Thanks for reading Pondering with Purpose! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.
This post is adapted from my teaching at Patmos Reality Discipleship on Ephesians 4:1-5:2, Summer 2025.
Introduction:
Before reading, take a minute to watch this helpful treatment of the literary structure of Ephesians by the Bible Project
So we are moving into the second half of the letter of Ephesians. Paul has spent the first three chapters laying a foundation. He has been asking and answering the question: What is reality? What is the true story of the world? What is actually going on in the universe? How do we make sense of our lives?
The second half of the letter becomes very practical. Paul turns and says, “Okay, if this is what is real, then here is how life should look.” These things matter because reality matters.
A helpful way to think about it is this: the first three chapters are like being taught about gravity. You learn that gravity exists. You learn that what goes up must come down. You learn that if you drop something, it will fall. You learn a fundamental rule of the universe.
Then the second half of the letter is like saying, “Okay, now that you know gravity exists, don’t walk off cliffs. Don’t jump out of planes without a parachute.” It is extremely practical, but not because someone is making rules up. It is practical because there is a fundamental belief about how reality actually works.
Paul is not just giving moral advice. He is saying, “Because this is the way the world is, this is how you live wisely within it.”
As we read this passage of Scripture, pay attention to what it reveals about living into what Paul has been describing, especially as it relates to four things: unity, diverse maturity, putting off and putting on, and spiritual reality.
Reading of Scripture: Ephesians 4:1–5:2
Living into this Reality
We have reached a major transition point in the letter.
Paul has laid out a grand vision of reality in the first three chapters. He has grounded everything in the reality of the triune God. He has grounded it in the reality of who we once were and who we now are in Christ. He has grounded it in the reality of the mystery of God’s inclusion of all people into the new humanity He is creating.
With all of that said, Paul now transitions to talk about what this means on a daily basis. He begins to address the implications. If this is the true story of the world, then how do we actually live within it?
Maintaining the Reality of Unity v. 1–6
God’s one new humanity is really diverse.
I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you to walk worthy of the calling with which you were called,
Verse 1 begins with “therefore.” Based on everything Paul has said in this letter so far and based on all that Christ has done and what He has made available, this is how believers are called to live.
Paul identifies himself at this transition point as a prisoner. We are fairly confident this was written from prison, but he does not say he is a prisoner of Rome or a prisoner of the emperor. He says he is a prisoner of Christ. The only reason he is where he is, is because of his captive heart to King Jesus.
Every “you” in this section is plural. This is not addressed to individuals in isolation. This is a communal invitation.
The church is not an option for the Christian. You will not fully know Jesus without living fully for one another. There are aspects of Jesus’ character, heart, patience, and wisdom that cannot be experienced apart from life together with others.
And this is not something believers initiate. It is something that began in God and is responded to. Paul says to walk worthy of the calling to which you were called. The calling already happened. God initiated it. The response is simply to answer it. That calling includes all the status Paul explained in the previous three chapters.
with all lowliness and gentleness, with longsuffering, bearing with one another in love,
Verse 2 explains how this life together is lived: with character traits that reflect Jesus and are born in believers through His Spirit.
Lowly: having a humble posture.Gentle: relating to others with softness rather than harshness.Long-suffering: patience that lasts.Bearing with one another: realistically putting up with each other.
Paul is not naive. He knows that people living together in the family of God will annoy each other, frustrate each other, and misunderstand each other. Bearing with one another means choosing to carry those irritations rather than cutting off relationship. It means saying, “You are worth this inconvenience.”
endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.
Verse 3 says to make every effort to maintain unity. Paul does not say to create unity. Unity is already Christ’s work. The call is to preserve what He has done.
Notice that Paul does not give a structure or a system. He gives virtues. The unity does not come from technique but from Christlike character.
There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called in one hope of your calling; 5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism; 6 one God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.
Verses 4–6 list seven “ones.” Seven is the biblical number of completion. That is a lot of things to have in common and they are arguably the most important things to have in common.
One body.One Spirit.One hope.One Lord.One faith.One baptism.One God and Father of all.
These are the baseline realities God’s people share.
This is the first call to action in the second half of the book.
Preserve unity.
Living worthy of the calling means working hard to maintain unity. This does not happen accidentally. The church, historically and presently, could do a lot better at this.
There are denominations, church splits, divisions within churches, and relational fractures everywhere. Unity requires forgiveness, grace, and humility. That is why it is often avoided or ignored.
But this is how believers live in light of reality.
When believers do not live this way, they communicate to the world and to the spiritual powers that they do not live according to a different story.
Paul has just spent three chapters explaining reality. Ignoring unity is like sitting through three chapters on gravity and then walking out of a third-story window. It makes no sense.
Believers do not live according to the same story as the world. To the outside world, the church should look like it lives in a fairy-tale world because it lives under a different King.
When the world looks at the church, it should see Jesus.
Not a fractured Jesus, but one unified Jesus.
Jesus came for all people to make them one in Him, to be their head. He is sufficient for that task. His Spirit is powerful enough to enable this kind of life together if believers will open themselves to what He has already done and what He is continuing to do.
Grow Into the Reality of Diverse Maturity v. 7–16
After talking about unity, Paul now turns to diversity.
Verses 7–10 show that Christ and His victory are the source of our roles, our work, and our responsibilities as Christians.
Verse 7 says,
But to each one of us grace was given according to the measure of Christ’s gift.
Our unity is the foundation from which diversity emerges. In the Greek, the idea of “one” continues the same unity Paul has just been describing. This is not a new topic disconnected from unity, it is the next movement within it.
Diversity does not come before unity. Diversity is discovered through unity. When people actually come together and live together, they begin to realize that they are different. These differences are not discovered in isolation.
Unity is not uniformity. Uniformity would mean everyone looking the same, acting the same, thinking the same. That is not what Paul is describing. Unity is served by diversity. Unity is not absorption into an indistinct oneness but the formation of a diverse family.
Therefore He says:
“When He ascended on high,He led captivity captive,And gave gifts to men.”
9 (Now this, “He ascended”—what does it mean but that He also [d]first descended into the lower parts of the earth? 10 He who descended is also the One who ascended far above all the heavens, that He might fill all things.)
Verses 8–10 quote Psalm 68, a psalm about God’s great victory, and apply it to Jesus. Through His death, burial, resurrection, and ascension, Jesus has won the victory. As a direct result of that victory, He has given gifts to His people by filling all things with Himself through His Spirit.
The imagery is that of plunder. In victory, the spoils of war are shared. Jesus has conquered and now distributes the results of that victory to His people. Each person has a role to play in this reality.
And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, 12 for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, 13 till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ;
Verses 11–13 explain how these roles function.
Paul lists apostles, prophets, evangelists, and pastors and teachers. This is not meant to be an exhaustive list, but a starting point.
Apostles can refer broadly to messengers, more narrowly to the twelve, or to those commissioned by the church. In this context, it most naturally refers to the twelve plus Paul, who are those uniquely commissioned and entrusted with foundational witness.
Prophets are spokespersons for God. They speak inspired words and bring God’s perspective on reality, often calling attention to injustice or calling people back to faithfulness.
Evangelists proclaim the good news of Jesus, often in traveling or itinerant roles.
Pastors and teachers refer to overseers and elders leaders within the church who shepherd and instruct.
The surprising part is not the list itself, but the purpose of these roles.
These leaders are given for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry. In Paul’s vision, the everyday followers of Jesus are the ones doing the actual work of ministry and service. Leaders are not meant to do everything. They are meant to prepare, train, and mobilize others.
Verse 13 describes the goal: attaining unity of the faith and the knowledge of the Son of God. This is not just intellectual knowledge, but deep, relational knowing. The result is a mature humanity.
Verses 14–16 describe what this maturity looks like.
that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting,
One of the first results is stability. Believers are no longer tossed back and forth by every wind of doctrine. There are false teachings and deceitful influences in the world, and maturity means being strong enough to recognize and resist them.
This does not mean becoming cynical or closed off, but it does mean not being naive.
15 but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head—Christ—
Verse 15 says that believers must live together as God’s new creation, speaking or more literally, “truthing” in love. Truth is not merely something that is spoken. It is something that is known, loved, and lived.
As Josh White put it: “To know a truth, to love a truth, and to live a truth are the same thing. Truth is a person not just a set of ideals”
Elsewhere, Scripture calls believers to childlikeness. This passage warns against childishness. Wonder and innocence are maintained, but immaturity is left behind. Growth means becoming more and more like Jesus.
As each member of the body does its part, the body grows into one mature body.
16 from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love.
Each person gets to contribute to Jesus’ kingdom and victory. Rather than looking at others and wishing for their role, attention is turned toward Jesus and the specific calling He has given.
Leaders and trusted people in the community help name and affirm those giftings. Preparation and faithfulness follow.
Jesus has worked the victory, but He invites His people into it.
Believers are invited to join the winning side after the decisive turn of the battle has already happened. The outcome has been declared, but participation continues.
The battle has been won, even though skirmishes still exist.
Christ has won, and He continues to win in and through His people.
Thanks for reading Pondering with Purpose! This post is public so feel free to share it.
The Reality of Putting off & Putting On v. 17–24
Since believers are the new humanity, and since they are called to work together to attain the stature of Christ, there are real lifestyle implications that follow.
Verses 17–24 focus on putting on the new humanity.
This I say, therefore, and testify in the Lord, that you should no longer walk as the rest of the Gentiles walk, in the futility of their mind,
Verse 17 begins with another “therefore.” Paul testifies in the Lord that believers should no longer walk as the rest of the Gentiles walk. Walking is a metaphor for how life is lived. This is about a whole way of life, not just isolated behaviors.
This is something Paul and the Lord agree on together. It is not merely Paul’s opinion.
Much of Paul’s audience was Gentile. They were not originally the people of God, and they had lived according to the fallen, pagan world. Paul gives a list of descriptors for this way of life.
He begins with the futility of their minds. This is a way of thinking that is fruitless, good for nothing, a dead-end road.
18 having their understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God, because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart;
In verse 18, Paul describes their understanding as darkened. They cannot see. They are living in the dark, like someone wandering around a dark room.
They are excluded from the life of God. They do not know what God is up to, and that is the main thing human beings were created for which is to know God and participate in what He is doing.
There is ignorance in them. They do not know what life is really about.
There is a hardness of heart. Toward people. Toward truth.
19 who, being past feeling, have given themselves over to lewdness, to work all uncleanness with greediness.
Verse 19 uses the image of callousness. Calloused skin is insensitive. This describes being insensitive to God and to truth, with a moral compass that is no longer responsive.
They are given over to sensuality as they feed the five senses. If it looks good, feels good, tastes good, then it is pursued.
This leads to the practice of every kind of impurity. Dirtiness that never satisfies and always wants more.
20 But you have not so learned Christ,
Verse 20 marks the sharp contrast: “You did not learn Christ this way.” A completely different kind of learning has taken place.
21 if indeed you have heard Him and have been taught by Him, as the truth is in Jesus:
Verse 21 emphasizes that discipleship includes teaching and learning. It is not only about feelings or actions. There is truth to be learned, understood, and received.
Verses 22–24 describe both a decisive act and an ongoing process.
22 that you put off, concerning your former conduct, the old man which grows corrupt according to the deceitful lusts,
Verse 22 says to put off the old self. This is a one-time, completed action. It is something that was set aside when coming to Christ. That old way of life is being corrupted and is driven by deceitful desires that promise satisfaction but lead to exhaustion and decay.
23 and be renewed in the spirit of your mind,
Verse 23 shifts tense. Believers are to be renewed in the way their minds operate. This is present and ongoing. It happens daily. The mind needs continual renewal.
24 and that you put on the new man which was created according to God, in true righteousness and holiness.
Verse 24 calls believers to put on the new self. To wear it. To adopt the way of Jesus as a way of life. To value what He values and live accordingly.
This new self is patterned after the image of God as revealed in Jesus.
Righteousness describes right-relatedness.Holiness describes the lived-out distinctness of God’s character in human life.
The world has a vision of reality that is antithetical to the biblical worldview.
It is as if the world is wearing distorted glasses. Reality is seen incorrectly. This was true of believers as well, before Christ.
Now there is a need to learn to see rightly and truly.
This requires learning to think about things according to the truth that Jesus embodied and taught.
Distorted lenses prevent accurate vision. Coming to see reality clearly requires those lenses to be removed and replaced.
This way of life is modeled after Jesus Himself.
Not an abstract idea of truth, but the embodied and grounded reality of Messiah Jesus.
This life is mediated through His life, death, resurrection, and ascension, and it is enabled through His Spirit at work within believers.
Interact Knowing the Spiritual Reality v. 4:25–5:2
Explanation (Local, Regional, Global):
Verses 25 through 5:2 give very specific examples of how the new humanity is meant to live, now that the larger reality has been established.
Because believers are one body, this way of life requires learning how to love and forgive one another.
25 Therefore, putting away lying, “Let each one of you speak truth with his neighbor,” for we are members of one another.
Verse 25 begins with “therefore.” Because of everything that has been said, falsehood is to be laid aside. Lying belongs to the old humanity. In its place, truth is taken on.
The reason given is relational: because believers are members of one another. Lying alienates. Truth makes shared life possible. Truthing helps people actually belong together.
26 “Be angry, and do not sin”: do not let the sun go down on your wrath,
Verse 26 quotes Psalm 4: “Be angry, and yet do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, and do not give the devil an opportunity.”
Anger is addressed carefully and seriously here.
“Be angry” is a present passive imperative. It is a command, but not a command to become angry. It is a command to allow something to happen. This is similar to “be filled with the Spirit” in Ephesians 5:18.
The passive voice means allowing oneself to experience anger when it is present. When there is anger inside whether from real or perceived injustice or evil. It must be felt. Anger is too powerful to ignore or suppress.
The command is not to manage anger, evaluate anger, or shut it down, but to experience it without sinning.
Anger is not sin in and of itself. It functions like warning lights on the dashboard of the soul, signaling that something feels wrong. It reveals something that needs attention.
Psalm 4 originally speaks of trembling, whether in fear or anger, and bringing that emotion before God, even on one’s bed, until silence is reached. Paul translates this idea as anger and applies it here.
Anger must be experienced with God. It is not meant to be held onto. It is transitional. If it remains, it corrodes. It must be metabolized or broken down into something that can move toward love.
At the end of Ephesians 4, this same anger is to be put away. Anger is real and meaningful, but it cannot stay. If it stays, it damages human relationships.
27 nor give place to the devil.
Verse 27 names the spiritual reality beneath this emotional experience. Lingering anger gives the devil a foothold. There is more happening here than just internal emotion.
28 Let him who stole steal no longer, but rather let him labor, working with his hands what is good, that he may have something to give him who has need.
Verse 28 addresses stealing. Any form of stealing must be set aside. But Paul does not stop there. Instead of merely not stealing, believers are called to work, to be constructive, and to give. Life shifts from taking to contributing.
29 Let no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth, but what is good for necessary edification, that it may impart grace to the hearers.
Verse 29 shifts to speech. Corrupt words, language that decays and rots, are to be replaced with words that build up, words appropriate to the situation, words that impart grace.
30 And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.
Verse 30 warns that this relational context is where the Holy Spirit can be grieved. Tearing down others who are indwelt by the Spirit grieves the Spirit Himself.
31 Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, and evil speaking be put away from you, with all malice.
Verse 31 lists general vices that damage community and grieve the Spirit: bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, and evil speaking, sourness, wishing harm, shouting matches, and reputation-destroying speech.
32 And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you.
Verse 32 gives the alternative. Instead, believers are to be kind, Christlike in posture, wanting good for one another, forgiving one another as God in Christ forgave them.
Chapter 5 begins by reminding believers that identity precedes behavior.
Therefore be imitators of God as dear children. 2 And walk in love, as Christ also has loved us and given Himself for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling aroma.
“Therefore” again points back to what has already been established. Believers are called to imitate God by walking in love.
This love is deep attachment both to God and to God’s people and it mirrors the sacrificial love of Christ, who gave Himself as an offering and sacrifice.
Believers are not the active agents of spiritual transformation.
They are commanded to let the Spirit work. They are commanded to be open. They are commanded to allow something to happen to them.
Spiritual formation is participatory, not self-generated.
Actions are not merely physical. They have spiritual impact and are shaped by spiritual realities by the work of the Holy Spirit and the opposition of the enemy.
In a lake, what happens on the surface ripples outward and downward.
When a rock is thrown or a boat moves through the water, the disturbance does not stay in one place. It spreads with influence.
This is how the physical and spiritual realms relate. What happens in one affects the other.
Jesus operated fully in both planes of existence.
He addressed physical realities like healing, food, embodied needs, and spiritual realities like sin, forgiveness, lust, greed.
These are not separate worlds. They are two sides of the same reality.
Ephesians calls believers to live with this integrated vision, recognizing that everyday actions participate in something much larger than what is immediately visible.
Conclusion:
Living into this reality means recognizing that unity, diverse maturity, putting off and putting on, and spiritual reality are not separate ideas. They are all part of the same world Paul has been describing.
This is what it looks like to live in light of what is actually true.
Reality is shaped by the triune God.Reality is shaped by the gospel story.Reality is shaped by who Jesus is and what He has done.
And because that is true, the way life is lived matters.
Unity matters because Jesus has made one new humanity.Growth matters because maturity is the goal.Putting off and putting on matters because the old way of life does not fit the new reality.And spiritual reality matters because what happens in everyday life is never only physical.
Believers live on both planes at the same time.
Jesus lived that way.He addressed physical needs: food, healing, rest.He addressed spiritual realities: sin, forgiveness, desire, allegiance.
These are not competing worlds. They are two sides of the same reality.
This letter calls believers to see the world clearly, to live wisely within it, and to walk in a way that fits the reality God has revealed.
That is what it means to live into this reality.
