Ephesians 5 - Walk in Love

Last time in Ephesians 4, we ended with Paul’s admonition not to grieve the Holy Spirit by whom we are sealed unto the day of redemption. We are to put away from us all bitterness, wrath, anger, quarreling, evil speaking, and malice. Instead, we are to be kind and tender-hearted to one another, forgiving one another, even as God has forgiven us in Christ Jesus.

Picking up in chapter five, Paul tells them to be imitators of God just like a child imitates their parents. The first way we do this is to walk in love. If we are to be imitators of God by walking in love, this means that God is love, just as Christ loved us and gave Himself for us as an offering and sacrifice. An offering speaks of giving to God out of gratitude for temporal blessings, while the sacrifice speaks of the blood of an animal used as an atonement for sin. Jesus, for the joy set before Him of redeeming you and me, gave Himself to the will of His Father by enduring the cross, and offered Himself as an atonement for our sins. This was a sweet-smelling aroma to the Father. So too, we can present ourselves as a living sacrifice out of gratitude for what He has done for us, and demonstrate this sacrificial love towards others. This is all summed up in loving God with all our being and loving our neighbor as ourselves. If we are really walking in love, we won’t sin, and so Paul continues with things believers are not supposed to do.

He says that fornication, uncleanness, and covetousness are not to be even named among them. In our day, fornication usually means just sex outside of marriage (e.g. boyfriend and girlfriend), but it is actually much broader than that. It is any illicit (unlawful) sexual intercourse, and includes adultery, homosexuality, incest, bestiality, etc. It includes actual intercourse, as well as other sex acts that people like to say are not sex. It also includes idol worship which often involved sexual immorality. The word for fornication is where we get our word pornography. Those creating the porn are obviously engaging in fornication, while those viewing it are engaging in covetousness which Paul will address next.

The only type of licit sex is between a man and woman as husband and wife. The author of Hebrews writes, “Marriage is honorable among all, and the bed undefiled; but fornicators and adulterers God will judge.” (Heb 13:4) The marriage bed is undefiled, so once a couple says “I do,” they have the green light to enjoy sex.

Uncleanness is along the same lines as fornication, but also refers to impure motivations. Covetousness is lust or greediness for more, and really is a sin of the heart. It can be sexual, but is really just wanting something that is not ours to have. Again, the viewing of pornography would fall into this category. Some attempt to justify lust since it is not the outward acts, but Jesus told His disciples, “You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ But I say to you that whoever looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart.” (Mat 5:27-28)

The problem with lust is that it is never satisfied, and yielding to it only leads to more. In the context of sexual lust, it leads to more perverse behavior. Again, God’s standard is that these things are not to be named among believers. If a believer is overtaken by sexual sin, they need to repent, and others in the Church should seek to restore them in the spirit of meekness (Galatians 6:1).

In addition, he states that filthiness, foolish talking, and course joking are not to be named among believers. Filthiness speaks to obscene speech or behavior. Foolish talking means an easy turn of speech, and has the idea of turning every conversation into a joking comment about sex. Course jesting is inappropriate humor that is crude or sexual in nature. Most of us have been involved in this kind of talk at some point in our lives, but that does not mean it is alright to continue on doing so.

All of these things are not fitting for saints. These things are not pleasing to the Lord, and because we are saved, we should no longer want to act this way. Rather, we should give thanks. We should be thankful to the Lord in a general sense, but also thankful for sex as God intended it. Ingratitude and discontentment are often the springboard to these sins.

Next, Paul appeals to something they already knew when he says, “For this you know, that no fornicator, unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater, has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God.” In other words, people who practice these sins he previously mentioned with no signs of remorse are not going to Heaven because they are not true believers. They are technically idol worshipers, because they have made idols out of their own lusts. He goes on to say, “Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience.” So, not only is he saying these people do not have any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God, but that we are not to be deceived into believing anything to the contrary. At a certain point, you either have to ask the question whether or not they have renounced their faith, or were never saved to begin with, depending what theological camp you fall in as it relates to eternal security. To say a practicing homosexual or adulterer, for example, is saved and going to Heaven because they said the sinner’s prayer when they were 10 is, according to Paul, empty words. Because the wrath of God is coming upon these individuals, we should not be partakers with them.

Believers didn’t just used to walk in darkness, but they were darkness. However, they are now light in the Lord. Because the Lord is in them, they now walk as children of light. They demonstrate the fruit of the Spirit, goodness, righteousness, and truth. As believers, we want to do that which is pleasing to the Lord.

Believers are to have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but reprove them instead. We don’t do this just to talk about them, because what they do in secret is shameful. However, we do it in order to properly identify right from wrong and to teach others. The way we reprove the works of darkness is with the light of the Scriptures. We don’t do this self-righteously, for we used to be darkness too. We do it with humility and love that they will hopefully be brought into the light of the Lord as well. Paul then quotes, “Awake, you who sleep, arise from the dead, and Christ will give you light.” God is calling out to the asleep and spiritually dead to be made alive and enlightened with the light of Christ.

Paul then tells them that they should walk circumspectly (carefully), not as fools, but as wise. If we are wise, we will understand and believe that what God says to do or not do is for our good, and put it into practice in our own lives. The days are evil, and so we should do as much as we can for Jesus in the time we have left. We need to apply our hearts unto wisdom by understanding the will of the Lord.

An easy way to be unwise and to walk foolishly is to get caught up in vices, particularly those vices that alter our frame of mind such as drugs and alcohol. Paul instructs them not to get drunk with wine. If we are looking for a hard and fast rule regarding alcohol, this is it here. We are not to get drunk by drinking in excess. If we are drinking to the point where our physical or mental faculties are impaired, we have had too much. As we discussed in Romans 14, there are other principles to consider, but those are more situational depending on our circumstances. However, drunkenness is plainly a sin, and is spoken against in both Old and New Testaments.

Rather than being drunk, we are to be filled (to the brim) with the Spirit. The grammar here says, “be constantly being filled with the Holy Spirit.” In the original language, the verb “be filled” is in the passive voice, meaning this isn’t something we can do ourselves, but is something the Lord does to us. It is also in the imperative, meaning it is not optional. Jesus describes two relationships that the Holy Spirit has with believers. The first is when the Holy Spirit takes up residence inside of us at salvation. He told the woman at the well, “but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst. But the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life.” (Jn 4:14) The idea is a well of water bubbling or springing up from the ground in which someone can drink from to quench their thirst. The second relationship is when the Spirit comes upon a believer, filling them to overflowing.  In John 7, Jesus says, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink.  He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers (torrents) of living water.” (Jn 7:37-38) As we can see, the former is smaller in magnitude and more personal in nature, while the latter refers to a mighty rush of living water flowing out from within a person.  It is obviously larger in magnitude, and its effects are more external.  It is that dynamic work of the Holy Spirit in a persons’ life that fills them to overflowing, and enables them to affect and reach others for the Kingdom of Heaven.

This is interesting, because Jesus said this latter passage at the feast of tabernacles when they celebrated God’s miraculous giving of water out of the rock at Horeb through Moses. There are those who have gone to Saudi Arabia and found what they believe to be this rock by matching it up with the biblical descriptions. It is a huge rock that shows evidence of geysers of water shooting upward and then running down into a basin for the children of Israel to drink. It was torrents of water.

The initial coming upon by the Spirit is what the Scriptures refer to as the baptism of the Holy Spirit or the filling of the Spirit, but as we can see from Ephesians and the book of Acts, this is an ongoing occurrence. We can quench the Holy Spirit’s work in our lives through sin or by simply ignoring Him. Deliberately choosing to use mind-altering substances such as an excess of wine would be a good example of this.

The Spirit-filled life is marked by a life of worship, and encouraging others to do the same. We are to speak to one another in Psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in our hearts to the Lord. It is also characterized by a life of gratitude, as Paul tells them to give thanks always for all things. This is quite a statement: As the saying goes, “All means all, and that’s all that all means.” This is not that we are thankful for evil happening, but what God will accomplish through it. We are also to submit to one another in the fear of God. The word submit is a military term, and means to fall in rank or to place in subjection. This is also quite a statement, especially in our culture today. We think we have rights, and how dare anyone infringe on those rights. But here, Paul is telling us to submit or yield to others. This is important, because next he will talk about authority. Even when we are in a place of authority, we are not to use that authority to serve ourselves, but yield when we can out of love for others. As we read in Romans, “Be kindly affectionate to one another with brotherly love, in honor giving preference to one another.” (Rom 12:10) Lord willing, next time, we will finish the chapter, and get into the topic of marriage.

Ephesians 4 - Putting on the New Man

Previously in Ephesians, we discussed how, as believers, we are to walk worthy of our calling. We are to be humble, patient with one another, bearing with one another in love. We are to labor to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. We talked about the five-fold ministry of apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers, and how God has given these offices to the Church to equip the saints for the work of the ministry, the edification of the body, and to protect us from deception. We are headed toward Heaven, to that perfect man, but the process begins now. We are to speak the truth in love so that others will want to listen to us.

Next, Paul tells them that because of these things, they should no longer walk as the rest of the Gentiles (nonbelievers). They walked in the futility of their minds (useless thinking). Their understanding is darkened, and they are alienated from the life of God because of their ignorance and the blindness of their hearts. They are passed feeling, having given themselves over to lewdness, to work all uncleanness with greediness. Lewdness means unbridled lust without shame. Whatever they want they’re going to get, and it doesn’t matter what anyone else thinks. Uncleanness speaks to sexual immorality and impure motives, and we all know what greed or covetousness is.

If we recall from our study in Romans 1, Paul wrote a similar thing to them. God has made Himself known through his creation, and when man rejects God, he naturally results to futile thinking. There is a darkening that takes place which is really hardness of heart. Man’s inability to understand spiritual things is not an intellectual problem, but a heart problem. Paul also wrote to the Corinthians that the god of this age (Satan) has blinded the minds of those who do not believe (2 Co 4:3-4). Man makes gods after his own lusts, and God gives him over to uncleanness. They turn the truth of God into a lie, and worship creation. Because of this, God gives them up to vile passions (lewdness), and we see this culminate in the public condoning of the homosexual lifestyle. At this point, pretty much anything goes. If they persist in this, God gives them over to a debased (reprobate) mind. We can see a progression here: God gives man what he wants little by little, and each step he has an opportunity to respond to the conviction of the Holy Spirit. This goes on until man is passed feeling. Again, it's not that he wants to come to the Lord and cannot, but he no longer wants to. He has lost the desire because the Holy Spirit has stopped striving with him.

So, Paul is telling the Ephesians they are not to act this way anymore. They had learned that this behavior is not in line with the character of Jesus who is the truth. They were to put off the old man which represented their old sinful behavior, and be renewed in the spirit of their minds.  When we get saved, we are a new creation, but our mind still retains all the old thought processes. We have to renew our minds with the word of God. Paul told the Romans, “And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.” (Rom 12:1-2) They are to put on the new man which is created according to God, in true righteousness and holiness. This is like changing clothes: you take off one outfit, and put on another. It would seem that there is a positional putting on of the new man that happens by faith at salvation, and a practical application that puts on the new man as we walk in obedience to the word of God. This obedience is still according to faith, but genuine faith does result in obedience.

So, what does the new man look like? Paul is going to tell us, and as he does so, we are going to see a reiterating of the 10 Commandments. We are to put away lying, and speak the truth to our neighbor. We are not to lie to each other, because we are members of one another. When we lie to each other, we are harming one another. Lying breaks down trust and damages relationships. Jesus told the Pharisees, “Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.” (John 8:44) Lying is the devil’s nature, so that is good reason not to do likewise. This includes partial truths: mixing the truth with a lie or twisting the truth to make it more convincing are still done with the intent to deceive. That’s part of how the devil tricked Eve, by mixing some truth in with the lie. We should remember that next time we tell that big fish story.

We are to be angry and sin not. Paul will use the words angry, anger, and wrath, and in each case, they are different Greek words. Here, angry is in the passive voice, meaning there is an outside force provoking or causing us to experience the emotion of anger or wrath, but we are not to allow it to draw us into sin. One way we do this is by not allowing the sun to go down on our wrath (rage or indignation). In other words, we are to deal with our anger quickly so that we don’t give the devil advantage in our lives. Anger is probably one of the strongest emotions that we have, and it can be so easily rooted in our pride and self-interests. If left unchecked, it can turn into a root of bitterness that defiles many. According to Jesus, anger is kin to murder in the heart. He says, “You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not murder, and whoever murders will be in danger of the judgment.’ But I say to you that whoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment. And whoever says to his brother, ‘Raca!’ shall be in danger of the council. But whoever says, ‘You fool!’ shall be in danger of hell fire.” (Mat 5:21-22) Paul is actually quoting Psalm 4:4, “Be angry, and do not sin. Meditate within your heart on your bed, and be still. Selah” How many of us have lain awake at night upset over something or someone from the previous day? Rather than remaining angry, we are to quiet ourselves and meditate on God’s word.

We are not to steal, but work with our hands so we have what we need and even give to others. Theft is taking what doesn’t belong to us, regardless of the amount. This is another one that even many Christians are guilty of (e.g. taking paper and pens home from the office, picking up cash on the sidewalk, etc. How many of us have lost our wallets, purses, or maybe some cash, and after realizing it, we return to the place where it happened, only to find that someone has already taken it?  I had a junior high teacher tell us that when she was in a position of management, if she caught someone lying, cheating, or stealing she would fire them.  She explained that if they did one, they would do all three. As Christians we should be above those things, because we have put on the new man. It’s much more satisfying to work for what we have and to give to others.

Paul told them to let no corrupt (rotten) word come out of their mouths, but to speak words that edify others, that it may minister grace to them. We’ve all heard rotten talk or even engaged in it ourselves. It only tears others down and causes them to dwell on rotten things. On the other hand, edifying words build others up and cause them to think on right things. Paul wrote to the Philippians, “Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy—meditate on these things.”

We are not to grieve the Holy Spirit with whom we are sealed to the day of redemption. There are a couple of things to take note of here: first of all, this is one of the proof texts that the Holy Spirit is a person rather than some cosmic force. He has emotion, for He can be grieved. Second, His first reaction to our sin is not anger, but He is grieved or saddened by our sin. What is our first reaction when our children or those around us make bad decisions? Are we quick to become angry, or are we grieved? I believe the Lord is grieved when we sin because He loves us, and He knows what that sin is going to do to us and to others. I’m glad the Lord is first grieved by my sin; it’s a reminder that He loves me and wants what is best for me.

We are to put away bitterness, that refusal to forgive others, and seek reconciliation. We are to put away wrath and anger. Wrath is that sudden outburst of anger or fury, while anger is that type of anger that smolders beneath the surface that leads to bitterness and hatred. James says, “So then, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath; for the wrath of man does not produce the righteousness of God.” (James 1:19-20) Clamor is loud quarreling. Evil speaking is slandering others or blaspheming God, and is a form of Gossip. Malice is evil with the intention of harming others.

Instead, we are to be kind to one another, tender hearted (having empathetic love), and forgiving each other as God has forgiven us in Christ. As we read in Romans, “Be kindly affectionate to one another with brotherly love, in honor giving preference to one another.” (Rom 12:10) Jesus said, “For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.” (Mat 6:14-15) And to the Colossians Paul writes, “Therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, put on tender mercies, kindness, humility, meekness, longsuffering; bearing with one another, and forgiving one another, if anyone has a complaint against another; even as Christ forgave you, so you also must do.” (Col 3:13)

So, we forgive because God has forgiven us in Christ. Those individuals that offended us didn’t deserve it, nor do we deserve it. Because of what God has done for us, we ought to be kind, humble, loving, and forgiving.

Lord willing, next time we’ll cover the first 21 verses of chapter 5 where Paul will continue on this same topic.

Ephesians 4 - Walking Worthy of the Calling

So far in Ephesians, we have covered all that God has given us in Christ. We have been blessed with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, we have been chosen in Him before the foundation of the world to be holy and without blame before Him In love, predestined, adopted, and accepted in the beloved. We have been redeemed, given an inheritance, and sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise. We have been made alive again in Christ, raised up, and made to sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus. We have been saved by grace through faith, and not of our own works. We are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works. We have been brought near to God by the blood of Christ, and been made into a new man. We are at peace with God, and are no longer under the sentence of the Law. We are now part of the nation of Israel and part of the family of God. We are built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets as living stones into the temple of the Lord, Jesus Christ being our chief cornerstone. We have boldness and access to God with confidence, and we are being rooted and grounded in love. We ended with God being able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think. Three chapters telling us what God has done for us, and it’s important to know these first before we respond.

Picking up in chapter 4, Paul says, “I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord,” and whenever we see the word “therefore,” we need to ask, what’s it there for? He’s getting ready to instruct us on how we are to act, and it’s in light of how he finished up the last chapter. Since there’s such a clean transition from chapter 3 to chapter 4, it would seem as though Paul is getting ready to tell us something that is based on everything he has told us so far in Ephesians, and that’s a lot. For those of us who are rule followers, we may tend to like the second half of the book more. Just tell me what I can and cannot do, and I will do my best to put it into practice. However, if we forget the why, we will be like the Ephesians who left their first love. When we leave our first love, we burn out, and can eventually crash and burn in our walks with the Lord. We need to know all that we have in Christ, for it is our motivation for the do’s and do not’s.

Paul beseeches (exhorts or encourages) them to walk worthy of the calling with which they were called. Because of everything God has given us in Christ, we should walk a certain way. We should walk with all lowliness (humbleness of mind) and gentleness (meekness). We are to be humble both in our thoughts and opinions of ourselves, as well as in our outward actions. I have heard it said that meekness does not mean weakness, but great strength under great control. We are to be long suffering (patient) with others. If we recall from 1 Corinthians 13, part of the definition of love is being patient with others. Being patient with others doesn’t mean we are alright with their sinful choices, but remembers that we are all in this walk together as sinners who have been saved by grace. We are to bear with one another in love (love bears all things). Sometimes, people are hard to love; sometimes, we’re hard to love. However, this is what we are called to. Jesus told His disciples, “By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.” As believers, we should be able to work through our differences and short-comings because we love one another, and those from the outside should be able to look in and see this. We’re a family, and family doesn’t give up on each other when times are tough.

We are to endeavor (labor) to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. Because of our sinful tendencies, keeping unity takes some work at times. It’s so easy to demand our way or insist we are right when we may not be. This unity is the unity of the Holy Spirit, and as we discussed last week, the Spirit and the word go together. Jesus told His disciples, “Nevertheless I tell you the truth. It is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I depart, I will send Him to you. And when He has come, He will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: of sin, because they do not believe in Me; of righteousness, because I go to My Father and you see Me no more; of judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged. “I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come. He will glorify Me, for He will take of what is Mine and declare it to you. All things that the Father has are Mine. Therefore I said that He will take of Mine and declare it to you.” (Jn 16:7-15) So, as we can see, the Spirit’s job for believers is to glorify Jesus and to teach them the word of God. If we want true unity, it must be based on these things, glorifying Jesus and teaching the Word. This unity is to be kept in the bond of peace. In other words, our desire to be at peace with one another is the reason we strive for this unity. Paul wrote to the Romans, “If it is possible, as much as depends on you, live peaceably with all men.” (Rom 12:18)

There is one body: there are all different denominations with different flavors and backgrounds, but if they are true believers, they are part of the body of Christ. If we recall from chapter 2, we are all saved by grace through faith in Jesus Christ. As long as we have that in common, we have something to work with. There is one Spirit by whom we were baptized into the body of Christ, and by whom we are sealed unto the day of redemption. There is only one calling: the Spirit draws us to Jesus Christ. There is only one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is above all, through all, and in us all. Although different denominations can provide different flavors and experiences for believers, the early Church was just the Church. If we kept these principles in mind that Paul is talking about, it would go a long way in cutting down on the denominational divides.

Next, Paul transitions from unity into spiritual gifts, and no doubt, spiritual gifts can be a major cause of divide in the Church, especially if we error in somehow thinking we did something to deserve them. However, Paul states that grace was given to each one of us according to the measure of Christ’s gift. So, the spiritual gifts are an act of God’s grace in our lives; we did nothing to deserve them. Paul quotes from Psalm 68 when he states, “When He ascended on high, He led captivity captive, and gave gifts to men.” Now if you read Psalm 68, it reads slightly different than this, but the old King James actually matches the Septuagint (Thou hast received gifts for men). Usually when we see the New Testament writers quote the Old Testament, they are quoting the Septuagint. So, whether you say He gave gifts to men or received gifts for men, it’s essentially stating the same thing. Jesus told the story of the rich man and Lazarus, and explained that Sheol or Hades was divided into two compartments, Hell and Abraham’s bosom. Hell was the place of torment, and Abraham’s bosom was a place of comfort or rest for the saints before Jesus had paid for their sins. After His death on the cross, Jesus went and loosed those that were in Abraham’s Bosom, and led them to Heaven, and then poured out gifts on the Church. The fact that He ascended means that He first descended into the lower parts of the earth (Hades). Isaiah writes of Him, “The Spirit of the Lord God is upon Me, because the Lord has anointed Me to preach good tidings to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound.” (Isa 61:1) He ascended far above all the heavens that He might fill (to the brim) or to supply liberally all things. In context of spiritual gifts, He gives them liberally.

And He Himself (Jesus) gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers. These are gifts that are really offices in the Church. We cannot pick and choose which ones we like and which ones we don’t like unless there is solid biblical evidence to support that. There is nothing in the Scriptures to indicate any of the gifts or offices are extinct, so we can accept that all of them are valid today. In his letter to the Corinthians, Paul states a similar thing, “Now you are the body of Christ, and members individually. And God has appointed these in the church: first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, after that miracles, then gifts of healings, helps, administrations, varieties of tongues.” Here, Paul is listing them in order of priority as it relates to their ability to edify the Church.

The word apostle means a delegate, messenger, or one sent forth with orders. In chapter 2 we learned how the original apostles and prophets played a foundational role in the beginning of the Church, and were responsible for writing the Scriptures. Interestingly enough, the Scriptures do indicate a special distinction and calling to the original twelve apostles. The criteria are they were eye-witnesses of Jesus’ resurrection, and they were specially commissioned by Jesus Himself (Acts 1:1, 4:33, and 10:40-42). This would have been the original 11 plus Matthias. Paul also met these criteria: he saw the risen Lord, and was commissioned by Him. James, the Lord’s brother, also saw Jesus after He rose from the dead. There is no biblical evidence he was specially commissioned by the Lord, but he held the same role as the other apostles in the early Church and authored a New Testament book. There were others called apostles that did not meet these criteria, so it appears the word was used in a general sense as well. Some of these were Barnabas, Silas, Andronicus and Junias, Epaphroditus, and Apollos. Probably the closest thing to an apostle we see today are missionaries or pastors who are involved in preaching the Gospel, planting churches, and overseeing their growth and discipleship. Now if someone goes around referring to themselves as “apostle” so and so, we probably should distance ourselves from that.

A prophet by definition is a foreteller or an inspired speaker. Paul told the Corinthians, “But he who prophesies speaks edification and exhortation and comfort to men.” So, it can be foretelling the future or forthtelling the mind and heart of God in the present. As we discussed in a previous study, there is no new spiritual revelation; we’ve been given all we need to know through the written Word. Where a futuristic component can come in is predicting something that is not a new spiritual revelation like the prophets in Acts who predicted a famine (Acts 11:28). My wife and I read a book called “Out of the Far Corners,” and it was about a group of believers fleeing Communist Russia into China during the 1920’s. Occasionally, the Lord would give them a word of prophecy, either  as a warning or of their deliverance, and it was accurate. Trials and persecution have a way of weeding out the goofy stuff that we see more of today. Accurately teaching the Scriptures at the Holy Spirit’s lead would also fall into this category. IF it is not teaching the Scriptures directly, it must be in line with them.

In the Church setting, Paul instructed the Corinthians to let two or three prophets speak, and the others are to judge. They are to speak in turn while the others listen. The spirits of the prophets are subject to the prophets. No one person has a monopoly on prophecy, nor are they above being questioned.

Next on the list in Ephesians is the evangelist. An evangelist means a bearer of good tidings, and is derived from a root word meaning good news or gospel. An evangelist is someone who has been specifically gifted to preach the Gospel. You can often tell when someone has this gift, because it happens frequently and comes very naturally to them. While certainly not all respond to their proclamations, many do. In the book of Acts, Phillip, one of the first deacons, was an evangelist who the Holy Spirit told to go witness to the Ethiopian eunuch. As we can see, the Holy Spirit was very much involved in orchestrating the conversation between Phillip and the eunuch, and this is common when the Lord is using someone in that gift.

Now, not all are called to be evangelists, but we are all to do the work of an evangelist, meaning we should all be sharing the Gospel with those we are around on a day-to-day basis. Paul wrote to Timothy, “But you be watchful in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.” (2 Tim 4:5) Jesus told His disciples, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Part of that natural outflow of what God has done for us is that we want to tell others about Jesus, and this is the model we see in Scripture as well.

The next offices are that of the pastor and teacher. Many think this is a combined gifting, and there does seem to be biblical evidence for this. The structure of the Greek seems to indicate they go together. The word for pastor means a herdsman or shepherd. The job of the shepherd is to feed the sheep, watch and defend them from attackers, to heal the wounded and sick, and to find the ones that are lost. So, a true pastor loves and cares for his flock. Paul also uses the word elder and overseer to describe this position. The elder speaks more to their life experience, while the word overseer speaks to their duties in that position. The three terms are used interchangeably in the NT, with each providing a different emphasis of the person’s contribution to the body of Christ. In 1 Peter, he actually exhorts them to function in all three. He writes, “The elders who are among you I exhort, I who am a fellow elder and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, and also a partaker of the glory that will be revealed: Shepherd the flock of God which is among you, serving as overseers, not by compulsion but willingly, not for dishonest gain but eagerly; nor as being lords over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock.: (1 Pe 5:1-3) Paul told Timothy that if a man desires to be an overseer, he desires a good work, but in Ephesians 4, the pastor is gifted by Jesus to function in this role. So, it would seem that if a person desires this position, they should begin working on meeting the qualifications, but ultimately it is up to the Lord to give/appoint the person to a particular office. If someone is truly gifted in this area, the Lord will often allow others around this individual to see it as well.

You cannot adequately take care of the flock of God without teaching them the Word. After His resurrection, Jesus told Peter to feed His sheep. We start out with the pure milk of the Word (1 Pe 2:2), and then move onto the solid food (Heb 5:12-14). David, the Shepherd of Israel said, “The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me to lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside the still waters. He restores my soul.” (Psa 23:1-3) Paul told the Ephesian elders, “For I have not shunned to declare to you the whole counsel of God. Therefore take heed to yourselves and to all the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God which He purchased with His own blood.” (Acts 20:27-28) It’s the pastor’s job to teach his flock the whole counsel of God’s word so that they will be spiritually healthy and mature. The gift of teaching is listed separately in both Romans 12 and 1 Corinthians 12, so, although it appears you can have the gift of teaching apart from the gift of pastor, you cannot have the gift of pastor without the gift of teaching.

Jesus has given these offices to the Church to equip the saints for the work of the ministry and for the edifying of the body of Christ. This is until we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ. Paul wrote a similar thing to the Corinthians, “For we know in part and we prophesy in part. But when that which is perfect has come, then that which is in part will be done away. When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child; but when I became a man, I put away childish things. For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part, but then I shall know just as I also am known.” (1 Co 13:9-12) This perfect man will be when we reach Heaven. We will know ourselves as God knows us, and the spiritual gifts will no longer be needed. Even though we won’t reach the perfect man this side of eternity, the process still begins now. The Lord doesn’t want us to be as children who believe anything that comes our way. There is no shortage of false teachers out there who have their own agenda, and they are seeking to lead others astray. Almost all the New Testament books warn us against false teaching, so these four/five offices are part of God’s means of protecting us from deception.

We are to speak the truth in love, and this is how the body matures spiritually. Speaking the truth in love is a reoccurring theme throughout the Bible. In Proverbs it states, “In mercy and truth atonement is provided for iniquity; and by the fear of the Lord one departs from evil.” (Pro 16:6) John said that the Law came through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. Love without truth makes everybody feel good, but there’s no light to keep us from stumbling over what’s on the path. Truth without love lights the way, but it’s cold and stern. We need to speak the truth, but we need to speak it with love so others will want to listen to us. Again, truth and love are how we grow up in Jesus who is the head of the Church. Since we are part of His body, we receive our nourishment from Him, and we each do our part to edify each other in love.

Well, this was quite a chunk to chew on, so we’ll pick up in the latter half of the chapter next week.