Epistle to the Ephesians Identity, Intimacy, and Influence
Ephesians 4:14-19
Week 10
Rob Covell
Introduction – In this Session, we will explore Ephesians 4:14-19 and continue to follow Paul’s transition from the earlier portion of this letter that focused on building up the Church regarding her identity, authority and unity in Christ, to the exhortation section of the Epistle to the Ephesians that began in Ephesians 4 and continues all the way through to Ephesians 6.
Paul truly displays the concern and love of a tender Apostle and Spiritual Father to this Church that he planted 12 years earlier. We can see this by the structure of this letter. He begins by speaking life into them, praying for them twice and encouraging them to pursue the experiential love of God that produces identity and authority in their lives. As Paul ends the first section of the letter in Ephesians 3, he moves his hearers to respond by living lives that are aligned with the truths that were presented to them in the first section.
This is because we cannot be successful in our walks with Jesus unless we have confidence in the love of Jesus for us, the experiential knowledge of His love, and live from our identity as sons and daughters of God through Christ. Then we will can put off the old nature and lives from the new creation we are in Christ. Much of spiritual our immaturity and sinful indulgences flow from ignorance of the love of God in Christ and our not hearing and responding to the Holy Spirit.
Ephesians 4:14
a) No longer infants – Greek – nēpios – an infant, little child, metaph. childish, untaught, unskilled – Paul explains to the Ephesian Church that the purpose of the 5-Fold Church Government was for building up each individual member of the Body of Christ so that we attain spiritual maturity. The express purpose for all Christians to engage the discipleship process, join themselves to a local church, and build relationships with leaders, is so that we would be unmovable in our faith and not be influenced by false doctrines by false teachers.
b) There were 2 groups operating in the Apostolic Church Era that were bringing false teachings about Jesus Christ. The first group was the Judaizers that Paul addressed in Ephesians 2 and Galatians. The second group were the Gnostics, who were addressed by John in 1 John, who put forth libertine doctrines that denied the incarnation of Christ, and promoted immorality on the basis that the spirit of man was good and the body was corrupted and beyond redemption; therefore, a lifestyle of sin was acceptable based on that premise. It is one of the primary motives of the enemy to attack the collective Church with a religious spirit, or the deceiving spirit of false teachers, who serve themselves and not God.
c) In Revelation 2:1-7, it seems that the Ephesian Church did a good job in protecting their community from the influence of false apostles and teachers, but
in that struggle to maintain good doctrine they left their first love, Jesus Christ. When communities of believers devote themselves purely to the Word, the tendency is to deny the supernatural or experiential knowledge of God and lose their dynamic relationship with God as He manifests His presence.
Ephesians 4:15
a) The answer for false teaching and the attack of the religious spirit is speaking the truth in love. Greek – agapē – unconditional love and affection that seeks, and contends for the best, for the object of that love. So much of Christian correction comes in the form of argument and not in a spirit of love, mercy, and patience for those who are in error, or who are not believing truth about Jesus Christ.
b) Teaching that is seasoned with love, becomes the onramp for the discipleship process and journey that develops and produces spiritual maturity in our lives and in our churches.
c) We must always see that Christ is the Head, and all the members of the Body of Christ should be aligned to the will and purpose of Christ, who is the Head.
Ephesians 4:16
a) Paul repeatedly uses the typology of the human body to communicate that as Christians who are aligned with Christ, the Head, we will be unified and working together synergistically, to accomplish the will of Christ through us, both individually and corporately. Paul presents this typology in Romans, 1 Corinthians, Ephesians, and Colossians.
b) Notice that each member of the Body of Christ has a function that is unique to them. A healthy Body/Church is one that is working together. When we neglect our calls in Christ and isolate ourselves from the Church, we deprive one another of the gifts and graces that God gave us. Hebrews 10:24-25 – And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.
Ephesians 4:17-18
a) At this point in the Epistle to the Ephesians, the Holy Spirit moves Paul to point the Ephesians to consider their high calling as deeply loved sons and daughters of God who were shown mercy by the blood of Christ, members of the Body of Christ, who have been spiritually blessed in every way, and to live in a way that honors these truths. To live contrary is to deny our identities in Christ, and not participate in New Creation life that comes from the Holy Spirit.
b) Paul describes the condition of those who are not in covenant with Christ and warns God’s sons and daughters align with Him. Let’s look at the spiritual condition of those who are not enlightened in the knowledge of Messiah.
c) Futility in thinking – Greek – mataiotēs nous – what is devoid of truth and appropriateness – the mind, comprising alike the faculties of perceiving and understanding and those of feeling, judging, determining – As Christians we have access to the mind of Christ (1 Corinthians 2:16). We can know His desires for us, the way He feels about things and what He likes. We know His thoughts through the Scriptures and through the Holy Spirit. We have a tremendous opportunity to operate in godly thoughts and apply His solutions and ways to our lives.
d) Darkened in their understanding – Greek – skotoō (skatao) – to darken, cover with darkness, metaph. to darken or blind the mind – There is no enlightened or illuminated thinking outside of the mind of God.
e) People are separated from the life of God by hardness in the heart. The inability of the heart to be moved by the conscience produces ignorance that keeps people from knowing the Lord. This is a terrifying condition of the soul that should birth the deepest most heartfelt intercession for the people around us who do not know the ways of God. There should be no judgment projected toward the world, but tear-filled intercession of love and each one of us becoming ministers of reconciliation.
Ephesians 4:19
a) The fruit of nations that have abandoned the knowledge of God produces mass sensuality and immorality, that manifests in their culture, with a desire for more. In Ephesians 4:20, it says that this is not the path or the “way” we learned when we were taught about Jesus Christ.
b) As the Beloved of God, we have 2 responses; 1- Repent for any area of our lives that are not aligned with the way of Christ. 2 – Re-image Christ in our lives and engage our culture so that we might preserve it through the message of Jesus Christ, and through our influence on the culture as the catalyst which reforms it.
Prayer Activation
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