Ephesians 4.6b-God is Father of Every Church Age Believer
Wenstrom Bible Ministries
Pastor-Teacher Bill Wenstrom
Tuesday December 10, 2024
Ephesians Series: Ephesians 4:6b-God is Father of Every Church Age Believer
Lesson # 209
Ephesians 4:1 Therefore, I myself, the prisoner because of the Lord’s will, exhort and encourage each and every one of you as a corporate unit to live your lives in a manner worthy of your effectual calling with which each and every one of you as a corporate unit have been effectually called 2 with the fullest expression of that which characterizes humility resulting in that which characterizes gentleness. Specifically, by each and every one of you as a corporate unit continuing to make it your habit of tolerating one another with that which characterizes patience by means of the practice of divine love. 3 In other words, by all of you without exception continuing to cause yourselves to make it a habit of making every effort to maintain the unity produced by the Spirit by means of the bond, which produces a peace, which is divine in quality and character. 4 It is defined by one body as well as one Spirit just as each and every one of you as a corporate unit were also effectually called into the state of experiencing one confident expectation of blessing which was produced by your effectual call. 5 It is also defined by one Lord. It is also defined by one faith. It is also defined by one baptism. 6 It is defined by one God, namely the Father of each and every one of us as a corporate unit. The one possessing authority over each and every one of us as a corporate unit as well as working through each and every one of us as a corporate unit and in addition bodily in union with each and every one of us as a corporate unit. (Lecturer’s translation)
As we noted, the first elliptical assertion in Ephesians 4:6 that Christian unity in a positional sense is defined by one God is explained further by Paul with an epexegetical clause that identifies specifically the one God’s relationship to the Christian community.
In this epexegetical clause, Paul uses the noun pater (πατήρ), “Father,” which of course refers to the first member of the Trinity and emphasizes the church age believer’s familial relationship to God through regeneration.
This expression θεὸς καὶ πατήρ in Ephesians 4:6 also appears in Ephesians 1:3, 2 Corinthians 1:3, 11:31, 1 Thessalonians 3:11, and 1 Peter 1:3.
Unlike the Greek philosophers of the ancient world and of modern twenty-first century society, the New Testament considers only those who have accepted Christ as Savior as children of God.
Unbelievers are considered children of the devil and are designated “sons of disobedience” (Eph. 2:2; 5:6; Col. 3:6; cf. Jn. 8:44).
It is true that as Creator, God is Father of all but in terms of relationship and fellowship, He is the Father of only believers who have been born into the royal family of God through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ (Heb. 12:7, 9).
One cannot claim to have or know experientially the Father without the Son (1 Jn. 2:22-23; 2 Jn. 9; cf. Jn. 8).
Now, the epexegetical clause in Ephesians 4:6 also contains the genitive masculine plural form of the adjective pas (πᾶς), “each and every one of us as a corporate unit.”
The referent of this word we noted is the Christian community.
It not only pertains to the members of the Christian community in their totality but is also used in a distributive sense emphasizing no exceptions.
Therefore, the latter idea emphasizes the members of this community as individuals who compose this community whereas the former idea emphasizes them as a corporate unit.
There are a couple of interpretative problems with regards to the adjective pas (πᾶς).
The first problem is Paul’s use of the masculine gender of the adjective pas (πᾶς) rather than the neuter gender.
The latter would be expected since in context he is referring to the members of the body of Christ as a corporate unit, which is composed of both regenerate male and females.
I am of the conviction that Paul puts the word in the masculine gender because he is thinking of the church or the body of Christ as the new humanity in Ephesians 2:15.
If you recall, in this verse, he used the expression eis hena kainon anthrōpon (εἰς ἕνα καινὸν ἄνθρωπον), “one new humanity.”
In this expression, the noun anthrōpos (ἄνθρωπος), “humanity” is in the masculine gender.
As we noted in our study of Ephesians 2:15, the accusative masculine singular form of the noun anthrōpos (ἄνθρωπος), “humanity” is used with reference to the church, the body of Christ composed of both Jewish and Gentile Christian communities and speaks of them as a corporate human entity.
We also noted that the accusative neuter singular form of the adjective heis (εἷς), “one” refers to both Jewish and Gentile Christian communities constituting a single human entity.
The accusative masculine singular form of the adjective kainos (καινός), “new” describes this humanity composed of both Jewish and Gentile Christians as new in the sense of this humanity being original and of a kind not seen before in creation.
It speaks of that which is recent in contrast to something that is old.
Here it is referring to the new humanity composed of both Jewish and Gentile Christian communities as a result of the creative active of Jesus Christ.
This word is modifying the noun anthrōpos (ἄνθρωπος) and is ascribing the attribute of being new to this humanity composed of both Jewish and Gentile church age believers, which is in union with the last Adam, Jesus Christ, which stands in marked contrast with fallen humanity, which is in union with the first Adam.
The second problem with the adjective pas (πᾶς) is the identification of the referent of this word in all four occurrences of this word.
Some expositors identified the referent as being every animate and inanimate object in creation.
This use occurs often in Ephesians 1:10, 22, 23, 2:9 and 3:9.
Some argue that it pertains to the totality of God’s moral rational creatures only, i.e., human beings and angels.
This use appears in Ephesians 3:15.
However, in context, Paul in Ephesians 4:4-6 is identifying seven essential, fundamental spiritual elements or realities which define Christian unity in a positional sense and are the basis for Christian unity in an experiential sense.
For this reason, when Paul employs the adjective pas (πᾶς) four times in Ephesians 4:6, he is referring exclusively to the members of the body of Christ.
Lastly, the third interpretative problem with regards to the adjective pas (πᾶς) in Ephesians 4:6 is the first use of the word since many commentators interpret it as a genitive of subordination.
This type of genitive occurs when the genitive substantive specifies that which is subordinated to or under the dominion of the head noun, which in our context is the nominative masculine singular form of the noun pater (πατήρ), “Father.”
Therefore, this construction expresses the idea that each and every member of the Christian community as a corporate unit are “under the authority or dominion of” God the Father.
However, I interpret the adjective pas (πᾶς) as a genitive of relationship, which takes place when the genitive substantive indicates a familial relationship, typically the progenitor of the person named by the head noun.
Therefore, this adjective indicates that the members of the Christian community are in a familial relationship with God the Father in that He is their father through regeneration and adoption.
Paul’s use of the prepositional phrase epi pantōn (ἐπὶ πάντων), “possessing authority over each and every one of us as a corporate unit,” which follows the adjective pas (πᾶς) already expresses the idea of subordination as we will note and thus, it would be redundant for this adjective to be expressing subordination.
Furthermore, interpreting the word as a genitive of relationship is the much more specific semantic value because it stands in apposition to the noun pater (πατήρ), “Father.”
This indicates an obvious familial relationship with the referent of this adjective pas (πᾶς), who we noted is the members of the Christian community.
