Ambrosiaster — Commentary on Scripture

Ephesians 4:31

Some repress anger and clamor yet still remain mischievous. Paul therefore adds that these should be entirely done away, along with all malice. Such mischief consists not only in blasphemy but in putting on a face of peace while holding on to discord within the soul.

EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS 4.31

Ephesians 5:3

What a grave sin is covetousness, though we gloss over it when compared with fornication and uncleanness. We treat covetousness as a minor fault when in fact it is a grave matter. No one can be a saint in whom is found any of these things that he forbids.

EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS 5.3

Ephesians 5:5

To teach us that covetousness is such a dangerous thing, he calls it idolatry, no sin being greater than this. But why is covetousness called idolatry? Idolatry usurps the honor of God and claims it for the creature. The holy name of God, which belongs solely to the Creator, is thereby applied to creatures. Covetousness is viewed on a level with idolatry because the covetous person similarly usurps for himself what belongs to God and hides them away. Covetousness withholds the resources offered by God for the common use of all. It hoards them to itself so that others may not use them.

EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS 5.5.1

Ephesians 5:7-8

“Once you were darkness” suggests ignorance. No one sees clearly in shadows. The ignorance referred to is disbelief, harking back to pagan days. Those who lived in darkness have been drawn to faith by the grace of God, which has been brought to light, that is, truth. Things that exist are made apparent in the light. Paganism remains deluded as with covered eyes they celebrate their own mysteries as if in the shadows of a cave.

EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS 5.8

Ephesians 5:10

From the abundance of his holiness and goodness it is possible to know what works delight God. … In his holiness we are purified. In his mercy we are brought to full and perfect righteousness.

EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS 5.10

Ephesians 5:14

By sleep he signifies a stupor of the mind. The sleepers are lost from the true path. This estrangement is a kind of death, from which he calls them to rise that they may repent and acknowledge the truth, which is Christ. Thus the faithless and vicious, steeped as they are in mud without hope of life, are called to rise and come out and have a share in life with Christ, so as to pass from the shadows out to the light and from death to life.

EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS 5.14

Ephesians 5:15

Paul has previously ordained that false and vicious lives be exposed by the servants of God. He now adds a qualifier: they are to be exposed in a careful manner to avoid scandal. The faithful must be prudent in their conduct among the faithless, especially at a time when the faithless hold dominion, trusting in an unholy ruler. If then a Christian encounters a troubler who is turbulent and angry, he should be cautious in his presence so as not to incite him to blaspheme or raise a storm. He will utter his words where occasion offers.

EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS 5.15.1

Ephesians 5:17

Do what you have to do with moderation. This is the will of the Lord. Do not allow commotion and din or discord with bad feeling to give rise to estrangement. So Paul adds these words to what he has said about his wish that the servants of God should admonish wrongdoing.

EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS 5.17

Ephesians 5:18

It is good conduct that strikes fear in the wrongdoer. Only one who is sober is prepared to counsel another realistically and with confidence. The person being counseled feels less resentment when he knows how good is the actual conduct of the one who admonishes him. But where there is intoxication there is also debauchery, and debauchery causes base deeds. Therefore it is our duty to be sober, so that the requirements of good conduct may be observed.

EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS 5.18

Ephesians 5:19

If we are living well, we are always being filled with the Holy Spirit so as to confess and extol the gift of God. The Holy Spirit loves this way of life. This is especially expressed in songs, that praise may be sung to God by every tongue. If the Spirit is dwelling within someone, he is always meditating on the Spirit. It is not only his lips that burst forth but his heart.

EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS 5.19

Ephesians 5:20

We are told to give thanks to God for all his gifts. For God has stooped low to adopt us through Christ his own Son, through whom we know God. We have learned that God, being Spirit, is to be adored in the Spirit. So we submit ourselves to one another out of reverence for Christ, who commanded us to pursue humility.

EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS 5.21

Ephesians 5:24

Here is Paul’s analogy: As the church takes its beginning from Christ and therefore is subject to him, so too does woman take hers from the man and is subject to him. There is a crucial difference, however, between Christ and the church as opposed to man and woman. The essential difference is that the woman is of the same nature as the man. The church, on the other hand, can participate in Christ in name but not in nature.

EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS 5.24

Ephesians 6:1

This law is given to children: Since their parents are the enablers of their existence, they are to obey them. The principle is that they reverence those through whom they exist.

EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS 6.2

Ephesians 6:2

Because the first four commandments pertain to God, it is implied that they are contained in the first table. The second table pertains to humans, that they should honor their parents, not murder, not commit adultery, not steal, not bear false witness and covet none of their neighbors’ goods. These six commandments are viewed as written on the second table.

EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS 6.3.2

Ephesians 6:5

Christianity promises the kingdom of heaven only to those who believe, in order that they will not feel human pride on meriting this. Our faith is by grace, which is exalted to a higher plane than works. Only faith avails. On this gracious premise we are ordered to discharge all that is due to earthly masters. This will have the effect of inciting all the more the minds of unbelievers toward the worship of God. They will see by our behavior that our religion is both righteous and humble. Then, as masters see their slaves become more educated and more faithful in rendering service, they will see with what light reins true religion exercises governance in human affairs. So, when servants for their part notice the increased kindness of their masters, they will be similarly moved to more avid faith.

EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS 6.5.1

Ephesians 6:6

It is on account of their reverence for God that they are called to demonstrate here and now their faithful and just service to persons. As they serve God by their service to earthly masters, they look toward the day of judgment, when all will be requited and all brought to final justice.

EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS 6.8

Ephesians 6:7

This conduct may also tend toward the salvation of the master. They will see that their slaves through the grace of God have become faithful ministers. This is no small thing. They will then come to praise God’s grace as well.

EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS 6.8

Ephesians 6:13

We are waging war against the fiercest of enemies. He is skilled in every deceit. We must therefore keep on the lookout, with all circumspection and care, that wherever they test our resistance they will find us protected and ready.… Against earthly foes the body must be strengthened with food and the mind aroused by drink to become bold enough to fight back. So against the spiritual weapons of iniquity we must fight spiritually. But our weapons must be sobriety and abstinence, that, having been imbued with the Holy Spirit, we may vanquish the unclean, warring spirits.

EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS 6.17.1-2

Ephesians 6:18

Insofar as our conduct is right we are rightly prepared for the Holy Spirit to abide in us. Hence we are more ready to obtain what we request. This therefore is what it means to pray in the Spirit at all times. We are directing our prayer to God with a clean conscience and sincere faith. One who prays with a polluted mind prays only in the flesh, not in the spirit.

EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS 6.20.1

Ephesians 6:19

He exhorts them to pray for him in two ways: first that his thoughts may be filled by the Spirit for the full declaration of the mystery, and second that he may be given a faculty of bold utterance in proclaiming it.

EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS 6.20.2