every direction. While we might be able to perfectly line up tombstones in a cemetery, such a thing will never happen in regard to living things.

Verses 4-6

SEVEN UNIFYING ELEMENTS

There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to one hope when you were called; Ephesians 4:4

Paul now introduces us to seven unifying elements. We see that there is one body. So, there are not many bodies of Christ but only one. It is much like our physical body. If we injure, abuse or destroy that body it is too bad for us because it is the only one we have. If we injure the body of Christ we will have to live with that injury because there is only one body. Paul goes on to say in 1 Corinthians 3:17, "If anyone destroys God's temple, God will destroy that person; for God's temple is sacred, and you together are that temple."

Today we have the supposed luxury of jumping from church to church. If one assembly is too hard on us we promptly leave it and find another one that is easier. If we hurt someone or they hurt us we can just run away to another church. We have the idea that there are many churches, many bodies, and we can selfishly graze in smorgasbord style from church to church until we find one that exactly suits our fancy. This is not a biblical understanding of the church as the one body of Christ.

Not only is there one body but there is also "one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all" (4:5-6). The proclamation of "one Lord" was probably the nearest that the early church ever came to having a creed.^(F12) The expression "Jesus Christ is Lord" was indeed their only creed (Philippians 2:11). We saw earlier that God's purpose was "to bring unity to all things in heaven and on earth under Christ" (Ephesians 1:10). There should be no place on earth where this unifying lordship is more evident than in the church.

In 4:5-6, we see that there must be unity of faith as well as unity of baptism. Unfortunately throughout church history baptism, which should bring unity, has actually brought great division. Here the apostle is not speaking of modes of baptism but the spiritual significance of the ordinance. "Baptism is regarded as a sacrament of unity…There is 'one baptism' symbolizing identification with Christ in his death and resurrection, sealing with the Spirit, and incorporation into the body of Christ."^(F13) Calvin states it well in saying that "baptism possesses such force as to make us one."^(F14)

It is almost impossible to look at these seven unifying elements without seeing the Trinity. Paul closes out these elements with the idea of one God. Interestingly, Paul begins with the Holy Spirit and works his way to the Father. He no doubt does this because he was already dealing with the Spirit in verse 3.^(F15)

Verses 7-10

GOD'S GIFTS IN THE CHURCH

But to each one of us grace has been given as Christ apportioned it. Ephesians 4:7

Now Paul moves from the idea of unity in the church to the idea of diversity. This diversity regards the apportioning of differing gifts of grace in the body. The language used here is very much akin to the language and expressions of Paul in 1 Corinthians 12 and in Romans 12. We see in 1 Corinthians 12:14, that the body is made up of many parts. Also in verse 21 of this chapter we read, "The eye cannot say to the hand, 'I don't need you!' And the head cannot say to the feet, 'I don't need you!'" The body's members are interdependent upon each other. Paul asks, what if the whole body were an eye? (v.17). One of my seminary professors used to gross out his classes by speaking of a 175 pound eyeball just rolling around staring up at the sky. Obviously such a member would be a helpless monstrosity or worse still, an eyesore.

"In our human body the liver must find the backbone, or heart, or eye, hard to understand, but it serves them. So in a church community we find other members of the body difficult to understand, but we can listen to them and work with them."^(F16) We must remember not to judge ourselves by other members who seem to have more usefulness, prominence or gifts than we do. Each member is vitally important to the whole body. If one member is honored all are honored. If one suffers, all suffer (1 Corinthians 12:.26).

We must refer to passages like Romans 12:6-8, and 1 Corinthians 12:7-10, to get an idea of the specific gifts given to the members of the body. In Romans 12 we see that gifts include prophesying, serving, teaching, encouraging, contributing, leadership, showing mercy. In 1 Corinthians 12, we see these additional gifts mentioned: messages of wisdom, messages of knowledge, faith, gifts of healing, miraculous powers, prophecy, distinguishing between spirits, speaking in different kinds of tongues and interpretation of tongues.

"This is why it says: 'When he ascended on high, he took many captives and gave gifts to his people'" (4:8). Here Paul is apparently quoting from Psalm 68:18. It is likely that this Psalm was written at the time when David brought the Ark of the Covenant up from its resting place at Kirjath-jearim to Mount Zion as recorded in 2 Samuel 6:1. Obviously this is a song of triumph celebrating God's previous victories when the Ark had gone out before the armies of Israel. In the Psalm's original setting, it probably had no direct connection with the Messiah.^(F17) Still, it has many obvious messianic overtones.

We immediately notice some differences in Paul's quotation from the Psalm as we have it today. We notice first that while Psalm 68 speaks of God having received gifts, Paul quotes it as God having given gifts. There is also a change from second to third person. It is likely that Paul is drawing on some ancient Hebrew translation or authentic oral tradition which also later appears in the Aramaic Targum and the Syriac Peshitta. Both of these ancient versions read "Thou hast given gifts to men."^(F18)

This idea would be fully in line with the shift in emphasis from the Old Testament to the New Testament. In the former we see that conquering kings demanded and received gifts from men but in the New Testament we see that Christ the King gives gifts to men.^(F19)

Of course in the ancient world there were many scenes like the one pictured here. The Romans were particularly fond of celebrating such events of conquest where captives were brought forth in chains. It was customary in such events for presents to be distributed among the conquering soldiers.^(F20)

Paul now expands upon his theme by asking, "(What does 'he ascended' mean except that he also descended to the lower, earthly regions?… " (4:9). This passage has been called, "one of the most eloquent passages in the New Testament touching upon the glorious Christian doctrine of the Ascension of Jesus Christ and of his pre-existence from all eternity with the Father."^(F21) When Jesus spoke with Nicodemus in John 3:13, he spoke of this saying, "No one has ever gone into heaven except the one who came from heaven – the Son of Man."

While this passage is an obvious reference to Christ's descent to the earth and his later ascension, there may be more involved here. In 1 Peter 3:18-19, we see that Christ after his death descended to Hades and preached to the spirits in prison. We are not immediately told what the proclamation was that Jesus made to these spirits. Yet, in 1 Peter 4:6 we read, "For this is the reason the gospel was preached even to those who are now dead, so that they might be judged according to human standards in regard to the body, but live according to God in regard to the spirit." There are other scriptures that may shed some light on this mysterious passage. These are Acts 2:25ff, Romans 10:7, and Philippians 2:10.

In Ephesians 4:8, we read that '…When he ascended on high, he took many captives…" It has been thought by many in the church, particularly in the Charismatic circles, that Jesus in his triumphal procession led the faithful of old out of captivity. Up to the time of Christ it was believed that the faithful dead dwelt in a place called Sheol or Hades (Luke 16:19-31). Thus, Jesus led the righteous captives to the heavenly realms to be with him, thereby thoroughly plundering both Satan and his realm of death.

Paul now continues, "He who descended is the very one who ascended higher than all the heavens, in order to fill the whole universe)" (4:10). While there may be differing arguments concerning exactly where he descended to, we know that for sure he descended to earth. His purpose in ascending from the earth was that he could fill all things by his influence and direct all things by his wisdom and power.^(F22)

Verse 11

GOD'S GIFTS TO THE CHURCH

So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, Ephesians 4:11

We have seen so far that God is a gift-giving God. He has already given to us individual Christians many great and precious gifts as we have realized so far in Ephesians. Now, we see that God has also given some gifts to the church as a whole. These are gifts of people, or shall we say "gifts of gifted people."

Since the Charismatic awakening began in the 1960s we have heard a great deal about these ministry gifts. It is common for these gifts of verse 11 to be referred to as the "five-fold ministry" of the church. Some dispute this terminology and refer to it instead as the "four-fold ministry." They do so because "pastors" and "teachers" listed in this verse share a single definite article in the Greek, thus indicating a single office.^(F23)

However, this idea seems to be clearly overruled in the rest of the New Testament. In Acts 13:1, we see "prophets and teachers" listed together without the mention of pastors. In Paul's list of ministries in 1 Corinthians 12:28 he says, "And God has placed in the church first of all apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then miracles,…" We observe here that teachers are listed again with no mention of pastors. We see teachers listed singularly in 2 Timothy 4:3; James 3:1; and 2 Peter 2:1-3. Also in 1 Timothy 5:17, we are told that elders who are able to teach are worthy of special honor. Obviously all church leaders were not expected to have the gift of teaching. With this information we must conclude that the "five-fold ministry" seems a valid designation.

Now the question arises as to whether or not all these ministries continue to the present day. For instance, do we still have apostles today? Surely the bulk of commentators think not. However, to this question we can venture to give a qualified "yes." But in order to give such an answer we need to establish some facts.

First let us clearly say that the twelve original apostles appointed by Jesus were "one of a kind" and their particular calling will not be reproduced. Why do we say this? In Acts 1:21-22, we read that the eleven original disciples felt it necessary to find a replacement for Judas who had betrayed Jesus. At this time they laid out the prerequisites for the one who would fill this position. In stating these prerequisites they said, "Therefore it is necessary to choose one of the men who have been with us the whole time the Lord Jesus was living among us, beginning from John's baptism to the time when Jesus was taken up from us. For one of these must become a witness with us of his resurrection." We see by this that to be a disciple in the original biblical sense it was necessary for one to have been present throughout the ministry of Jesus, including his resurrection and ascension. These special men were founders of the church and Paul places them in a very high position.

Second, we see that the group of disciples was not limited to the twelve. There were other apostles who had not met the above requirements. Thus they were foundational disciples of the second generation, so to speak. Although they had not been with Jesus throughout his ministry, they nevertheless had a commission directly from the Lord and had apparently received some type of spiritual experiences with the Lord. We know that Paul and Barnabas were in this group (Acts 14:14). James Dunn lists some characteristics of this group of apostles. He says that they were personally commissioned by the risen Christ (1 Corinthians 9:1; 15:7; Galatians 1:1). They were also the church founders (Romans 1:5; 1 Corinthians 3:5f.; Galatians 1:15f.). They like the others had a distinctively eschatological role (1 Corinthians 4:9; Ephesians 3:5).^(F24)

All these original apostles had a difficult task. They had to convey accurately all the teaching of Jesus. We must remember that in these early years there was no compilation of the New Testament books, and so much rested on oral teaching and repetition. At this early time all books had to be written by hand and it would have cost a year's wages for the average working person to acquire a New Testament had one been in existence.^(F25) So the work of these original apostles and prophets was of utmost importance in determining and proclaiming sound Christian doctrine.

Third, there were other degrees of apostleship as we see reflected in the New Testament. We realize that certain others were added to the original group. In Romans 16:7, we read of Andronicus and Junias (Romans 16:7). Then we read of James, the Lord's brother (1 Corinthians 15:7; Galatians 1:19). The Bible scholar Harold Hoehner then adds to the list Silas, Timothy, and Apollos (1 Thessalonians 1:1; 2:7; 1 Corinthians 4:6,9). He mentions that some of these early laborers may have had the gift of apostleship but without the apostolic "office" as such.^(F26) Still Paul tells us that these early apostles had certain qualifications, "…the marks of a true apostle, including signs, wonders and miracles" (2 Corinthians 12:12).

Finally we must add that there were still others who later came into the apostolic ministry. In 2 Corinthians 11:13, and Revelation 2:2, we see that there were also "false apostles." This indicates that there must have been a large group of people operating in the apostolic ministry. Had there only been the original small and select group they would have been easily recognized throughout the church and there would have been no need to warn of false apostles.

In the next verse, Ephesians 4:12, we will see that a part of the mission of the apostle was to prepare God's people for the works of service and to build up the body of Christ. Obviously, these works are very much needed today in the modern and postmodern church. When we observe the condition of the church today, we may conclude that apostolic ministries of some sort are needed more than ever. The Greek word apostle (apostolos) simply means "one sent out." Many are obviously sent out today. Also it cannot be denied that some are doing works that appear to be apostolic in their nature. Whole countries, or vast parts of nations, have been opened up to the gospel almost single-handedly. The great work of Hudson Taylor and his China Inland Mission, should suffice as an illustration here.

We can do with a word of caution about this whole subject. For the office of apostle to continue in any sense today, real apostolic work needs to be evidenced. Also, the respect of this high office must be maintained by those who feel this calling. It seems that there are many running around today proudly proclaiming themselves to be apostles, but with little or no regard to the dignity of the apostolic office, and producing few if any apostolic fruits. In the early church some of these would no doubt have been branded as "false apostles."

We also need to remember that the idea of apostleship has caused a lot of grief throughout church history. The papacy in Rome was established due to a flawed understanding of apostleship. The Catholic Church has felt that Peter was the apostle and bishop of Rome and that his holy office has been handed down from generation to generation to the present day through his many papal descendants.^(F27) Mormonism has also relied quite heavily upon the idea of apostleship to substantiate its beliefs and organization. Another example of apostleship gone astray was the Catholic Apostolic Church founded in London in 1830 by Edward Irving. Irving was a brilliant Scottish preacher with a large following. Suddenly he began to feel that the whole church was in error and that he was the true apostle. Afterward, his movement ended in tragedy.^(F28)

Unfortunately, some of our modern apostles are already busy leading the church off into error. Some are saying that the word of God established by the early apostles is less important than the new revelations that they themselves are receiving. Thus, what they are calling "apostleship" might better be described as "apostasy."

Now let us examine the office of prophet. The prophetic gift had to do with the understanding of mysteries and knowledge. The prophets spoke forth the words of God. They could speak in a predictive sense but this was not always the case. As we have said concerning apostles we also say concerning the original prophets. They were one of a kind and we remember that the church was founded upon these original apostles and prophets (Ephesians 2:20). In this special group of people we have some women represented. There was Anna (Luke 2:36-38) and the four daughters of Philip (Acts 21:9).

Because of the mysterious nature of this gift we can understand how it quickly came into disrepute. There began to be many false prophets. The aged John wrote of this saying, "Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world" (1 John 4:1). Peter also wrote about false prophets and false teachers. He warned the church about the destructive heresies that they would introduce (2 Peter 2:1). Also, in time "the settled ministry began to resent the intrusion of these wandering prophets, who often disturbed theircongregation."^(F29)

In the Didache, one of the earliest Christian documents, we get some insight about how the early church dealt with both apostles and prophets. This document may have been written as early as the first century. It reads:

Let every apostle, when he cometh to you, be received as the Lord; but he shall not abide more than a single day, or if there be need, a second likewise; but if he abide three days, he is a false prophet. And when he departeth let the apostle receive nothing save bread, until he findeth shelter; but if he ask money, he is a false prophet.^(F30)

This early document goes on to describe how the message of the prophet should be received by the church, "Yet not every one that speaketh in the Spirit is a prophet, but only if he have the ways of the Lord. From his ways therefore the false prophet and the [true] prophet shall be recognized."^(F31) We can readily see that prophets were judged and dealt with rather sternly in these early days.

Now, does this office continue today? Well, we still have plenty false prophets around and this in itself seems to indicate the necessity of true prophets. Again, since the beginning of the Charismatic movement there have been numerous people operating in the prophetic gifts. This includes things like gifts of wisdom and knowledge as we see in 1 Corinthians 12:8. Some of these gifts are rather spectacular and undeniable. It seems foolish to try to dispute them all. We see in Romans 11:29, that "God's gifts and his call are irrevocable." This verse was originally applied to Israel but can now apply to the church as well. It seems very appropriate to apply it to individual gifts and even to the longevity or continuation of such gifts. We might also remark that the need for these prophetic gifts may well be greater today than it was in the first century.

While the gifts of pastors and teachers are generally understood, we may need to say a word about the gift of evangelism. This gift is mentioned on only two other occasions in the New Testament, in Acts 21:8 and in 2 Timothy 4:5. Like the office of apostle and teacher, the office of evangelist is also not a local gifting but one for the whole church. These three gifts of apostle, prophet and evangelist were clearly itinerant or wandering ministries. Now is there such a gifting today? Larry Hart says of this, "The twentieth century has seen some of the most powerful evangelists in the history of the church."^(F32) Evangelists like Billy Graham of the US, and Reinhart Bonnke of Germany have proclaimed the gospel to millions of people, to numerous large cities and to whole nations. We would certainly have to say that there is plenty of evidence that this gift is still around and operational.

Verses 12-13

REASONS FOR SPIRITUAL GIFTS

to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up… Ephesians 4:12

Now let us review why these special gifts were given to the church. Paul says that they were given "to equip his people for works of service." The word translated "equip" might be better translated "prepare." It is the word Greek katartismon, and it is used in other places for setting broken limbs, mending nets or disciplining an offender. The word implies correction, instruction and completion.^(F33) This whole idea seems to deal a fatal blow to the older concept of the professional pastor doing all the ministering in the church. Clearly church leaders are to prepare the members themselves for ministering. This verse also deals a blow to the idea that gifts were only for the first century. The body of Christ still needs to be built up.

We might note that the spiritual gifts God has given are not limited to the ones we have mentioned so far. Stott says, "The five lists given in the New Testament mention between them at least twenty distinct gifts, some of which are very prosaic and un-sensational (like doing acts of mercy, Romans 12:8)… No one list is complete."^(F34)

There is a great purpose in God's gifts. They are to prepare us "until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ" (4:13). These gifted leaders have the task of helping us arrive at the unity of faith and to a full knowledge (Gk. epiginoseos) of Jesus, that we may become mature Christians. This full knowledge implies precise and correct knowledge.^(F35) Paul says here that we should attain "to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ" (cf. Galatians 4:19). One of my seminary professors used to illustrate it this way. He said that when we were children we made marks on the wall as we grew taller and taller. Our goal was always to surpass the old mark on the wall with each new measurement. The professor told us that now Christ has made a mark on the wall and our task is to grow upward to meet that mark.

We see here that unity of faith involves the whole community and not just particular individuals.^(F36) We all must grow up together. We also need to remember that this unity is a unity in relation to core matters of faith and not to peripheral matters. As we have mentioned, most divisions in the church concern peripheral matters.

In the church we have not always paid attention to the business of edification or building up the body in love. Smith has said about this "The primary purpose of the church isn't to convert sinners to Christianity, but to perfect (complete and mature) the saints for the ministry and edification of the Body."^(F37) Actually until the Body is edified in some measure the church would not be too attractive to sinners anyway.

Verses 14-16

GROWING UP

Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of people in their deceitful scheming. Ephesians 4:14

Paul tells us that we should no longer be infants or children. Of course, there are some good qualities of children that the Lord must have been alluding to in Matthew 18:2-3. Children are meek, obedient, trusting, and free of pride. Yet we know that children can have a bad side, and this is indicated here. They can be easily influenced and led astray.^(F38) This is a particularly frightening concern for parents in our day when many children are being kidnapped by various predators, sexual and otherwise. Here we have the words "cunning and craftiness." One Greek word used here is kybeia or "dice playing." By their trickery and deceitfulness the world's people seek to lead us astray and cheat us.

Today the television and movies abound with such deceit. Christianity is subtly mocked and belittled. The media is rife with many supposed proofs that Christianity is fraudulent.

"Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is, Christ" (4:15). We cannot miss the fact that the idea here is for us to grow up. God may be getting weary of so many spiritual babies all clamoring for their bottles. We are to grow up to the Head who is Christ. We saw earlier in Ephesians how he is becoming the head of all things (1:10). As we become mature we can understand more and more about his vast program and find our place in it.

One of the important ways we grow up is to start speaking the truth to each other. Of course this speech should always be tempered by love. One of the things my wife and I noticed as we lived sixteen years in Israel was that there is little guile in the Israeli people. They quickly speak their minds about almost everything. In our western world we "beat around the bush" in our speaking supposedly to keep the peace. The Israeli would never consider such an approach. The Israeli woman may just blurt out, "That dress looks horrible on you!" While such an approach may be shocking, at least we get the point quickly, and it may save us a lot of time and difficulty in the long run. Jesus apparently appreciates such a direct approach to things. He once said of his new disciple, Nathaniel, "…Here truly is an Israelite in whom there is no deceit" (John 1:47).

As the scripture says "Wounds from a friend can be trusted, but an enemy multiplies kisses" (Proverbs 27:6). Also the Bible says, "…Rebuke your neighbor frankly so you will not share in their guilt" (Leviticus 19:17). We must remember to mix love with the truth we speak.

Paul tells us that "From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work" (4:16). The church is dependent upon Christ as the Head to guide, sustain and invigorate it. As is the case in our physical bodies the head gives instructions to the whole body. It builds up the body in regards to the operation of every part, in regards to its nourishment and in regards to its growth and maturity.

The interesting thing in this passage is that the Head works through every part of the body in order to supply the whole. It is like we are all conduits of grace to one another. In the human body these ligaments or connections are made up of things like blood vessels and nervous system links.^(F39) Of course, these ligaments would also involve the muscles. It is amazing when we realize that the nervous energy with which we move a little finger comes originally from the brain or the head.^(F40) Paul's picture of the human body and its operations here makes us wonder if he had checked out all these details in advance with Doctor Luke.^(F41)

This mutual building up of the body is of utmost importance. Indeed it is at the very heart of Christianity. Even the word "religion" comes from the root "ligaments" referring to that which binds us all together.^(F42)

We simply must not miss the idea of edification or building up the body of Christ. This is meant to be a primary work of the church and yet in many quarters it is almost totally neglected. In my former denomination there was a great emphasis upon evangelism. We preached only salvation sermons Sunday after Sunday and year after year. Unfortunately the church was not built up and the members often remained as spiritual infants for their whole lives.

Verses 17-19

OUR LIVES B.C.

So I tell you this, and insist on it in the Lord, that you must no longer live as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their thinking. Ephesians 4:17

We have now experienced the benefits of almost two thousand years of Christian influence in our world. Thus it is virtually impossible for us to imagine the utter moral darkness people experienced in pre-Christian times. It is tragic and unthinkable today that many people in our era yearn for those dark days to return. How true the words of Jesus, "This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but people loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil" (John 3:19).

We certainly cannot say that all pagan people are bad, for they are not all the same. However just as there is a "typical Christian life" there is also a "typical pagan life" and these two lifestyles are fundamentally opposed to each other.^(F43)

Paul says that the thinking of the typical pagan is futile. First of all it is futile because it is opposed to God, the Creator, and to his plan for the world and for humanity. Second it is futile because such a lifestyle simply does not work, and never did. One of the best evidences of Satan and his activity in the world is the fact that people, after these thousands of years, are still trying to do things that do not work. We would laugh at someone who was still trying to make a square wheel work. Long ago the square wheel was tossed into the trash and folks opted for the more practical and workable round wheel. Unfortunately, people have not displayed such wisdom in the moral realm. After all these thousands of years folks are still trying to make lying, stealing and adultery work. They do not work, they never did and they never will.

The big problem with the pagans is that "They are darkened in their understanding and separated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them due to the hardening of their hearts" (4:18). In 2 Corinthians 4:4 we read that "The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel that displays the glory of Christ, who is the image of God." In the natural world around us we have a phenomenon known as "global dimming." This is a process whereby less and less sunlight is actually getting through to us due to the increase in jet airplane condensation and other problems in the atmosphere. Here we have a global dimming of another sort, due to Satan's efforts at keeping the light of God from shining into people's hearts.

Understanding can also become darkened by indulgence in sin. "A man who is intemperate has no just views of the government of the appetites. A man who is unchaste has no perception of the loveliness of purity. A man who is avaricious or covetous has no just views of the beauty of benevolence."^(F44)

The Greek word for ignorance is agnoia. Apparently it is not merely a term of the intellect alone but it denotes ignorance in the realm of divine things (Acts 3:17; 17:30; 1 Peter 1:14).^(F45) The Gentiles are described as "Having lost all sensitivity, they have given themselves over to sensuality so as to indulge in every kind of impurity, and they are full of greed" (4:19).

The Ephesians were certainly aware of the excesses of paganism. Their famous temple to the Greek goddess Artemis, or Diana, was known for the regular sexual orgies associated with its worship.^(F46) This was a common practice in paganism since it was simply the way people worshipped their pagan gods. It seems that sexual abuses were always at the heart of pagan sensuality and impurity. Some of these abuses were "unspeakable." Young girls were often initiated into womanhood by being required to spend a night in pagan temples, supposedly offering their bodies to the gods and of course to any others who desired them. Young boys were often introduced to manhood through the sexual abuses of older men.^(F47)

In the Greek home the wife had a very low position and men regularly maintained mistresses outside the home for their pleasure. In the fourth century B.C. Demosthenes remarked, "Mistresses we keep for the sake of pleasure, concubines for the daily care of our persons, but wives to bear us legitimate children and to be faithful guardians of our households."^(F48) We can easily see that "home" in the western and Christian understanding was almost nonexistent for the Greeks.

The pagans ran to their excesses because they had lost all sensitivity. The Greek word used here for "sensitivity" means "calloused or dead to feeling." Through their callousness they were able to abandon themselves to sensuality, indecency, and debauchery. "Sin is like anesthesia. At first, it is offensive and our conscience revolts against it. However, if we do not get away from it, it soon becomes less offensive and will finally overpower us."^(F49) We see in Romans that it is precisely for such reasons that God gives up on a people (Romans 1:24).

Today the pagan media is trying to desensitize us and to cause us to become callused. We are told that 70 percent of the television shows today contain sexual content.^(F50) Things that we would have caused us all to blush thirty years ago no longer draw a reaction from us at all. It is much like the old story of boiling a frog. The temperature continues to be turned up and the frog continues to sit in the hot water until it is too late.

Verses 20-28

OUR NEW WARDROBE

That, however, is not the way of life you learned… Ephesians 4:20

The content of all early preaching was about Christ personally. It was about knowing him and coming into relationship with him. It was not just about the head knowledge of him. Paul continues, "when you heard about Christ and were taught in him in accordance with the truth that is in Jesus. You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your minds; …" (4:21-23).

We learn here that God has given all of us Christians a totally new wardrobe. It is vitally important that we put off our old one so we can put on the new one he has provided. Someone has referred to this as the "rags" and the "robes." The rags are our old life of sin and the robes are the new clothes of salvation that God has provided in Christ. Paul continues, "and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness" (4:24).

There is a very interesting story in Matthew 22:1-14. It is the parable of the marriage feast. This particular king gave a great marriage banquet for his son. However, many of the invited guests did not bother to come for one reason or another. The man was very angry and sent his servants out into the streets to gather all the people they could find. At last the marriage hall was filled with guests. Unfortunately, when the king entered the room he spied a man who did not have on a wedding garment. With that the host was furious and demanded that the man be bound hand and foot and cast into outer darkness.

This story almost seems unfair at first. Let us use our imaginations a bit as we try to understand it. Perhaps this man was a poor bum who hadn't eaten in a couple of days. Here he sits at the table with a big smile on his face and with his fork and spoon firmly in hand. His mouth is drooling as he expects to satisfy his gnawing hunger at this great banquet. The smells of roast beef are tantalizing. Suddenly the king appears, takes one look at him, flies into a rage and has him bound and thrown out into the gutter. Perhaps he is thrown out while still clutching his fork and spoon. Poor guy! Was this fair? The Lord tells us that it was absolutely fair. The man had neglected to do something extremely important. He had neglected to put on the sparkling new wedding garment that the king had provided free of charge to all his guests.

Does this little story have a message for us? It certainly does. It is a message particularly for Gentiles. We were the ones invited to the banquet when the original guests (the Jews) did not show up. However, we must remember to clothe ourselves in the garments the Master has provided. What are these garments? We might say they are the garments of salvation (Isaiah 61:10). These are the robes of righteousness (Isaiah 61:10). These are the garments of praise for the spirit of heaviness (Isaiah 61:3). God provides these robes free of charge but he will not put them on for us. We must do it ourselves. This is one and the same with putting on the Lord Jesus Christ (Romans 13:14).

The Lord has called us to a great wedding banquet. We are at once both the bride and the wedding guests. We see in the Bible that it is also up to the bride to put on her lovely garments (Revelation 21:2) and to make herself ready (Revelation 19:7). In every wedding the bride is the center of attention. What if the bride came down the aisle with her hair tied up in a rag and wearing a dirty old apron? Everyone would be aghast. Yet as believers we often do not take pains to prepare for the heavenly wedding that is at hand.

Before his conversion, the great saint Augustine had lived long in immorality. One day he was seated in the garden as he wrestled with his evil conscience. Suddenly he heard a voice like the voice of a child repeating this phrase in a sing-song manner, "Take up and read. Take up and read." With this, Augustine hastily took up the Bible and his eyes fell on Romans 13:13-14, "Let us behave decently, as in the daytime, not in carousing and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and debauchery, not in dissension and jealousy. Rather, clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ, and do not think about how to gratify the desires of the flesh."

Augustine remarked "No further would I read, nor was there cause why I should; for instantly with the end of the sentence, as by a clear and constant light infused into my heart, the darkness of all former doubts was driven away."^(F51)

Paul gives further instructions, "Therefore each of you must put off falsehood and speak truthfully to your neighbor, for we are all members of one body" (4:25). In the ancient world many people did not feel that a lie was especially bad. Adam Clarke relays some of the attitudes toward the lie in the ancient world. Meander said, "A lie is better than a hurtful truth." Darius in Herodotus said, "When telling a lie will be profitable, let it be told." Plato said, "He may lie who knows how to do it in a suitable time." Maximus Tyrius said "There is nothing decorous in truth but when it is profitable; yea, sometimes…truth is hurtful, and lying is profitable to men."^(F52)

Even in our modern world there are millions of people who think lying is OK. The religion of Islam holds well over a billion people in its grasp. Yet the teachings of Islam are very kind to falsehood. The great Moslem theologian, Al-Ghazzali has said that a lie is not wrong in itself. As a result of such teaching lying has become widespread among the Moslems.^(F53)

Actually in our new Postmodern Era truth has been given a bad rap. According to the dictates of our new and pervasive postmodern philosophy there is no such thing as a universal standard of truth. Truth is looked upon as relative and ever changing. Obviously, with such a philosophy a lie would be no big deal.

Such attitudes will not do in Christianity. Jesus is himself the "Truth" and as his followers we must love and follow the truth. "The first test of whether we know the truth and have put on the new man is that we are truthful, especially with fellow-Christians, for 'we are members one of another.'"^(F54) It is truth as much as anything that builds up the church (4:15). On the other hand "a lie is a stab into the very vitals of the Body of Christ."^(F55)

"In your anger do not sin': Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry…" (4:26). This is a quote from Psalm 4:4 and it seems to assume that some anger is acceptable. We see in the Bible that anger is sometimes even attributed to God. We also see that Jesus got angry (Mark 3:5) and so did Paul (Acts 13:9-10). These episodes of anger are what we often term as "righteous indignation."

Although it is sometimes permitted for a Christian to get angry, we should understand that anger is not a thing we can ever take lightly. It is a dangerous emotion. In the medical field doctors sometimes use poisons to help cure an ill. However, they use these poisons with extreme caution.^(F56)

We are advised here to never let the sun go down on our wrath. We might define bitterness as a thing that results when we forget and let the sun go down while we are still angry. Wuest remarks, "the word 'wrath' is parorgismos ( παροργισμος ), anger that is mingled with irritation, exasperation, and embitterment. Such anger is forbidden."^(F57)

On several occasions the Bible speaks of anger being kindled (Genesis 30:2; Deuteronomy 6:15). This indicates that anger can be compared to kindling a fire.^(F58) We all know how even a small fire can quickly get out of control.

Paul continues, saying "and do not give the devil a foothold" (4:27). All the devil ever wanted was a foothold in our lives. We dare not give it to him. Instead we must take many positive steps in our Christian lives to deny the devil such a foothold. Paul advises, "Anyone who has been stealing must steal no longer, but must work, doing something useful with their own hands, that they may have something to share with those in need" (4:28). We know that the Bible commends honest work (cf. 1 Thessalonians 4:11-12). The apostle in another place lays down the rule that if a person does not work that person shall not eat (2 Thessalonians 3:10).

We may ask, why do we steal in the first place? We steal for the same reasons we commit most sins. We do it because of our unbelief. The thief cannot believe that God will provide for him just as he does for everyone else. As a result, he steals and takes that which God has provided for others.

The Christian is instructed to stop his stealing and to do some constructive work. We know that all honest employment is beneficial for everyone. For instance, a good farmer feeds many people with his labors and he is beneficial to all.^(F59)

We can hardly imagine a world without theft but someday such a world will exist. In a recent year, according to the Federal Trade Commission, victims lost $122 million in Internet-related fraud schemes alone.^(F60) Such loses are growing at an astronomical rate. ABC News recently announced that an astonishing 58 percent of workers have admitted to stealing from their employers.^(F61) Only true and applied Christianity can change all this.

The great evangelist, Billy Graham, relates the following story about one of his foreign crusades in his autobiography, Just As I Am.

One night a friend of ours noted two men who came in and sat near the back. They apparently did not know each other but within minutes had loudly agreed on two things: they did not like Americans, and they especially did not like American evangelists. They had come to see the show, they agreed, just so they could make fun of it. But the Holy Spirit spoke to them both. When the Invitation was given, one of them turned to the other and said, "I'm going forward." The other one said, "I am too. And here's your wallet back – I'm a pickpocket."^(F62)

Verse 29

BITE YOUR TONGUE

Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen. Ephesians 4:29

The word for "unwholesome" is sapros in the Greek. It means "corrupt," "rotten, "unfit for use," "worthless," and "bad."^(F63) The word is also used to describe spoiled fish and rotten fruit.^(F64) Such is the tongue filled with evil words (cf. Romans 3:13).

Our tongues are a real problem to us, because we just cannot keep them under control. In James 3:8 the Bible says, "but no man can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison. James points out that the tongue is a little fellow but it can cause a world of harm. Let us think of a few tongue abuses.

In these abuses we would have to place guile right up at the top, along with its close companion, deceit. Both guile and deceit are forms of slyness in dealing with others. A person accomplished in guile is able to let someone believe a total lie without actually telling him a lie. Thus, it is a very sophisticated form of lying. The Bible says about this, "Who is the man who desires life, And loves many days, that he may see good? Keep your tongue from evil, And your lips from speaking deceit." (Psalm 34:12-13 NKJ).

After the sin of guile, there comes the matter of sowing discord. This is particularly grievous to God when the discord is sown among brethren. In Proverbs 6:19, sowing discord is listed as one of the seven things that the Lord hates most. In the Book of Acts, all God's people were together in one accord (Acts 4:32), and God was able to do great things through them.

There are many obvious abuses of the tongue that we think of. These include foul speech, cursing, false swearing and dirty stories. All such speech destroys and tears down. The Bible says that we should be careful to edify or build up one another with our speech (4:29).

In our listing of tongue abuses we do not want to forget gossip and slander. With these abuses the Bible warns us saying, "Do not go about spreading slander among your people…" (Leviticus 19:16). Why do we do such things? We do them because we have a basic insecurity and lack of faith. We do not have faith to believe that God can elevate us to our proper position in life. We feel that by assassinating the character of another person it will elevate us in the eyes of the hearer. Actually it has the reverse effect. People secretly despise us for relating those juicy tidbits of gossip and slander.

Then there is the sin of flattery, which is an almost opposite sin to slander. If Satan cannot get us one way he will surely try something just the opposite. Again, flattery like virtually every kind of sin is a lack of faith in God. We are afraid to tell people the real truth for fear that they will think less of us, so we "butter them up" with our tongue. Little do we know that flattery can never accomplish our desired effect. The Bible declares, "Whoever rebukes a person will in the end gain favor rather than one who has a flattering tongue" (Proverbs 28:23).

There are the sins of complaining, murmuring, "poor mouthing," and negative talking. These are serious sins. In fact, it was precisely these sins that got the Children of Israel forty years of wandering in the wilderness (1 Corinthians 10:10).

Our tongues can also offend with threats, outbursts of anger, malicious and abusive language. The world is full of such speech, but this kind of speaking abounds in transgression (Proverbs 29:22). Saints of God, these things ought not to be among God's elect.

Will the list of tongue abuses never end? We cannot omit outright lying. Little "white" lies seem so necessary at certain difficult times in our lives. Yet, the Word of God tells us, "Truthful lips endure forever, but a lying tongue lasts only a moment" (Proverbs 12:19). We also do not want to omit, arguing, proud boasting, foolish talking and jesting (Ephesians 5:4). The sensitive Holy Spirit within us will let us know when we are guilty of such offenses.

Perhaps we will end this incomplete list with one of the most prevalent tongue abuses – that of talking too much. Every one of us can probably think of such a person. Perhaps we are that person. It is a strange phenomenon that in the modern church there are more and more people who just seem to talk incessantly – mostly about themselves – with words, words, words! The Bible tells us, "Sin is not ended by multiplying words, but the prudent hold their tongues" (Proverbs 10:19). In 1 Thessalonians 4:11, the scripture even exhorts us to be quiet.

All these things make up the battle of the tongue. James 1:26 tells us that if we lose this battle, we lose everything. He says, "Those who consider themselves religious and yet do not keep a tight rein on their tongues deceive themselves, and their religion is worthless." However, in James 3:2, we are told that when we get control of the tongue we have virtually gotten control of everything and have come to maturity, "We all stumble in many ways. Anyone who is never at fault in what they say is perfect, able to keep their whole body in check."

In regard to tongue abuses someone once advised, "Lead your life so you won't be ashamed to sell the family parrot to the town gossip."

Verses 30-32

GRIEVING THE SPIRIT

And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Ephesians 4:30

In the Holy Spirit, God has given us a traveling companion who will be with us even unto the end of the age. Israel once had such a traveling companion but they seriously grieved him and brought themselves much sorrow and loss. In Psalm 106:33, we see that their rebellion became a snare even for Moses, "for they rebelled against the Spirit of God, and rash words came from Moses' lips." Ultimately because of their rebellion most of the people fell in the wilderness and never reached the blessed Promised Land.

Through the Holy Spirit God has sealed us so that we may be triumphant and victorious in the days ahead, especially in the days of the Great Tribulation. In this awful time God will judge the wicked of this earth with fire and plague.^(F65) However, those who are sealed in their foreheads (their minds and thinking) will survive (Revelation 7:3). Daniel says that they will not only survive but they will be strong and will firmly resist the Antichrist (Daniel 11:32).

We remember that when God destroyed the world the first time he did so by a world-wide flood. At that time Noah and his family were spared as they were protected within the ark. The Bible says they were sealed without and within (Genesis 6:14). Just imagine, the whole world was destroyed with Noah and his family still in it! This is a beautiful picture of the sealing of the last day. At that time God will destroy the world with fire and plagues but he will enable his overcomers to be totally victorious.

"Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice" (4:31). Here Paul seems to remember some more of the dirty old rags that need to be taken off There are six vices mentioned here, some of which Paul has already dealt with. They are bitterness (Gk. pikria), anger and rage (gk. thymos), wrath (Gk. orge), clamor or loud talking (Gk. krauge), blasphemy or slander (Gk. blasphemia) and ill will (Gk. kakia). Like one who comes out of a long imprisonment or like Lazarus who came out of the tomb we should be anxious to be rid of these dirty and unsightly rags of our old life.

Paul goes on to advise, "Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you" (4:32). In place of the last old rags that we have discarded God has some more robes for us to put on. We are to put on kindness (Gk. chrestos). The early Christians made much of this virtue since phonetically it sounded like the name of Christ.^(F66) Then we are to put on compassion (Gk. eusplagchnoi). The Greeks felt the center of emotions was in the internal organs such as the kidneys, liver and larger viscera.^(F67) The idea involved is that we are to feel compassion way down deep in our hearts and tummies. We are also to put on the grace of giving freely of ourselves and forgiving others (Gk. charizomenoi) just as Christ has both given and forgiven us.

The great Alfred Lord Tennyson in his play, Promise of May, penned these lines:

For all the souls on earth that live
To be forgiven must forgive.
Forgive him seventy times and seven:
For all the blessed souls in Heaven
Are both forgivers and forgiven.