CHAPTER 4
As a
prisoner
in
the Lord,
then,
I
urge
you
to walk
in a manner worthy
of the
calling
you have received:
He who
descended
is
the very
one
who ascended
above
all
the
heavens,
in order
to fill
all things.
And
it was He who
gave
some
to be apostles,
some
to be prophets,
some
to be evangelists,
and
some
to be pastors
and
teachers,
until
we all reach
unity
in the
faith
and
in the
knowledge
of the
Son
of God,
as we mature
to
the
full
measure
of the stature
of Christ.
Then
we will no longer
be
infants,
tossed about by the waves
and
carried around
by every
wind
of teaching
and by
the
clever
cunning
of men
in
their
deceitful
scheming.
Instead,
speaking the truth
in
love,
we will in
all things
grow up
into
Christ
Himself,
who
is
the
head.
From
Him
the
whole
body
is fitted
and
held together
by
every
supporting
ligament.
And as each
individual
part
does its work,
the
body
grows
and builds itself up
in
love.
So
I tell you
this,
and
testify to it
in
the Lord:
You must
no longer
walk
as
the
Gentiles
do,
in
the futility
of
their
thinking.
They are darkened
in their
understanding
and
alienated from
the
life
of God
because of
the
ignorance
that is
in
them
due to
the
hardness
of
their
hearts.
Having lost all sense of shame,
they
have given themselves over
to
sensuality
for
the practice
of every kind
of impurity,
with
a craving for more.
to put off
your
former
way of life,
your
old
self,
which
is being corrupted
by
its
deceitful
desires;
Therefore
each of you
must put off
falsehood
and speak
truthfully
to
his
neighbor,
for
we are
members
of one another.
He who
has been stealing
must steal
no longer,
but
must work,
doing
good
with
his own
hands,
that
he may have something
to share with
the one
in
need.
Let no
unwholesome
talk
come
out of
your
mouths,
but
only
what is
helpful
for
building up
the one
in need
and
bringing
grace
to those
who listen.
Be
kind
and tender-hearted
to
one another,
forgiving
each other
just
as
in
Christ
God
forgave
you.