if indeed you heard him, and were taught in him, even as truth is in Jesus:
Parallel Translations
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if indeed you heard him, and were taught in him, even as truth is in Jesus:
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if so be ye have hearde of him and are taught in him even as the trueth is in Iesu.
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If so be yee haue heard him, and haue bene taught by him, as the trueth is in Iesus,
Cross-references (16)
Passages linked to Ephesians 4:21 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- 1 John 5:20 We know that the Son of God has come, and has given us an understanding, that we know him who is true, and we are in him who is true, in his Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God and eternal life.
- Ephesians 1:13 In him you also, having heard the word of the truth, the Good News of your salvation—in whom, having also believed, you were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit,
- Hebrews 3:7-8 Therefore, even as the Holy Spirit says, “Today if you will hear his voice, don’t harden your hearts, as in the rebellion, like as in the day of the trial in the wilderness,
- 1 John 5:10-12 He who believes in the Son of God has the testimony in himself. He who doesn’t believe God has made him a liar, because he has not believed in the testimony that God has given concerning his Son. The testimony is this, that God gave to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. He who has the Son has the life. He who doesn’t have God’s Son doesn’t have the life.
- John 14:17 the Spirit of truth, whom the world can’t receive; for it doesn’t see him and doesn’t know him. You know him, for he lives with you, and will be in you.
- Colossians 2:7 rooted and built up in him, and established in the faith, even as you were taught, abounding in it in thanksgiving.
- John 10:27 My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me.
- Psalms 85:10-11 Mercy and truth meet together. Righteousness and peace have kissed each other. Truth springs out of the earth. Righteousness has looked down from heaven.
- Matthew 17:5 While he was still speaking, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them. Behold, a voice came out of the cloud, saying, “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. Listen to him.”
- Luke 10:16 Whoever listens to you listens to me, and whoever rejects you rejects me. Whoever rejects me rejects him who sent me.”
- John 1:17 For the law was given through Moses. Grace and truth were realized through Jesus Christ.
- John 14:6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father, except through me.
- 2 Corinthians 1:20 For however many are the promises of God, in him is the “Yes.” Therefore also through him is the “Amen”, to the glory of God through us.
- 2 Corinthians 11:10 As the truth of Christ is in me, no one will stop me from this boasting in the regions of Achaia.
- Psalms 45:4 In your majesty ride on victoriously on behalf of truth, humility, and righteousness. Let your right hand display awesome deeds.
- Acts 3:22-23 For Moses indeed said to the fathers, ‘The Lord God will raise up a prophet for you from among your brothers, like me. You shall listen to him in all things whatever he says to you. It will be that every soul that will not listen to that prophet will be utterly destroyed from among the people.’
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (14 sources)
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John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain 21. If ye have heard him. To excite their…
21. If ye have heard him. To excite their attention and earnestness the more, he not only tells them that they had heard Christ, but employs a still stronger expression, ye have been taught in him, as if he had said, that this doctrine had not been slightly pointed out, but faithfully delivered and explained.
As the truth is in Jesus. This contains a reproof of that superficial knowledge of the gospel, by which many are elated, who are wholly unacquainted with newness of life. They think that they are exceedingly wise, but the apostle pronounces it to be a false and mistaken opinion. There is a twofold knowledge of Christ, — one, which is true and genuine, — and another, which is counterfeit and spurious. Not that, strictly speaking, there are two kinds; but most men falsely imagine that they know Christ, while they know nothing but what is carnal. In another Epistle he says,
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“If any man be in Christ, let him be a new creature.” (2 Corinthians 5:17.)
So here he affirms that any knowledge of Christ, which is not accompanied by mortification of the flesh, is not true and sincere.
John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain As they have learned which acknowledge Christ indeed, and…
As they have learned which acknowledge Christ indeed, and in good earnest.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain 21 If so be that ye have heard him,…
21 If so be that ye have heard him, and have been taught by him, as the truth is in Jesus:
Ver. 21. Ye have heard him, &c.] When Christ speaks once, we must hear him twice, as David did, Psa 62:11, to wit, by an after deliberate meditation; for otherwise we learn nothing.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain If so be that ye have heard him; either…
If so be that ye have heard him; either heard Christ speaking to you in the gospel, Heb 12:25, and then the sense will be the same as in the following clause; or heard him preached to you, and then it may refer to the outward hearing of the word.
And have been taught by him; or taught in him; in or by, as Col 1:16; Heb 1:2; and then this relates to the power of the word, and the impression made by it upon the heart: q.d. If ye have not only heard of him by the hearing of the ear, but have been effectually taught by the Spirit to know him, and receive his doctrine, Isa 54:13; Joh 6:45.
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As the truth is in Jesus; as it really is, and hath been taught by Christ himself, both in his doctrine and example, viz. what is the true way of a Christian’s living; as in the following verses: see Joh 17:17; Tit 1:1.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain That ye put off concerning the former conversation, the…
That ye put off concerning the former conversation, the old man,.... Which is the corruption of nature; why this is called a man, and an old man; see Gill on Rom 6:6, the putting him off, is not a removing him from the saints, nor a destroying him in them, nor a changing his nature; for he remains, and remains alive, and is the same old man he ever was, in regenerate persons; but it is a putting him off from his seat, and a putting him down from his government; a showing no regard to his rule and dominion, to his laws and lusts, making no provision for his support; and particularly, not squaring the life and conversation according to his dictates and directions; and therefore it is called a putting him off, concerning the former conversation: the change lies not, in the old man, who can never be altered, but in the conversation; he is not in the same power, but he retains the same sinful nature; he is put off, but he is not put out; and though he does not reign, he rages, and often threatens to get the ascendant: these words stand either in connection with Eph 4:17 and so are a continuation and an explanation of that exhortation; or else they point out what regenerate souls are taught by Christ to do, to quit the former conversation, to hate the garment spotted with the flesh, and to put it off; for the allusion is to the putting off of filthy garments, as the works of the flesh may be truly called, which flow from the vitiosity of nature, the old man:
which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts; the old man, or the vitiosity of nature, has its lusts; and these are deceitful; they promise pleasure and profit, but yield neither in the issue; they promise liberty, and bring into bondage; they promise secrecy and impunity, but expose to shame, and render liable to punishment; they sometimes put on a religious face, and so deceive, and fill men with pride and conceit, who think themselves to be something, when they are nothing: and through these the old man is corrupt; by these the corruption of nature is discovered; and the corruption that is in the world is produced hereby; and these make a man deserving of, and liable to the pit of corruption; and this is a good reason, why this corrupt old man, with respect to the life and conversation, should be put off.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain Seeing ye have heard him - Teaching you inwardly…
Seeing ye have heard him - Teaching you inwardly by his Spirit. As the truth is in Jesus - According to his own gospel.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 21. If so be that ye have heard…
Verse 21. If so be that ye have heard him] ειγε, Seeing that, since indeed, ye have heard us proclaim his eternal truth; we have delivered it to you as we received it from Jesus.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain If so be that ye have heard him -…
If so be that ye have heard him - If you have listened attentively to his instructions, and learned the true nature of his religion. There may be a slight and delicate doubt implied here whether they had attentively listened to his instructions. Doddridge, however, renders it, “Seeing ye have heard him;” compare notes on Eph 3:2.
And have been taught by him - By his Spirit, or by the ministers whom he had appointed.
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As the truth is in Jesus - If you have learned the true nature of his religion as he himself taught it. What the truth was which the Lord Jesus taught, or what his principles implied, the apostle proceeds to state in the following verses.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain If so be that--not implying doubt; assuming what I…
If so be that--not implying doubt; assuming what I have no reason to doubt, that
heard him--The "Him" is emphatic: "heard Himself," not merely heard about Him.
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taught by him--Greek, "taught IN HIM," that is, being in vital union with Him (Rom 16:7).
as the truth is in Jesus--Translate in connection with "taught"; "And in Him have been taught, according as is truth in Jesus." There is no article in the Greek. "Truth" is therefore used in the most comprehensive sense, truth in its essence, and highest perfection, in Jesus; "if according as it is thus in Him, ye have been so taught in Him"; in contrast to "the vanity of mind of the Gentiles" (Eph 4:17; compare Joh 1:14, Joh 1:17; Joh 18:37). Contrast Joh 8:44.
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain 21. Heard him—Preaching to you through his apostles. For…
21. Heard him—Preaching to you through his apostles. For the gospel is his living voice. As the truth is embodied in Jesus—What that truth is we are told in the next paragraph. It is the truth of the renewal from the old depravities to the new purities.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 21. if so be] The Gr. interrogative (used also…
21. if so be] The Gr. interrogative (used also above, Eph_3:2) does not imply any doubt, necessarily, but calls the reader to verify the statement.
have heard him, &c.] Better, as “Him” is emphatic by position, If it was He whom ye heard. The Gr. construction leads us to explain this not of listening to the Lord so much as of hearing about Him, or rather, of hearing “Him” as Truth rather than Teacher. “Christ” had been the Message they had received.—He does indeed, by His Word and Spirit, personally continue the “teaching” which in His earthly ministry He began (Act_1:1); but that is not the point of the present words.
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have been taught by him] Better, if it was in Him that ye were taught. The instruction was “in Christ,” if the teacher’s limit and rule was the truth of His Person and Work, and if those who received it were, by living spiritual union, “in Him,” and so capable of “spiritual discernment” (1Co_2:14). This clause defines and explains the previous clause.
as the truth is in Jesus] Better, even as in Jesus truth is. See last note, on the relation of spiritual “in-ness” to the standard and reception of spiritual truth. The emphasis here is as if to say, “If you were taught, as I say, in Him; in the lines of eternal fact and spiritual reality which do so truly meet in Him.”—The question arises, why does the Lord’s designation change from “Christ,” Eph_4:20, to “Jesus” here? Probably to mark the fact that the prophesied Christ is the historical Jesus.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (21) If so be that.—The word is the same…
(21) If so be that.—The word is the same which is used in Eph_3:2, Col_1:23, indicating no real doubt, but only that rhetorical doubt which is strong affirmation.
Ye have heard him . . .—The true rendering here is, ye heard Him, and were taught in Him. St. Paul begins with the first means of knowledge, the “hearing” His voice, directly or through His ministers; and then proceeds to describe the fuller and more systematic process of “being taught,” not “by Him” (as in our version), but “in Him,” that is, in that unity with Him which embraces both teachers and taught as with an atmosphere of His presence.
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As the truth is in Jesus.—Here by the name “Jesus,” the personal and proper name of the Lord, St. Paul leads us on from the conception of “learning the Christ,” to understand the method of that learning, in the knowledge of the “truth” in the person of Jesus Himself, who declares Himself to be the Truth (Joh_14:6). By a loving study and knowledge of His person, as set forth to us in the gospel, and brought home to us by His grace, rather than by abstract musing on the office and attributes of “the Christ,” we come to learn the Christ also. The use of the simple name Jesus, so common in the Gospels, is rare indeed in the Epistles, where we constantly find the fuller description “Jesus Christ,” “the Lord Jesus,” “Jesus the Son of God.” Wherever it occurs, it will be found to be distinctive or emphatic. This distinctiveness is most strikingly evident in Rom_8:11 : “If the Spirit of Him who raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, He that raised up [the] Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies.” The “raising up of Jesus,” is the historical resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth; the “raising up the Christ” points to the mysterious effect of that resurrection on those for whom He is the Mediator. Of the few other passages in which the simple name occurs, some (as Rom_3:26; 2Co_4:10-11; 1Th_1:10; Heb_10:10) are mere reiterations of the name occurring above with the due title of honour; others are quasi-recitals of a creed declaring the historic Jesus (1Co_12:3; 1Th_4:14; comp. 2Co_11:4). In the Epistle to the Hebrews, where, in accordance with one main purpose of the Epistle, this usage is least rare (see Heb_2:9; Heb_6:20; Heb_7:22; Heb_12:2; Heb_12:24; Heb_13:12), it will be found that in all cases, either special stress is laid on the lowly and suffering humanity of the Lord, or the historic facts of His ministry on earth are referred to. The modern familiarity of use of the simple name “Jesus” has little authority in apostolic usage.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain If so be that ye heard him. A word…
If so be that ye heard him. A word of caution. We are not to assume too readily that we are in a right relation to Christ. We must look within and make sure of that. To hear him, here, is to hear him as his sheep hear his voice and follow him, recognizing the voice of the Shepherd, a voice to be implicitly obeyed. And were taught in him, as truth is in Jesus. The peculiar force of this clause is the double ejn, not given in the first clause in A.V., thereby obscuring the sense, which is, that all teaching and all truth acquires a different hue and a different character when there is a personal relation to Jesus. Truth apart from the person of Christ has little power; abstract doctrines have little influence; the very atonement may be a barren dogma. But the atonement taught "in Jesus," in connection with the living, loving, dying, risen Savior tells; the blood of redemption in connection with the Son of God incarnate thus loving us, and meekly, patiently suffering the agonies of the cross in our room, is not only a power, but the greatest moral power that can move the heart.
As the truth is in Jesus.
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These words describe the method, not the substance, of Christian teaching; the latter is adverted to in the next verse. The historical name, "Jesus," instead of the more common official name, "Christ," indicates that this teaching is given through the life of our Lord on earth. We come to the knowledge of truth by hearing him, by being taught of him, by seeing it as it is in him.
I THE KNOWLEDGE OF TRUTH IS OF SUPREME IMPORTANCE TO US. The means is proportioned to the end. If the life of Christ is necessary for the revelation of truth, the truth thus revealed must be of first moment. Emotion without truth is vapid sentiment; and action without truth can have no moral character, and is as likely to be hurtful as useful. It is a blind man"s groping. We can dispense with a superfluity of dogma. We have too many words about truth. But truth itself, the living spiritual reality, is the very breath of our souls. To know ourselves and our vocation, to know God, his love and his will, to know the spiritual order of things as far as it touches our own lives and conduct, is of vital interest.
II TRUTH IS REVEALED IN CHRIST. Truth is written on the great book of creation, but in obscure hieroglyphics, for nature is an inarticulate prophet. Truth has also come through the inspiration of thought and conscience in poets and seers. But then it is always in words; and words make it but a clumsy garment hiding its finer beauty and, at best, speaking at second hand. In Christ we see truth intelligible, powerful, touching. It is revealed in his very self and in his words and deeds as they are the outcome and signs of his character and nature. Christ is the truth. He has but to be and to be seen and heard for truth to be revealed.
III THIS REVELATION OF TRUTH IN CHRIST IS OF A DISTINCTIVE CHARACTER.
1. It is human. Truth is seen in Jesus just because he is a real and perfect Man. As man is made in the image of God, the very being of a perfect man must be a manifestation of Divine thoughts.
(1) Therefore any dogmas that are contrary to humanity are false.
(2) Therefore, also, we need not fear truth. She has a human countenance.
1. It is living. Truth in words is cold and dead, though it may be clear and beautiful. Truth in Jesus is alive, revealing itself in action, putting teeth energy, responding to our sympathy.
2. It is spiritual. Truth of religion and of conduct is what we see in Jesus, not reminiscences of secular history nor anticipations of material science. The highest truth concerns God and the soul, duty and the unseen world. 4. It is beautiful. Christ"s glory was full of grace and truth. In his face truth has no terrors, but the most winning attractions and the most moving loveliness.
IV SUCH A PRESENTATION OF TRUTH CALLS FORTH DUTIES ON OUR PART.
1. We have to learn Christ." That is the one lesson for our souls. We may learn all systems of theology and yet know nothing of the highest truth, if we do not know Christ. They who sit at the feet of Jesus drink from the deepest fountains. As Christ is best described to us in the four Gospels, these Gospels are the chief source of Christian knowledge. Yet inasmuch as the apostles interpret the mind of Christ, we may learn Christ from the whole of the New Testament But we must also come to a personal communion with Christ in order to know him aright.
2. We have to Trove how we have learned Christ by our conduct. This knowledge is to shape our actions. Fidelity, purity, and charity of life must make men see what truth we have found in Jesus. W.F.A.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
B. W. Johnson 1891 · Public Domain 21. If so be that ye have heard him.…
21. If so be that ye have heard him. This does not express a doubt that they had heard and been taught by Christ. The idea is: If ye have heard, etc., as I know you have, you have been taught the truth in Jesus, that
(verse 22) ye put off concerning the former manner of life the old man and his deeds. “The old man” is the old sinful life, in contrast with “the new man,” or new life in Christ.
B. W. Johnson's The People's New Testament with Notes (1889–1891) — public domain. Electronic text from the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (CCEL) ThML edition.