The Strand Study Bible

Written From Rome During Paul’s First Roman Imprisonment

1968

EPHESIANS

fundamental principle in Christianity, and in all right religion ( I Cor 8:6 a ). 4:7 The gift CHRIST gave to the Church after His ascension were not spiritual gifts. Spiritual gifts are given to us by the SPIRIT ( I Cor 12:4,11a ). The gift CHRIST gave to the Church was leadership gifts (vs 11 and I Cor 12:28a ). 4:8a What God gave believers the day CHRIST ascended up on high was different than what He gave believers the day CHRIST arose from the dead. Born again believers received two invaluable items on both occasions. The day Jesus arose from the dead God gave believers: (1) the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit (Jn 7:37-39 and Jn 20:21-22); and (2) spiritual gifts (I Cor 12:1-3). The day Jesus ascended up on high God gave believers (1) power for witnessing (Acts 1:1-9); and (2) leadership gifts (Eph 4:7-11 – apostles, prophets, evangelists and teaching pastors). 4:8 b CHRIST broke Satan’s control over us ( HE led captivity captive i.e., CHRIST holds the Devil captive who once held us in captivity – Heb 2:14-15) after His resurrection and ascension (Isa 14:1-2). NOTE – The OT text from which this is taken came from the Song of Deborah and Barak (Jud 5:12/Psa 68:18), which depicted Barak as a victorious warrior leading Israel’s defeated foes (the Cannanites who had held the people of God in captivity ) in triumphal procession ( captive ). 4:9 There are three heavens (Psa 136:5) when one looks upward from earth toward the Heaven: atmosphere (Gen 1:6-8 and Jere 8:7), stars (Gen 1:14-17 and Deut 4:19), and Heaven itself (the place where God abides - II Cor 12:1-2 and Isa 14:12-13), so there are three earths when one looks downward from Heaven toward the earth: Heaven’s atmosphere , stars , and earth itself . According to Isaiah 44:23, the phrase “ lower parts of the earth ” is not speaking of the center of the earth (Hell), but to the surface of the earth. 4:11 a This word ( evangelist s) comes from two Greek words meaning “ messenger of good news .” An evangelist is a God-called full time witness for Christ. This word is used only 3 times in the NT (Acts 21:8, II Tim 4:5 and Eph 4:11). 4:11 b This word ( pastor ) is the Greek word SοLPHQD9 ( poimenas ). This word is translated “shepherd” in every other case in the New Testament. It is the job of every pastor, to not only feed the flock, but to tend to the flock as well. 4:11 c The original Greek reads: SοLPHQD9 ( poimenas – shepherds) NDL ( kai - and) GLGDσNDOοX9 ( didaskalous – teachers) This verse could very easily have been translated “teaching pastors.” Which means, a pastor should not pastor if he is not an effective teacher (I Tim 3:1-2). 4:12 This word ( perfecting ) is the Greek word ка τ а UτLσ μο Q ( katartismon ), and comes from a root word ( artos ) referring to a “ limb , joint. ” The word literally means “ to be fitted like a joint; jointed down ; perfectly equipped (not disjointed or dysfunctional). God gave the Church (the body of Christ), indeed the world ( Lk 11:49 -52), four different kinds of specially gifted men and women: (1) apostles (Rom 16:7); (2) prophets (Lk 2:36 and Acts 2:17 & 21:8-9); (3) evangelists ; and (4) teaching pastors , to bring about three purposes: * A unity amongst all believers ( for the perfecting of the saints ) * A unity within the work of the local church ( for the work of the ministry ) * An edifying (or, building up) of the body of Christ ( for the edifying of the body of Christ – Lk 19:17 ) God designed His work in order that there would be no disjointing, dysfunction, or disharmony within the body (I Cor 12:12-26), all for the sole purpose of reaching the lost for which Christ died. Whenever a local church allows God’s apostles, prophets, evangelists, and teaching pastors to work freely amongst them for the sole purpose of reaching the lost, a unity amongst the brethren and within the work and an edifying of the body of Christ will become the spirit and purpose of that local church. Thus, the reason for “gifted” people, whether to the Church (Eph 4:12) or for the Church (I Cor 12:27-30 and Rom 12:4-8) is three-fold: (1) To bring about a unity amongst all believers ; (2) To bring about a unity within the work ; and (3) To build up (edify) the body of Christ via witnessing NOTE – In order to determine whether “modern-day tongues” is a legitimate gift or a learned behavior, one must test the gift to see if it meets the criteria for being a gift. Do modern-day tongues: The answer is “no” it does not; but witnessing to the lost in a language that they can understand does (Acts 2:1-8 and I Cor 14:1-11). Question: When has anyone needing salvation ever heard a clear presentation of the Gospel from someone speaking in tongues? The answer is “never.” Therefore, “modern-day tongues” does not meet the criteria for being a gift. Modern day tongues is not scriptural, no matter who has experienced it. It is not scriptural for three reasons: * Only the Gospel saves (Rom 1:16 and Eph 1:13) and “speaking in tongues” has never won anyone to Christ * According to I Corinthians 14:21/Isaiah 28:11-12 and Mark 16:17-20/Acts 2:1-8, “speaking in tongues” meant speaking in a foreign language, not some heavenly language * The sign-gift “tongues” is not for the benefit of the believer (I Cor 14:22/Mk 16:17-20) Christianity isn’t about us; it’s about everybody around us. It’s about serving the brethren and seeing the lost come to Christ, not serving self. 4:15 We should never separate “truth from love.” Whereas truth without love leads to legalism, love without truth leads to liberalism. 1. bring about a unity amongst all believers and within the work? The answer is “no” it does not; but witnessing to the lost does. 2. build up (edify) the body of Christ (do people get saved due to people speaking in tongues)?