6aone God and Father of all, who is above all, and bthrough all, and in you all.
Spiritual Gifts
7 But ato each one of us grace was given according to the measure of Christ’s gift.
8 Therefore He says: a“When He ascended on high, He led captivity captive, And gave gifts to men.”
9a(Now this, “He ascended”—what does it mean but that He also1 first descended into the lower parts of the earth?
10 He who descended is also the One awho ascended far above all the heavens, bthat He might fill all things.)
11 And He Himself gave some tobe apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers,
12 for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, afor the edifying of bthe body of Christ,
13 till we all come to the unity of the faith aand of the knowledge of the Son of God, to ba perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ;
14 that we should no longer be achildren, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of bdeceitful plotting,
15 but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the ahead—Christ—
16afrom whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love.
The New Man
17 This I say, therefore, and testify in the Lord, that you should ano longer walk as the rest of the Gentiles walk, in the futility of their mind,
18 having their understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God, because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the ablindness of their heart;
19awho, being past feeling, bhave given themselves over to lewdness, to work all uncleanness with greediness.
Our hope links directly with our calling, God's summons into His presence for relationship with Him, ending pessimism and beginning a confident, optimistic life. This hope unites us into one body. Walking worthy of our calling means being one, and unity requires humility, meekness, longsuffering, love, and peace; God will not force unity upon us. The word "one" appears seven times, underscoring perfect oneness. The phrase "there is," though supplied by translators, clarifies that this unity already exists spiritually, certain and firm; Paul asks not to form it, but to safeguard it. The church, an analogy of one body, is a spiritual organism filled with Christ's life, solidly locked into a singular mind, wherever those sharing Christ's Spirit unite in common cause and purpose.
Ephesians 4:1-6
The part we have to play is to walk worthy of our calling, and as the apostle goes on to say, our calling is to be one: one body, one spirit, one faith, one baptism, one hope, just as we have one Lord and one Father. We are to be one bride of Christ. He is not a polygamist; He will not marry many brides but one united bride.
We in the church can be disunified if we fail to practice verses 2 and 3: Without lowliness (humility), without gentleness (meekness), without longsuffering (forebearance or patient endurance), without love and peace, we will never have unity. As long as we are proud, easily angered and offended, jump on every little thing, lack patience, and treat each other hatefully—as long as we cause strife—there will never be unity. Even with all that God does (I Corinthians 1:4-9), it will not happen. He will not force unity upon us if we show that we do not want it. The natural order of things is that we will disunify further if we fail to show Him that we are working toward it. So, without these virtues, even with God deluging us with His Spirit, we will not have unity.
Paul clearly links our hope with our calling, which is God's summons into His presence so that we may have a relationship with Him. In the context of the first paragraph of Ephesians 4, the implication is that this hope is a factor that unites us into one body. Our calling is an end to pessimism, negativity, and despair and the beginning of a confident, bright, and optimistic life filled with endless possibilities because this unique hope gives positive expectancy to life here and now and beyond the grave as well.
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Our hope links directly with our calling, God's summons into His presence for relationship with Him, ending pessimism and beginning a confident, optimistic life. This hope unites us into one body. Walking worthy of our calling means being one, and unity requires humility, meekness, longsuffering, love, and peace; God will not force unity upon us. The word "one" appears seven times, underscoring perfect oneness. The phrase "there is," though supplied by translators, clarifies that this unity already exists spiritually, certain and firm; Paul asks not to form it, but to safeguard it. The church, an analogy of one body, is a spiritual organism filled with Christ's life, solidly locked into a singular mind, wherever those sharing Christ's Spirit unite in common cause and purpose.