Ephesians 4:3-16 One Another

In Ephesians 4:2 Paul listed 4 characteristics that are vital for believers to develop if they are going to “live a life worthy of the calling you have received.” Read Ephesians 4:2-3. Verse 2 is a transitional verse that defines what a life worthy of Jesus looks like and a life that leads to unity in the church. 

Unity in Jesus’ church is essential. As a church and those who make it up, it is essential that we are united in the Spirit. Acts 2:42 records that the early Christians, “Devoted themselves to fellowship.” The word used there for “fellowship” is the Greek word “Koinonia” which loosely translated means community. The community they were devoted to was that made up of fellow believers so literally they devoted themselves to each other. There was an intimacy in the early church that enabled them to grow and work together. Read John 13:34-35. 

Then some 25-30 years later Paul wrote to the church in Ephesus and reminded them of the importance of that fellowship and being one in Jesus. Unlike the first churches that were made up primarily of Jewish Christians, the church in Ephesus was made up of Jews and Greeks, of rich landowners and slaves, of educated and those who never had the opportunity to learn to read or write. Unity needed to be worked at more deliberately than it did in Jerusalem but was no less essential if they were to consider themselves to be a church of Jesus.

Read Ephesians 4:4-6. In the verses that follow, through verse 16, Paul detailed some of reasons why unity is important and what it should look like. Paul said we are to be united in Jesus because we have a shared oneness in Jesus, and we have shared values that set us apart from the rest of society. 

Paul wrote that unity was essential if we are to grow in our faith and successfully bear a testimony to the community around us. A church that spends all its time scrapping cannot grow. Paul noted that God has given us a variety of spiritual gifts not so we can compete with one another or feel that some are better than others. Ephesians 4:12-13 details why we have been given a variety of gifts. Read those verses. 

We have different gifts so that collectively we can grow as a church in the Lord. Some are teachers, some have gifts of music, some have gifts of maintaining our facilities, some have gifts of helps in the community. When we the various gifts together in unity we grow, and we have a witness to those around us.

Paul wrote in verse 2 we are to, “bear with one another in love.” In the New Testament there are a number of pictures or commands that picture how we are to relate to one another. Looking at them presents an interesting challenge to all Christians.

The longest list of verses containing a command to “one another” is to “love one another.” This is repeated 19 times plus it was commanded by Jesus Himself. John 13:14 records Jesus telling us to love one another not just once but twice. Read that verse. Christians are to be a group of people known for their love of one another.

How are we to love one another? Jesus said we are to love as He loved. So how did Jesus love? Romans 5:8 records that He loved us even when we were unworthy of that love, while we were sinners. Later in that chapter Paul recorded that nothing can ever separate us from Jesus’ love, and it will never end. His love, according to II Corinthians 5:21, was a sacrificial love that gave up everything for our redemption. I Corinthians 13 is God’s picture of what the love we are to have for one another should look like.

Several “one another” commands tie into one’s love of one another. For example, read Colossians 3:13, Ephesians 4:32, and Romans 15:7. 

(Incidentally, there are some “negative” one another” passages that relate to loving and forgiving. Read James 4:11, James 5:9 and Romans 14:13. 

The list of “one another” commands goes on. Read Hebrews 10:24-25. Four other times we are told to “encourage one another.” The Hebrews 10 passage specifically tells us encourage one another by spurring each other on toward love and good deeds.

We really don’t need to ask why this is important. Jesus told us, according to John 16:33, that, “In this world you will have trouble.” The nature of those troubles may vary from individual to individual but realistically life can be difficult and discouraging at times. One of the ministries we can have within the church is that of encouragement. The ministry of just coming along side and letting someone know you are there can be a great encouragement. Read Proverbs 16:24.  

A favorite Bible characters is Barnabas whose real name was Joseph but was nicknamed Barnabas by the early church, with Barnabas meaning “Son of Encouragement.” A church that is filled with individuals who are known to be sons and daughters of encouragement will be a church that others will want to be a part of. 

Ephesians 5:19 presents another “one another” challenge that is closely related to encouraging one another. Read that verse. Admittedly there is a wealth of implications to that but at least one is to take the time to encourage one another by reminding them of the great promises found in the Psalms and expressed in so many hymns. Who, going through a tough time, will not be encouraged by the reminder that “The Lord is our shepherd” or that we truly have a “friend in Jesus?” 

Another “one another” that is closely related to encouraging one another. Read Galatians 5:13. Jesus made it clear that one who seeks to be first in the kingdom is one who is a servant. Serving one another is a way of reaching out and declaring in practical ways that someone is valued and important to us. Service can be in the form of encouragement or via a helping hand when one needs that extra assistance. Very closely related to that command is seen in I Peter 5:5. Read that verse.  The coming along side in serving one another is not saying, “I can do what you cannot” or “I can do something better than you” but instead we should say in attitude, “Let me help you accomplish your goals because together we can do more than either of us can do alone.”

God’s Word has several more “one another” passages worthy of our thought. I Peter 4:9 reads, “Offer hospitality to one another without grumbling.” In biblical times there were no motels, so Christians cared for fellow Christians who were traveling. Perhaps today Peter would remind us to take a meal to someone having difficulty preparing them or just in need of break and a healthy meal.

The list goes on. Read Colossians 3:16, Romans 12:10 and, Romans 15:14.

What do all of the “one another” passages have in common. They remind us that as a church we are a family, the family of God. Our culture does not tend to greet one another any longer with a “hello brother” or “hello sister” but that is what we are in Jesus. And because we are family, we are responsible for the care of “one another.” That care means we bear with one another, love one another, forgive one another, spur one another on, encourage one another, offer hospitality to one another, teach one another, and we honor one another. 

It’s a big demand but one that God has promised to help us fulfill. The challenge is for us to pick areas where we can do more and then allow God to bless His family through us.

Ephesians 4:2 Characteristics of a Worthy Walk

Read Ephesians 2:1, Ephesians 2:4-5, and Ephesians 3:20-21 

“To Jesus be glory in the church throughout all generations, for ever and ever” is a message we need to always keep before us. Our individual lives as well as the activities of a church are intended to bring glory to the one who created us and then redeemed us when we sinned. Ephesians 4:1 reads, “I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received.” 

Ephesians 4:2 is a transition. The chapter opened with a call to bring glory to God by the way we live. Verse 3 is a challenge to “Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace.”  In verse 2 Paul listed some of the traits that characterize those seeking to bring glory to God will display but at the same time they are the characteristics essential to unity. Read Ephesians 4:2. Paul listed 4 characteristics that no matter where we are in our walk with Jesus, we can develop further. 

The first characteristic Paul listed was “Be completely humble.” The Greek word is made up of two parts that literally mean, “to think or judge with lowliness.” Many think Paul combined those words, coining a new word himself since there was no exact word for what Paul wanted to communicate in the Greek. There were some words that came close to it but they all carried the idea being mean or ignoble or a person of no repute. The Greeks not only did not have a word for humble, but they detested the very idea. To them it was unnatural to think of oneself in any way but with pride. Slaves were humble because they had no worth but everyone else was expected to be proud of who he was and what he had. The challenge to be humble sets the Christian apart from the world. Humility is a distinct Christian trait.

Not much has changed and probably will not as long as we live in a world temporarily controlled by Satan because he is all about himself. Our culture, just as that of ancient Greece and Rome did, pushes for that which corresponds to pride while minimizing and even disparaging of humility. People are supposed to be proud of themselves and what they have achieved. “Take pride in who you are and what you have done” is a theme of our culture. Winners are praised and losers looked upon as failures. And that attitude can find its way into the church where we brag that our church is larger or better than yours. Christians often think, even if they don’t say it out loud, I got more applause for my presentation than you did etc. 

Humility is a tough trait to define. The moment one declares “I’m humble and proud of it” one has forfeited it. It’s difficult to distinguish between satisfaction in a job well done and pride in what we have done. From a biblical perspective, in place of pride we should have thankfulness to the one who gifted us and enabled us to achieve. If all honor and glory are given to God, then it is difficult to take credit or be proud. Think often of what James was teaching us when he wrote in James 4:6, “God opposes the proud but shows favor to the humble.”

Read I Corinthians 1:30-31 and Romans 12:3. 

For Christians, humility is at the heart of how we should view ourselves. Humility is seeing ourselves as God sees us, not as others see us and not even as we see ourselves. Humility is seeing ourselves not in comparison to others but in comparison to Jesus.

Humility was a characteristic of Jesus. Read Philippians 2:5-7.  Because Jesus is our example, it becomes essential that we seek to be humble like Him.  

Luke 9 details a discussion the disciples had among themselves as to who was the greatest. Jesus settled the argument by saying, according to verse 48b, “it is the one who is least among you all who is the greatest.”

The second characteristic of an individual who seeks to live worthy of all Jesus has done for them is “gentleness.”Many translations of that word render it “meekness.” Paul put “gentleness” or “meekness” together with humility because one cannot be both proud and meek at the same time.

Too often we associate “meekness” with weakness but in reality “meekness” or “gentleness”is power under control. “Gentleness”is self-control and is the opposite of flying off the handle or quickly becoming being angry. Once again, our example is Jesus. Read how He described Himself in Matthew 11:29 Meekness or gentleness does not mean we do not respond firmly to wrongs or injustice. The gentle Jesus turned tables upside down because the businessmen who were using them were robbing the people. Unlike Jesus, who could do that and not display a sense of pride, our firmness must always tempered with the realization that we too are sinners saved by grace and in no sense better than anyone else.

The Greek word that Paul used here had its primary use in describing a soothing medication that one would put on a sore to alleviate the pain or discomfort. It was also used to describe a soft, soothing wind, and in the training or domesticating of a wild animal. Paul used it in his second letter to Timothy to tell him that when he instructed those opposed him and the gospel that he must gently instruct them (II Timothy 2:25).

The third characteristic of one who is truly seeking to live worthy of our faith is patience. That word is sometimes translated as “longsuffering.” In I Corinthians 13:4 Paul described love as being patient. (In that same verse Paul added, “love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.” That covers most of the characteristics of walking worthy listed in Ephesians and walking worthy is a display of our love for Jesus.)

There is no area of life where more patience is not needed. 

If Paul had spelled patience out in more detail, I suspect he would have suggested we learn to count to 12 instead of 10, that we seek to develop a long fuse instead of a short one and maybe we learn to relax a little more in those circumstances that impact us negatively or when with people that annoy us. That should be the way every Christian is described. We are to have patience.

Paul’s final trait listed in Ephesians 4:2 that should characterize us when we are seeking to live worthy of all Jesus has done for us is “bearing with one another in love.” The Living Bible paraphrase translated this as “making allowance for each other’s faults because of your love.” The best explanation for that is the old acronym for JOY: Jesus first, Others second and You last. Bearing one another is taking the mixture of people we call church and making them truly family.

Paul’s challenge to, “Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love” was his challenged the Christians in Ephesus because they were to live in a way that was worthy of the salvation Jesus provided and in living that way, they would bring glory to God and encourage a unity in the church that is essential for the world to see. It is the same for us today.

Easter 

There is no doubt about it, Easter was by far the worst day of Joseph’s life. To make matters worse it followed almost immediately after what had been one of his best days ever. As best we can tell Joseph was about 45 years of age and had, via a wise marriage, moved up the corporate ladder to the top position. You probably know Joseph better by his family name, Caiaphas. 

Joseph or Caiaphas hated Jesus for a variety of reasons. His difficulty with Jesus stemmed from the fact that the two had radically different theological positions. Caiaphas was a follower of the branch of Judaism known as the Sadducees. The Sadducees denied that there was any kind of afterlife. Jesus taught that He was the resurrection and the life and that whoever believed in Him though he were to die, would still live. 

More basic than theological differences, Jesus constantly declared that the religious leaders were misleading the people by establishing rules and regulations that God never intended them to insist were essential. Read in Matthew 23:33 what Jesus said about them. As the popularity of Jesus grew the fears of the religious establishment grew also. Caiaphas and the other religious leaders did all they could to discredit Jesus but time and time again it backfired on them. Questions designed to get Jesus in trouble with either the Romans or the Jews included things such as “Do we pay taxes to Rome?” It seemed like a foolproof way to trap Him, but it didn’t work.

The Pharisees went out of their way to keep peace with Rome. Arriving in Jerusalem amid calls for Him to be their Messiah certainly did not set well with them. The High Priest had to meet with Roman approval and a key factor in them accepting the High Priest was his ability to keep his people under control. Read John 11:45-51

John 18 records the arrest of Jesus and being taken first to Annas (18:13) and then to Caiaphas (18:24). Matthew gives us a description of Jesus’ time before him in Matthew 26:57-60. The plan to use false witnesses failed. Finally, Caiaphas personally challenged Jesus to declare if He was the Messiah. Jesus neither confirmed nor denied that He was but His answer infuriated Caiaphas. Read Matthew 26:65-66 for His response to Caiaphas.

Jesus was taken to Pilate whom Caiaphas asked to sentence Jesus to death. Read Matthew 27:20. Jesus was beaten and mocked and then taken out to a place called Golgotha where He was crucified.

It seemed by midday on Friday that Caiaphas’ plan had worked. Jesus was on a Cross about to die. By 3 that day the soldiers declared Jesus was dead. Caiaphas could relax, his plan worked and the threat of Jesus to him and to the nation was over. With that Caiaphas went home rejoicing. Jesus of Nazareth would no longer be a problem. The Romans had ensured that He would no longer influence anyone. Caiaphas got the last word, or so he thought.

I suspect he had a very restless night.  The next day was Saturday or the Sabbath, and one was not supposed to do much.  Caiaphas was uneasy. Read in Matthew 27:62-64 what he did that day. 

Then came the first day of the week. For the Jews it was the beginning of a new work week. If Caiaphas slept in that morning, the women who were close to Jesus did not. Matthew 28 records that early that morning the women rushed to the tomb to finish the task of burying Jesus. His body would need more spices and be wrapped formally for the grave. Read in Matthew 28:5 what the angel told them. For the followers of Jesus that was an incredible announcement that would forever change their lives. It was not, to put it mildly, good news for Caiaphas.

Read Matthew 28:11. Wouldn’t you like to have a picture of the look on Caiaphas’s face when he got that news? His worse fears had become a reality. I am sure we know what he did next. Caiaphas met with some of his associates, and they agreed to pay the guards to make up a story that the Disciples had stolen His body. Matthew records that the guards accepted the money and told that story. 

I can’t begin to imagine how the mind of Caiaphas worked. He knew that the Disciples of Jesus had not stolen His body, yet he refused to accept the truth that Jesus was alive. He stubbornly lived as if Jesus was dead. Acts 4 records that sometime after the resurrection and ascension of Jesus the temple guard arrested Peter and John for, according to verse 4, “proclaiming in Jesus the resurrection of the dead.” The temple guards put them in jail overnight. Read Acts 4:5-6. There was Caiaphas once again. 

In that encounter Peter preached Jesus to them, declaring that while the religious leaders crucified God raised Him from the dead (4:10). In the end all Caiaphas and the other religious leaders could do was threaten them and let them go (4:21).

I find it unbelievable that after all the evidence he had, Caiaphas still refused to accept the truth that Jesus was alive and because of that everything should be different. He had so much evidence that Jesus was who He said He was, yet he refused to believe. Even with the first-hand testimony of the guards and individuals like Peter who saw Jesus alive, he still refused to believe.

Think about all Caiaphas missed because for him, the resurrection never occurred. He missed living with the reality that Jesus is alive and because of that His promise to never leave or forsake us can be a day-by-day reality. Jesus promised that we can, “Come unto me all who labor and are heavy laden and I will give you rest.” He promised, “I am with you always” and “I will never leave you or forsake you” On other occasions He promised, “I am the good Shepherd who cares for His sheep” and “If anyone drinks of the water, I will give him he will never thirst again” As far as Caiaphas was concerned Jesus was still dead, so none of those promises were possible. 

Think about the fact that Caiaphas would never be able to know the strength we have because our Savior lives. A dead person, even a dead Savior, would not be able to strengthen us, or encourage us, or give us peace or help us overcome temptation, or guide us etc. The reality Caiaphas never understood is that He lives and because He lives, He can do for us everything He has promised to do.

The most important things we have here and now come from Him, and Caiaphas never knew any of them. Our risen Savior give us the strength to live each day, the help to overcome difficulties and resist temptations, the peace that passes understanding in situations that otherwise defy any sense of peace, the joy that fills our hearts and souls when seemingly everything around us is falling apart and still we know He is in complete control. These are the important things in life and for Caiaphas none of them were a reality.

The Apostle Paul declared that if Jesus had not been raised from the dead, we would be most miserable. Caiaphas could only know that miserableness. The truth that He lives changes the way we view death and eternity. On the Cross the cause of death was dealt with as the sin that brought about death was cared for. When Jesus arose from the dead the victory was formalized, but not for Caiaphas. Because he refused to believe those provisions were never his. Jesus made it clear that the provisions of the Cross were for “whosoever believes” and Caiaphas did not believe so those benefits were not available to him.

Today, if you are a Caiaphas who insists Jesus is either dead or of no relevancy to today, or a Caiaphas who has never made a personal commitment to Jesus, think about the evidence that Jesus was truly raised from the dead. There is so much evidence for the truth that He arose from the dead that no honest person can deny it. There is no better time to make Jesus your Savior. 

For those of us who have made that decision, contemplate all we have because we did see the truth that Caiaphas missed, Jesus is alive and because He is, He is with us today and we will be with Him for all eternity. Then contemplate all the promises Jesus made and can keep because He lives.

What a day to celebrate and what a message to share with those who like Caiaphas still do not believe Jesus is alive.