(If you want a one-minute video with just some thoughts about racial reconciliation, from my wife Médine, who is from Central Africa, and myself, a white guy from the U.S., see https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oqQSUfbNeU0)

But this need not be a characteristic limited to African life, as we shall see with respect to Eph 5:18-20.

In my work on Acts, I initially treated Eph 5:18 as a different expression of being filled with the Spirit than what we find in Acts. Luke’s emphasis about the Spirit in Acts is empowerment for mission (Acts 1:8), with filling by the Spirit usually expressed in Luke’s work by Spirit-inspired (prophetic-like) speech for God (2:17-18; cf. 4:8, 31; 13:9; 19:6; 28:25; Luke 1:15-17, 41-42, 67). In keeping with Acts’ emphasis on mission to the nations (Acts 1:8), this inspired speech is often expressed by worshiping God in other people’s languages (2:4; 10:46; 19:6).

I argued that Paul aproaches tongues (in 1 Corinthians) and being filled with the Spirit (in Ephesians) from a different, if complementary, perspective. In 1 Cor 14, Paul focuses on the role of tongues in private prayer, also viewing it in the context of gifts from the Spirit generally (1 Cor 12—14). Although Paul prays in tongues privately more than do all the Corinthians (14:18), Paul emphasizes that in corporate worship tongues should be interpreted so as to benefit all the hearers. He is correcting abuses in Corinth, but the believers there presumably learned the practice through him, perhaps some of them even in the sort of collective outpourings of the Spirit like those sometimes narrated in Acts. But the way Paul articulates his focus differs from that which Luke associates with corporate outpourings of the Spirit narrated in Acts (e.g., 4:31; 13:52), which sometimes mention tongues (2:4; 10:46; 19:6).

In Eph 5:18-20, I argued, Paul emphasizes a different expression of being filled with the Spirit, and he is probably urging a regular or continuous experience with God. He is not narrating collective experiences, often (as in Acts 2, 10, 13 and 19; not 4) inauguratory ones, as Luke is doing in Acts. (The Greek term for “filled” also differs from the usual term used by Luke, except in Acts 13:52, but that might be merely stylistic preference.)

In Eph 5:18, we are to be filled and ruled by the Spirit in contrast to being filled and controlled by wine (cf. Acts 2:13-15). A drunk (or otherwise stoned or high) person may utter or sing nonsense, but being filled with the Spirit in the sense of Eph 5:18 leads to better content in one’s speech. The command “be filled with the Spirit” is followed by a string of subordinate participial clauses that express what it looks like to be filled with the Spirit, especially in relation to one another (5:19-21):

• Speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and Spirit-moved songs
• Singing and praising [possibly even, “psalming”] the Lord with [all] your hearts (for the pairing of these same Greek terms for singing and praising, cf. LXX Ps 20:14 [ET 21:13]; 26:6 [27:6]; 32:3 [33:3]; 56:8 [57:7]; 67:5, 33 [68:4, 32]; 103:33 [104:33]; 104:2 [105:2]; 107:2 [108:1]; 143:9 [144:9])
• Always giving thanks for everything to [our] God and Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ
• Submitting to each other because you reverence Christ

Yet Eph 5:18 is not nearly as distant from Acts as I have sometimes thought. Here, too, being filled with the Spirit is expressed in Spirit-inspired speech. Here this Spirit-inspired speech is expressed in worship in 5:19; but the tongues passages in Acts probably also involve worship (note 2:11; 10:46, with kai connecting the tongues and magnifying God more closely than te … kai in 19:6, which probably distinguishes the tongues from other prophetic speech). Paul elsewhere treats tongues in terms of prayer (1 Cor 14:13-15) and blessing and thanking God (14:16-17), so if Acts describes the same experience (albeit from a different angle), tongues there probably involves especially worship as well.

The worship in Eph 5:18 is not surely limited to, yet surely includes, tongues. “Spiritual songs” likely means “songs from the Spirit”; since Paul elsewhere speaks of tongues as a gift of the Spirit (1 Cor 12:10), and speaks of its use in song (14:13-15), this would include singing in tongues. This conclusion might follow all the more if we construed “spiritual” as referring to the human spirit, since Paul elsewhere depicts singing in a tongue and interpreting it as singing with his spirit and with his mind, respectively (14:13-15).

Again, Paul’s understanding of worship in Eph 5:18 is not limited to tongues. Paul speaks of psalms and hymns, which undoubtedly include biblical psalms (as in the synagogue). As for hymns, some scholars identify what they believe are pre-Pauline hymns in Paul’s letters. I am more inclined to see these as exalted prose (grand rhetoric), since they do not fit the structure of Greek hymns, and I am inclined to attribute most of them to Paul. (Greeks used specially exalted language for the divine or sublime; Paul applies such exalted prose especially to Christ.) Nevertheless, Paul seems to take for granted that his audience accepts as common ground what he articulates in these praises of Christ. His affirmations in these passages therefore reflect wider Christian beliefs, and such beliefs were undoubtedly expressed in actual worship.

All of this suggests that a key New Testament expression of being filled with the Spirit, not only in Luke’s writings but also in Paul’s letters, is that even our lips yield to the Spirit’s leading. (The tongue is, after all, the most difficult organ to subdue—cf. Jms 3:2!) Moreover, we can often expect that when we experience the empowerment of the Spirit, this will be expressed in worship to God.

So far I have not commented on the final subordinate clause that flows from being filled with the Spirit (5:18): submitting to one another (5:21). Humbly submitting to and serving one another an overarching Christian principle (cf. Mark 10:43-45; John 13:14-15; Rom 12:10) that Paul applies to various relationships relevant to his audience (Eph 5:22—6:9). But in Acts, also, the Spirit produces loving devotion to and service for one another (Acts 2:44-45; 4:32-35).

People of the Spirit are people who, both when gathered together and as part of our normal lifestyle, joyfully praise God and care for others.

When Paul calls us to imitate God, he refers especially to sacrificial love and forgiveness:

“Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you. Follow God’s example, therefore, as dearly loved children and walk in the way of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.” (Eph 4:32—5:2, NIV)

In the body of Christ, our fellow members are as human as we are, and some are emotionally dysfunctional. Simple misunderstandings can take on new dimensions for people who have been repeatedly hurt, and they may lash out and hurt others. But the conflict can stop with us. We need to speak truthfully, not slandering others by misrepresenting or caricaturing their intentions (4:31). We must speak truthfully to one another because we are fellow members of Christ’s body (4:25). Expressing anger in words that we can’t take back gives the devil a foothold (4:26-27). What we speak should be for the purpose of building each other up (4:29). That often means we have to swallow our pride, holding our natural instincts in check long enough to formulate a softer response that gives grace to the hearers. (A gentle answer often deescalates anger, whereas a harsh response escalates the conflict—Prov 15:1.)

Paul does not summon us to create unity in Christ’s body, but to preserve unity by being at peace (Eph 4:3). That is because Christ has already brought us together as his body (2:15-16; 4:4), at the cost of his own life (2:16). When we engender divisions in his body, we sin against Christ’s sacrifice. As we would suffer pain if our own body were torn apart, we cause Christ pain when we divide his body, by what we speak or how we act.

Paul applies this image both to ethnic divisions (2:11-13) and other relationships (4:25). Our goal, to which true ministry leads (cf. 4:11-12), is maturity in Christ: not a baby body, but an adult body (4:13-15). This is expressed in a body whose parts function together, in unity of faith in and knowing God’s Son (4:13), in speaking God’s truth in love (4:15), as each member of the body, joined directly to Christ, does its part in building up the whole body (4:16). We do need to guard the body against those who are out to advance themselves (4:14) rather than functioning as gifts given by Christ for his body (4:7-8, 11-13). Nevertheless, not only in local church relationships but even in online community, believers should deploy the truth in love, not in ways counterproductive to our unity in Christ.

The model of Christ’s divine love, so pivotal to Paul’s case in Ephesians 4:32—5:1, does not start there. The first part of Ephesians is lavish in its depiction of God’s love for us. For example,

God “chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love he predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved. In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses,according to the riches of his grace, which he lavished upon us” (Eph 1:4-8, ESV).

Throughout the first part of his letter, Paul elaborates all sorts of blessings that God has given us in Christ. When, in the remainder of his letter, he summons us to love and serve one another, he calls us to give what we have received: grace. God gave us grace (1:6-7; 2:5-8), including by giving us some of his other servants to build us up (3:2, 7-8; 4:7). We also have opportunity to share grace with one another, including by how we speak (4:29).

We follow Christ’s example of sacrificial love—even for us his followers, who forsook him and fled when the time came to take up the cross and follow him (cf. Mark 14:50). We love because he showed us how. In the words of another apostolic author: “We love because he first loved us” (1 John 4:19).

1 John 3:16 (NIV): “This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters.”

1 John 4:8-11: “Whoever doesn’t love doesn’t know God, because God is love.This is how God showed his love among us: God sent his one, special Son into the world so that we might live through him.In this is love: not that we came to love God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice to atone for our sins. My loved ones: since God loved us in this way, we also must love one another”

1 John 4:16: “… God is love, and whoever stays in love stays in God, and God in him:

1 John 4:19: “We love, because he first loved us”

We may be accustomed to such emphatic language of love, which offers an explicit perspective on the implicit depiction of Christ’s sacrificial compassion in the Gospels and God putting up with his people for so long in both the OT and NT.

But it would have struck people as more distinctive in the first century. Granted, people envisioned patron deities, who had their favorite mortals or peoples. But a God who was reaching out to people of all ethnicities, whose love was so great that he sacrificed his Son, was quite different from typical ancient religious imagination.

Even today, a message of a God who loves all people, whoever will enter covenant with him, is unbelievably good news. It was an idea with which I originally struggled as a new convert; because I lacked analogies, it seemed too good to be true. But it is true—and it is good. And it invites us to love in turn others whom God also loves.

This is not simply the idiosyncratic perspective of one disciple. Rather, it reflects the meditation of Jesus’s early followers on who he is and what he has done for is. To give some samples from Paul alone:

Rom 5:5: “God’s love has been poured out in our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us”

Rom 8:35, 37, 39: “Who can sever us from Christ’s love? …in all these hardships we utterly prevail through the one who loved us. For nothing … will be able to sever us from God’s love that’s encountered in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

2 Cor 5:14: “For Christ’s love compels us, knowing this, that one died for all …”

Gal 2:20: “God’s Son, who loved me and surrendered himself on my behalf”

Eph 1:4-5: “… In love he set us apart beforehand to adopt us as children for himself through Jesus Christ”

Eph 2:4-5, 7: “Because of his great love by which he loved us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive in Christ … so that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable wealth of his graciousness by his kindness to us in Christ Jesus”

Eph 3:19: “to know Christ’s love that surpasses knowing …”

Eph 5:2: “behave in love, just as Christ loved us and surrendered himself on our behalf …”

Or Rev 1:5: “to the who loved us,” etc.

This is no minor theme, yet sometimes in our commendable focus on details we miss the big picture. God saved us because he loves us. And nothing makes him happier than when we, as agents of his heart, show that same gracious and patient love for one another. Indeed, “behold what sort of love the Father has given us” (1 John 3:1)! As Charles Wesley put it, “Amazing love, how can it be? That Thou, my God, shouldst die for me!”

The mature body, like her head

The ultimate goal of such equipping is unity in believing and knowing Jesus (4:13a). Thus we will function as Christ’s full body (4:13b). When we act together as Christ’s body, the world can see Christ through us. (Of course, that does not mean that all will like us; they did not all like our Lord, either.) This does not mean that we dare get a “big head” as if we have “arrived”; some have emphasized our wondrous role in Christ so much that they have forgotten how solely dependent this role is on Christ himself. We as Christ’s body function properly only as we all remain in connection with our head, our Lord Jesus Christ (4:15-16).

Nor is Paul providing an eschatological scheme or predicting a progression toward maturity through history. Rather, such unity is always the goal, for the church in every generation. Still, the world has yet to see the body of Christ functioning fully in mature unity of knowing and trusting Christ. God delights to reveal his wisdom in forming the church even to the angelic hosts (3:10), and I suspect that he will have a generation through whom he can prove what he can make of new creatures in Christ. After all, Scripture speaks of preaching Christ’s good news among all peoples before the end (Matt 24:14) and of the full harvest of gentiles coming in (Rom 11:25). May we become that generation!

Ultimately, Christ’s body must grow up, no longer immature, taken in by false teaching (4:14). In this context, such false teaching at least includes whatever would take our attention away from Christ and his body and put it on human leaders. In contrast to false teaching, we must lovingly speak truth (4:15), i.e., God’s word consistent with the gospel. Thus we will grow up to be like Christ our Lord (4:15). Paul shows that this is accomplished not by forced ecclesiastical conformity, but by conforming to Christ and nurturing one another in love (4:16)

How do we avoid such “winds of teaching” (4:14)? For one thing, we must make sure that those sowing the ministry of the Word are genuinely serving Christ’s body. Thus one must test those who call themselves apostles (as in Rev 2:2). Paul was definitely not against apostles, since he was one. But he challenged his rivals in Corinth as “false apostles” (2 Cor 11:13). Why? Paul as a true apostle suffered greatly for the gospel (11:23-33). He broke new ground, reaching lost people and preparing them to carry forward the mission (10:14-16). His rivals, by contrast, were false apostles, boasting as if they had won the Corinthians to Christ. They were boasting in other people’s labors. Those who grow big churches or denominations by siphoning members from other churches rather than really reaching people for Christ ought to consider what they are doing. Granted, true teaching may attract many new members, and we do need true teaching. But those who want the title had better be willing to pay the spiritual cost.

Scripture also warns against false prophets (e.g., Matt 24:11, 24). Some of these are certainly outside the church (Rev 16:13), but others pretend to be believers—wolves in sheep’s clothing (Matt 7:15). They misrepresent Christ (1 John 4:1) and exploit God’s people (2 Pet 2:1-3). We may also speak of false evangelizers: those who proclaim another gospel, whether by inflating themselves (2 Cor 11:4) or by supplanting Christ’s finished work with other requirements (Gal 1:6). False teachers can overlap with false prophets (2 Pet 2:1).

Meaning of apostles and prophets here

The New Testament uses the title “apostle” in two ways. The Gospels and Acts usually restrict the title to the Twelve (Acts calls even Paul and Barnabas apostles only in one passage!). Cessationists are right about the Twelve: the Twelve have ceased! Paul, however, applies the title more widely (e.g., 1 Cor 15:5-7), to various ground-breaking agents authorized by Christ, such as himself (Rom 1:1); James (Gal 1:19); Andronicus and Junia (Rom 16:7); and probably Silas and Timothy (1 Thess 1:1; 2:7).

What we have today is the second kind of apostles. For both kinds of apostles, we may expect signs confirming their reaching the lost (2 Cor 12:12), but especially and most extensively sacrificial suffering for the gospel (e.g., Matt 10:16-39; 1 Cor 4:9; 2 Cor 11:23-33).

Like apostles, evangelists and pastor-teachers, prophets remain necessary so long as the church needs to come to maturity (Eph 4:11-13). In the Bible, we see a range of different forms of prophecy. Sometimes prophets prophesied to nations; at other times they prophesied to individuals. In the latter case, Scripture most often record prophecies to kings (because of the focus of the historical books), but apparently many were expected also to prophesy to many others (e.g., 1 Sam 9:6-9; 2 Kgs 8:1). Before the exile, prophetic books were often arranged in poetry, but most prophecies found in historical narratives are more prosaic. Prophecies often echoed earlier prophecy (e.g., covenant lawsuits in prophetic books), so we can expect that they were often rooted in prior Scripture.

Some preachers today want to deny that this gift continues. But it existed throughout biblical history (though more in some times than others), and there is no biblical indication of it ceasing until Christ’s return, when we see him face to face and no longer need such partial revelation (1 Cor 13:8-12; cf. 1:7).

Those who deny its continuance typically claim that continuing prophecy would compete with Scripture as God’s Word. This claim, however, is plainly false, since prophecy flourished at the time that Scripture was being inspired and never competed with it. They are overlapping but different forms of revelation. Many prophets prophesied during the OT era without their prophecies being recorded in Scripture (e.g., 1 Sam 10:10; 19:20; 1 Kgs 18:4). If just two or three believers prophesied in average weekly meetings in just about a hundred house churches in the first century, we might envision somewhere around 400,000 prophecies in first-century churches. These prophecies are not recorded as Scripture (or else our New Testament would take quite a bit longer to read through—and woe to us professors who have to survey it all in one semester).

Prophecy about personal direction or prophecy that is essentially Spirit-led biblical exhortation does not add to Scripture, if it is genuine prophecy. There is no reason to assume that postbiblical prophecy that does not teach new doctrine adds to Scripture any more than assuming that for postbiblical teaching. Unfortunately, the doctrine that prophecy must cease is a postbiblical teaching. Who, then, risks adding to Scripture?

Some protest, Scripture does not explicitly predict prophecy’s cessation, but if you read Scripture with the right theological system, you will see that it must cease. So where does this theological system come from? If it imposes on the text what is not there, is not this system adding to Scripture? That is, this argument for the cessation of prophecy is guilty of the very error that it attributes to those who continue to prophesy.

Having said this, of course, all prophecy must be evaluated (1 Cor 14:29). We know in part and we prophesy in part (13:9), so we must evaluate both prophecy and teaching based on what God has already revealed. Scripture is not all that God has ever spoken (see discussion above about Scripture noting true prophets without recording their prophecies). But it is the canon—the true measuring stick—for all claims to revelation. It is the already-tested Word that Christians as a community agree on as certain. Those unwilling to stand under its verdict, whether in prophesying or teaching, inevitably end up condemned by its verdict.

Meaning of pastors and teachers

Finally, and relevant to the discussion of prophets just concluded, Paul lists pastors (literally, shepherds) and teachers. The Old Testament (and the ancient world in general) often speaks of leaders as shepherds; good ones are supposed to care for the sheep. For this role, teaching is crucial.

In fact, the grammar may suggest here not a fivefold ministry but a fourfold one, against common traditions: pastors and teachers are closely linked: the Greek reads tous men apostolous, tous de prophêtas, tous de euaggelistias, tous de poimenas kai didaskalous. That is, four of the groups are distinguished with tous de, whereas pastors are linked with teachers (the Greek term kai can mean “and” or “even, i.e.”).

At the very least, pastors and teachers linked closely together. Scripture elsewhere insists that pastors must be able to teach (1 Tim 3:2; 2 Tim 2:24; Tit 1:9); it is essential to know and teach the Scriptures, and to do so according to the true gospel.

We don’t need to agree on every secondary detail of understanding. But we must be united on the gospel and work for unity and the maturity of Christ’s body.

(Continued from part 1, http://www.craigkeener.org/?p=4275)

Setting in Ephesians: Unity

The setting in Ephesians is an exhortation to unity. Ephesians 1—3—the first half of the letter—keeps emphasizing ethnic unity, the unity of Jews and gentiles in Christ. (And if God would transcend in Christ’s body a barrier he himself established in salvation history, the unity of Christ’s body must also surmount every other barrier.) The exhortations later in Eph 4:17—5:2 address relationships, especially members of Christ’s body loving and forgiving like Christ.

Paul also addresses serving one another in the household (Eph 5:21—6:9). Since at least the time of Aristotle, ancient household codes often told the male head of the household how he was to rule his wife (cf. 5:22-33), children (cf. 6:1-4), and slaves (6:5-9). But Paul addresses wives, children and slaves as well as male householders, and his code is the only one we know of in antiquity framed by mutual submission: serving one another (5:21; 6:9). Given Jesus’s teachings about serving one another, the Spirit’s fruit in us, as well as Christ’s example, should make us all eager to serve one another, in Christ’s body generally and in our families.

Just before addressing Christ’s body in our passage (4:4), Paul urges believers to be diligent to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace (4:3). “Keep” often means “obey,” as in keeping commandments, but here may mean “preserve.” Christ, who is our peace, has made us one body in him (2:14-16). Now we must preserve that unity by showing humility, gentleness, and patiently putting up with one another (4:2).

Christ’s body earlier in Ephesians

The context relates even more directly to Christ’s body. The theme of Christ’s body appears earlier in Ephesians. Ephesians was a circular letter, but Ephesus was a major destination for the letter. Many Ephesian Christians had been dabbling with other spirits and worshiping other gods before their conversion (Acts 19:18-19, 24-29). Paul assures them, however, that in Christ they are exalted above all spirits (Eph 1:20-23; 2:6). We are Christ’s body (1:23), Paul says, and since all things are under his feet (1:22) that means that these spirits we once honored are now beneath us.

That does not suggest that we go ordering those spirits to do our bidding—that is exactly what magic was all about. Rather, it means that we are no longer subject to their sin-stirring influence, no longer subject to the devil’s schemes (2:1-3). Later in the letter Paul explains how we therefore can resist the devil (4:27): by treating one another right (4:25—5:2), and by living according to truth, righteousness, faith, salvation, and the gospel (6:10-12).

As Christ’s body, Paul says, we are the “fullness of the one who fills all” (1:23). This is because God fills us up with his love and his Spirit (3:19; 5:18). “All” in 1:23 may refer to all believers (as in 4:6), thus reinforcing unity: we are the product of Christ filling all of us to bring us toward the full measure of being like Christ (4:13).

Christ’s body in Ephesians 4

Paul uses the image of one body to highlight unity. Thus, for example, the husband and wife become one flesh and one body because they are united (5:23, 30). Likewise, Christ brings together Jew and gentile in one united body (2:16; 3:6). We as believers today may be different ethnically, denominationally, and so forth. But if we divide from one another over such ethnic or denominational differences, we undercut the unity for which Christ died. We wound Christ’s one body!

In this context, the purpose of spiritual gifts is to build up Christ’s body (4:12). If we boast in our gifts or demean those of others, we harm Christ’s body and abuse God’s own gifts to us, that were given for the opposite purpose! Each member, united to Christ, is needed for Christ’s body (4:16).

Paul’s image was familiar to ancient audiences, but Paul uses it in a different way. In earlier Rome, the lower class people protested that they were doing all the work while the upper class people just enjoyed the fruits of others’ labors. So an upper-class man named Menenius Agrippa argued that everyone has their function in society, like different members of a body. The upper class was like a stomach; the poor people did the work, and the upper class was necessary to consume the food. In other words, he was saying: keep your place.

But more like some Stoic thinkers, Paul used the image of the body in a very different way. For Paul, there is only one head, namely Christ (4:15-16). Far from lording it over us or exploiting us, he laid down his life to save us (5:25). Each member of his body is equally valuable for the body’s overall function, despite our diverse roles. It is not a matter of some “big” leaders being super-gifted while “ordinary” Christians lack gifts or ministries. Rather, all of us are gifted to minister to one another and to the world around us, just in different ways. The so-called “big” leaders must be facilitators, equipping the other members to grow in their ministries.

Another difference is that the body image is much more organic for Paul than for Menenius Agrippa: Christ actually dwells in us (3:17). On an individual level, the fruit of the Spirit reveals his character in us. But as we function together as one body in him, his character should also be expressed in us corporately as a body. Various aspects of Christ’s ministry are revealed in different members.

Grace given to each of us

Various aspects of Christ’s ministry are revealed in us as diverse members, but “But to each one of us grace was given according to the measure of Christ’s gift” (4:7 NASB). Each of us plays an important and special role—male or female, young or old, Asian or Latin American, Anglican or Baptist, and so forth. Each of us has gifts for the rest of Christ’s body, and should welcome the other gifts in Christ’s body.

At great cost to himself, Christ made us one and made gifts available. Now exalted, Christ has given gifts (4:8). Paul supports this by paraphrasing Psalm 68:18. The original language of the psalm says that the one who ascended took plunder rather than gave it. But everyone understood that, having taken plunder, victors distributed it among their followers. Christ has taken captive some—such as apostles, prophets, evangelists, and pastor-teachers—to serve as gifts to the rest of Christ’s body.

Paul notes the gifts given by Christ: as just noted, apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastor-teachers (4:11). What these particular gifts share in common is the ministry of God’s Word. Through God’s message, given in different ways, these ministers build up the rest of Christ’s body. Their purpose, in fact, is to equip all members of the body for the work of ministry (4:12a) so they can build/be-built-as Christ’s body (4:12b). Those who claim to be apostles, prophets, evangelists or pastor-teachers but exploit God’s people rather than serving and equipping them are more like wolves in sheep’s clothing. (continued in part 2)

Some of those other skills, such as health work and agriculture, address some of the very issues that Jesus cared about (as demonstrated by his healings and feeding multitudes). (That Jesus would have approved of doing what we can to provide outside of miracles is suggested by him telling his disciples, after the feeding miracle, to gather up the leftovers. That is, they wouldn’t need a miracle for their next meal.) Thank God for a prophetically insightful public administrator like Joseph, who was able to save many lives from famine (Gen 45:5, 7; 50:20). Priests became dermatologists when they had to examine people for what were believed to be contagious skin diseases (Lev 13:2-43). Somebody presumably took care of safety inspections (Deut 22:8).

Granted, in the Old Testament, we especially see the Spirit empowering God’s servants to prophesy or lead (e.g., Deut 34:9), and of worship worship leading (1 Chron 25:1-5) and other songs (1 Kgs 4:32; Song of Solomon). But we also see the Spirit filling Bezalel for artistic and architectural activity that honors God (Exod 31:3; 35:31; 36:1). The seven new officers of the church in Acts 6:3 initially must be full of the Spirit and wisdom for their work in administration and finance. God also gave Solomon special wisdom for judging (1 Kgs 3:9-28). Let’s not forget the Spirit filling Samson with superhuman strength (though the purpose was delivering Israel and not just winning prizes in competitions). God’s Spirit came on Mary to be a Mom (though in a special way for the virgin birth, which was for only one occasion in history).

Are you interested in biology, genetics and the like? Many discoveries in these areas can lead to improvements in health care. But of course the sciences hold their own interest. Proverbs 25:2 might speak of those who had leisure (i.e., not farming or other responsibilities) to seek knowledge: “It is the glory of God to conceal things, but the glory of kings is to search things out” (NRSV). (Even though we will never run out of hidden things, Deut 29:29.) Solomon had a passionate interest in biology and its applications; this was part of his God-given wisdom: “He spoke about plant life, from the cedar of Lebanon to the hyssop that grows out of walls. He also spoke about animals and birds, reptiles and fish” (1 Kgs 4:33, NIV)

There are plenty of military officers, though this was closer to their calling and empowerment in Old Testament periods where God’s purposes were closely tied to a nation (in Acts, we see many following the Lord but not so much specifically because of them being in the military, since the Roman military was not used only for just wars and certainly not for holy ones).

Even for other kinds of subsequent ministry, God used people’s various backgrounds as models for what they would do, such as shepherds (of sheep and then people), fishers (of fish and then people), accountants (tax collectors), scribes (Matt 13:52), carpenters, and the like. (Pastoral counseling counts as a pastoral/shepherd gift; cf. e.g., Ezek 34:2, 4.) (If plumbers and aeronautic engineers don’t appear on this list, it is because they didn’t exist in the biblical cultures yet. Only rich people had indoor plumbing, and hiking up the Acrocorinth, which I got to do once, was the closest anybody got to physical space travel.) Paul, of course, was sometimes bivocational as a leather worker (or tentmaker, depending on how you translate that); given what we know about this profession, that probably included sales also.

These are just a sample of the sorts of callings that God used, partly limited by the range of examples available in antiquity and partly because I thought these examples should suffice. (I could have listed many more). Further, many other callings are implied; our advanced economies and information technology allows us to specialize in ways not possible in antiquity. Community concerns for law enforcement, sanitation, and the like were handled differently but were matters of concern then as now. Given ancient values on hospitality and the making and selling of textiles even from homes, the polite behavior we expect in service industries was probably shared more widely in the culture.

So if your particular area isn’t in the list, don’t feel like it shouldn’t be. Obviously there are some spheres in which Christians cannot work, such as drug dealer or pimp (gangster boss Mickey Cohen, converted in a mid-twentieth century evangelism meeting, didn’t persevere in faith when he realized it would cost him his profession). But for the most part, God uses us in a range of professions, always in our witness for Christ and often even through the ways we serve through the profession itself.

Those of us who are called to use Scripture to equip the saints for their ministries (Eph 4:11-13) should remember this and encourage people in our congregations to flourish in their range of professions.

It is significant, therefore, that in Ephesians 1:20-21, Paul depicts Jesus Christ our Lord as enthroned above all hostile spiritual authorities. (Some attribute Ephesians to a disciple reflecting Paul’s thought. For reasons that would require too much digression here, I think that Paul authored Ephesians more directly.)

Paul wrote Ephesians to believers in Asia Minor, including Paul’s previous center of ministry there, Ephesus. Spiritual power was no merely theoretical matter for his audience; many believers there had experienced deliverance from occult practices (Acts 19:18-19). Ancient sources show us that fear of spirits was widespread and gradually growing, reaching a peak by the third or fourth century.

Many such spirits were “ground forces,” but concern about heavenly spiritual powers also abounded. Many believed that the lowest of the heavens, the “air” realm where birds fly, was full of spirits. On a higher level, however, many also believed that Fate ruled through the stars; astrology was thus growing in popularity.

Jewish thinkers usually taught that the stars could not control the destiny of God’s people, whom God ruled directly and protected through his archangel Michael. Nevertheless, they believed in angels who ruled the nations, an idea already found in Daniel (Dan 10:13, 20) and in the Greek translation of Deuteronomy. Paul refers to these powerful guardian spirits as “rulers and authorities in heavenly realms” (Eph 1:20-21; 6:12).

Yet Paul also emphasizes that Christ is enthroned above these powers (Eph 1:20-21). That Christ is above the angels of the nations would have important ethical implications for the problem of ethnic disunity among believers (a major problem in the Ephesian church—2:11-22).

Although of the Gospels only Luke narrates Christ’s ascension, the rest of the New Testament presupposes it, emphasizing that Christ is at the Father’s right hand; “seated” in Eph 1:20 recalls Ps 110:1: “Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet.” He has triumphed over the spirits through his exaltation (also 1 Pet 3:22).

The church in the Roman province of Asia had concrete experience with Jesus’s triumph over the powers. The seven sons of Sceva tried to invoke Jesus’s name like a magical formula, thinking that this was how Paul cast out demons. They quickly discovered, however, that Jesus was no spirit they could manipulate; only someone like Paul, authorized as Jesus’s agent to use his name, could use it with authority. Consequently, many turned from their secret practices and acknowledged Jesus Christ as Lord (Acts 19:13-20). They had discovered that Jesus’s name is genuinely above all names, including every name that is invoked (Eph 1:21). It was not a magical formula to be invoked by those who do not know him.

Ephesians would encourage such believers, and all of us, that we too are enthroned with Christ above such powers. These powers are under Christ’s feet, and Paul emphatically combines this stark image with the image of the church as Christ’s body (1:22-23). Combined, the images reveal that if the powers are under Christ’s feet, they are also under Christ’s body. Paul certainly envisions Christ being seated with his head at the top of his body and the feet at the bottom. It is thus no surprise that in Eph 2:6 Paul declares explicitly that we have been seated or enthroned with Christ in heavenly places! Someday we will be enthroned with him in a fuller sense (Rev 3:21), but we already experience a foretaste of that reality now.

But what does this mean? Does this mean, as some people seem to think, that we can go around ordering heavenly powers what to do? Here is what the context suggests that Paul means. Being enthroned with Christ above these powers, we are no longer subject to their influence (2:2-6), so long as we follow Christ as our Lord. Through the gospel, believers can actually challenge the corrupted arguments and ideologies through which evil powers influence societies (2 Cor 10:2-5).

Sadly, believers often reflect values of our cultures. In the U.S., for example, this sometimes means materialism, racial and class insensitivity, political polarization and harsh rhetoric. But we can rise above those values, if we allow Christ to renew our understanding. We are no longer subject to the old powers—unless we choose to be.

As fear of demons grew, by the third century even sober rabbis warned that if one extends one’s right hand, one extends it into a thousand demons, and if one extends one’s left hand, one extends it into ten thousand demons. (Left-handedness was apparently deemed a disadvantage in the third century.)

By contrast, Paul does not think in terms of Satan or demons’ omnipresence. He was certainly ready to describe temptation (1 Cor 7:5; 2 Cor 2:11), deception (2 Cor 11:14) and persecution (2 Cor 12:7; 1 Thess 2:18) against believers as the activity of the devil. But he also envisioned the devil’s indirect influence through the values of the world. That is, he did not assume that a demon had to be present for someone to imbibe values from the surrounding world, values that are ultimately demonic in origin. (Cf. 1 John 5:19.)

Paul speaks of how believers lived before becoming followers of Jesus: they followed the ways of (literally) “the age of this world” (Eph 2:2). Judeans generally distinguished the present evil age, under the dominion of evil empires and the angels of nations that influenced them, from the glorious age to come, when God would rule directly and unchallenged. Paul’s “age of this world” (“the ways of this world,” NIV; “the course of this world,” ASV, NASB, NRSV; ESV; “this world’s present path,” NET) refers to the present age, characterized by the present world system.

Paul seems to identify the ways of the present world with those of the ruler who has authority in the air (Eph 2:2; “the prince of the power of the air,” NASB, ESV; “the ruler of the power of the air,” NRSV; “the ruler of the kingdom of the air,” NIV, NET). “Air” was the title that Paul’s contemporaries gave to the lowest of the heavens. This was where the “birds of the air” lived, but also where spirits were believed to be active. The Bible elsewhere calls this ruler over the realm of evil spirits “Beelzebul” (Mark 3:22), i.e., Satan.

Paul declares here that this spirit is active and working among those who disobey God (Eph 2:2).

Paul also says that those of us who became followers of Jesus were earlier disobedient, following fleshly passions as if there was nothing higher to live for (2:3). Passions by themselves are not evil but if they control us rather than being used for their God-given purpose, they function as evil. Thus, for example, sexual passion is useful in marriage; without reproductive impulses, humans would have died out. But God expects us to use reason and the power of his Spirit to control and channel these impulses in the right ways. Everyone has physical passions, but not everyone controls them or even realizes the extent to which this is possible.

The devil, then, knows where humans are vulnerable and exploits them, and often does so indirectly through secondary media that affect how we think and feel and act, from road advertisements to commercials to soap operas to parents’ modeling to friends and so forth. The “age characterized by this present world” reflects how the devil works through promoting demonic values without implying that there are demons hiding inside the world’s television sets, computers or road signs.

Where have we unthinkingly absorbed the values of the surrounding culture? If we spend more time listening to the fallen world’s values through television or the internet than immersing ourselves in God’s ways in Scripture, we probably act on some of those values without realizing it. (Of course, some things communicate fallen values much more than others. A documentary can be helpful; pornography always is evil, directing human passion in an illicit direction. Some ideas may be mixtures. Even news can be selected and framed in such a way as to persuade, so we should critically evaluate what we receive, whether a news outlet is “liberal” or “conservative.” But we should also be willing to be self-critical in light of correct information through such sources.) Elsewhere Paul speaks of the spiritual warfare involved in confronting false ideologies, worldviews, and ways of thinking with God’s truth (2 Cor 10:4-5).

But let’s not miss the main point of Eph 2:1-3. Paul does not expect us to deliver ourselves. Rather, we should recognize our deliverance in Jesus Christ. As Christ has been exalted above all heavenly powers (Eph 1:20-21), so have we, enthroned in him (2:6). Thus we are no longer dead in sin, bound by the devil (2:1-3), but we have been been made alive in Christ and exalted with him (2:4-6). We should no longer act like those whose way of thinking is corrupted for sin (4:17-19, 22), but rather be renewed in our thinking (4:23), robing ourselves with Christ, in whose image we have been re-created (4:24). (The language of 4:24 evokes that of humanity created in God’s image in Gen 1:26-27; now we are re-created to be what we were ideally meant to be.)

In light of this deliverance, we can no longer protest, “The devil made me do it.” Paul declares that we should not cede ground to the devil (Eph 4:27). What does Paul mean by ceding ground to the devil? In context, part of the way that we resist the devil is by speaking truth (4:25), limiting anger (4:26), sharing with rather than cheating others (4:28), speaking in ways beneficial to others (4:29), abandoning harshness, hostility, slander and mistreatment of others (4:31). We should be kind and compassionate, and we should forgive one another as God forgave us in Christ (4:32). It is by loving that we avoid giving ground to the devil.

The Bible talks about delivering those who are oppressed by the devil, offering examples of Jesus casting out demons, and his followers continuing to cast out demons in his name. But Paul addresses Christians in Ephesians, Christians who through faith in Jesus have already been delivered from the devil’s sphere. He treats a different kind of “spiritual warfare” here.

In our own daily lives as followers of Jesus, we also resist the devil by how we treat one another—through virtues such as truth, righteousness, faith, and our salvation (Eph 6:14-17). We advance into the devil’s territory and take ground back by the good news of peace, God’s message (6:15, 17).

Spiritual warfare is not just spooky or spectacular. From day to day, it involves our relationships. Elsewhere Scripture teaches that the world’s values include bitter envy and self-seeking, which are demonic values (James 3:14-15). By contrast, heaven’s values, unmixed with these, include gentleness and peace-seeking (3:17-18). Satan sometimes disguises his values with religious clothing (2 Cor 2:10-11; 11:13-14), so we cannot take for granted that simply because something is religious, it is good. People often give religious justifications for spiteful behavior and slander, but in so doing they reflect demonic values. Instead, let us follow the way of Christ, who humbled himself to serve others, and in whom God has brought forgiveness to all who trust him (Eph 4:32—5:2).