Instead, speaking the truth in love
Ephesians 4:1-16
Key Verse 4:15 15 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.
The sphere of human mind is as big as the universe is. But it did not know and was excluded from the sphere of the heavenly realm. But in Christ, God revealed the heavenly truth through which even sinful mind could have a glimpse of the sphere of the heavenly realm. What God unveiled through Christ is astounding and is beyond the human reasoning that men could put together with their intellectual ability. So Paul called it a mystery. But in and through the mystery of the Gospel in Christ Jesus, we come to have full scope of the knowledge of the world. Suddenly we come to know that we are so much loved and so much blessed and so much offered of such a great hope. Paul called it; blessing in heavenly realm, becoming the house of God, and the temple where the Spirit of God resides.
While this immense and yet so crisp and clear knowledge of the universe from the beginning of the world to the end of the world takes place in the depth of our being, we now not only have become a new and different being but also we have become incorporated into a new body, the church. In this new status in new body, how we, as individual and as corporate body, should live different from old way of life? In the second half of this letter, Paul discusses how to live according to needs created by this new status in a new body. It is about Christian living and Paul discusses in three sections; first how to bring and to keep the unity within the church, and second how to deal with worldly influences through holy living, and lastly how to live within family members. The first part of this is today’s passage on creating and keeping the unity within the church. Before discussing how the unity of the church can be created, its good to think about why the unity is needed and essential to be the body of Christ.
Christ came to unite Jews and the gentiles i.e. unity under God is His ultimate plan for the universe. Second, the believers are to have the same spirit with Christ. Third, the believers are to represent the message of God with one and clear voice. These are reasons implied through the discussion the last three chapter. How can then the unity be created and maintained? It will be discussed in two parts; first what each one should do to make unity among believers(1-7) second how unity as a single corporate body can be sustained through all attacks from outside(8-15)
A. Be humble and be patient (1-7)
Through understanding of the truth we come to have deep conviction on the truth. The truth tells us that we have a new identity, adopted sons, new hope for the kingdom of God, and new power available for us. Out of this new context, we believers are to act;
The first priority of the action is directed toward unity within the household of God, i.e. among believers. It is where God wanted to deposit his truth and it is the body through which God wants to reveal that truth to the world. So in order to be able to hold that truth and to reveal that truth, the community must be united. This unity is a distinctive maker of God’s presence among them (Jn 13:34-35) because division and discord are the common norm of this world. This unity must be rooted in love and should not be a forced one by authority or power, not by contract or legal binding rules and regulations, but by one belief in the truth from God in the depth of their being.
How can that unity be created?
2 Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. 3 Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace.
The first thing to do is completely humble and gentle. NASB described it “all humility and gentleness” It notes completeness or totality of humbleness. In saying so, it denies all partial or inadequate humbleness. Certainly it is difficult what the complete humbleness means. But we can get a glimpse of this in Jesus life described in Phil 2:6-11; 6 who, though he was God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, 7 but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men.(NAS)
How did Jesus do? He obeyed to the Lord even to the point of his death. So here we can capture true meaning of complete humbleness; it is emptying oneself or taking a form of servant. We know how it is difficult to empty ourselves or to take a form of servant toward all people. Though it is difficult to do even with all our strength, it is possible by the Spirit of Christ. That spirit is well described Phil 2:8 8 “by becoming obedient to death—even death on a cross!” The spirit of Christ must rule in power over our inner being. This is the reason why Paul prayed this
2: 17 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, 18 may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, 19 and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.
Knowing fully the love of Christ is the center of the work of the Spirit and also that love set in out hearts always accompanies power to follow Christ. (by saying this, I mean that the Spirit of Christ is the force uniting believers) May God help us in this regard! This is what God wants us to do and only when we do, the true unity begins to take place among all members. Who will start to do this? Do not wait on others to do but it must start from ‘ME’, what I means is ‘you’.
When one does so, such humble and gentle attitude welcomes all kinds of people. It makes a door wide open to relationship to all kinds of people, no matter how lowly they might be. Such attitude leaves no one to whom door of relationship is left closed. Jesus wanted his people to have such welcoming toward all people, particularly among his believers. Actually many are looking for an open and uncalculated relationship. It is possible when we have ‘all or complete humbleness in the form of a servant. May God bless each of us to have such a humble and gentle attitude toward all people!
Second one is to be patient. What he meant to be patient is explained by two participle clauses; ‘bearing with one another in love’ and ‘making every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit.’
If humbleness and gentleness are to open a door for relationship with others, then, being patient keeps that relationship alive. Most hindrance of keeping relationship between two persons is sins and weaknesses. Need for love and for fellowship in compassion opens relationship. But it short-lived because of sins and weakness of each other build walls in between. Paul commands to be patient and patience has two facets; handling of weakness and sins now and a will toward hope for betterment.
First we are to be patient by bearing sins and weakness of others. When we went away from the Lord, he showed his love for us in Christ. Also in Christ he is willing to accept and embrace all our weaknesses and sins until we become fully mature enough to be acceptable in his kingdom. In other word, once God established his relationship with us in love, he would never let it go because he is patient with us even if we have so many weaknesses and sins. Once Jesus said to Peter, ““Unless I wash you, you have no part with me.”(Jn 13:8b) By washing Peter’s feet, Jesus wanted to make on-going relationship with Peter even if he makes so many mistakes and wrongs. Simply if we do not have a clear will to bear with the weaknesses of others, his or her relationship is short lived and there won’t be any long and ongoing relationship in a meaningful and positive and godly way. As our sins are nullified by the blood of Jesus, so must all sins of his believer are to be nullified among themselves. Sin and its effects characterize the world that we live. There is a constant anger, revenge, and fights. But in his body, the church, each the effects and powers of sins and weakness are effectively nullified because each bears weaknesses and sins of others. And only ‘peace and love’ prevails. This is strange to the eyes of the ordinary people of this world. John knew this truth and said “
22 I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one—23 I in them and you in me—so that they may be brought to complete unity. Then the world will know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me. (John 17 NIV)
When one is not willing to bear sins and weakness of others, what does it mean? He or she has not known the mystery of the Gospel of Jesus and has yet to know Christ!
Second, “make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace.” All the efforts must be conjured up until the effects of sins and weaknesses are done away with among his people. The sense of direction is to preserve unity of the Spirit. In other word the Spirit of Christ must be living and kept alive so as to bear godliness. This is a life-giving love that we are to live as Jesus lived. The most prominent character of the Spirit is in Jesus’ teaching (Luke 17:3-4)
3 So watch yourselves. “If your brother or sister sins against you, rebuke them; and if they repent, forgive them. 4 Even if they sin against you seven times in a day and seven times come back to you saying ‘I repent,’ you must forgive them.”
To do so, we need to make every effort or must be diligent. It implies for us to make on-going and life-long efforts to make unity by bearing sins and weaknesses of others. Here also we need love and need to stand on and be strengthened by the bond of peace. This peace is what Jesus gave to all his followers and is served by the certainty of salvation in the love of Christ. This unity is not built on falsehood but on the truth and the love, the unique characters of God. All these efforts must stand firmly on the facts of truth how we all have become children of God. That fact of truth is listed;
4 There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to one hope when you were called; 5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism; 6 one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.
We are one body with the Spirit, the Spirit of Christ. We as individuals are so different. No two human beings have the same mind and the same understanding and the same perspective of things and the same interest, the same taste for things. The affect of each person is created and maintained differently as much as the physical body and upbringing of each is so different. I often wonder how I am different from M. David my dear coworker in Christ. Yet he and I are both children of God one body and have one same spirit, which is the Spirit of Christ. In this way all the difference is not the causes of division but the source of strength because so many differences make up the weaknesses of each of us.
We have become what we are through the same path; through the Spirit, we serve one Lord, through the same faith in Christ we are baptized and entered into the family of God. When one cadet enter military academy, his life is remade by injecting the spirit of navy academy and by the same discipline with all other cadets. When man cadets began the academy, there were so different but in the end, they come to have and to share common mindset and physical disciplines because they went through the same path of discipline in knowledge and understanding as well as physical strength. In some sense believer’s community is God’s military academy to recreate all of its members to fit to the kingdom of God. To do so, the Spirit of Christ is constantly reminded, re-injected to create in each a closer spirit to the Spirit of Christ.
God’s love and God’s purpose of calling each of us are the concentric force for all of us as a corporate body and as an individual. In all we do or in everything we do, we do for the Lord and for His glory and for his purpose. In this way in each of us and among us all, it shall be evident that God the Father of all is over all and through all and in all.
B. Grow up to be mature body of Him through grace
(Corporative action for unity of the body of Christ)
(Corporative action for unity of the body of Christ)
In this second part, Paul talks about how unity as a corporate body is maintained and protected from attacks from the outside of the body of Christ.
To do so, first God gave grace to each one of us.
7 But to each one of us grace has been given as Christ apportioned it.
Grace that was revealed through the mystery of the Gospel is the core knowledge and power to keep the unity within. In order to do so, He gave a differing degree of grace to particular people. This particular grace in various aspects is called gifts. In order to know the significance of those gifts given in grace, Paul explains how those gifts were given by Christ; it says that Christ apportioned it. What it means is further explained in v8-10.
8 This is why it says: “When he ascended on high, he took many captives and gave gifts to his people.”
It is a quote from Ps 98. Here is a picture of a general who won the war and ascended high to the position of great power and authority and then he would give his followers many gifts. What is the key point of quoting this passage?
9 (What does “he ascended” mean except that he also descended to the lower, earthly regions? 10 He who descended is the very one who ascended higher than all the heavens, in order to fill the whole universe.)
Here the victory of the general was achieved the greatest by first going down to the lowest place of the earth and the going up to the highest in heaven. It means that the victory was thorough and swift encompassing the entire scope of the universe, including the earth below and the heavenly realm. This signifies that the victory was a complete one and there is no enemy left and that his power is the greatest one. Because of these reasons, he could give out his gifts in an abundance of grace and over all over the universe. It is about Jesus. Jesus, though he is the Son of God, came down to the earth even to the depth of earth and then won the victory in a war against his enemy and ascended to the heaven beside God the father of all creation. So he was the victor and was fully authorized and endowed with power to give. Also because his victory was so swift and thorough, there is no enemy left and he could give his people all the gifts with great generosity, i.e. in an abundance of grace.
In other words , his giving has a particular character of that victory, in the way of giving his gifts to his people. First, his giving is totally in his discretion. Second, his giving is marked by ‘abundance of grace’. Third, his giving is so profuse that it can cover the whole universe. This is about the sphere of the influence of Jesus’ grace. It was first to the Apostles and first believers in Jerusalem. Since then that grace moved so many gentiles all over the place. This grace has moved millions and even billions of people in the entire sphere of this world since the first church was established. It will continue throughout the history that is forthcoming until he returns. In addition, this grace has been known and influence even to the heavenly realms. In this way, this grace is far exceeding any other people could express and what he gave contains the unique knowledge of ‘the victor’. What are the gifts that embody that grace?
11 So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors, and teachers,
This list does not include some of the gifts listed in 1 Cor 12, such as the gift of tongue or gift of healing. All these gifts are related to dispensing the knowledge of God’s truth, through the way of shepherding, or teaching. The purpose is this;
12 to equip his people for works of service so that the body of Christ may be built up
The primary reason for such grace is to equip his people for the works of service; the service is clear; shepherding or teaching. It is good to remind us about what Paul talked in Ch 3, how God’s grace came upon him, and how God adopted gentiles in his grace, a mystery of a kind, it was hidden and unknown until Jesus came and disclosed it through his life-giving death on the cross. Ina similar token, Paul prayed that that knowledge, how the grace of God came about through the cross, may be revealed to the Ephesians by God and they might grasp the depth, width, height of this grace. Now, Paul elucidates the truth that particular grace is given to make some to a certain role, the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors, and teachers. As we noted these are all shepherding and teaching role or position for whom, the knowledge of that grace is so important. What does this teach us? In creating those particular roles God did it by grace; for the believer to grow to mature, the knowledge of grace is the central element of education; not only in content but also the process of conveying this content must be of grace.
The purpose is clear; in and through their lives in teaching and shepherding, the grace of Jesus may be the mainstream knowledge of his followers and may be the source of the outworking of their lives as God’s chosen and holy people. The sense of direction is clear;
13 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.
Ultimate goal is clear; reaching in unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God. Paul emphasized this in his prayer on the knowledge of the Son of God, (3:17-19)
And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, 18 may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, 19 and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. (3:17b-19)
Through the knowledge in what Jesus did, they were to know or capture or to grasp fully the love of Christ. How were they to do? They are to do together with all the Lord’s holy people. Here those who were given particular grace to be those five teaching and shepherding role are called ‘holy people’ (NASB 4:12) and some of these (Apostles and prophets) are called foundational (2:20). So there is one goal in giving the particular grace to these to make them roles of teaching and shepherding roles; that is for all believers may know fully the grace in Jesus through knowing fully what he did; the essence of this grace is LOVE. By knowing fully this LOVE of Christ they are to grow to be a mature body of Him.
What does this tell us? We all are to know fully the Son of God in his grace and we are to anchor our faith in that knowledge that God revealed in the cross of Jesus. Is it possible to work out God’s call for us without that knowledge? Is it possible to capture the power and wisdom of that grace without the knowledge of Christ? The more you know the love of Christ in its depth, width, and height, the closer we grow to full maturity. Peter’s way to maturity is described in 2 Pet 1:5-7.
5 For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; 6 and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; 7 and to godliness, mutual affection; and to mutual affection, love.
It starts with faith and ends with love. Faith must grow to have the love of Christ in them for full maturity. Knowledge is the first thing to add as they chose goodness out of faith!
The knowledge and faith in that knowledge is or shall be the concentric force for us to live on as children of God. God apportioned his grace to many to be pastors and teachers.
What is the grace given to you? So far, what you have learned from the Bible is much more than many people. How is that learning of the knowledge of the grace doing in your life?
14 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.
Some of you are young and unsure of the knowledge in the mystery of the Gospel. The world is filled with ’every wind of teaching’. Some of them look so new and promising, and some sounds so reasonable to our frame of mind that some of us saturate themselves with that knowledge. Like this every season of changing, there comes something new and attracts believers’ mind. When we are not fully convinced of the truth of God’s grace in Christ, we will be tossed by every wind of teachings of this world. Some are so cunning and so well-crafted to attract believers that many of us have a hard time discerning their ungodly intent or pseudo-truth. What power do we have to discern and to thwart such winds of teachings and cunning schemes?
16 I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, 17 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith.(2:16-17a)
I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, 18 may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, 19 and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. (2:17b-19)
When Christ dwells in our hearts, when we grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, there is no room in our heart to give away for many winds of teachings of this world. We will not become like shifting sands. Instead, we shall stand firm in the truth and in the love of Christ!
15 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.
Instead, our lives are to be lived by ‘speaking the truth in love’. The truth in love, which is immortalized in the message of the cross of Jesus, must fill our inner being and must be lived out in our lives. This is how we grow instead of being tossed by the winds of teachings. And then we all grow in every aspect to become a mature body of him.
Unity created in love and bond of peace will make us one harmonious and perfect organism. What should it be like? The final picture is depicted in the next verse:
16 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.
This is a picture of the wholesomeness of the body of Christ. All are one living like one organism. How can so many become one and work as one organism?
First, (as each part does its work.) every part of the body has a unique role, and there is no part that does not have any role. This role is that which the whole body cannot do away with for proper function and for survival. So when, one part, though its role seems to be so minuscule or insignificant, is missing or does not do well, the whole body is affected.
Second, (grows and builds itself up in love,)the commanding spirit of each, as well as the whole is LOVE. LOVE is the spirit that runs the individual and the whole body. Also, love is the source of power for the body to grow. If one operates with different spirit, it becomes the cause of trouble and hampers the growth of the whole
Third, (held together by every supporting ligament) every single part is interrelated with other parts. Without supporting and maintaining the relationship, neither the individual nor the whole body can survive and function properly
Fourth, (the whole body, joined) every single part of our body works for the whole body. When one part decides to work for itself or by itself, it is called ‘tumor’ or ‘cancer’ that has independent function and independent growth. If this part is left alone, eventually it will damage the whole body.
Fifth, (From him) the head has the control and command. His spirit and his will are the sense of direction and goal. What the head wants to do is what all body part are to do in obedience and with a willing heart. Jesus is the head of the body of Him, the church. His commanding principle in running the body is the truth in love. So every part of the body must know and understand in depth what that commanding principle is.
No comments:
Post a Comment