Ephesians Chapter 4

Verse 7 “’However, he has given each one of us a special gift through the generosity of Christ.’” (NLT) Each has been given gifts from God. Other books in the Bible talk about more of those gifts but in this particular passage, Paul focuses on just a few. 

Verse 8 “‘That is why the Scriptures say, “When he ascended to the heights, he led a crowd of captives and gave gifts to his people.”’ (NLT) Paul is actually quoting some of the Old Testament here. So let me clear something up. The Bible is split up into two parts: The Old Testament and the New Testament. The Old Testament is before Jesus‘ time on earth. The New Testament is when Jesus came to earth, His time on earth, His death, resurrection, and spreading of the gospel message that He is our Savior. By the time the New Testament events were happening, which is what we’re in the middle of reading right now, all of the people in the New Testament had those written down Old Testament scriptures to read from. But Old Testament folks did not have any scriptures to read or reference as God’s word.

When Jesus ascended to Heaven, when He rose from the grave, He led captives of sin out of the bondage they were in. Paul is reminding the church here that God fights our battles, and none of those battles are more triumphant than raising Jesus from the dead. So remember this! We can live in unity and maintain peace because the biggest battle we will ever face has already been fought and won by Jesus!

Not only has Jesus set us free from chains of sin, but He also gave us gifts to use to spread the gospel message to others – that Jesus set us all free if we believe.

Verse 10 “’And the same one who descended is the one who ascended higher than all the heavens, so that he might fill the entire universe with himself.'” (NLT) This is through the Holy Spirit. When Jesus died and rose from the grave, His spirit, which is known as the Holy Spirit, came down to earth to dwell among the people and fill the earth with God’s Word. So as the Holy Spirit is on the move here on earth in our hearts, God equips His children (us) with gifts that we can use to serve other people, and with the help do the Holy Spirit, we can also share the gospel through the way we serve. We may not even have to open our mouths to share the gospel. People will see the way that we work and serve others through this gifting, and they will catch a glimpse of Jesus in us. Your gift might be in teaching, in administration (organizing, and assisting others. There’s a ton of gifts listed. We’ll come across these during our study and you can try to figure out which one God gave you to use! These gifts that God gives us are like supernatural gifts, meaning that you excel above the ordinary person doing this job. I can’t do meticulous work. Work that requires analyzing, slow, methodical concentration. I wasn’t gifted with that! But I can teach 😊 That doesn’t mean that I’m the only one in this world that was given this gift to teach. It just means that I excel in work that involves teaching. There is a measure of gifting given to each person.

Verse 11 “‘Now these are the gifts Christ gave to the church: the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, and the pastors and teachers.'” (NLT) This tells us that God gave gifts to apostles (chosen by Jesus), the prophets (chosen by God to speak His message of upcoming events), evangelists (missionaries), Shepherds (pastors), and teachers (like Sunday school and Bible study teachers). The Apostles were all twelve of Jesus’ disciples, plus Paul. In the New Testament, you will read stories about Jesus calling men out of their ordinary jobs and asking them to follow Him as a disciple. A disciple is someone who follows someone else. Jesus wanted these men to follow Him and witness his miracles and work on earth so that they may spread the gospel from an eyewitness account. This is the highest honor out of all the gifts.

Verse 13 “‘This will continue until we all come to such unity in our faith and knowledge of God’s Son that we will be mature in the Lord, measuring up to the full and complete standard of Christ.'” (NLT) This is basically saying that we should always be making progress in our faith until death. We are only made perfect when we meet Jesus. So we should continually strive for that.

Verse 14 “‘Then we will no longer be immature like children. We won’t be tossed and blown about by every wind of new teaching. We will not be influenced when people try to trick us with lies so clever they sound like the truth.'” (NLT) Remember the purpose of Paul writing this letter. The church was being led astray by people coming in with new kinds of teaching. And Paul is telling them to be careful to not waver because they hear of a new way of doing life. New teaching. Do not hesitate or doubt the word of God.

Verse 15 “‘Instead, we will speak the truth in love, growing in every way more and more like Christ, who is the head of his body, the church.'” (NLT) This is convicting. It says we should “speak the truth in love, growing in every way more and more like Christ.” We should not frame arguments out of our own views. It should be based on what God’s Word says.

Verse 16 “‘He makes the whole body fit together perfectly. As each part does its own special work, it helps the other parts grow so that the whole body is healthy and growing and full of love.'” (NLT) I love this part that says “He makes the whole body fit together perfectly.” All that brings life and health to us and the Church flows from Jesus. This next part pinpoints why it’s so important to live together in unity with the Church. “Each part does its own special work, it helps the other parts grow, so the whole body is healthy and growing and full of love.” We all have a limited share of gifts. We need each other in the Church in order to grow. The nourishment we need in our spirit comes from Jesus through the Church body.

Prayer: Heavenly Father, thank you for not only saving me from my sin but also giving me a purpose and gifts that are necessary in this world to help others grow. Help me identify what these gifts are so that I may live fully engaging and utilizing these gifts to help Your Church body. Show me, Holy Spirit, what passions You gifted me with and what skills You equipped me with that others have recognized are pretty special. Reveal to me what services, duties, and opportunities I find joy in doing regardless of pay. I want to operate in Your supernatural gifting inside me. Help me let go of my need to be right and to speak Your hard Truth in love when I need to, Jesus. Give me the boldness to step out in my gifting and share this with others so that I may be a part of Your growing and thriving Church body, filled up with Your love. In Jesus’ name, Amen.