But now, having said all that and having already moved into the practical section of the book in Ephesians 4:1, he takes us back again in verses 4-6. He's already spent three chapters telling us who our God is and what He's like, and what His great plan is for summing up all things in Jesus Christ, and the implications of that for us as His family, as His body. He says ‘I want to tell you that the foundation of your ability to love one another and to express gospel unity is not found in yourself, it's found in something else.Īnd that's really where Paul takes the Ephesians and us here in verses 4-6. (Ever tried to love someone who is unloving with the infinite resources of your own heart? Doesn't last very long, does it?) And the Apostle Paul doesn't say that to these Ephesian Christians. It's not the infinite resources of your own personal loving heart. The Apostle Paul instead points us to something that is outside of ourselves, something that we contribute absolutely nothing to, and he says that is the foundation of your ability to love one another. The Apostle Paul doesn't look deep within the hearts of the Ephesians and say to them ‘Find the love within you to love one another as you ought,’ because the Apostle Paul knows that if you look deep down in there you’re not going to find what you need in order to love one another. ![]() He knows that in order for us to live the Christian life as God called us to live the Christian life, we need big theology because we are big sinners. Isn't it interesting that in the Bible Paul is perhaps the great example of the one who, when he sees a practical issue in the life of the local congregation, he doesn't come after it with a fly swat? He comes after it with a big boulder of theology. And he knows that that is a difficult thing, and so the Apostle Paul brings to bear big theology. ![]() And he's exhorting them to be one, to be united, to be manifesting God's full oneness in the family of God. They have very, very different religious backgrounds they have very, very different ethnic and cultural backgrounds and here they are, plopped together in this one congregation. He's speaking to this congregation because these Jewish Christians and these Gentile Christians that are part of this little congregation in Ephesus are very, very different. Paul is not speaking on this subject because it's a nice theoretical abstraction that he can get by with in the local congregation with no practical implications. He knows that Christians can become at odds with one another, and he's dealing with those realities in this local congregation at Ephesus.ĭon't misunderstand Paul. He knows that fissures and factions can break out in the local congregation. ![]() He knows that we wound one another deeply. He knows that we step on one another's toes. And the Apostle Paul is a realist, and he knows that life in the Christian congregation is not a flowery bed of ease, of unbroken, unmitigated joy and delight. It's one thing to love someone who's always kind to you and always good to you, and it's another thing to love someone who disappoints you and lets you down. It's one thing, isn't it, to love someone that we're not around: it's another thing to love someone that you’re around all the time. We've been looking at Paul's exhortation in Ephesians 4:1-3 to live out our calling as Christians by loving the family of God and by pursuing peace with our fellow Christians, our fellow brothers and sisters in the Lord Jesus Christ, especially in the local congregation, and I want to encourage you that the Apostle Paul knows how difficult that is. If you have your Bibles, I'd invite you to turn with me to Ephesians 4 as we continue to work our way through this great book…and we see God's kindness to us in knowing what we need before we know what we need. “One Body, Spirit, Hope, Lord, Faith, Baptism, God and Father (3)”
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