Ephesians 4:1-2 (WEL) Therefore, I, the prisoner for the Lord, plead with you that you live a life worthy of the calling by which you are called. 2 With all humility, gentleness, and longsuffering, calmly tolerating one another in love.
Chapter summary:
Here the apostle begins to make a practical improvement of the doctrines before declared in an exhortation to the believers at Ephesus, to walk worthy of their Christian calling.
(1) In mutual love and union, in consideration of the many powerful motives impelling them thereto, as members of one body, inhabited by one Spirit, servants of one Lord, professing one faith in him, one hope of eternal life, baptized with one baptism, and worshipping one God and Father of them all, Ephesians 4:1-6.
(2) In a due use of their gifts and graces for their own edification, and that of their fellow Christians, Ephesians 4:7-16.
(3) In the most earnest pursuit of holiness in heart and life, Ephesians 4:17-24.
(4) In carefully avoiding lying, sinful anger, dishonesty, corrupt discourse, malice, revenge, and the like sins, to which, as heathens, they had formerly been much addicted, Ephesians 4:25-32.
V1 Therefore, I, the prisoner for the Lord, plead with you that you live a life worthy of the calling by which you are called.
Paul is in prison for preaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ. The government and much business (Acts 19:24-27) disapproved of.
God has decreed that Christians should live a holy life aligned with the Law of Christ (Galatians 6:2, Ephesians 1:5, and 2 Thessalonians 4:7).
V2 With all humility, gentleness, and longsuffering, calmly tolerating one another in love.
Chapter 4 begins listing some of the over 1,000 rules of the Law of Christ. Christians do not follow Mosaic law, but the Law of Christ.
Our lives must be in humility, gentleness, longsuffering, and tolerating others (especially believers). Humility instead of me first, it is God and His will first. Gentleness instead of abuse in any form. Longsuffering instead of being irritated at others quickly, and toleration for personality quirks and different opinions. Often toleration is touted for sins, but this is not taught in the Scriptures.
Zerr:
“Lowliness and meekness are virtually the same in meaning, but when used in combination, the first pertains to the state of mind and the second denotes the manner of approach. The phrase as a whole denotes a spirit of humility, which is indicated by the rest of the verse. Longsuffering does not indicate the least degree of compromise where principles of right and wrong are involved. It means patience in dealing with those who are uninformed and who thereby are led to make things unpleasant for others. Forbearing means about the same thing, and the apostle names the motive that will cause Christians to treat each other as he has been instructing them to do, and such motive is accounted for by the fact they have love for each other.”
We learn:
- God wants us to live a holy life aligned with His rules.
- Some character traits we need in dealing with other people.
Questions:
- How is your holiness? Are you striving to do God’s will? God requires blamelessness, not sinlessness.
- How would others judge your humility, gentleness, longsuffering, and godly toleration?