What does Ephesians chapter 4 verse 3 mean?

Answer 1

Ephesians addresses three questions. How can I live like the world and still be a Christian? Are some Christians automatically better and more important than I am? How can I experience Christian victory?

About 60 A.D. while in prison in Rome, Paul wrote to the church at Ephesus and its neighboring churches to give them a manual for Christian living showing how the church could be unified with each member reaching the potential God intended. Ephesians shows: god's purpose in Christ creating a unified church based on God's grace (chapters 1-3) and God's purposes in the church creating a community filled with His spirit and practicing His faith in boldness (chapters 4-6). Ephesians calls you to work boldly for unity in Christ's church.

Answer 2

Nearly all scholars believe the Epistle to the Ephesians was written in Paul's name, late in the first century and that the opening address to the Ephesians is probably a later addition. Otherwise, the epistle is not a letter to a church or group of churches, but an encyclical. Ephesians 4:3 can therefore be read and understood in that context. Although written to the Christian Church as a whole, the epistle is supposeldy addressed to a community of only Gentile Christians. When the author of Ephesians spoke of the 'church', he used the term in the singular to refer to the universal Church.

From earliest times, the Christian Church was racked by surprisingly deep divisions and different views about the meaning of Christ. Chapter 4 verses 1-6 are calls for Church unity and the acceptance of one teaching about Jesus. In 4:3, 'Spirit' (pneuma) can be replaced by a reference to the Church - endeavouring to keep the unity of the Church in the bond of peace.