Overviewing the New Life in Christ

Transcript

GR 2325
10/3/2021
Overviewing the New Life in Christ
Ephesians 1:1 - 4:17
Gil Rugh

Well, as I contemplated what we might look into today, I thought maybe the best thing for us to do is to go back to Ephesians. We’ll be reviewing the first three chapters and looking into chapter 4 and maybe a little more detail in the verses ahead of us.
So, if you’ll turn in your bibles to the book of Ephesians and the 4th chapter. Paul writes this letter during his first Roman imprisonment, recorded at the end of the book of Acts. Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians in particular, letters that relate to that period in his life. So, chapter 4 opened up, “I, the prisoner of the Lord, implore you.” So, a reminder of his condition. And you can read the closing section of the book of Acts and you get an idea of what led up to that and how Paul ended up a prisoner in Rome.
But he’s a prisoner ultimately of the Lord. The Lord is sovereign, He’s in control, everything is ok. And you get that from Paul’s writing to the Ephesians. He’s more concerned about them then he is about himself and about his condition, about his situation. But none the less, it’s important to understand where he is and the situation he’s writing from.
The first three chapters, it breaks, and naturally as Paul’s letters often do, between the doctrinal emphasis and then the practical application of the doctrine. In the first three chapters of Ephesians, were primarily the doctrinal emphasis. And then the last three chapters as we have it in our bibles, chapters 4,5 and 6 denote the practical application. Really, from chapter 4:1 through chapter 5:14, he talks about some of the negatives, and particularly he’ll pick that up with verse 17, where we will be resuming our study. We’ve looked at the verses up to then. From verse 17 through chapter 5:14, he talks about the negative, the things that should not characterize us any longer as believers. He’s concerned for the Ephesians on that level. You know, it’s interesting to me and one of the commentators noted this, that there’s forty one imperatives in the book of Ephesians. Imperatives is giving a command. One of those is in the first three chapters, in chapter 2:11, where he says, “Therefore remember that formerly you, the Gentiles,” and that verb, ‘remember,’ an imperative. The other forty are in chapters 4, 5 and 6, which have to do with our responsibility in light of the truth that he talks about in the first three chapters. So, I want to spend some time and go back over those first three chapters with you.
There’s an emphasis beginning in chapter four on the word ‘walk.’ You’ll note verse 1, “I, the prisoner of the Lord,” reminder of his condition in Rome at this time, “implore you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you’ve been called.” So, the walk of the believer, the lifestyle that now is drastically different than it was. Now we are to live a new life and a new lifestyle, if you will. “Walk in a manner worthy.” That will mean down in verse 17, “this I say and affirm together with the Lord, that you walk no longer as the Gentiles also walk.” Now, these are Gentiles that he’s writing to. But you oughten to be living as a Gentile normally lives. Because God has made you a new creature in Christ. We’ll go back and just review the first three chapters in a moment. But, you walk no longer like the Gentiles walk. Even though they’re Gentiles. But Paul talks about the Jews, the Gentiles, and now those who are part of the body of Christ, the church. So, he’s careful here, in verse one of chapter 4, we walk in a manner worthy of the calling, consistent with now our new life in Christ, the calling which has resulted in our salvation and a reminder that we don’t walk any longer as the Gentiles walk. And as I said, through chapter 5:14, he will talk about different characteristics, primarily of Gentiles who have not experienced the saving grace of God.
That word ‘walk,’ while we’re talking about it, appears in chapter 4:1, walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you’ve received. It’s got the negative down in verse 17 of chapter 4, walk no longer as the Gentiles also walk, because they’re walking in the futility of their mind. And in chapter 5, “Therefore, be imitators of God, as beloved children; and walk in love, just as Christ loved you and gave Himself up for us.” That transformation is to affect all areas of our life. We now live differently than we lived before. Down in verse 8 of chapter 5. Verse 7, the negative, do not be partakers with them; for you were formerly darkness, but now you are Light in the Lord, walk as children of Light.” You’re new! You’ve been made new. God has done His work of transforming you on the inside. Now, you live as children of God, not as children around you, the other Gentiles. Ephesus is a Gentile church. There are maybe some Jews in it, but it’s primarily a Gentile church. And Paul, as an apostle, focuses his ministry on that. In 5:15, “Therefore, be careful how you walk.” That pattern of life of the believer, that lifestyle of the believer.
The other uses of the walk are back in chapter 2 of Ephesians. Chapter 2:1, “you were dead in your trespasses and sins, in which you formerly walked.” There’s our word ‘walk.’ You formerly lived your life, you had a lifestyle that conformed to the unbelievers around you. You were like them. We want to be careful, we want to see this distinct because there can be conservative non-believers and less-conservative non-believers. But the non-believer is basically living his life apart from the Lord. We want to be careful of that when you watch the news. And there may be news that you’re more in agreement with. But the foundation that we come from is totally different. And it becomes more evident over the passing of time. Then in chapter 2, down in verse 10, “we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.” So, verse 1 of chapter 2, talks about your former walk before you were saved. Now in verse 10 talks about your new life in Christ, and God has prepared a new lifestyle for us that we are to walk. We have that in chapter 4:1, “walk in a manner worthy,” verse 17, “walk no longer just as the Gentiles walk.” So, that transformation is to be evident in the focus of our lives and the way we live, what we do.
Now, we’re not primarily here to reform the world. We appreciate that the world isn’t as bad as it could be and as bad as it’s going to be. It seems to be moving that direction and when we get to that seven-year period, leading up to the return of Christ to earth, that seven-year period after the rapture of the church, we will see a explosion, where the restraints are removed and the unbelievers become more open in their defiance of God, rejection of anything connected with God and abuse and persecution of those who become believers in that seven-year period. And particularly the nation Israel, as the only nation on the earth that God has chosen for Himself, will become the object of intense persecution. It will start out, that first part of that seven years where it seems like, oh, we’ve got a man in charge here in the western world that is favorable to the Jews, but that will change in the middle, and the last three and a half years will be a satanic attempt to defile and destroy any remnant of Israel.
Come back to Ephesians chapter 1. Let me just walk through this with you. It’s been a couple of months since we’ve been in Ephesians together. I just want to overview these opening chapters because chapter 4, 5 and 6 are going to build on chapters 1, 2 and 3, on the basis of what God has done for us.
The opening verses were just the introduction. And he’s writing to the saints at Ephesus. So, he’s writing to those who are holy ones. To those who have been selected by God for Himself. They are faithful in Christ. He wants God to provide His grace and peace for them.
And then verses 3-14, you have that long section and he again emphasizes repeatedly what it means to be in Christ. Almost a dozen times he mentions “in Christ”, “in Him” in these verses. Starting with verse 3 where we read, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ.” So, he’s writing to those who are in Christ. He’s writing in verse 1, to those “who are faithful in Christ Jesus.” Now, he’s specifically talking about he wants God’s blessing on those who have received every spiritual blessing in the heavenlies, in Christ. Verse 4, “just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and blameless.” So, we’re to be holy and blameless now, in our character, that transformation God’s brought about, that’s to manifest itself in the way we now conduct ourselves. So, we want to be careful, there’s constant pressure that the church become like the world. And conform more to the world. And the more like the world, the more the differences will be muted, less clear. The bible will be very clear. So, He’s blessed us, He’s chose us in Him. He predestined us, verse 5, through Jesus Christ to Himself. Verse 6, “to the praise of the glory of His grace, which He freely bestowed on us in the Beloved,” in Christ. In whom, “in Him we have redemption through His blood.” Verse 7, “the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace.” Down in verse 9, “He made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His kind intention,” His good pleasure, “which He purposed in Him,” so that all is coming back to our being in Christ. In Him, through Christ, in the one who is the beloved one. Verse 10, in Him, in Christ, in Him, twice in verse 10. We’ve received the blessings, down in verse 12, “to the end that we who were the first to hope in Christ would be to the praise of His glory.” Verse 13, In Him, or in Whom, you also, having believed, “were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise.” You see that constant reference to Christ, one way or another, that permeates particularly verses 3-14. That one long introductory theme and sentence. Those who are in Christ, are to live differently now. We’re in Him, we have been made new within. That means we don’t live like we used to live in so many ways. Oh, we still eat and drink, but we understand that the basic motivation of our lives has changed. It can never be the same again. I am now living as one who is in Christ and has the Holy Spirit dwelling within me, to produce that new character.
So, verse 15 and following, for this reason, “having heard of the faith in the Lord Jesus which exists among you and for your love for all the saints,” how they go together. Their faith in the Lord Jesus and their love for all the saints. This is crucial because he’s going to talk about emphasizing that love we have for all the saints. We love the world and would love the world to come to know our Savior. But we have a special love for those who now belong to Christ and are living for Him. And, I’ve heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and the love you have for all the saints. I give thanks for you and I want you to continue to grow in this, is what he says through chapter 1. Down to verse 22, where “He put all things in subjection under His feet, and gave Him as head over all things to the church, which is His body, the fulness of Him who fills all in all.” Of course we’re to live differently. We now are a reflection of the God to whom we belong. Jesus Christ is the one in whom we now live, move, have our being. He’s the head of the church. The Gentiles… but we’re not just the Gentiles any longer. We are the church of Jesus Christ. And this is true of the Jews, but he’s writing to a Gentile church. He’s particularly concerned about how they see themselves. Well, I’ve placed my faith in Christ, but you know, I still live in the Gentile world. But I’m not part of that world any longer. I’m a stranger and pilgrim in this world. I’m living a new life with a new lifestyle, if you will. So, Christ the head over all things to the church, which is His body. So, now we are spiritually the body of Christ. It is His character being produces in us.
So, chapter 2 talks about what we formerly were. We “were dead in our trespasses and sins. In which you formerly walked.” I mean, we walked as those who were dead. This is where we want to be careful. Politically, we get believers drawn into the political world and they identify politically and that supersedes their spiritual connection. Any connection we have with those who politically (and we use the word ‘politically’ just as the general word here) any identification we have, similarity we have, is at best superficial. I mean, they walk “according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience.” So, they’re the children of the Devil. Keep in mind, a lot of the things that Paul talks about here the Jews would agree with him about. But when it comes down to the basic spiritual foundation for their relationship with the living God, they are as far apart as the most pagan of the Romans, of the Gentiles.
So, it’s important that we keep our perspective clear here. So, you formerly walked according to the course of this world. Oh, I wasn’t that bad a person. Perhaps you were saved young. God spared you a lifestyle that could have been yours. But the general picture is clear, they walk “according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience… We too all formerly lived in the lusts of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind,” verse 3, “and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest.” That’s just what we were. We were separated even from Israel. Israel at least had the word of God and conformed in general ways. We don’t even do that. They had a general superficial worship system that came generally from the bible. But the Gentiles, we “were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest.” We keep that in mind, even if you were saved at a very young age, growing up in a Christian home, you can be thankful to the Lord for that. Even as Jews who were truly saved, and were saved at an early age, grew up in that, that was fine. But by and large, we just came as Gentiles. We had to be saved from the beginning. “God, being rich in mercy,” verse 4, “because of His great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ.”
That’s key to what he is talking about in chapters 4, 5 and 6. We were dead in our sins, we were made alive together with Christ. “By grace you have been saved,” the end of verse 5. Then that’s repeated down in verse 8, “for by grace you have been saved.” It’s by the grace, the unmerited favor of God. Has nothing to do with where you were born physically. We say, well, being born a Jew was a blessing. But by and large, the Jews, Paul being an example of that as we’re aware, was lost. But for the Gentiles, we were all in that condition. But God intervened, “by grace you have been saved.”
So, now we have been raised and elevated and seated with Christ in the heavenlies. “So that,” in verse 7, “in the ages to come He might show the surpassing riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved,” a reminder again. It’s by grace that you’re saved. You could have been raised in a Christian home. I don’t know where you are. That doesn’t make you saved. Well, I conform more, yes, the Jews conformed more than the Gentiles did. But it didn’t save them. It’s the work that only God can produce in a heart. “So that in the ages to come, He might show the surpassing riches of His grace,” verse 7, “in kindness toward us.” “For by grace you have been saved through faith.” And that salvation is “not of yourself, it is the gift of God.” It’s God that intervened. It’s God that brought you up through a home where you were privileged to hear the truth of the gospel from an early age and maybe believed at an early age. But by the same token, many of you grew up in a Christian home, exposed to the truth, but you may not have believed it at an early age. And you’re just as lost as you could be. In fact your condition is worse when you’re exposed to the truth as the Jews were.
“We are His workmanship,” verse 10, “created in Christ Jesus for good works.” That’s a contrast, you have that contrast in Ephesians. Now it’s going to be developed in chapter 4:17 and following, down through chapter 5 there, verse 14, what that lifestyle was like before you were saved. Now, pretty soon we begin and look, we can’t tell. And something is wrong, so he’s making clear here at the beginning. “We are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.” There’s our expression, “walk in them,” that they become the characteristic of our lives. We’re still living in this world, we’re living among Gentiles who may be very religious, but they haven’t experienced the internal transformation.
Then verses 11 down through the rest of this chapter, chapter 2, he talks about the contrast between the Gentiles and the Jews. Verse 11, “remember that formerly you, the Gentiles in the flesh.” He’s going to talk about that, three groups of people here. Jews, Gentiles in the flesh. And Gentiles who have been made new and the Jews who have been made new, they form the church so that becomes the third group. So, you have Gentiles, you have Jews and now you have the church. All those who are made new in Christ. So, “therefore remember formerly you, the Gentiles in the flesh, who are called uncircumcision by the circumcision, which is performed in the flesh by human hands.” The Jews said, look we have the word of God, we have the mark, all the males have been circumcised, we belong to God, you Gentiles don’t. And there was an element of truth to that. That was the only nation God has chosen for Himself. That’s true down to today. Even though they are under the judgement of God, the discipline of God, for their unbelief. They are still the nation He chose, the gifts and calling of God are irrevocable. So, some day, after the rapture of the church, He will resume that program with Israel, bring it to completion. And all Israel will be saved. But that’s a future time.
But, for the Gentiles, we didn’t even have that closeness. We were alienated. We were called uncircumcised Gentiles. You were “separate from Christ,” verse 12, “excluded from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world.” Well, there were individual Jews saved, Ruth for example. Ruth was in the line of Christ, as a woman. But Gentiles are rare, because God is working through the Jews and the nation Israel. What hope did we have? “Now in Christ Jesus,” verse 13, “you who formerly were far off, have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For He Himself is our peace, who has made both groups into one and broken down the barrier.” So, now it’s Jew and Gentile together forming one new group of people, the church of Jesus Christ. That’s His body.
Chapter 1, verses 22 and 23, “He… gave Him head over all things to the church, which is His body.” So, now we belong to Him, Jew and Gentile. Doesn’t matter your nationality. It does matter whether you belong to Him. Oh, I attended church, I don’t attend Indian Hills, I attend another church. Well, is it a church that clearly teaches and believes the word of God? We have Roman Catholicism, then we have all kind of Protestant denominations for example. It’s the truth of salvation by God’s grace through faith, not through church activity. The Jews thought, well, we’re circumcised, we keep the law, therefore we’re good to go, we’re going to heaven. No, they weren’t, no more than Gentiles are. You can come to this church, be born with parents that are here, grow up here, attend this church, die and go to hell. It’s personal faith in Christ that changes a life and makes it new.
So, we were formerly, we Gentiles, outside the promises of God, they had to do with Israel. Ruth, I used her as an example, she becomes the great-grandmother. She fathers Obed, and Obed fathers Jesse, and Jesse fathers David, and David is in the line of Jesus.
So, what’s He doing? Verse 15, the end of the verse, so that in Himself He might make the two into one new man… and might reconcile them both in one body to God,” through Christ. So, now it doesn’t matter whether you’re a Jew or a Gentile, you have to come to faith in the Jewish Messiah, who died on the cross, rejected by the Jews. So, His work with the Jews, the gifts and calling of God are irrevocable, He has to fulfill what He’s promised to the Jews. But He set that aside. And now He’s working with the church. And He will until the rapture, then He’ll resume His program with Israel.
So, verse 19 of chapter 2, “you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints, and are of God’s household, having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus Himself being the corner stone.” And we’re like a building being built together. So, now you have Jews, you have Gentiles, and you have the church. But we have churches just like you had Jews, but the vast majority of Jews were unbelieving and lost. The vast members of churches are just like the Jews, they’re unbelieving, they’re lost. Their faith is in their church. Their faith is in their baptism. Their faith is in the communion. Their faith is in, you fill in the blank. It’s not in the finished work of Christ, that’s the uniqueness.
So, chapter 3 opens, “For this reason I, Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus for the sake of you Gentiles.” So, again now Paul reminds us, I’m a prisoner. I’m a prisoner because I preach the gospel. I mean, the Jews stirred up the Gentiles against Paul, and he didn’t have friends among the Jews, he didn’t have friends among the Gentiles. They both saw him as an enemy because he preached salvation through faith in Christ alone. So, it explains how he knew about the church and what God was doing today. Important we understand that. The church is a mystery not before revealed. So, I want you to understand, I’m a prisoner in Rome. Humanly speaking, I’m a nobody. From God’s perspective I am the focal point of what He is doing in the world today. He’s working with apostles and prophets, chapter 2:20, “built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets,” Christ Jesus the cornerstone.
But there’s new revelation coming, in addition of what we had through the Old Testament. “The stewardship,” verse 2, “of God’s grace which was given to me for you; that by revelation there was made known to me the mystery.” And he makes clear here, the mystery is something you couldn’t know. People find the church in the Old Testament, it’s not there. This is a mystery, it’s something new. It’s “by revelation there was made known to me the mystery.” So that I’m going back to explain this to you again, so “you can understand my insight,” verse 4, “into the mystery of Christ, which in other generations was not made known to the sons of men.” But “has now been revealed to His holy apostles and prophets in the Spirit.” God is making new material available, new information. This is new, it’s information regarding the church. You read about the church in the Old Testament, those people are confused at best. Even some who may be believers, they’re confused. This “was not made known to the sons of men.” But it’s “now been revealed to his holy apostles and prophets.” Peter will write about it. John will write about it. It’s something new. Verse 5, “which in other generations was not made known to the sons of men, as it has now been revealed to His holy apostles and prophets in the Spirit.” That’s what the church is. Oh, there were Gentiles saved, I mentioned Ruth, and there are others. But they are few, because God is dealing with one nation. Beginning in Geneses 12 until Acts 2, the whole bible just deals with primarily Israel. Gentiles come in as they impact that nation.
What is the mystery that was not made known before? Verse 6, now “the Gentiles are fellow heirs and fellow members of the body, and fellow partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel.” And I was made a minister of that. “To bring to light,” verse 9, “what is the administration of the mystery, which for ages has been hidden in God.” Some people reject the teaching that the church doesn’t begin until Acts 2, no, we find the church in the Old Testament. And those who are dispensational, which we are, we see the church beginning in Acts 2 and ending with the rapture. Now, they are saying God didn’t know. God knew, He hadn’t made it known. Verse 9, to bring to light what is the administration of the mystery which for ages has been hidden in God.” So, this is part of God’s plan from the beginning. But now, He’s made it known to man. He didn’t reveal everything in the Old Testament. We have progressive revelation given through the prophets. That’s pretty clear.
Verse 10, “so that the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known through the church to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places.” Very important that the church stay focused on the word of God. The church doesn’t have authority over the word, which is an error of Roman Catholicism, that the Roman Catholic church only be the interpreter of the word. But other Protestant groups follow the same, well, my church believes this, well, my church believes that. Well, you have to come to the word and find out, does my church believe what the word of God teaches. If not, my church is lying, it’s not telling the truth. That’s known through the church. But that doesn’t mean every individual church, as it didn’t mean every individual Jew. Paul, until he was converted on the Damascus road, recorded in Acts 9, he was zealous for Judaism. That’s different from being zealous for Christ. They can talk about Christ, they can put Him above all, but when it comes down to it, bottom line is, what does the word of God teach.
So, Paul had this by revelation. So, don’t lose heart, he concludes that, don’t lose heart, verse 13 of chapter 3, because of my tribulation. Think about it, you’re living back in Paul’s day, he comes, he’s presenting this truth, and he’s now a prisoner in Rome and all that goes with that. Well, maybe God is not working through him after all. No, don’t “lose heart at my tribulations on your behalf, for they are for your glory.” I’m reaching out to Gentiles because Jews have been set aside for now, as a nation. Individual Jews, Paul is an example, others are saved. But primarily God is working in Gentiles now.
For this reason I bow and give thanks to God for what He’s done for me in Christ. And verse 20 and 21 summarize that first three chapters as we have it. “Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us, to Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations forever and ever. Amen.” There is an individual responsibility that each of us have, to be sure that we’re being taught the word and being brought to conformity to the word. It’s not enough to be part of the church. I have a responsibility. I also don’t see being part of a church as an option. Because God is dealing with the church. But I want to be part of the church as it’s teaching the word of God, as it is. Indian Hills is not the only church in this city and across the country that is teaching the word. Now we have differences in minor areas, but the basic fact of how salvation is brought about through faith in the gospel can not be altered. And that is the dividing line.
So, chapter 4 opens up, “Therefore I, the prisoner of the Lord, implore you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have been called.” So, that’s what the first three chapters have been primarily focused on. There’s practice in there, you formerly walked, chapter 2:1. Now walk in the good works that God has created you to carry out, in verse 10 of chapter 2. There’s a mixture, but it’s primarily was I want you to understand your position in Christ. Now, “walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you’ve been called.” That means you’ll be characterized by humility, gentleness, patience, showing tolerance for one another in love. We are at different stages of growth. We are at different places in our walk with the Lord. We want to be patient with one another. That doesn’t mean we accept the teaching of error. But we realize, not everybody is grown as they need to grow. That’s why Paul was used to write the letter to the Ephesians. So, we want to allow for that. Now, for those who are going to teach, they have to be more in line with what we understand the word to teach. But yes, we’re glad to have people here who are just new believers, or perhaps thinking about, they are not believers yet. That’s fine, they’re welcome. Now, they can’t have a position here, but come, sit, bring a bible, pick up a bible, follow along, see what it says, consider your relationship with Christ.
“Walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have been called.” Now, we’re talking to believers. You have to “walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have been called.” We want to be tolerant, expecting there are immature believers, there are mature believers. But that doesn’t mean it’s ok. We want to be characterized by humility, gentleness, patience, showing tolerance for one another in love. We want to be diligent to preserve the unity produced by the Spirit. So, when God has truly saved a person, then He has brought them into His body. And we have to show patience. Yes, they’re going to stumble. They are not going to get it right, that’s alright. So, it’s a manner in which we deal with one another. We just don’t write one another off and I’ll find another church, that’s it, period. No, we hope we’ll be, verse 3, “diligent to preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.” If God wants you in a different church, that’s where you need to be, as long as it’s a church that teaches the word and is true to the word. “There is one body, one Spirit… one hope of your calling, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all who is over all and through all and in all.” There is that oneness, we have that with others throughout the city, who are believers in the word and teach the word. They may have a difference in minor areas. Now, we get to a point where we say, no, we could not identify with them. I won’t give examples, but there’s a difference. We know, we have people who have left here to go to other bible-believing churches. We hope that they will grow there, be used there and be effective in their service for Christ as part of that body. But there are others that call themselves churches in town that are just not where the word of God is, a believing church is.
“To each one of us grace was given.” So, now and he’s writing to individual churches. And he’s writing to the church at Ephesus as an individual body. There is a oneness. But there is a diversity that exists and that is in the gifts that we’re given. And they were dependent on the work of Christ and His death and resurrection. So, first His descending to this earth and His ascension, and then He gave gifts to men in verse 8, which is characteristic, comes from the Old Testament. But it’s not realized until the prophecy is fulfilled and we see it carried out.
“And He gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers.” These are primarily the gifts that relate to the communication of the word. We get an expanded list in 1 Corinthians 12, 13 and 14, of different gifts added. Gifts of serving and gifts of helps, so there is a variety. We appreciate, we have diversity of gifts. And we want to appreciate that and adjust to one another and realize, well, they’re gifted in this area, I’m gifted in this area. It’s all “for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ.”
So, we come back, we’ve been placed into the body. Am I here now, to contribute to this body and grow as part of this body? That’s what the church is, it’s to be a place where now, gifted believers are functioning in a variety of ways. And we have it spread out in so many ways. To other believing churches, the same thing. Some have been moved from this church to other churches and they are exercising their gifts and strengthening that local body. That’s fine, but we also have those buildings called churches and those groups called churches that their foundation is not the same. So, they think they are good to go because they’re in a church. Whether it’s Roman Catholic or Protestant, that in and of itself doesn’t make you a child of God anymore than being a Jew made you a genuine child of God. God had chosen the nation, but He didn’t choose every person in the nation. And now He has set aside the nation because of judgement. He’ll remove the true church out of the world, then the world will be, as you start that seven-year tribulation, that last of the seventy weeks of Daniel, you will have a variety of kinds of people in the churches. But none of them belong to the Lord. Then by God’s grace, people are saved, primarily the Jews, but Gentiles as well. And you have persecution breaking out.
So, the result of all this, “we are no longer to be children,” verse 14, “tossed here and there by waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine.” Every form of teaching. We ought not to be carried about, we ought to be able to come to grips with the word. What does the word say? What does the scripture say? This ought to be an interest in whatever church that is a true church. “We are no longer to 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; but speaking the truth in love.” It doesn’t mean we’re going to agree on everything all the time. We don’t. We have certain doctrinal convictions. We mentioned the masks, some people will feel one way, some people will feel the other way, that’s fine, other areas. But the truth that’s taught has to be conformed to the word.
The church is measured by it’s conformity to the word, not the word be brought in conformity to the church. Now, were there’s differences, I want to come to grips with it. If there’s a church that does not believe in the rapture of the church, I want to wrestle with those scriptures. I want to be part of the church that is the pillar and support of the truth. We’re speaking the truth in love. So, truth and love, they are not separate. Oh well, we’re loving, we don’t divide over truth. Wait a minute. Then you’re not loving. It’s truth in love. Verse 15, “speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in all aspects into Him who is the head.” And that’s “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.”
So, it’s all the parts functioning together, not just the teaching. There’s a difference between a school, a bible school, it focuses on teaching. The church has all different gifts functioning together. And the teaching, the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, is foundational. We don’t have apostles and prophets today, but we have their truth. We’re reading Ephesians, we’re studying Ephesians. It’s not what our church believes and teaches but it’s what Scripture teaches. Areas where the bible doesn’t address, then we do. It doesn’t say you have to meet together at 10 am on Sunday morning. We choose to do that. Some meet at another time. That’s not the issue. But the issue is, we have to meet together. We have to do certain things when we do meet together. We have to be focused on the word of God.
So, verse 17, which we’re ready to begin, the new section, “this I say, and affirm together with the Lord, that you walk no longer just as the Gentiles also walk, in the emptiness (futility) of their mind.” So, now he’s going to talk about some of the things we don’t do as believers, because we walk in new life. We’ve been made new, it’s not just a superficial thing. Ok, I’ve placed my faith in Christ. Doesn’t matter what church I go to. Wait a minute, is the word of God, the nourishment for your new life in Christ? Yes, then you have to be where you’ll be taught the word of God. Where the word of God is foundational, where it is what nourishes my soul. Well, you know, our doctrine is a little different and we just teach our doctrines. The doctrines have to come from scripture. We have to be students of the word of God.
So, we walk no longer as the Gentiles also walk. In the futility of their mind, in the emptiness of their mind. And this is as far as we’re going to go. This comes back to where we started. We don’t agree because we have political affinity. Agreement with certain political views. Now again, naturally I’m going to vote, I can vote. So, I may exercise my right and vote. And I might vote for those that I think are more of an agreement of where I would be biblically, even though they’re not biblical in the sense of being believers in Jesus Christ. They may be religious, well, that’s fine. We have diversity, we try not to get into the political things until the political things infiltrate the church. For example, the masks, and they have developed the mandate on masks for our city, but we say we can not agree with that. We do not hold to that, that would restrict us in ways that would make us unbiblical. Some have chose not to visit with one another, not to be assembled, not to be identified with the church. Hebrews speaks of this. It says, well, you can’t not meet together, we have to do that.
But there are other things, food you eat, what you do, we have diversity in that. What binds us together, is an agreement on the truths of the word of God. Of the implementation of that, some of you choose to live in one kind of house, some of you another. Drive one kind of car. All those things become individual except where they would conflict with the word.
So, I affirm this with the Lord. He says, I say this, I affirm it. So, this is coming from the Lord. It’s not Paul, it’s, “I affirm together with the Lord, that you walk no longer just as the Gentiles also walk, in the futility of their mind.” And he’ll elaborate that they are darkened, and we don’t conform and adjust our conduct to conform to someone we would agree with just because they politically might agree with us. That’s a superficial thing. You can have a different political view and attend here. That’s fine, we want to be careful that we don’t cross the line. Because the unbeliever, we’re back to chapter 2:1 of Ephesians, “you were dead in your trespasses and sins, in which you formerly walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience.” That’s what we were.
Wait Paul, what about those at that church at Ephesus, that’s where they all were spiritually. That’s where we want to be careful we don’t blend the two. They may be superficially where we are, but foundationally they’re not. Now, generally we live in the world, I’m going to vote for those that I think have more convictions that are in line with scripture, even though I would not identify with them as part of the church. But I want to be careful here, that I don’t mix the two. The Gentiles are walking in the futility of their mind. Paul on other occasions has to deal with the Jews. And there was a lot in Judaism they agreed with, about morals and conduct and character. But Paul says, no. They are coming and what really will come and it’s coming more in our day, where we see more and more conforming to the world as the world. We think, well, I didn’t think they would hold that, I didn’t think they would. Our foundation comes from the scripture. And we walk no longer as the Gentiles walk. So, to that extent, the church is outside the framework of what’s going on in the world. And chapter 5:2, we’re to “be imitators of God… and walk in love, just as Christ also loved you.” So, we’re imitators of God. The other areas we can be free on.
Crucial thing is, do you have that relationship with Christ? Not, have you grown up in this church, not if you have been attending this church, not… Do you see, do you have a relationship with the living God? Has He changed you on the inside and made you new? And now, as a new person, you don’t walk just like the other people who may be “conservatives” walk, because they walk in the emptiness of their mind. They have no real foundation for that conduct. They are darkened in their understanding, they’re excluded from the life of God because of the ignorance that’s in them, because of the hardness of their heart, and they are callous. That’s where it is. And that’s why we see the growing animosity toward what we would call scriptural principles. We want to be careful we don’t mix them along the way. We’ll walk in a manner worthy, we will not walk as the Gentiles walk.
Let’s pray together. Thank you, Lord ,for the riches of Your word. Thank you for it’s beauty, it’s simplicity, it’s clarity. It is clear only to those who have Your Spirit, who open their eyes to see and believe these truths and then to bring their lives into conformity to them. Conformity that can only be accomplished by the indwelling Spirit. It is accomplished only when we agree with Him and submit to His control, bring our lives into conformity to the truth that You’ve revealed. Thank you for the greatness of Your truth, its power for salvation, its power for new life, living for everyone to know the Savior. We give You praise in His name. In Christ we pray. Amen.