Same, Yet Different (Ephesians 4:1-8)

SCRIPTURE

Ephesians 4:1-8

I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call— one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all. But grace was given to each one of us according to the measure of Christ's gift. Therefore it says,

“When he ascended on high he led a host of captives, and he gave gifts to men.”

COMMENT

I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord

Literally a prisoner and figuratively as well. A prisoner by force, and a prisoner by choice.

urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called

Paul's calling is not your calling. But whatever you have been called to do, do it in a worthy manner, fitting for a prisoner of God.

with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace

Bearing with one another. Understanding that there are different callings, different manifestations of the Spirit, different understandings of God and His plans.

There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call— one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all

But with all of the differences we have, God is one. His plans call for different gifts, different callings, different personalities, etc., but one God so one purpose. One faith, faith in Christ. One baptism, immersion into His Son, one Father, God Himself.

But grace was given to each one of us according to the measure of Christ's gift. Therefore it says,

“When he ascended on high he led a host of captives, and he gave gifts to men.”

The grace by which you stand did not come through your effort, but the work of Christ. It is finished. The measure of that grace comes from the riches of God's grace. Gifts vary according to God's purposes. As does calling. 

Together (Ephesians 2:11-22)

SCRIPTURE

Ephesians 2:11-22

Therefore remember that at one time you Gentiles in the flesh, called “the uncircumcision” by what is called the circumcision, which is made in the flesh by hands— remember that you were at that time separated from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility by abolishing the law of commandments expressed in ordinances, that he might create in himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace, and might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility. And he came and preached peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near. For through him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father. So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit.

COMMENT

At one time the Ephesians were separated from the promises of God, which were given to Israel. They had no hope of salvation. But Jesus changed that on the cross. The blood of Christ flowed to the Jews and the gentiles. It was the blood of Christ that changed things, not anything the Ephesians had done themselves. Not only did He bring salvation, but He demolished that wall of hostility. Imagine being in a family where one child was lavished with attention and material gifts, and the other child received nothing. Would there not be hostility between the two? By granting salvation to both Jew and gentile, that wall of hostility falls. So were are no longer strangers or aliens, but are all one, because we have one Father.