As a prisoner in the Lord, then, I urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling you have received:
The three remaining chapters consist entirely of practical exhortations. Mutual agreement is the first subject, in the course of which a discussion is introduced respecting the government of the church, as having been framed by our Lord for the purpose of maintaining unity among Christians. 1. I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord.
This is a general exhortation to walk as becomes our Christian profession. Paul was now a prisoner at Rome; and he was the prisoner of the Lord, or in the Lord, which signifies as much as for the Lord. See of this, Eph 3:1.
I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you,.... Or "in the Lord"; that is, for the Lord's sake; See Gill on Eph 3:1. Some connect this phrase, "in the Lord", with the following word, "beseech": as if the sense was, that the apostle entreated the believing Ephesians, in the name of the Lord, and for his sake, to take heed to their walk and...