Latin-American Reformed Seminary Ephesians

May 2018

Lecture 7
Ephesians 4: 1-6

Intro.

- Paul has just

o Laid the theological foundation
 For this letter
 In the first three chapters.

- In those chapters
o He has given us
 An epic vision
 Of the salvation that is
o Now ours in Christ.
- He has explained the horror
o Of our life in sin –
 Alienated from God,
 Dead in our transgressions and sins,
 Children of wrath
 Following the Prince of the Power of the Air
 Enslaved by our lusts and desires.
- But he has also shown us
o The heights of God’s love toward us in Christ
 He has taken us from our
 Wretched condition in our sin,
 And he has blessed us
 With every spiritual blessing in the
heavenly places.
- God has taken us sinners,
o Who deserved nothing but His wrath
 And condemnation,
o And has
 By His grace

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 Lavished (Paul’s word – 1: 3)

o Upon us,
 Every blessing of a son
and heir.
- What Paul has shown us
o In the first three chapters
 Is the absolute wonder
 Of the love of God for sinners
 The wonder
 Of the love of God
o That would take His enemies
o And make them (us)
 Sons and heirs.

- Paul’s point
o In the first three chapters
 Of this letter
o Has been to lay
 A theological foundation
 For his readers,
o That we can
 Understand ourselves
 And our lives
 As we seek to
live as
Christians in
this present
age.

- We are constantly pressured

o To live in certain ways –

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 There are constantly

pressures/temptations/pressures
 That urge us that
o Their way of living is best.
o For the first readers
 Of this letter
 Those pressures came
o From the Roman culture
 In which they lived:
 Enormous pressures,
o Inc. sometimes threatening
pressure
 From the Artemis cult
 That dominated
Ephesus.
 Pressures that came from
o “practicalities” of life in Roman
society –
 That the worship of
Roman gods was simply
part of business
transactions,
 And buying meat from
pagan temples
 Simply part of
how you did
your grocery
shopping
 Because that’s
where the
butchers were.
 Not to mention

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o The cultural norms that would

have formed
 The sea in which they
daily swam –
 Norms that
surrounded
how marriage
was
understood,
 How families
worked and
related to one
another,
 How masters
related to
slaves
o And
vice-
versa.
o Norms that they would have
 Seen and heard
 And absorbed
 Since their
childhoods.
- And this was the same
o For Jewish background believers –
 They would have grown up
 In a very self-conscious community,
o Whose Jewishness would have
been
 Impacted by being
distinct

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 From the communities

in which they lived.

 They did what

they did,
 They lived as
they lived,
 In conscious
distinction from
the surrounding
Roman society,
 Following the
Tradition of the
Elders
 Handed down
through the
ages.
- And the same is true for us:
o We all absorb values and beliefs
 As children from our parents,
 From our schools
 From adults around us,
 From television and books and
magazines and websites.
o We run into competing worldviews
 (like the Ephesians)
 Simply in the ‘practicalities’ of life.
 Every time we enter a shopping mall
o We are being tempted to come
and worship another god
 The consumeristic god

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 That proclaims a gospel

of possession:
 If only you have
this then you
will be happy.
 If only you have
enough stuf
o You will
be at
rest.
o We all live
 Surrounded by a constant philosophizing
 As to what is the best way to live.
o Just like the initial readers
 Of this letter
 We are surrounded by pressures
o That tell us
 What is the right way to
live.

o And as we noted last week

 All of this can be very intimidating.
 Like the spies
o In the Exodus
 It is easy for us to see
 Giants in the
land,
 To see these things
 These cultural
norms, these
socially

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acceptable way
of doing things,
 These
underlying
expectations,
 As insurmountable
objects
 That loom large
over us,
 And intimidate
us into not
questioning or
contradicting
them.

- And so
o What Paul is doing here
 Is writing to help
 His readers understand
 Find their way
o Through these weeds,
 And to see
o What their lives are to be like
now
 That they are no longer
 Romans or
Jews,
 But are Christians.

o When your put your faith in Christ

 You become a Christian
 First and foremost.

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o No longer an Colombian or a
Scot
 Or a Roman, or a Jew.
o When we put our faith Christ
 We are submitting to Him
 As our King
o And entering His Kingdom
 Where we live
according to His laws
and His customs.
o Or, to use the metaphor
 That Paul has been using,
 We are now to understand ourselves
o As part of the family of God,
 And so we no longer
hold firmly to how our
earthly families did
things,
 But rather to
how our new
heavenly family
does things.
 We bear the family likeness
o Of the family of God.

- And so
o Having laid the foundation,
 Paul now moves to application,
 To show us what that means,
 And his first point of application
o Is concerned with how we
relate

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 To one another in the

Church,
 And in particular
 He tells us that
our salvation
 Necessarily
manifests itself
 In harmony
within the
Church.

I. What does it say?

- Paul says
o First and foremost
 That the Christian life -
 A life that is lived
o In a
 “manner worthy of the
calling to which you
have been called”
 Is a life of humility and gentleness
o And life of patience
 In which we bear with
one another in love,
 Eager to
maintain the
unity of the
Spirit in the
bond of peace.

- In other words
o Paul is saying that
 The first point of application

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 When we consider
o How our new standing in Christ
o Our citizenship
 In the Kingdom of
Heaven
o Our position as sons and heirs
 Within the family of
God,
 Our first point of application
 When we consider
o How that comes to bear on our
lives
 Is that we are
 To love our
neighbors as
ourselves.

- And this shouldn’t really surprise us.

o We find in all the way back
 In Leviticus 19:18
 As God through Moses
o Is molding the worldview of the
Israelites
o As He is showing them
 The great consequences
of their salvation
 For their understanding
of themselves
 And their place
in the world,
 God, through Moses says to them,
 “You shall not take vengeance or bear a
grudge against the sons of your own

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people, but you shall love your neighbor

as yourself: I am the LORD.”
o Their understanding
 Of their relationship
with God
 Was to
manifest itself
in bearing with
one another in
love.
- What Paul says here
o Is not new:
 This is a fundamental part
 of the Christen worldview
o right from the beginning.
- And we find it
o Elaborated and explained
 In other parts of our New Testaments
 As well.
o James
 In his letter
 Called
o The command to love our
neighbor as ourselves
 The “royal law.”
 Calling it that
o Because it is the supreme law of
God,
 The law in which all the
rest of the law
 Is summarized.
 Telling us that the command to love our
neighbor as ourselves

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o Is the sovereign law:

 The one in which every
other law
 Finds its
fulfillment.

o That’s what Paul wrote in his letter to the Galatians

 Writing in Galatians 5: 14
 “For the whole law is fulfilled in one
word: “You shall love your neighbor as
yourself.” (Galatians 5:14)

 Now, we might read that

 And think that the Apostle has made a
mistake here.
o After all, Jesus
 When He was asked
what was the most
important command in
all the Law
 Answered that
 The command
to love the Lord
your God with
all you heart,
soul, mind and
strength was
the most
important,
 And that the second
most important
command

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 Was the
command to
love your
neighbor as
yourself.
 So, how can Paul here
 Say that whole Law is summarized
o In the command to love your
neighbor?
 John Calvin: “God wants to test our love
of him by the love of our neighbor that
he commends to us. Love is called the
fulfilling of the law, not because it is
superior to the worship of God but
because it is the proof of it… The love of
God cannot be separated from the love
of other people.”

- That’s what Paul is saying

o That’s what James is saying:
 You cannot believe the first command,
 Without demonstrating it in the second
great command.
 Anyone can say that they love God,
 But what is the proof of it?
o That they love their neighbor as
themselves.
o And, conversely,
 You can only love your neighbor as yourself
 If you love the Lord your God with every
part of your being first,

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o Because it is only when we

understand the gracious love of
God for us
 That we can extend that
same gracious love to
others.

- Right? Think about what it means

o To love our neighbor as ourselves.
 We know we should do this,
 But what does it mean?

o Well, it is, of course, easier

 To understand
 What it doesn’t mean.
o It doesn’t mean that we
experience some kind of
emotional afection for
everyone we meet.
o It’s not our culture’s
understanding of love
 That is tied to
butterflies in the
stomach.
 He’s not advocating
that we look at every
one in the church
 With rose-
tinted glasses.
- Right? We know what it doesn’t mean
o But what does it mean?

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- Well,
o C. S. Lewis wrestled with that question too,
 And this was what he came up with:

“You are told to love your neighbour as yourself. How do you love
yourself? When I look into my own mind, I find that I do not love myself
by thinking myself a dear old chap or having affectionate feelings. I do
not think that I love myself because I am particularly good, but just
because I am myself and quite apart from my character. I might detest
something which I have done. Nevertheless, I do not cease to love
myself. In other words, that definite distinction that Christians make
between hating sin and loving the sinner is one that you have been
making in your own case since you were born. You dislike what you have
done, but you don't cease to love yourself. You may even think that you
ought to be hanged. You may even think that you ought to go to the
Police and own up and be hanged. Love is not affectionate feeling, but a
steady wish for the loved person's ultimate good as far as it can be
obtained.”

- That’s what Paul is saying here.

o A life lived in the manner
 Worthy of the calling
 To which we have been called
 Is one that is
o Distinctly and markedly
 Self-forgetful.
o A life
 That is wholly focused on the good of those
around us.
o A life
 That does not demand its own way,
o A life
 That does not demand

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 That it be served,
 That its preference be catered for
o A life
 that does not easily take ofense
 But which instead
o Is lived
 In the posture of a
servant
o A life
 That is wholly devoted to seeking the good
 Of our fellow Christian.
o A life
 That rejoices in blessing other
 Even when that comes at cost
o To the self.

- You see
o The church can be a small pond
 In which it is tempting to try and become a big
fish.
o Even if you are not all that impressive
 In the eyes of the world,
 You can come into a congregation
o And see it as a venue
 In which you are going
to make a name for
yourself.
o It is easy to come into a church
 And try and use it as a place
 Where you will become a somebody.
o Ironically, you can even use
your service in the church
 To that end

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 Serving that so
that you can be
seen to be
serving.
- Tim Keller illustrates this
o With a fairy tale:

Once upon a time there was a gardener who grew an enormous carrot.
So he took it to his king and said, ‘My lord, this is the greatest carrot I’ve
ever grown or ever will grow. Therefore I want to present it to you as a
token of my love and respect for you.’ The king was touched and
discerned the man’s heart, so he turned to go the king said, ‘Wait! You
are clearly a good steward of the earth. I own a plot of land right next to
yours. I want to give it to you freely as a gift so you can garden it all.’
And the gardener was amazed and delighted and went home rejoicing.
But there was a nobleman at the king’s court who overheard all this.
And he said, ‘My! If that is what you get for a carrot – what if you gave
the king something better?’ So the next day the nobleman came before
the king and he was leading a handsome black stallion. He bowed low
and said, ‘My lord, I breed horses and this is the greatest horse I’ve ever
bread or ever will. Therefore I want to present it to you as a token of my
love and respect for you.’ But the king discerned his heart and said thank
you, and took the horse and merely dismissed him. The nobleman was
perplexed. So the king said, ‘Let me explain. That gardener was giving
me the carrot, but you were giving yourself the horse.”

- The nobleman’s gift

o Was not to the King.
 In an apparent act of generosity
 But in reality
o He was only ever seeking his
own advancement and wealth.
 He feigned honor to the king

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 Because he craved honor

o For himself.
o And the same can be tragically true
 In the church.
 We can be tempted to serve others,
o To visit the sick,
o To bring a meal to someone in
need,
o To stay after the service to tidy,
o Or to help set up tables before a
lunch,
 Or even teach and
preach,
 We can be tempted to serve others,
o In a way that appears
 To love Christ
 And serve the body,
 But which is, in
reality,
 More
motivated by a
desire to love
ourselves and
serve ourselves.

- But,
o Paul says here,
 There is no room for that.
 In the Christian life,

o The life that is lived

 In a manner worthy of the calling with which we
have been called,

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 That life
o That is driven and motivated
 Shaped and informed
 By all that we
have received
 From God
o In
Christ,
o Is one that is genuinely self-
forgetful.
 That seeks the welfare and
advancement
o Of our fellow Christians
 Beyond ourselves.
 We are focused on their good,
o We seek their physical well-
being,
 We seek their spiritual
health,
 Even (C. S.
Lewis) if we
don’t like what
they have done.

- Eugene Peterson once described discipleship as

o A long obedience in the same direction. (repeat)

 That’s true
 When it comes to our relationship with
God,
 But I think that’s also what Paul is getting at
here
 In his command

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o That we walk with humility and

gentleness and patience,
 Bearing with one
another in love,
 Eagerly maintaining the
unity of the Spirit
 In the bond of
peace,
 He is urging us
o To an understanding of
Christian fellowship
 That is characterized by
long obedience in the
same direction.
 This isn’t fickle.
 This doesn’t rise and
fall.
 It is a fellowship that
says to our brethren
 “I am in this
with you for the
long-haul.”

- And note, in v 4
o Paul even does the work for us
 To show us how
 This manner of life
o Is the result of what he has just
said
 In the first 3 chapters,
o And he says
 All of this
 Is the natural consequence

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o Of our shared salvation.

- Regardless of where we began

o Whether Jew or Gentile,
 Male or female,
 Young or old,
o Slave or free,
 Religious or irreligious,
 Black or white,
o Regardless
 There is now
 One church
o United by the one Spirit of God,
 That shares the same hope of the day
o When we will see
 And lay hold of
 All the
inheritance that
is ours in Christ.
- It is the same for us all –
o We all share in our indebtedness to the grace of God
 That brought us up out of our sins,
 That removed the condemnation of the
law
o Against our sins –
 Nailing it to the Cross
(Col. 2)
 That adopted us
o And gave us all the blessings
 Of a son and heir.
- That is true for us all.
o We share that same salvation
 And so we are

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 Fundamentally united to one another

o By our common union with
God.

- In ch. 2
o Paul has already dealt with this thoroughly
 When he wrote 2: 14-22.
 We are one body,
o Intimately tied to each other by
our shared salvation.

 A temple,
o Not just individually
 But collectively
o Being built by God
 As the dwelling place of
the Spirit.
 A temple (you remember Sinclair
Ferguson said) that
o “is not an aggregate of diverse
people, but of individuals
united to each other in their
union with Jesus Christ…
o Brought closer to one another
in Christ, united together like
the great stones of the
Jerusalem temple… sustain[ing]
one another in place, and
[taking] the weight of the next
level of building.”
- We all
o Together

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 Have that same debt to grace

o All of us before God
 Fundamentally
 Sinners
o Who have been saved
 By grace.
- And so
o There is now
 No room for us to stand
 In front of a mirror
o Singing
 “How Great Thou Art”
o The starting point of the gospel
 Is realizing
 That you are not great!
o You are a wretch
 Who derives nothing
but wrath
o But who in Christ
 Has been rescued by
God.

- And so is your Christian neighbor.

o Same disease,
 Same remedy,
 Same Physician.
o And both you taken
 And now commissioned
 To be part of that new Holy Temple of
God:
o The Church.

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- And so
o What that means
 When we look at ourselves
 And when we look at other Christians
o Is that our paradigm
 Is wholly diferent.
 Our culture says
o ‘make yourself a big deal.’
 In fact
 It says
o ‘your life only matters if you are
famous.’

- That’s what’s driving

o The social media craze –
 The idea that I can get people to be impressed
by me
 If I present myself in the right way.
 That I might even
 Get into the bizarre position
o Of being an
 Influencer –
 Someone who
is paid by
companies to
associate
themselves
with their
products.

- The world says to us

o If you want your life

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 To really matter
 ‘be a big deal.’

- But Paul says

o That is not the ambition of the Christian.
 That is not the way of life
 That is worthy of your calling.

- He says
o When we understand
 The first three chapters –
 When the wonder and awe of our
salvation
o Grips us in the very depths of
our beings
 (as he prayed in chs. 1
and 3)
 When we are suitably overwhelmed
o By what we have received
 In Christ
o Then we have to be humble,
 And that humility
 Must manifest itself
o In gentleness with others
 And patience with their
weaknesses,
 Knowing that while their sin
 Might be diferent from mine
o We still both desperately need
 The grace of God
 In Christ.

Conc.

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- And that has to be our starting point.

o Hasn’t it?
- Paul and James
o Said that the command to love your neighbor as
yourself
 Was the supreme law
 Because it was the primary way
o That we bear evidence
 That we have
experienced the love of
God in Christ.
- And that’s why
o This passage
 Doesn’t really begin
 In verse 1
o It really begins
 In chapter 3 verse 20.
- As Paul
o Was concluding
 The account of how he prayed
 For his readers
o He gave that famous
benediction:

Now, to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask
or think, according to the power at work within us, to him be glory in the
church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever.
Amen.

- And it’s that

o That really gives the context
 For what he says here.
- When we understand

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o All that we have received

 From God in Christ,
o When we understand
 Just how wretched we were
 In our natural condition,
 And just how blessed we are now
 In our redemption,
o Through our union with God in
Christ by the Spirit,
o When we understand
 Our debt to mercy alone
 Not only does it
o Humble us to the point
 That we cannot lord it
over
 Our brother or
sister,
 But reorients
 The ambition of our lives
o To the glorification of God.

- You remember
o How the Westminster Shorter Catechism puts it?
 “What is Man’s Chief End?”
 “Man’s Chief End is to glorify God and
enjoy Him forever.”
o Through
 The work of Christ
 We are now able to enjoy God.
o We no longer cower in fear of
His holy wrath,
o No longer is He our enemy
 In our sin

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 But we are able to enjoy Him:

o Enjoy Him
 As a child enjoys his
father.

o And the consequence

 Is that we are now called to live lives
 That glorify God.
o That make much of God,
 That seek His fame,
 Not ours,
 That seek His glory
 Nor our own.

- When we see the glory of God

o As it is revealed
 In the Gospel
 Then we are freed
o From the tyranny of self,
o From the tyranny of the idol of
self,
 That is never satisfied
and constantly
paranoid.
o When we see the glory of God
 In the Gospel
 We don’t care about ourselves any
more.
 When we see the glory of God
 In the Gospel

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o John the Baptist’s motto

becomes our motto:
 And we say, gladly,
joyfully
 “I must
decrease, He
must increase.”
- And so we are freed to walk with a genuine humility
o (not a feigned one, hoping that people
 Will be impressed by how humble we are!)
o We are freed to walk with a genuine humility
 A genuine self-forgetfulness.
o We are freed to be gentle
 With one another,
 To be patient with the difficult and
awkward,
o Bearing with them in love.
o We are freed from the self-serving pursuit of division
 But instead seek unity
 Even if that comes at the cost of our
personal preference.

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