_I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord_ Imprisoned for his sake and for yours; for the sake of the gospel which he had preached to them and other Gentiles: see note on Ephesians 3:1: this was therefore a powerful motive to them to comfort him under his sufferings by their obedience; _beseech you tha... [ Continue Reading ]
_With all lowliness_ Or humility of mind, having mean thoughts of yourselves because of your former sinfulness and guilt, depravity, weakness, and misery, and your unworthiness of that mercy which God hath exercised toward you; _and meekness_ Maintaining calmness, serenity, and peace of mind, amid t... [ Continue Reading ]
The apostle proceeds to remind the believers at Ephesus of some of the many very powerful considerations which had force enough, if attended to and laid to heart, to induce them to cultivate and preserve the unity to which he exhorts them. _There is one body_ One mystical body of Christ, of which he... [ Continue Reading ]
_But_ Though there be so many, and those infinitely important particulars, in which the true members of the church agree, and which furnish such powerful motives to love and unity, yet there are some things wherein they differ. For they occupy, by God's appointment, different stations in the church,... [ Continue Reading ]
_And_ Among other his free gifts; _he gave some, apostles_ His chief ministers and special witnesses, as having seen him after his resurrection, and received their commission immediately from him. The office of an apostle was to declare, in an infallible manner, the whole gospel doctrine: to qualify... [ Continue Reading ]
_For the perfecting_ Προς τον καταρτισμον των αγιων; _in order to_, or, for the sake of; _completing of the saints_ Both in number, and in the various branches of true Christianity, namely, in the knowledge of all Christian doctrines, the possession of all Christian graces, the enjoyment of all Chri... [ Continue Reading ]
_That we henceforth be no more children_ Mere babes in Christian knowledge, experience, and practice; weak and unstable; _tossed _ Κλυδωνιζομενοι, _fluctuating_ from within, through various restless lusts and passions working in our hearts, even when there is nothing external to agitate or excite th... [ Continue Reading ]
_But speaking the truth_ Or, as αληθευοντες may be rendered, _teaching_, or _maintaining the truth; in love_ To God and one another, or in that charitable temper which the gospel enjoins, and without which our clearest and most extensive knowledge will be but of little use to us; _may grow up into h... [ Continue Reading ]
_This I say, therefore_ For your further instruction, how to walk worthy of your calling; (he returns to the subject which he began, Ephesians 4:1;) _and testify in the Lord_ In the name and by the authority of the Lord Jesus, that ye, being now happily brought into the Christian Church, and made pa... [ Continue Reading ]
_But ye_ Believers at Ephesus; _have not so learned Christ_ Or Christianity; that is, ye cannot act thus, now ye are acquainted with Christ and his gospel, which, you know, allows of no sin. _If so be_ Or rather, _seeing that_, as ει γε, it seems, should be here rendered; _ye have heard him_ Teachin... [ Continue Reading ]
_Wherefore_ Since you have been thus taught what is your duty and interest, let it appear in your tempers, words, and works, that there is such a change wrought in them; and that, having received a new nature, you live in a new manner. The apostle now proceeds to caution them against particular sins... [ Continue Reading ]
_Let him that stole_ While he was in his heathen condition of ignorance and vice; _steal no more_ Under a conviction that God is the avenger of all such injuries, 1 Thessalonians 4:6. Stealing, as Macknight justly observes, “is a vice most pernicious to the thief himself. For finding it more easy to... [ Continue Reading ]
_Let no corrupt communication_ Or discourse, dictated by corruption in the heart of the speaker, and tending to corrupt the minds or manners of hearers; _proceed out of your mouth_ At any time, or on any occasion. The original expression, λογος σαπρος, is literally, _rotten_ or _putrid speech;_ that... [ Continue Reading ]
_Let all bitterness_ Of disposition or expression, or, as some render the word, _all peevishness; and wrath_ Or indignation, as θυμος seems here to signify; that is, anger mingled with contempt or disgust; the next expression in the original, οργη, rather signifying wrath, or lasting displeasure; _a... [ Continue Reading ]