4:1 Therefore I, the prisoner united with the Lord, beg you to lead a life worthy of the calling to which you have been called.
4:2 Always be humble, gentle and patient, bearing with one another in love,
4:3 and making every effort to preserve the unity the Spirit gives through the binding power of shalom.
4:4 There is one body and one Spirit, just as when you were called you were called to one hope.
4:5 And there is one Lord, one trust, one immersion,
4:6 and one God, the Father of all, who rules over all, works through all and is in all.
4:7 Each one of us, however, has been given grace to be measured by the Messiah’s bounty.
4:8 This is why it says, “After he went up into the heights, he led captivity captive and he gave gifts to mankind.”
4:9 Now this phrase, “he went up,” what can it mean if not that he first went down into the lower parts, that is, the earth?
4:10 The one who went down is himself the one who also went up, far above all of heaven, in order to fill all things.
4:11 Furthermore, he gave some people as emissaries, some as prophets, some as proclaimers of the Good News, and some as shepherds and teachers.
4:12 Their task is to equip God’s people for the work of service that builds the body of the Messiah,
4:13 until we all arrive at the unity implied by trusting and knowing the Son of God, at full manhood, at the standard of maturity set by the Messiah’s perfection.
4:14 We will then no longer be infants tossed about by the waves and blown along by every wind of teaching, at the mercy of people clever in devising ways to deceive.
4:15 Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will in every respect grow up into him who is the head, the Messiah.
4:16 Under his control, the whole body is being fitted and held together by the support of every joint, with each part working to fulfill its function; this is how the body grows and builds itself up in love.
4:17 Therefore I say this — indeed, in union with the Lord I insist on it: do not live any longer as the pagans live, with their sterile ways of thinking.
4:18 Their intelligence has been shrouded in darkness, and they are estranged from the life of God, because of the ignorance in them, which in turn comes from resisting God’s will.
4:19 They have lost all feeling, so they have abandoned themselves to sensuality, practicing any kind of impurity and always greedy for more.
4:20 But this is not the lesson you learned from the Messiah!
4:21 If you really listened to him and were instructed about him, then you learned that since what is in Yeshua is truth,
4:22 then, so far as your former way of life is concerned, you must strip off your old nature, because your old nature is thoroughly rotted by its deceptive desires;
4:23 and you must let your spirits and minds keep being renewed,
4:24 and clothe yourselves with the new nature created to be godly, which expresses itself in the righteousness and holiness that flow from the truth.
4:25 Therefore, stripping off falsehood, let everyone speak truth with his neighbor, because we are intimately related to each other as parts of a body.
4:26 Be angry, but don’t sin — don’t let the sun go down before you have dealt with the cause of your anger;
4:28 The thief must stop stealing; instead, he should make an honest living by his own efforts. This way he will be able to share with those in need.
4:29 Let no harmful language come from your mouth, only good words that are helpful in meeting the need, words that will benefit those who hear them.
4:30 Don’t cause grief to God’s Ruach HaKodesh, for he has stamped you as his property until the day of final redemption.
4:31 Get rid of all bitterness, rage, anger, violent assertiveness and slander, along with all spitefulness.
4:32 Instead, be kind to each other, tenderhearted; and forgive each other, just as in the Messiah God has also forgiven you.
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