Otis Q. Sellers - SEED & BREAD - Number 061

SEED & BREAD

Number 61

EPHESIANS CHAPTER FOUR

THE RESULTANT VERSION - TRUE TO THE GREEK AND TRUE TO THE TRUTH

I am admonishing you, therefore, I, the bound one in the Lord, to order your behavior in a manner worthy of the position in which you have been placed,
With all humility and meekness, with patience, bearing with one another in love,
Giving diligence to safeguard the unity of the Spirit in the uniting bond of peace:
One body and one Spirit, even as you were placed also in one expectation of your position;
One Lord, one faith, one identification,
One God and Father of all, Who is over all, and through all, and in all.
Now to each one of us was given the grace in accord with the measure of the gratuity of the Christ.
For this reason He is saying: "Reascending on high, He captures captivity, and gives gifts to mankind."
Now this, "He reascended," what can it mean except that He first descended also into the lower parts, that is, the earth?
He Who descended is the same Who reascended also, up over all of the heavens, in order to be filling all these.
And this same One indeed constitutes the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers ,
With a view to the proper outfitting of the saints, for the work of dispensing, for the building up of the body of Christ,
Unto the end that we should all attain to the unity of the faith, and the realization of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the full stature of the complement of the Christ,
That we may no longer be minors, surging hither and thither and being carried about by every wind of teaching, according to men’s cleverness, with a view to the methodizing of the error.
But, being true, in love we should be making all grow up into Him Who is the Head, even Christ,
Out of Whom the entire body, being joined closely together and united together through every joint of supply, in accord with the operation of each single part, is making for the growth of the body, for the upbuilding of itself in love.
This, therefore, I am saying and attesting in the Lord that no longer are you to order your behavior as the nations order their behavior, in the futility of their mind,
Being those who have had their understanding darkened, having been alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the callousness of their hearts,
Who, being past feeling, in greed give themselves up with wantonness to all uncleanness as a lifestyle.
You, however, have not thus learned the Christ;
Since, surely, Him you hear, and by Him were taught, even as the truth is in Jesus,
To strip off from you, as regards your former manner of life, the old man, which is corrupted in accord with its seductive desires,
And be rejuvenated in the spirit of your mind,
And to put on the new man which, in accord with God, is in truth being created in righteousness and loving-kindness.
Wherefore, putting away lying, let each be speaking truth with his fellow-man, seeing that we are members of one another.
If you are angry, beware of sinning. Do not let the sun go down on your wrath,
And do not leave any room for the adversary.
Let him who is stealing, steal no more; but rather let him be toiling, working with his hands that which is good, that he may have to share with one who has need.
Let no putrid word at all be going forth out of your mouth, but whatever word may be good toward needful edification, that it may be giving grace to those hearing.
And do not be grieving the Holy Spirit of God in which you are sealed for the day of redemption.
Let all bitterness and fury and anger and clamor and slanderous speech be taken away from you with all malice;
And become kind to one another, tenderly compassionate, dealing graciously with one another, even as God also in Christ deals graciously with you.

THE RESULTANT VERSION - TRUE TO THE GREEK AND TRUE TO THE TRUTH

VERSE 1. I am admonishing you, therefore, I, the bound one in the Lord, to order your behavior in a manner worthy of the position[A] in which you have been placed,[B]

This is klEsis, which means a position.

This is kaleO, the verb from which klEsis is derived. It means to position, to name, to designate. To invite, or summon is a secondary meaning. These are believers in the Lord Jesus Christ, positioned as individuals in the dispensation of the grace of God. Face up to the fact that this is a very difficult position.

VERSE 2. With all humility[A] and meekness, with patience, bearing with one another in love,

See James 4:6. We ascribe to God credit for all that we may be or do.

VERSE 3. Giving diligence to safeguard the unity[A] of the Spirit in the uniting bond of peace:

We do not create this unity of the Spirit. We are asked to safeguard it.

VERSE 4. One[A] body[B] and one Spirit,[C] even as you were placed[D] also in one expectation of your position;

Paul now declares the seven great principles in which all saints of all callings meet.

This is sOma, which basically means substance or essence. This is the material out of which a glorious outcalling will be constituted. There never has been and there never will be but one substance that God has given to men. He gives them of what Christ is.

This is God’s Holy Spirit, the One Who came upon the soldiers of Saul (1 Sam. 19:20), and the 120 at Pentecost (Acts 2).

The one common hope held out to all men at all times by the Word is that they can be alive and upon the earth in the day when God governs. There is no other hope (Psa. 37:22).

VERSE 5. One Lord,[A] one faith,[B] one identification,[C]

This is the Jehovah of the O.T., the Lord Jesus Christ of the N.T.

The "one faith’ is that in which a man takes God at His Word and responds accordingly. All men of faith meet on this principle. It now centers in the record God has given of His Son.

I dare here to translate baptisma. This word speaks of an identification, one that involves a merging, includes a commitment, and establishes a relationship. Does the reader have this identification in relationship to Christ? The word baptisma is also applied to a water ritual, but this is a secondary and derived meaning which is not in the picture here.

VERSE 6. One God and Father of all,[A] Who is over all, and through all, and in all.

Every member of God’s family at all times and under all dispensations. And while we are a unique company of believers, we are not unique in regard to these seven points of unity.

VERSE 7. Now to each one[A] of us[B] was[C] given the grace[D] in accord with the measure of the gratuity of the Christ.

At this point Paul looks back and makes known to these believers the divine conditions and arrangements that characterized and operated in the Acts period.

We must go forward to verse eleven to find out to whom this plural pronoun applies. It applies to the God-appointed and qualified apostles, prophets, evangelists, shepherds and teachers. For the sake of brevity, Paul omits thirteen other appointments.

EdothE is the aorist tense and should be rendered was, not is.

This grace was everything needed to fully and properly perform the functions of the position given to them. If they could neither read nor write, and they needed to do so, they were given this ability.

VERSE 8. For this reason[A] He is saying: "Reascending on high, He captures captivity,[B] and gives gifts to mankind."

Paul shows that the unusual gifts of the Acts period were in harmony with O. T. declarations.

He took those who were the captives of Satan and made them His own captives. We are not free. We are the bound ones of Christ Jesus.

VERSE 9. Now this, "He reascended," what can it mean except that He first descended also into the lower parts, that is, the earth?[A]

This is the genitive of apposition. "Lower parts" is defined by "the earth."

VERSE 10. He Who descended is the same Who reascended also, up over all of the heavens,[A] in order to be filling[B] all these.[C]

If "heavens" here means places, then He is not in any heaven, and this would contradict Luke 24:51. These are heavenly beings. He ascended over and above all these.

The best place to fill anything is from above.

This is ta panta, which means "all these," and points back to "the heavens."

VERSE 11. And this same One indeed constitutes[A] the apostles,[B] the prophets,[C] the evangelists,[D] the shepherds[E] and teachers,[F]

When didomi is used of an office or position, it signifies "to constitute."

The commissioned ones, the most important office of the Acts period.

A prophet is one who speaks the Word of God on any subject. There are no prophets today. To quote Scripture on any subject is not prophesying. Holy men of old spake as they were moved by God. They did not simply repeat or expound Holy Writ as we do today.

Men who spoke the evangel or gospel by inspiration.

The Gk. is poimEn, translated in K J V "shepherd" seventeen times, and "pastor" one time.

The instruction put forth by those constituted "teachers" in the Acts period came to them by divine inspiration. It was divine truth from God.

VERSE 12. With a view to the proper outfitting[A] of the saints, for the work of dispensing,[B] for the building up of the body of Christ,[C]

The Gk. is katartismos, which means to be equipped along certain lines. This is why the gifts were given.

The Gk. is diakonias, from which we get the word "deacon."

The essence or substance (body) of Christ was built up on earth by the gifts given to men.

VERSE 13. Unto the end[A] that we should all attain to the unity of the faith, and the realization of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the full stature of the complement of the Christ,

The Gk. is mechri, which speaks of the end in view when God gave gifts to men.

VERSE 14. That we[A] may no longer be minors, surging hither and thither and being carried about by every wind of teaching, according to men’s cleverness, with a view to the methodizing[B] of the error.

This refers to the entire outcalled company that will function so perfectly and gloriously in the day when God governs.

The Gk. here is methodeia.

VERSE 15. But, being true, in love we should be making all grow up into Him[A] Who is the Head, even Christ,

This is not the way it is today, but we have God’s Word that this will be a future reality.

VERSE 16. Out of Whom[A] the entire body, being joined closely together and united together through every joint of supply, in accord with the operation of each single part, is making for the growth of the body, for the upbuilding of itself in love.

He gives of Himself so that the outcalled ones may become what He is.

VERSE 17. This, therefore, I am saying and attesting in the Lord that no longer are you to order your behavior as the nations[A] order their behavior, in the futility of their mind,

The word "other" here in the K J V is an unwarranted addition to God’s Word.

VERSE 18. Being those who have had their understanding darkened, having been alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the callousness of their hearts,

VERSE 19. Who, being past feeling, in greed give themselves up with wantonness to all uncleanness as a lifestyle.

VERSE 20. You, however, have not thus learned the Christ;

VERSE 21. Since, surely, Him you hear, and by Him were taught, even as the truth is in Jesus,

VERSE 22. To strip off from you, as regards your former manner of life, the old man,[A] which is corrupted in accord with its seductive desires,

Paul uses figurative language here which we should not change into literal.

VERSE 23. And be rejuvenated in the spirit of your mind,

VERSE 24. And to put on the new man which, in accord with God, is in truth being created in righteousness and loving-kindness.

VERSE 25. Wherefore, putting away lying, let each be speaking truth with his fellow-man, seeing that we are members of one another.

VERSE 26. If you are angry, beware of sinning. Do not let the sun go down on your wrath,

VERSE 27. And do not leave any room for the adversary.

VERSE 28. Let him who is stealing, steal no more;[A] but rather let him be toiling, working with his hands that which is good, that he may have to share with one who has need.

This admonition, along with that of verse 25 indicates that Paul was not writing to the beloved friends spoken of in Acts 20:32-38.

VERSE 29. Let no putrid[A] word at all be going forth out of your mouth, but whatever word may be good toward needful edification, that it may be giving grace to those hearing.

The Gk. is sapros which means rotten, diseased, bad, foul.

VERSE 30. And do not be grieving the Holy Spirit of God in which you are sealed[A] for the day of redemption.

The believer has been sealed, a single past action that continues effectively until the goal is reached.

VERSE 31. Let all bitterness[A] and fury and anger and clamor and slanderous speech be taken away from you with all malice;

A list of the six most common sins, beloved by many, that the Spirit of God stands ready to take away from us if we will only let them go.

VERSE 32. And become kind to one another, tenderly compassionate, dealing graciously[A] with one another, even as God also in Christ deals graciously with you.

This is one of the most important passages to be found in Paul’s final epistles. It declares that God’s present method of dealing is gracious. Yet, this great and all-important truth is completely covered and lost by the mistranslation in the K J V. The common word for "forgive" does not appear in this passage. The Gk. is charizomai, from the word charis (grace) which means to bestow a benefit on one who deserves punishment, i. e. to deal graciously. Paul could not have said this when he wrote to the Corinthians, in view of 1 Cor. 11:30.

INDEX

Issue no. 61