Chapter 4

Ephesians: Chapters -1- -2- -3- -4- -5- -6-

Prior
<

<

<

4:1 Therefore, as one bound to the Lord, • I exhort you to walk worthily of the calling to which you were called, 2 with all humility, lowliness of mind, and gentleness with long-suffering, bearing with one another inside of love. • 3 Be quickly and eagerly diligent to watch over the unity of Spirit inside the bond, the connecting bands, of peace and rest. • 4 There is one body and one Spirit, just as also you were called inside of one hope of your calling, 5 one Lord, one faith, one immersion, 6 one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and INSIDE OF ALL.

• 7 But to each one of us has been given grace, according to the measure to each of the gift of Christ. 8 Therefore, he says, “Having ascended into the heights, He took captivity captive, and gave gifts to men” (Psalm 68:18). 9 Now this, “He ascended”—what does it mean except that He also descended into the lower portions of the earth? • 10 The One having descended is the same One who also ascended above all the heavens that He might fill all, that is, that He might make all complete by filling them to capacity with Himself [l].

• 11 And He Himself gave some apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some shepherds and teachers 12 towards the preparation of the devoted ones for the work of service, into the building up, the construction of the body of Christ, • 13 until we all come down to [l] the unity found in the faith and acknowledgement of the Son of God, into being a complete or perfect man, into the measurement of the maturity of the fullness or completion of Christ [that is, the Church], 14 that we might no longer be infants, being tossed by waves and being carried about by every wind of teaching, in the dice-playing trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting, • 15 BUT, speaking truth [the good things of Christ] inside of love, we should increase into Him in all things, who is the head and center, Christ— • 16 out from Whom the whole body, being joined together and being held together through every joint of its supply or provision, according to the energeia inside the sharing from every part, causes growth of the body into the construction of itself inside of love.

17 This I say, therefore, and testify in the Lord, that you no longer walk as the [unregenerate] peoples are walking, in the emptiness or futility of their minds, [m] 18 being darkened in their understanding, being alienated from the life of God through ignorance and through the hardness of their hearts, 19 who, having cast off all care, have given themselves to lawless insolence into the working of impurity in all desire for advantage over others.

20 You, however, have not learned this way in Christ, 21 if indeed you have heard Him and inside of Him have been taught, just as truth is inside of Jesus, • 22 that you have already set aside, concerning your former way of life, the old and worn out man, which is decaying according to deceitful and false desires, [n] • 23 and you are being renewed in the mind of your spirit. 24 You have already and actively put on and enclothed yourself with the new man, which according to God has already been created inside of the just innocence and devotion of truth.

• 25 Therefore, having already put off and set aside the false [story of an old self], “let each one speak truth together with his neighbor” (Zechariah 8:16) BECAUSE we are members of one another. 26 If you are angry, do not sin (Psalm 4:4 & 37:8), that is, do not let the sun set on your anger, 27 neither give place or opportunity to the devil [o]. 28 Let him who stole steal no longer, but rather let him toil productively, working with his own hands what is good that he might have something to impart to another who is in need. • 29 Do not speak unwholesome words, but rather speak good things towards building up or filling the needs of others, that your words might impart grace [God Himself] into those who are hearing you speak. • 30 And do not grieve the Devoted Spirit of God, inside of Whom you were sealed into the day of redemption and full release. 31 Let all bitterness, anger, and wrath, all speaking against and abusive language be lifted up from you, along with all underlying malice. • 32 And be kind with one another, tender-hearted, forgiving and giving favor to each other in the same way that God inside of Christ gave favor freely to you.

Gospel Comments	Notes
• Definition: The devil does not define God; God does not know evil. God is Love. The Devotion of God, coming out from His Desire, is the fierce expression of a Love that always places itself beneath to carry and lift up. To be like God is to Love, that is, to contain and to reveal a God who is Love. • Ruling Verse 2: To be filled with all of God, personally and together, is to be filled with a God who is meek and lowly of heart, who is gentle with longsuffering, who bears the load for others, a God who is Love, the “worth” of our calling. • Covenant: Jesus as the Covenant is the “treaty of peace” between us and God and us and one another, not as words to which we adhere, but as a living Bond inside. Jesus as our peace together then enables us to receive all of God. • Kingdom: The watch care of our stewardship is over God’s final opportunity to reveal Himself as He is through a House made ready for Him. We watch with care that each one knows Jesus as their only Life and Salvation, the sharing between them and others, for Father’s sake. Our care is the energeoing power of Jesus inside, able to fulfill every Gospel Word. • Definition: “Measure” and “capacity” carry the same meaning, that each member of God’s House is uniquely different from all others, each is carefully designed as they are by God, often for very different purposes. Grace is the giving of God, a Life that always flows to benefit others. We give only what God measures to us, and not what He measures to others. Yet the Energeia of Jesus fills each of us to the capacity of our form. • Ruling Verse 1: We are symmorphosed with the image of His Son, that means that we share form with Jesus and Jesus with us. Jesus sharing form with us, now upon this earth, is far higher than anything found in heaven. Our form is made complete inside all the Form that is Jesus, and Jesus fills each one of our forms with all of Himself to our full capacity. • The Form for God through Jesus: Nothing is more important to God, to us, and to all creation, than Father God at Home in the midst of our local gathering together as Love among us. For this all creation hopes, and over this, we watch with all care unceasingly. • Kingdom: God has an order for His Church. God and His order are the opposite of a hierarchy of control. God is Life and Life flows as Spirit Word up from the roots penetrated deeply into God-Love. This flow of Life through a “five-fold” ministry has one purpose, to ensure the free and pure sharing from every part (see Ephesians 4:16), that God might have His Home. • Definition: What is Christ? What is Salvation? What does it mean to be human? What is a “perfect” man? What is the Completion of Christ? Is the Jesus inside of us actually capable of accomplishing such a thing? The action of this verse is NOT “to attain,” but rather, “come down to.” The serpent teaches that to “become like Jesus” is to become something you are not, something “superior.” He lied. You are already like God; to know the completion of Jesus, you must come down to what God already made you to be, setting aside all notions of becoming something “better.” The completion of Christ is – Love one another as I love you. • Covenant & Kingdom: Jesus inside our hearts is the Covenant. That same Jesus, causing us to be just like Himself in Completion, as Love together, is the Kingdom. • Speak Christ: Speaking the truth of Christ our life into one another, inside of love, causes us to know that we together are the fulness of Christ in all things (see Ephesians 1:23). • Kingdom: The pattern of the flow of life and of giving from one to another inside each local gathering of Christ Community becomes the same pattern by which all creation is ordered by Love and by the knowledge of God. • The Form for God through Jesus: The sharing from every part, this is the key, this is HOW the Body of Christ operates that it might be the dwelling place of God. Think of the human body, how every part, the blood, the skin, the nervous system, the pancreas, shares it’s bit with every other part of the body, yet quite different from one to the other. God is at Home as every member gives and receives freely in JOY. • Definition: God defines “set aside” and “put on” as the speaking of faith and the acknowledgement of Jesus (see Ephesians 4:13), and not as “fake human effort” as some claim. • Covenant: “Being renewed in the mind of your spirit” is the same as 2 Corinthians 3:18 and Romans 12:1. It is Jesus causing us to know that we are just like Him. • Kingdom: This passage, Ephesians 4:17-31, is a description of many practical difficulties that arise as we gather in daily life together. It is the practical applications of Love inside the unity of our faith. • Speak Christ: Truth is Christ Jesus having come into union already with each one. To speak Truth is to restore one another into knowing such a Jesus. Paul’s concern is one thing – the vital sharing to the body of every part. • Speak Christ: All words we might speak are spirit, whether of the Spirit of God as the impartation of grace, or of unclean spirits as abusive words that tear others down. We speak wholesome words that impart the giving of God Himself. • Ruling Verse 3: The Spirit seals us together into our mortal bodies being swallowed up by Life and into the full release of Rivers of Spirit flowing out to all. Speaking words that impart death grieves the Devoted Spirit. • Ruling Verse 8: To love one another is to recognize the presence of God in each other and to speak Grace, the gift of God Himself, and the good things of Christ, in all things. • Ruling Verse 8: We place Ephesians 4:32-5:2 together with Ephesians 4:15-16 in all ways. The verses in-between are simply the practicality of such sharing and such kindness. The sharing from every part is the giving of love and favor.	l. The Greek word does not mean “attain.” It means “come down to.” m, That is, the false story of self, separate from Christ, the wy of thinking that is always hostile against God. n. The old man is not the true you, but rather the story of Christ. o. To spirits of false accusation inside the story you share together

Gospel Comments

Notes

• Definition: The devil does not define God; God does not know evil. God is Love. The Devotion of God, coming out from His Desire, is the fierce expression of a Love that always places itself beneath to carry and lift up. To be like God is to Love, that is, to contain and to reveal a God who is Love.

• Ruling Verse 2: To be filled with all of God, personally and together, is to be filled with a God who is meek and lowly of heart, who is gentle with longsuffering, who bears the load for others, a God who is Love, the “worth” of our calling.

• Covenant: Jesus as the Covenant is the “treaty of peace” between us and God and us and one another, not as words to which we adhere, but as a living Bond inside. Jesus as our peace together then enables us to receive all of God.

• Kingdom: The watch care of our stewardship is over God’s final opportunity to reveal Himself as He is through a House made ready for Him. We watch with care that each one knows Jesus as their only Life and Salvation, the sharing between them and others, for Father’s sake. Our care is the energeoing power of Jesus inside, able to fulfill every Gospel Word.

• Definition: “Measure” and “capacity” carry the same meaning, that each member of God’s House is uniquely different from all others, each is carefully designed as they are by God, often for very different purposes. Grace is the giving of God, a Life that always flows to benefit others. We give only what God measures to us, and not what He measures to others. Yet the Energeia of Jesus fills each of us to the capacity of our form.

• Ruling Verse 1: We are symmorphosed with the image of His Son, that means that we share form with Jesus and Jesus with us. Jesus sharing form with us, now upon this earth, is far higher than anything found in heaven. Our form is made complete inside all the Form that is Jesus, and Jesus fills each one of our forms with all of Himself to our full capacity.

• The Form for God through Jesus: Nothing is more important to God, to us, and to all creation, than Father God at Home in the midst of our local gathering together as Love among us. For this all creation hopes, and over this, we watch with all care unceasingly.

• Kingdom: God has an order for His Church. God and His order are the opposite of a hierarchy of control. God is Life and Life flows as Spirit Word up from the roots penetrated deeply into God-Love. This flow of Life through a “five-fold” ministry has one purpose, to ensure the free and pure sharing from every part (see Ephesians 4:16), that God might have His Home.

• Definition: What is Christ? What is Salvation? What does it mean to be human? What is a “perfect” man? What is the Completion of Christ? Is the Jesus inside of us actually capable of accomplishing such a thing? The action of this verse is NOT “to attain,” but rather, “come down to.” The serpent teaches that to “become like Jesus” is to become something you are not, something “superior.” He lied. You are already like God; to know the completion of Jesus, you must come down to what God already made you to be, setting aside all notions of becoming something “better.” The completion of Christ is – Love one another as I love you.

• Covenant & Kingdom: Jesus inside our hearts is the Covenant. That same Jesus, causing us to be just like Himself in Completion, as Love together, is the Kingdom.

• Speak Christ: Speaking the truth of Christ our life into one another, inside of love, causes us to know that we together are the fulness of Christ in all things (see Ephesians 1:23).

• Kingdom: The pattern of the flow of life and of giving from one to another inside each local gathering of Christ Community becomes the same pattern by which all creation is ordered by Love and by the knowledge of God.

• The Form for God through Jesus: The sharing from every part, this is the key, this is HOW the Body of Christ operates that it might be the dwelling place of God. Think of the human body, how every part, the blood, the skin, the nervous system, the pancreas, shares it’s bit with every other part of the body, yet quite different from one to the other. God is at Home as every member gives and receives freely in JOY.

• Definition: God defines “set aside” and “put on” as the speaking of faith and the acknowledgement of Jesus (see Ephesians 4:13), and not as “fake human effort” as some claim.

• Covenant: “Being renewed in the mind of your spirit” is the same as 2 Corinthians 3:18 and Romans 12:1. It is Jesus causing us to know that we are just like Him.

• Kingdom: This passage, Ephesians 4:17-31, is a description of many practical difficulties that arise as we gather in daily life together. It is the practical applications of Love inside the unity of our faith.

• Speak Christ: Truth is Christ Jesus having come into union already with each one. To speak Truth is to restore one another into knowing such a Jesus. Paul’s concern is one thing – the vital sharing to the body of every part.

• Speak Christ: All words we might speak are spirit, whether of the Spirit of God as the impartation of grace, or of unclean spirits as abusive words that tear others down. We speak wholesome words that impart the giving of God Himself.

• Ruling Verse 3: The Spirit seals us together into our mortal bodies being swallowed up by Life and into the full release of Rivers of Spirit flowing out to all. Speaking words that impart death grieves the Devoted Spirit.

• Ruling Verse 8: To love one another is to recognize the presence of God in each other and to speak Grace, the gift of God Himself, and the good things of Christ, in all things.

• Ruling Verse 8: We place Ephesians 4:32-5:2 together with Ephesians 4:15-16 in all ways. The verses in-between are simply the practicality of such sharing and such kindness. The sharing from every part is the giving of love and favor.

l. The Greek word does not mean “attain.” It means “come down to.”

m, That is, the false story of self, separate from Christ, the wy of thinking that is always hostile against God.
n. The old man is not the true you, but rather the story of Christ.

o. To spirits of false accusation inside the story you share together