Day 5: Unity, Gifts, New Self

Reading: Ephesians 4

Listen to: Ephesians chapter 4

Historical Context

Ephesians 4 marks the great pivot of the letter. The first three chapters have been almost entirely indicative – declarations of what God has done in Christ. Now, with the word “therefore” (oun) in verse 1, Paul turns to the imperative – how believers should live in response. But the relationship between indicative and imperative in Ephesians is crucial: ethics is never the ground of salvation but always its fruit. Paul does not say “do these things so that God will accept you.” He says “God has done all of this; therefore, walk worthy of it.” The entire ethical section of Ephesians (chapters 4-6) is powered by the grace of chapters 1-3.

Paul’s opening appeal is to “walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called” (verse 1). The word “walk” (peripateo) is a Hebraism for “live your daily life” – the same metaphor used in Jewish ethical instruction (halakha, from the Hebrew “to walk”). The “calling” (klesis) to which Paul refers is not a specific vocation but the entire reality described in chapters 1-3: election, redemption, the sealing of the Spirit, resurrection from spiritual death, incorporation into the one new humanity, and the revelation of the mystery. To walk worthy of this calling is not to earn it but to live consistently with it.

The virtues Paul lists in verse 2 – humility (tapeinophrosyne), gentleness (praytes), patience (makrothymia), and bearing with one another in love (anechomenoi allelon en agape) – are not passive qualities but the active disciplines required to maintain community across deep differences. In the Greco-Roman world, humility was not considered a virtue; it was associated with servility and low social status. Paul’s elevation of tapeinophrosyne as the first quality of the worthy life was counter-cultural. Gentleness was similarly suspect in a culture that prized self-assertion and competition. These virtues are modeled on Christ himself, who described himself as “gentle and humble in heart” (Matthew 11:29).

The theological foundation of unity is stated in one of the most rhythmic and memorable passages in Paul’s letters: “There is one body and one Spirit – just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call – one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all” (verses 4-6). Seven “ones” span the entire Trinitarian reality: the Spirit who unites the body, the Lord Jesus who is the object of faith and the agent of baptism, and the Father who is sovereign over all. The unity Paul describes is not something the church must create; it is something the church must “maintain” (terein, verse 3). The Spirit has already established unity; the church’s task is to keep it, to guard it, to refuse to let it be destroyed by human sin and stupidity.

In verses 7-11, Paul turns from the unity of the body to the diversity of its gifts. “Grace was given to each one of us according to the measure of Christ’s gift” (verse 7). Every believer has received grace – not merely saving grace but serving grace, a portion of Christ’s own gifting distributed for the common good. Paul supports this with a quotation from Psalm 68:18, which he interprets christologically: “When he ascended on high he led a host of captives, and he gave gifts to men” (verse 8). In the original psalm, the victorious king ascends Mount Zion after battle and receives tribute from the conquered. Paul reverses the direction: the ascended Christ does not receive gifts but gives them. The parenthetical note about Christ’s descent (verses 9-10) – whether referring to the incarnation, the descent into death, or the descent of the Spirit – establishes that the one who ascended is the one who fills all things. Christ’s authority over the entire cosmos is the source of the gifts he distributes to the church.

The gifts Paul lists in verse 11 are not the same as those in Romans 12 or 1 Corinthians 12. Here the gifts are persons: “apostles, prophets, evangelists, shepherds and teachers.” These are not offices to be occupied but functions to be exercised for a specific purpose: “to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ” (verse 12). The grammar of verse 12 is critical. There are not three separate activities (equipping, ministry, and building up) but one cascading purpose: the gifted leaders equip the saints, the equipped saints do the work of ministry, and the ministry builds up the body. The role of apostles, prophets, evangelists, and pastor-teachers is not to do all the ministry themselves but to prepare every believer for active service. The church is not a performance watched by an audience; it is a body in which every member functions.

The goal of this equipping is maturity: “until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ” (verse 13). The image is staggering: the corporate body of Christ is meant to grow up into the full stature of Christ himself. The church is not yet what it will be; it is an organism in process, moving from infancy (verse 14, “tossed to and fro by every wind of doctrine”) toward the mature humanity of Christ. Growth happens through “speaking the truth in love” (aletheountes en agape, verse 15) – a verb that means not just telling the truth but “truthing” in the context of love. Truth without love is brutality; love without truth is sentimentality. The church needs both.

The second half of the chapter (verses 17-32) describes the transformation of individual character that corporate unity requires. Paul contrasts the “old self” (palaion anthropon) and the “new self” (kainon anthropon), using the language of clothing: “put off” the old, “put on” the new (verses 22-24). The old self is “corrupt through deceitful desires” (verse 22); the new self is “created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness” (verse 24). Between the putting off and the putting on stands a crucial middle step: “be renewed in the spirit of your minds” (verse 23). The transformation of behavior requires the transformation of thinking – the same emphasis on the renewed mind that Paul made in Romans 12:2.

Paul then lists specific behaviors that belong to the old self and must be abandoned: falsehood (verse 25), sinful anger (verses 26-27), stealing (verse 28), unwholesome talk (verse 29), and bitterness, rage, anger, brawling, slander, and malice (verse 31). Each vice is paired with its corresponding virtue: truth-telling, controlled anger, generous work, edifying speech, and kindness, compassion, and forgiveness. The motivation for this transformation is stated in verse 30: “Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.” The Holy Spirit is not an impersonal force but a person who can be grieved – who experiences something analogous to sorrow when believers act in ways that contradict their new identity. The same Spirit who sealed believers as God’s own possession (1:13-14) is the Spirit who indwells them daily, and every act of sin is an offense against this indwelling Guest.

The chapter closes with the ultimate motivation for the new life: “Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you” (verse 32). The pattern is always the same: the indicative of grace generates the imperative of ethics. You forgive because you have been forgiven. You love because you have been loved. The Christian ethic is not a ladder to climb but a response to a gift already received.

Key Themes

• Unity maintained, not created – The sevenfold oneness of the church (one body, Spirit, hope, Lord, faith, baptism, God) is a reality the Spirit has already established; the church’s task is to guard it through humility, patience, and love
• Gifts for equipping – Christ gives gifted leaders to the church not to perform all ministry themselves but to equip every believer for active service, building the body toward the mature stature of Christ
• The new self and the grieved Spirit – The transformation from old self to new self requires the renewal of the mind and is motivated by the desire not to grieve the Holy Spirit who has sealed believers for redemption

Connections

• Old Testament Roots: Psalm 68:18 (the ascending king who gives gifts); Zechariah 8:16 (speak the truth to one another); Genesis 1:26 (humanity created in God’s likeness, now renewed in Christ)
• New Testament Echoes: 1 Corinthians 12:4-27 (one body, many members, diverse gifts); Romans 12:3-8 (sober self-assessment and gift exercise); Colossians 3:1-17 (put off the old, put on the new, as God’s chosen people); Philippians 2:1-11 (humility and unity modeled on Christ)
• Parallel Passages: 1 Corinthians 12:4-27; Romans 12:3-8; Colossians 3:1-17; Psalm 68:18

Reflection Questions

1. Paul says there is “one body, one Spirit, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all.” If this unity already exists, why is it so hard to maintain? What specific threats to unity do you observe in your own church or community?
2. The gifted leaders in verse 11 exist “to equip the saints for the work of ministry.” How does this vision of ministry differ from a model where the pastor does everything? What would change in your church if every member understood themselves as equipped for ministry?
3. Paul says not to “grieve the Holy Spirit.” What does it mean to you that the Spirit can be grieved – that your words and actions affect a divine Person who dwells within you? How does this awareness shape the way you speak about and treat others?

Prayer

One God and Father of all, one Lord Jesus Christ, one Holy Spirit who binds us together – we worship you as the source of the unity we so desperately need. Forgive us for the ways we have fractured what you have made one. Teach us the counter-cultural virtues of humility, gentleness, patience, and bearing with one another in love. Equip us through the gifts you have given to the church, so that every member grows toward the mature stature of Christ. Help us to put off the old self with its bitterness and malice, and to put on the new self created in your likeness. Above all, keep us from grieving your Holy Spirit, who has sealed us for the day of redemption. Make us kind, tenderhearted, and forgiving – as you in Christ have forgiven us. Amen.