Unity of the Body

4 I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, exhort you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you were called. ² With all humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another in love, ³ be eager to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. ⁴ There is one body and one Spirit, even as you were called in one hope of your calling, ⁵ one Lord, one faith, one baptism, ⁶ one God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.

⁷ But grace was given to each one of us according to the measure of the gift of Christ. ⁸ Therefore He says:

⁹ (In saying, “He ascended,” what does it mean but that He also descended first into the lower parts of the earth? ¹⁰ He who descended is also He who ascended far above all the heavens that He might fill all things.)

¹¹ He gave some to be apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers, ¹² for the equipping of the saints, for the work of service, and for the building up of the body of Christ, ¹³ until we all come into the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, into a complete man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, ¹⁴ so we may no longer be children, tossed here and there by waves and carried about with every wind of doctrine by the trickery of men, by craftiness with deceitful scheming. ¹⁵ But, speaking the truth in love, we may grow up in all things into Him, who is the head, Christ Himself, ¹⁶ from whom the whole body is joined together and connected by every joint and ligament, as every part effectively does its work and grows, building itself up in love.

The Old Life and New Life

¹⁷ Therefore this I say and testify in the Lord, that from now on you walk not as other Gentiles walk, in the vanity of their minds, ¹⁸ having their understanding darkened, excluded from the life of God through the ignorance that is within them, due to the hardness of their hearts. ¹⁹ Being calloused they have given themselves over to sensuality for the practice of every kind of impurity with greediness.

²⁰ But you did not learn about Christ in this manner, ²¹ if indeed you have heard Him and have been taught by Him, as the truth is in Jesus: ²² that you put off the former way of life in the old nature, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts, ²³ and be renewed in the spirit of your mind; ²⁴ and that you put on the new nature, which was created according to God in righteousness and true holiness.

Rules for the New Life

²⁵ Therefore, putting away lying, let every man speak truthfully with his neighbor, for we are members of one another. ²⁶ Be angry but do not sin. Do not let the sun go down on your anger. ²⁷ Do not give place to the devil. ²⁸ Let him who steals steal no more. Instead, let him labor, working with his hands things which are good, that he may have something to share with him who is in need.

²⁹ Let no unwholesome word proceed out of your mouth, but only that which is good for building up, that it may give grace to the listeners. ³⁰ And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, in whom you are sealed for the day of redemption. ³¹ Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, outbursts, and blasphemies, with all malice, be taken away from you. ³² And be kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God in Christ also forgave you.