The idea of speaking the truth in love has been taken out of context by many and used as a pretext for a punitive approach to “helping” those who have stumbled. Under the guise of “tough love” many have been harmed and deeply hurt by Christians who misread this verse to be saying that we are to do whatever it takes to correct the faults of others, no matter the cost.

Unity of the faith is a strategic goal of God for His children. More than a goal, it is accomplished in the heavenly realm. Here in this temporal terrarium however, we live under the shadow of death. We live under “the law of the fall.” Consequently, unity requires the Holy Spirit energizing gifted members of the body to function together as they are designed to do.

“For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ.”

This is such a wonderful verse. It is one of the verses that inspired the stated purpose of my teaching ministry—Edify, Encourage, Equip (E3).

I don’t know about you, but I am very glad that Father saw to it that each of us individually has gifts that fit us. The body, we are told, has many parts and every part has its function and is valuable and useful.

I’m not an evangelist. I’m awkward at it and it simply doesn’t fit me. I’ve met people who are evangelists, and they seem to be at ease in that role. For sure, they are gifts from God Nevertheless, I too am a gift from God—as are you.

This text seems to be derived from Psalm 68:18. That verse says in part, “Thou hast ascended on high, thou hast led captivity captive: Thou hast received gifts for men.” You may notice that Paul does not quote this verbatim. Rather than indicating that the One who ascended received gifts for men, Paul says He gave gifts to men.

The grace of God appeared to everyone, and He brought salvation with Him. The Lord Jesus is the gift of God revealing God and teaching us how knowing Him should, and will, be reflected in our manner of living in this life.

Is the Bible inspired? What is plenary inspiration? What is verbal inspiration? Is it important?

What we are discovering here is that Love is the sinew, or the fastener, or the uniting bond that ties all these godly virtues together and this results in unity of the Spirit, or as Paul will frame it in Ephesians 4:13 “the unity of the faith.”

This situation has tested the limits of my long-suffering and forbearance. In the process it brings to light the abundance of these virtues found in our heavenly Father and expressed through the Lord Jesus.

From time to time, I like to repeat a statement that I once read or heard— “I don’t know how to act my age. I’ve never been this age before.” It’s humorous because while it is silly, it is also true. It can be easy for us to feel the same way about thinking, talking, and acting like saints. We don’t know how.

Father works to make our desires consistent with His own. He does not do this through coercion or manipulation, but rather by compassionately guiding us and demonstrating for us His gentle Love and genuine care. In this way, we become fascinated by the Lord Jesus, bound to Him and captivated by Him. It is from this wonderful place that we should consider the guidance that follows.

The word behind “sanctify” (hagiazo) in verse 23 uses a rare form called the optative mood. Out of 28,121 verbs in the New Testament, this form occurs only about 68 times. It is the form used in Romans 6:15 when Paul asks whether we should just keep on sinning since we are not under Law, but under grace. His response is an emphatic “Far from it!” or “God forbid!” This verb form indicates the word is to be applied in the strongest terms. That’s why the translators render it “sanctify you completely.”

This is his prayer for the saints of Ephesus, and it is one on which we can pattern prayers of our own. First, we might be reminded that Christ does indeed dwell in our hearts. We don’t see Him there nor physically feel Him, yet by faith we are assured that He is there.

This verse closes out Paul’s lengthy parenthetical comment. It is a bit difficult, and the Greek syntax allows for three potential ways of understanding Paul’s meaning. The best of these, which fits well with his urging them to remain strong despite the difficulties Paul is facing, has a parallel in Philippians 1:27–30

Note here that Paul is saying he is less than the least of all saints because he is deeply grateful for the grace of God. He knows that without grace, his religious righteousness, which looked to be perfect to those around him, was worthless and had him just as hell bound as any other murderer.

Clearly there are things that were said to the Jews primarily for their use, just as some things are said to the Gentiles primarily for our use. But in the end, there is one Gospel that applies to everyone on earth equally and in the same way. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you shall be saved.

Before we get too far into this passage, I want to take a moment to talk about this word “dispensation”. I think this is important so that you have some background for the day when someone comes along and starts talking about “rightly dividing” scripture according to dispensations.

Paul, who elsewhere wrote that it was for freedom that Christ has set us free, refers to himself as the prisoner of Jesus Christ. This immediately brings to mind his comments in Romans 6:18 “Being then made free from sin, ye became the servants of righteousness.”

Sometimes what it says may be unclear. Sometimes what it says is different from what we initially think it says. To figure that out, we examine a particular text using a few rules to help us avoid reading our own ideas into it.

In Romans 8:1 a few translations read, "There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit." (KJV 1900) Most more modern translations read, "Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus." (NASB)