Ephesians 4

Notes

Ver. 1. Since, therefore, these amazingly glorious privileges and blessings are freely and equally bestowed on you Gentile believers as on the Jews, I, who, to my inexpressible honour, am here, by the wise disposal, and for the sake of the Lord Jesus Christ, a prisoner for the faithful preaching of his gospel, particularly to the Gentiles, —earnestly beseech you constantly and perseveringly to live and act in a holy and honourable conversation, as becometh that gospel which ye have believed, and that high calling of God in Christ Jesus whereby ye have been tenderly called to glory and virtue. 2. And in acting suitably to the spiritual privileges and obligations of the gospel, study to walk humbly with God under a deep sense of your own meanness, unworthiness, and sinfulness, and to behave humbly toward each other, esteeming others better than yourselves; and with all courteousness, candour, calmness, and sweetness of temper. In real and hearty affection to Jesus Christ, and to one another in him, kindly bear affronts and injuries without retaliating or revenging them. Calmly overlook, or bear with, the weaknesses, indiscretions, forwardness, and peevish tempers of others, and even pity and excuse them: 3. And thus carefully and diligently, by all proper means, maintain and promote that spiritual union and harmony of souls which is the fruit of the Holy Ghost's dwelling in them, and consists in that pure and spiritual peace which is the best and strongest bond of your religious society and fellowship in it. 4. To engage you to cultivate this amiable union, consider the joint interest ye have in all the same important things, The church, of which ye are all alike members, is but one mystical body, and so ye ought to have the same fellow-feeling, care, and concern for one another. The same divine Spirit of love and peace animates, guides, and dwells in this whole mystical body, and every member of it;—and therefore ye ought to act with united hearts under his influence, and in imitation of him. Ye are, by God's grace, called to God's kingdom and glory as the one summary object of your hope, and, in your gracious work, ye are all partakers of the same grace of hope which terminates on Christ as its only foundation;— and therefore ye should live in harmony and peace, as heirs together of the same grace of life, and expectants of the same heavenly inheritance. 5. There is one Lord and Saviour of all true believers, even Jesus Christ, the only Mediator, King, and Head of his church; and therefore ye ought to unite with one heart and soul in your dependence on, and allegiance, love, and obedience to him, and in your sincere affection to all his subjects, according to the laws of his kingdom. There is but one and the same rule or doctrine of faith, one object of faith, and one sort of like precious faith in the whole church; and therefore this should, in every member, work in the same actings of love to Christ and to one another. The baptism, whether external or internal, of all church-members, is one and the same in its nature, tendency, and design; in which they are solemnly devoted to Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, as one God, sole Proprietor of the church, and brought under the strongest bonds to be entirely and unreservedly the Lord's, and therefore ought to behave with the utmost unity of character. 6. And, in fine, the loving God and Father of helpless men, Jews or Gentiles, who is infinitely above them in perfections and dominion, and whose special presence preserves, governs, and supplies every part of the mystical body of Christ,—and who, by his Spirit and grace, dwells in all through faith,—is but one; and therefore ye ought to be of one heart and soul in your acknowledgments, love, and reverence of him, and in your obedience and subjection to him as your own God and Father, and ought to love his children as your spiritual brethren.—

7. But notwithstanding our unity in so many great and important things, Jesus Christ, according to his own infinite wisdom and bounty, freely bestows upon his church a beautiful variety of spiritual offices, gifts, graces, and attainments.—8. Hence the Holy Ghost, by David, suggested that having—in consequence of his victory over sin, Satan, the world, and death—in his sufferings, resurrection, and ascension—received fulness of authority and influences from his Father as working with him, he should liberally distribute diversified offices, gifts, and graces to men, Jews or Gentiles, professing or rebellious sinners. 9. Now this very hint of his glorious and triumphant ascension plainly intimates that it was founded on his great incarnation, obedience, death, and burial.—10. And it is the same only begotten Son of God who so humbled himself that, as man and Mediator, after conquering all his enemies, hath ascended to the right hand of God, that by the virtue of his death, victory, and triumph, he might fill all the officers, members, ordinances, and administrations of his church with the gifts and graces of his Spirit, and thus fulfil all the ancient types and predictions, and perfect whatever relates to the salvation of all men. 11. In prosecution of this gracious design he furnished his gospel church with proper officers:—some of them extraordinary for her first settlement,—as apostles, who received their commission immediately from himself, to be eye-witnesses of his resurrection from the dead; whose authority extended equally to all the churches, and who could, under inspiration, teach the whole scheme of the gospel, work all sorts of miracles, and convey the Holy Ghost, in his miraculous influence, to other believers. Others he appointed and qualified as prophets to explain the Old Testament and foretell things to come. Others he appointed and qualified as inspired evangelists to attend the apostles and finish what they had begun. Other officers were ordinary, to continue in the church till the end of the world; namely, pastors, to watch over, govern, and dispense the ordinances of Christ to particular congregations; and teachers, to instruct church-members and others in the truths of the gospel. 12. All which offices and officers are appointed and rendered successful for completing the church in the number of her vital members, and each in their gifts and graces, and for uniting and compacting them in a regular society, and restoring such as had fallen, and for faithfully dispensing to them his word and ordinances, and for the building up of his mystical body the church in knowledge, faith, love, joy, and holy obedience. 13. Till we all, whether Jews or Gentiles, strong or weak, who do or may hereafter believe, be perfectly cemented into an entire agreement in the doctrines, and by the grace of faith; and in a clear, affectionate, and faithful knowledge and approving acknowledgment of the eternal Son of God as our only Lord and Saviour; and so, by gradual improvement in gifts and graces, may arrive at that state of perfection which is reserved for the whole body of true believers in heaven after the last judgment. 14. That thus we may no longer continue like children, deficient in knowledge and prudence, weak in faith, and wavering in opinion, easily taken with new things, tossed or driven about, as ships without ballast, or flying clouds, by unstable, noisy, violent, and unsubstantial errors, whereby artful and designing men labour to impose on and deceive us to our eternal ruin;—15. But, on the contrary, may sincerely speak of, and plead for, the truths of the gospel, in the exercise of fervent love to them, to Christ, and the souls of men;—and may, like living members of him as our quickening Head, increase in all light, grace, and holiness, by virtue of our union with him, in conformity to his pattern, and for his honour. 16. From whom, as the Head and Fountain, all his members, being orderly and closely joined among themselves and united to him, do, by that energy which is communicated from him through every ordinance, officer, and member—in a proportion suited to the state, condition, and exigence of every part—build up themselves, and one another, in Christian love to him their Head, and to their fellow-members.—17. Since therefore ye, as members of Christ, are partakers of such privileges, let me again earnestly entreat and solemnly charge you, in the name and authority of the Lord Jesus, that henceforth ye no more behave like other Gentiles, who, unrenewed by the grace of God, still continue in their sensual, worldly, and idolatrous courses, suited to the pride, ignorance, and folly of their depraved mind. 18. Having their understandings filled with ignorance and error concerning everything spiritual; and through which indulged, increased, and confirmed, their wills and affections are become strangers to, and alienated from, the way of life, holiness, and happiness which God appoints and approves, and by which he lives in the soul, and it lives to him; 19. And who, through their contracted habits of ignorance, error, and hardness of heart, and the righteous judgment of God giving them up to their own lusts, have become quite insensible to the stings of conscience—committing the grossest abominations; and have voluntarily, and with full consent, delivered themselves over to the most eager delight in, desire after, and practice of the most shameful and detestable impurities.—20. But ye accepting God's call from darkness to his marvellous light have not so learned the doctrines of Christ, relative to his person, offices, and designs, or the obligations ye are under to him, and the privileges ye have received from him, as to induce or even permit you to venture on such licentious practices; 21. If, as ye profess, and I hope ye have indeed understood, hearkened to, and believed with the heart, what ye have heard from and concerning Jesus Christ, and have been inwardly and savingly enlightened and taught by his Spirit heartily to receive the truths of the gospel in their simplicity and purity, as they were delivered by him and his inspired apostles, and were exemplified in his temper and conduct, and are practised by the living members of his mystical body.—22. But that which ye have been taught, influenced, and obliged to, is to labour by his grace in the use of all appointed means more and more to discard with abhorrence, abandon and mortify that debased principle of indwelling sinfulness which discovered itself in your former practices, which vitiates all the faculties of the soul and members of the body, and of itself issues in eternal destruction, according to the working of its many impetuous inclinations, which deceive carnal hearts with false appearances of profit, honour, or pleasure.—23. And through the sanctifying influence of the Holy Ghost, to press after a further renovation of all the inward powers of your soul, and that your minds may be more and more enlightened in the knowledge of divine things, and your will and affections more and more replenished with grace and holiness: 24. And that, instead of wearing the deformity of sinful corruption any longer in sinful practices, ye may, by daily and increasing exercise of grace, clothe and adorn yourselves with all the beauties of that transcendently excellent new creature which is produced by the infinite wisdom, power, and grace of God, according to his will, and after that image of himself in which he at first created man, and which consists in real, internal, effectual, and divine principles, habits, and acts of equity and honesty towards men, and in true, not shadowy or ceremonial, purity and piety towards God.—25. Being thus taught and privileged, avoid with peculiar care the sins to which ye were formerly addicted. With abhorrence banish from you falsehood, lies, and all manner of deceit and fraud, which are so base in themselves, and so eversive of all true morality. In all your speeches and dealings with men make conscience of the strictest regard to truth; for in both civil and religious societies we are members of one body, and therefore ought always to act truly and candidly, as having a joint concern in the welfare of the whole. 26. Watch over your passions, that they may be kept under due government. Labour to restrain and regulate your anger, that it may never be causeless, excessive, or mischievous. And if at any time ye are, through temptation, hurried into sinful passion, quickly endeavour, through the gracious assistance of God, to suppress it, and be reconciled to your brother. Let it never rest in your bosom till sunset, to unfit your minds for your evening devotions, or to disturb your sleep, or rise with you the next day. 27. And that ye may not give Satan a place in your hearts, to irritate or keep up turbulent and revengeful passions, or gratify and give him an advantage against you, by your yielding to his malicious and destructive designs, stand on your guard against his temptations; whenever ye find your spirits heated, resist him steadfast in the faith, who watches all occasions to insnare you; and take heed of giving ear to false accusers and slanderers, who, as his agents, labour to incense you against others without ground. 28. And if any of you, either before or since your conversion, have been guilty of private thefts or frauds, let them, as persons who have learned Christ, hereafter abhor every form of dishonesty; and in the station and employment in which God hath placed them, let them earn, by laborious industry and care, what, by the blessing of God, may maintain themselves and family, and even help to relieve the necessities of the poor; that thus they may become a blessing, instead of a nuisance and burden, to civil and religious communities. 29. And let no light, frothy, profane, indecent, obscene, or opprobrious language, which marks the corruption of the heart from which it proceeds, and tends to corrupt others, ever come out of your mouth; but let all your words be under the conduct of a gracious spirit, and be wise, prudent, and suited to persons, times, and places, and adapted in the way of counsel, caution, reproof, comfort, or instruction, to promote the spiritual benefit of the company you are in, and recommend true and undefiled religion to their consciences and hearts. 30. Beware lest with any of these things, so directly contrary to the holy nature, will, operations, gifts, and graces of the Holy Ghost, who loves and effects all true holiness in the souls of men, ye provoke him to withdraw his gracious presence, and deprive you of his comforts—by which ye have been plainly marked with God's image as his people, and have a blessed pledge and earnest of that full salvation which ye shall receive at death and in the last judgment. 31. And to prevent your offending him, or losing his comfortable and sealing presence, carefully avoid and abhor all rancour, severity, and sourness of temper; all furious raging and ungovernable passions; all causeless and excessive anger; all loud threatening and scolding, noisy quarrels and contentions; all railings, defamations, and backbitings, which are so dishonouring to God and injurious to men; and all malicious, spiteful, envious, and injurious thoughts or heart-burnings. 32. And in order to cherish his presence and influence, always labour, as assisted by him, to cultivate an affectionate, affable, and benevolent disposition and behaviour, taking pleasure to do offices of kindness and friendship one to another; sympathize with, and show all tenderness, pity, and mercy towards the weak, afflicted, and discouraged; frankly and freely forgive and forget those injuries which are done you by brethren, in consideration and imitation of that infinitely greater forgiveness of your manifold and aggravated transgressions, which God, in the riches of his grace, hath extended by faith in the infinitely precious obedience and death of his dear and only begotten Son.

Ver. 8. He led captivity captive. 'Gained a conquest over enemies who had led others captive' (Whitby). 'Expressive of his conquest over sin, Satan, the world, death, and the grave' (Gill). The word occurs but once again in the New Testament, Re. 13.10, and certainly does not apply to parties holding others, but to those who are themselves in captivity. And is not this the meaning here also? Were not sinners in a state of captivity? and are they not therefore the 'captivity' whom he 'led captive,' as it were, in delivering them from all their enemies, binding them to himself in 'cords of love,' and 'bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ,' 2 Co. 10.5. C.

Ver. 15. Speaking (rather, 'maintaining') the truth in love, which is a difficult duty, because of the gainsaying of unreasonable men, who will credit almost anything reported on the authority of men, but deny almost everything testified by the authority of God. C.

Ver. 21. If so be. Rather, 'inasmuch as ye have heard him;' that is, as speaking by his apostles. See Lu. 10.16. C.

Ver. 23. In the spirit of your mind. In the disposition and character of your mind. C.

Ver. 24. After God. Formed and modelled according to God, the original perfection, of which man was an image, Ge. 1.26. C.

Ver. 26. Offences will arise and injuries be inflicted: and if so, it is lawful for you to 'be angry;' but you are prohibited from indulging it so as to sin against justice or mercy. C.

Ver. 27. Open no door of passion by which the enemy may enter into the heart. C.

Ver. 30. Grieve not the Holy Spirit by any of the sins previously enumerated. It avails nothing to say that this grieving is figurative. It is rather to be literally understood, by referring to the grief of Christ at the hardness of the Jewish hearts, Mar. 3.5, whereby it is seen how the Spirit that was given him without measure dictated and partook in the community of his grief, Ps. 95.10; He. 3.10. C.

Reflections.—What a credit are believers to their happy station in Christ when they are meek, patient, forbearing one another in love, and united in sentiment and affection! And deep are the obligations they are under to Christian love and unity, who are all members of the same mystical body of Christ; all animated by the same Spirit; all partakers of the same hope and heavenly inheritance; all related to and interested in the same Lord and Saviour; all agreed in the same fundamental doctrines of faith, under the same baptismal seal and engagement; and have all the same loving God and Father, who is above them all, as their Governor, and dwells in them all by his Spirit.—What blessings may we not hope for from our once crucified but now exalted Redeemer! With bounteous care he scatters his gifts among the children of men. And ample is the provision of offices, officers, gifts, and graces he has provided for his church, to promote her growth in numbers, unity, and order; and of all her members in knowledge, faith, and love; and to prevent their being seduced into error and wickedness.—But dreadful is the case of wicked men, especially when they have provoked God to give them up to their own hearts' lusts. How ignorant, how stupid, how bent and eager on the most shocking abominations, they then become!—Odious is an inward principle of sin, wherever it is found. How corrupt, abominable, and deceiving! It perverts and inflames the passions, and fills them with anger, wrath, and malice. It hurries men into deceit, falsehood, idleness, and fraud. It renders their discourse unsavoury, defiling, clamorous, and injurious; and it and its fruits gratify the devil and offend the Holy Ghost. But excellent and adorning is that inward habit or principle of grace in which believers do more and more abound. Delightfully it leads men to God, subdues their angry passions, renders them kind, tender-hearted, and ready to forgive injuries; makes them honest, upright, faithful, and industrious, and their converse godly and edifying; and excites them to a temper and conduct answerable to the dealings of the Holy Ghost, and the endearing obligations of God's superlative and forgiving kindness to them.