Paul advises God’s followers to live worthy lives in Christ (4:1).
“I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called.”
Ephesians 4:1-6 are the first verses following the preceding half of the book. Similar to how one would plan to write an essay or dissertation, Paul uses the first verses of the second half to operate as a mock thesis statement for the rest of the book. In this short excerpt, Paul highlights the principle of putting the life God provided his followers to use. Paul opens Ephesians 4 with an interesting description of himself, calling himself a “prisoner for the Lord.” This description parallels his own of himself in Ephesians 3:1, and the detailing of his …show more content…
Each statement falls subordinate to the main imperative, “live worthy of the calling you have received.” These statements are ethical doctrines which, according to Snodgrass, are not uncommon throughout Paul’s lists of virtues. Paul develops these principles in list form, placing each individual trait successively. This descriptive list ends with the claim of maintenance of unity within the Spirit. Paul’s use of “bearing with one another” raises a literary flag – when referring to brothers and sisters in Christ, wouldn’t it be most effective to use a statement that didn’t have a pejoratively negative connotation? Alternative translations interpret the word as “enduring” or even “putting up with”; at the primary level, this shows that the authorial intent was supposed to be negative. Rather than tracing this word choice back to a questionable translator, the continuity of negative statements means that the initial draft was meant to have this connotation. In actuality, instead of meaning an earthly or human attachment, as this statement was initially interpreted to insinuate, the convection of “bearing with one another” refers to standing alongside others in unity, and within the encompassing love of God, as established by his choice not to terminate the sentence with “one another” (Arnold,
“I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called.”
Ephesians 4:1-6 are the first verses following the preceding half of the book. Similar to how one would plan to write an essay or dissertation, Paul uses the first verses of the second half to operate as a mock thesis statement for the rest of the book. In this short excerpt, Paul highlights the principle of putting the life God provided his followers to use. Paul opens Ephesians 4 with an interesting description of himself, calling himself a “prisoner for the Lord.” This description parallels his own of himself in Ephesians 3:1, and the detailing of his …show more content…
Each statement falls subordinate to the main imperative, “live worthy of the calling you have received.” These statements are ethical doctrines which, according to Snodgrass, are not uncommon throughout Paul’s lists of virtues. Paul develops these principles in list form, placing each individual trait successively. This descriptive list ends with the claim of maintenance of unity within the Spirit. Paul’s use of “bearing with one another” raises a literary flag – when referring to brothers and sisters in Christ, wouldn’t it be most effective to use a statement that didn’t have a pejoratively negative connotation? Alternative translations interpret the word as “enduring” or even “putting up with”; at the primary level, this shows that the authorial intent was supposed to be negative. Rather than tracing this word choice back to a questionable translator, the continuity of negative statements means that the initial draft was meant to have this connotation. In actuality, instead of meaning an earthly or human attachment, as this statement was initially interpreted to insinuate, the convection of “bearing with one another” refers to standing alongside others in unity, and within the encompassing love of God, as established by his choice not to terminate the sentence with “one another” (Arnold,