Ephesians — Chapter 4

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1 I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called,
2 With all lowliness and meekness, with longsuffering, forbearing one another in love;
3 Endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.
4 There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are 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.
7 But unto every one of us is given grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ.
8 Wherefore he saith, When he ascended up on high, he led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto men.
9 (Now that he ascended, what is it but that he also descended first into the lower parts of the earth?
10 He that descended is the same also that ascended up far above all heavens, that he might fill all things.)
11 And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers;
12 For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ:
13 Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ:
14 That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive;
15 But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ:
16 From whom the whole body fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint supplieth, according to the effectual working in the measure of every part, maketh increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in love.
17 This I say therefore, and testify in the Lord, that ye henceforth walk not as other Gentiles walk, in the vanity of their mind,
18 Having the understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart:
19 Who being past feeling have given themselves over unto lasciviousness, to work all uncleanness with greediness.
20 But ye have not so learned Christ;
21 If so be that ye have heard him, and have been taught by him, as the truth is in Jesus:
22 That ye put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts;
23 And be renewed in the spirit of your mind;
24 And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.
25 Wherefore putting away lying, speak every man truth with his neighbour: for we are members one of another.
26 Be ye angry, and sin not: let not the sun go down upon your wrath:
27 Neither give place to the devil.
28 Let him that stole steal no more: but rather let him labour, working with his hands the thing which is good, that he may have to give to him that needeth.
29 Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers.
30 And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption.
31 Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice:
32 And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you.
Abrahamic Catechism
Bible Study
Ephesians — Chapter 4
◈ Zohar

• "One Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all" — the Zohar's shema consciousness: the affirmation of divine unity (yichud) that underlies all multiplicity. The Sefirot are many expressions of the One; the community is many members of one body; the universe is many vessels of one light (Zohar II:163a). Paul's seven "ones" are a liturgical declaration of cosmic unity.

• "He gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers" — the Zohar's concept of the five soul-levels (nefesh, ruach, neshamah, chayah, yechidah) distributed among the community. Each ministry gift corresponds to a soul-level: teachers operate from nefesh/ruach, prophets from neshamah, apostles from chayah (Zohar II:94b). The fivefold ministry is a soul-level map.

• "Till we all come in the unity of the faith, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ" — the Zohar's shi'ur komah (measure of the divine stature), the mystical tradition of describing God's "body" in cosmic proportions. The community growing into Christ's fullness means the communal body reaching the dimensions of Adam Kadmon (Zohar II:176a). The church is the Primordial Human reconstituted.

• "Be renewed in the spirit of your mind" — the Zohar teaches that the mind (moach) is the seat of the highest Sefirot and must be continually refreshed by drawing down new light from above. Stale thinking is thinking cut off from its divine source; renewal (chiddush) means reconnecting the moach to its root in Hokhmah (Zohar III:136b). Mental renewal is mystical reconnection.

• "Grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption" — the Zohar teaches that the Shekhinah is grieved (itz'tze'ah) by human sin, particularly by speech sins (lashon hara, falsehood, corrupt communication). The "seal" (chotam) is the divine mark on the soul, corresponding to the covenant-sign that identifies it as belonging to the holy side (Zohar I:93a). Grieving the Spirit weakens the seal.

✦ Talmud

• Avot 1:6 teaches "acquire for yourself a teacher, acquire for yourself a colleague" — Paul's declaration that the ultimate Tzaddik gave "some as apostles, some as prophets, some as evangelists, some as shepherds and teachers" is the apostolic implementation of this Talmudic principle of the learning community: the Chevraya's spiritual growth requires a network of teachers in different modes, none of whom is self-sufficient.

• Sanhedrin 17a teaches that every major decision requires consultation with diverse types of wisdom — Paul's "until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood" (verse 13) reflects the Talmudic understanding that maturity is a communal achievement, not an individual one: the Chevraya grows up together or it does not grow at all.

• Berakhot 28a records the prayer taught by Rabbi Yochanan: "Do not let my foot stumble, and do not let my tongue speak what is shameful" — Paul's "let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up" is the apostolic expansion of this prayer into a communal ethic: the speech environment of the Chevraya is itself a spiritual ecosystem that either builds or destroys.

• Bava Metzia 59a teaches that after a matter is decided by the majority, the divine voice (bat kol) is no longer needed — Paul's warning against being "tossed to and fro by every wind of doctrine" is the Tzaddik's instruction in communal theological stability: the Chevraya that has been properly grounded in the divine mystery cannot be destabilized by the Sitra Achra's latest doctrinal innovation.

• Shabbat 105b teaches that the evil inclination begins with the appearance of a spider's web and ends as thick as a cart rope — Paul's instruction to "put off the old self" and "put on the new self" is the Tzaddik's early-intervention strategy: address the Sitra Achra's infiltration when it is still a spider's web, before it becomes a cart rope binding the entire community.