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EPHESIANS...CHAPTER 4 |
The epistle (letter) of Ephesians is widely believed to of been a "circular" letter to various churches in the area while Paul was in Prison. We do not find
Paul "rebuking" the members of the church body
but rather find him emphasizing the truth that the
"church" is the body of which Christ is the head.
Don't think that because it is written to a "church"
that it doesn't apply to each of us individually. We
ARE members of the church body that Paul speaks to!
The members of this bible study are a good
representative of a local church congregation! We
have all professed our "faith" in Jesus the Christ...
And as the word "Christ" means "annointed one",
we are refering to ourselves as being "annointed"
ones when we proclaim the title of "Christian"..
Each individual who has the Spirit of Jesus within
their heart is a vital part of the "body" of Christ!
HE is the "head" and we each are the functioning
parts of His body. When WE aren't functioning,
then the "body" becomes weak and frail; it
suffers all of the manifestations of bodily health
that our "natural" body experiences.
While Paul had mentioned the same truth earlier in Romans 12 and 1 Corinthians 12, he develops
it a little farther in this letter to be distributed to
the churches. ONE revelation that each of us
should get from this epistle is that we, you and I,
as "believers" are seated with Christ in the heavenlies...and that what God is saying to us
through Paul's epistle is that we live in
accordance with this high calling, for which we
were "called" and accepted Jesus as Lord and
Saviour in our life.
In the first 3 chapters the apostle Paul tells us
what we ARE in Christ. In Ch 4-6 Paul tells us
what we are to do "because we are in Christ".
Ch 4:1-2: (paraphrased) (Imagine that Paul is
standing before you amidst other members of
this study and he is speaking that which God has
put upon his heart....)
"I'm begging you to walk worthy of the "service"
to which you have been called through Our Lord
Jesus! Serve the Lord with all humility of mind (recognizing your sinfulness; your unworthiness, your limitations, and God's holiness and
righteousness!), Do this with patience, lifting up
one another in His Love that is a part of your
very being! Try always to keep the "unity" of
the Holy Spirit among you in the "bond" of
peace that elevates the love of Jesus within you
because you are ALL a part of His Body! If you
"smite" another part of His Body with any kind of
"discord", the whole body suffers and the Head
bears the pain.
There is only ONE body! The body of Christ!!
You are an organ, or part, of that body!! There is only
ONE Spirit...the Holy Spirit that was sent to dwell
with you when you were called as a Servant to
the Lord Jesus Christ. You are each a part of
this ONE body and you each share the abode
of the same Spirit.
One LORD, one FAITH, and one BAPTISM...
Forget about denominations! Denominations
were brought about by the discord among men
that brought division among those whom He
called to His Service. ALL who have the Spirit
of the Lord within them are of ONE faith!!
And there is only one baptism....in the Name of
the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost (Spirit)..
Of which we have followed by the example of
Jesus who, Himself, was baptised by John the
Baptist and filled with the Holy Spirit to enable
Him for His earthly ministry for YOUR sakes.
Every single one of you has at least ONE
special "gift" that was given you by grace. That
you do not recognize it does not mean you do
not have it. NO servant of our Lord is asked to
serve Him totally as a part of His body without
the spiritual ability to function in that body.
As His servants, we need to recognize the
various "gifts" of other Christians...He gave these
gifts to equip the "saints" for the work of the
ministry and that we would be able to edify (or
build up) others of the body of Christ.
Some Spiritual Gifts were given to be Apostles,
Prophets, Evengelists, Pastors, and Teachers...
These are those whom we rely upon for the
teaching of His Word and for guidiance and
direction that we might ALL come into the
"unity" of the faith in the knowledge of the Son of God, becoming a "mature" Christian until we
reach that state of the fullness of our Lord
Jesus.
As we "mature" we are no more "children" who
are tossed about and chasing after every "wind"
of doctrine by those who would cleverly deceive
us as they lie in wait to do....But, in speaking
the truth in love, we may grow up into Him in all
things as we excercise our own gifts one to
another.
When all this is done, the whole body of Christ
will be fitly joined together and compacted by
ALL gifts in action! By the effects of the working
of ALL who are serving in each capacity that
has been given to each, it increases the whole
body of Christ and it's impact because it is
building up of itself (body) the Love of Jesus.
When we are saved, we are "born again" and
become a "new person"....We no longer are to walk as others do who are not saved and/or
other Christians who are living disobediently
because of their "emptiness" of Christ in their
minds. There were such "christians" then as
there are today. Some who never "wanted" to
grow up (mature)...
Their hearts are blinded and they are alienated from the life of God through ignorance that is in them and some who have become "past
feeling" of any conscience have given themselves over unto the unbridled lusts (desires) of their
minds, working all uncleanness with greediness.
But you have not learned this from Jesus! Paul
tells us...
If you have heard His words and have been
taught of Him, you are not to continue as you
did in your "old self"...but will be made new in
the spirit of your mind. You are to "put on the
new man" which is created in righteousness and holiness of truth in the image of God.
Put away your lying; speak the truth with your
neighbor...we are members one of another.
Don't lie to each other in word or actions!
If you DO get angry about something or at
someone, do NOT sin!! But don't let the sun go
down upon your anger toward anyone or
anything....deal with it lest it lead you to sin and/
or sorrow or heartaches.
Let everyone work at those things which are
good, that you will have to give to him that
needeth. (this is hardly the standard of our
society today)
As a believer, don't use filthy and corrupt
language!! God doesn't like it! He wants you to
speak good things and He wants you to use
your words to lift up and build up those who
are listening that it may minister grace unto them.
You are sealed unto the Holy Spirit...so don't
grieve Him!! Let all of your bitterness, and anger,
your revenge, and commotion over things, your
evil speaking, yelling, gossip, condemnations
of others, and all such utterings and emotions...
put them AWAY and be kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another...even as
our Heavenly Father for Jesus' sake has
forgiven you!!
(Ephesians 4:1-32)
Note: Let us not hide behind the great love and
sacrifice of our Lord Jesus who died for our
sins "once and for all" ....It is ALL too easy for
us to use the crutch of the old familiar phrase...
"we are all sinners".....BUT, that phrase is to
identify those who are born the natural birth...It
is not used in God's Word to excuse us from
those things we do that we don't want to give
up...
God's Word speaks out against those of us who
"abide" in sin....or continue in sin. Regardless of
what that "sin" might be. This is the purpose
of these studies on sin that we might recognize
where we are falling short in our Christian
walk and call upon the Heavenly Father and
the Holy Spirit to give us strength to overcome
those things which are displeasing to Him.
We should not over emphasize the LOVE and
FORGIVENESS of the Father to the point of
helping us "ignore" those things in our life
which cause Him to grieve and to even become
angry with us perhaps. Because He LOVES
us and forgives us, DON'T take advantage of
Him and think you can get away with whatever
you want to do ....like a spoiled or disobedient
or rebellious child against his/her parents.
Don't tell yourself, "it is impossible to not sin"...
Don't tell yourself, "He will forgive me...so I
will indulge myself.."
Don't tell yourself, "I am not perfect"...
Don't tell yourself, "I am not worthy"
Don't tell yourself, "I can't change"...
When we tell ourselves these things, we plant
the negative doubt into our hearts that keeps
us from even trying to grow in His example...
It IS true, that we are all going to sin in some
way or other...and will never grow to fulness
of maturity in our Christian walk...no matter how
old we become or how knowledgable we
become of His Word.
What we need to do as Christians is to give
ourself over to the Holy Spirit's guidiance and
support. It is through Him that we become
"more perfect" in our life as He guides and
leads us.
We cannot become better or more perfect by
any "works" that we do...You might have some
bad habits that you need to put away....but if
the Holy Spirit is leading you in this you will
find that it is much easier.
The Holy Spirit does not make everyone of us
all that we can or should be when we accept
Jesus as Saviour....and as I stated earlier, He
doesn't always covict everyone of the same
"sin" even though everyone may be guilty of it.
So are we NOT to serve the Lord because we
have sinful things in our life? Contrary to that,
we begin to serve Him immediately when we
are saved. Most "new borne" Christians want
to share their new birth with everyone they know!
Unfortunately, a lot of people don't want to hear
it...but we should NOT be discouraged.
I like to hear Joyce Meyers tell about when she
first started teaching a bible study in her home..
How she would stand up there with a
cigarette in her mouth and thought nothing
about it.....until, of course, she was convicted
of this.
The Holy Spirt will make us aware of those
things of which we need to be aware of...and
if we allow Him to, He will gently nudge us
every time we committ whatever it is...He often
will forewarn us to "not" do or say such and
such....You may feel like giving someone a
piece of your mind...or "setting things straight"...
and the Holy Spirit will nudge you and say,
"let it be"....or other revelation in your heart.
What we need to do is listen to the Holy Spirit...
don't depend upon your conscience...our
conscience can be "hardened" or "closed" to
things we do all of the time. We were ALL
born with a conscience....even as children...
but we are not born with the Holy Spirit until
we are "reborn" to a new life.
So, as we seek a closer walk with Jesus and
the Abundant Life that He wants us to live,
let us open our hearts and minds to His
Holy Spirit and His Word and use those
gifts He has given to us in building up our
brothers and sisters in Christ....Soon, we
will see the changes that The Father is
developing in us!!
"All things are possible with God and I can do
anything through Him who lives within me! I
know my Father will forgive me, but I don't want
to "break His heart" after all He sacrificed and
gave so freely to me!! So, I will not "willfully"
do those things that He does not want me to do.
"I will BE made more perfect as I learn more about
Jesus and as the Holy Spirit leads and teaches
me in His way. I am not worthy of the great
gift of salvation that was freely given me, but I
am worthy by His blood to be a child of the
Heavenly Father and to rule and reign with the
King of Kings!! I am worthy because He has
made me worthy in His blood tht was shed for me.
He called me into the service of the Royal
Kingdom and therefore, I AM SPECIAL!!
"I cannot change in and of myself, but by the
power of the Holy Spirit who lives within me, I
can and will allow Him to change me from what
I am to what He wants me to be"...If I should
not succeed in any endeavor, My Father will
forgive me because He knows that my heart
is right but my flesh is weak. He will forgive
me and keep "teaching" and "leading" me in
all that is good and righteous because He
loves me.
Don't judge yourself by other Christians, nor by
the rules and accepted b ehaviour of society...
Judge yourself according to where you are
today compared to where you were before you
met Jesus!! Next year, you will find that you
are not where you are today!!
By all that you think, say, and do...let Him be
the guage by which you guage yourself to
be made "perfect" as He was and is and don't
try to "work" your way to perfection, but let Him
be the One to choose the changes He wants
to make in your life...and then let Him do it!
The Holy Spirit will lay upon your heart as you
study and read God's Word those things which
you need to "put aside" or "improve" upon.
Several may have the same "faults" or "sinful"
ways, yet the Holy Spirit might lay different
areas of sin upon the hearts of different persons.
Therefore, we can't judge other brothers and
sisters in Christ who may be doing something
that we no longer do. It's best to let Jesus be
their judge!
We "grieve" the Holy Spirit when we don't take
these "nudges" in our heart seriously and
let them go unchallenged by His Word. So,
listen to your heart....and the things He brings
to your conscienceness. Obeying the Holy
Spirit is obedience to God the Father because
it is through the Holy Spirit that God speaks
to us...and teaches us.
God bless each and all of us and may the
Holy Spirit gently lead us into the realm of
the Abundant Life that was meant for us all.
Louise White
May 18, 2001
Tim2-15@webtv.net