Chapter Four

On unity in the Church (1–16). General moral teachings (17–32)

Eph 4:1-16. Inviting his readers to preserve the unity of the Spirit, the Apostle clarifies the foundations upon which this unity must be based, and says that the diversity of spiritual gifts and ministries that exist in the Church does not in any way hinder its unity, but rather, on the contrary, serves to achieve the common goal for all members of the Church — possible perfection.

Ephesians 4:1. Therefore I, a prisoner in the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, The Apostle, as a prisoner in the Lord (see Eph 3:1), exhorts (parakaló is less accurate in Russian: “urges”), in view of all that has been said about the greatness of Christianity (“therefore” — oun), his readers to live as their high calling, which they have received from God, obliges them to live.

Ephesians 4:2. with all humility and gentleness and patience, bearing with one another in love, Ephesians 4:3. endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. “With all humility.” This expression refers to the verb of the first verse: “walk” and denotes the same virtue that in the Sermon on the Mount is called “poverty of spirit,” that is, a true awareness of one’s unworthiness and weakness, which the pagans lacked, being proud of their personal qualities. — “Gentleness” — in relation to people (see 1 Cor 4:21). This virtue is, one might say, the natural consequence of humility: one who recognizes his own weakness will always be gentle toward others, even if they provoke him to anger through their deeds. — “Patience” — enduring forbearance of everything unpleasant that our neighbors cause us. — “Bearing with...” Patience should be forbearance, not contemptuous toward people as morally undeveloped beings unworthy of instruction from us, but based on Christian love. — “Endeavoring to keep...” Peace constantly stands in danger of being destroyed. Therefore, the members of the Church must make special effort to preserve it, to maintain the spiritual or close inner unity among the faithful. However, in the expression “unity of the Spirit” we may also see an indication that the unity of Christians has its source in the Holy Spirit. — “In the bond of peace” — that is, unity can exist only when all believers are joined as if by some bond (en tó syndesmó): this bond must be “peace” — a peaceful Christian attitude.

Ephesians 4:4. One body and one Spirit, just as you were called in one hope of your calling; Ephesians 4:5. one Lord, one faith, one baptism, Ephesians 4:6. one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all of us. To preserve unity, believers are reminded that they represent, in essence, one “single body and single Spirit,” that is, one body — Christ’s (see Eph 1:23) — and one Spirit — God’s, which animates this body (see Eph 2:18). — “Just as you were called...” Another motive for preserving unity: all believers have the same hope for future blessedness. — “One Lord.” The Apostle continues to set forth new and new grounds for preserving unity. One Lord — that is, our Lord Jesus Christ is our common Master. — “One faith” — as saving faith, as the condition required absolutely from everyone who wishes to receive salvation (Rom 1:16). — “One baptism” — that is, the single path to communion with Christ. — “One God and Father of all” — that is, all Christians are God’s creatures and at the same time God’s children through adoption in Christ. — “Through all” — that is, through all Christians He demonstrates His power: they serve as His instruments.

Ephesians 4:7. But to each one of us grace has been given according to the measure of Christ’s gift. This verse presents an objection that the Apostle anticipates from some of his readers. “To the unity of the members of the Church,” they might have said to him, “stands in the way the fact that one of the members of the Ephesian community gifted with spiritual gifts has been given one — a higher — gift, another — a lower one. Where then is unity?”

Ephesians 4:8. For this reason it is said: “When he ascended on high, he led captive a host of captives, and he gave gifts to men. Ephesians 4:9. Now that he “ascended,” what does it mean except that he also first descended into the lower regions of the earth? Ephesians 4:10. He who descended is the same as he who ascended far above all the heavens, so that he might fill all things. The Apostle here gives an answer to the objection raised in verse 7. “Yes,” he says, as it were, “Christ distributes his gracious gifts according to his will. Therefore, even in Ps 67, which is without question related not only to David but also to the Messiah, it is said that the Messiah, as the prophet foresees, will ascend to on high, that is, will rise above all rulers, will take into captivity the hostile forces and will seize all the spoils from them and will distribute great gifts to people whom he finds worthy of these gifts. But this exaltation of the Messiah cannot take place without his preceding humiliation: the Messiah must first descend to earth, into the conditions of ordinary human existence, and he did exactly that. The Christ who descended to earth, the Son of God, is precisely that one who “ascended,” of whom it was spoken in Psalm 67. And the Messiah did this so that he might fill all things with his power and become everywhere the head and lord (see Rom 14:9).” — It must be noted that the Apostle quotes a passage from Psalm 67 according to the text of the Seventy, and here he makes, in keeping with his purpose, an important, seemingly significant change: instead of the expression “he received gifts” he uses the expression “he gave gifts.” But the Apostle had full right to make such a change, because the Hebrew verb “lakach,” translated in the Greek translation of the Seventy by the word elaben, properly means: to take in order to give to others (see Gen 42:16; Exod 25:2). The Apostle took only the final moment of the action denoted by this verb and translated it: “gave” (edoken). — “In the lower regions of the earth.” Some ancient and modern interpreters see here a reference not to the earth in general, but to hades, where Christ descended after his death (see in Professor Bogdashevsky page 530). One can fully agree with this interpretation, since the descent into hades was also an act of humiliation on the part of Christ, as was his descent to earth. However, one cannot agree with the view that here is given a reference to the victory won by Christ in hades and the leading out of hades of those who believed in the preaching of Christ: here, according to the context of the discourse, such a thought cannot be seen.

Ephesians 4:11. And he gave some as apostles, some as prophets, some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers, “And he gave.” By these words, especially by the addition “and he,” the Apostle makes it clear that Christ had full authority to distribute spiritual gifts as he saw fit. He, who first descended to earth and then ascended to heaven, in this way fully accomplishing the work of our redemption, rightly stood forth as the sole administrator in the Church, appointing some as “apostles,” others as “prophets” and so on. The Apostle lists here four types of ministries based on special gifts received from Christ: 1) “Apostles” — obviously the first twelve, including the Apostle Paul himself, who formed a special unrepeatable order in the Church; 2) “prophets,” that is, inspired preachers who had special revelations from the Holy Spirit for the edification of those gathered for worship (1 Cor 14:3); 3) “evangelists” — preachers of the Gospel who traveled to various places; and 4) “pastors and teachers,” whose activity took place in a certain defined place and consisted of guiding a specific limited circle of believers. That here one class of church workers is meant is confirmed also by the fact that in the Greek text before the second word “teachers” (didaskalous) there is no article, which is present before the first word: “pastors” (tous poímenas).

Ephesians 4:12. for the equipping of the saints, for the work of service, for building up the body of Christ, “For the equipping of the saints,” that is, these aforementioned ministries Christ established in the Church so that “the saints,” that is, Christians, could with their help achieve the high moral perfection laid out for them. — “For the work of service.” This goal is achieved “through the work of service,” that is, through the activity of the aforementioned persons, which is called “service” in contrast to the attempts of some to make their office something that enslaves the will of those they shepherd (see 1 Pet 5:3). — “For building up the body of Christ.” By the “building up of the body of Christ” or the Church (see Eph 2:22) we must understand not only the external growth of the Church through the conversion to faith in Christ of new persons, but also its internal strengthening.

Ephesians 4:13. until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ; The activity of all these church workers and their successors can be completed only when the highest final goal of the very existence of the Church is reached, that is, when all members of it will have faith in Christ of equal clarity and purity and when, consequently, all disputes about faith cease, and there will be no wavering in anyone in relation to what is most essential. This state the Apostle defines as the state of a “perfect man,” that is, with a completely firm outlook on life, and more precisely — as achieving “the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ,” that is, such a state in which Christians are filled with all the gracious powers flowing from Christ (see Eph 3:19).

Ephesians 4:14. so that we may no longer be children, tossed here and there by waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, by craftiness in deceitful scheming; Ephesians 4:15. but speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in all aspects into him who is the head, even Christ, These verses depend on verse Eph 4:11. The Lord established different ministries in the Church so that believers would not remain in a state of children who are swayed by various temptations, and would not allow themselves to be drawn away by any new false teachings, which may look very respectable but in fact are very destructive in their essence (“by the trickery of men”) 11... Instead of such swaying, believers should demonstrate firmness in the truth (instead of: “speaking the truth in love” — it is better to read, as in the Slavonic translation: “in truth, in love”) and then, remaining in love, grow all things into Christ, our Head.

Ephesians 4:16. from whom the whole body, being fitted and held together by what every joint supplies, according to the proper working of each individual part, causes the growth of the body for the building up of itself in love. But Christians, growing all things into Christ, directing everything toward Him, do not have the foundation for their growth in themselves, but in Him, in Christ. Only with the help and under the influence of Christ is it possible to achieve the harmonious union of the various gifts and ministries that exist in the Church. The Christian community, bound together in this way, grows in love “for its own building up,” that is, so that it might reach possible perfection. Eph 4:17-32. The Apostle urges his readers to lead a new life, different from their former one. They now have a completely different ideal than they had in paganism — namely Christ. In doing so, the Apostle points out various minor transgressions against Christian morality that obviously took place in the Ephesian church.

Ephesians 4:17. Therefore I say this, and affirm together with the Lord, that you walk no longer just as the Gentiles also walk, in the futility of their mind, Ephesians 4:18. being darkened in their understanding, excluded from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the hardness of their heart; Ephesians 4:19. and they, having become callous, have given themselves over to sensuality for the practice of every kind of impurity with greediness. The former life that the Ephesians led when they were pagans was very sad. — “In the futility of their mind.” Their mental faculty was directed toward serving futility, nothingness (an allusion to the nothingness of pagan gods, see Rom 1:18 et seq.). — “Being darkened in their understanding,” that is, the organ of their moral consciousness became darkened (see 1 Pet 1:13 and Rom 1:21-22), and they ceased to see clearly the goal of life. “Excluded...” see Eph 2:12. — “Because of the ignorance in them,” that is, the cause of their mental darkness was ignorance of God, for which they were, however, themselves responsible (see Rom 1:19). — “And the hardness of their heart.” This hardening or complete blunting of moral feeling is the cause of their estrangement from God and their moral corruption. — “Having become callous...” More vividly depicting this moral blunting, the Apostle says that the pagans lost the ability to feel pain or sorrow at the sight of the shame in which they found themselves under the influence of their vices, and therefore gave themselves over to complete depravity. Moreover, they could not stop in their fall and sought to perform various immoral deeds (“impurity”). — “With greediness” — more precisely: with covetousness that possessed them simultaneously (en pleonexía). For a luxurious life it is necessary to constantly increase one’s monetary means. And indeed, the pagans strove by any means to increase their capital, which went to various their indulgences.

Ephesians 4:20. But you did not learn Christ in this way, Ephesians 4:21. if indeed you have heard him and have been taught in him, just as truth is in Jesus, Ephesians 4:22. that, in reference to your former manner of life, you lay aside the old self, which is being corrupted in accordance with the lusts of deceit, Ephesians 4:23. and that you be renewed in the spirit of your mind, Ephesians 4:24. and put on the new self, which in the likeness of God has been created in righteousness and holiness of the truth. The Ephesian Christians from the gospel preaching must know that such a life in Christianity is unthinkable (“but you did not learn Christ in this way”). — “If indeed...” more correctly: if at all (eige) — and this for the Apostle is beyond doubt — they have learned as they should what must be known about Christ 12. — “Just as truth is in Jesus.” These words should be placed at the beginning of the following verse, which shows the content of this “truth in Jesus.” Therefore these and the following words of verse 22 should be rendered thus: “just as the true teaching about life, proposed by Jesus, consists in laying aside your former manner of life....” “The old self,” that is, their former pagan way of life, must be put aside like old, worn-out clothing that no longer suits the position of a person who has taken on a new, very high position. This old self is still alive, but it decays gradually “in accordance with the lusts of deceit,” that is, it seeks death, succumbing to desires that only give the appearance of happiness, but in fact lead away from it. — “Be renewed in the spirit of your mind.” The Christian must begin his renewal with what constitutes, so to speak, the very core of his inner life (“the spirit of your mind”). — “Put on the new self.” The old clothing is removed and new clothing is needed, fully suited to the new state of man. Such for the newly created man are “righteousness” (in relation to people) and “holiness” (in relation to God). — “Of the truth.” This addition shows that the righteousness and holiness of man must have as their foundation absolute, evangelical truth.

Ephesians 4:25. Therefore, laying aside falsehood, speak truth each one of you with his neighbor, for we are members of one another. Now revealing what consists the renewal of the inner being of man in Christianity, the Apostle dwells on some pagan vices which, obviously, were not yet completely foreign to the Ephesian Christians. The teachings he gives to his readers in view of the existence of such vices first depict what Christian righteousness consists of (from Eph 4:25-5:2, and then describe Christian holiness (Eph 5:3-21). First of all, Christians must “lay aside falsehood,” because they are members of one body of Christ, and members of the body harm the health of the whole body through their wrongdoing, and consequently harm themselves. The pagans, it must be noted, often allowed themselves to lie in their dealings with one another.

Ephesians 4:26. Be angry, and yet do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, In contrast to the lack of self-control in anger characteristic of pagans, Christians, if they happen to become irritated, should not reach the point where this irritation becomes sin. Bishop Theophane, explaining this expression, gives the example of a man who in irritation quickly walks about the room. If this man is a Christian, he will not forget himself so much as to leave household furniture or other things overturned by him on the floor, but will certainly pick them up.... — “Do not let the sun go down on your anger.” Do not allow anger to continue longer than a few hours, especially do not go to sleep in anger, because at night you may become even more firmly settled in your irritation against the person who provoked your anger — no one will be there to convince you of the groundlessness of your irritation 13.

Ephesians 4:27. and do not give the devil an opportunity. Here the reference is not to the devil-satan, but to a slanderer (diabolos can also have this meaning, see Luke 16:1). If we understand this passage as a warning against the danger of succumbing to the influence of the devil in anger, then this teaching would be too general, since in all cases of our falling into sin we give place to the devil’s suggestions. But in our interpretation this verse is fully suited as a conclusion to the teaching of the preceding verse: in the anger which we harbor against someone, we will perhaps give credence to all the lies of evil people against those against whom we are angry....

Ephesians 4:28. The one who steals must steal no longer; but rather he must labor, performing honest work with his own hands, so that he will have something to share with the one who has need. Anyone who has not completely lost the habit of appropriating others’ property, which most pagans suffered from, must not only stop stealing, but moreover labor with all his might (kopíazo), with his own hands doing what is useful and moreover honest (to agathón), so as to be able to help others. It was very helpful for the Christians of that time to hear this teaching, because even among them — especially, of course, among people of lower rank, who formed the main contingent of the Church — there was not always firm respect for others’ property (see 1 Pet 4:15 and 1 Cor 6:10) 14.

Ephesians 4:29. Let no unwholesome word proceed from your mouth, but only such a word as is good for edification according to the need of the moment, so that it will give grace to those who hear. Again, the habit of pagans to use “filthy words” is in view. The filthy introduces corruption and damage wherever it goes, and filthy or immoral speech and especially an entire discourse introduces corruption into Christian society 15. — “For edification according to the need” — according to Tischendorf: for building up or meeting a given need or requirement (pros oikodomén tes chreías). — “Grace,” that is, both pleasantness and spiritual blessing, spiritual benefit.

Ephesians 4:30. Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. We often do not hesitate to use foul speech because, as we are accustomed to say, a bad word is spoken to the wind. But the Apostle says that one cannot treat filthy words so carelessly: we with them “grieve” — more precisely: sadden (mé lypeîte) the “Holy Spirit of God,” who mysteriously is present in all our gatherings (We are the temple of the Holy Spirit, 1 Cor 6:19), and yet in this Spirit and together with Him we have received from God a seal with which we must appear at the final judgment on the last day (eis hémeran apol., see Eph 1:13). The receiving of this Spirit was accomplished in the reception of the sacrament of chrismation, which usually followed baptism.

Ephesians 4:31. Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. The Apostle lists several distinct vices from which Christians must free themselves 16 and first points out inner spiritual states — “bitterness” against one’s neighbor, “wrath” or inner fleeting rage and “anger,” as a more prolonged state — and then the external manifestations of these feelings — “clamor, slander” or more precisely: abusive words. — “Along with all malice” — that is, it is not proper for a Christian to harbor malice in his heart toward people in general, even if it is not expressed in specific manifestations.

Ephesians 4:32. Be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ also has forgiven you. On the contrary, Christians should be toward one another “kind,” that is, generally gracious, “tender-hearted” where they encounter the unfortunate, and “forgiving” one another, remembering that they themselves have received forgiveness from God through the saving merits of Christ. * * * Notes All Christians have “faith” in the Son of God, but “knowledge” about the Son of God is far from the same in all (see Eph 1:17) More accurately this passage should be translated as: “so as not to be any longer inexperienced children (népioi) who can easily be (like a light vessel) swept away by every unexpected gust of wind of doctrine (unexpected new teachers of faith) — not to remain such children in the game of chance (en té kybeía) played with all cunning (en panourgia) by people coming into contact with Christians, so as to deceive with clever rearrangements of words and concepts (pros tén méthodeían) inexperienced people and set them on the path of delusion (tes plánes). The Apostle could see how the soldiers guarding him exercised themselves in the game of chance and therefore he developed the above-given image in his mind” The expression “if you have heard” more accurately should be translated as “if you have heard” (eige autón ékousate). And if so — say some interpreters — it means that the Apostle writes not for the Ephesians, regarding whom he certainly could not speak in such a conditional, as if uncertain tone, that they know the meaning of his calling.... But the reference here is not to the Apostle Paul’s general calling to serve the Gentiles, but to what constituted the inner, mysterious side of his calling and, as indicated in the explanation of verse Eph 3:3, the special miraculous appearance to him of Christ Himself.... About this, that is, about all these mysterious details of the Apostle’s calling, he could speak as something that could be both known and unknown to the Ephesians. He himself, obviously, during his time in Ephesus, avoided communicating these details, and the Ephesians could learn about them from other preachers. Between the Apostle Paul and the Apostle James there seems to be opposition in their view of the permissibility of anger in a Christian. The Apostle James apparently completely and unconditionally rejects anger (Jas 1:20), while the Apostle Paul permits anger insofar as it does not become sin. But in fact no such opposition exists. When the Apostle James rises up against anger, he has in mind the constant tendency of the Jews, to whom the readers of his epistle belonged, to reach in their effort to prove truth the most undesirable manifestations of fanaticism. The Jews indeed even attached decisive importance to their fanatical outbursts, believing that only such outbursts would lead to the triumph of divine truth. Meanwhile, the Apostle Paul has in view the universal human property of becoming irritated at any obstacles that present themselves to a person in carrying out his undertakings. To such a living attitude of a person toward everything that happens to him the Apostle could not, of course, take a negative view: man is a living and feeling being who by nature reacts in a certain way to everything that is unpleasant to him. And the Apostle James himself, without doubt, permitted such anger, as is evident from his rebukes which he addresses in his epistle to the rich (Jas 5:1 et seq.; see Jas 1:19: “slow to anger” — only!). And can one really suppose that the Apostle James generally opposed the angry strict rebuke of a Christian in those cases when a Christian encounters the brazen trampling of the laws of truth and righteousness? Anger in such cases is like a thunderstorm which purifies the air of miasmas and harmful bacteria. Only it is necessary, of course, that this anger pass as quickly as the storm. Otherwise, if it lingers long in a person’s soul, it will lead to bad consequences — “to sin,” as the Apostle Paul expresses it. Indeed, most crimes are committed because people did not manage to stop themselves in time in their anger. The Apostle most likely has in mind here slaves, who indeed, as ancient writers testify, had theft as a habit. That the Apostle speaks of slaves can be concluded also from the fact that he urges thieves not to return the stolen or squandered property, but demands from them intensive work for the benefit of poor church members: it is clear that thieves did not have their own property with which they could compensate others for the damage caused by them, and that they could atone for their transgression only through their labor — in the time that remained free from their service to their lords, for example, at night, which was given to slaves for rest. From this we can also draw the conclusion that in the early Christian Church contributions for the needs of the poor were received not only from wealthy people, but also from the most humble laborers. Some extend the concept of “filthy words” too far and suppose that the Apostle here forbids any meaningless speech which is conducted simply for the sake of passing time. Thus Meyer says: “For the Apostle, the words of our mouth are a clear reflection and manifestation of our inner, spiritual life. And such useless (filthy) words are for him proof that the ‘inner man’ of the speaker is sick, that he is — not as he should be, if he were filled with divine life.... And such a view is completely correct. For whoever in his heart is in true communion with God submits all his thoughts, words and deeds to God’s will.... He who feels pleasure hearing jokes of all kinds shows by this that he is an empty and superficial person” (epistle to the Ephesians). Meyer’s reasoning cannot but be considered too strict and extreme. After all, a cheerful joke often dispels a bad mood in a person and revives energy for activity: it is enough to point to the influence of jokes that commanders permitted themselves with respect to soldiers during difficult military marches. And further, the Apostle himself says that we must speak what can contribute to the building up or, more accurately, building of a person, and modern pedagogy affirms that a pupil’s character is formed not only through constant serious teaching and exhortations from the teacher, but also through appropriately cheerful joking or a cheerful story. Therefore, the Apostle could not completely reject what can serve to the true benefit of a person: he only by his exhortation directs our attention to the fact that all our words and conversations must not go beyond what is permitted by Christian morality. Some (for example, Bogdashevsky) suppose that the Apostle has in mind only possible future vices to which the Ephesian church could be exposed. But such a supposition cannot be accepted. Why would the Apostle waste time rebuking shortcomings that did not yet exist? Were conditions in the Ephesian church so completely satisfactory that the Apostle had nothing to reproach his readers for? This can hardly be supposed....