Speak Love

The instrument by which truth is proclaimed

Jeffrey Brooks Price

5/11/2009

Introduction

The present evil age¹ of the fallen world has been marked and marred by sin, strife and conflict. Neither the Church nor those outside of the Church are able to escape the effects that sin has on the culture and society. However, the Church, as the bride of Jesus Christ, has been called to serve a great purpose during this age – and that is to proclaim the Gospel liberally to the world. In order to fulfill this call it is important that the Church proclaim the Gospel, the truth, in a manner that is worthy of its calling as the most profound expression of love imaginable. For by doing so, the Church will build the Kingdom of God rather than tear it apart. To meet this great challenge the Church must overcome the effects of sin within and outside its borders by dealing with strife and conflict as Scripture prescribes.

Ephesians 4 will provide the back drop, the context, and the means by which we will uncover the meaning of speaking truth in love for that is where we will learn how to meet the great challenge of this age set before us. The focus of this paper will specifically be on verses 14 through 16, and understanding the significance of what it means to speak love. While the text specifically says, “ἀληθεύοντες δὲ ἐν ἀγάπῃ”,² our actions should always be marked by love. Love is the means and cause of the ministry that the Church as a whole and individual Christians live out on a daily basis. “In love describes the sphere of the Christian life and spells out the manner in which the ministry of all is to occur.” ³ It is not only faithful to Ephesians 4: 14-16, but also to the totality of God’s revelation to call the Church, and by extension the Christian to overcome the effects of sin by speaking love in the name of Jesus Christ.

Context

The structure of the epistle to Ephesus is commonly “divided into two sections: a doctrinal ‘indicative’ section (1:3 – 3:31) and hortatory ‘imperative’ section (4:1 – 6:20).” ⁴ However, the letter mainly functions as a sermon⁵ does calling the people of Ephesus to act on their calling to be in Christ. Paul, the author of this letter-sermon, begins by reminding the church that they are a chosen people in chapter 1. In love they have been predestined, adopted,⁶ obtained an inheritance,⁷ heard the gospel of their salvation and been sealed by the Holy Spirit.⁸ Chapter 2 continues by reminding the church that they are a changed people. They have been made alive,⁹ become citizens of the household of God,¹⁰ and are being united together by the Holy Spirit.¹¹ Chapter 3, the last of the doctrinal chapters, reminds the church that they are an equipped people. They have been equipped by the promise,¹² wisdom¹³ and power¹⁴ of God, and are even filled with the fullness of God.¹⁵ Chapter 4 begins the transition to the hortatory section with, “Παρακαλῶ” to ferverently exhort and call the church to be a united people. Paul exhorts them to be united in the Spirit,¹⁶ in faith,¹⁷ and in love.¹⁸ The exhortation continues in chapter 5 as the people of Ephesus are called to be a living and loving people. They are to live and walk in love,¹⁹ live in the light of truth,²⁰ and live in loving marriages as husband and wife.²¹ Finally, chapter 6 calls the church of Ephesus to be a faithful people by their obedience,²² servitude,²³ and standing firm for the truth.²⁴ Paul’s letter is both instructional and exhortative compelling the church of Ephesus to remember who they are, having been made in Christ, and how they are to respond to that high calling with the name of Jesus Christ on their hearts.

Love and truth are reoccurring themes throughout the letter-sermon as both doctrinal and exhortative messages, while the word ἀγάπη appears in every chapter. This is clearly a major theme of Ephesians, and as such deserves attention. Ephesians 4 is the height of the love and truth integration reaching its climax in verses 14 – 16. The chapter calls the people of God to be united in the body of Christ, to grow and mature while staying grounded in the truth of Jesus Christ, and all of this is to be done ἐν ἀγάπῃ – in love. This phrase, ἐν ἀγάπῃ, occurs six times throughout the letter-sermon and does not occur in any other New Testament writing as frequently as it does in Ephesians.²⁵ In fact, ἐν ἀγάπῃ appears three times in chapter 4 alone and two of those three times in verses 14 – 16.

It is important to understand the immediate context before moving forward to examine the three verses that provide our climax. Paul has laid out a process by which the church is to grow through the assistive work of the Christ-equipped and Christ-called teachers and leaders in the body. These leaders will aid the members of the church in becoming the ἄνδρα τέλειον²⁶ or the mature, perfected and completed man. That perfection is the fullness of Christ exemplified in the church and the believer through their unity of the faith, and sound knowledge and doctrine that Jesus Christ is the object of that faith as the Son of God.

Bold & True – Verse 14

ἵνα μηκέτι ὦμεν νήπιοι, κλυδωνιζόμενοι καὶ περιφερόμενοι παντὶ ἀνέμῳ τῆς διδασκαλίας ἐν τῇ κυβείᾳ τῶν ἀνθρώπων, ἐν πανουργίᾳ πρὸς τὴν μεθοδείαν τῆς πλάνης,

in order that we may no longer be infants, being tossed here and there by waves and carried about by every wind of teaching or doctrine by the craftiness of men, by craftiness with deceitful scheming.

Beginning now in verse 14 there is a dichotomy laid that will set it apart from the preceding and following verses by the use of an ἵνα clause. This is translated as – that, so that, then, or in order that, which shows the divergent nature of the clause about to be presented. ἵνα μηκέτι ὦμεν νήπιοι²⁷ sets the νήπιοι or infants in direct contrast with the ἄνδρα τέλειον or mature man. Paul is emphasizing this contrast to clearly illustrate what should and should not mark the Christian life – maturity not infancy. Verse 14 continues to unpack what Paul means by infancy through the use of two participles, κλυδωνιζόμενοι καὶ περιφερόμενοι. He commends the Church to stand firm and not to be tossed and blown like an infant would be in the sea of competing ideas in this present age. But to what is Paul telling the church to stand firm in or upon? Paul does not want the Church to be carried about by every wind of teaching or doctrine (παντὶ ἀνέμῳ τῆς διδασκαλίας), and “διδασκαλίας often refers to sound Christian teaching”.²⁸ Therefore, Paul is urging the Church to stand firm in the truth that they have been taught by the “apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers”.²⁹ He warns them to be aware of false teaching (διδασκαλίας) coming from within the church, as this is a perversion of the truth that they are to stand firm upon.

The remaining text unfolds just what exactly the perversion is that Paul is referencing through the use of three synonyms which are all characterized by cunning, craftiness and trickery. The first of which is κυβείᾳ that derives from κύβος – a cube or a die. Xenophon, Plato, Aristotle, and others have used κυβείᾳ to express the idea of dice-playing, and culturally it was known that dice players “cheated and defrauded their fellow-players”.³⁰ Next πανουργίᾳ is “contextually equivalent to a specious or false wisdom,”³¹ which is also seen elsewhere in Pauline epistles, “For the wisdom of this world is folly with God. For it is written, ‘He catches the wise in their craftiness [πανουργίᾳ].”³² Finally, μεθοδείαν carries the weight of deceitful scheming. While in this context it specifically refers to schemes of man, Paul uses μεθοδείαν to later urge the Ephesians to “put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil.”³³ The piling up of these synonyms³⁴ emphasizes the perversion of truth that Paul is exhorting the Ephesians to stand firm against. It is as though he were saying that the perversion of truth is not just craftiness, it is not just false wisdom, it is not just scheming; the perversion is the culmination of all of those things and so much more. In fact, Paul states the very antithesis of truth³⁵ is πλάνης or error and deceit. The antithesis completes the crescendo of verse 14 by looking back at ἄνδρα τέλειον, and forward towards verses 15 – 16 which stand in opposition to πλάνης and with ἐπιγνώσεως τοῦ υἱοῦ τοῦ θεοῦ.³⁶ In the end, the pastor, Paul, is calling the Church to stand firm and be bold in the truth of the Gospel.

Truth & Love – Verse 15

ἀληθεύοντες δὲ ἐν ἀγάπῃ αὐξήσωμεν εἰς αὐτὸν τὰ πάντα, ὅς ἐστιν ἡ κεφαλή, Χριστός,

But speaking the truth in love let us grow up in all things into him, who is the head, Christ.

Turning now to verse 15, it begins with a participle and in English this appears to be the controlling verb. However, upon further inspection it is not ἀληθεύοντες but αὐξήσωμεν which controls the verse. The growth of the Church is what Paul has his sights fixed upon, as the growth looks back to the call to be an ἄνδρα τέλειον (mature man) and not to be νήπιοι (infants). Paul is also pointing us forward to verse 16 where the αὔξησιν (growth) of the body is being carried throughout this segment of Scripture. Most commentators deal with the later clause, growth, before discussing what it is to speak truth in love. In fact, O’Brien points out the backwards nature of understanding verse 15 as he states, “the whole body of Christ, which is totally dependent on the head to nourish and unify it, is said to ‘grow with the growth of God.’ Here the growth is to be comprehensive: God’s people are to grow into Christ ‘in every way’, that is in faith, knowledge, unity and, especially in this context, in love.”³⁷ O’Brien develops his understanding of this passage by beginning with Christ, the head, to whom we are to grow up into in every way, in the context of love. Furthermore, Calvin adds that Paul “enjoins us to grow up in the truth”³⁸ which again points the reader to the controlling nature of growth within this verse. Finally, αὐξήσωμεν is an aorist, active, subjunctive, first person, plural verb which is a hortatory subjunctive used as an exhortation best translated as ‘let us grow up’. Wallace explains “[s]ince there is no first person imperative, the hortatory subjunc­tive is used to do roughly the same task.”³⁹ This is in keeping with the context of chapters 4 through 6 being imperative chapters and focuses the Church’s understanding of this verse upon the controlling nature of what it means to grow up in every way into Christ.

Now looking back to ἀληθεύοντες (speaking the truth), there is a small controversy over how best to get at the heart of the meaning. Scholars like O’Brien, Longmen and Hodge will argue based on evidence found in the immediate context of Ephesians 4, the LXX, Galatians 4:16, the only other use of the verb, and in other secular writings “that the word here refers to verbal testimony”.⁴⁰ However, O’Brien admits that based upon semantic and contextual grounds it is possible to translate ἀληθεύοντες as truthing, which “includes the notions of ‘maintaining’, ‘living’ and ‘doing’ the truth.”⁴¹ This view has the support of Calvin, Stott, Bruce and Boice, who add “the combination means both speaking and living the truth in a loving manner. In the combination of these goals, love (the noun) is emphasized.”⁴² This emphasis is understood because as a participle, ἀληθεύοντες, is a verbal adjective dependent upon the noun (ἀγάπῃ). Therefore, while “truthing” helps the Church to see a deeper and fuller meaning of the participle there is no getting around the need for its vocal element of speaking the truth. Furthermore, it is important to remember that neither the vocal element nor the action of living truth can be divorced from love.

Because “in love” (ἐν ἀγάπῃ) is the major theme of this letter-sermon it is only natural that it would provide a far reaching and universal context to the entire book. “In love describes the sphere of the Christian life and spells out the manner in which the ministry of all is to occur.”⁴³ That sphere also includes the proclamation of the gospel of Jesus Christ – the greatest and most profound truth ever shared. “The truth as proclaimed should not be dissociated from love or promoted at the expense of love, while a life of love should embody the truth of the gospel.”⁴⁴ It is impossible to separate these two ideas of truth and love. Examining ἐν ἀγάπῃ further it is clear that this is the dative case, but it also becomes clear that it is an instrumental dative “built on the root idea of means”.⁴⁵ This is best understood as either an instrumental dative of means, “by which the verbal action is accomplished”⁴⁶, or of cause, which indicates “the cause or basis of the action of the verb”.⁴⁷ In either case the Church is to understand that love is the means by which truth is proclaimed and lived, and that love is the cause of truth being proclaimed and lived. The fuller meaning of the two, means and cause of speaking truth, combined help the Church to understand the manner and the motivation behind speaking the truth in love – ἀληθεύοντες δὲ ἐν ἀγάπῃ. Boice explains the combination this way, “Take love from truth. The result is bitter orthodoxy. Truth remains, but it is proclaimed in such an unpleasant, harsh manner that it fails to win anybody.”⁴⁸ It is that winsome thrust that should motivate the Church to embrace and live out verse 15 every day because truth without love can and will tear down, but truth with love always builds up.

Love & Unity – Verse 16

ἐξ οὗ πᾶν τὸ σῶμα συναρμολογούμενον καὶ συμβιβαζόμενον διὰ πάσης ἁφῆς τῆς ἐπιχορηγίας κατ᾽ ἐνέργειαν ἐν μέτρῳ ἑνὸς ἑκάστου μέρους τὴν αὔξησιν τοῦ σώματος ποιεῖται εἰς οἰκοδομὴν ἑαυτοῦ ἐν ἀγάπῃ.

from whom the entire body is being joined and held together through every supportive joint, through each part working as measured, brings forth the growth of the body for the building up of itself in love.

Paul continues to develop the themes of love and unity in the final verse of this section of Scripture. Verse 16 unfolds what it is to be in Christ and continues to be controlled by the active verb; αὐξήσωμεν (let us grow up). Paul is teaching the Church that Jesus Christ is the ultimate source of their growing through the use of a causative active verb⁴⁹, αὐξήσωμεν, which draws them back to who is teaching them, Ephesians 4:11, and points them forward to the unity called for, here in verse 16. Jesus Christ is the ultimate source or cause of the joining and holding together (συναρμολογούμενον καὶ συμβιβαζόμενον), the growth of the body (τὴν αὔξησιν τοῦ σώματος), and the building up or edifying in love (οἰκοδομὴν ἑαυτοῦ ἐν ἀγάπῃ). The use of the causative active verb shows it is, in fact, the Church that is holding itself together, growing itself in maturity and edifying itself, but this is all done through the ultimate cause of Jesus Christ. It is also important to note that the two participles of solidarity (συναρμολογούμενον καὶ συμβιβαζόμενον) here in verse 16 stand in direct opposition to the two participles of wavering (κλυδωνιζόμενοι καὶ περιφερόμενοι) in verse 14. Paul is continuing to develop the antithesis between immaturity and maturity, wavering and standing firm, disunity and unity, and finally between deceit and truth. All while explaining that maturity, standing firm, unity and truth must all come within the vital context of ἐν ἀγάπῃ.

Finally, there is another minor controversy here in verse 16 with understanding who Paul is referring to with διὰ πάσης ἁφῆς τῆς ἐπιχορηγίας, through every supporting or assistive joint or ligament. Is the ἁφῆς, singular, referring to the individual member or the special minister given to the Church in Ephesians 4:11? The question arises due to several legitimate grammatical viewpoints and understandings of the context dealing with a union of many parts, so it can be difficult at times to distinguish the parts from the whole. Hodge would argue that the joints are the individual members since “[t]he church is figuratively a body composed of many joints or members.”⁵⁰ He is in basic agreement with Luther’s paraphrase, “By every joint whereby one member aids another,”⁵¹ and yet is also in agreement that the ultimate cause of support or supply is Jesus Christ, the head.⁵² The basis for this argument is due to the singular nature of ἁφῆς. Others like C.E. Arnold are in agreement with Luther and Hodge, as O’Brien points out, “the phrase ‘according to the due measure of each individual part’ [or each part working as measured], highlights the importance of the active contribution of each individual member.”⁵³ Thus the conclusion is that the supporting joints are every member of the body of Christ.

However, this conclusion does not appear to be the best reading of the passage as it deals with the broader argument of unity in the entire body and the specific examples of how this unity is achieved. The entire or whole body (πᾶν τὸ σῶμα) is growing and each part is working to grow the body as a whole that is being joined and held together. Then there is a transition from the broader to the narrower through the use of a preposition (διὰ). In keeping with the body analogy Paul focuses the Church on joints as specific parts of the body (narrower) and not on a reference to the body as a whole (broader). The entire body is growing, and it is being joined and held together by those especially equipped to teach the body truth in love. The causative source of the joining and holding is Jesus Christ, as He has given “the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers,”⁵⁴ to join and hold the body together. All are agreed on this point, that “[a]ll the life or health which is diffused through the members flows from the head; so that the members occupy a subordinate rank.”⁵⁵ Christ is the head, and there may be no debate over that point. “In this summarizing picture of verse 16, both gifted ministers and gifted members have a part to play in the body’s growth. The former are represented by the ligaments which provide connections between the other parts of the body, while the latter have their distinct role to play in the well-being of the whole.”⁵⁶ It is clear that both the special ministers and individual members are essential to the health and well-being of the body of Christ. “[A]s all the parts work together, the body continues to build itself up in love and achieves growth. ‘Love’ again inhabits all relationships.”⁵⁷ And we are once again brought full circle back to the theme of love within this letter-sermon to the church in Ephesus.

Conclusion

It is clear throughout the entirety of Ephesians and Scripture as a whole that there is an intimate connection between truth and love. Neither can exist without the other, as they each represent a part of the cohesive organic whole that is God’s revelation. Much like God’s attributes they work together to reveal the unimaginable, transcendent and immanent God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit through and through. Truth and love do not exist in tension, nor are they at odds with one another. Truth and love must be held in unison with one another and in union with Christ. “Truth becomes hard if it is not softened by love; love becomes soft if it is not strengthened by truth,”⁵⁸ and to understand either rightly they must be rooted in the truth and love of Jesus Christ. Finally, the relationship between the two should be understood this way, love is the instrument, means and cause by which truth is proclaimed and shared with the world.

This relationship is exemplified throughout Ephesians. For example, Paul exhorts the Church to live and walk in love. “Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children. And walk in love (ἐν ἀγάπῃ), as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.”⁵⁹ Understanding the relationship between truth and love, and the depth of meaning this illicit should cause every Christian to stand firm in the truth and loudly speak love to the world. For by speaking love it will be as though you are speaking Jesus Christ himself, a fragrant offering⁶⁰, and the truth, the knowledge of the Son of God.⁶¹ Therefore, speak love by living and sharing the gospel with everyone. Speak love by living and exemplifying authentic community within the united body of Christ. Speak love and your life and the lives of those around you will be transformed forever for you will be speaking the way of salvation in Jesus Christ.

Bibliography

Boice, James Montgomery. Ephesians. Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 1988.

Bruce, F.F. The Epistles to the Colossians, To Philemon, And To The Ephesians. Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co, 1984.

Calvin, John. Calvin's Commentaries Volume XXI. Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 2005.

George H. Guthrie and J. Scott Duvall. Biblical Greek Exegesis. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1998.

Hodge, Charles. Ephesians. Wheaton: Crossway Books, 1994.

Mounce, William D. A Graded Reader of Biblical Greek. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1996.

—. Basics of Biblical Greek. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1993.

O'Brien, Peter T. The Letter to the Ephesians. Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1999.

Paine, Stephen W. Beginning Greek. New York: Oxford University Press, 1961.

Stott, John R.W. The Message of Ephesians. Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 1979.

Thayer, Joseph. Thayer's Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament. Peabody: Hendrickson Publishers, 1996.

Tremper Longman III, David E. Garland. The Expositor's Bible Commentary: Ephesians - Philemon. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2006.

Wallace, Daniel B. Greek Grammar Beyond The Basics. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1996.

Appendix A