Rooted in Love, Growing into Christ

The Mystery of the Gospel

¹For this reason I, Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus for the sake of you Gentiles...

²Surely you have heard about the stewardship of God’s grace that was given to me for you,

³that is, the mystery made known to me by revelation, as I have already written briefly.

⁴In reading this, then, you will be able to understand my insight into the mystery of Christ,

⁵which was not made known to men in other generations as it has now been revealed by the Spirit to God’s holy apostles and prophets.

⁶This mystery is that through the gospel the Gentiles are fellow heirs, fellow members of the body, and fellow partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus.

⁷I became a servant of this gospel by the gift of God’s grace, given me through the working of His power.

⁸Though I am less than the least of all the saints, this grace was given me: to preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ,

⁹and to illuminate for everyone the stewardship of this mystery, which for ages past was kept hidden in God, who created all things.

¹⁰His purpose was that now, through the church, the manifold wisdom of God should be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms,

¹¹according to the eternal purpose that He accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord.

¹²In Him and through faith in Him we may enter God’s presence with boldness and confidence.

¹³So I ask you not to be discouraged because of my sufferings for you, which are your glory.

Paul’s Prayer for the Ephesians

¹⁴... for this reason I bow my knees before the Father,

¹⁵from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name.

¹⁶I ask that out of the riches of His glory He may strengthen you with power through His Spirit in your inner being,

¹⁷so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. Then you, being rooted and grounded in love,

¹⁸will have power, together with all the saints, to comprehend the length and width and height and depth

¹⁹of the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.

²⁰Now to Him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to His power that is at work within us,

²¹to Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen.

Unity in the Body

¹As a prisoner in the Lord, then, I urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling you have received:

²with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love,

³and with diligence to preserve the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace.

⁴There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to one hope when you were called;

⁵one Lord, one faith, one baptism;

⁶one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.

⁷Now to each one of us grace has been given according to the measure of the gift of Christ.

⁸This is why it says: “When He ascended on high, He led captives away, and gave gifts to men.”

⁹What does “He ascended” mean, except that He also descended to the lower parts of the earth?

¹⁰He who descended is the very One who ascended above all the heavens, in order to fill all things.

¹¹And it was He who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers,

¹²to equip the saints for works of ministry and to build up the body of Christ,

¹³until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God, as we mature to the full measure of the stature of Christ.

¹⁴Then we will no longer be infants, tossed about by the waves and carried around by every wind of teaching and by the clever cunning of men in their deceitful scheming.

¹⁵Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into Christ Himself, who is the head.

¹⁶From Him the whole body, fitted and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love through the work of each individual part.

New Life in Christ

¹⁷So I tell you this, and insist on it in the Lord, that you must no longer walk as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their thinking.

¹⁸They are darkened in their understanding and alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them due to the hardness of their hearts.

¹⁹Having lost all sense of shame, they have given themselves over to sensuality for the practice of every kind of impurity, with a craving for more.

²⁰But this is not the way you came to know Christ.

²¹Surely you heard of Him and were taught in Him—in keeping with the truth that is in Jesus—

²²to put off your former way of life, your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires;

²³to be renewed in the spirit of your minds;

²⁴and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.

²⁵Therefore each of you must put off falsehood and speak truthfully to his neighbor, for we are all members of one another.

²⁶“Be angry, yet do not sin.” Do not let the sun set upon your anger,

²⁷and do not give the devil a foothold.

²⁸He who has been stealing must steal no longer, but must work, doing good with his own hands, that he may have something to share with the one in need.

²⁹Let no unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building up the one in need and bringing grace to those who listen.

³⁰And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, in whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.

³¹Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, outcry and slander, along with every form of malice.

³²Be kind and tenderhearted to one another, forgiving each other just as in Christ God forgave you.