Ephesians the Great Exhortation

If you were writing a letter to someone to encourage them in their faith, but you had never meet them, what would you say? Paul has talked about Christ and how he is the basis of our faith, actions, line of thinking, motivation. Paul has reminded them that though they are not Jews the Ephesians now have the same faith and belong to the same family. Now in Ephesians 3 he reveals why he is saying these things to the Ephesians.
This mystery is that the Gentiles are fellow heirs, members of the same body, and partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel.


This must have been radical in Paul's day. To say that the Gentiles now have the same rights, relationship, and power that Christianity brings. Absolutely radical. Did the Jews realize how they would bless the nations? Did they comprehend that through them, the world would have community with God? How amazing.


Paul then applies this idea to his own life. He was "called" to preach to the Gentiles. They were his mission. Now Paul is in prison and waiting to be seen by Caesar. 


so that through the church the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places.


Paul then prays for the Ephesians and gives them a blessing. 



¹⁴ For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, ¹⁵ from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named,¹⁶ that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being, ¹⁷ so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love, ¹⁸ may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, ¹⁹ and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.
²⁰ Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, ²¹ to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen.

Ephesians 2

English Standard Version (ESV)

By Grace Through Faith

2 ^(A)And you were ^(B)dead in the trespasses and sins ^2 (C)in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following ^(D)the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in ^(E)the sons of disobedience— ³ among whom we all once lived in ^(F)the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body^[a] and the mind, and ^(G)were by nature ^(H)children of wrath, like the rest of mankind.^[b] 4 But^[c] God, being ^(I)rich in mercy, ^(J)because of the great love with which he loved us, ⁵ even ^(K)when we were dead in our trespasses, ^(L)made us alive together with Christ—^(M)by grace you have been saved— ⁶ and raised us up with him and ^(N)seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, ⁷ so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable ^(O)riches of his grace in ^(P)kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.⁸ For ^(Q)by grace you have been saved ^(R)through faith. And this is ^(S)not your own doing; ^(T)it is the gift of God, ^9 (U)not a result of works, ^(V)so that no one may boast. ¹⁰ For ^(W)we are his workmanship, ^(X)created in Christ Jesus ^(Y)for good works, ^(Z)which God prepared beforehand, ^(AA)that we should walk in them.

One in Christ

¹¹ Therefore remember that at one time you Gentiles in the flesh, called “the uncircumcision” by what is called ^(AB)the circumcision, which is made in the flesh by hands— ¹² remember ^(AC)that you were at that time separated from Christ,^(AD)alienated from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to ^(AE)the covenants of promise, ^(AF)having no hope and without God in the world. ¹³ But now in Christ Jesus you who once were ^(AG)far off have been brought near ^(AH)by the blood of Christ. ¹⁴ For ^(AI)he himself is our peace, ^(AJ)who has made us both one and has broken down ^(AK)in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility ¹⁵ by abolishing the law of commandments expressed in ^(AL)ordinances, that he might create in himself one ^(AM)new man in place of the two, so making peace, ¹⁶ and might ^(AN)reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility. ¹⁷ And he came and ^(AO)preached peace to you who were ^(AP)far off and peace to those who were ^(AQ)near. ¹⁸ For ^(AR)through him we both have ^(AS)access in ^(AT)one Spirit to the Father. ¹⁹ So then you are no longer ^(AU)strangers and aliens,^[d] but you are ^(AV)fellow citizens with the saints and ^(AW)members of the household of God, ^20 (AX)built on the foundation of the ^(AY)apostles and prophets, ^(AZ)Christ Jesus himself being ^(BA)the cornerstone, ^21 (BB)in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into ^(BC)a holy temple in the Lord. ²² In him^(BD)you also are being built together ^(BE)into a dwelling place for God by^[e] the Spirit.

If you were trying to explain how the Christian life works and encourage a people you had never meet, what would you say? Paul answers that question. He shows them the gospel. Jews had a hard time separating works from faith. Christians have a hard separating our good works for deserving salvation. Imagine if you had an opportunity to explain that separation to a people who were new to the faith and it could take hold of their hearts. I have certain pattern of thinking that it wrong. It taints the pure blood of Christ and makes it less desirable. Tim Keller in a sermon called Losing My Religion discusses a short story by Flannery O'Conner. The statement that captured my heart the most was this,"And even their virtues were being burned away." My virtues are few and pitiful compared to Christ. And they will be burned away; however, they are to be replaced by the virtue of Christ. That doesn't mean we shouldn't do good works, yet the motivation and understanding of the heart is so different. 
I find it odd that Paul would remind them in the next paragraph that they were "uncircumcised." Yet the Ephesians had to be reminded of this so that they could be reminded of the power of Christ's blood. By reminding them of their separation, Paul describe a beautiful picture of the union and equality the Ephesians now have in Christ. One holy temple being joined and grown. 


Father, remind me today of Your Son's power. Give me full understanding that even my good parts are like dirty rags. May the motivation of my heart be kindled by the understanding of Jesus's blood and rightousness. Grow me into Your holiness. Join me to the mind and motivation of Your Son. In Jesus name, Amen. 

Ephesians: The great exhortation

As I read Galatians, I am now reading Ephesians. One of the things that amazed me when I sat down to read the entire book in one sitting was Paul does not seem to know the people he is writing too. Paul is now in chains/prison. He has been to Ephesus in his travels; however, the people he is writing too he seems to be unfamiliar with. In other books, Paul will address specific sins, specific people, and encourage and bless people according to their personal needs. Here there is nothing intimate except the shared love of Christ.


For this reason, because I have heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love toward all the saints, I do not cease to give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers,
(Ephesians 1:15-16 ESV)

Here Paul us praying for them, but he has merely heard of their faith. What Paul prayers for is also pretty cool to read.


that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him, having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to the working of his great might that he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come.
(Ephesians 1:17-21 ESV)

Paul is a huge fan of the run on sentence. Paul wants wisdom for them, knowledge of God, enlightenment, and knowledge of the hope that God gives us. Paul will continue to encourage the Ephesians for 6 chapters. The lesson that sinks into my heart is that I need to encourage those who I don't know in their faith. What does that mean for me? I don't know, but I need to be open to the possibilities. Just as God used Philip to minister to the Ethiopian eunuch, God can use me to minister to people I didn't consider reaching. How will this look? Writing a letter or praying for people? Will I go to that people and provide medical and spiritual care? I don't know, but as I write this God is filling me with excitement.

Dan Zink said this pertaining to a recent missions trip,"We came to learn, serve, and encourage." I want to encourage people in their faith. I am calling Ephesians in my head Paul's exhortation to the Ephesians. I want to do the same for the people who enter my life. Lord, grant me the ability to do the same.

Abide With Me

1. I heard Katherine Jenkins singing Abide With Me. It caused me to contemplate the words. It caused me to pray the hymn that was written to lead me to the cross. 
2. 
   
3. Abide with me; fast falls the eventide;
   The darkness deepens; Lord, with me abide;
   When other helpers fail and comforts flee,
   Help of the helpless, oh, abide with me.
4. Swift to its close ebbs out life’s little day;
   Earth’s joys grow dim, its glories pass away;
   Change and decay in all around I see—
   O Thou who changest not, abide with me.
5. I need Thy presence every passing hour;
   What but Thy grace can foil the tempter’s pow’r?
   Who, like Thyself, my guide and stay can be?
   Through cloud and sunshine, Lord, abide with me.
6. I fear no foe, with Thee at hand to bless;
   Ills have no weight, and tears no bitterness;
   Where is death’s sting? Where, grave, thy victory?
   I triumph still, if Thou abide with me.
7. Hold Thou Thy cross before my closing eyes;
   Shine through the gloom and point me to the skies;
   Heav’n’s morning breaks, and earth’s vain shadows flee;
   In life, in death, O Lord, abide with me.

I have written two poems in the last few month. I am finally getting around to sharing them.

When In Time
When in time
Two Hands do twine
Two lips do touch
Two hearts do meet
Will it lead to intimacy with You?


When children come
Little hands reach
Learned words teach
New hearts seek
Will it bring trust in You?


If hair grays
And mind leaves
Common sense seeps
Old eyes weep
Will I remember You?

Come to me
Come to me
Come my beloved
Let me hold you while you cry


Let tears of sadness
Which have been so lonely 
Now remind you of my life


As arms surround you
I will remind you
How exceptional you are

Galatians in it's entirety

I have been reading the book of Galatians. I read it in it's entirety and I think that I have come to a deeper understanding of it. I have written before on Galatians 5:6

⁶ For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision counts for anything, but only faith working through love.

I still love this verse and do believe it to be the pinnacle of what Paul is saying in this book, but I am not going to post the entire book of Galatians due to space. And if I say a long passage like that and very little writing I would glaze over it. So here I discuss Galatians in its entirety and hope that my reasoning can be followed. 

I like Paul's writing because I feel he give unsugar-coated gospel.Paul starts off with a short greeting and then jumps into his main point.  The Galatians had teachers who came after Paul had left and they were teaching that to be a real "Christian" you had to be circumcised like a Jew. 

Paul starts of by saying:

I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting him who called you in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel— ⁷ not that there is another one, but there are some who trouble you and want to distort the gospel of Christ.

Today there are many different denominations. Tim Keller gives a wonderful sermon on Loosing My Religion. The message I brought away from listening to the sermon is loosing the religion facade that we have and simply living life according to the gospel. Here the gospel is being distorted by the "work" or show of circumcision. 

The next portion of Galatians (1:11-2:11). He showed that he received his calling and gospel from God only. While he had the approval of the disciples, he was not under their authority. He did not change his gospel to match theirs. In fact at one point Paul even rebuked Peter for not living according to the gospel. 

when I saw that their conduct was not in step with the truth of the gospel...

I need this in my life too. I need rebuked according to the gospel. To often I feel that the things I am rebuked for are unfair or not done in a loving way. Here I have a good evaluation tool for judging the critique and a tool to judge myself. Am I living my life according to the gospel? Do I have different expectations for everyone else and myself?  Do my beliefs match my actions? Is the truth of the gospel evident in my life?

yet we know that a person is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ, so we also have believed in Christ Jesus, in order to be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the law, because by works of the law no one will be justified.

I am a rule follower... and a secret rule breaker. When ever I am given a new rule or law, I immediately do a quick evaluation if the rule is good or stupid. An example of this is at work. My boss stated that we were going to start signing these blue sheets to say that a staff member was in the room every hour to see the patient. I rebelled. "Shouldn't people just know that I was in the room and these are so easy to fake? Why should I take the extra time to sign this silly little paper?" So for a long time I didn't. My boss didn't single me out because I wasn't alone in my rebellion, but she would every meeting remind us that we should sign the papers for patient satisfaction scores and other reasons. Finally the Lord spoke to my heart and said,"Why are you rebelling against this? This is not a moral issue, just inconvenient." So with a heavy heart I started signing the blue papers and I found that once I started it didn't take that long.
That is one side of the coin. I also have a strong elder brother side to me where I do like to do things right. Nothing I do can separate me from the love of Christ, yet nothing I do can bring me closer. Following the rules cannot save me. I should not dilute the gospel with such thinking. Paul said that "by works of the law no one will be justified." You might ask what then had God been doing with all those laws of Moses for centuries? The idea that I like the best is that rules and regulations are suppose to bring us closer to God. When I am sinning, I am not paying attention to what God has in store for my life. I am not pursuing Him.
 ²¹ I do not nullify the grace of God, for if righteousness were through the law, then Christ died for no purpose.

Christ's blood is the only thing that paints me righteous. Later Paul will say that Abraham was made righteous by his faith and not the rules he lived his life by.

Did you receive the Spirit by works of the law or by hearing with faith? 


The Holy Spirit is not talked about enough. Here Paul suggests that the Holy Spirit should be an active part of our faith; consequently, our daily lives. The Holy Spirit should be speaking truth into our lives. Truth about the rules we follow, decisions we make, or things we hear. 
And the Scripture, foreseeing that ^(L)God would justify^[c] the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham


This portion of the passage really stuck me. God had a plan to save the Gentiles. He had a plan to save the Gentiles without putting their hearts and minds through the rigors of the law that he had the Jews. He had a plan to save me through faith. Should I reject this gift by trying to do good deeds to earn my way into heaven?


the law, which came 430 years afterward, does not annul a covenant previously ratified by God, so as to make the promise void. ¹⁸ For if the inheritance comes by the law, it no longer comes by promise; but ^(AG)God gave it to Abraham by a promise.


God made a promise with Abraham in Genesis 15. The law given through Moses came years afterward. The same promise made to Abraham is given to us in the form of Jesus Christ. 


 ²¹ Is the law then contrary to the promises of God? Certainly not! For if a law had been given that could give life, then righteousness would indeed be by the law.


I have to remind myself over and over again that following the rules will not save me.  I should also not that breaking the law will actively kill me. Yet it is by faith in the blood of my Savior that will save me. 


There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. 


This verse is often used to show equality. Yet it is in the context of Paul discussing faith vs. law. We all have the same faith in Christ Jesus. We have a set of laws for women and men. I think of my mother encouraging me to be a lady growing up. She does not encourage my nephew, her grandson, to be a lady. The Jews were given a different set of laws to show their separation from the world. To make them holy. It just made some them holier than thou. My pastor recently said,"Pharisee's repented of their sins. Christians should repent of their sin and their attempts to save themselves." We try and save ourselves through rule following, good deeds, and living our lives in a certain way. Don't we understand that those things are like a used menstrual cloth? 


Paul then switches to a very powerful picture of the free woman and the slave woman. Sarah vs Hagar. How you relate to things, people, situation changes when you are a slave or a free person. So why are we a slave to the good works that we try and present to God? 


But what does the Scripture say? “Cast out the slave woman and her son, for the son of the slave woman shall not inherit with the son of the free woman.” ³¹ So, brothers, we are not children of the slave but of the free woman.


Paul uses old testament scripture to prove his point. 


if you accept circumcision, Christ will be of no advantage to you. ³ I testify again to every man who accepts circumcision that he is obligated to keep the whole law. ⁴ You are severed from Christ, you who would be justified by the law; you have fallen away from grace.


Why would we want to go back to square one? Adam and Eve were separated from God. Why do we seek to do the same thing when we already know that we cannot earn, buy, or bribe our way into communion with God? Don't we want and pray for more grace? Why would we seek to fall from it for our own filthy rags?


 For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision counts for anything, but only faith working through love.


I have said this before, but I think it needs restating to my own heart. This is Paul's whole point. He has been building to this thesis. Only faith working through love. 


Who hindered you from obeying the truth?


I ask myself all the time similar questions. Why am I sinning? Why is this even important? What is my motivation? Why am I acting like this? Don't get so caught up that you can't see truth. Truth is very powerful. 


I wish those who unsettle you would emasculate themselves!


Paul is not afraid to say what he is thinking. Here we see how passionate he is about works vs faith. If the same passion would live in my heart. 


walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh.


On one hand I find this so comforting. All I have to do is walk by the Spirit. How do I do that?! ... I believe it calls for cultivating a relationship with God. God does not desire our works. He desires relationship with us. If we are walking with the Spirit we will not be focused on things like...


the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, ²⁰ idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, ²¹ envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these.


If I am constantly trying to live my life by the law these will be my enemies and temptations. These are the things that are going to draw me away from the law. 


the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, ²³ gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.


Not only when I walk with the Spirit will the bad not be seen in my heart, but there will be good seen as well. 


If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit.


Hmmm. Let this thought comfort my soul. My live my life with the Spirit, Holy Father.


 Brothers, if anyone is caught in any transgression, you who are spiritual should restore him in a spirit of gentleness.


Someone had been corrupting the theology of the Galatians. Paul is saying that this should not turn into an excommunication. This is an opportunity for people's hearts to be changed and then put into practice the principles of faith working through love. 


let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up.


Good things are to come from walking with the Spirit. Because the law no longer holds power over us does not get us off the hook. When we sin it still hurts the relationship between us and our Heavenly Father. If we are walking by the Spirit, we will want to do good things. 


For neither circumcision counts for anything, nor uncircumcision, but a new creation. ¹⁶ And as for all who walk by this rule, peace and mercy be upon them, and upon the Israel of God.

A restatement of his earlier thesis and then a joke. He is poking fun at the "rule" that the Galatians were looking to follow. Yet Paul makes it clear who is excluded from his blessing at the end.


Holy Father, I want to walk in Your Spirit. Help me to desire relationship with You. May my heart fill it's desires for companionship with relationship with You. I invite You Holy Spirit to walk with me. May I look to You for comfort, advice, and companionship. Amen.