Jamieson, Fausset and Brown on Ephesians 4:1

CHAPTER 4

Ep 4:1-32. Exhortations to Christian Duties Resting on Our Christian Privileges, as United in One Body, though Varying in the Graces Given to the Several Members, that We May Come unto a Perfect Man in Christ.

1. Translate, according to the Greek order, "I beseech you, therefore (seeing that such is your calling of grace, the first through third chapters) I the prisoner in the Lord (that is, imprisoned in the Lord's cause)." What the world counted ignominy, he counts the highest honor, and he glories in his bonds for Christ, more than a king in his diadem [Theodoret]. His bonds, too, are an argument which should enforce his exhortation.

vocation--Translate, "calling" to accord, as the Greek does, with "called" (Ep 4:4; Ep 1:18; Ro 8:28, 30). Col 3:15 similarly grounds Christian duties on our Christian "calling." The exhortations of this part of the Epistle are built on the conscious enjoyment of the privileges mentioned in the former part. Compare Ep 4:32, with Ep 1:7; Ep 5:1 with Ep 1:5; Ep 4:30, with Ep 1:13; Ep 5:15, with Ep 1:8.