Goodbye (Ephesians 6:23-24)

Paul had said many things to the believers in Ephesus when he spent time in that important ancient city a few years earlier. He had further said important truths to the elders in Ephesus when he arranged for them to meet with him some time later in Miletus. Now he had sent this important letter to them from Rome. And these two verses are his final words to them.

 

We can see that he wanted them to enjoy rich spiritual blessings from heaven. He wanted them to have a faith that showed itself in love and peace — great inner blessings to have, and which can be received constantly from the storehouse in glory. These blessings come to the family of God because their Father desires to give them. 

 

And they come to us through the activities of Jesus our Mediator (which is how he is described here as Lord), who conveys them to us in his roles of prophet, priest and king, with the Holy Spirit applying them directly to his people. It is beautiful to know that Jesus works from heaven to ensure that his disciples are instructed about, embraced in, and prepared for those blessings of love and peace.

 

But the apostle actually closes with a warning when he mentions a condition for receiving divine favour. The condition is to ‘love our Lord Jesus Christ with love incorruptible’. This is a love that does not die, that is loyal and submissive. Paul’s words challenge us regarding the intensity of our love for the One who loves his people.

 

We have completed reading the amazing letter to the Ephesians. Let’s thank God for arranging for Paul to write it, for the inspiration of the Holy Spirit in producing it, and let us ask for grace to love the Saviour more and more. After all, the letter is about the benefits that come from being ‘in Christ’. 

 

A good Christian servant (Ephesians 6:21-22)

Tychicus does not get much mention today, but we can see from the New Testament references to him that he engaged in important roles. He was a Christian whom Paul could rely on wholeheartedly. And congregations always received crucial and useful information from him.

 

We are told three things about him. First, he was a beloved brother. He belonged to the family of God. We might be so used to this description that we fail to see the striking claim by Paul. Tychicus was a Gentile whereas Paul was a Jew, but here is the apostle recognising that both of them were equally brothers in the divine family. And that is who all Christians are. It is a crucial way of thinking about one another. 

 

Second, Tychicus was a faithful minister in the Lord. The term translated minister is the word from which we get the word ‘deacon’, which is a reminder that Tychicus was willing to do difficult tasks in order to help others. He was prepared to walk the long distance from Rome to Ephesus to deliver Paul’s letter. Of course, Tychicus was from Ephesus and he is first mentioned as being willing to travel from there to Jerusalem with the collection that Paul had put together for the needy saints in Jerusalem. 

 

The third detail that Paul mentions is that he knew that Tychicus would encourage the hearts of the Ephesians as well as provide them with accurate information about Paul and his circumstances. It would be good if others could say of us, as an epitaph, that we are beloved brothers regarding who we are, faithful servants by what we do, and encouragers by what we say.

Importance of prayer (Ephesians 6:18-20)

Since Paul speaks about prayer in connection with wearing the spiritual armour, people have wondered if he is suggesting that prayer is the equivalent of a war cry. He could have done, but equally he could be indicating that prayer accompanies each piece of the armour.

 

It has often been noticed that Paul mentions the word ‘all’ over times here: all times, all prayer, all perseverance and all saints. He urges his readers to pray at all times, but qualifies his exhortation by adding ‘in the Spirit’. After all, prayer can be a very demanding activity for which we require divine strength in order to persist in the task and to remain fresh and alert.

 

‘All prayer and supplication’ may refer to various types of prayer, with each type being accompanied by supplication. Prayer can be intercession for others, can be cries for divine help, can be expressions of gratitude, can be longings for fellowship with God, can be desires for spiritual growth. The list is long, but what should be our attitude? Supplication is connected to begging, and this word reminds us that we are unworthy to receive divine answers. Prayer is not made by demands of God, but by humble requests to God.

 

All perseverance reminds us that prayer often involves the long haul, especially when praying for other saints. There is a sense in which we can pray for all the saints when we ask the Lord to bless his church in a general way. We certainly should pray for the saints we know, and even praying for them takes quite a lot of time, so perseverance is essential. 

 

Paul wanted others to pray for him, and he requested prayer that he would be a good witness to the gospel. He may have had in mind an appearance in court in Rome, or he may have been referring to occasions when he could announce the gospel to those he met. His concern was that he would be bold and clear on such occasions. He asked for prayer from his friends, and so can we.

Three essential helps (Ephesians 6:16-17)

Regarding the three previous pieces of armour, Paul had described the readers as ‘having on’ already — in other words, believers always know the truth of the gospel, are always justified through the righteousness of Jesus and always are reconciled with God. Concerning the next three pieces, Paul says to ‘take them up’, which means that they are available. We are to take them up in all circumstances.

 

The first item is the shield, which Paul says depicts faith. A Roman soldier’s faith was made of leather or some other hide, and was doused with water to extinguish any fiery arrows that were fired at him. The shield was flexible in that it could be used against all directions. Faith in Jesus is like that and flexes itself by his promises which we are to use to put out any fiery accusations or temptations that the devil uses. 

 

The second piece is the helmet of salvation. A helmet protected the brain and the eyes. The spiritual equivalent is the mind and the vision, and they are protected by focussing on the contents of salvation. Salvation in its fullest sense is past, present and future. With spiritual vision, we can look back to the cross, or up to the throne, or ahead to the resurrection. We need to focus on those aspects when under attack.

 

The third piece is the sword, and Paul says that its equivalent is the word of God, which was inspired by the Holy Spirit. The term translated ‘word’ indicates it is a spoken word such as a verse rather than the entire Bible. Paul is indicating that we should know the Bible well enough to cite it in the midst of a spiritual attack. Citing it would not only encourage ourselves but other Christian soldiers near us.

 

Those three pieces – the shield, the helmet and the sword – were always close at hand so that the soldier could grab them immediately. Their equivalents – faith, salvation and the inspired word – should be so close to us, even in our minds and hearts, available for immediate use.

Three unchanging items (Ephesians 6:14-15)

The six items of armour are divided into two groups of three. The first three are identified by the words ‘having on’ and the second three by the words ‘take up’. Those described by ‘having on’ are the belt, the breastplate and the shoes.

 

The soldier’s belt was used to tie up his clothes before he used the other pieces of armour. Paul says that the belt is like truth. Truth is what is basic to Christians. They know who God is and what his salvation is, and they discovered that truth through the gospel. It is impossible to fight against the enemy if we we don’t know the truth revealed in the gospel. We cannot put on the other pieces of armour without knowing this truth.

 

The next item put on by a soldier was the breastplate. Paul says that the breastplate depicts righteousness. What happens first to a sinner who believes the gospel and trust in Jesus? That sinner is given the righteousness of Jesus as his standing before God. Like the truth of the gospel, this piece of armour is unchanging. Once it is put on, it cannot be taken off.

 

The third item is the shoes or sandals that a soldier wore. Those sandals had grooves on them that made the soldier ready for standing firm. Paul says that this readiness depicts the possession of peace that Christians have. He has in mind the blessing of reconciliation with God.

Those three pieces of armour describe three permanent features of true believers. They know the truth of the gospel, they wear the righteousness of Christ, and they are reconciled to God. Those blessings are priceless as well as permanent. But do they guarantee victory over the enemy? According to Paul, they don’t. Having them on is not enough. They have to take up three other pieces, and we will think about them tomorrow. 

Meanwhile we should check that we have on the first three pieces – the belt of truth, the breastplate of righteousness, and the shoes of peace.

Our spiritual foes (Ephesians 6:10-13)

Paul reminds the believers in Ephesus to be strong in the Lord. How would they do so? By putting on the whole armour of God, and not merely part of it. It is his free gift to his people, but one which they are responsible to utilise. Not using each aspect will result in spiritual defeat.

 

Why do they need the armour? Because of the strength of their diabolical enemies who will attack them. The armour is not provided, in Paul’s description, for advance but for resistance. Believers have been given a place of spiritual privileges and have before them a life of spiritual blessings. The devil will aim to move them from that place, and their task is to remain where God has placed them by standing immovable.

 

What will be the devil’s strategy? He will use schemes, wily schemes. He is smarter than believers and knows how to tempt each one of them. Because they are different, they may not experience the same temptations, but they all need the same armour. They may imagine that their temptations are unique, but the response is not; the response must always be the same — put the armour on beforehand.

 

The enemy is organised (Paul uses various levels of authority to describe the powers ranged against the church). The conflict is very personal, likened to wrestling; it is close up at times, and one of the combatants will be thrown to the ground. The Christian will fall if he or she does not have the armour on.

 

The location of the warfare is described as the heavenly places. This term only occurs in Ephesians and Paul uses it in five places. One of them is Ephesians 1:3 where Paul says that it is the location of spiritual blessings. The devil’s aim today is to get you, if you are a believer, not to live up to your spiritual privileges and responsibilities. So stand!

Bondservants and Masters (Ephesians 6:5-9)

Christians have to live within the cultures where they live. Local customs and expectations will affect them to some extent. When we look at the first century situation, we see such an example caused by the existence of slavery. This is not a feature of our society, but it still exists in many parts of the world. Paul knew that that the gospel affected both slaves and masters.

It was common for slaves to disrespect their owners and perform their tasks in a grudging way. We should not be surprised at this because many owners were cruel. Yet there was not very much that could be done about it except for a change of attitude caused by the gospel. Until that social relationship ceased with the passing of time, Christian masters and slaves would have to live within it in a Christian manner.

Slaves were instructed by Paul to remember that primarily they were serving Christ and that if they did so in their households he would give them a great reward. Their contribution was to be done by recognising the authority of their masters and to be performed sincerely without ulterior motives. Of course, that is how a Christian should do any task. While Christian employees are not slaves today, they are primarily serving Christ where they work, and he looks at their hearts and motives in what they do. But today they should not put up with cruel treatment because our society forbids such actions.

Christian masters also had to oversee their slaves in a Christlike way. We may wonder if they should have merely set them free. If that was possible, they should have. But in many circumstances, it would have been cruel to do so because there would have been nowhere for liberated slaves to go, especially as many of them would have been married to slaves and have children to care for. It was better for them if their master acted like Jesus would have done and provided necessary care for them. After all, the master too would be judged by Jesus for how he treated those slaves who were his brothers and sisters in the family of God.

This set of verses is a reminder that the gospel confronts many of the systemic arrangements within a culture. We are familiar with how this happened in the history of our country when the implications of the gospel were worked out in society and provided greater natural freedoms as well as spiritual blessings. But we would be foolish to imagine that all systemic evils have been removed, and we should pray for Christians, even in our society, who find themselves within such sinful confinements, whatever they are.

Children and Parents (Ephesians 6:1-4)

Three important details about children of Christians can be seen in this passage. The first is that the children were present in the church services when this letter from Paul was read to the congregation. The apostle expected that they would be there, and that they would have listened to all that he had said previously in the letter.

The second detail is that Paul regarded the children as being in the Lord. How could he do this since he had not seen the congregation for several years and would not know their personal relationship to Jesus? Paul could use this description because the children had been baptised. Baptism brings children into the visible church (there is no other way of entrance). Being in the visible church is a great blessing because those in it are within touching distance (by faith) of all the spiritual blessings the Lord has to give. 

The third detail is that Paul in the New Testament era expected children of believers to obey the ten commandments and reminded them here that it was their duty to obey them, especially the one that addressed them directly. The fifth commandment contains a promise of divine help (that it would go well with them) and longterm blessing in their lives.

 

There is another important detail in the section which is a reminder to parents not to make unrealistic demands of their children. The father is addressed directly because the responsibility to ensure that does not happen is mainly his. Parents have no authority in a religious sense to demand of their children what God has not required. Instead, parents should follow the range of instruction that God has revealed in his Word. And there is ample there for both parents and children to profit from. This is what parents promise to do at the baptism of their children.

The work of Jesus (Ephesians 5:25-33)

In this set of verses about husbands and wives, Paul mentions several actions that Jesus did or does for his people. First, Paul says that Jesus loved the church and elsewhere in the Bible we are told that his love for them was eternal, without beginning. It is hard for us to grasp something that had no beginning, but that is what the love of Jesus is. And it will have no end.

Second, Jesus gave himself for the church when he was on the cross. He voluntarily offered himself as an atoning sacrifice to pay the penalty for their sins. No one is able to estimate what the degree of punishment was. The punishment of a lost eternity is the only comparison we can make with the penalty that Jesus paid. Paying it brought great distress to Jesus, but he never ceased to love his people through it all.

 

Third, the purpose that Jesus had for those he redeemed was their sanctification. This sanctification has three aspects. When sinners trust in Jesus, they are set apart to God and become saints. Then throughout the rest of life they become increasingly like him (the means he uses for this ongoing change is his Word, which not only brings them to him through the gospel but also shows them how to live for his pleasure). The third aspect of sanctification is also called glorification (in splendour) and it will occur at his second coming when they will completely holy, without a stain on any of them.

 

Fourth, Jesus nourishes and cherishes his church. He does this every day for each of them while they are in this world. They need constant provision, which he provides in a loving manner. He does this through the work of the Holy Spirit, who takes of the things of Christ and reveals those things to his people. In this way, their spiritual needs are constantly met.

Wives and husbands (Ephesians 5:22-33)

A word that is unpopular today is submission. Yet a person cannot be a Christian without submission because it is basic for Christians to acknowledge the Lordship of Jesus. His lordship is comprehensive in that it covers every area of life. There is nothing in our lives that is beyond his authority. Obedience to him is not limited to external conformity but must flow from a heart that is delighted to obey him. It is not surprising that Christians want to obey him because he was prepared to give his life for them. Dedication to him is an inevitable consequence of gratitude to him for providing salvation.

Obedience to him results in Christlikeness. In every area of life, his people model who he is and what he is doing. They do this not only as individuals but also in all their relationships, including that of marriage. The primary aspect that onlookers should observe is that a Christian couple illustrate who Jesus is and what he is doing.

What is a wife called to illustrate? By submitting to her husband in a comprehensive way she illustrates how the church submits to Christ. This does not mean that she is losing out because her husband, by his life, has to illustrate in a comprehensive and sacrificial way what Jesus has done and is doing for the church. In everything that they do together, this twofold path of opportunity and blessing occurs. She illustrates the ideal church and he illustrates the ideal Saviour. Both of them have to give their all to fulfilling this God-given opportunity. 

It is inevitable that each of them will fail to some extent. The wife will not always be submissive and the husband will not always be sacrificial in his displays of loving care. When that happens, they should both be glad that each of them has a perfect Saviour who lived a perfect life as their righteousness and died an atoning death to pay the penalty their sin incurred.

Understanding the will of God (Ephesians 5:15-21)

Many Christians are devoted to the will of God and others are fixated about the possibility of having missed out on discovering it because they imagine that there is something secretive about it. ‘What is the will of God for my life?’ they wonder. While God may call them to a special place of service, he does not usually indicate its location by odd means. Rather he burdens them about it, but only after they engage in obeying his instructions about obedience that he has stated clearly in his Word.

This set of verses have been used frequently in arguments over what should take place in public worship. Yet the context is not public worship, but everyday life. Paul informs his readers about the need for them to redeem the time and then he tells them how they can do so. 

 

They need to redeem the time because the days are evil. That was true in his day, and it is true in our day. He did not want them to go with the flow in the first century, or with the flow in any century. The way to go against the flow is to understand the will of the Lord.

 

One of the features of life at that time was drunkenness. A drunk person has lost control of his or her senses. Christians are called by God to be different and instead of being controlled by wine they were to be controlled by the Holy Spirit (that is what filled with the Spirit means).

 

How do we know if a person is filled with the Spirit? By what they say and sing. In some ways, that is sort of similar to drunk people (who often say and sing something, except usually their contribution is nonsensical). The Holy Spirit wants his people to speak and sing about spiritual matters.

 

Where will they find the topics to speak and sing about? Paul tells them in verse 19 in what he calls ‘psalms and hymns and spiritual songs’. Despite much ingenuity in trying to say otherwise, that phrase is a description of the content of the Book of Psalms where these words are found in the titles of the items included within it. Moreover, the word ‘spiritual’ covers not only the word ‘songs’ but also the psalms and the hymns in the phrase. The point that Paul is making is that using those items as we redeem the time is evidence of the filling of the Spirit.

 

For example, if instead of saying as we meet that it is a nice day or that Boris is doing this or Nicola is doing that, we said ‘the Lord is my shepherd’. Or ‘blessed is the one whose sin is covered’. Paul makes very clear that the Book of Psalms contain ideal conversation starters and themes for discussion and doxology. He also says that doing so enables a praising heart marked by comprehensive gratitude. It also leads to putting other people first, or as Paul puts it, ‘submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ.’

Light living (Ephesians 5:1-14)

Paul has reminded his readers that they should be like their Father who is kind, tenderhearted and forgiving. The way for them to do this is to live as Jesus did when he offered himself as an acceptable sacrifice to God on the cross, revealing the extent of his life of devotion. What will such a life look like for a Christian?

Ephesus was well-known for the temple of Artemis, one of the seven wonders of the ancient world. Its architectural features revealed great human skill, but it was basically a location of immorality and greed. Sadly, its practices influenced the outlook of the citizens (as did every location with a pagan temple), and the outlook was revealed in the contents of everyday conversation. People who speak in such a way do not belong to the kingdom of God; instead they are facing the prospect of the wrath of God. Such a lifestyle is evidence that they belong to the realm of darkness, where all the members are marked as disobedient to God (vv. 3-6).

 

Christians are no longer in the realm of darkness. Through believing in Jesus, they became united to him and are now in the kingdom of light. Membership of this kingdom demands an opposite way of life to those in the kingdom of darkness. Evidence of belonging to this kingdom will be seen in behaviour and in speech, in what they do and in what they say. This evidence is obvious because light cannot be hidden (vv. 7-14). 

 

Such righteous behaviour and pure conversation are effective features of Christian witness. It is impossible for those in the kingdom of darkness not to observe the difference between them and those in the light. They may not realise initially that it is Jesus who makes the difference by shining in and through his people, but when they have been told by those who have experienced his grace, they also can discover that he is the Light of the world. It is really important and crucial for us to walk as children of light because there is no other way to witness for Jesus.

What does holiness look like? (Ephesians 4:25-32)

In order to be holy, Christians must practice what is called mortification of sins (that means to deny their sins any opportunity to show themselves). Usually, this process involves replacing a sinful practice with its righteous opposite. Paul mentions several such practices in this passage.

Instead of lies, they have to speak truth to one another. Whenever they are angry, they must not have sinful anger because wrong anger opens a door for the devil to work. Thieving was common in society, especially at the level of pilfering for one’s own benefit, but Christians are instead to engage in honest work in order to benefit others. In a conversation, only edifying topics should be discussed by them.

 

If the believers fail to replace those wrong attitudes and actions, they will grieve the Holy Spirit. His presence in their hearts is a sign that God has changed them. But when they sin, he will withdraw the comforting sense of his presence, and that will continue until they repent. It is a serious matter not to be aware of the sanctifying influences of the Holy Spirit. His aim is to give to them assurance of their final redemption, but he will not do so if they choose to engage in sinful behaviour.

 

A believer who is making progress in holiness puts sinful attitudes and words away from him. The Holy Spirit will give them the power to do so, but they have to use that power not only to get rid of such noxious sins, but also to replace them with beautiful expressions of divine grace by which they become like the kind, tenderhearted, forgiving God who sent Jesus to be the Saviour.

 

Are we putting sins off today and replacing them with holy features, or are we allowing sinful thoughts, words and actions to strengthen their grip on our minds and hearts? It is not hard to work out the direction in which we are going.

Christians are different (Ephesians 4:17-24)

Paul reminds the Christians in Ephesus that they must live very differently from the people around them. The big difference between Christians and others is found in their minds, in what they know, in the ways that they have been enlightened. This reference to their minds is not connected to their intelligence levels.

The thinking of the Gentiles was dark in a spiritual sense because they did not know God. This ignorance was wilful, caused by the hardness of their hearts. The outcome was that they became so hardened that they delighted to engage in every kind of sin. Most sinful practices at that time were connected to pagan worship, which encouraged immorality. Such a lifestyle was to be eschewed by Christians. 

 

In contrast, they had been enlightened about Jesus the Saviour. His death and resurrection have made it possible for sinners to live a holy life, one that is very different from how the Gentiles behave. The Holy Spirit has renewed them and given to them what Paul calls ‘the new self’. The new self is a new creation in which they become increasingly like God himself.

 

How can we tell if we are becoming like God? All we need to do is ask ourselves if we want to live a holy life. No Christian can be perfectly holy in this life, but they should be increasing in holiness, especially in inner dedication to the God who has made them spiritually alive. We should check often if holiness of life is our aim.

People with roles (Eph. 4:11-14)

In these verses, Paul mentions four gifts: apostles, prophets, evangelists and shepherds and teachers. We might think that there are five, but you will observe that the definite article is only used four times and does not appear before ‘teachers’. So shepherds and teachers describe one role.

When we think of the roles mentioned here, we have to understand them in their original meaning and not how they are used today. An apostle is easy to identify – he was a person chosen by Jesus to serve at the commencement of the church and who could speak authoritatively on his behalf.

 

Prophets were individuals who spoke under divine inspiration, although their words had to be assessed (as in the case of Agabus who informed Paul that he would be arrested, and therefore should not go to Jerusalem. Paul believed he would be arrested, but he did not agree that he should not go to Jerusalem).

 

Evangelists today are preachers who take the gospel to the unconverted, but it is not clear that is what is meant by the term in the New Testament. Two people are described by this word – Philip (Acts 21:8) and Timothy (2 Tim. 4:5). Those references don’t say much about the particular activity, except that we can deduce from them that both individuals were companions of the apostles.

 

The fourth role, that of shepherds and teachers, is a reference to those we call pastors and ministers, and divides their role into caring and instruction, with a lot of the caring being provided through their instruction they give about the Bible. What is the outcome?

 

First, God’s people are equipped for the work of ministry. We should note that ‘the work of ministry’ refers to what non-pastors do and not what the pastors do. This refers to various aspects of Christian living. Second, the body of Christ, the church, develops or grows. Obviously this is a description of progressive sanctification, that believers increase in their service of God.

 

An amazing feature of this activity is that it is occurring in thousands of places throughout the world today. We have no idea how many shepherds there are and we have no idea about the overall number of sheep. Yet the process is taking place despite all the problems. One day, the unity will arrive.

Growing Together (Ephesians 4:7-16)

It is important when thinking about biblical truth to remember that it usually involves other people in addition to ourselves. Paul here is explaining the unity of the church, a unity that will not be realised fully until Jesus returns. So it is not something that will occur in our lifetime unless we happen to be part of the final generation. He wants his readers to bear that future reality in mind. Yet we have to ask what we should do as the church before its final state appears. Because, after all, we live in a world of spiritual problems. So here are two details to consider and bear in mind.

First, there is the divine provision of grace. Paul continues his explanation of the unity of the church and what the bases are for it. He reminds his readers that every Christian can and should contribute to this unity because each has received grace through Christ’s gift. The apostle knows that there are different types of believers, but we should remember that each has received grace from Christ, whoever they are. Grace has different meanings depending on what a writer means by it. The meaning of grace here seems to be connected to the gifts that Paul mentions.

 

Second, Jesus has fulfilled some prophecies already. In order to appreciate any situation as believers, we should remind ourselves where Jesus is and what he is doing. Paul does this here when he applies some verses of Psalm 68 to the ascension of Jesus. Initially, the verses describe the campaign of Israel from Sinai to Zion, and the psalm may have been written to celebrate the arrival of the ark of the covenant at Mount Zion. A greater fulfilment of the psalm occurred in the journey of Jesus to heaven. The ascension was the reward of a battle that Jesus fought (he defeated the powers of darkness and made them his captives) and now he shows his complete victory by giving gifts to his people.

 

Paul then says that the aim of Jesus since his ascension is to ‘fill all things’. This description in the context indicates at least two things. First, the completed filling has not happened yet and, second, the completed filling will have something to do with the final unity of God’s people. So Jesus is engaged in a process that will bring about a definite result. After all, if everything is filled with the same thing, there must be unity; and if everything is filled with good things, then it will be a wonderful unity.

The unity of the Trinity (Ephesians 4:3-6)

Paul reminds his readers that unity is an important feature of the Triune God. In addition to mentioning the word ‘one’ seven times, he mentions two matters of unity when he refers to each of the divine persons. Maybe this description of God was a kind of memory statement that Christians used at that time. Whether it was or not, we can see that unity is prominent in how God works.

Paul first mentions unity and the Holy Spirit and in this connection he says that Christians belong to one body and have one hope. The body he has in mind is the church and what holds it together, enabling it to function, is the Holy Spirit who empowers God’s people to do his will. The essential life of the body is clearly an incentive to unity. Just as when something is wrong with one part of the physical body, it affects the whole, so when one member of the body of Christ is not what he or she should be, it affects others in the body, particularly in a local gathering of believers. 

 

Paul also mentions the one hope that Christians share, and that hope is the second coming of Jesus. The apostle’s concern here is not the unchanging reality of the hope but the effect it has on how a Christian lives in the present. Nothing a Christian does can affect the certainty of the hope, but wrong actions can diminish and even remove the enjoyment of the hope day by day. Expressions of disunity inevitably have this effect because the Spirit is grieved and does not provide inner assurances of the glory to come.

 

The second divine Person that Paul mentions is Jesus and states the obvious feature that he is the Lord of his church. Connected to Jesus, according to Paul here, is the one faith and the one baptism. We have to decide whether faith here refers to the act of believing or to the doctrines one believes. Both options could be connected to baptism, so asking what it signifies may not help. Probably it includes both ideas because the idea that one can have a merely intellectual belief in particular doctrines is not suggested in the Bible as a help to true unity. 

 

The reference to baptism reminds us that baptism is connected to authentic discipleship. In the Great Commission, Jesus stated that disciples should be baptised and taught the various teachings that he had passed on to the apostles. Of course, the point here is that there was only one form of Christian baptism at that time and anyone who became a Christian had been baptised. The question about baptism would not have focussed on how much water was used, but in what name, and normally the name would be that of the Trinity.

 

The third divine Person is the Father. Paul points out that he is the Father of all his people, that he is transcendent, far above all, yet involved in all, and in all his people. The point is that the exalted Father does not omit any of his people from his blessing. He recognises and blesses the people he has joined together. Moreover he works out his purpose through all of them, despising none of them, and is delighted to live in the hearts of all.

 

Since the Trinity express unity, it is ridiculous as well as sinful for Christians not to do so as well.

 

The path and process of Christian Unity (Ephesians 4:1-3)

Paul now begins the practical section of his letter and he does so by highlighting the importance of unity. In verses 1-3, he describes what we could call the path of unity and in verses 4-6 he refers to nine aspects of unity, divided into three sets, with each member of the Trinity connected to a different set. By this method, Paul indicates that unity is possible and that it reflects the Trinity in action.

 

The first point to note is that Paul does not ask his readers to create unity, but to maintain it. The unity, which he calls the unity of the Spirit, was created when peace was made between them and God. As we have seen in earlier readings, this unity was created when Jesus came and preached peace to them through his servants, and they were converted. This means that any expression of practical disunity is a denial of the unity created by the gospel of peace.

 

The second point to note is that unity is progressive – we can see that this is the case from the apostle’s use of the word ‘walk’ in verse 1. Paul points out that their behaviour must be in line with their high calling to be God’s people. The calling they had received was based entirely on God’s grace. They had not deserved it, and that detail should never be forgotten. 

 

Not only was it undeserved, the calling was unparalleled with any other because they had been called to be God’s special people, members of his family. Moreover, this calling was unending – they are God’s people forever. He has no intention of annulling the unity he has created when forming his people.

 

The third point to note is that there will be tensions that will work against this unity. If there were no tensions, then Paul would not have to urge them to maintain the unity. Without tensions, the unity would occur. In heaven, no one needs to be urged to maintain the unity, it just happens. The threats to the unity will come from the sin that remains in Christians, and the history of every church will show how this has taken place frequently.

 

The fourth point to note is that unity is maintained by correct attitudes. Paul mentions five essential attitudes – humility, gentleness, patience, bearing with others lovingly, and eagerness. It is not difficult to see how they contribute to unity. One way to see the need of them is to consider what their opposites are. The opposite of humility is thinking too highly of oneself, the opposite of gentleness is aggression, the opposite of patience is intolerance, the opposite of bearing with love is indifference, and the opposite of eagerness is disinterest. 

 

We can say that a proud, aggressive, intolerant, indifferent and disinterested person contributes nothing to church unity. All of those things are matters of the heart and if they are present to any degree they disrupt unity. We may say that no Christian will have them present strongly in his or her life, but that is not Paul’s point. His point is that their presence in any degree will cause problems with unity. Instead, God’s people should be marked by the positive features of humility, gentleness, patience, love and eagerness.

Where is the Father glorified? (Ephesians 3:20-21)

Paul mentions two places where he desires that the Father will be glorified. One is the church and the other is Christ Jesus. How is the Father glorified in the church? Many answers could be given to that question, and here are some.

 

The Father, who chose his people before the world began, is gloried when they are converted, and he will be glorified when the number is completed. The Father is glorified as sinners become Christlike, remade in the image of his Son. The Father is glorified as believers are enabled to overcome indwelling sin and the devil. The Father is glorified when the answers he gives to prayer are accomplished.

 

How is the Father glorified in the Son? The Father is glorified in his Son as he fulfils his role as Mediator. In John 17:1, Jesus prayed: ‘Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son that the Son may glorify you…’ In verse 4, he says to the Father, ‘I have glorified you on earth, having accomplished the work that you gave me to do.’ The immediate context is the cross, and Jesus by his achievements on the cross brought glory to the Father. But his bringing glory to the Father did not cease at Calvary or with the resurrection. He ascended to heaven with the aim of bringing glory to the Father. How is he doing that today?

 

One way in which he does it is by building his church. Human analogies don’t always work, but we could say with regard to the church that the Father is the architect and Jesus is the builder (as well as the cornerstone). He seeks for lost sinners until he finds them, and each time he does he brings glory to the Father.

 

Once he finds them, Jesus fulfils the roles of prophet, priest and king in regard to each of them. He does this by the Holy Spirit. We are taught by him, we are strengthened by him, we are protected by him. In those three roles, he does other activities as well. For him, it is a constant activity and he always brings glory to the Father.

 

A third way in which Jesus works as the Mediator is by bringing residents to the Father’s house. His people enter heaven at the close of their lives on earth. The Father is glorified as his house becomes inhabited by the perfected spirits of the just.

 

Jesus will bring great glory to the Father when he delivers up the kingdom to God. Recall Paul’s words in 1 Corinthians 15:24: ‘Then comes the end, when he delivers the kingdom to God the Father after destroying every rule and every authority and power.’ At the second coming it will be seen how much Jesus has done to bring great glory to the Father. And after that, in the eternal ages, even as Paul indicates here in our text, Jesus will bring glory to the Father, and in ways beyond our comprehension now his people will be involved in the providing of glory to the Father. 

 

All we can say is that we have a very high calling.

 

Praising God (Ephesians 3:20-21)

It is obvious that this doxology by Paul marks a break in this letter. So far, Paul has been focussing on various doctrines; now he comes to focus on practical issues, although we should not imagine that he does not include doctrines in the second half of his letter.

 

Many people confuse a doxology with a benediction. At a basic level, a doxology is something we say to God and a benediction is something that is said to us by a divine spokesperson. A doxology is a set of words that describes one or more of the divine attributes and it can be said to the three persons of the Trinity or to one of the three Persons.

 

The divine Person who is praised here is God the Father. Yet the other two persons are also mentioned. The Holy Spirit is ‘the power at work within us’ and Jesus is mentioned as bringing glory to the Father. So we have here an example of when we think of the one Person, we also think of the three Persons in their different roles.

 

The Father is addressed in his role as the answerer of prayer. I suppose that one question that may come to mind when we pray is this: ‘How keen is the Father to answer our prayers?’ Another question that may arise is, ‘How capable is the Father of answering our prayers?’ Both questions are answered by Paul’s statement that the Father can do far more than we can ask or think.

 

The Father is also spoken to as the One who receives glory. To receive glory is to be given the highest praise possible. We would not be surprised to be told that the angels glorified God when they saw his work of creation. After all, all of them together could not create anything, but they saw their God create millions and millions of things in his creation.

 

When we think of his ability to answer prayer, we should note what Paul says about it. He points out that God can do abundantly more than Paul could ask or think about. We know that Paul had great thoughts of God, yet even his best thoughts fell short of how great God is. Paul prayed for many amazing things, even as expressed in his prayer in Ephesians 3:13-18, but God can do more than that.

 

Paul also says that God could do much more than the combined prayers and anticipations of the Ephesians and Paul put together. We don’t know what the Ephesians would have prayed for, but however big their combined prayers, God was bigger and able to answer them abundantly.