This mystery is that the Gentiles are fellow heirs, members of the same body, and partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel. – Ephesians 3:6 ESV

CONSIDER
As we continue our journey through the Book of Ephesians, the message that Paul proclaims takes on a more personal note. And as he reflects on his role in proclaiming the gospel, Paul is mindful of how God has shown him grace through the relationships in his life. What about you? Who has God uniquely placed in your life? To explore this topic further and uniquely engage with the text, check out this week’s video!

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This mystery is that the Gentiles are fellow heirs, members of the same body, and partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel. – Ephesians 3:6 ESV

GREEK
συνκληρονόμα/synklēronoma: joint-heirs
σύσσωμα/syssōma: a joint-body
συμμέτοχα/symmetocha: joint-partakers

CONSIDER
The Roman Empire was famously divided into patricians (wealthy nobility) and plebeians (basically anyone else). A plebeian had second-class rights, second-class opportunities, and second-class freedoms compared to the patricians. Both sides of this division had their reasons for disliking the other side, and nothing short of an enormous windfall of property could cause a plebeian to cross over into the community of the patricians. But in 445 BC, the Canuleian Law was passed, allowing plebeians to marry into the patrician class. This law was said to synthesize the two classes, meaning that it brought together two radically different things and united them in structure.
There are elements of Paul’s sentence structure in Greek that we just cannot easily reproduce in English. This week’s passage contains an example of such structure, and in it we see the imprisoned apostle sound more like Amanda Gorman than a hopeless inmate. In verse 6, Paul uses three words in succession that both rhyme and have a variation of the prefix sun – the beginning of suntithenai where we get our word synthesize. While encouraging us that the gospel creates a new humanity where all people have access to God’s promise, Paul creatively declares the Gentiles are synklēronoma (joint-heirs) and syssōma (a joint-body) and symmetocha (joint-partakers) in the promise. But as clever as that phrase sounds in the Greek, it is a far more powerful and hope-filled message for the non-Jewish world! Jesus has made a way for us to have access to the blessings and benefits the Israelites have and has done so while maintaining the uniqueness of our heritage, reminding us that there is no such thing as a second-class citizen in the kingdom of God. The gospel means that we don’t have to strive to be someone we’re not, but yet are still growing into the people he has called us to be.

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Of this gospel I was made a minister according to the gift of God’s grace, which was given me by the working of his power. – Ephesians 3:7 ESV

GREEK
ἐνέργειαν/energeian: energy; lit. “power in action”

CONSIDER
If you grew up in the Northeastern US, there is no way you could have avoided learning about Thomas Edison. Edison is credited with inventing the light bulb in 1879, as well as holding 1,000 other patents. But the first electric bulb was actually developed decades earlier by an electrochemist named Humphry Davy in 1802. He created a crude battery, attached wires to it, and connected the wires to a piece of carbon. The energy from the battery caused the carbon to glow bright, and the first electric light was produced. Davy even wowed the King of England with his invention and was knighted for his work. The movement of abstract energy from one source of power to a tangible object was simply inconceivable.
But this is exactly what Paul is celebrating in his life when he declares that the ability to minister was given him “by the energeian (power in action) of his power.” He is the only New Testament writer to use this word, and every time he uses it he is referring to supernatural power. Energeian doesn’t simply mean working or even energy; it refers specifically to the energy that moves a believer from point to point in his plan! Much like Paul was moved along the path from Christian killer to minister, and Davy found a way to move electric current from place to place in order to accomplish something incredible, God wants the energeian of his power to move you to great things, too.

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so that through the church the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places. – Ephesians 3:10 ESV

CONSIDER
Paul had every right to be upset. He was mistreated, imprisoned, and asked to deal with some serious ministry issues while surviving in that state. But instead of using his prison platform to berate the imperfect churches he planted, Paul reinforced his belief that the church was God’s design, Christ’s bride, and the hope of the world. To explore this topic further, and uniquely engage with the text, check out this week’s video!

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How will I bless someone connected to Centerway this week?

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To me, though I am the very least of all the saints, this grace was given, to preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ, – Ephesians 3:8 ESV

GREEK
ἀνεξιχνίαστον/anexichniaston: not able to trace the steps of; unable to fully comprehend

CONSIDER
What happened to Andy Harris? This question has been pondered the world over since the 1996 Everest Expedition that he was a part of ended in disaster. As the group neared the summit a massive storm overtook the peak, and by the time the weather broke Harris was nowhere to be found. In all, eight people died in the storm, but Harris’ death remains a mystery to this day. The details of the expedition have been well documented, spawning books, movies, and documentaries, but Andy Harris’ steps have yet to be traced. Part of the reason the world is fascinated by Harris’ story is that we can’t make much sense of it. He was part of a group that had protocols to follow in an emergency, and were literally roped together at times. He was an able climber with the world’s best equipment. But Everest is notorious for its unpredictability and can make even the most seasoned mountaineer look foolish.
Those who follow Jesus can relate to Andy Harris, at least on a spiritual level. We have been offered peace that passes understanding and a hope that endures even the darkest situations. But even while living in that reality, we still find ourselves making incredibly foolish decisions. Some of those decisions have deadly implications that leave us – and those who love us – scratching our heads. So when Paul describes the grace he was given to preach the anexichniaston (cannot track; unable to fully comprehend) riches of Christ, we lean in. This Greek word literally means to be unable to trace the steps of, so when we try to explain why Jesus has been so good to us it’s like we cannot trace it back to something we’ve done. Any attempt to link the riches of God’s grace back to our efforts or ability will leave us lost, unable to fully comprehend its scope! Because of his unmerited love for us, Jesus has provided unfathomable goodness that compels us to take our eyes off ourselves and direct our gaze toward Heaven in worship.

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How will I bless someone connected to Centerway this week?

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So I ask you not to lose heart over what I am suffering for you, which is your glory. – Ephesians 3:13 ESV

GREEK
ἐνκακεῖν/enkakein: to be negatively influenced with the outcome of experiencing inner weariness

CONSIDER
It’s hard to ask the question “How will I bless someone connected to Centerway this week?” and not root for that person to succeed. By God’s design, the church is a place where our hearts can be linked together and we can seek the best for each other. So it could sound a little silly for Paul to ask the church that he loves not enkakein (to get weary; to be negatively influenced with the outcome of experiencing inner weariness) with his suffering. It’s only natural, right? If it ever made sense for a group of people to lose heart over their founder’s misfortune, it was the church at Ephesus over Paul’s severe suffering. He nurtured them, risked his life for them, and now was in a place where his future was uncertain. But it was here in this dark place that Paul encouraged his friends to maintain perspective. Yes, he was suffering, and they had every right to become internally weary because of that reality. But what Paul was suffering was a direct result of breaking up the hard soil of Gentile hearts so that the gospel could be planted therein. Generations would be changed as a result, and if they let their “inner weariness” create a negative impact outwardly, Paul knew his suffering might be in vain. This request not enkakein serves as a great reminder that when we lean into the connections God has in mind for us, the challenges presented by this life can actually be seen as opportunities to show off his plan for our hearts to be linked together.

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How will I bless someone connected to Centerway this week?

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so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, – Ephesians 3:17-18 ESV

Sometimes love is different than we expect. In those moments it becomes easy to equate love with an emotion that we may or may not feel. But Ephesians reminds us that when we are rooted and grounded in God’s perfect love, we will take action to demonstrate compassion toward those in our spheres of influence. To explore this topic further, and uniquely engage with the text, check out this week’s video!

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How will I love to my own deficit this week?

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so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love, – Ephesians 3:17 ESV

GREEK
τεθεμελιωμένοι/tethemeliōmenoi: laying a foundation; being founded

CONSIDER
“My hope is built on nothing less
Than Jesus’ blood and righteousness.
I dare not trust the sweetest frame,
But wholly lean on Jesus’ name.
On Christ the solid Rock, I stand;
All other ground is sinking sand”

Edward Mote may not be a household name, but his work has impacted countless people. As a new Christian, the words to “The Solid Rock” came to Mote in a single day while he was working as a carpenter’s apprentice. It was the first song he ever wrote, and with the exception of a small group of hymns written for his church, it was basically the only hymn he ever wrote. So why has this particular song maintained its popularity for nearly 200 years? Because life is volatile and we need a solid foundation! The reason Mote chose to publish this song was that it provided great comfort to his friend on her deathbed. He was reminded that life’s pain often catalyzes our faith because the trials that should destroy us prove to have no power. Paul’s prayer in Ephesians 3 is that the church he planted would be rooted and tethemeliōmenoi (laying a foundation; being founded) in love. This verb is connected to digging down deep. In fact, tethemeliōmenoi is taken from the construction world, when a builder would need to dig all the way down to the bedrock to make sure their project didn’t buckle in turbulent times. Paul likens the love of God, displayed in Christ, to the solid rock that a building requires for its foundation to be placed on. When we begin to comprehend this love, it steadies us through the inevitable storms of life. Anything else is sinking sand.

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and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. – Ephesians 3:19 ESV

GREEK
ὑπερβάλλουσαν/hyperballousan: transcends; lit. throws beyond the usual mark

CONSIDER
Bored? A popular subject to search on TikTok, Instagram, or YouTube lately is “auditory illusions.” Simply put, these are false perceptions of real sounds that are influenced by our surroundings. Content creators will take a sample clip of a song or a sentence and play it several times. However, each time they do they display a new phrase on the screen, and our brain perceives the sound clip speaking the words we are reading. Scientists believe that the reason we hear something new each time is that we are constantly using all of our senses to process the world around us. Our minds then link the data that our senses interpret, so that they align and therefore make sense of our environment.
This reality speaks volumes as to why we should guard our hearts and protect our surroundings. When we choose to engage in an environment of negativity and discouragement, it can influence the messages we hear. That’s one of the many reasons why Paul reuses a term in this week’s passage that he’s used in Ephesians twice before. When talking about the love of Christ, he says that it hyperballousan (transcends; lit. throws beyond the usual mark) knowledge. It’s derived from the same word Paul has used earlier in reference to God’s power (1:19) and grace (2:7). Hyperballousan expresses the fact that what God has to offer goes way beyond what we can calculate or measure, and yet Ephesians tells us that we need these things to be spiritually full. The world we live in depletes these resources, and even goes so far as to try to convince us that what God is speaking is a completely different message than what you need. Thankfully, God’s word is unchanging, and when we approach it in faith, we gain the clarity to joyfully navigate our world.
Do you hear God speaking love over you? Maybe it’s the sound of grace, or even a declaration of his power you hear. The beautiful thing about taking the time to listen is that God is ready to offer you the very thing you need in hyperballousan measure.

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How will I love to my own deficit this week?

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Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen. – Ephesians 3:20-21 ESV

CONSIDER
There is truth to the idea that if you’re not content with what you have, you’ll never be satisfied by getting everything you want. When we try to find contentment in the stuff of this life, we miss the point of this week’s text: God has all we need, and his power at work in our lives compels us to focus our praise solely on him. To explore this topic further, and uniquely engage with the text, check out this week’s video!

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How can I praise God this week?

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Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, – Ephesians 3:20 ESV

GREEK
ὑπερεκπερισσοῦ/hyperekperissou: work that is surprisingly and beneficially more lavish

CONSIDER
Unusually energetic. That’s how the Oxford dictionary defines hyperactive. We’ve all been around someone (or we are someone!) whose energy is difficult to contain at times. But although the word hyper can be synonymous with channeling one’s energy negatively, the word from which it’s taken has a far more positive meaning. In Greek, the preposition hyper is usually best translated “for the betterment or advantage of.” We think in terms of quantity; the Greeks thought of hyper in terms of quality.
Nowhere is this difference between the Greek and English use of hyper more divergent than in this week’s text. Paul is brought to a place of praise because of the one who is able to do hyperekperissou (work that is surprisingly and beneficially more lavish) than all that we ask or think. If we were to simply overlay our conception onto this word, it would be tempting to think of hyperekperissou in terms of quantity. So if we have abundance, God wants to give us more – or hyper – abundance. But Paul uses this term in the ancient world with their particular concepts, and therefore declares that God is able to surprise us with how beneficial his gifts are. We may not dare to dream that our small act of service on a Sunday could be that significant, but he is able to do hyperekperissou more with our obedience and gifts than we could ever imagine! Although we have little to offer him compared to his work in us, with the power God provides we just might be surprised by how big an impact we can have on the world.

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How can I praise God this week?

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to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen. – Ephesians 3:21 ESV

GREEK
τοῦ αἰῶνος τῶν αἰώνων/ tou aiōnos tōn aiōnōn: of the age of the ages; from this time period until time ceases

CONSIDER
We have a Because and Therefore statement as Centerway that goes like this: Because God says every person matters we value GENERATIONS therefore we serve everyone and we develop and equip leaders at every age, recognizing the uniqueness we bring to the table in different seasons of life.This statement is designed to showcase our position that people of every age have something incredible and unique to contribute to the work of the local church. But just as each of us has something specific to offer, each of us also has a part to play in the collective work of praising God. As Paul concludes his prayer for the church to be strengthened spiritually, he says that glory should be given to God throughout all generations tou aiōnos tōn aiōnōn (each and every generation). None of us are exempt from the act of giving praise to God! We are never too young to celebrate God’s strengthening, and we are never too old that we get to retire from giving glory. Paul’s phrase tou aiōnos tōn aiōnōn literally can be translated from now until time ceases to exist. So no matter who we are or what generation we belong to, may our praise in this moment be a reminder of how we get to spend eternity.

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How can I praise God this week?

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There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call— – Ephesians 4:4 ESV

CONSIDER
In every area of our lives, our growth will be shaped in part by the people we choose to do life with. But because growth is almost always an act that takes us out of our comfort zone, we could be tempted to sacrifice unity for convenience, stagnation, or ease. How can we safeguard the unity that God desires for us? To explore this topic further, and uniquely engage with the text, check out this week’s video!

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eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.  – Ephesians 4:3 ESV

GREEK
συνδέσμῳ/syndesmō: a joint tie, ligament; that which binds together

CONSIDER
The human body houses more than 900 bands of tissue called ligaments. These ligaments connect bones, joints, and even organs and hold them in their proper place. If you’ve ever sprained something (stretched a ligament too far) you know how much we rely on these vital, yet unseen, parts of the body. So when Paul urges us to bear with one another in love as people eager to maintain Spirit-unity in the syndesmō (ligament, joint tie) of peace, we get it. By equating peace with the ligament that maintains our spiritual unity, we are encouraged to protect and nurture it like we would our joints and muscles.
A lack of peace really hurts. It can feel awkward and leave us spiritually hobbled for an extended period of time. Like an unseen ligament, it might be hard to visualize but we definitely know when it’s been strained. But peace is also a fruit of the Spirit (Gal. 5:22), one that Jesus is the Prince of (Isa. 9:6) and is himself the very peace we need (Eph. 2:14)! Therefore we don’t have to live in fear of others stealing our peace with their actions or worry about tightening up our own syndesmō of peace through striving. All we need to maintain unity with the people who make up the body of Christ, is to place him in the center of our lives and submit to his Lordship.

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What will I do to contribute to the mission of the church?

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He who descended is the one who also ascended far above all the heavens, that he might fill all things.) – Ephesians 4:10 ESV

GREEK
πληρώσῃ/plērōsē: he might fill up, cram to individual capacity

CONSIDER
“I have not come to abolish the law or the prophets, but to fulfill them.” When Jesus preached this truth in Matthew 5 to the eager crowd at the water’s edge, his words sparked a revolution that reverberates to this day. His reign would not be marked by the destruction of the system that Moses received from God; rather Jesus would fulfill the criteria to which the law and prophets pointed. Jesus is the fulfillment of what this system promises to produce.
But there’s a problem with conveying that message in the English language: the word fulfill does not have the same specific meaning that the Greek word used in Ephesians 4:10 has. When an order is fulfilled or we fulfill an obligation, we often view it as a transaction. In those cases, it indicates only what is required of us, and often once we’ve done the minimum, we feel like that is good enough. Amazon is not going to fulfill your order of AA batteries with twice as many packages as you paid for. However when Paul says that Jesus ascended far above all the heavens, that plērōsē all things, quite the opposite of “minimum requirement” is being communicated. Using the same Greek word as Jesus used in Matthew 5, Paul aims to show that Jesus will cram into a particular space as much of his glory as can fit. This is not the language of least and minimum, but of abundance and increasing capacity. Just like Jesus came to fulfill the promise that the law pointed to, his ascension means that we are capable of every single space in our lives being completely filled up with his life-changing presence.

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What will I do to contribute to the mission of the church?

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Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, – Ephesians 4:15 ESV

CONSIDER
As Jesus entered the city of Jerusalem, he was welcomed by an adoring crowd waving palm branches. A few days later, the crowd wanted him dead. Why the difference? Among other things, it was their reaction to the truth Jesus spoke that led the crowd to cry “crucify him!”
Combining truth and love is really hard, and yet Ephesians 4 equates it with maturity. To explore this topic further, and uniquely engage with the text, check out this week’s video!

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What next step will I take to deepen my faith?

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to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, – Ephesians 4:12 ESV

GREEK
καταρτισμὸν/katartismon: a bringing to a condition of fitness, perfecting

CONSIDER
Medical advancements have come a long way in the 21st century. A person is able to order a home testing kit to determine food sensitivity, use a smart scale that can tell how hydrated they are, and shape their diet around an analysis of their mailed-in DNA sample. As society does more and more to tailor personal health to the individual, the concept being conveyed by today’s verse is able to be seen in a new light. Paul shares with us that the reason God gave the gifts that he mentions in verse 11 was to katartismon (bringing to a condition of fitness, perfecting) the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ. In other words, the church – here called the saints – can operate at its healthiest when the right assortment of gifts are in operation. Just like personalized health plans tailored to our unique situations, the gifts that God bestows can katartismon us to be at our ministry best as we are being perfected by him. True, timeless common principles can and will bring spiritual health to every Christ-follower and church body. But how incredible it is to know that God has given his extraordinary gifts to divinely katartismon each of us for the specific work to which he has called us!

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What next step will I take to deepen my faith?

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until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, – Ephesians 4:13 ESV

GREEK
ἑνότητα/henotēta: unity; the harmony produced by sharing in the benefits of Christ’s work

CONSIDER
Good Friday. No event in the Christian calendar elicits a wider range of emotion in people. As we spend time reflecting on the Son of God laying down his privilege for the sake of humanity, may we take joy in the implications of his sacrifice. Among those implications is the possibility of experiencing true henotēta (harmony produced by sharing in the benefits of Christ’s work). This unique word – found in scripture only in Ephesians 4:3 & 4:13 – goes deeper than simply “being on the same page” as someone else. True henotēta carries the imagery of different sounds and pitches coming together in a pattern to create harmony. This harmony is enhanced when a range of notes are played or sung together from different parts of the register. Attaining to the henotēta of the faith requires us to bring the various highs and lows of our experiences and offer them in community to God as chords of worship for his salvation. The crucifixion of Jesus is the event in history in which the lows of the reality of sin and the highs of God’s grace come together to display the beauty of the gospel. When we try to unify around anything else, be it our shared political view, social beliefs, or cultural ideals, it produces a poor version of a harmonious song… a melody that often does more to push others away instead of drawing them to the cross. But praise God, because of Jesus, we can together offer a sound of joy for our salvation and celebrate the unifying hope we now have!

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What next step will I take to deepen my faith?

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and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness. – Ephesians 4:24 ESV

CONSIDER
Easter may have just passed on the calendar, but the implications of the empty tomb continue to shape our day-to-day lives. When we only think of God’s resurrection work in terms of an event, we miss out on what his power and promise mean for our relationships, priorities, and daily decisions. To explore this topic further, and uniquely engage with the text, check out this week’s video!

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How will I celebrate Jesus’ resurrection?

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Now this I say and testify in the Lord, that you must no longer walk as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their minds. – Ephesians 4:17 ESV

GREEK
ματαιότητι/mataiotēti: instability, aimlessness; unreality

CONSIDER
Ponto Final is a seafood restaurant on the picturesque River Tagus in Portugal. It boasts incredible views, fresh-caught dishes, and outdoor seating. But the most interesting thing about the restaurant for many is these elements all come together on the restaurant’s concrete pier. Ponto Final seats their guests at tables on this pier with nothing to obscure the scenery – including railings! Imagine wanting to look across the water at the beautiful 25th of April bridge and savoring the Monkfish Stew, but only being able to give attention to the fact that you are literally sitting 10 inches from the edge of an unguarded pontoon. Your dining experience would likely be overshadowed by being focused on your precarious situation.
When Paul wants to articulate the state of the unbeliever’s mindset, he uses language that evokes a similar sense of hazard. While encouraging the church he loved to walk in the newness of life, he instructs them not to walk as the Gentiles do, in the mataiotēti (instability, aimlessness; unreality) of their minds. Paul is going far beyond the idea that Gentiles have fruitless thoughts; he stresses that this kind of thinking is actually unstable, unsafe, and insecure. When our thinking is mataiotēti, we’re distracted from the beauty and potential all around us and instead spend a great deal of energy on fear. Thankfully, the hope we need to rise above this fear is available to us as a result of Jesus’ empty tomb. May we keep this truth in mind as we celebrate his resurrection!

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How will I celebrate Jesus’ resurrection?

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until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, – Ephesians 4:13 ESV

GREEK
ἑνότητα/henotēta: unity; the harmony produced by sharing in the benefits of Christ’s work

CONSIDER
How will I celebrate Jesus’ resurrection? It’s a pretty straightforward question, right? The reality of the empty tomb is cause to rejoice, contemplate, and even change the course of one’s life for. But for some, this question is inherently offensive. Many people consider Jesus’ resurrection to be just one truth among thousands of equally valid truths, even though the Gospel’s unique claims can be historically substantiated. But rather than connecting truth to a person’s feelings, the Bible identifies truth with a person. In John 14:6 Jesus teaches his disciples, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life.” So when Ephesians tells us that our new self is created after the likeness of God in alētheias (divine truth revealed to humans) righteousness and holiness, it means we don’t get to define that righteousness for ourselves. Rather, alētheias is defined by Christ – the Word of God – whose death and resurrection reveal that his righteousness is conferred to us who believe (Romans 4:22-25). The fact that we do not get to define truth and righteousness for ourselves is very offensive to many enlightened 21st Century people, because we often equate freedom with the ability to express “our truth.” But when we allow the implications of the empty tomb to authentically work in us, we can see that any truth that centers on our attempts to please ourselves or even on ability to please God will leave us far short of achieving the hope that the Gospel promises. The hope that the risen Jesus offers gives us a reason to celebrate!

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How will I celebrate Jesus’ resurrection?

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Be angry and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, – Ephesians 4:26 ESV

CONSIDER
People matter to God, so they should matter to us, too. But if our priorities are misaligned, we’ll begin to see the relationships that God has blessed us with from the wrong perspective. It could be a perceived lack of freedom, or a utilitarian view of those around us. Whatever the error, reconciliation is not only wise, it’s imperative. To explore this topic further, and uniquely engage with the text, check out this week’s video!

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What guidelines do I need to create in regard to reconciliation?

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Therefore, having put away falsehood, let each one of you speak the truth with his neighbor, for we are members one of another. – Ephesians 4:25 ESV

GREEK
ψεῦδος/pseudos: the sham or lie; the untrue

CONSIDER
There are a lot of voices competing for our attention in the name of health these days. Conflicting voices. Accusative voices. It’s as if our minds need a filter to discern who is speaking the truth and who is simply trying to get subscribers, money, or influence. We can easily find people that will tell us meat is good for us and that it’s bad for us, running is the best exercise for our body and the worst, and that coffee will prolong life and shorten it. Wouldn’t it be nice to be able to easily pick out a voice of truth in the sea of deception?
Thankfully, we have resources at our disposal to do just that. Jesus promised that the Holy Spirit would lead us into all truth (John 16:13) and he reminds us that God’s word itself is truth (John 17:17). So by submitting to God and the authority of his word, we have the ability to put away pseudos (the sham, the untruth). This Greek noun is clearly where we get the prefix for English words like pseudonym (fake name) and pseudoscience, but Paul’s use of pseudos is a bit different. He uses the singular form, quite literally meaning that we have put away “the falsehood,” or “the untruth.” Scholars debate what specific falsehood Paul may be referring to, but there is no debate that the reason we are to avoid pseudos is because, through Christ, we are connected to each other in a significant way. We aren’t simply people who live in the same community or part of the world; we belong to each other the way appendages belong to a body. This is why reconciliation is so important. If body parts have conflicting agendas, the result is discord and chaos. Paul wants us to know that our relationships are far more important than we likely believe them to be, and healthy, unified people are critical for a healthy and whole community of believers.

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What guidelines do I need to create in regard to reconciliation?

To listen to songs from this week’s worship set and the series on Spotify click here!

Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear. – Ephesians 4:29 ESV

GREEK
σαπρὸς/sapros: rotten, putrid

CONSIDER
In Matthew 7, Jesus compares the results of a false prophet with the fruit from a diseased tree. His conclusion is that such a tree could never bear healthy fruit because the disease would contaminate anything produced by it. False prophets, then, aren’t simply theologically flawed; they’re unhealthy for your soul.
But just in case we think spiritual rottenness is something that comes from other people, Paul instructs us to let no sapros(rotten, putrid) talk come from us, either. This adjective is taken from the same Greek word to which Jesus compares the fruit of false prophets. In other words, our offhand comment or flippant joke we tell may be an indication that the fruit we are bearing is sapros. And Paul is concerned with this because he hopes that our conversations will be life-giving and give grace to those who hear them. Our role in the unified body of Christ is to honor God and use our words to build others up. So it could be that the guidelines we need to create in regard to reconciliation just might be to speak words of health and wholeness that make it a bit less likely for reconciliation to be needed in the first place.

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What guidelines do I need to create in regard to reconciliation?

To listen to songs from this week’s worship set and the series on Spotify click here!

Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you. – Ephesians 4:32 ESV

CONSIDER
What a series! As we’ve journeyed through Ephesians 3 & 4, our focus has been on inviting others along with us. As we do, we are reminded that the way we treat others can itself be an act of worship. How is forgiving others connected to our praise? To explore this topic further, and uniquely engage with the text, check out this week’s video!

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Who is God asking me to forgive?

To listen to songs from this week’s worship set and the series on Spotify click here!

Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. – Ephesians 4:31 ESV

GREEK
πικρία/pikria: acridity, bitterness; resentful spirit

CONSIDER
What’s creamy, fruity, sweet, and smells like rotting flesh or raw sewage? No, it’s not a new flavor of jelly bean to prank your friends. It’s durian, the fruit so acrid that it is banned from public places such as airports and markets. Many of those who can get past the stench will tell you that durian is the best tasting fruit they have ever had. However, it’s been said that the vast majority of people find durian so foul smelling that they are unwilling – and often physically unable – to be near the fruit long enough to crack it open.
For Paul, durian could be a metaphorical warning of the power of acridity. Ephesians 4:31 compares our negative response to the challenges of life with the taste and smell of bitterness. It encourages us to let pikria (acridity, bitterness; resentful spirit) be put away from us. This Greek noun is synonymous with something so foul that it would be poisonous to consume. So when we allow anything in our lives to cause our spirits to become bitter, we run the risk of becoming like durian fruit. Sure, we may have the sweetness of the gospel to give to those in our spheres of influence, but the pikria of our misaligned life may cause people to keep their distance. This verse is found at the end of Paul’s teaching on the implications of new life in Christ, so we mustn’t think that we can change anything on our own about the bitterness of our spirit. Only Jesus, and his sacrificial death on our behalf, can heal and cleanse us to the point where the pikria of life can be transformed into the sweetness of the hope of the gospel.

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Who is God asking me to forgive?

To listen to songs from this week’s worship set and the series on Spotify click here!

Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you. – Ephesians 4:32 ESV

GREEK
χαριζόμενοι/charizomenoi: showing favor toward, giving freely; extending grace to
ἐχαρίσατο/echarisato: showed favor toward, gave freely; extended grace to

CONSIDER
There’s something about incredible experiences that we want to share with others. We rave about an amazing restaurant we found or a great album we’ve discovered, and insist that everyone we come in contact with enjoy that experience, too. Grace is no different. And as we come to one of the most encouraging and challenging commands in all of Paul’s epistles, he instructs us to that end. Ephesians 4:32 says to be kind to one another, tenderhearted, charizomenoi (showing favor toward, giving freely; extending grace to). At first glance these commands may seem easy to accomplish, like all Paul wants us to do is be nice to each other. But his choice of words demands that we think differently about what this text requires of us. Not only does the tense of this verb tell us to forgive in real time, as in immediately and without hesitation, but charizomenoi literally means to exercise grace that cancels a debt. This goes way beyond being agreeable toward people we find annoying; it insists that when someone owes us and we want them to “pay up,” we instead cancel that debt right then and there. Why? Because God in Christ has echarisato (extended grace that cancels a debt to) us! Nothing will bring unity and wholeness to a body of believers quicker than the recognition of God’s grace in our lives, and the desire to share that grace with the people in our world who need it most.

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Who is God asking me to forgive?

To listen to songs from this week’s worship set and the series on Spotify click here!