Eph 4:1-32. EXHORTATIONS TO CHRISTIAN DUTIES RESTING ON OUR CHRISTIAN PRIVILEGES, AS UNITED IN ONE BODY, THOUGH VARYING IN THE GRACES GIVEN TO THE SEVERAL MEMBERS, THAT WE MAY COME UNTO A PERFECT MAN IN CHRIST.
1. Translate, according to the Greek order, "I beseech you,
therefore (seeing that such is your calling of grace, the first through
third chapters) I the prisoner in the Lord
(that is, imprisoned in the Lord's cause)." What the world counted
ignominy, he counts the highest honor, and he glories in his bonds for
Christ, more than a king in his diadem [THEODORET].
His bonds, too, are an argument which should enforce his exhortation.
vocation--Translate, "calling" to accord, as the Greek does, with
"called"
(Eph 4:4;
Eph 1:18;
Ro 8:28, 30).
Col 3:15
similarly grounds Christian duties on our Christian "calling." The
exhortations of this part of the Epistle are built on the conscious
enjoyment of the privileges mentioned in the former part. Compare
Eph 4:32,
with Eph 1:7;
Eph 5:1
with Eph 1:5;
Eph 4:30,
with Eph 1:13;
Eph 5:15,
with Eph 1:8.
JFB.
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