In Ephesians 1–3, Paul established who we are and what we have in Christ. Now in chapter 4, he switches to how this new life in Jesus ought to be lived out. Significantly, he leads with humility (v. 2)—a trait that runs counter to the values of the culture both then and now. Next, he emphasizes unity. The gentle humility he calls for is vital for this unity (v. 2). Interestingly, Paul was a prisoner at the time of this writing, bringing significance to his quotation in verse 8 of a psalm that twice mentions prisoners (Psalm 68:6, 18).

“Tell all the truth but tell it slant,” the poet Emily Dickinson wrote, suggesting that, because God’s truth and glory is far “too bright” for vulnerable human beings to understand or receive all at once, it’s best for us to receive and share God’s grace and truth in “slant”—gentle, indirect—ways. For “the Truth must dazzle gradually / Or every man be blind.”

The apostle Paul made a similar argument in Ephesians 4 when he urged believers to be “completely humble and gentle” and to “be patient, bearing with one another in love” (v. 2). The foundation for believers’ gentleness and grace with each other, Paul explained, is Christ’s gracious ways with us. In His incarnation (vv. 9–10), Jesus revealed Himself in the quiet, gentle ways people needed in order to trust and receive Him.

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