Paul the
apostle continued to give the Ephesian church members exhortations
for living as believers in Jesus Christ. They were not to “grieve
the Holy Spirit”, and they were to allow “all bitterness,
wrath, anger, clamor and evil speaking, to be put away” from
them “with all malice”. In chapter four and verse
thirty-two of his letter, Paul told the Ephesians to “be kind to
and forgive one another” where we read:
And be
kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another,
even as
God for Christ's sake has forgiven you.
The
verse begins, “And be kind one to another, tenderhearted,
forgiving one another,...” Paul began with the phrase, “And
be kind” which means “be fit for use, useful, virtuous, good,
mild, pleasant and benevolent” “one to another” which
refers to “into, towards, for and among each other reciprocally and
mutually”, “tenderhearted” which means “having strong
bowels, compassionate, pitiful and sympathetic” “forgiving one
another” or “to do something pleasant or agreeable, do a
favor to, gratify, grant, bestow and graciously restore one to
another as in preserving a person in peril”. The Ephesian church
members were to be “good and pleasant to one another” as well as
“compassionate” and “gracious” too.
The
verse goes on to say, “...even as God
for Christ's sake has forgiven you.” Paul
continued, “even as”
or “according to, in proportion, in the degree that, since and
agreeably to the fact that” “God”
which refers to “the Godhead bodily and trinity which is comprised
of God the Father, Christ the Son and the Holy Spirit” “for
Christ's sake”
which is the Greek phrase “en
Christos en” which
means “in the same way the anointed One, the Messiah and the Son of
God” “has forgiven you”
which means “to do something pleasant or agreeable, do a favor to,
gratify, grant, bestow and graciously restore one to another as in
preserving a person in peril”. Jesus Christ “forgave”
the Ephesians, and they were to act in the same manner as He.
When
we think through these words of Paul, we see Jesus as the challenge
and the standard for our “kindness and forgiveness to one
another”. Christians are to exhibit compassion toward one
another, and they are to forgive each other when they are guilty of
misdeeds. Jesus is “kind” to us, and He “forgives”
us when we do wrong. With the help of the Holy Spirit, we will
recognize when we should show kindness to each other, and if we are
wronged in any manner, the “forgiveness” of Jesus will be
the standard in our hearts and minds.
Next time we begin a
new chapter and see Paul encourage the Ephesians to be
“followers of God”, so read
ahead, and we shall join together then.
Until tomorrow…there is more…
Look for the daily devotional book “Equipped for Battle – From Generation to Generation”, the marriage book “So, You Want to Be Married”, and the new devotional “One Year in the Sermon on the Mount” in all major bookstore sites, http://www.amazon.com ; http://www.barnesandnobles.com ; download to e-books, and find it locally at www.mrzlc.com/bookstore.
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