Ephesians 4.17a-Solemn Earnest Request of the Recipients of the Epistle Based on the Lord's Sovereign Authority
Wenstrom Bible Ministries
Pastor-Teacher Bill Wenstrom
Thursday May 29, 2025
Ephesians Series: Ephesians 4:17a-Solemn, Earnest Request of the Recipients of the Epistle Based on the Lord’s Sovereign Authority
Lesson # 252
Ephesians 4:17 Therefore, at this particular time I am communicating, specifically, at this particular time I am solemnly and earnestly making a request on the basis of the Lord’s sovereign authority. Namely, that each and every one of you as a corporate unit continue to no longer make it your habit of conducting your lives as in fact the Gentiles are conducting their lives by means of the futility produced by their thinking. (Lecturer’s translation)
In Ephesians 4:17, Paul’s solemn and earnest request that the recipients of this epistle continue to no longer make it their habit of conducting their lives as the unregenerate members of the human race are conducting their lives presents an inference from the contents of Ephesians 4:7-16.
Thus, Paul’s solemn and earnest request is based upon the fact that the communication gifts were given to the church in order that the individual members of the body of Christ could grow to spiritual maturity with the result that this body would grow to spiritual maturity as a corporate unit.
The implication is that by reverting back to their preconversion lifestyle would hinder their spiritual growth as individuals and as a corporate unit and which spiritual growth is the purpose for which the Lord generously gave them the communication gifts of apostleship, prophecy and teaching.
Ephesians 4:17 is composed of the following:
(1) Declarative statement: Touto legō kai martyromai en kyriō (Τοῦτο λέγω καὶ μαρτύρομαι ἐν κυρίῳ), “At this particular time I am communicating, specifically, at this particular time I am solemnly and earnestly making a request on the basis of the Lord’s sovereign authority.” (Lecturer’s translation)
(2) Appositional infinitival clause: mēketi hymas peripatein, kathōs kai ta ethnē peripatei en mataiotēti tou noos autōn (μηκέτι ὑμᾶς περιπατεῖν, καθὼς καὶ τὰ ἔθνη περιπατεῖ ἐν ματαιότητι τοῦ νοὸς αὐτῶν), “Namely, that each and every one of you as a corporate unit continue to no longer make it your habit of conducting your lives as in fact the Gentiles are conducting their lives by means of the futility produced by their thinking.” (Lecturer’s translation)
The declarative statement asserts that Paul was communicating instructions to the recipients of this epistle, who we noted many times in our study of Ephesians was the Gentile Christian community in the Roman province of Asia.
Specifically, he was making a solemn, earnest request of these Gentile Christians.
The basis for this solemn, earnest request was the Lord Jesus Christ’s sovereign authority.
The infinitival appositional clause is in the form of a prohibition and identifies for the recipients of this epistle the content of this solemn, earnest request that Paul is making of them.
It prohibits them from conducting their lives like the Gentiles are conducting their lives.
This reference to the Gentiles refers to the unregenerate members of the human race.
The apostle identifies the means by which the unregenerate community conducted their lives as the futility produced by the particular way they think or in other words, their attitude in life.
The apostle Paul in Ephesians 2:1-3 asserts that this particular way of thinking originates with Satan who propagates this manner of thinking or attitude through his cosmic world system and which world system appeals to the indwelling Adamic sin nature residing in the genetic of the human bodies of unregenerate humanity.
In Romans 1:18-32, Paul demonstrates that the Gentiles are unrighteous and totally depraved by virtue of their sinful conduct and failure to worship God in light of God’s self-revelation in creation as well as their failure to obey the moral law inherent within them.
In Romans 2:1-29, the apostle Paul demonstrates that the Jews are unrighteous and totally depraved as well as manifested in their failure to obey perfectly the written Law of God and committing the same sins that the Gentiles committed.
In Romans 3:9-20, Paul summarizes his statements in Romans 1:18-2:29 and teaches the totally depravity and universal unrighteousness of mankind, both Jew and Gentile.
Therefore, as we noted, in Ephesians 4:17, the declarative statement is in the form of a solemn, earnest request of the recipients of this letter and contains the demonstrative pronoun houtos (οὗτος), which is kataphoric or proleptic.
This means that the word is pointing forward in the context to the appositional infinitival clause, which follows it, namely, mēketi hymas peripatein, kathōs kai ta ethnē peripatei en mataiotēti tou noos autōn (μηκέτι ὑμᾶς περιπατεῖν, καθὼς καὶ τὰ ἔθνη περιπατεῖ ἐν ματαιότητι τοῦ νοὸς αὐτῶν), “Namely, that each and every one of you as a corporate unit continue to no longer make it your habit of conducting your lives as in fact the Gentiles are conducting their lives by means of the futility produced by their thinking.” (Lecturer’s translation)
This appositional infinitival clause identifies the referent of the demonstrative pronoun.
The verb legō (λέγω) means “to communicate” since the word’s meaning is derived from the context in that it is related to Paul’s request here in Ephesians 4:17 that the recipients of this epistle no longer live their lives as the members of unregenerate humanity live their lives.
The present tense of the verb legō (λέγω) is an “instantaneous” present, which would indicate that the action of Paul communicating this solemn and earnest request to the recipients of this epistle that they continue to no longer live their lives as the unregenerate members of the human race live their lives is completed the moment Paul put this down in writing under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit.
The indicative mood of this verb legō (λέγω) is a potential indicative and the force of which is not on the recipients doing what Paul requests but rather the emphasis is upon Paul’s desire that they fulfill his.
It is only a potential because the recipients of this letter must exercise their volition and obey this request.
The conjunction kai (καί) is epexegetical, which indicates that the verb martyromai (μαρτύρομαι), “insist” identifies specifically the manner in which Paul is communicating.
Namely, through a solemn and earnest request that the recipients of the epistle continue to no longer conduct their lives as the unregenerate members of the human race conduct their lives.
The verb martyromai (μαρτύρομαι) means “to request” since the word pertains to solemnly and earnestly requesting someone pursue a particular course of action, which is a matter of great importance.
Therefore, this verb speaks of Paul earnestly and solemnly requesting the recipients of this epistle to continue to no longer make it their habit of conducting their lives as the unregenerate members of the human race conduct their lives since it was a matter of great importance to them.
It was of great importance that they did so since it would result in their spiritual growth, which glorifies God and will result in them receiving rewards at the Bema Seat from the Lord Jesus Christ.
Like the present tense of the verb legō (λέγω), the present tense of the verb martyromai (μαρτύρομαι), which is an “instantaneous” present.
This would indicate that the action of Paul solemnly and earnestly requesting that the recipients of this epistle continue to no longer make it their habit of conducting their lives as the unregenerate members of the human race conduct their lives is completed the moment Paul put this down in writing under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit.
Like the indicative mood of this verb legō (λέγω), the indicative mood of this verb martyromai (μαρτύρομαι) is a potential indicative whose force is upon Paul’s desire that they fulfill this request to continue to no longer live their lives as the members of unregenerate humanity live their lives.
Again, it is only a potential because the recipients of this letter must exercise their volition and obey this solemn and earnest request.
As was the case in Ephesians 1:2, 3, 15, 17, 2:21, 3:11, 4:1, and 5, the referent of the dative masculine singular form of the noun kurios (κύριος) here in Ephesians 4:17 is Jesus Christ.
In every instance, the word indicates the following about Jesus Christ:
(1) His equality with the Father and the Spirit.
(2) His joint-rulership with the Father over the entire cosmos.
(3) His highest ranking position as Chief Administrator in the divine government.
(4) His absolute sovereign authority as Ruler over all creation and every creature.
(5) His victory over the sin nature and Satan and His kingdom.
In His deity, Jesus Christ is “Lord” (See Luke 20:42).
However, in His human nature He received this title as a result of His obedience to the Father’s will, which called for Him to suffer a spiritual and physical death on the cross as a substitute for every member of the human race-past, present and future (See Philippians 2:5-11).
The noun kurios (κύριος) contains the figure of metonymy, which means the person of the Lord is put for His sovereign authority over the members of the Christian community.
It is the object of the preposition en (ἐν), which functions as a marker of cause, which indicates that “the basis” for which Paul is solemnly and earnestly requesting that the recipients of this epistle to continue no longer making it their habit of conducting their lives as the unregenerate members of the human race conduct their lives.
Therefore, this indicates that this solemn and earnest request is “based upon” the sovereign authority of the Lord Jesus Christ.
