Ephesians 4

Chapter 4 begins, in the NIV, "As a prisoner of the Lord then..." I guess I didn't come away from chapter 3 thinking "OK Now that we know Paul is a prisoner of the Lord." As I look back over chapter 3 I see that it did say, "3:1 For this reason I, Paul, the prisoner of Jesus Christ for the sake of you Gentiles -" and "3:7 I became a servant of this gospel..." and "3:14 For this reason I kneel before the Father..."



So now in light of all that, the beginning of Chapter 4 makes a lot more sense.

"Live a life worthy of the calling"?

Wait! Is slavery or prisonership a calling?

Well in chapter 1 Paul has outlined that we were called by God and enjoy many blessings from this calling. He also outlined in chapter 2 that Jews and Gentiles come to God in the same way neither having a leg up on the other. We all stand on equal ground as God's people. Then in chapter 3 Paul tells about the kind of relationship we have with God. We are prisoners and servants of God, but we also should approach God with freedom and confidence understanding how immeasurably great his love is for us. Maybe "live a life worthy of the calling" makes more sense inlight of that.
I believe that the remainder of the letter details what a life "worthy of the calling" looks like.

Make a list of characteristics through the remainder of the letter.

3-6 speaks of unity
7-11 speak of diversity
Why are these 2 concepts discussed together?
How do 12-16 further the idea?
17-24
What holds the position of priority for the people in 17-19 as opposed to those in 20-24.

Ephesians 3

1-6

Paul again establishes the idea that the current Apostles and Prophets have new revelation from God. What is that new revelation?

7-13

Paul says that he is the Apostle, or "the one sent", to the Gentiles (non-Jews). His job is to preach the unsearchable riches of Christ and that this is available to all, Jew and Gentile alike.

What does verse 10 mean?

Verse 12 establishes the tone for our relationship with God, since it is not based on pleasing God with our works.

14-21

It is difficult for us to give up our way of giving out and receiving love. We give love to those who earn or deserve love and we with hold love from those who have not earned it. Our love is often shallow waxing and waning as we expereince the waxing and waning love of those around us. Our acceptance by others can be an unstable and stormy ocean, deep acceptance one moment and utter rejection the next. God's love IS NOT like that. It does not wax and wane. It is steady and constant.

Read 14-21. Is this how you experience God's love? Are you trying to impress God with your works? Are you drowning in guilt that your works are not impressive enough? If so why?

We may feel like we have to earn the love of people in our life. Should we ditch that point of view altogether or does life demand two different kinds of love?