The Early Church · c. AD 60–62
Chapter 34
One Body
Now to him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us,to him be the glory in the assembly and in Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen.
For parents
Paul speaks of lust, sexual sin, impurity and greed (Ephesians 4:19; 5:3–5), plainly and without detail. Ephesians 5:21–6:9 gives the letter’s household rules for wives and husbands, children and fathers, and servants and masters (servants and masters in 6:5–9); they are told as the letter gives them, without comment.
“, an of Jesus through the will of God, to the who are at , and the faithful in Christ Jesus.” So Paul begins a letter he writes as a prisoner. He calls himself “the prisoner of Christ Jesus on behalf of you ” and “an in chains,” and at the end he tells them that he has sent to them.
“ to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and without defect before him in love, having predestined us for adoption as children through Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his desire, to the praise of the glory of his grace, by which he freely gave us favor in the Beloved.
“In him we have our redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace which he made to abound toward us in all wisdom and prudence, making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure which he purposed in him to an administration of the fullness of the times, to sum up all things in Christ, the things in the heavens and the things on the earth, in him.
“We were also assigned an inheritance in him, having been foreordained according to the purpose of him who does all things after the counsel of his will, to the end that we should be to the praise of his glory, we who had before hoped in Christ. In him you also, having heard the word of the truth, the Good News of your salvation—in whom, having also believed, you were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is a pledge of our inheritance, to the redemption of God’s own possession, to the praise of his glory.”
“That is why I also keep on giving thanks for you,” Paul writes, “naming you in my prayers, since I heard of the faith in the Lord Jesus that is among you and the love you have for all the saints. My prayer is that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you a spirit of wisdom and revelation in knowing him.
“I pray that, with light given to the eyes of your hearts, you may know what the hope of his calling is, how rich and glorious his inheritance in the saints is, and how great his power is toward us who believe: great beyond all measure.
“This power is in keeping with the working of his mighty strength. He worked it in Christ when he raised him from the dead and made him sit at his right hand in the heavenly places, high above all rule, authority, power, dominion, and every name that is named, in this age and also in the age that is coming.
“He made all things subject to him, putting them under his feet, and gave him to be head over all things for the , which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all.”
“You were made alive,” Paul writes, “when you were dead in your wrongs and sins. You once lived in them, going along with the way of this world and with the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in those who disobey.
“We also all once lived among them in the desires of our flesh, doing what the flesh and the mind wanted, and by nature we were children of wrath, just like the rest.
“But God is rich in mercy, and he loved us with such a great love that even when we were dead through our wrongs, he made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved—and raised us up with him, and made us sit with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus. He did this to show, in the ages to come, the riches of his grace, beyond all measure, in his kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.
“For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, that no one would boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared before that we would walk in them.”
“So remember,” Paul writes, “that once you, the Gentiles in the flesh, were called ‘the ’ by the people called ‘the circumcised’ (a circumcision in the flesh, made by hands). Remember that in those days you were separate from Christ, shut out from the nation of Israel, strangers to the of the promise, with no hope and without God in the world.
“But now, in Christ Jesus, you who once were far off are brought near in the blood of Christ, because he is our peace. He made the two one, and broke down the wall that stood in the middle and divided them. In his flesh he did away with the hostility, the law of commandments set out in rules. He did this to create in himself one new man out of the two, making peace, and to them both in one body to God through the cross. By the cross he put the hostility to death.
“He came and preached peace to you who were far off and to those who were near, because through him, in one Spirit, we both have a way to come to the Father.
“So then you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints, and you belong to God’s household. You have been built on the foundation of the apostles and , and Christ Jesus himself is the chief . The whole building, fitted together in him, grows into a holy temple in the Lord, and you also are built together in him into a home for God in the Spirit.”
“For this reason I, Paul, am the prisoner of Christ Jesus on behalf of you Gentiles. I suppose you have heard of the grace of God that was given me to manage for you: how by revelation the mystery was made known to me, as I wrote before in a few words. When you read what I wrote, you can see how I understand the mystery of Christ.
“In other generations it was not made known to the human race as it has now been revealed to his holy apostles and prophets in the Spirit: that the Gentiles are and fellow members of the body, and share together in his promise in Christ Jesus through the Good News. I was made a servant of it, in keeping with the gift of the grace of God that was given me as his power was at work.
“This grace was given to me, the very least of all saints: to preach to the Gentiles the riches of Christ, riches past all searching out, and to make everyone see how the mystery is carried out, the mystery that for ages has been hidden in God, who created all things through Jesus Christ.
“The intent was that now, through the assembly, the many-sided wisdom of God might be made known to the and the powers in the heavenly places, in keeping with the eternal purpose which he accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord. In him we have boldness, and we may come near with confidence, through our faith in him. And so I ask you not to lose heart over my troubles for you; they are your glory.
“For this reason I kneel before the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named. My prayer is that, out of the riches of his glory, he would make you strong with power through his Spirit in the inner person, that Christ may live in your hearts through faith. Then you, rooted and grounded in love, may be made strong to understand, with all the saints, what the width and length and height and depth are, and to know Christ’s love, which surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.
“Now to him who is able to do vastly more than all that we ask or think, by the power that works in us, to him be the glory in the assembly and in Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. .”
“So I, the prisoner in the Lord,” Paul writes, “beg you to live in a way worthy of the calling you have received. Be humble and lowly in every way, and patient. Put up with one another in love, and be eager to keep the unity of the Spirit, held together by peace.
“There is one body and one Spirit, as you also were called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one ; one God and Father of all, who is over all, and through all, and in us all.
“But to each one of us the grace was given by the measure of Christ’s gift. That is why he says, ‘When he went up on high, he led captivity captive, and gave gifts to people.’
“Now this ‘he went up’: what does it mean, if not that he also first came down into the lower parts of the earth? He who came down is the very one who also went up far above all the heavens, that he might fill all things.
“He gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be , and some to be shepherds and teachers, for making the saints complete, toward the work of serving, toward the building up of the body of Christ, until we all arrive at the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, and become a full-grown man, reaching the measure of Christ’s full stature. This is so that we may no longer be children, thrown back and forth and carried about by every wind of teaching, by the tricks of people, by their cunning in the schemes of error. Instead, speaking the truth in love, we may grow up in all things into him who is the head, Christ. The whole body is fitted and knit together through what every joint supplies. From him, as each part works in its own measure, the body grows and builds itself up in love.”
“So I say this, and declare it in the Lord,” Paul writes: “you are no longer to live as the rest of the Gentiles live, in the emptiness of their minds. Their understanding is darkened. They are shut out from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, because their hearts have grown hard. They grew numb and gave themselves up to lust, to do every impure thing with greed.
“But that isn’t how you learned Christ, if indeed you heard him and were taught in him, even as truth is in Jesus. You were taught to put away your old self, the self of your former way of life, which keeps going bad through desires that deceive. You were taught to be made new in the spirit of your mind, and to put on the new self, created in the likeness of God, in the righteousness and holiness of the truth.
“So put away lies, and each of you tell your neighbor the truth, for we are members of one another. ‘Be angry, and don’t sin.’ Don’t let the sun set on your anger, and don’t make room for the .
“The one who stole must steal no more. Instead, he must work hard, making something good with his hands, so that he may have something to give to anyone in need. Don’t let any rotten words come out of your mouth, but only what is good for building others up when it is needed, so that it may give grace to those who hear.
“Don’t grieve the of God, in whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Put away all bitterness, fury, anger, yelling, and slander, along with all spite. And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving each other, just as God also in Christ forgave you.”
“So imitate God,” Paul writes, “as much-loved children. Live in love, even as Christ also loved us and gave himself up for us, an offering and a to God, a sweet-smelling fragrance.
“But sexual sin, and any impurity or greed, must not even be talked about among you, as is right for saints. And let there be no filthiness, no foolish talk, and no crude joking; these are out of place. Instead, give thanks. Know this for sure: no sexually immoral person, no impure person, and no greedy man (who is an worshiper) has any inheritance in the Kingdom of Christ and God.
“Don’t let anyone fool you with empty words. It is because of these things that God’s wrath comes on those who disobey. So have no part with them, because you were once darkness, but are now light in the Lord. Walk as children of light, because the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness and righteousness and truth. Find out by testing what pleases the Lord.
“Have no share in the deeds of darkness, which bear no fruit, but rather even rebuke them, because the things they do in secret are shameful even to speak of. But when anything is rebuked, the light makes it plain, because everything that makes things plain is light. That is why he says, ‘Wake up, you who sleep, and arise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.’
“So take great care how you live: not like the unwise, but like the wise, making good use of the time, because the days are evil. Don’t be foolish, then; understand what the Lord wants.
“Don’t get drunk with wine; that is wild, wasteful living. But be filled with the Spirit, speaking to one another in psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord, and giving thanks always for all things in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to God the Father, subjecting yourselves to one another in the fear of Christ.”
“Wives, be subject to your own husbands, as to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife, as Christ also is the head of the assembly, being himself the savior of the body. But as the assembly is subject to Christ, so let the wives also be to their own husbands in everything.
“Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the assembly and gave himself up for her, that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, that he might present the assembly to himself gloriously, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she should be holy and without defect.
“Even so husbands also ought to love their own wives as their own bodies. He who loves his own wife loves himself. For no man ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, even as the Lord also does the assembly, because we are members of his body, of his flesh and bones. ‘For this cause a man will leave his father and mother and will be joined to his wife. Then the two will become one flesh.’ This mystery is great, but I speak concerning Christ and the assembly. Nevertheless each of you must also love his own wife even as himself; and let the wife see that she respects her husband.
“Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. ‘Honor your father and mother’: that is the first commandment with a promise, ‘that it may be well with you, and you may live long on the earth.’
“You fathers, don’t stir up your children to anger, but raise them in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.
“Servants, obey those who are your masters in this world, with fear and trembling, with undivided hearts, as to Christ. Don’t serve only when eyes are on you, just to please people, but as servants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart. Serve with good will, as serving the Lord and not people, knowing that whatever good thing each one does, he will receive the same good again from the Lord, whether he is a slave or free.
“You masters, do the same for them, and give up threatening, knowing that he who is both their Master and yours is in heaven, and he does not favor one person over another.”
“Finally,” Paul writes, “be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. Put on the whole armor of God, so you can stand against the tricks of the devil.
“We are not wrestling against flesh and blood, but against the principalities, against the powers, against the world’s rulers of the darkness of this age, and against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places. So put on the whole armor of God, so you can hold out in the evil day, and, when you have done everything, stand.
“So stand. Wear truth as a belt buckled around your waist, and put on righteousness as the breastplate that covers your chest. Fit your feet with the preparation of the Good News of peace. Above all, take up the shield of faith, with which you will be able to put out every fiery dart of the evil one. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.
“With all prayer and requests, pray at all times in the Spirit. Stay watchful for this, never letting up, and keep making requests for all the saints.
“Pray for me, that when I open my mouth, words may be given to me, so that I may boldly make known the mystery of the Good News. I am an ambassador in chains for it. Pray that in it I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak.
“Tychicus, the beloved brother and faithful servant in the Lord, will let you know everything, so that you also may know how things are with me and how I am doing. I have sent him to you for this very purpose, so that you may know what our situation is, and so that he may comfort your hearts.
“May the brothers and sisters have peace, and love with faith, from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Grace be with all those who love our Lord Jesus Christ with a love that cannot decay. Amen.”