Ephesians 3

Study Guide 143: Ephesians 3:1-5:2 ONE BODY, ONE FAMILY Overview Ephesians gives us three images which help us think about the church. Two of these images are brought into focus in the midsection of Ephesians. The three images that are intended to give us a vision of who we are as Christ’ s church are those of a body, a family, and a holy temple. The three images share a common emphasis. Each reminds us again and again that we are one with our brothers and sisters, even as we are one with Christ. But each of the images also has its own distinctive emphasis. The biblical picture of the church as a body reminds us that we are called to a life of good works. Even as our own bodies act to carry out the intentions of our minds, so the body of Christ acts on earth to carry out the intentions of Jesus, our living Head. The biblical picture of the church as a family reminds us that we are called to a life of love. As the human family is the context for growth and intimacy, so the family of God is a context in which God’ s love is expressed to welcome each other and to help each other grow. The biblical picture of the church as a temple reminds us that we are called to a life of holiness. As a temple reminds us of the worship of God, our calling as a holy temple is to bring God praise and honor and glory.

Commentary The New Testament gives us three vivid pictures of what the church is. Each is found in Ephesians. Each differs from other biblical illustrations that describe the church. These show us not what the church is like, but what the church is. Of course, we know that the church is people. Not organizations or buildings or programs, but people. The Greek word ecclesia means “ congregation,” and more specifically a “ called-out congregation.” Those who have responded to God’ s invitation in Christ are called out from humanity to fulfill all of mankind’ s ancient dreams in a vital, new community. Each of us responds to that invitation individually, but once we respond, we are part of a great company. We are suddenly members of a new community, linked intimately to other men and women who have joined their lives to Jesus. It is important for us to realize that now our identity is to be found not in isolation but in and through the community of Christ’ s church. We grow in our capacity to live as God’ s persons within this fellowship. So it is vital to learn what the church is. Discovering the nature of the church and learning to live as its members is critical to our personal growth and fulfillment. The body of Christ. All believers are “ members together of one body, and sharers together in the promise of Christ Jesus” (Ephesians 3:6). Stress here is laid on the church’ s unity. Each of us is linked to Christ and one another. This oneness is a truth we must accept. Also implicit in this portrait is the notion that the church lives only as she responds to her Head. Christ alone is Head of the church. We look to Him for direction and guidance. What is His goal? Scripture tells us that Christ continues His work in our world. He is absent in one sense, seated at the right hand of God (Ephesians 1:20). Yet in another, He is physically here, alive and active in our century. Christ is in heaven, but His body lives and moves on earth. We who have been “ created in Christ Jesus to do good works” (Ephesians 2:10) carry out God’ s hidden plans. You and I, together with all believers, are called to be a contemporary incarnation of the living God. Christ reveals Himself in human flesh, the human flesh of His living church. The family. This second portrait of the church in Ephesians is that we are all “ members of God’ s household” (Ephesians 2:19). The “ whole family of believers . . . derives its name” (Ephesians 3:14) from God the Father. That name is “ family,” and from God’ s name as Father we learn that we are children together. We are brothers and sisters now in the loving, intimate context of a home. It was in our parents’ home that we first learned to love. Now, in God’ s family, we learn of His love, and to love one another. A holy temple. The third picture of the church is found in Ephesians 2:20-21. Here we see a building being raised. We see the Foundation and Cornerstone clearly — Jesus Christ. And we see the process — stone is joined to stone by the Master Builder. As the building grows, we discover that it is a temple. A holy temple, Scripture says, “ in the Lord” (Ephesians 2:21). This too is the church. Fallen humanity, re-created by God, and now in Christ, a fitting expression of the holiness of God. Each of these three pictures highlights aspects of who and what we Christians are. Each helps us to understand ourselves as individuals, and to understand the importance of developing an appropriate lifestyle together as God’ s new community. LINK TO LIFE: YOUTH / ADULT Put the Word Picture chart on the chalkboard. Ask your group members to brainstorm in threes. How are the images similar to each other? What are the implications of each image? After hearing from the threesomes, sketch the main implications. As members of the body we are to see ourselves, responsive to our living Head, as expressions of Jesus on earth. As family, we are to see each other as brothers and sisters, called to love and be loved. As parts of a temple we are to see ourselves as growing, increasingly expressing the holiness of God.

Word Pictures of the Church Ephesians 1:15 through Ephesians 2:22 SimilaritiesImplications Body

Family

Building (Temple) In what ways is the church a body a family and a temple? What are the implications of these realities for us as members of Christ’ s church? Comments on the Text: Ephesians 3:1-4:6 The argument (flow of thought) in this section emerges from Ephesians 2:1-22. Ephesians 2:11-18 teaches that Christ’ s great act of reconciliation brought sinners to God, and welded them together in a new creation. “ One new man” (Ephesians 2:15) was formed from individuals of different cultures and backgrounds. Differences, even those which had caused hostility, were made irrelevant, as interpersonal peace came with a shared access to our common Father. Paul concluded (Ephesians 2:19-22) that both household and temple rest on a single foundation, Jesus Christ. And oneness is characteristic of both. A mystery revealed (Ephesians 3:1-6). Paul now called the church a “ mystery.” The word (mysterion) is used in the New Testament primarily by Paul (20 of 27 occurrences) and is always associated with a verb of revelation. What is a “ mystery” ? It is an insight made available to Christians which was not made clear in the Old Testament. The “ mystery” here is the fact that the Gentiles would be “ heirs together with Israel, members together of one body, and sharers together in the promise of Christ Jesus” (Ephesians 3:6). While Isaiah and others had foretold that Gentiles would one day be saved, all thought theirs would be a subordinate position. No wonder Paul repeats and repeats in Ephesians the doctrine that the church is one. God’ s wisdom revealed (Ephesians 3:7-13). Paul, as the Apostle to the Gentiles, had been called by God to reveal this unexpected aspect of God’ s eternal plan. Paul reminded us that that plan expressed the “ manifold” (that is, complex or multifaceted) plan of God. God is at work in the church, doing far more than we may imagine. What is important for us however is to realize that “ in Him [Christ] and through faith in Him we may approach God with freedom and confidence” (Ephesians 3:12). Another prayer (Ephesians 3:14-21). In this prayer Paul again expressed his desire for believers. To understand it we must note the context: it comes in a section in which Paul had been affirming the unity of a church made up of many differing individuals. Here Paul prayed that “ being rooted and established in love” we believers might experience the love of God and be filled with His fullness. What “ love” are we to be established in? In context it is not the love of God, or even love for God. It is love for one another as members of the family of God! It is in the context of loving relationships within the church that we experience, through one another, the depths of God’ s love. It is in this context that we grow to the fullness of Christ. All this is possible only because God is “ able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to His power that is at work within us.” Living in love and unity (Ephesians 4:1-6). Paul’ s exhortation and prayer for an experience of unity closes with an exhortation. Live in love. Maintain unity. We, Christ’ s church, are one. We know — as no mere association of men can — “ one body and one Spirit . . . one hope when you were called — one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all” (Ephesians 4:4-6).

Implications of Oneness Paul’ s stress on oneness troubles many. There have always been differences within the church. Presbyterians have their distinctives, Baptists theirs. Calvinists disagree with Arminians. Some appreciate formal worship; some ask only for a small room where a few can sit in silence and listen to the voice within. Today some hesitate to links hands with anyone who fails to speak in tongues, while others draw back from any who do. More recently, some have insisted that we view the doctrine of inerrancy — that the Bible as originally written contained no errors — as the criteria to divide the “ true evangelical” from the false. And yet we hear Paul say, the church is one. And we wonder. If we are one, why does division mark us instead of unity? A number of answers have been suggested. Here are a few. Unity is only spiritual. “ The invisible church is one, but the visible church, made up of human beings, will always fall short of unity.” Organism vs. organization. “ A true bond exists (and can be affirmed, among believers) but this bond need not be expressed in any kind of organizational union.” Local unity. “ The only true expression of the church on earth is found in local congregations. Thus the oneness of the local body is all that was ever intended.” True church. “ All others outside our group who claim to be Christians are deceived. Since we define all who are unlike us as out of the body, it’ s easy to claim that unity exists — right here among us.” Each of these, and other formulations, are honest attempts to deal with a difficult question. Yet each falls short of Scripture’ s affirmation of our oneness as body, family, and temple of God. Looking at Ephesians carefully, we can see errors in each view. In Ephesians 2:11-18, Paul dealt with deeply rooted cultural and social differences. Jew and Gentile had lifestyles and world views which were incompatible. These led to hostility. When the Gospel message was first shared in Judea, only Hebrews responded. Then, as the word of the Good News spread, Gentiles began to believe too! One faction in the early church insisted that, to come to Christ, Gentiles must give up their heritage and become Jews. A council was called in Jerusalem to decide that issue. Relationship with Jesus, not culture, made a Christian. The right of Gentile and Jew to their own cultural heritage was affirmed. Not everyone could stand the tensions such differences caused. Some in the early church still insisted that unity could come only from sameness. But again Paul affirmed the right to be different. God made one new man from two. He did not bring harmony by removing differences, but by destroying barriers. He attacked “ the dividing wall of hostility” (Ephesians 2:14), and made its foundation, the Law, irrelevant. In Christ life is the only issue. Have we been made alive in Christ? Then we are one body, one family, one temple being constructed by the Lord. In the early church, the Jewish believer continued to live the Hebrew way. The Gentile continued in his way. Each turned from sin, but cultural distinctions were retained. And yet, they still affirmed their identity as one. In Gentile lands Paul took up collections for poor believers in Jerusalem. The family reached out to help. When the Greek-speaking minority in the earliest church in Jerusalem, felt their widows were being treated unfairly in the daily distribution, they complained. Seven deacons were selected to supervise the funds. And every one of the seven bore a Greek name! (Acts 6:1-15) Not only in daily fellowship but also in organization, the early church affirmed God’ s Word. There were differences, but the church was one. We need to be very careful here. Do I as a dispensationalist draw back from the covenant theologian? As a noncharismatic do I reject the brother who praises God in tongues? Do I let differences cut me off from fellowship with my brothers, or from organizational expressions of our unity? In Christ my brother and I are one. My life with him must affirm, not deny, a unity that God says is. In Ephesians 4:1-6, Paul spoke of several aspects of our oneness: one hope, one Lord, one faith. I can accept and ignore many differences. But what about differences in doctrine? What about the person who claims to have the divine life, but whose beliefs differ from mine? There were doctrinal differences in the early church. Neither Scripture nor early church history suggest that oneness is possible with those outside the body. But here again, life is the issue. One who has Christ’ s life is to be acknowledged and affirmed no matter how he may differ from us in ideas about Scripture, gifts, separation, predestination, or whatever. Paul’ s expression of one faith, one baptism, and one Lord is not meant to be exclusive, as a test of purity. Rather it is inclusive, demonstrating the broad-based reality believers know and affirm. This same approach was taken in the early church. Irenaeus, writing about a.d. 190, offered evidence that the substance of Christian faith received from the apostles was confessed by the church everywhere. This can be our confession too: the confession of a company of men and women who share a common life and know a common Lord. In this confession, we affirm our unity with the church visible and invisible, the church past, future, and present everywhere today. Listen to the ring of the ancient words: Now the church, although scattered over the whole civilized world to the ends of the earth, received from the apostles and their disciples its faith in one God, the Father Almighty, who made the heaven, and the earth, and the seas, and all that is in them, and in one Christ Jesus, the Son of God, who was made flesh for our salvation, and in the Holy Spirit, who through the prophets proclaimed the dispensations of God — the comings, the birth of a virgin, the suffering, the Resurrection from the dead, and the bodily reception into the heavens of the beloved, Christ Jesus our Lord, and His coming from the heavens in the glory of the Father to restore all things, and to raise up all flesh, that is, the whole human race, so that every knee may bow, of things in heaven and on earth and under the earth, to Christ Jesus our Lord and God and Saviour and King, according to the pleasure of the invisible Father, and every tongue may confess Him, and that He may execute righteous judgment on all. The spiritual powers of wickedness, and the angels who transgressed and fell into apostasy, and the godless and wicked and lawless and blasphemers among men He will send into the eternal fire. But to the righteous and holy, and those who have kept His commandments and have remained in His love, some from the beginning of life and some since their repentance, He will by His grace give life incorrupt, and will clothe them with eternal glory. Having received this preaching and this faith, as I have said, the church, although scattered in the whole world, carefully preserves it, as if living in one house. She believes these things everywhere alike, as if she had but one heart and one soul, and preaches them harmoniously, teaches them, and hands them down as if she had but one mouth. For the languages of the world are different, but the meaning of the tradition is one and the same. Living a life worthy of this calling — a humble, patient, loving life — we will maintain the unity of that body which is one in Christ. LINK TO LIFE: YOUTH / ADULT List on the chalkboard the quotes above that express differing views of unity. Ask each person to write a statement that expresses his or her view. Read them and add any sentences that express significantly different ideas to those on the chalkboard. Then cover quickly Ephesians 3:1-4:5 in a minilecture, and distribute the quote from Irenaeus. Let pairs study the quote, and try to come up with a brief statement about Christian unity as Irenaeus might have framed it.

Comments on the Text: Ephesians 4:7-5:2 Paul now developed implications of the church’ s life as the body of Christ. The risen Christ is pictured as giving gifted persons to the church “ to prepare God’ s people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up” (Ephesians 4:12). Several aspects of this statement may seem strange to us. Gifted persons (Ephesians 4:11). Other passages on gifts focus on various talents or abilities. We recall gifts such as teaching, faith, and showing mercy, and we tend to define gifts as heightened capacities to serve God and others. Usually when we speak of spiritual gifts, we wonder, “ What can I do to contribute? What special ability has God given me?” This is no error. While each of us has faith and exercises that faith in prayer, some have a heightened capacity to believe. While each of us has a capacity to communicate, to teach, some of us have that ability in a special degree. This is the gift of teaching. While each of us can reach out in love to care for those in need, some are gifted to a special degree with the capacity to show mercy. And each believer has one or more of such supernatural endowments. But in this passage, Paul was not talking about spiritual gifts! Some people have become gifts! Some are given to the body for special purposes. Who are these gift-persons? Apostles. Prophets. Evangelists. Pastor-teachers. And what is their calling? Leadership’ s task. Gift-people are “ to prepare God’ s people for works of service” (Ephesians 4:12). Leaders are not to do the work of the ministry; leaders are to prepare the laity to minister. It is here that we have often missed the implications of the body portrait, and developed congregational patterns that deny rather than express what the church is. All too often leaders are hired by a congregation to do the “ work of the ministry.” The pastor is expected to teach. To evangelize. To counsel. To visit the sick. To pray with the discouraged. If the church grows in size and new members are added, it is taken as an indication that their local congregation is healthy and the minister is doing his job. If the church fails to grow or the budget is not met, the one to blame is the minister. After all, he was hired by the church to minister. How different is this view from the Bible’ s portrait of a living body! In a living organism, every cell contributes. The body’ s health depends on each member fulfilling its special function. No one person can carry out the functions of the living organism the Scripture describes. No one person or team of paid professionals was ever intended to. The role of leaders within the church has always been to help the members of the body grow in capacity to minister; to help each individual find and use his or her spiritual gifts. The role of leaders has always been to lead all believers into a fulfilling life of service. When we miss this, and put the ministry of the church onto the professional, we have lost sight of who we are. The local congregation becomes weak, unable to respond as a healthy body to the directions of its Head. Becoming mature (Ephesians 4:12-16). Paul here set an initial goal for our works of service. We are to build up the body, “ until we all reach unity in the faith . . . and become mature” (Ephesians 4:13). The first ministry of believers is to other believers. It is vital that we “ grow up into Him” if we are to be a valid expression of Jesus in this world. The whole body “ grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work” (Ephesians 4:16). This is sometimes hard to accept. We look at the world and are burdened by the need for evangelism. We look at the poor and are burdened by the need to establish justice. We look at the suffering and are impelled to comfort and to care. So sometimes we slip into the trap of organizing the local church to undertake one or more of these tasks. We program evangelistic efforts and buy more buses. We commit ourselves to an active social welfare involvement. All too often we lose sight of the fact that the first function of the body is to build itself. When my oldest son was about five, he wanted to mow our lawn. We had a push mower then. The kind in which the blades moved only when the wheels moved, and the wheels were moved by people power. Well, Paul pushed and strained — and finally found an answer. He leaned on the handle, lifted the wheels off the ground, and easily moved the mower on just the back roller! How busy he looked, chugging up and down across our lawn. And how little grass he cut! After a while, I would explain. “ Soon, Paul, you’ ll grow, and then you’ ll be able to make those blades turn. Then you can help a lot.” How often in the church we concentrate on organizing spiritual five-year-olds to push better lawn mowers, and wonder why so little of God’ s grass gets cut! The church is called to “ grow up into Him who is the Head, that is, Christ” (Ephesians 4:15). Maturing within the body, growing more and more like Jesus, is the believer’ s first calling. To equip the church for service, believers must minister to one another and to the world. Don’ t misunderstand: this focus on building one another up is not “ selfish.” It is essential. Only as we grow toward maturity together can we respond fully to Jesus as He directs us to serve in the world. Only a strong and healthy body can carry out the tasks assigned to it. Our effectiveness in communicating the Gospel and the love of God to the world around us depends on our growth toward maturity. This kind of growth takes place as we — members together of one body — build each other up in love, each part doing its own ministering work (Ephesians 4:16). LINK TO LIFE: YOUTH / ADULT Outline the church as a body on the chalkboard, and set your group members to discuss in teams of five the following three questions:

1. What part of the body are leaders (remembering that Christ alone is the Head)?
2. What part of the body would you most like to be?
3. What spiritual gifts (see Romans 12 and 1 Corinthians 12 for typical gifts) seem most closely associated with the part you selected? Sharing (Eph. 4:17-5:2). At times we make living in and as a body more difficult than it is. We think of ministering relationships, and we wonder, “ How do we develop them?” “ What are we to do?” And, uncertain, its all too easy to draw back. We forget that living in Christ’ s church is like living in a family. The apostle brings us back to the concept of simple sharing by pointing out in Ephesians 4:16 that the body builds itself up in love. Paul then exhorted us to “ live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave Himself up for us” (Ephesians 5:2). Over and over Paul brought into focus the personal relationships that are to be developed by members of the body. In the context of these natural relationships, our giftedness grows. As members of the body, we must no longer live as the Gentiles do (Ephesians 4:17-19), but become a loving family in which growth can take place. How do the Gentiles live? Without sensitivity, indulging themselves in sensuality. This is a picture of men and women who see others as something to use. Love never degrades others or places things above human values. “ I tell you this, and insist on it in the Lord, that you must no longer live as the Gentiles” (Ephesians 4:17). How are we taught to live together in Christ? Putting off the former way of life (Ephesians 4:20-32), we are to live with a totally new attitude: a new self that is like God in true righteousness and holiness. How does righteousness find expression in human relationships? By putting off falsehood and speaking truthfully. This involves more than not lying. It involves an open sharing of ourselves with one another, rejecting deceit. By rejecting the sinful actions anger drives us toward. Anger is not given a place. Before evening comes, we are to move toward reconciliation. By rejecting gossip and unwholesome talk. In our conversation we seek to build others up, not tear them down. By ridding ourselves of bitterness, rage, slander, and every form of malice. In their place, we are to express kindness and compassion, forgiving each other as God has forgiven us. “ Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children and live a life of love” (Ephesians 5:1-2). In every New Testament passage that teaches that the church is a body, we also find an emphasis on the loving relationships that are to develop between believers. It is through living with one another in love that ministry opportunities are created, and ministry takes place. This is the simplicity we sometimes miss. The love that grows between family members and draws us closer to each other, moves us to care. As we care, we reach out to bear one another’ s burdens, to encourage and support — we minister. It is in loving that our spiritual gifts come into play. Local churches. The Ephesians’ description of a life of love helps us define the characteristics of a healthy local church today. We have already seen that a local congregation must have a biblical understanding of ministry. The church that has a biblical understanding: Sees leaders as equippers. Sees each member as a minister. Pays close attention to maturing and building believers up in Christ. Seeks to help individuals and groups within the church serve as Christ leads. Through such ministry, the maturing congregation has the greatest impact on the world around. Now we see another critical aspect of local church life. Relationships within the church are to be marked by love. Jesus spoke of that at His Last Supper. “ Love each other,” He told His disciples, “ as I have loved you” (John 15:12). This new commandment also contained a promise. “ All men will know that you are My disciples if you love one another” (John 13:35). Christ placed His highest priority on love within the body, for He knew we could only become one through ever-deepening personal relationships. Only through love can we build each other to maturity. Only through love can the church bear compelling witness to Jesus as Lord. When others see Jesus’ love lived out in the brotherhood of faith, there is no explanation but one: God is real. If our local congregation wants to be the church, we need to: Come to know each other well. We cannot love a person we do not know. Learn to share our lives with each other. Love involves bearing each other’ s burdens. We need to trust others enough to reveal our burdens to them. Reach out in caring to meet others’ needs. As burdens are shared, we want to respond. These are very practical guidelines. They let us look at a congregation’ s lifestyle and see ways to encourage growth. Do people know each other well? If not, we need to plan time to be together. Do we share? If not, we need to grow used to opening our lives to one another. Do we reach out? If not, we need to concentrate on ways to minister to people. In short, we need to see what the New Testament reveals: that the heart of ministry is not to run a program or fill an organizational slot, but to focus on people and their needs. “ Live a life of love,” Scripture says (Ephesians 5:2). Be the church — the family of God — that you are.

Teaching Guide Prepare Select one or more themes found in these chapters to emphasize, depending on your evaluation of your group’ s needs.

Explore

1. Divide into teams to suggest implications of the Bible’ s statements that the church is a body, a family, and a holy temple. See “ link-to-life” above.
2. Or begin with a minilecture, tracing the teaching of Ephesians 3:1-4:5 on unity.

Expand

1. List views of unity on the chalkboard, and ask for others. See the “ link-to-life” process explained above that suggests ways to look at this important issue in view of church history as well as Scripture.
2. Or place a body diagram on the board, and have your group work to answer the questions raised in “ link-to-life” above.

Apply Briefly survey Ephesians 4:17-5:2, and list the practical implications the author draws. Evaluate. Which of these are you experiencing in your group or congregation? What might you do together to deepen your relationships and expressions of family love?