“Unity in the Body of Christ”

An Exegetical Paper on Ephesians 4:1-6

Main Idea and Outline
Ephesians 4: 1-6 Paul urges the church in Ephesus to live according to what God has called them to and to keep the unity of the Spirit. I. Paul reminds the church that they should live in unity according to God’s calling (4:1-3) A. Live a life worthy of the calling you have received (v.1) B. Be humble, gentle, patient, and love everyone (v.2) C. Keep the unity of the Spirit through peace (v. 3) II. Paul explains that unity comes from spiritual oneness (4:4-6) A. There is only one body and one spirit (v.4) B. There is one Lord, one faith, one baptism (v.5) C. There is one God and …show more content…

The ‘you’ in this verse is plural because Paul is referring to the believers in Ephesus as a whole and not just to one person. Paul is also only speaking to the saints in Ephesus and not to unbelievers. The word ‘you’ is used three different times in verses 1-5 all pointing to the church and their calling. In verses 2-3 Paul uses all imperative verbs (be and make) which shows that he is not suggesting that the believers in Ephesus do these qualities he lists, but he commands them to because they are essential to their church. Paul lists four qualities of how their lives should reflect their calling in verse 2. First he states that the believers should be completely humble. The word Paul uses here for humble actually translates to “lowliness of mind”. This refers to, “the humble recognition of the worth and value of other people, the humble mind which was in Christ and led him to empty himself and become a servant” (Stott 148). The next word Paul lists is gentle; some translations have the word ‘meek’. Gentle does not correspond with being weak or shy, but it means to have strength that is under control. Gentleness means to serve others and be a strong leader at the same time. Paul specifically said be completely humble AND gentle because these two qualities go together (O’Brien 277). Jesus Christ was both humble and gentle and not one or the other so this is how the church should be also. The third quality Paul lists is patience.