Equipping God’s People to Stand Firm: EphesiansSample

Unity and maturity are God’s standards for all believers

God has established a Covenant with the people of Israel. Through Moses, they received his Law, through Joshua they received a Promised Land, and through the prophets, they received an opportunity to repent and restore their relationship to God. God's new covenant was for all people and God's Holy Spirit was the seal that guaranteed a new believer’s adoption. In John 16:5–15, Jesus teaches his disciples about the role and significance of the Holy Spirit in a believer’s life. In chapter 17:20–23, Jesus prays for the body of believers to be unified so that the world will know that God sent him and loves them even as God loves Jesus (verse 23). I want to encourage you to read these passages of Scripture before starting this lesson.

Ephesians 4 is Paul’s vision for the family of God and the new standards for living as his chosen people, empowered by the Holy Spirit. The first three chapters of Ephesians told the story of the gospel. In the final three chapters, Paul challenges his readers to respond to this incredible gift we have in the gospel, the “good news” concerning Christ, the kingdom of God, and the plan of salvation. Paul’s primary encouragement is found in verse 1, “I urge you to live a life worthy of the call you have received.” From there he goes into great detail about the way believers should live their lives.

“Your spiritual gifts were not given for your own benefit but for the benefit of others, just as other people were given gifts for your benefit.” —Rick Warren

We have been given the incredible gift of the gospel because of God’s unmerited favor toward his people. He has made a way for us to be reconciled to his perfect character through the birth, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. A gift that has nothing to do with our abilities or goodness and everything to do with his. Paul is emphasizing to his readers that because believers are new creations in Christ Jesus, they aren’t meant to live the way they used to—because we aren’t those people anymore. Paul wants all of us as believers to understand that we each serve a unique purpose in our new community (God’s family), directly related to how the body of believers functions as a whole.

“As God's children, we are not to be observers; we're to participate actively in the Lord's work. Spectators sit and watch, but we are called to use our spiritual gifts and serve continually.”
—Charles Stanley