Here is my commentary on Ephesians 4:7 . I am publishing these once or twice a week, but you can read all of the available articles at our web-site, http://www.new-life.org.au

Ephesians 4:7

“But to each one of us grace has been given as Christ apportioned it.”

This verse could be more accurately translated: “but grace was given to each of us according to the measure of Christ’s gift.”

By its definition, grace is a gift from God. So this gift was given to each one of us according to the measure of Christ’s gift. Paul wants to emphasise here that what you have from God is freely given by Him.

Paul has already written at length about grace in this letter to the Ephesians .

In chapter 1, he talked about the blessings that we received through Christ, having been chosen before we knew him. We have forgiveness and redemption “ according to the riches of God’s grace that he lavished on us.” (1:7).

In chapter two, Paul describes how we were lifted up from the darkness of this age and we are now seated with Christ. “ For it is by grace you have been saved through faith.” (2:8)

In chapter 3, Paul talks about the work of grace in his own life, and the mystery revealed to him. He concludes that chapter with a prayer for the Ephesians that they would receive a greater revelation of the extent of God’s love.

Grace can be defined as God’s love in action. it is freely given to us, and to all people. The heart of the idea is that it comes to us as a gift and not always a something that we seek.

Common grace is the grace that God gives to all people. Jesus said that God sends the rain to the righteous and the unrighteous alike. In other words, favour and prosperity given are to all people regardless of their salvation or otherwise.

Prevenient grace is the grace that draws us towards God before we are saved. It is God’s gift that makes us open to the gospel message before we come to know Jesus.

Saving grace is a gift that applies the power of the cross to my specific need. it comes as conviction of sin and understanding that God loves me so much that He sent His Son to die for me. My sin- addled brain and corrupted heart could never have made that connection, unless the Holy Spirit made it very simple. I could never appropriate the message without the gift of faith.

Sanctifying grace is the ability which the Holy Spirit imparts to us that enables us to cast off our old sinful nature and put on Christ’s nature. Over time, our sins are put to death, and holiness grows in us.

Finally, there is enabling grace. This grace empowers us to work in co-operation with the Holy Spirit to fulfil His calling on our lives. it is grace to love others, whether saved or not yet saved, to receive gifts of the Holy Spirit for ministry, to do ordinary things in ways that are beyond our natural ability.

When Paul says that each one of us has received grace, he is not just limiting this to salvation. It is true that unless we received saving grace we could never have been saved.

Paul is saying here that all of us have sanctifying grace and enabling grace. We have all been given the necessary grace to become all that God has called us to be.

We all have a measure of grace because we all have a measure, so to speak, of the Holy Spirit. if you are a follower of Jesus, you have received the Holy Spirit and you have received grace – indeed grace upon grace.

Each one of us has received grace according to the measure of Christ’s gift. What is that measure? The measure is “more than enough.”

Paul is telling us that each of us have grace given by someone who lavishes it on us, who piles up the superlatives and pours it out to us. Can we measure it? No, it is too big.

If I were to compare the grace on my life with the grace on your life (assuming that such a thing were possible), I might find you have received five times more grace than me. But I have received more than enough grace for my need, so I don’t need the same amount you do. There is no need to feel jealous of other believers; nor any need to feel superior because we have more grace .

We all have a measure of grace and the measure of grace is more than we need. This means that we can all pray bold and effective prayers. We can all share the gospel with our friends. We can all exercise spiritual gifts. We can all be ministers of grace .

The reason that God gives us “ more then enough” grace is that there is always plenty to share with our brothers and sisters, and also with those who do not know Jesus yet.

If grace were money, we might imagine that when we get saved we received a billion dollars. So after you buy a new house and a new car, what are you going to do? The only useful thing to do is share it with other people. We might buy them nice things to show the love of God in practical ways. We might pay for somebody’s medical procedure. Even as you give it away you can’t keep up ahead of the supply.

Grace is like that. The more of ourselves we invest in others people, and the more we access the Holy Spirit to do this, and the more that we exercise faith, then we see the kingdom grow and grace multiply.

And each of us has received this more than enough grace.

Key points in this verse:

• We have all received grace from God.
• There are many kinds of grace, but just one giver of grace
• God gives us grace according to the measure of Christ
• God gives more than enough so we can share it with others

Here is my commentary on Ephesians 4:6 . I am publishing these once or twice a week, but you can read all of the available articles at our web-site, http://www.new-life.org.au

Ephesians 4:6

“… one God and Father of all, who is over all, through all, and in all.”

Paul has been listing the things Christians share- one Lord, one faith, one Spirit, one baptism. Now we come to the climax, the one God and Father.

Christians, like Jews, affirm that there is one God. Unlike the pagans who had gods for different cities and localities, trades and professions, christians say there is one God.

Whereas religious ties divide other groups, christians are united by worshipping the one God.

God has revealed himself as a Trinity, that is as three persons in one God. This isn’t to be interpreted as three gods or as three separate modes which God switches between. Part of the mystery of God is that God is both one and three. The unity of God is real, as is the threefold personality.

When we say that God is Father, we may think of several things.

Firstly he is the creator. He brought the whole of creation into existence for His good pleasure. Nothing was made except through the agency of God. He made all things and He made them good .

In this sense, God is Father even of those parts of creation that rebel against Him. He is Father to sinful people in the sense that He created them.

Secondly, God is Father in the sense that he brings new life to those who desire it. He is like a father of children who have gone off the rails and seeks to be reconciled with them. God the Father sent God the Son into the earth in order to reconcile many sons to himself .

Thirdly, to say God is Father is to say He is relational, and that He loves His creation. He is not a distant, impersonal god or force, but a real person who can and does relate to His creation .

Fourthly, God is a Father who works to bring His sons and daughters to maturity. He wants to impart His character to us so that we can become like him in nature. In Ephesians 4:13, Paul says that God gives His gifts to the Body, “ until we reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.”

God is over all, through all, and in all. This is language that needs to be thought about carefully .

We need to say first of all that this is not a form of pantheism. God is not identical to the creation. He is not the spirit of the trees and the mountains. God is separate from the creation.

When we say God is everywhere, we do not mean to imply that He is disguised as the animals and the wind. He is present to every part of creation, but separate from it.

It appears that some of the Greek manuscripts try to soften some of the universality of this verse. Some add the word “you”, others added the similar word “us”. God is over all of us, through all of us, and in all of us. As Christians, this would be acceptable, but it is not what Paul wrote.

God is over all people. He is the supreme ruler, whether we believe this or not. He is over all things, directing human and other events to his final purposes.

At the end of time, every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father. (Philippians 2:10). God is Lord of all right now whether or not this is recognised by all people.

God is “through all.” This seems to mean that God uses all events, all people, all of creation to His glory and to our good. Nothing happens that he is not already aware of before hand .

To say that God is through all means that I can be confident that God is with me in every situation.

Finally God is “in all”. every person carries the image of God, the stamp of God’s ownership. Every person we see is someone whom God loves and created for His glory. If we see the image of God in all people, then we can love them as we love God.

God is also in all things because everything carries his image. While we must not worship the creation, every part of it is infused with God’s beauty and God’s glory. Therefore, every encounter that I have in this creation should draw me to a place of worship .

Key points in this verse:

• Our worship of one God should bind Christians together
• God has revealed himself as a trinity Kama a perfect community of love
• God is Father of all creation, but has a special Father relationship with those who are born again
• God’s presence is revealed in all of creation

Here is my commentary on Ephesians 4:5 . I am publishing these once or twice a week, but you can read all of the available articles at our web-site, http://www.new-life.org.au

Ephesians 4:5

“… one Lord, one faith, one baptism,… “

Paul continues his list of things that unite christians.

We have one Lord, Jesus Christ, our Saviour and our Redeemer .

To confess that Jesus is Lord is to proclaim that he is the supreme ruler in our heart, and in our lives.

To say that Jesus is Lord is to deny every other idol that would seek to become lord in our lives. To say “Jesus is Lord” is to say that money is not our lord, that self is not our lord, the family is not our lord .

For people in the Roman Empire, there was a requirement that all people acknowledge Caesar is lord. This meant to swear allegiance to the emperor as the single entity that united all the tribes and nations under Roman sway.

At various times, under several Emperors, it was compulsory for every person to offer incense and publicly declare “Caesar is Lord.” This was not a problem for most people, and Jews were given an exemption, but for christians this was a big imposition. For christians Jesus is the only Lord, and even Caesar has to submit to Him. This became a flash point between the Kingdom and the Empire leading to widespread persecution .

There is only one Lord, the Lord Jesus Christ .

To say “Jesus is Lord” is to commit to obeying him in every sector of life. It is about obedience and loyalty. If an employer or a government asks us to do something contrary to God’s plan, then we respectfully refuse. As the apostles said in Acts 5:28, “ we must obey God rather than men.”

There is one faith.

Christ is not divided into denominations, and faith is shared across denominations.

Even where there is a variety of expressions of christianity, it is one faith. Although it often seems that the church is fragmented, the truth is that christians agree on 99% of doctrine, and disagree on relatively minor points .

Issues of church government, eschatology, the use of spiritual gifts, and so on, pale into insignificance compared to the central truth about salvation, the love and holiness of God, the hope we have in Christ, and the Trinity .

There is one faith. We are used to arguing about the marginal details that we forget that there is no disagreement on the important points of doctrine.

When we look at the New Testament, especially the book of Acts, we see a diversity of expressions of faith. There is no hint that the church at Rome is separated from the church at Antioch, even though they operated in very different contexts. They may have had very different worship Styles and doctrinal positions , but they were United in their love for the lord. A deficient faith does not mean no faith.

There is one baptism.

There are so many different beliefs about baptism that it is almost impossible to accept that there is just one baptism. There is infant baptism, adult baptism, sprinkling and full immersion. Some will only baptise in churches, while others will only that baptise in public spaces. Some baptise into the name of Jesus, but others baptise into the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Some baptise immediately on profession of faith, but others say that teaching in the ways of the Lord must come first.

In all of that variety, Paul says there is one baptism.

Baptism is about being introduced or Incorporated into the Body of Christ. Whatever and however it is practised, it is a sign that a person has been welcomed into Christ’s Kingdom and therefore into the church .

Baptism is always a faith statement whether it is a child being baptised or an adult. In either case, we cannot see the future of the person, or whether they will remain true to Christ. All we know is that on this day this person (or their parent) is claiming to be a follower of Jesus. We cannot see if that is a true claim, or whether they will persevere to the end. So the church baptises people in faith.

The sacraments of Baptism and Holy Communion carry the power of the Holy Spirit in an enhanced way. They are vehicles of God’s grace, and not just religious ceremonies. When the church baptises a person, the Spirit of God is moving.

Baptism represents a person dying and rising to new life in Christ. The old nature is drowned in the water, and the person is raised to eternal life in God. Baptism is about death and resurrection more than it is about cleansing.

This verse has often been invoked to prohibit a person from being re-baptised. This is not the intention here. If a person is baptised and subsequently leaves the fellowship of the church for a time, there is nothing to stop them from being re-baptised. The second occasion is as much a celebration of the “one baptism” as the first occasion .

Key points in this verse

• There is one Lord, Jesus Christ
• Christians must determine that nothing else can be lord in their lives
• We may disagree on doctrines or practice, but there is one faith
• There is one baptism into the one church