Ephesians Chapter 4
Analysis of the Chapter
THIS chapter is the commencement of the practical part of the
epistle, and is made up, like the remaining chapters, of various
exhortations. It is in accordance with the usual habit of Paul to
conduct an argument in his epistles, and, then to enforce various
practical duties, either growing out of the argument which he had
maintained, or, more commonly, adapted to some particular state
of things in the church to which he wrote. The points of exhortation
in this chapter are, in general, the following:--
I. An exhortation to unity, Ephesians 4:1-6. He entreats them to
walk worthy of their vocation, \\Eph 4:1\\; shows them how it could
be done, or what he meant; and that, in order to that, they should
show meekness and kindness, Ephesians 4:2 and particularly exhorts
them to unity, Ephesians 4:3 for they had one God, one Saviour, one
baptism, one religion, Ephesians 4:4-6.
II. He shows them that God had made ample provision for his
people, that they might be sound in the faith, and in unity of life
and of doctrine, and need not be driven about with every wind of
opinion, Ephesians 4:7-16. He assures them that to every Christian is
given grace in the Redeemer adapted to his circumstances, Ephesians 4:7;
that the Lord Jesus ascended to heaven to obtain gifts for his
people, Ephesians 4:8-10; that he had given apostles, prophets, and
evangelists, for the very purpose of imparting instruction, and
confirming them in the faith of the gospel, Ephesians 4:11,12; that this
was in order that they might attain to the highest elevation in
Christian knowledge and piety, Ephesians 4:13; and particularly that
they might not be driven to and fro, and carried about with every
wind of doctrine, Ephesians 4:14-16.
III. Having these arrangements made for their knowledge and
piety,he exhorts them not to live as the heathen around them
lived, but to show that they were under a better influence,
Ephesians 4:17-24. Their understanding was darkened, and they were
alienated from the life of God, or true religion, Ephesians 4:18;
they were past feeling, and were given over to every form of sensuality,
Ephesians 4:19. The Ephesians, however, had been taught a different thing,
Ephesians 4:20,21; and the apostle exhorts them to lay aside everything
pertaining to their former course of life, and to become wholly
conformed to the principles of the new man, Ephesians 4:22-24.
IV. He exhorts them to perform particular Christian duties, and
to put away certain evils, of which they and all others were in
danger, Ephesians 4:25. In particular, he entreats them to avoid
lying, Ephesians 4:25; anger, Ephesians 4:26; theft, Ephesians 4:28;
corrupt and corrupting conversation, Ephesians 4:29; grieving the Holy
Spirit, Ephesians 4:30;) bitterness, evil-speaking, and malice,
Ephesians 4:31; and entreats them to manifest, in their intercourse with
each other, a spirit of kindness and forgiveness, Ephesians 4:32.
Verse 1. I therefore. In view of the great and glorious truths which
God has revealed, and of the grace which he has manifested towards you
who are Gentiles. See the previous chapters. The sense of the word
"therefore"--\~oun\~--in this place, is, "Such being your exalted
privileges; since God has done so much for you; since he has revealed
for you such a glorious system; since he has bestowed on you the honour
of calling you into his kingdom, and making you partakers of his mercy,
I entreat you to live in accordance with these elevated privileges, and
to show your sense of his goodness by devoting your all to his service."
The force of the word "I" they would all feel. It was the appeal and
exhortation of the founder of their church--of their spiritual father--of
one who had endured much for them, and who was now in bonds on
account of his devotion to the welfare of the Gentile world.
The prisoner of the Lord. Marg., in. It means, that he was now a
prisoner, or in confinement in the cause of the Lord; and he
regarded himself as having been made a prisoner because the Lord
had so willed and ordered it. He did not feel particularly that he
was the prisoner of Nero; he was bound and kept because the
Lord willed it, and because it was in his service.
See Barnes "Ephesians 3:1".
Beseech you that ye walk worthy. That you live as becomes those who
have been called in this manner into the kingdom of God. The word
walk is often used to denote life, conduct, etc.
See Barnes "Romans 4:12"; See Barnes "Romans 6:4";
See Barnes "2 Corinthians 5:7".
Of the vocation. Of the calling--\~thv klhsewv\~. This word properly
means a call, or an invitation--as to a banquet. Hence it means that
Divine invitation or calling by which Christians are introduced
into the privileges of the gospel. The word is translated calling
in Romans 11:29; 1 Corinthians 1:26; 7:20; Ephesians 1:18; 4:1,4; Philippians 3:14; 2 Thessalonians 1:11; 2 Timothy 1:9;
Hebrews 3:1; 2 Peter 1:10. It does not elsewhere occur. The sense of the
word, and the agency employed in calling us, are well expressed in the
Westminster Shorter Catechism: "Effectual calling is the work of God's
Spirit, whereby convincing us of our sin and misery, enlightening our
minds in the knowledge of Christ, and renewing our wills, he doth persuade
and enable us to embrace Jesus Christ freely offered to us in the
gospel." This calling or vocation is through the agency of the
Holy Spirit, and is his appropriate work on the human heart. It
consists essentially in influencing the mind to turn to God, or to
enter into his kingdom. It is the exertion of so much influence on
the mind as is necessary to secure the turning of the sinner to God.
In this all Christians are agreed, though there have been almost
endless disputes about the actual influence exerted, and the mode
in which the Spirit acts on the mind. Some suppose it is by
"moral suasion;" some by physical power; some by an act of
creation; some by inclining the mind to exert its proper powers in
right way, and to turn to God. What is the precise agency employed
perhaps we are not to expect to be able to decide. See John 3:8.
The great, the essential point is held, if it be maintained
that it is by the agency of the Holy Spirit that the result is
secured--and this I suppose to be held by all evangelical Christians.
But though it is by the agency of the Holy Spirit, we are
not to suppose that it is without the employment of means. It is
not literally like the act of creation. It is preceded and attended
with means adapted to the end; means which are almost as various
as the individuals who are called into the kingdom of God. Among
those means are the following.
(1.) Preaching. Probably more are called into the kingdom by this
means than any other. It is "God's great ordinance for the salvation of
men." It is eminently fitted for it. The pulpit has higher advantages
for acting on the mind than any other means of affecting men. The truths
that are dispensed; the sacredness of the place; the peace and quietness
of the sanctuary; and the appeals to the reason, the conscience,
and the heart--all are fitted to affect men, and to bring them to
reflection. The Spirit makes use of the word preached, but in a
great variety of ways. Sometimes many are impressed simultaneously;
sometimes the same truth affects one mind, while others are unmoved; and
sometimes truth reaches the heart of a sinner which he has heard a
hundred times before, without being interested. The Spirit acts with
sovereign power, and by laws which have never yet been traced out.
(2.) The events of Providence are used to call men into his kingdom. God
appeals to men by laying them on a bed of pain, or by requiring them to
follow a friend in the still and mournful procession to the grave. They
feel that they must die, and they are led to ask the question whether
they are prepared. Much fewer are affected in this way than we
should suppose would be the case; but still there are many, in the
aggregate, who can trace their hope of heaven to a fit of sickness,
or to the death of a friend.
(3.) Conversation is one of the means by which sinners are called into
the kingdom of God. In some states of mind, where the Spirit has prepared
the soul like mellow ground prepared for the seed, a few moments'
conversation, or a single remark, will do more to arrest the attention
than much preaching.
(4.) Reading is often the means of calling men into the kingdom. The
Bible is the great means--and if we can get men to read that, we have
very cheering indications that they will be converted. The profligate
Earl of Rochester was awakened and led to the Saviour by reading a
chapter in Isaiah. And who can estimate the number of those who have
been converted by reading Baxter's Call to the Unconverted; Alleine's
Alarm; the Dairy-man's Daughter; or the Shepherd of Salisbury Plain?
He does good who places a good book in the way of a sinner. That mother
or sister is doing good, and making the conversion of a son or brother
probable, who puts a Bible in his chest when he goes to sea,
or in his trunk when he goes on a journey. Never should a son
be allowed to go from home without one. The time will come
when, far away from home, he will read it he will read it when
his mind is pensive and tender, and the Spirit may bear the truth
to his heart for his conversion.
(5.) The Spirit calls men into the kingdom of Christ by presiding over
and directing, in some unseen manner, their own reflections, or the
operations of their own minds. In some way, unknown to us, he turns
the thoughts to the past life; recalls forgotten deeds and plans;
makes long past sins rise to remembrance; and overwhelms the mind with
conscious guilt from the memory of crime, he holds this power over the
soul; and it is among the most mighty and mysterious of all the
influences that he has on the heart. Sometimes--a man can hardly tell
how--the mind will be pensive, sad, melancholy; then conscious of
guilt; then alarmed at the future. Often, by sudden transitions, it
will be changed from the gay to the grave, and from the pleasant to the
sad; and often, unexpectedly to himself, and by associations which he
cannot trace out, the sinner will find himself reflecting on death,
judgment, and eternity. It is the Spirit of God that leads the mind
along. It is not by force; not by the violation of its laws, but in
accordance with those laws, that the mind is thus led along to the
eternal world. In such ways, and by such means, are men "called" into
the kingdom of God. To "walk worthy of that calling," is to live as
becomes a Christian, an heir of glory; to live as Christ did. It is,
(1.) to bear our religion with us to all places, companies,
employments. Not merely to be a Christian on the Sabbath, and at the
communion-table, and in our own land; but every day, and everywhere,
and in any land where we may be placed. We are to live religion, and
not merely to profess it. We are to be Christians in the counting-room,
as well as in the closet; on the farm, as well as at the communion-table;
among strangers, and in a foreign land, as well as in our own country
and in the sanctuary.
(2.) It is to do nothing inconsistent with the most elevated Christian
character. In temper, feeling, plan, we are to give expression to no
emotion, and use no language, and perform no deed, that shall be
inconsistent with the most elevated Christian character.
(3.) It is to do right always: to be just to all; to tell the simple
truth; to defraud no one; to maintain a correct standard of morals; to be
known to be honest. There is a correct standard of character and
conduct; and a Christian should be a man so living, that we may always
know exactly where to find him. He should so live, that we shall
have no doubts that, however others may act, we shall find him to be the
unflinching advocate of temperance, chastity, honesty, and of every good
work--of every plan that is really fitted to alleviate human woe, and
benefit a dying world.
(4.) It is to live as one should who expects soon to be in heaven.
Such a man will feel that the earth not his home; that he is a stranger
and a pilgrim here; that riches, honours, and pleasures are of
comparatively little importance; that he ought to watch and pray, and
that he ought to be holy. A man who feels that he may die at any moment
will watch and pray. A man who realizes that to-morrow he may be in
heaven will feel that he ought to be holy. He who begins a day on earth,
feeling that at its close he may be among the angels of God, and
the spirits of just men made perfect; that before its close he may
have seen the Saviour glorified, and the burning throne of God,
will feel the importance of living a holy life, and of being wholly
devoted to the service of God. Pure should be the eyes that are
soon to look on the throne of God; pure the hands that are soon
to strike the harps of praise in heaven; pure the feet that are to
walk the "golden streets above."
{1} "prisoner of" "in
{*} "of" "on account of"
Verse 2. With all lowliness. Humility. See Barnes "Acts 20:19",
where the same Greek word is used. Compare, also, the following
places, where the same Greek word occurs: Philippians 2:3, "in
lowliness of mind, let each esteem other better than themselves;"
Colossians 2:18, "in a voluntary humility;" Colossians 2:23; 3:12; 1 Peter 5:5.
The word does not elsewhere occur in the New Testament. The
idea is, that humility of mind becomes those who are "called,"
(Ephesians 4:1, and that we walk worthy of that calling when we evince
it.
And meekness. See Barnes "Matthew 5:5". Meekness relates
to the manner in which we receive injuries. We are to bear them
patiently, and not to retaliate, or seek revenge. The meaning
here is, that we adorn the gospel when we show its power in
enabling us to bear injuries without anger or a desire of revenge, or
with a mild and forgiving spirit. See 2 Corinthians 10:1; Galatians 5:23; 6:1
2 Timothy 2:25; Titus 3:2; where the same Greek word occurs.
With longsuffering, etc. Bearing patiently with the foibles, faults,
and infirmities of others. See Barnes "1 Corinthians 13:4". The virtue here
required is that which is to be manifested in our manner of receiving
the provocations which we meet with from our brethren. No virtue,
perhaps, is more frequently demanded in our intercourse with others. We
do not go far with any fellow-traveller on the journey of life before we
find there is great occasion for its exercise. He has a temperament
different from our own. He may be sanguine, or choleric, or melancholy;
while we may be just the reverse, lie has peculiarities of taste,
and habits, and disposition, which differ much from ours. He has
his own plans and purposes of life, and his own way and time of
doing things. He may be naturally irritable, or he may have been
so trained that his modes of speech and conduct differ much from
ours. Neighbours have occasion to remark this in their neighbours;
friends in their friends; kindred in their kindred; one church-member in
another. A husband and wife--such is the imperfection of human nature-can
find enough in each other to embitter life if they choose to magnify
imperfections and to become irritated at trifles; and there is no
friendship that may not be marred in this way, if we will allow it. Hence,
if we would have life move on smoothly, we must learn to bear and
forbear. We must indulge the friend that we love in the little
peculiarities of saying and doing things which may be important to him,
but which may be of little moment to us. Like children, we must suffer
each one to build his playhouse in his own way, and not quarrel with him
because he does not think our way the best. All usefulness, and all
comfort, may be prevented by an unkind, a sour, a crabbed temper
of mind--a mind that can bear with no difference of opinion or
temperament. A spirit of fault-finding; all unsatisfied temper;
a constant irritability; little inequalities in the look, the temper, or
the manner; a brow cloudy and dissatisfied--your husband or your
wife cannot tell why--will more than neutralize all the good you
can do, and render life anything but a blessing. It is in such
gentle and quiet virtues as meekness and forbearance that the
happiness and usefulness of life consist, far more than in brilliant
eloquence, in splendid talent, or illustrious deeds that shall send
the name to future times. It is the bubbling spring which flows
gently; the little rivulet which glides through the meadow, and
which runs along day and night by the farm-house, that is useful,
rather than the swollen flood or the roaring cataract. Niagara excites
our wonder; and we stand amazed at the power and greatness of
God there, as he "pours it from his hollow hand." But one Niagara is
enough for a continent or a world; while that same world needs thousands
and tens of thousands of silver fountains, and gently-flowing rivulets,
that shall water every farm, and every meadow, and every garden, and that
shall flow on, every day and every night, with their gentle and quiet
beauty. So with the acts of our lives. It is not by great deeds only,
like those of Howard --not by great sufferings only, like those of the
martyrs--that good is to be done; it is by the daily and quiet virtues
of life--the Christian temper, the meek forbearance, the spirit of
forgiveness in the husband, the wife, the father, the mother, the
brother, the sister, the friend, the neighbour--that good is to be done;
and in this all may be useful.
{a} "lowliness" Matthew 11:29
{*} "lowliness" "humbleness of mind"
{+} "forbearing" "bearing with"
Verse 3. The unity of the Spirit. A united spirit, or oneness of
spirit. This does not refer to the fact that there is one Holy Spirit;
but it refers to unity of affection, of confidence, of love. It means
that Christians should be united in temper and affection, and not be
split up in factions and parties. It may be implied here, as is
undoubtedly true, that such a unity would be produced only by the
Holy Spirit; and that, as there was but one Spirit which had acted
on their hearts to renew them, they ought to evince the same feelings
and views. There was occasion among the Ephesians for this
exhortation; for they were composed of Jews and Gentiles, and
there might be danger of divisions and strifes, as there had been in
other churches. There is always occasion for such an exhortation;
for
(1.) unity of feeling is eminently desirable to honour the gospel,
See Barnes "John 17:21"; and
(2.) there is always danger of discord where men are brought together in
one society. There are so many different tastes and habits; there is such
a variety of intellect and feeling; the modes of education have been so
various, and the temperament may be so different, that there is constant
danger of division. Hence the subject is so often dwelt on in the
scriptures, See Barnes "1 Corinthians 2:1", seq. and hence there is so
much need of caution and of care in the churches.
In the bond of peace. This was to be by the cultivation of that
peaceful temper which binds all together. The American Indians usually
spoke of peace as a "chain of friendship" which was to be kept bright.
The meaning here is, that they should be bound or united together in
the sentiments and affections of peace. It is not mere external unity;
it is not a mere unity of creed; it is not a mere unity in the forms of
public worship; it is such as the Holy Spirit produces in the hearts of
Christians, when he fills them all with the same love, and joy, and
peace in believing. The following verses contain the reasons for this.
Verse 4. There is one body. One church--for so the word body
meats here--denoting the body of Christ. See Barnes "Romans 12:5".
Comp. See Barnes "Ephesians 1:23". The meaning here is, that as there is
really but one church on earth, there ought to be unity. The
church is, at present, divided into many denominations. It has
different forms of worship, and different rites and ceremonies. It
embraces those of different complexions and ranks in life, and it
cannot be denied that there are often unhappy contentions and
jealousies in different parts of that church. Still, there is but one
--"one holy, catholic (i.e., universal) church;" and that church
should feel that it is one. Christ did not come to redeem and save
different churches, and to give them a different place in heaven.
He did not come to save the Episcopal communion merely, or the
Presbyterian or the Methodist communions only; nor did he leave
the world to fit up for them different mansions in heaven. He did
not come to save merely the black man, or the red, or the white
man; nor did he leave the world to set up for them separate mansions
in the skies. He came that he might collect into one community a
multitude of every complexion, and from every land, and
unite them in one great brotherhood on earth, and ultimately assemble
them in the same heaven. The church is one. Every sincere Christian is a
brother in that church, and has an equal right with all others to its
privileges. Being one by the design of the Saviour, they should be one
in feeling; and every Christian, no matter what his rank, should be
ready to hail every other Christian as a fellow-heft of heaven.
One Spirit. The Holy Spirit. There is one and the self-same Spirit
that dwells in the church. The same Spirit has awakened all; enlightened
all; convicted all; converted all. Wherever they may be, and whoever,
yet there has been substantially the same work of the Spirit on the
heart of every Christian. There are circumstantial differences arising
from diversities of temperament, disposition, and education; there may
be a difference in the depth and power of his operations on the soul;
there may be a difference in the degree of conviction for sin and in the
evidence of conversion, but still there are the same operations on the
heart essentially, produced by the same Spirit.
See Barnes "1 Corinthians 12:6-11". All the gifts of prayer, and of preaching;
all the zeal, the ardour, the love, the self-denial in the church, are
produced by the same Spirit. There should be, therefore, unity. The
church is united in the agency by which it is saved; it should be
united in the feelings which influence its members.
Even as ye are called. See Barnes "Ephesians 4:1" The sense is, "There
is one body and one spirit, in like manner as there is one hope
resulting from your calling." The same notion of oneness is found in
relation to each of these things.
In one hope of your calling. In one hope resulting from your
being called into his kingdom. On the meaning of the word hope,
See Barnes "Ephesians 2:12". The meaning here is, that Christians have the
same hope, and they should therefore be one. They are looking forward to
the same heaven; they hope for the same happiness beyond the grave. It is
not as on earth among the people of the world, where there is a variety
of hopes--where one hopes for pleasure, and another for honour, and
another for gain; but there is the prospect of the same inexhaustible joy.
This hope is fitted to promote union. There is no rivalry--for
there is enough for all. Hope on earth does not always produce
union and harmony. Two men hope to obtain the same office;
two students hope to obtain the same honour in college; two rivals
hope to obtain the same hand in marriage--and the consequence is
jealousy, contention, and strife. The reason is, that but one can
obtain the object. Not so with the crown of life--with the rewards
of heaven. All may obtain that crown; all may share those rewards.
How can Christians contend in an angry manner with each other, when
the hope of dwelling in the same heaven swells their bosoms and
animates their hearts?
Verse 5. One Lord. This evidently refers to the Lord Jesus. The
"Spirit" is mentioned in the previous verse; the Father in the
verse following. On the application of the word "Lord" to the
Saviour, See Barnes "Acts 1:24". The argument here is, that there
ought to be unity among Christians, because they have one Lord
and Saviour. They have not different Saviours adapted to different
classes; not one for the Jew, and another for the Greek; not
one for the rich, and another for the poor; not one for the bond,
and another for the free. There is but one. He belongs in common to all
as their Saviour; and he has a right to rule over one as
much as over another. There is no better way of promoting unity
among Christians than by reminding them that they have the same
Saviour. And when jealousies and heart-burnings arise; or when
they are disposed to contend about trifles; when they magnify un
important matters until they are in danger of rending the church
asunder, let them feel that they have one Lord and Saviour, and
they will lay aside their contentions, and be one again. Let two
men, who have never seen each other before, meet in a distant land,
and feel that they have the same Redeemer, and their hearts will
mingle into one. They are not aliens, but friends. A cord of sympathy is
struck more tender than that which binds them to country or home; and
though of different nations, complexions, or habits, they will feel that
they are one. Why should contentions ever arise between those who have
the same Redeemer?
One faith. The same belief. That is, either the belief of the same
doctrines, or faith of the same nature in the heart. The word may be
taken in either sense. I see no reason why it should not include
both here, or be used in the widest sense. If so used, it means that
Christians should be united because they hold the same great doctrines;
and, also, because they have the same confidence in the Redeemer in their
hearts. They hold the same system as distinguished from Judaism,
Paganism, Mohammedanism, Deism; and they should, therefore, be one.
They have the same trust in Christ, as a living, practical principle--
and they should, therefore, be one. They may differ in other attachments;
in temperament; in pursuit; in professions in life; but they have a
common faith, and they should be ONE.
One baptism. This does not affirm that there is one mode of
baptism, but it refers to the thing itself. They are all baptized in the
name of the same Father, Saviour, Sanctifier. They have all in this
manner been consecrated unto God, and devoted to his service. Whether by
immersion, or by pouring, or by sprinkling, they have all been baptized
with water; whether it is done in adult years, or in infancy, the same
solemn act has been performed on all--the act of consecration to the
Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost. This passage cannot be adduced to
prove that only one mode of baptism is lawful, unless it can be
shown that the thing referred to here was the mode and not the
thing itself; and unless it can be proved that Paul meant to build
his argument for the unity of Christians on the fact that the same
form was used in their baptism. But this is evidently not the
point of his argument. The argument is, that there was really
but one baptism--not that there was but one mode of baptism. I
could not use this argument in this form--"Christians should be
one because they have been all baptized by sprinkling;" and yet
the argument would be just as forcible as to use it in this form--
"Christians should be one because they have all been baptized by
immersion." There is one baptism, not one mode of baptism;
and no man has a right to assume that there can be but one mode, and
then apply this passage to that. The essential thing in the argument
before us is, that there has been a consecration to the Father,
the Son, and the Holy Ghost, by the application of water. Thus
understood, the argument is one that will be felt by all who have
been devoted to God by baptism. They have taken the same vows upon them.
They have consecrated themselves to the same God. They have made the
same solemn profession of religion. Water has been applied to one and
all as the emblem of the purifying influences of the Holy Spirit; and
having been thus initiated in a solemn manner into the same profession of
religion, they should be one.
Verse 6. One God. The same God; therefore there should be unity.
Were there many gods to be worshipped, there could be no more
hope of unity than there is among the worshippers of Mammon
and Bacchus, and the various other idols that men set up. Men
who have different pursuits, and different objects of supreme
affection, can be expected to have no union. Men who worship many
gods, cannot hope to be united. Their affections are directed to
different objects, and there is no harmony or sympathy of feeling.
But where there is one supreme object of attachment, there may
be expected to be unity. The children of a family that are devoted
to a parent will be united among themselves; and the fact, that
all Christians have the same great object of worship, should
constitute a strong bond of union among themselves--a chain always
kept bright.
The Father of all. One God who is the Father of all; that is, who is
a common Father to all who believe. That this refers to the Father, in
contradistinction from the Son and the Holy Spirit, seems evident. The
Spirit and the Son are mentioned in the previous verses. But the fact,
that the "Father of all" is mentioned as "God," does not prove that the
Spirit and the Son are not also endowed with Divine attributes. That
question is to be determined by the attributes ascribed to the Son and
the Holy Spirit in other places. All sincere Christians worship one
God, and but one. But they suppose that this one God subsists as
Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, united in a mysterious manner, and
constituting THE one God, and that there is no other God. That
the Father is Divine they all hold, as Paul affirms here; that the
Son and the Holy Spirit are also Divine they also hold.
See Barnes "John 1:1"; See Barnes "Hebrews 1:1";
See Barnes "Philippians 2:6"; See Barnes "Romans 9:5". The meaning
here is, that God is the common Father of all his people--of the
rich and the poor; the bond and the free; the learned and the
unlearned. He is no respecter of persons. Nothing would tend
more to overcome the prejudices of colour, rank, and wealth, than
to feel that we all have one Father; and that we are all equally
the objects of his favour. Comp. See Barnes "Acts 17:26".
Who is above all. Who is supreme; who presides over all things.
And through all. He pervades universal nature, and his agency
is seen everywhere.
And in you all. There is no one in whose heart he does not dwell.
You are his temple; and he abides in you. See Ephesians 2:22.
See Barnes "1 Corinthians 6:19". The argument here is, that as the same God
dwelt in every heart, they ought to be one. See this argument
beautifully expressed in the Saviour's prayer, John 17:21.
Comp. John 14:23.
Verse 7. But unto every one of us. Every Christian.
Is given grace. The favour of God; meaning here, that God had
bestowed upon each sincere Christian the means of living as he ought to
do, and had in his gospel made ample provision that they might walk
worthy of their vocation. What are the endowments thus given
the apostle states in the following verses. The grace referred to
here, most probably, means the gracious influences of the Holy
Spirit, or his operations on the heart in connexion with the use of
the means which God has appointed.
According to the measure of the gift of Christ. Grace is bestowed
upon all true Christians, and all have enough to enable them to live a
life of holiness. Yet we are taught here,
(1.) that it is a gift. It is bestowed on us. It is not what is
originated by ourselves.
(2.) It is by a certain measure. It is not unlisted, and without
rule. There is a wise adaptation; an imparting it by a certain rule. The
same grace is not given to all, but to all is given enough to enable
them to live as they ought to live.
(3.) That measure is the gift of Christ, or what is given in Christ. It
comes through him. It is what he has purchased; what he has obtained by
his merits. All have enough for the purposes for which God has called
them into his kingdom; but there are not the same endowments conferred
on all. Some have grace given them to qualify them for the ministry;
some to be apostles; some to be martyrs; some to make them eminent as
public benefactors. All this has been obtained by Christ;
and one should not complain that another has more distinguished
endowments than he has. See Barnes "Romans 12:3";
See Barnes " :".
{a} "of the gift" Romans 12:3
Verse 8. Wherefore he saith. The word "he" is not in the original;
and it may mean "the Scripture saith," or "God saith." The point of the
argument here is, that Christ, when he ascended to heaven, obtained
certain gifts for men, and that those gifts are bestowed upon his
people in accordance with this. To prove that, he adduces this
passage
from Psalms 68:18. Much perplexity has been felt in regard to the
principle on which Paul quotes this Psalm, and applies it to the
ascension of the Redeemer. The Psalm seems to have been composed on the
occasion of removing the ark of the covenant from Kirjath-jearim to
Mount Zion, 2 Samuel 6:1, seq. It is a song of triumph, celebrating
the victories of, JEHOVAH, and particularly the victories which had
been achieved when the ark was at the head of the army. It appears
to have no relation to the Messiah; nor would it probably occur to any
one, on reading it, that it referred to his ascension, unless it had
been so quoted by the apostle. Great difficulty has been felt,
therefore, in determining on what principle Paul applied it to the
ascension of the Redeemer. Some have supposed that the Psalm had a
primary reference to the Messiah; some that it referred to him in only
a secondary sense; some that it is applied to him by way of
"accommodation;" and some that he merely uses the words as adapted to
express him idea, as a man adopts words which are familiar to
him, and which will express his thoughts, though not meaning to
say that the words had any such reference originally. Storr supposes
that the words were used by the Ephesian Christians in their
hymns, and that Paul quoted them as containing a sentiment which
was admitted among them. This is possible; but it is mere conjecture. It
has been also supposed that the tabernacle was a type of Christ; and that
the whole Psalm, therefore, having original reference to the tabernacle,
might be applied to Christ as the antitype. But this both conjectural
and fanciful. On the various modes adopted to account for the difficulty,
the reader may consult Rosenmuller, in loc. To me it seems plain that
the Psalm had original reference to the bringing up the ark to Mount
Zion, and is a triumphal song. In the song or psalm, the poet shows why
God was to be praised--on account of his greatness, and his benignity to
men, Ephesians 4:1-6. He then recounts the doings of God
in former times--particularly his conducting his people through
the wilderness, and the fact that his enemies were discomfited
before him, Ephesians 4:7-12. All this refers to the God, the symbols
of whose presence were on the tabernacle, and accompanying the
ark. He then speaks of the various fortunes that had befallen the
ark of the covenant. It had lain among the pots, Ephesians 4:13, yet it
had formerly been white as snow when God scattered kings by it,
Ephesians 4:14. He then speaks of the hill of God--the Mount Zion to
which the ark was about to be removed, and says that it is an
"high hill"--" high as the hills of Bashan," the hill where God
desired to dwell for ever, Ephesians 4:16. God is then introduced as
ascending that hill, encompassed with thousands of angels, as in
Mount Sinai; and the poet says that, in doing it, he had triumphed
over his enemies, and had led captivity captive, Ephesians 4:18. The fact
that the ark of God thus ascended the hill of Zion, the place of
rest; that it was to remain there as its permanent abode, no
more to be carried about at the head of armies, was the proof of
its triumph. It had made everything captive; it had subdued
every foe; and its ascent there would be the means of obtaining
invaluable gifts for men. Mercy and truth would go forth from
that mountain; and the true religion would spread abroad, even
to the rebellious, as the results of the triumph of God, whose
symbol was over the tabernacle and the ark. The placing the ark
there was the proof of permanent victory, and would be connected
with most important benefits to men. The "ascending on high,"
therefore, in the Psalm, refers, as it seems to me, to the ascent of
the symbol of the Divine Presence accompanying the ark on Mount
Zion, or to the placing it "on high" above all its foes. The
remainder of the Psalm corresponds with this view. This ascent
of the ark on Mount Zion; this evidence of its triumph over all the
foes of God; this permanent residence of the ark there; and this
fact that its being established there would be followed with the
bestowment of invaluable gifts to men, might be regarded as a
BEAUTIFUL EMBLEM Of the ascension of the Redeemer to heaven.
There were strong points of resemblance. He also ascended on
high. His ascent was the proof of victory over his foes. He went
there for a permanent abode. And his ascension was connected
with the bestowment of important blessings to men. It is as such
emblematic language, I suppose, that the apostle makes the quotation.
It did not originally refer to this; but the events were so
similar in many points that the one would suggest the other, and
the same language would describe both. It was language familiar
to the apostle; language that would aptly express his thoughts,
and language that was not improbably applied to the ascension of the
Redeemer by Christians at that time. The phrase, therefore, "he
saith"--\~legei\~-or "it saith," or "the Scripture saith," means, "it
is said;" or, "this language will properly express the fact under
consideration, to wit, that there is grace given to each one of us, or
that the means are furnished by the Redeemer for us to lead holy
lives."
When he ascended up on high. To heaven. The Psalm is, "Thou hast
ascended on high." Comp. Ephesians 1:20,21.
He led captivity captive. The meaning of this in the Psalm is, that
he triumphed over his foes. The margin is, "a multitude of captives."
But this, I think, is not quite the idea. It is language derived
from a conqueror, who not only makes captives, but who makes
captives of those who were then prisoners, and who conducts them
as a part of his triumphal procession. He not only subdues his
enemy, but he leads his captives in triumph. The allusion is to
the public triumphs of conquerors, especially as celebrated among
the Romans, in which captives were led in chains, (Tacitus, Ann.
xii. 38,) and to the custom in such triumphs of distributing presents
among the soldiers. Comp. also Judges 5:30, where it
appears that this was also an early custom in other nations.
Burder, in Ros. Alt. u. neu. Morgenland, in loc. When Christ
ascended to heaven, he triumphed over all his foes. It was a
complete victory over the malice of the great enemy of God, and
over those who had sought his life. But he did more. He rescued
those who were the captives of Satan, and led them in triumph.
Man was held by Satan as a prisoner. His chains were around
him. Christ rescued the captive prisoner, and designed to make
him a part of his triumphal procession into heaven, that thus the
victory might be complete--triumphing not only over the great
foe himself, but swelling his procession with the attending hosts of
those who had been the captives of Satan, now rescued and
redeemed.
And gave gifts unto men. Such as he specifies in Ephesians 4:11.
{a} "When he ascended" Psalms 68:18
{1} "captivity captive" "a multitude of captives"
Verse 9. Now that he ascended. That is, it is affirmed in the Psalm
that he ascended--"Thou hast ascended on high." This implies
that there must have been a previous descent; or, as applicable to
the Messiah, "it is a truth that he previously descended." It is
by no means certain that Paul meant to say that the word
"ascended" demonstrated that there must have been a previous
descent; but he probably means, that in the case of Christ
there was, in fact, a descent into the lower parts of the earth
first. The language here used will appropriately express his decent to
earth.
Into the lower parts of the earth. To the lowest state of
humiliation. This seems to be the fair meaning of the words. Heaven
stands opposed to earth. One is above; the other is beneath.
From the one, Christ descended to the other; and he came not
only to the earth, but he stooped to the most humble condition of
humanity here. See Philippians 2:6-8. Comp. See Barnes "Isaiah 44:23".
Some have understood this of the grave; others of the region of
departed spirits; but these interpretations do not seem to be
necessary. It is the earth itself that stands in contrast with the
heavens; and the idea is, that the Redeemer descended from his
lofty eminence in heaven, and became a man of humble rank and
condition. Comp. Psalms 139:15.
Verse 10. He that descended is the same also that ascended.
The same Redeemer came down from God, and returned to him. It was
not a different being, but the same.
Far above all heavens. See Barnes "Ephesians 1:20-23".
Comp. Hebrews 7:26. He is gone above the visible heavens, and has
ascended into the highest abodes of bliss. See Barnes "2 Corinthians 12:2".
That he might fill all things. Marg., fulfil. The meaning is,
"that he might fill all things by his influence", and direct and
overrule all by his wisdom and power." Doddridge.
See Barnes "Ephesians 1:23".
{2} "fill all things" Ephesians 1:23.
Verse 11. And he gave some, apostles. He gave some to be apostles.
The object here is to show that he has made ample provision for
the extension and edification of his church. On the meaning of
the word apostles, and on their appointment by the Saviour,
See Barnes "Matthew 10:1".
And some, prophets, he appointed some to be prophets.
See Barnes "Romans 12:6"; See Barnes "1 Corinthians 12:28";
See Barnes "1 Corinthians 14:1".
And some, evangelists. See Barnes "Acts 21:8". Comp. 2 Timothy 4:5.
The word does not elsewhere occur in the New Testament. What was the
precise office of the evangelist in the primitive church it is now
impossible to determine. The evangelist may have been one whose
main business was preaching, and who was not particularly engaged in the
government of the church. The word properly means, "a messenger of good
tidings;" and Robinson (Lex.) supposes that it denotes a minister of the
gospel who was not located in any place, but who travelled as a
missionary to preach the gospel, and to found churches. The
word is so used now by many Christians; but it cannot be proved
that it is so used in the New Testament. An explanation of the
words which here occur may be found in Neander on the Primitive
Church, in the Biblical Repository, vol. iv. p. 268, seq. The office
was distinct from that of the pastor, the teacher, and the
prophet; and was manifestly an office in which preaching was the
main thing.
And some, pastors. Literally, shepherds--\~poimenav\~.
Comp. Matthew 9:36; 25:32; 26:31; Mark 6:34; 14:27; Luke 2:8,16,18,20; John 10:2,
John 10:11,12,14,16, where it is rendered shepherd, and
shepherds; also Hebrews 13:20; 1 Peter 2:25. In Matthew 26:31
Mark 6:27; Hebrews 13:20; 1 Peter 2:25, it is applied to the Lord Jesus as the
great Shepherd of the flock--the church. It is rendered pastors
only in the place before us. The word is given to ministers of the gospel
with obvious propriety, and with great beauty. They are to exercise the
same watchfulness and care over the people of their charge which a
shepherd does over his flock. See Barnes "John 21:15";
See Barnes "John 21:16". The meaning here is, that Christ exercised
a special care for his church by appointing pastors who would watch
over it as a shepherd does over his flock.
And teachers. See Barnes "Romans 12:7".
{b} "he gave some" "1Co 12:28"
Verse 12. For the perfecting of the saints. On the meaning of the
word here rendered perfecting--\~katartismon\~--See Barnes "2 Corinthians 13:9".
It properly refers to the restoring of anything to its place; then
putting in order, making complete, etc. Here it means that these various
officers were appointed in order that everything in the church might be
well arranged, or put into its proper place; or that the church might be
complete. It is that Christians may have every possible advantage for
becoming complete in love, and knowledge, and order.
For the work of the ministry. All these are engaged in the
work of the ministry, though in different departments. Together
they constituted THE ministry by which Christ meant to establish and
edify the church. All these offices had an existence at that time, and
all were proper; though it is clear that they were not all designed to
be permanent. The apostolic office was of course to cease with the
death of those who were the witnesses of the life and doctrines of
Jesus, See Barnes " :"; the office of prophets was to
cease with the cessation of inspiration; and, in like manner, it is
possible that the office of teacher or evangelist might be suspended,
as circumstances might demand. But is it not clear, from this, that
Christ did not appoint merely three orders of clergy to be permanent
in the church? Here are five orders enumerated, and in
1 Corinthians 12:28 there are eight mentioned; and how can it be
demonstrated that the Saviour intended that there should be three only,
and that they should be permanent? The presumption is rather that he
meant that there should be but one permanent order of ministers, though
the departments of their labour might be varied according to
circumstances, and though there might be helpers, as occasion should
demand founding churches among the heathen, and in instructing and
governing them there, there is need of reviving nearly all the offices
of teacher, helper, evangelist, etc., which Paul has enumerated as
actually existing in his time.
For the edifying. For building it up; that is, in the knowledge of
the truth, and in piety. See Barnes "Romans 14:19".
The body of Christ. The church. See Barnes "Ephesians 1:23".
{*} "edifying" "Edification"
Verse 13. Till we all come. Till all Christians arrive at a state of
complete unity, and to entire perfection.
In the unity of the faith, marg. into. The meaning is, till we
all hold the same truths, and the same confidence in the Son of God.
See Barnes "John 17:21-23".
And of the knowledge of the Son of God. That they might attain
to the same practical acquaintance with the Son of God, and might thus
come to the maturity of Christian piety. See Barnes "Ephesians 3:19".
Unto a perfect man. Unto a complete man. This figure is obvious. The
apostle compares their condition then to a state of childhood. The
perfect man here refers to the man grown up--the man of mature life.
He says that Christ had appointed pastors and teachers that the infant
church might be conducted to maturity, or become strong--like a man.
He does not refer to the doctrine of sinless perfection, but to the
state of manhood as compared with that of childhood---a state of strength,
vigour, wisdom, when the full growth should be attained. See
1 Corinthians 14:20.
Unto the measure of the stature. Marg., or, age. The word
stature expresses the idea. It refers to the growth of a man. The
stature to be attained to was that of Christ. He was the standard--not
in size, not in age, but in moral character. The measure to be reached
was Christ; or we are to grow till we become like him.
Of the fulness of Christ. See Barnes "Ephesians 1:23". The phrase,
"the measure of the fulness," means, probably, the "full measure "--by a
form of construction that is common in the Hebrew writings, where two
nouns are so used that one is to be rendered as an adjective--
as trees of greatness--meaning great trees. Here it means, that they
should so advance in piety and knowledge as to become wholly like him.
{1} "in the unity" "into"
{a} "of the faith" Colossians 2:2
{b} "perfect man" James 1:6
{2} "stature" "age"
{+} "Christ" "Full stature of Christ"
Verse 14. That we henceforth be no more children. In some respects
Christians are to be like children. They are to be docile, gentle,
mild, and free from ambition, pride, and haughtiness.
See Barnes "Matthew 18:2"; See Barnes "Matthew 18:3". But children have
other characteristics besides simplicity and docility. They are often
changeable, Matthew 11:17; they are credulous, and are influenced easily
by others, and led astray. In these respects, Paul exhorts the Ephesians
to be no longer children, but urges them to put on the characteristics of
manhood; and especially to put on the firmness in religious opinion
which became maturity of life.
Tossed to and fro. \~kludwnizomenoi\~. This word is taken from waves or
billows that are constantly tossed about--in all ages an image of
instability of character and purpose.
And carried about with every wind of doctrine. With no firmness; no
settled course; no helm. The idea is that of a vessel on the restless
ocean, that is tossed about with every varying wind, and that has no
settled line of sailing. So many persons are in regard to religious
doctrines. They have no fixed views and principles. They hold no
doctrines that are settled in their minds by careful and patient
examination; and the consequence is, that they yield to every new
opinion, and submit to the guidance of every new teacher. The
doctrine taught here is, that we should have settled religious
opinions. We should carefully examine what is truth, and having found it,
should adhere to it, and not yield on the coming of every new teacher. We
should not, indeed, close our minds against conviction. We should be
open to argument, and be willing to follow the truth wherever it
will lead us. But this state of mind is not inconsistent with having
settled opinions, and with being firm in holding them until we are
convinced that we are wrong. No man can be useful who has not settled
principles. No one who has not such principles can inspire confidence or
be happy; and the first aim of every young convert should be to acquire
settled views of the truth, and to become firmly grounded in the
doctrines of the gospel.
By the sleight of men. The cunning, skill, trickery of
men. The word used here--\~kubeia\~-is from a word \~kubov\~ meaning a
cube, a die, and properly means a game at dice. Hence it
means game, gambling; and then anything that turns out by mere
chance or hap-hazardous a game at dice does. It may possibly
also denote the trick or fraud that is sometimes used in such games;
but it seems rather to denote a man's forming his religious opinions
by the throw of a die; or, in other words, it describes a man whose
opinions seem to be the result of mere chance. Anything like
casting a die, or like opening the Bible at random to determine a
point of duty or doctrine may come under the description of the
apostle here, and would all be opposed to the true mode, that by
calm examination of the Bible, and by prayer. A man who forms
his religious principles by chance, can unform them in the same
way; and he who has determined his faith by one cast of the die,
will be likely to throw them into another form by another. The
phrase, "the sleight of men," therefore, I would render, "by the
mere chance of men, or as you may happen to find men, one holding this
opinion, and the next that, and allowing yourself to be influenced by
them without any settled principles."
Cunning craftiness. Deceit, trick, art. See 2 Corinthians 12:16; Luke 20:23;
1 Corinthians 3:19. See Barnes "2 Corinthians 4:2"; See Barnes "2 Corinthians 11:3".
Whereby they lie in wait to deceive. Literally, "Unto the method of
deceit;" that is, in the usual way of deceit. Doddridge, "In every method
of deceit." This is the true idea. The meaning is, that men would
use plausible pretences, and would, if possible, deceive the professed
friends of Christ. Against such we should be on our guard; and
not by their arts should our opinions be formed, but by the word
of God.
{c} "carried about" James 1:6
Verse 15. But speaking the truth in love. Marg., being sincere.
The translation in the text is correct--literally, truthing in love
--\~alhyeuontev\~. Two things are here to be noted:
(1.) The truth is to be spoken--the simple, unvarnished truth. This is
the way to avoid error, and this is the way to preserve others from error.
In opposition to all trick, and art, and cunning, and fraud, and deception,
Christians are to speak the simple truth, and nothing but the truth.
Every statement which they make should be unvarnished truth;
every promise which they make should be true; every representation which
they make of the sentiments of others should be simple truth. Truth is
the representation of things as they are; and there is no virtue that is
more valuable in a Christian than the love of simple truth.
(2.) The second thing is, that the truth should be spoken in love.
There are other ways of speaking truth. It is sometimes spoken in a
harsh, crabbed, sour manner, which does nothing but disgust and offend.
When we state truth to others, it should be with love to their souls,
and with a sincere desire to do them good. When we admonish a brother
of his faults, it should not be in a harsh and unfeeling manner, but
in love. Where a minister pronounces the awful truth of God about
depravity, death, the judgment, and future woe, it should be in love.
It should not be done in a harsh and repulsive manner; it should not be
done as if he rejoiced that men were in danger of hell, or as if he
would like to pass the final sentence; it should not be with indifference,
or in a tone of superiority. And in like manner, if we go
to convince one who is in error, we should approach him in love. We
should not dogmatize, or denounce, or deal out anathemas. Such things
only repel. He has done about half his work in convincing another of
error, who has first convinced him that he LOVES him; and if he does
not do that, he may argue to the hour of his death, and make no
progress in convincing him.
May grow up into him. Into Christ; that is, to the stature of a
complete man in him.
Which is the head. See Barnes "Ephesians 1:22";
See Barnes "1 Corinthians 11:3".
{1} "speaking the truth" "being sincere"
{a} "in love" 2 Corinthians 4:2
{b} "even Christ" Colossians 1:16,19
Verse 16. From whom the whole body. The church, compared with the
human body. The idea is, that as the head in the human frame
conveys vital influences, rigour, motion, etc., to every part of the
body, so Christ is the source of life, and rigour, and energy, and
increase, to the church. The sense is, "The whole human body
is admirably arranged for growth and rigour. Every member and
joint contributes to its healthful and harmonious action. One part
lends rigour and beauty to another, so that the whole is finely
proportioned and admirably sustained. All depend on the head with
reference to the most important functions of life, and all derive
their rigour from that. So it is in the church. It is as well
arranged for growth and rigour as the body is. It is as beautifully
organized in its various members and officers as the body is.
Everything is designed to be in its proper place, and nothing by
the Divine arrangement is wanting, in its organization, to its
perfection. Its officers and its members are, in their places, what
the various parts of the body are with reference to the human
frame. The church depends on Christ, as the head, to sustain,
invigorate, and guide it, as the body is dependant on the head."
See this figure carried out to greater length in 1 Corinthians 12:12-26.
Fitly joined together. The body, whose members are properly
united so as to produce the most beauty and rigour. Each member is in
the best place, and is properly united to the other members. Let any one
read Paley's Natural Theology, or any work on anatomy, and he will find
innumerable instances of the truth of this remark; not only in the
proper adjustment and placing of the members, but in the manner in which
it is united to the other parts of the body. The foot, for instance, is
in its proper place--it should not be where the head or the hand is. The
eye is in its proper place--it should not be in the knee or the heel, The
mouth, the tongue, the teeth, the lungs, the heart, are in their
proper places--no other places would answer the purpose so well.
The brain is in its proper place---anywhere else in the body, it
would be subject to compressions and injuries which would soon
destroy life. And these parts are as admirably united to the other
parts of the body as they axe admirably located. Let any one
examine, for instance, the tendons, nerves, muscles, and bones, by
which the foot is secured to the body, and by which easy and graceful
motion is obtained, and he will be satisfied of the wisdom by
which the body is "joined together." How far the knowledge of
the apostle extended on this point we have not the means of
ascertaining; but all the investigations of anatomists only serve to
give increased beauty and force to the general terms which he uses
here. All that he says here of the human frame is strictly accurate,
and is such language as may be used by an anatomist now.
The word which is here used (\~sunarmologew\~) means, properly, to
sew together; to fit together; to unite; to make one. It is applied
often to musicians, who produce harmony of various parts of
music. Passow. The idea of harmony, or appropriate union, is
that in the word.
And compacted. \~sumbibazomenon\~. Tindal renders this, "knit together in
every joint." The word properly means, to make to come together; to join
or knit together. It means here that the different parts of the body are
united and sustained in this manner.
By that which every joint supplieth. Literally, "through every joint
of supply;" that is, which affords or ministers mutual aid. The word
joint here--\~afh\~--(from \~aptw\~ to fit)--means anything which
binds, fastens, secures; and does not refer to the joint in the sense
in which we commonly use it, as denoting the articulation of the
limbs, or the joining of two or more bones; but rather that which
unites or fastens together the different parts of the frame--the
blood-vessels, cords, tendons, and muscles. The meaning is, that every
such means of connecting one part of the body with another ministers
nourishment, and that thus the body is sustained. One part is dependant
on another; one part derives nourishment from another; and thus all
become mutually useful as contributing to the support and harmony of the
whole. Thus it furnishes an illustration of the connexion in the
members of the church, and of the aid which one can render to
another.
According to the effectual working. Gr., "According to the energy in
the measure of each one part." Tindal, "According to the operation as
every part has its measure." The meaning is, that each part contributes
to the production of the whole result, or labours for this. This is in
proportion to the "measure" of each" part; that is, in proportion to its
power, every part labours to produce the great result, No one is idle;
none is useless. But none are overtaxed or overworked. The support
demanded and furnished by every part is in exact proportion to its
strength. This is a beautiful account of the anatomy of the human frame.
(1.) Nothing is useless. Every part contributes to the general result--
the health, and beauty, and rigour of the system. Not a muscle
is useless; not a nerve, not an artery, not a vein. All are employed,
and all have an important place, and all contribute something to the
health and beauty of the whole. So numerous are the blood-vessels, that
you cannot perforate the skin anywhere without piercing one; so numerous
are the pores of the skin, that a gram of sand will cover thousands of
them; so minute the ramifications of the nerves, that wherever the point
of a needle penetrates, we feel it; and so numerous the absorbents, that
millions of them are employed in taking up the chyme of the food, and
conveying it to the veins. And yet all are employed--all are useful--all
minister life and strength to the whole.
(2.) None are overtaxed. They all work according to the "measure" of
their strength. Nothing is required of the minutest nerve or blood-vessel
which it is not fitted to perform, and it will work on for years without
exhaustion or decay. So of the church. There is no member so obscure and
feeble that he may not contribute something to the welfare of the
whole; and no one is required to labour beyond his strength in
order to secure the great object. Each one in his place, and
labouring as he should there, will contribute to the general strength
and welfare; out of his place--like nerves and arteries out of their
place, and crossing and recrossing others--he will only embarrass
the whole, and disarrange the harmony of the system.
Maketh increase of the body. The body grows in this manner.
Unto the edifying of itself. To building itself up--that is, it grows
up to a complete stature.
In love. In mutual harmony. This refers to the body. The meaning
is, that it seems to be made on the principle of love. There is no jar,
no collision, no disturbance of one part with another. A great number of
parts, composed of different substances, and with different functions--
bones, and nerves, and muscles, and blood-vessels--are united in one,
and live together without collision; and so it should be in the church.
Learn hence,
(1.) that no member of the church need be useless, any more than
a minute nerve or blood-vessel in the body need be useless. No
matter how obscure the individual may be, he may contribute to
the harmony and rigour of the whole.
(2.) Every member of the church should contribute something to the
prosperity of the whole. He should no more be idle and unemployed than
a nerve or a blood-vessel should be in the human system. What would be
the effect if the minutest nerves and arteries of the body should
refuse so perform their office? Languor, disease, and death. So it is
in the church. The obscurest member may do something to destroy the
healthful action of the church, and to make its piety languish and die.
(3.) There should be union in the church. It is made up of materials
which differ much from each other, as the body is made up of bones, and
nerves, and muscles. Yet, in the body these are united; and so it should
be in the church. There need be no more jarring in the church than in
the body; and a jar in the church produces the same effect as would be
produced in the body if the nerves and muscles should resist the action
of each other, or as if one should be out of its place, and impede the
healthful functions of the other.
(4.) Every member in the church should keep his place, just as every
bone, and nerve, and muscle in the human frame should. Every member of
the body should be in its right position; the heart, the lungs, the eye,
the tongue, should occupy their right place; and every nerve in the
system should be laid down just where it is designed to be. If so, all
is well. If not so, all is deformity, or disorder; just as it often is
in the church.
{c} "the whole body fitly" John 15:5
{*} "measure" "according to the due operation"
Verse 17. This I say therefore, and testify in the Lord. I bear
witness in the name of the Lord Jesus, or ministering by his authority.
The object of this is to exhort them to walk worthy of their high
calling, and to adorn the doctrine of the Saviour. With this view,
he reminds them of what they were before they were converted,
and of the manner in which the heathen around them lived.
That ye henceforth walk not. That you do not henceforth live--the
Christian life being often in the Scriptures compared to a journey.
As other Gentiles walk. This shows that probably the mass of
converts in the church at Ephesus were from among the heathen, and
Paul regarded them as Gentile converts. Or it may be that he
here addressed himself more particularly to that portion of the
church, as especially needing his admonition and care.
In the vanity of their mind. In the way of folly, or in mental folly.
What he means by this he specifies in the following verses. The
word "vanity," in the Scriptures, means more than mere emptiness.
It denotes moral wrong, being applied usually to those who worshipped
vain idols, and then those who were alienated from the true God.
Verse 18. Having the understanding darkened. That is, because they
were alienated from the true God, and particularly because of "the
blindness of their hearts." The apostle does not say that this was
a "judicial" darkening of the understanding; or that they might
not have perceived the truth; or that they had no ability to understand
it. He speaks of a simple and well-known fact--a fact that is seen now
as well as then--that the understanding becomes darkened by indulgence
in sin. A man who is intemperate has no just views of the government of
the appetites. A man who is unchaste has no perception of the loveliness
of purity. A man who is avaricious or covetous has no just views of the
beauty of benevolence. A man who indulges in low vices will weaken his
mental powers, and render himself incapable of intellectual effort.
Indulgence in vice destroys the intellect as well as the body, and
unfits a man to appreciate the truth of a proposition in morals, or
in mathematics, or the beauty of a poem, as well as the truth and
beauty of religion. Nothing is more obvious than that indulgence
in sin weakens the mental powers, and renders them unfit for high
intellectual effort. This is seen all over the heathen world now--
in the stolid, stupid mind; the perverted moral sense; the incapacity
for profound or protracted mental effort, as really as it
was among the heathens to whom Paul preached. The missionary
who goes among the heathen has almost to create an intellect
as well as a conscience, before the gospel will make an impression. It is
seen, too, in all the intellect of the bar, the senate, the pulpit, and
the medical profession, that is ruined by intemperance, and in the
intellect of multitudes of young men wasted by licentiousness and
drunkenness. I know that under the influence of ambition and
stimulating drinks the intellect may seem to put forth unnatural
efforts, and to glow with an intensity nowhere else seen; but it
soon burns out--and the wastes of such an intellect become soon
like the hardened scoriae of the volcano, or the cinders of the
over-heated furnace. Learn hence, that if a man wishes to be blessed
with a clear understanding, he should be a good man; he who
wishes a mind well balanced and clear, should fear and love God;
and had Christianity done no other good on earth than to elevate
the intellect of mankind, it would have been the richest blessing
which has ever been vouchsafed to the race. It follows, too, that
as man has debased his understanding by sin, it is needful to make
an exertion to elevate it again; and hence a large part of the efforts
to save men must consist in patient instruction. Hence the necessity of
schools at missionary stations.
Being alienated. See Barnes "Ephesians 2:12".
From the life of God. From a life like that of God, or a life of
which he is the source and author. The meaning is, that they lived a
life which was unlike God, or which he' could not approve. Of the truth
of this, in regard to the heathen every- where, there can be no doubt.
See Barnes "Romans 1:20"; and Romans 1:21-23.
Through the ignorance that is in them. The ignorance of the true God,
and of what constituted virtue. See Barnes "Romans 1:20";
and Romans 1:21-23.
Because of the blindness of their heart. Marg., hardness.
Hardness is a better word. It is a better translation of the Greek; and
it better accords with the design of the apostle. Here the reason is
stated why they lived and acted as they did, and why the
understanding was blinded. It is not that God has enfeebled the
human intellect by a judicial sentence on account of the sin of Adam,
and made it incapable of perceiving the truth; it is not that there is
any deficiency or incapacity of natural powers; it is not that the
truths of religion are so exalted that man has no natural ability to
understand them, for they may be as well understood as any other
truths, See Barnes "1 Corinthians 2:14". The simple reason is,
"the hardness of THE HEART." That is the solution given by an
inspired apostle, and that is enough. A man who has a blind and hard
heart sees no beauty in truth, and feels not its force, and is
insensible to all its appeals. Learn then,
(1.) that men are to blame for the blindness of their understanding.
Whatever proceeds from a wicked heart they are responsible for.
But for mere inferiority of intellect they would not be to blame.
(2.) They are under obligation to repent and love God. If it was required
of them to enlarge their intellects, or create additional faculties of
mind, they could not be bound to do it. But where the whole thing
required is to have a better heart, they may be held responsible.
(3.) The way to elevate the understandings of mankind is to purify the
heart. The approach must be made through the affections. Let the
man feel right towards God, and they will soon think right; let
the heart be pure, and the understanding will be clear.
{a} "darkened" Acts 26:18
{1} "blindness" "hardness"
Verse 19. Who being past feeling. Wholly hardened in sin. There is
a total want of all emotion on moral subjects. This is an accurate
description of the state of a sinner. He has no feeling, no
emotion. He often gives an intellectual assent to the truth, but it
is without emotion of any kind: the heart is insensible as the hard rock.
Have given themselves over. They have done it voluntarily. In
Romans 1:24, it is said that "God gave them up." There is no
inconsistency. Whatever was the agency of God in it, they preferred
it. See Barnes "Romans 1:21".
Unto lasciviousness. See Barnes "Romans 1:24", Romans 1:25-26.
{b} "given themselves" Romans 1:24,25
Verse 20. But ye have not so learned Christ. You have been taught a
different thing by Christ; you have been taught that his religion
requires you to abandon such a coarse of life.
Verse 21. If so be that ye have heard him. If you have listened
attentively to his instructions, and learned the true nature of his
religion. There may be a slight and delicate doubt implied here
whether they had attentively listened to his instructions. Doddridge,
however, renders it, "Seeing ye have heard him."
See Barnes "Ephesians 3:2".
And have been taught by him. By his Spirit, or by the ministers whom
he had appointed.
As the truth is in Jesus. If you have learned the true nature of his
religion as he himself taught it. What the truth was which the Lord
Jesus thought, or what his principles implied, the apostle proceeds to
state in the following verses.
Verse 22. That ye put off. That you lay aside, or renounce. The
manner in which the apostle states these duties renders it not
improbable that there had been some instruction among them of a
contrary character, and that it is possible there had been some
teachers there who had not enforced, as they should have done,
the duties of practical religion.
Concerning the former conversation. The word conversation
here means conduct--as it commonly does in the Bible.
See Barnes "2 Corinthians 1:12". The meaning here is, "With respect to your
former conduct or habits of life, lay aside all that pertained to a
corrupt and fallen nature. You are not to lay everything aside that
formerly pertained to you. Your dress, and manners, and modes of speech
and intercourse, might have been in many respects correct. But everything
that proceeded from sin; every habit, and custom, and mode of speech and
of conduct that, was the result of depravity, is to be laid aside. The
peculiar characteristics of an unconverted man you are to put off, and
are to assume those which are the proper fruits of a renewed heart."
The old man. See Barnes "Romans 6:6".
Which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts. The meaning is,
(1.) that the unrenewed man is not under the direction of reason and
sound sense, but is controlled by his passions and desires.
The word lusts has a more limited signification with us than the
original word. That word we now confine to one class of sensual
appetites; but the original word denotes any passion or propermiry of
the heart. It may include avarice, ambition, the love of pleasure or of
gratification in any way; and the meaning here is, that the heart is by
nature under the control of such desires.
(2.) Those passions are deceitful. They lead us astray. They plunge us
into ruin. All the passions and pleasures of the world are illusive.
They promise more than they perform; and they leave their deluded
votaries to disappointment, and to tears. Nothing is more "deceitful"
than the promised pleasures of this world; and all who yield to them
find at last that they "flatter but to betray."
{c} "concerning" Colossians 3:8,9
{a} "which is corrupt" Romans 6:6
Verse 23. And be renewed. That is, it is necessary that a man who
has been following these should become a new man.
See Barnes "John 3:3", seq. Comp. See Barnes "2 Corinthians 4:16".
The word here used--\~ananeow\~--does not occur elsewhere in the New
Testament; but it has the same meaning as the word used in
2 Corinthians 4:16, and Colossians 3:10. It means to make new, and is
descriptive of the work of regeneration. This was addressed to the
church, and to those whom Paul regarded as Christians; and we may learn
from this,
(1.) That it is necessary that man should be renewed in order to
be saved.
(2.) That it is proper to exhort Christians to be renewed. They need
renovated strength every day.
(3.) That it is a matter of obligation to be renewed. Men are bound
thus to be renovated. And
(4.) that they have sufficient natural ability to change from the
condition of the old to that of the new man, or they could not be
exhorted to it.
In the spirit of your mind. In your temper; your heart; your nature.
{b} "in the spirit" Romans 12:2
Verse 24. And that ye put on the new man. The new man refers to the
renovated nature. This is called, in other places, the "new creature,
or the new creation," See Barnes "2 Corinthians 5:17", and refers
to the condition after the heart is changed. The change is so
great, that there is no impropriety in speaking of one who has
experienced it as "a new man." He has new feelings, principles,
and desires. He has laid aside his old principles and practices,
and, in everything that pertains to moral character, he is new.
His body is indeed the same; the intellectual structure of his mind
the same; but there has been a change in his principles and feelings
which make him, in all the great purposes of life, a new being.
Learn, that regeneration is not a trifling change. It is not a mere
change of relations, or of the outward condition. It is not merely
being brought from the world into the church, and being baptized,
though by the most holy hands; it is much more. None of these
things would make proper the declaration, "he is a new man."
Regeneration by the Spirit of God does.
After God. \~kata yeon\~. In respect to God. The idea is, evidently,
that man is so renewed as to become like God, or the Divine image is
restored to the soul. In the parallel passage in Colossians
Colossians 3:10 the idea is expressed more fully--"renewed in knowledge
after the image of him that created him." Man, by regeneration, is
restored to the lost image of God. Comp. Genesis 1:26.
Is created. A word that is often used to denote the new birth, from
its strong resemblance to the first act of creation. See it explained
See Barnes "2 Corinthians 5:17".
In righteousness. That is, the renewed man is made to resemble God
in righteousness. This proves that man, when he was made, was righteous;
or that righteousness constituted a part of the image of God in which he
was created. The object of the work of redemption is to restore to man
the lost image of God, or to bring him back to the condition in which he
was before he fell.
And true holiness. Marg., as in Greek, holiness of truth--
standing in contrast with "lusts of deceit" (Greek) in
Ephesians 4:22. Holiness properly refers to purity towards God, and
righteousness to integrity towards men; but it is not certain that this
distinction is observed here. The general idea is, that the renovated
man is made an upright and a pious man; and that therefore he should
avoid the vices which are practised by the heathen, and which the
apostle proceeds to specify. This phrase also proves that, when
man was created, he was a holy being.
{c} "in righteousness" Galatians 6:15; Ephesians 2:10
{1} "true holiness" "holiness of truth"
Verse 25. Wherefore putting away lying. It may seem strange that the
apostle should seriously exhort Christians to put away lying,
implying that they were in the habit of indulging in falsehood. But
we are to remember,
(1.) that lying is the universal vice of the heathen world. Among the
ancient heathen, as among the moderns, it was almost universally
practised. It has been remarked by a distinguished jurist who had spent
much time in India, that he would not believe a Hindoo on his oath. The
same testimony is borne, by almost all the missionaries, of the
character of heathens everywhere. No confidence can be placed in their
statements; and, where there is the slightest temptation to falsehood,
they practise it without remorse.
(2.) The Ephesians had been recently converted, and were, to a great
extent, ignorant of the requirements of the gospel. A conscience
has to be created when heathens are converted, and it is long before
they see the evils of many things which appear to us to be palpably wrong.
(3.) The effects of former habits abide long, often, after a man is
converted. He who has been in the habit of profane swearing finds it
difficult to avoid it; and he who has been all his life practising
deception will find himself tempted to practise it still. It was for
reasons such as these, probably, that the apostle exhorted the Ephesians
to put away lying, and to speak the truth only. Nor is the exhortation
now inappropriate to Christians; and there are many classes to whom it
would now be proper--such as the following:
(1.) He who is in the habit of concealing the defects of an article in
trade, or of commending it for more than its real value--
let him put away lying.
(2.) He, or she, who instructs a servant to say that they are not at
home, when they are at home; or that they are sick, when they are not
sick; or that they are engaged, when they are not engaged--
let them put away lying.
(3.) He that is in the habit of giving a colouring to his narratives; of
conveying a false impression by the introduction or the suppression of
circumstances that are important to the right understanding of an
account--let him put away lying.
(4.) He that is at no pains to ascertain the exact truth in regard to
any facts that may affect his neighbour; that catches up flying rumours
without investigating them, and that circulates them as undoubted
truth, though they may seriously affect the character and peace of
another--let him put away lying.
(5.) He that is in the habit of making promises only to disregard them--
let him put away lying. The community is full of falsehoods of that
kind, and they are not all confined to the people of the world.
Nothing is more important in a community than simple truth--and
yet it is to be feared that nothing is more habitually disregarded. No
professing Christian can do any good who has not an unimpeachable
character for integrity and truth--and yet who can lay his hand on his
breast and say before God that he is, in all cases, a man that speaks
the simple and unvarnished TRUTH?
For we are members one of another. We belong to one body--the church
--which is the body of Christ. See Barnes "Romans 5:12". The idea is,
that falsehood tends to loosen the bonds of brotherhood. In the
human body harmony is observed. The eye never deceives the hand, nor
the hand the foot, nor the heart the lungs. The whole move harmoniously
as if the one could put the utmost confidence in the other--and falsehood
in the church is as ruinous to its interests as it would be to the body
if one member was perpetually practising a deception on another.
{d} "with his neighbor" Zechariah 8:16
{e} "are members" Romans 12:5
Verse 26. Be ye angry, and sin not. It has been remarked that the
direction here is conformable to the usage of the Pythagoreans,
who were bound, when there were any differences among them, to
furnish some token of reconciliation before the sun set. Burder, in
Ros.Alt, u. neu. Morgenland, in loc. It is implied here,
(1.) that there may be anger without sin; and
(2.) that there is special danger, in all cases where there is anger,
that it will be accompanied with sin. Anger is a passion too common to
need any description. It is an excitement or agitation of mind, of more or
less violence, produced by the reception of a real or supposed injury,
and attended commonly with a desire or purpose of revenge. The desire of
revenge, however, is not essential to the existence of the passion,
though it is probably always attended with a disposition to express
displeasure, to chide, rebuke, or punish. Comp. Mark 3:5. To a great
extent the sudden excitement on the reception of an injury is involuntary,
and consequently innocent. Anger is excited when a horse kicks us; when
a serpent hisses; when we dash our foot against a stone; and so when a
man raises his hand to strike us. The object or final cause of
implanting this passion in the mind of man, is to rouse him to an
immediate defence of himself when suddenly attacked, and before his
reason would have time to suggest the proper means of defence. It prompts
at once to self-protection; and when that is done its proper office
ceases. If persevered in, it becomes sinful malignity, or revenge
--always wrong. Anger may be excited against a thing as well
as a person; as well against an act as a man. We are suddenly
excited by a wrong thing without any malignancy against the man;
we may wish to rebuke or chide that, without injuring him.
Anger is sinful in the following circumstances:
(1.) When it is excited without any sufficient cause--when we are in no
danger, and do not need it for a protection. We should be safe without it.
(2.) When it transcends the cause, if any cause really exists. All that
is beyond the necessity of immediate self-protection is apart from
its design, and is wrong.
(3.) When it is against the person rather than the offence. The
object is not to injure another; it is to protect ourselves.
(4.) When it is attended with the desire of revenge. That is always
wrong, Romans 12:17,19.
(5.) When it is cherished and heightened by reflection. And
(6.) when there is an unforgiving spirit; a determination to exact the
utmost satisfaction for the injury which has been done. If men were
perfectly holy, that sudden arousing of the mind in danger, or on the
reception of an injury, which would serve to prompt us to save ourselves
from danger, would exist, and would be an important principle of our
nature as it is now, it is violent; excessive; incontrollable;
persevered in--and is almost always wrong. If men were holy, this
excitement of the mind would obey the first injunctions of reason, and
be wholly under its control; as it is now, it seldom obeys reason at
all--and is wholly wrong. Moreover, if all men were holy; if there
were none disposed to do an injury, it would exist only in the form of a
sudden arousing of the mind against immediate danger--which would all
be fight. Now, it is excited not only in view of physical dangers,
but in view of the wrongs done by others--and hence it terminates
on the person, and not the thing, and becomes often wholly evil.
Let not the sun go down. Do not cherish anger. Do not sleep
upon it. Do not harbour a purpose of revenge; do not cherish
ill-will against another. When the sun sets on a man's anger, he
may be sure it is wrong. The meaning of the whole of this verse
then is, "If you be angry, which may be the case, and which may
be unavoidable, see that the sudden excitement does not become
sin. Do not let it overleap its proper bounds; do not cherish it;
do not let it remain in your bosom even to the setting of the
sun. Though the sun be sinking in the west, let not the passion
linger in the bosom, but let his last rays find you always
peaceful and calm.
{f} "not the sun" Ecclesiastes 7:9
Verse 27. Neither give place to the devil. This has respect probably
to the exhortation in the former verse. "Do not yield to the suggestions
and temptations of Satan, who would take every opportunity
to persuade you to cherish unkind and angry feelings, and to keep
up a spirit of resentment among brethren." Many of our feelings,
when we suppose we are merely defending our rights, and securing
what is our own, are produced by the temptations of the devil.
The heart is deceitful; and seldom more deceitful in any case than
when a man is attempting to vindicate himself from injuries done
to his person and reputation. The devil is always busy when we
are angry, and in some way, if possible, will lead us into sin; and
the best way to avoid his wiles is to curb the temper, and restrain
even sudden anger. No man sins by restraining his anger; no
man is certain that he will not who indulges it for a moment.
{a} "place" James 4:7
{*} "place" "advantage"
Verse 28. Let him that stole steal no more. Theft, like lying, was,
and is, almost a universal vice among the heathen. The practice
of pilfering prevails in probably every pagan community, and no
property is safe which is not guarded, or so locked up as to be
inaccessible. Hence as the Christian converts at Ephesus had been
long addicted to it, there was danger that they would fall into it
again; and hence the necessity of special cautions on that head.
We are not to suppose that pilfering was a common vice in the
church; but the cautions on this point proceed on the principle that
where a man has been long in the habit of a particular sin, he is in
great danger of falling into it again. Hence we caution the man who
has been intemperate against the least indulgence in intoxicating
drinks; we exhort him not to touch that which would be so strong
a temptation to him. The object of the apostle was to show that
the gospel requires holy living in all its friends, and to entreat
Christians at Ephesus in a special manner to avoid the vices of the
surrounding heathen.
But rather let him labour. Let him seek the means of living in an
honest manner, by his own industry, rather than by wronging others.
Working with his hands. Pursuing some honest employment. Paul was
not ashamed to labour with "his own hands," 1 Corinthians 4:12; and no man is
dishonoured by labour. God made man for toil, Genesis 2:15; and
employment is essential to the happiness of the race. No man, who is able
to support himself, has a right to depend on others.
See Barnes "Romans 12:11".
That he may have to give to him that needeth. Marg., distribute.
Not merely that he may have the means of support, but that he
may have it in his power to aid others. The reason and propriety
of this is obvious. The human race is one great brotherhood. A
considerable part cannot labour to support themselves. They are
too old, or too young; or they are crippled or feeble, or laid on
beds of sickness. If others do not divide with them the avails of
their labours, they will perish. We are required to labour in order
that we may have the privilege of contributing to their comfort.
Learn from this verse,
(1.) that every Christian should have some calling, business, or
profession, by which he may support himself. The Saviour was a
carpenter; Paul a tentmaker; and no man is disgraced by being able to
build a house, or to construct a tent.
(2.) Christianity promotes industry. It is rare that an idle man becomes
a Christian; but if he does, religion makes him industrious just in
proportion as it has influence over his mind. To talk of a
lazy Christian is about the same as to talk of burning water or
freezing fire.
(3.) Christians should have some useful and honest employment.
They should work "that which is good." They should not pursue an
employment which will necessarily injure others. No man has a right to
place a nuisance under the window of his neighbour; nor has he any
more right to pursue an employment that shall lead his neighbour into
sin, or ruin him. An honest employment benefits everybody. A good farmer
is a benefit to his neighbourhood and country; and a good shoemaker,
blacksmith, weaver, cabinet-maker, watchmaker, machinist, is a blessing
to the community. He injures no one; he benefits all. How is it with the
distiller, and the vender of alcoholic drinks? He benefits no one; he
injures everybody. Every quart of intoxicating drink that is taken from
his house does evil somewhere--evil, and only evil, and that continually.
No one is made better, or richer; no one is made more moral or
industrious; no one is helped on the way to heaven by it. Thousands are
helped on the way to hell by it, who are already in the path; and
thousands are induced to walk in the way to death who, but for that
distillery, store, or tavern, might have walked in the way to heaven.
Is this, then, "working that WHICH IS GOOD ?" Would Paul have done it?
Would Jesus do it? Strange, that by a professing Christian it was ever
done! See a striking instance of the way in which the Ephesian
Christians acted when they were first converted, in Acts 19:19.
See Barnes "Acts 19:19".
(4.) The main business of a Christian is not to make money, and to
become rich. It is that he may have the means of benefiting others.
Beyond what he needs for himself, his poor, and sick, and aged, and
afflicted brother and friend has a claim on his earnings--and they
should be liberally bestowed.
(5.) We should labour in order that we may have the means of doing
good to others. It should be just as much a matter of plan and purpose
to do this, as it is to labour in order to buy a goat, or to build a
house, or to live comfortably, or to have the means of a decent burial.
Yet how few are those who have any such end in view, or who pursue their
daily toil definitely, that they may have something to give away.
The world will be soon converted when all Christians make that the
purpose See Barnes "Romans 12:11".
{b} "labour" Acts 20:35
{1} "give" "distribute"
Verse 29. Let no corrupt communication proceed.
See Barnes "1 Corinthians 15:33". The word rendered "corrupt" \~saprov\~
means bad, decayed, rotten, and is applied to putrid vegetables or
animal substances. Then it is applied to a tree is of a useless
character, that produces no good fruit, Matthew 7:17. Then it is used in
a moral sense, as our word "corrupt" is, to denote that which is
depraved, evil, contaminating, and may denote here anything that is
obscene, offensive, or that tends to corrupt others. The importance of
this admonition will be appreciated when it is remembered,
(1.) that such obscene and filthy conversation prevailed everywhere,
and does still among the heathen. So general is this, that at almost
every missionary station it has been found that the common conversation
is so corrupt and defiling, that missionaries have felt it necessary to
send their children home to be educated, in order to secure them from
the contaminating influence of those around them.
(2.) Those who have had the misfortune to be familiar with the common
conversation of the lower classes in any community, and especially with
the conversation of young men, will see the importance of this
admonition. Scarcely anything can be conceived more corrupt or
corrupting than that which often prevails among young men--and even
young men in the academies and colleges of this land.
(3.) Its importance will be seen from the influence of such corrupt
communications. "The passage of an impure thought through the mind
leaves pollution behind it!" the expression of such a thought
deepens the pollution on the soul, and corrupts others. It is like
retaining an offensive carcase above ground, to pollute the air, and to
diffuse pestilence and death, which should at once be buried out of
sight. A Christian should be pure in his conversation. His Master was
pure. His God is pure. The heaven to which he goes is pure. The
religion which he professes is pure. NEVER should he indulge himself in
an obscene allusion; never should retail anecdotes of all obscene
character, or smile when they are retailed by others. Never should he
indulge in a jest having a double meaning; never should he listen to a
song of this character. If those with whom he associates have not
sufficient respect for themselves and him to abstain from such corrupt
and corrupting allusions, he should at once leave them.
But that which is good to the use of edifying. Marg.,
to edify profitably. Greek, "to useful edification ;" that is,
adapted to instruct, counsel, and comfort others; to promote their
intelligence and purity. Speech is an invaluable gift; a blessing of
inestimable worth. We may so speak as always to do good to others. We
may give them some information which they have not; impart some
consolation which they need; elicit some truth by friendly discussion
which we did not know before, or recall by friendly admonition those who
are in danger of going astray. He who talks for the mere sake of talking
will say many foolish things; he whose great aim in life is to benefit
others will not be likely to say that which he will have occasion to
regret. Matthew 12:36; Ecclesiastes 5:2; Proverbs 10:19; James 1:19.
{c} "communication" Colossians 4:6
{*} "edifying" "edification"
{+} "grace" "benefit"
Verse 30. And grieve not the holy Spirit of God. This is addressed
to Christians, and it proves that it is possible for them to grieve
the Holy Spirit. The word here used--\~lupeite\~, means, properly, to
afflict with sorrow; to make sad or sorrowful. It is rendered, to
make sorry, or sorrowful, Matthew 14:9; 17:23; 18:31; 19:22; 26:22,37
Mark 14:19; John 16:20; 2 Corinthians 2:2; 6:10; 7:8,9,11; 1 Thessalonians 4:13. It is rendered
grieved, Mark 10:22; John 21:17; Romans 14:15; 2 Corinthians 2:4,5; Ephesians 4:30; and
once, "in heaviness," 1 Peter 1:6. The verb does not elsewhere
occur in the New Testament. The common meaning is, to treat
others so as to cause grief. We are not to suppose that the Holy
Spirit literally endures grief, or pain, at the conduct of men. The
language is such as is fitted to describe what men endure, and is
applied to him to denote that kind of conduct which is fitted to
cause grief; and the meaning here is, "do not pursue such a course
as is fitted, in its own nature, to pain the benevolent heart of a holy
being. Do not act towards the Holy Spirit in a manner which
would produce pain in the bosom of a friend who loves you. There
is a course of conduct which will drive that Spirit from the mind
as if he were grieved and pained--as a course of ingratitude and
sin would pain the heart of an earthly friend, and cause him to
leave you." If asked what that conduct is, we may reply,
(1.) Open and gross sins. They are particularly referred to here; and
the meaning of Paul is, that theft, falsehood, anger, and kindred
vices, would grieve the Holy Spirit, and cause him to depart.
(2.) Anger, in all its forms. Nothing is more fitted to drive away all
serious and tender impressions from the mind than the indulgence
of anger.
(3.) Licentious thoughts and desires. The Spirit of God is pure, and he
dwells not in a soul that is filled with corrupt imaginings.
(4.) Ingratitude. We feel ingratitude more than almost anything else;
and why should we suppose that the Holy Spirit would not feel it also?
(5.) Neglect. The Spirit of God is grieved by that. Often he prompts us
to pray; he disposes the mind to seriousness, to the perusal of the
Bible, to tenderness and penitence. We neglect those favoured moments of
our piety, and lose those happy seasons for becoming like God.
(6.) Resistance. Christians often resist the Holy Ghost. He would lead
them to be dead to the world; yet they drive on their plans of gain. He
would teach them the folly of fashion and vanity; yet they deck
themselves in the gayest apparel. He would keep them from the
splendid party, the theatre, and the ballroom; yet they go there.
All that is needful for a Christian to do, in order to be eminent in
piety, is to yield to the gentle influences which would draw him to
prayer and to heaven.
Whereby ye are sealed. See Barnes "2 Corinthians 1:22".
Unto the day of redemption. See Barnes "Ephesians 1:14".
{a} "grieve not" Isaiah 63:10
{b} "unto the day" Ephesians 1:13,14
Verse 31. Let all bitterness. See Barnes "Ephesians 4:2".
And wrath. The word here does not differ essentially from anger.
Anger See Barnes "Ephesians 4:26". All cherished, unreasonable anger.
And clamour. Noise, disorder, high words; such as men use in
a brawl, or when they are excited. Christians are to be calm and
serious. Harsh contentions and strifes; hoarse brawls and tumults,
are to be unknown among them.
And evil speaking. Slander, backbiting, angry expressions,
tale-bearing, reproaches, etc.
With all malice. Rather, "with all evil"--\~kakia\~. Every kind and
sort of evil is to be put away, and you are to manifest only that which
is good.
{c} "and wrath" Colossians 3:8
{d} "be put away" Titus 3:2
Verse 32. And be ye kind one to another. Benignant, mild, courteous,
polite--\~crhstoi\~. 1 Peter 3:8. Christianity produces true
courteousness, or politeness. It does not make one rough, crabbed, sour;
nor does it dispose its followers to violate the proper rules of social
intercourse. The secret of true politeness is benevolence, or a
desire to make others happy; and a Christian should be the most
polite of men. There is no religion in a sour, misanthropic temper; none
in rudeness, stiffness, and repulsiveness; none in violating the
rules of good-breeding. There is a hollow-hearted politeness, indeed,
which the Christian is not to aim at or copy. His politeness is to be
based on kindness, Colossians 3:12. His courtesy is to be the
result of love, good-will, and a desire of the happiness of all others;
and this will prompt to the kind of conduct that will render his
intercourse with others agreeable and profitable.
Tenderhearted. Having a heart disposed to pity and compassion, and
especially disposed to show kindness to the faults of erring brethren,
for so the connexion demands.
Forgiving one another. See Barnes "Matthew 6:12".
As God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you. As God, on account of
what Christ has suffered and done, has pardoned you. He has done it
(1.) freely--without merit on our part--when we were confessedly in the
wrong.
(2.) Fully; he has forgiven every offence.
(3.) Liberally; he has forgiven many offences, for our sins have
been innumerable. This is to be the rule which we are to observe in
forgiving others. We are to do it freely, fully, liberally. The
forgiveness is to be entire, cordial, constant. We are not to
rake up old offences, and charge them again upon them;
we are to treat them as though they had not offended, for so God
treats us. Learn,
(1.) that the forgiveness of an offending brother is a DUTY which we are
not at liberty to neglect.
(2.) The peace and happiness of the church depend on it. All are liable
to offend their brethren, as all are liable to offend God; all need
forgiveness of one another, as we all need it of God.
(3.) There is no danger of carrying it too far. Let the rule be
observed--"As God has forgiven you, so do you forgive others."
Let a man recollect his own sins and follies; let him look over his life,
and see how often he has offended God; let him remember that all
has been forgiven; and then, fresh with this feeling, let him go and meet
an offending brother, and say, "My brother, I forgive you. I do
it frankly, fully, wholly. So Christ has forgiven me; so I forgive
you. The offence shall be no more remembered. It shall not be
referred to in our intercourse to harrow up your feelings; it shall
not diminish my love for you; it shall not prevent my uniting with
you in doing good. Christ treats me, a poor sinner, as a friend;
and so I will treat you."
{e} "one another" Mark 11:25,26
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