Ephesians 4.28b-Command to Work Hard By Engaging in Activities Which Produce Divine Good
Wenstrom Bible Ministries
Pastor-Teacher Bill Wenstrom
Thursday November 6, 2025
Ephesians Series: Ephesians 4:28b-Command to Work Hard By Engaging in Activities, which Produce Divine Good
Lesson # 293
Ephesians 4:28 The one who does steal must no longer steal but rather they must begin to work hard for a living and continue doing so. Specifically, by making it their habit of being diligently engaged in performing activities with their own hands, which for their own benefit produce good, which is divine in quality and character in order to possess the capacity to make it their habit of sharing for the benefit of those who possess a need. (Lecturer’s translation)
Ephesians 4:28 is composed of the following:
(1) prohibition: ho kleptōn mēketi kleptetō (ὁ κλέπτων μηκέτι κλεπτέτω), “The one who does steal must no longer steal.” (Lecturer’s translation)
(2) command: kopiatō (κοπιάτω), “They must begin to work hard for a living and continue doing so.” (Lecturer’s translation)
(3) participial clause: ergazomenos tais idiais chersin to agathon (ἐργαζόμενος ταῖς ἰδίαις χερσὶν τὸ ἀγαθόν), “Specifically, by making it their habit of being diligently engaged in performing activities with their own hands, which for their own benefit produce good, which is divine in quality and character.” (Lecturer’s translation)
(4) purpose clause: hina echē metadidonai tō chreian echonti (ἵνα ἔχῃ μεταδιδόναι τῷ χρείαν ἔχοντι), “in order to possess the capacity to make it their habit of sharing for the benefit of those who possess a need.” (Lecturer’s translation)
Therefore, we can see that Paul issues a solemn prohibition to the recipients of this epistle who we noted were the members of the Gentile Christian community in the Roman province of Asia, which deals with a hypothetical situation.
This prohibition required that this hypothetical Christian who does steal must no longer steal.
Then, he issues them a command, which stands in contrast to this prohibition, and required that this hypothetical Christian must begin to work hard for a living and continue doing so.
He then explains this command further with a participial clause which presents the means by which they were to execute this command, namely by making it their habit of being diligently engaged in performing activities with their own hands, which for their own benefit produce good, which is divine in quality and character.
The purpose of this was so that they would possess the capacity to make it their habit of sharing for the benefit of those who possess and material or financial need.
As we noted earlier, this command is modified by a participial clause, which identifies for the reader the means by which this hypothetical believer was to begin to work hard for a living and continue doing so.
It asserts that they were to do so by making it their habit of being diligently engaged in performing activities with their own hands, which for their own benefit produce good, which is divine in quality and character.
In this participial clause, Paul employs the adjective agathos (ἀγαθός) which describes works or actions as good in the sense that they are divine in quality and character because it is in accordance with the Father’s will.
They are in accordance with the Father’s will because they are the direct result of a person being influenced by the Spirit.
This word describes these works or actions as being intrinsically valuable, intrinsically good, inherently good in quality but with the idea of good which is also profitable, useful, benefiting others, benevolent because it is based upon and motivated by the teaching of the Spirit in the Word of God.
It describes these works or actions as being intrinsically valuable, intrinsically good, inherently good in quality but with the idea of good which is also profitable, useful, benefiting others.
The adjective agathos (ἀγαθός) contains the figure of metonymy, which means that which is divine good in quality and character is put for the production of good, which is divine in quality and character.
The articular construction of the adjective agathos (ἀγαθός) is an abstract word, which functions as a substantive and is thus an abstract noun.
Thus, the word emphasizes that this good is unique to the Christian community in that it can only be produced by a Christian because only they have the capacity to perform divine good.
This is indicated by the fact that performing divine good requires a person being permanently indwelt by the Holy Spirit who produces this good through the Spirit indwelt believer who obeys the Spirit inspired commands and prohibitions of Scripture.
In this participial clause, Paul as we noted uses the verb ergazomai (ἐργάζομαι), which pertains to engaging in an activity involving considerable expenditure of effort, energy and diligence, thus “to labor, to work hard to accomplish something.
The referent of the masculine singular form of this verb is again a hypothetical member of the Christian community.
Therefore, this verb ergazomai (ἐργάζομαι) expresses the idea of a hypothetical member of the Christian community diligently engaged in performing activities with their own hands, which are produce good, which is divine in quality and character.
It indicates that this production of divine good performed with their own hands involved a considerable expenditure of effort, energy and diligence on their part expressing the idea that they worked hard performing good, which is divine in quality and character.
The participle conjugation of this verb is functioning as a nominative of simple apposition which means that it describes or identifies for the reader what a hypothetical Christian who does steal must do instead.
Namely, they were to make it their habit of diligently being engaged in performing activities with their own hands, which produce good, which is divine in quality and character.
The present tense of this verb ergazomai (ἐργάζομαι) is a customary present, which expresses the idea of a hypothetical Christian “making it their habit of” working hard by being diligently being engaged performing activities with their own hands, which produce good, which are divine in quality and character instead of stealing.
The middle voice of the verb ergazomai (ἐργάζομαι) is an indirect middle, which expresses the idea of a hypothetical Christian making it their habit of being diligently engaged in performing activities with their own hands, which “for their own benefit” produce good, which is divine in quality and character.
It will benefit them because it will results in rewards for them at the Bema Seat Evaluation of the church, which takes place immediately after the rapture or resurrection of the church.
Like many expositors and exegetes, I interpret the participle conjugation of this verb ergazomai (ἐργάζομαι) as a participle of means, which means that it is defining or explaining or making more explicit what Paul intended to convey with the verb kopiaō (κοπιάω).
Therefore, this would express the idea of a hypothetical Christian working hard for a living “by means of” making it their habit of being diligently engaged in performing activities for their own benefit, which produce good, which is divine in quality and character.
