Unity and Diversity in the Body of Christ
1 Therefore I, the prisoner in the Lord, r urge you to live worthy of the calling you have received, 2 with all humility s and gentleness, with patience, t bearing u with one another in love, v 3 making every effort to keep the unity w of the Spirit x through the bond of peace. 4 There is one body and one Spirit y—just as you were called to one hope ,z at your calling— 5 one Lord, a one faith, b one baptism, 6 one God c and Father d of all, who is above all and through all and in all. e
7 Now grace was given to each one of us f according to the measure of Christ’s gift. 8 For it says:
When he ascended g on high,
he took the captives captive;
he gave gifts to people. ,h
9 But what does “he ascended” mean except that he also descended to the lower parts of the earth? ,i 10 The one who descended is also the one who ascended far above all the heavens, j to fill all things. k 11 And he himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers, 12 equipping the saints for the work of ministry, to build up the body of Christ, l 13 until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of God’s Son, m growing into maturity with a stature n measured by Christ’s fullness. 14 Then we will no longer be little children, tossed by the waves and blown around by every wind of teaching, o by human cunning with cleverness in the techniques of deceit. 15 But speaking the truth in love, let us grow in every way into him who is the head p—Christ. 16 From him the whole body, fitted and knit together q by every supporting ligament, promotes the growth r of the body for building up itself in love by the proper working of each individual part.
Living the New Life
17 Therefore, I say this and testify in the Lord: You should no longer live as the Gentiles live, in the futility of their thoughts. 18 They are darkened in their understanding, excluded from the life of God, because of the ignorance that is in them and because of the hardness of their hearts. 19 They became callous and gave themselves over to promiscuity for the practice of every kind of impurity s with a desire for more and more.
20 But that is not how you came to know Christ, 21 assuming you heard about him and were taught by him, as the truth t is in Jesus, 22 to take off ,u your former way of life, v the old self w that is corrupted by deceitful desires, 23 to be renewed in the spirit x of your minds, 24 and to put on ,y the new self, the one created z according to God’s likeness a in righteousness and purity of the truth.
25 Therefore, putting away b lying, speak the truth, each one to his neighbor, ,c because we are members of one another. 26 Be angry and do not sin. ,d Don’t let the sun go down on your anger, 27 and don’t give the devil an opportunity. 28 Let the thief no longer steal. Instead, he is to do honest work with his own hands, so that he has something to share e with anyone in need. 29 No foul language should come from your mouth, but only what is good for building up someone in need, so that it gives grace to those who hear. 30 And don’t grieve God’s Holy Spirit. f You were sealed by him for the day of redemption. g 31 Let all bitterness, anger and wrath, shouting and slander be removed from you, along with all malice. 32 And be kind h and compassionate i to one another, forgiving j one another, just as God also forgave you in Christ.
A. Therefore live in unity (4:1–16). 4:1–3. On the solid ground of God’s completed work in Christ, Paul urges readers to live a life of unity, worthy of their calling (4:1). As a prisoner himself, he knows what he is asking his readers to risk. The worthy life manifests (1) humility, proper self-estimate—both positive and negative; (2) gentleness, genuine concern for people’s needs; and (3) patience (4:2). Patience produces a loving tolerance of people’s weaknesses and foibles (including one’s own) but without encouraging such shortcomings. Patience also displays a strong desire to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace (4:3). This is not the same thing as keeping the peace. Fostering true unity requires endless patience.
4:4–6. The foundation of the unity of the new family of God lies in eternal realities. There is one body; the church is one church regardless of local manifestations (including traditions or, today, denominations). There is one Spirit of God and not a separate Spirit for every competing group (4:4). There is only one Lord, Jesus Christ—no other lord, king, president, or Caesar takes precedence over him (1:20–22)—one common message to be believed, and one common rite of initiation belonging to the entire church (i.e., baptism) (4:5). And it all comes back to, and indeed issues from, the fact that there is only one God in the universe; he has created it all, and his presence and power pervade it all (4:6).
4:7–10. By the same token, the members of the body, unified in theory but fragmented by nature, could never become one, as God wishes, without tools and enablement. But God has given grace to them all (4:7), endowing each one differently as Christ has liberally apportioned. Paul quotes Ps 68:18 to make his point (4:8). Taking the term “ascended” as key, Paul applies the whole passage to the ascending and descending gift-bearing Christ, the Christ who fills the universe (4:9–10; cf. 1:23).
4:11–15. The gifts he has given his people (4:11) promote the unity and maturity of the church (4:13). They include apostles and prophets, those specially gifted and authoritative communicators of God’s message to humanity. Evangelists traveled from place to place with the gospel, announcing like royal heralds the good news of Jesus’s accession. Pastors and teachers, or perhaps pastor-teachers, nurtured the flocks submitting to the evangelists’ message. These are not the only gifts Christ gives the church (cf., e.g., 1 Co 12).
4:16. This section closes with a metaphorical model of unity. Like the human body, held together by design, the church grows through the coordinated and cooperative work of its many members, who out of love for the whole contribute their individual efforts toward the good of the whole, with the plan and the energy drawn from the head. Indeed, he lives out his own life through his body.
B. Therefore live in newness (4:17–32). 4:17–19. Efforts to walk in unity succeed to the degree to which they reflect the indwelling influence of Christ. Paul urges his Gentile readers to conduct their lives no longer as unconverted Gentiles do (4:17). This does not imply that Paul recommends a “Jewish” lifestyle; by “Gentile” here he means “pagan,” “Christless.” He warns against living life apart from Christ, according to the old, or natural (2:3), walk. The contrast between the old and the new becomes explicit in 4:22–24.
4:20–21. This pagan lifestyle formerly followed by the readers does not resemble the Christ they have learned to know (4:20). In saying this, Paul assumes that what they have heard and been taught about Jesus corresponds with what is actually the case (4:21). The “truth [that] is in Jesus,” as it concerns inward change, he sums up as a three-step progression, in which the focus is on newness.
4:22–24. First, with respect to their previous habits of life (4:17–19), they are to take off the “old self,” the ignorant, self-centered ego rotting away from entanglement in the deceitful values of this world (4:22). Removing the old, dying self is nothing less than the act of repentance, the death of the sinful nature. Second, upon the (daily) death of the old nature, the mind is made new, furnished with the light of God’s mind, enabled to see as God sees and to make godly decisions (4:23). Third, to make such decisions and live a Christlike lifestyle is to put on the new self, designed by God according to true righteousness and genuine dedication to the purposes of his eternal will (4:24). Thus the ongoing change from a godless and selfish death-bound life to the Christlike, eternal life of God involves newness, renewal, an inward change of mind wrought by God himself in bringing the new creation to present reality.
4:25–32. Paul’s instructions for being transformed outwardly into the earthly family of God fall into five categories. First, he commands readers to put away falsehood (like the old self) and, quoting Zch 8:16, urges truthfulness with neighbors (4:25). “Members” probably applies to members of the new covenant community. Members of Christ’s body injure themselves by lying to each other and conversely benefit the community by telling the truth. Second, citing Ps 4:4, Paul warns against uncontrolled anger (4:26). While useful and appropriate (indeed commanded), anger must not be permitted to fester and thus to overpower the angry person (4:27). To become uncontrollably angry is to be diabolically selfish. Third, those accustomed to stealing should, as new creatures, do so no longer but by their own labor should make themselves useful (4:28). Remarkably, the reason for this admonishment is not to provide for one’s own needs but to provide for the needs of other people, an entirely fitting purpose in a new community. Fourth, Paul cautions the readers against obscene and worthless talk, enjoining them instead to speak words that ultimately encourage and strengthen the whole group (4:29). Fifth and finally, in this new life of Christlikeness believers must forgive one another in imitation of God’s having forgiven them in Christ (4:31–32). Forgiveness springs from kindness and compassion and has nothing to do with bitterness, anger (4:26), or malicious and vindictive cruelty.