Unity of the Spirit

1Therefore I, the prisoner in the Lord, exhort you to walk worthy of the calling with which you have been called, 2with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, 3being diligent to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. 4There is one body and one Spirit, just as also you were called in one hope of your calling; 5one Lord, one faith, one baptism; 6one God and Father of all who is over all and through all and in all.

7But to each one of us grace was given according to the measure of Christ’s gift. 8Therefore [†]it says,

“WHEN HE ASCENDED ON HIGH,

HE LED CAPTIVE A HOST OF CAPTIVES,

And HE GAVE GIFTS TO MEN.”

9(Now this expression, “He ascended,” what [†]does it mean except that He also [†]descended into the lower parts of the earth? 10He who descended is Himself also He who ascended far above all the heavens, so that He might fill all things.) 11And He Himself gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers, 12for the equipping of the [†]saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ, 13until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the [†]full knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature [†]which belongs to the fullness of Christ, 14so that we are no longer to be children, tossed here and there by waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, by craftiness [†]in deceitful scheming, 15but [†]speaking the truth in love, [†]we are to grow up in all aspects into Him who is the head, that is Christ, 16from whom the whole body, being joined and held together [†]by what every joint supplies, according to the properly measured working of each individual part, causes the growth of the body for the building up of itself in love.

Put On the New Man

17Therefore this I say, and testify in the Lord, that you walk no longer just as the Gentiles also walk, in the futility of their mind, 18being darkened in their mind, alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the hardness of their heart. 19And they, having become callous, have given themselves over to sensuality [†]for the practice of every kind of impurity with greediness. 20But you did not learn [†]Christ in this way— 21if indeed you heard Him and were taught in Him, just as truth is in Jesus— 22[†]to lay aside, in reference to your former conduct, the old man, which is being corrupted in accordance with the lusts of deceit, 23and to be renewed in the spirit of your mind, 24and to put on the new man, which [†]in the likeness of God has been created in righteousness and holiness of the truth.

25Therefore, laying aside falsehood, SPEAK TRUTH EACH ONE of you WITH HIS NEIGHBOR, for we are members of one another. 26BE ANGRY, AND yet DO NOT SIN; do not let the sun go down on your anger, 27and do not give the devil [†]an opportunity. 28He who steals must steal no longer, but rather he must labor, performing with his own hands what is good, so that he will have something to share with [†]one who has need. 29Let no [†]unwholesome word proceed from your mouth, but only such a word as is good for building up [†]what is needed, so that it will give grace to those who hear. 30And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, [†]by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. 31Let all bitterness and anger and wrath and shouting and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. 32Instead, be kind to one another, tender-hearted, graciously forgiving each other, just as God in Christ also has graciously forgiven [†]you.