Memory Text: “So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up 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.” Eph. 4:11-13 NIV.
Unity of Faith
Several times in Ephesians, Paul adverts to the fact that he is under house arrest in Rome because of the gospel of Christ. This gives him moral authority as a teacher of Christian principles, and he does not hesitate to use it:
“As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to one hope when you were called; one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.” Eph. 4:1-5 NIV
Christianity, unlike Judaism, is universal. It is not of the flesh and hence not racial. Everyone can be a Christian through faith, regardless of sex, race, nationality/ethnicity, and social or economic status. Jesus Christ overflows all the categories that we usually use to divide ourselves from each other.
But while it is universal, it is united, unitary, in belief: one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of us all who is over all and through all and in all. If we are not united in faith, if our religious leaders tell us doctrine is optional, and better dispensed with altogether to keep the peace, what unites us? Certainly not sex, race, nationality, or economic status. So if we are not united by faith, we are not the church. Rather, we are the target demographic that people selling religion are marketing to. We are cafeteria-style consumers of “religion.”
Was Jesus Really a Man?
We have each been given spiritual gifts to use as co-laborers with Christ, in building up His kingdom. Paul tells us that David was speaking prophetically of spiritual gifts in Psalm 68:18:
But to each one of us grace has been given as Christ apportioned it. This is why it says:
“When he ascended on high,
he took many captives
and gave gifts to his people.”
(What does “he ascended” mean except that he also descended to the lower, earthly regions? He who descended is the very one who ascended higher than all the heavens, in order to fill the whole universe.) Eph. 4:7-10 NIV
What are we to make of Paul’s parenthetical, stating that if Jesus ascended he must also have descended?
First, Paul takes for granted that David’s Psalm is a Messianic prophecy; he does not even bother to argue that point—which tells us all we need to know about people who deny that the Old Testament is about Christ. And this passage is not even the most obvious Messianic prophecy in the Psalms. (See, Psalm 22)
I think Paul is stating that, yes, Jesus really was incarnate as a man who lived and died and was buried, and then ascended on high. Why does Paul feel the need to advert to these facts here? My guess is that heresies originating in Greek philosophy about the nature of Christ were already starting to crop up, even though they would not be named, much less dealt with, for centuries. There would be no papacy for centuries, either, but Paul tells us that “the mystery of lawlessness” was already at work even his day. 2 Thess. 2:3-7.
The true doctrine is that Christ was fully man and fully God; how the human mixed with the divine is not fully revealed and remains a mystery. The misconceptions about Christ’s nature came in two main types: (1) Christ was not really fully human, and (2) Christ was not really God eternally pre-existent, but was created by the Father and elevated to the Godhead. Heresies of the second type have generally been filed, rightly or wrongly, under the rubric of “Arianism,” after Arius (c. AD 256–336), a bishop of Alexandria.
Misconceptions of the first type, which concern us here, have been called Docetism and monophysitism. Docetism—from the Greek dokeĩn “to seem,” and dókēsis “apparition, phantom”—held that Jesus remained always a spirit, and that his human form, his apparent bodily existence, was an illusion; He merely “seemed to be” human. Monophysitism (Gr: “one nature”) held that Jesus had only one nature, His Divine nature.
Paul’s argument—how does Jesus ascend if He did not, in fact, really descend to earth?—seems to be aimed at nipping in the bud any philosophical speculation of the type that would later be called “Docetism,” and “Monophysitism.” Later, the creeds of the church clearly rejected Docetism and monophysitism, as well as the idea that Christ was created. The Nicene Creed states that Jesus:
“ . . . came down from heaven, and was incarnate by the Holy Ghost, born of the Virgin Mary and was made man; He was crucified for us under Pontius Pilate, suffered, died, and was buried, and the third day he rose again according to the Scriptures, and ascended into heaven, and sitteth on the right hand of the Father . . . ”
It is an important spiritual point. Had there been no descent there could be no ascent for any of us. Had not He “who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God, but made himself of no reputation and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men, and being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross” we would all be lost eternally. No ascent from the grave, no ascent to heaven.
Organization and Spiritual Gifts
Returning from Paul’s Christological aside to the topic of spiritual gifts (which was the reason he quoted Psalm 68:19), he says:
“So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up 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.” Eph. 4:11-13 NIV.
We are given different gifts because in any organized body, there will be a variety of tasks to be performed, and Christians should take up the task to which they are best suited by nature, inclination, education, life experience, and, yes, spiritual gifting. Thus, true spiritual gifting does not create disorder and chaos in the church, or in worship services. To the contrary, the spiritual gifting of the believers will create and enhance order and organization. Disorder does not honor God. (1 Cor. 14:33; James 3:16)
God’s purpose in giving us spiritual gifts is so that we all increase and mature in practical godliness, knowledge, and unity in the faith:
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. 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. 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. Eph. 4:14-16 NIV.
Instructions for Christian Living
“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. 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. 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.” Eph. 4:17-19 NIV.
This is language very similar to that found in the first chapter of Romans. “Futile thinking” and “darkened hearts” (Rom. 1:21), and being “given over” to “sexual impurity” (Rom. 1:24) were things Paul saw in the Romans, too. Rome and Ephesus, as the largest and fourth largest cities of the First Century Roman Empire, had a great deal in common.
Paul does not mention idolatry in this passage, but we know that idolatry was not only widespread in Ephesus, with the enormous temple of Artemis/Diana, but was a very lucrative industry. (Acts 19:23-27) The Ephesian Christians would have had no need to be reminded of the idolatry in their city.
But that was the old Ephesian; the new Ephesian Christians have been taught a different way of living:
“That, however, is not the way of life you learned 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; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.” Eph. 4:20-24 NIV.
First, there is no such thing as a dishonest Christian, or a Christian who lies, steals, embezzles, or defrauds:
“Therefore each of you must put off falsehood and speak truthfully to your neighbor, for we are all members of one body. . . . 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.” Eph. 4:25, 28 NIV.
Second, there is no such thing as an angry, unkind Christian:
“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. And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.” Eph. 4:29-32. NIV.
That is all self-explanatory. Except for this one:
“In your anger do not sin”: Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry, and do not give the devil a foothold. Eph. 4:26-27
The footnote tells us that Paul is quoting from Psalm 4:4 in the Septuagint, the Greek translation of the Hebrew Scriptures. The underlying Hebrew, however, is more at, “tremble and do not sin”; apparently, the trembling is intended to denote, or rather is being caused by, a strong emotion. The translators of the Septuagint deemed that emotion to be anger, and I would argue that, by quoting them while he was under inspiration, Paul validated the Septuagint interpretation.
Have you ever been so angry that you literally shook? I have. I have noticed it in myself, and it has been pointed out to me that, in fact, I do shake when I am intensely angry. So Paul, and David before him, are speaking across the centuries directly to me.
What makes me tremble with anger? The same thing that made my namesake David tremble with anger: righteous indignation at the destruction of his nation:
“O sons of men, how long will you turn my glory into my shame? How long will you love worthlessness and pursue falsehood?” Psalm 4:3 TLV
David was disgusted that his countrymen loved what is worthless and devoted themselves to lies, to worthless idols and false beliefs. I feel the same way about some of my countrymen, the ones running our government just now. Why have they deliberately chosen to destroy our nation? Why are they destroying every American institution and tradition? The ideology they are devoting themselves to is a lie, and not a harmless one but rather an enormous lie about human nature and the answer to human problems. This monstrous lie caused the death of a hundred million people in just seven decades of the previous century—why does it continue to animate them? Are they hoping to kill a billion instead of a mere hundred million?
That is what makes me tremble with rage. But David has something to say about this kind of anger:
“Search your heart while on your bed, and be silent. Offer righteous sacrifices and put your trust in Adonai. Many are asking, “Who will show us some good?” May the light of Your face shine upon us, Adonai! You have put joy in my heart—more joy than when their grain and new wine overflow. I will lie down and sleep in peace, for You alone, Adonai, make me live securely.” Psalm 4:5-9 TLV.
I think David (and Paul by quoting him) was telling me, “Don’t let your righteous indignation at evil, which itself is not sinful, turn into sin by pitching you headlong into a despond of hatred and bitterness, which are sin (Eph. 4:31). Pray to God on your bed at night. Remember your own sins and claim the mercy and forgiveness that your Lord bought you with His sacrificial death. Thank God for taking care of you and your loved ones, and ask God to put peace and joy in your heart. If you do these things, you will have joy, the schemes of the evil ones notwithstanding.”