에베소서 4

Keep the unity the Spirit gives

¹So I, a prisoner for the Lord, appeal to you: live in a way that is worthy of God’s call, the call that came to you. ²Be humble and gentle in every way, and be patient, putting up with one another in love. ³Spare no effort to keep the unity the Spirit gives, with peace as the bond that holds you together. ⁴There is one body and one Spirit, just as there is one hope that belongs to the call you received. ⁵There is one Lord, one faith, one baptism, ⁶one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.^a

Gifts for building up the body

⁷But grace was given to each one of us, in the measure in which Christ gave it. ⁸That is why it says, “When he went up on high, he led a band of captives, and he gave gifts to people.”^{bc 9}Now what does “He went up” mean, if not that he had also come down into the lower parts of the earth?^{de 10}The one who came down is the very same one who went up, far above all the heavens, so that he might fill all things. ¹¹It was he who gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some shepherds and teachers. ¹²He gave them to equip God’s holy people for the work of serving, so that the body of Christ would be built up, ¹³until all of us arrive at the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God. Then we will be a mature adult, grown to the full measure of the stature that belongs to the fullness of Christ. ¹⁴We will no longer be infants, thrown about by the waves and driven this way and that by each new wind of teaching, at the mercy of people who play tricks and cunningly scheme to lead others astray. ¹⁵Instead, as we speak the truth in love, we must grow in every respect into him, the head, Christ. ¹⁶From him the whole body is joined and held together by every ligament that supplies it. As each part does its own work, the body grows and builds itself up in love.^fg

Strip off the old self, put on the new

¹⁷So I tell you this, and insist on it in the Lord: you must no longer live as the Gentiles live, with their futile, empty thinking. ¹⁸Their understanding is darkened, and they are cut off from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, because their hearts have grown hard. ¹⁹They have lost all feeling and have given themselves over to indecency, practicing every kind of impurity with an appetite that always wants more.^{h 20}But that is not how you learned Christ. ²¹You surely heard him and were taught as people who belong to him, in keeping with the truth that is in Jesus. ²²You were taught to strip off the old self, the self of your former way of life, which is being ruined by its deceitful desires; ²³to be made new in the spirit of your minds; ²⁴and to put on the new self, created in God’s likeness, in the righteousness and holiness that come from the truth.ⁱ

Living as members of one another

²⁵So now that you have stripped off falsehood, each of you must tell your neighbor the truth, for we are members of one another. ²⁶If you become angry, do not let it lead you into sin. Do not let the sunset find you still angry, ²⁷and do not give the devil an opening. ²⁸Thieves must steal no more. Instead they must work hard, doing something good with their own hands, so that they have something to share with anyone in need. ²⁹Let no rotten word pass your lips. Say only what is good, what builds up and meets the need of the moment, so that your words bring grace to those who hear them.^{j 30}And do not grieve God’s Holy Spirit. It was with the Spirit that you were sealed, marked out for the day of redemption. ³¹Get rid of all bitterness, bursts of temper and anger, all shouting and slander, along with every kind of malice. ³²Be kind to one another and full of compassion. Forgive each other freely, just as God has forgiven you in Christ.^k