Bible Mastery - Ephesians 4:16-17

Thanks for listening to the Bible Mastery Podcast, brought to you by Teleios. In this episode, William and Jeanette Stewart will cover Ephesians 4:16-17.

The Bible Mastery Podcast brings you verse-by-verse teaching that’s clear, grounded, and life-changing. We take the Bible at its word—interpreting it in a normal, literal way—so you can uncover its deep truths about salvation, spiritual well-being, and daily living. Our goal is simple: to help you understand Scripture and equip you with the tools to interpret it confidently, without getting lost in noise or speculation.

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Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:01

Hello, and welcome to the Bible Mastery Podcast, sponsored by Telehost and hosted by co-founders Bill and Jeanette Stewart. Here, we give you verse-by-verse teaching from the truth of scripture that's clear, grounded, and life-changing. Our goal is to help you understand the Bible and equip you with tools to interpret it yourself confidently and correctly. Thanks for joining us.

SPEAKER_03 0:34

Hi, I'm William Stewart. I'm here with my wife Jeanette, and greetings to you.

SPEAKER_02 0:40

Hello, everybody. We're so glad to have you with us today.

SPEAKER_03 0:43

And uh what a privilege to get together with each of you and uh in the study within Ephesians. What a great book! How exciting. Just as a reminder, we're studying Ephesians because it is an epistle, a letter uh to the church, uh written by mostly all the mostly the apostles, except several books, smaller ones. And um it is important because it's the directions and the commands and the wisdom, the admonishments to the church by the apostles, of course, uh spoken by Christ through the Holy Spirit. All the Bible is scripture from Genesis to Revelation, however, is these books from Revelation, excuse me, um Romans to Revelation 3, that are our commands to the church uh based on Christ's first coming. You have any comments about that?

SPEAKER_02 1:44

No, it's a great way to describe it, Bill. And I and I think you know, the epistles, especially when Ephesians, Colossians, uh, you know, they're short little books, and they're really packed full of great essential truths. So good doctrine, but also how to apply those things practically. So really great place to start in the New Testament if you're just starting your uh biblical studies.

SPEAKER_03 2:09

And and in the whole Bible, you know, we did not start this podcast in Genesis, so we uh started it in Ephesians. So um, okay, so context. Where are we? It's a little complicated. So remember the first three chapters of Ephesians about uh salvation, its benefits, the gospel, and the structure of the church as a basis for our Christian walk, starting in chapter four. But even in chapter four, our dear Apostle Paul uh begins with some structure. One is unity, its importance, all based on salvation, and the fact that God uh for the believers at that time, and even we feel these effects, promoted some early in the church until we were able to have the canon from which then based on that which we could then gain maturity in chapter 13 and not be confounded by various heresies, uh, which really brings us to today. And uh, Jeff, unless you have more to add about that context, please start 16, verse 16.

SPEAKER_02 3:27

Yeah, thank you, Bill. Great context. So just uh to add to what you said, we are united around essential doctrines, and we are supposed to mature, grow up, increase, which could be in uh maturity or in size. And we left off in verse 15 saying that we're all we and we know we've all been placed into the body of Christ, the body of Christ being um the church, and that Christ is the head of the church, and that's where we leave off. So Christ is the head in verse 16, from whom, meaning Christ, the whole body fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint supplieth according to the effectual working in the measure of every part, maketh increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in love. Oh my goodness, that's a lot of words and phrases. Let's pull it apart so we can.

SPEAKER_03 4:27

Could you repeat that, please, Eltical? I was thinking about you know, our CDs and uh uh ETF portfolio or something.

SPEAKER_02 4:36

Oh my goodness. So basically he's saying that the entire body, the whole body, all is really what it means, um, is under the leadership of Christ. So when you think about the head and the body, uh just as physically as humans, if we're decapitated, the body doesn't work anymore, it didn't get any commands from the head. Uh the you know, when you cut off your nervous system, the brain no longer signals and you can't do anything, you're dead.

SPEAKER_03 5:08

That's like about me at 9 p.m., I think.

SPEAKER_02 5:10

Oh, I thought it was 8 p.m. Well, eight.

SPEAKER_03 5:14

I was cheating.

SPEAKER_02 5:18

So this analogy, then it's saying that everything in the body, every part um is connected to the head, Christ, from whom the directions are received. And it says, fitly joined together and compacted. Oh my goodness, fitly joined together, what kind of a word is that? Well, in Greek it just means joined together. Okay. And then compacted is the idea of kind of being compressed together or assembled together. So the picture we have here is that every part of the body is brought together, and maybe we would just say unified, um, compacted, um, pushed together. And then it says that every joint supplies. Well, the word there again is pos, it's all, and joint is as we understand it, joints the connector. So in construction, you have beams and joints and stuff. I don't know much about construction, but I think you have joints up there. In the physical body, we have joints that allow uh different parts of the body to uh connect and and move appropriately. And it says that every joint supplies, and that just really means to uh help or supply. So it's saying every single part of the body um is brought together under the direction of Christ the head. And then it says according to the effectual working, well, that word is just in Greek energia, where we get energy. So it just means through the activity, through the power is probably another way to say it. Um in the measure, again, where we get our word metric, metron, okay, just the capacity measure of every part. So here again, every um part, every joint, every um part of the body has a role. Okay, and it says it the role is to make increase. So again, to grow, same word that we saw back in verse 14, that we can grow up into Christ. Uh, here it says makes increase, so grows the body for the purpose of edifying, and edifying just means to build up, like when you build a building itself in love. So a lot of words here, but what I think the verse is trying to communicate is Christ is the head, the leader, the CEO of the body. Every believer has a part. Um, they all work together, they're all uniquely fitted together, uh, as with joints. They all are energized or empowered um by the power of God, every single part. And the purpose is to build up the body, to increase, and I think it's increase in maturity, but I also think it probably is increase in size. So, Bill, I just rambled on for a while there. I'm sure you have some very good comments to add.

SPEAKER_03 8:46

Very nice. So a difficult verse to handle, actually. How then does this verse function practically day to day uh in the body of Christ? And I I think we agree the body of Christ is the church. So uh what's this really mean?

SPEAKER_02 9:08

Oh, I was asking you for comments, and then you is this a rhetorical question, or are you asking me?

SPEAKER_03 9:13

I'm asking you, yeah. That was my comment, it was a question.

SPEAKER_02 9:16

Yeah, it's a really it's a good question. You know, I perceive that um, and I I like the analogy actually of a CEO and a business. So the CEO of business sets the course, um, sets the agenda, sets the goal for the business, and then there are people who report to the CEO. Uh, they are empowered to run their divisions or their departments. They have people under them who probably have people under them, and everything reports up uh to the business heads who report up to the CEO who has set the agenda. So I see this as functioning that Christ has given the church its agenda that is uh contained in the commands of the New Testament. Um, he Christ doesn't micromanage us every part, every joint, every piece. Um, and we see this in other analogy in the New Testament, you know, not everybody's an eye or an ear or a foot or a toe. We all have a different role, but we're all empowered by God through the Holy Spirit, and we all work together to carry out the commands of scripture, and by so doing, we build up the church in maturity and in size.

SPEAKER_03 10:42

Okay, how do you see it? Very good. Well, I think even drilling down more practically about how it fits in today's typical church. So I would say that the church can function as God's affectionate servant by us taking different roles, and it depends on the church. So some people may keep the nursery, some people may um have a women's group at home, some people may keep the yard, some people may teach a Bible study or be an elder or a deacon. They all have different roles that fit together under the headship of Christ. Now, I think an issue here is sometimes people will use this concept and perhaps their own spiritual gift that they proceed to say, This is what I do. So if somebody keeps the nursery, they might think, Well, that's my gift, even though that's not listed, but I'm just making this up, and this is what I do, and how I put it into the body of Christ. How do you perceive that? Is that is that what it's talking about here in verse 16? How would that person who uh helps very nice and help create food for church dinners, uh, the groundskeeper, how would they view this in terms of fulfilling their law?

SPEAKER_02 12:02

Yeah, it's a really good point. You know, it's like um in in our human bodies, right? Um, if we stub our toe, the toe hurts and it gets the attention of the entire body. So we don't say, oh, the toe, that's just you, we're going to ignore you, you're in pain. Everything in the body comes together, screams together. Oh my goodness, I have to do something to alleviate this pain. So it's not that we just have one role. We all may have an area of expertise that we use to uh build up other believers and to build up the growth of the church, but we're not just in that one role. We come together to function just like in the human body. You know, when I exercise every day, I'm actually helping my muscles, but I'm also helping my heart. I don't just say, oh, muscles, just you today. We come together in all parts in order to fulfill what Christ would have us do.

SPEAKER_03 13:06

True. I I apologize. I'm trying to get you to guess what I'm thinking, you know. And you're my wife, you know everything, I think. But guess what you're thinking? Yeah. So I think the point is that even though we carry out administrative or help functions in the church to provide a functional body, the purpose there is to have a spiritual purpose according to the commands of the New Testament. And on an uh on a corporate level, that's to be a service to God. So the church is his tool to spread the word of the gospel in the world. On the individual level, each of us, 1 Peter 1 and 16, are to be like God. So even though we're doing one function uh in the church or several that may or may not have a spiritual aspect to it, like teaching a Bible study, individual, we all are to be holy and not be limited by that function, but also have a spiritual maturity that creates spiritual fruit in your own life and in other people's lives, spreading the word of God in some fashion. So, yes, keeping that nursery is really important, uh, and uh to help for a quiet quarterly church service, right? And Sunday school. However, even that whether an elder or a nursery keeper are to have a spiritual life to be like God, that's their real goal, and to create spiritual fruit in other people.

SPEAKER_02 14:46

Yes, that's a really good point. And and Bill, I might just point out that the example roles that you're mentioning are for the local church, but we're really talking here about the universal church, the church invisible, right? So we play our part perhaps locally in the ways that you say, but our real goal is to be part of the universal church, and we do that by obedience, as you said. God says, be holy as I'm holy, as we conduct our lives in obedience to him in every aspect, then we don't just have a local influence, but it should be universal and global.

SPEAKER_03 15:24

I see your point. I do think it's talking about the local church here and the universal, and the local church being expression in a certain in a physical location of the universal church. So how do you see it? Is this not talking about the local church?

SPEAKER_02 15:41

Um, I it can be. I'm not sure why you think it's only the local church.

SPEAKER_03 15:46

I didn't say that, sorry. I said it's part of the universal church also. The universal church when when the church is mentioned in the epistles, it's the universal church. Yes, agreed. And as I was saying, the local church is an expression of that universal church. Yes. So um I I think here you know he's talking to the Ephesians in the local church, so I think it can have a strong local church fit as well.

SPEAKER_00 16:13

Yeah, yeah, no, I would agree with that. Yeah. We hope you enjoy the Bible Mastery Podcast. We appreciate all likes, follows, and shares. To contribute to this podcast, please select support the show on the host page. Bonus material will be available on Patreon. For show notes, please visit our website, Bible Masterypodcast.com. Please send us your comments so we can make this time even better for you.

SPEAKER_03 16:41

And then how would you study verse 16? We've been talking about unity. How does this verse add in to the other verses we've studied about unity as a basis of our Christian law?

SPEAKER_02 16:56

Yeah, that's a really good point because we are supposed to be united again around the essential doctrines, which he lists above. Um in love. And in love, yes. And he says that we speak the truth in love, right? From verse 15, and that we are anchored and we're not just, you know, tossed around. So we have to know what we believe. But I think the idea here is everybody uh, you know that scripture says that we should have humility and put others above ourselves. So we have a goal to serve Christ in the church, and we all come together to do it. And it's um, I don't think we should come in with the idea, well, this is what I do, and this is what you do. You do whatever is needed. You do, if there's a need, you fill it to the best of your ability. And that's what what provides the outward lookingness and and the forward motion for the church.

SPEAKER_03 17:55

Oh, like that. Those you know, certain people do have expertise. I think when it comes to spiritual functions, it's certainly like that. You jump in and and and take on ministry uh in Christ. But yeah, I see you're playing the local church too. You know, it's uh like an entrepreneur as well that needs on the pond, then you go in and do that if you have to. Um I would say, I would just add, I like what you say, that your unity and the doctrine of love, and then we talked about the provision of the canon in the early church, which is just now becoming uh available historically to the Ephesians, which in verse 13 enabled them to be mature, and in verse 16 to serve. So I think 13 is an individual maturity based on that canon, to be uh to know, to know God, to know what to do, and then 16 perhaps is a corporate maturity and unity. Um one uh then supplies the other without being tossed around, so it sort of completes the whole basis of our salvation and unity that we can walk through the Christian walk uh in our daily lives.

SPEAKER_02 19:19

That's a nice way to say that. I like that, Bill. Thank you.

SPEAKER_03 19:22

Oh, that's number 17.

SPEAKER_02 19:26

Um, well, we've almost finished our time for today, and we're kind of starting a new topic there. Do we push forward or do we wait till next week?

SPEAKER_03 19:33

Oh, let's push forward. I don't think it's that long. I'll be for it. It cannot be possible. So that says, This I say, therefore, and testify in the Lord that you henceforth walk not as other gentiles walk, but for the vanity of their minds. So he's saying, Okay, therefore, based on the fact that we are unified and we're able to serve on the Christ ahead, and he states, he testifies, he says, Don't walk as the Gentiles. Now the walk there were, I can't remember if you said it was before. Literally means walk around.

SPEAKER_02 20:11

I think we have it is oh sorry, go ahead.

SPEAKER_03 20:14

Literally means walk your your life, but particularly in the moral realm. So he it's often used in scripture, both in a positive and negative way, and a negative way here. What's interesting is he begins to instruct us, he starts with negative commands. You know, that great first half of the chapter, I'd be I was really like, okay, let's go. But he first states who we shouldn't be, and he states the other Gentiles, how they want. Well, who are the other Gentiles? So what here is ethnos, or we get the word ethnic. It can generally have three meanings in the epistle nations, and you have to throw in this in context. It can mean non-Jews, and that's how the Jews look at. Anybody uh who is not a Jewish barbarian, they're gentile, or it can mean non-believers. So I think that's what it means here in context. Other Gentiles, only the rest of the Gentiles mean those besides them, the Asian Gentiles, ethnically, because what that many Jews believe in the Egian church, those others who are unbelievers don't walk as they walk in the vanity of their mind. So vanity here in in the Greek is really moral depravity. It's not just like doing something in vain because you don't think it's going to work. It it's really worse than that. Um that they are uh basically uh morally corrupt and so they walk in that fashion. So he opens a Section on the Christian law, how we live by not being uh like the non-Christian Gentiles. So I I'll just add when when the Bible talks about sin for Christians, we often think, well, gee, yes, we shouldn't sin, and we get upset if we do just one sin, you know, is our salvation in doubt, you know, when we displease God. Well, God's display displeased with sin. I think as we go forward here, it's important to realize he's talking not about Christians who sinned once. When the Bible talks about sin, it's usually from the heart and who you are. In the scripture, you're either a Christian or you're a non-Christian. As it says in Romans 6:16, you obey your master. So he's talking here about unbelievers whose lifestyle, whose persistence, continuous heart and life is that of sin. Whereas as a Christian who sins once, and we'll forgive us, we have an advocate of the Father, first drawn to one that uh helps us and and tells God that basically we will forgive. And our heart for true born again believe comes back to God, and they'll stay in the same and live like believing. So they they ultimately return. So do you got your comments on the 17th?

SPEAKER_02 23:34

Yes, you know, this uh thanks for what you said, Bill. It's excellent. Uh remember in the first verse of chapter four, Paul says that he wants people to have a worthy walk, in other words, a lifestyle suitable for your calling, which is salvation. So now I think he's kind of circling back to that and saying, okay, let's get down to the nitty-gritty. What does this based on all that I've told you about unity and love and the importance of doctrine and all these things? How do we get back to the practical application? You know, don't live like unbelievers, is basically what he's saying. Have a lifestyle, conduct yourself in the way that uh decorates your salvation, basically.

SPEAKER_03 24:23

Good. So, what we've covered here today, unless you have it, is we finished a section uh that's giving us a basis of our Christian life around community based on our salvation and the fact that we have God's word to give us direction. And Paul has opened this lifestyle section by saying who we are not, do we not live like sinners, and have further described this next slide. Jen, thanks for all your good comments. I appreciate it.

SPEAKER_02 24:55

Uh it's so fun to study scripture, it's fun to do it with you, Bill. But uh, for our listeners and viewers, how exciting! You know, why do people avoid scripture? Because they're afraid it's going to tell them to do something they don't want to do. You know, it's really just the opposite. It gives us freedom, it gives us knowledge of the truth, how to live. I mean, it's just wonderful.

SPEAKER_03 25:16

Um yes, it is now hidden in scripture somewhere, or is that basic and stinky command that tells us to go be a visionary after? But uh, you know, if you find out, let me know. But no, it's life-giving, wise, and helps us avoid all sorts of problems. So thanks. Thanks to our listeners, thanks to you too that we look forward next week.

SPEAKER_00 25:37

See you next time. Bye. Thanks for listening to this episode of the Bible Mastery Podcast. Join us next week for another exciting episode.

SPEAKER_01 25:51

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