New International Version

New Living Translation

Unity and Maturity in the Body of Christ

As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received.

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Unity in the Body

Therefore I, a prisoner for serving the Lord, beg you to lead a life worthy of your calling, for you have been called by God.

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Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love.

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Always be humble and gentle. Be patient with each other, making allowance for each other’s faults because of your love.

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Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace.

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Make every effort to keep yourselves united in the Spirit, binding yourselves together with peace.

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There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to one hope when you were called;

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For there is one body and one Spirit, just as you have been called to one glorious hope for the future.

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one Lord, one faith, one baptism;

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There is one Lord, one faith, one baptism,

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one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.

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one God and Father of all,
who is over all, in all, and living through all.

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But to each one of us grace has been given as Christ apportioned it.

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However, he has given each one of us a special gifta through the generosity of Christ.

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This is why ita says:
“When he ascended on high,
he took many captives
and gave gifts to his people.”b

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That is why the Scriptures say,
“When he ascended to the heights,
he led a crowd of captives
and gave gifts to his people.”b

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(What does “he ascended” mean except that he also descended to the lower, earthly regionsc?

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Notice that it says “he ascended.” This clearly means that Christ also descended to our lowly world.c

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He who descended is the very one who ascended higher than all the heavens, in order to fill the whole universe.)

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And the same one who descended is the one who ascended higher than all the heavens, so that he might fill the entire universe with himself.

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So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers,

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Now these are the gifts Christ gave to the church: the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, and the pastors and teachers.

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to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up

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Their responsibility is to equip God’s people to do his work and build up the church, the body of Christ.

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until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.

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This will continue until we all come to such unity in our faith and knowledge of God’s Son that we will be mature in the Lord, measuring up to the full and complete standard of Christ.

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Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of people in their deceitful scheming.

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Then we will no longer be immature like children. We won’t be tossed and blown about by every wind of new teaching. We will not be influenced when people try to trick us with lies so clever they sound like the truth.

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Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is, Christ.

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Instead, we will speak the truth in love, growing in every way more and more like Christ, who is the head of his body, the church.

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From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work.

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He makes the whole body fit together perfectly. As each part does its own special work, it helps the other parts grow, so that the whole body is healthy and growing and full of love.

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Instructions for Christian Living

So I tell you this, and insist on it in the Lord, that you must no longer live as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their thinking.

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Living as Children of Light

With the Lord’s authority I say this: Live no longer as the Gentiles do, for they are hopelessly confused.

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They are darkened in their understanding and separated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them due to the hardening of their hearts.

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Their minds are full of darkness; they wander far from the life God gives because they have closed their minds and hardened their hearts against him.

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Having lost all sensitivity, they have given themselves over to sensuality so as to indulge in every kind of impurity, and they are full of greed.

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They have no sense of shame. They live for lustful pleasure and eagerly practice every kind of impurity.

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That, however, is not the way of life you learned

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But that isn’t what you learned about Christ.

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when you heard about Christ and were taught in him in accordance with the truth that is in Jesus.

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Since you have heard about Jesus and have learned the truth that comes from him,

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You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires;

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throw off your old sinful nature and your former way of life, which is corrupted by lust and deception.

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to be made new in the attitude of your minds;

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Instead, let the Spirit renew your thoughts and attitudes.

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and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.

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Put on your new nature, created to be like God — truly righteous and holy.

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Therefore each of you must put off falsehood and speak truthfully to your neighbor, for we are all members of one body.

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So stop telling lies. Let us tell our neighbors the truth, for we are all parts of the same body.

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“In your anger do not sin”d: Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry,

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And “don’t sin by letting anger control you.”d Don’t let the sun go down while you are still angry,

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and do not give the devil a foothold.

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for anger gives a foothold to the devil.

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Anyone who has been stealing must steal no longer, but must work, doing something useful with their own hands, that they may have something to share with those in need.

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If you are a thief, quit stealing. Instead, use your hands for good hard work, and then give generously to others in need.

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Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen.

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Don’t use foul or abusive language. Let everything you say be good and helpful, so that your words will be an encouragement to those who hear them.

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And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.

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And do not bring sorrow to God’s Holy Spirit by the way you live. Remember, he has identified you as his own,e guaranteeing that you will be saved on the day of redemption.

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Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice.

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Get rid of all bitterness, rage, anger, harsh words, and slander, as well as all types of evil behavior.

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Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.

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Instead, be kind to each other, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God through Christ has forgiven you.

Parallel

New International Version

New Living Translation

Ephesians 4

Ephesians 4