Chapter 4

Unity of the Spirit

1 Therefore I, athe prisoner of the Lord, bimplore you to cwalk in a manner worthy of the dcalling with which you have been ecalled,

2 with all ahumility and gentleness, with patience, showing tolerance for one another bin love,

3 being diligent to preserve the unity of the Spirit in the abond of peace.

4 There is aone body and one Spirit, just as also you were called in one bhope of your calling;

5 aone Lord, one faith, one baptism,

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

7 But ato each one of us bgrace was given caccording to the measure of Christ’s gift.

8 Therefore 1it says,

“aWhen He ascended on high,

He bled captive a host of captives,

And He gave gifts to men.”

9 (Now this expression, “He aascended,” what 1does it mean except that He also 2had descended into bthe lower parts of the earth?

10 He who descended is Himself also He who ascended afar above all the heavens, so that He might bfill all things.)

11 And He agave bsome as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as cevangelists, and some as pastors and dteachers,

12 afor the equipping of the 1saints for the work of service, to the building up of bthe body of Christ;

13 until we all attain to athe unity of the faith, and of the 1bknowledge of the Son of God, to a cmature man, to the measure of the stature 2which belongs to the dfullness of Christ.

14 1As a result, we are ano longer to be children, btossed here and there by waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, by ccraftiness 2in ddeceitful scheming;

15 but 1speaking the truth ain love, 2we are to bgrow up in all aspects into Him who is the chead, even Christ,

16 from whom athe whole body, being fitted and held together 1by what every joint supplies, according to the 2proper working of each individual part, causes the growth of the body for the building up of itself bin love.

The Christian’s Walk

17 aSo this I say, and affirm together with the Lord, bthat you walk no longer just as the Gentiles also walk, in the cfutility of their mind,

18 being adarkened in their understanding, 1bexcluded from the life of God because of the cignorance that is in them, because of the dhardness of their heart;

19 and they, having abecome callous, bhave given themselves over to csensuality 1for the practice of every kind of impurity with greediness.

20 But you did not alearn 1Christ in this way,

21 if indeed you ahave heard Him and have bbeen taught in Him, just as truth is in Jesus,

22 that, in reference to your former manner of life, you alay aside the bold 1self, which is being corrupted in accordance with the clusts of deceit,

23 and that you be arenewed in the spirit of your mind,

24 and aput on the bnew 1self, which 2cin the likeness of God has been created in righteousness and holiness of the truth.

25 Therefore, alaying aside falsehood, bspeak truth each one of you with his neighbor, for we are cmembers of one another.

26 aBe angry, and yet do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger,

27 and do not agive the devil 1an opportunity.

28 He who steals must steal no longer; but rather ahe must labor, bperforming with his own hands what is good, cso that he will have something to share with 1one who has need.

29 Let no 1aunwholesome word proceed from your mouth, but only such a word as is good for bedification 2according to the need of the moment, so that it will give grace to those who hear.

30 aDo not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, 1by whom you were bsealed for the day of redemption.

31 aLet all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be bput away from you, along with all cmalice.

32 aBe kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving each other, bjust as God in Christ also has forgiven 1you.