Category Archives: Bible Study

Ephesians 1:19-21

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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.

Paul’s prayer continues in verse 19 and continues into verses 20 and 21. I think it would be best if we consider the entire section in this piece, so it might be longer than some of the others.

Paul is praying that since our eyes have been opened, we may know several things. Verse 19 identifies one of those things as the exceeding greatness of His power toward those who believe. It is not just the greatness of His power, but the exceeding or surpassing greatness. These are superlative descriptions.

He then goes on to explain what he means by this by using the word “according.” How surpassing is this power, Paul? It is the same kind of power that God worked in Christ when He raised Him from the dead. Is that the kind of power, Paul? No. Paul says, “and” seated Jesus at His right hand in the heavenly places. How far up is that, Paul? The answer? Far above all principality and power and might and dominion, and every name that is named. But that is not all. Not just every name now, but above every name that ever has existed or ever will existed.

That is the kind of power that is working in every believer in Christ. This is not just for those who are “super saints.” This power is directed toward all of us who believe!

Exported from Logos Bible Software, 11:45 AM October 12, 2020.

God’s Curse or Blessing – Part 4

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Continued from Part 3

Galatians 3:17 tells us that the law which came 430 years after the promise to Abraham cannot annul or cancel the promise which God had made to him and his seed. You see, the law that the Israelites were given that conditioned either blessing or curses was given long after God promised a blessing to Abraham. That law cannot add conditions to the promise God gave him. God won’t hold Abraham and his seed accountable to the law in order to receive his blessing. That would be adding terms to a contract already ratified by himself.

The question arises though as to what this has to do with us. God had made these promises to Abraham and his seed, so where do we fit in, and why should it matter?

To answer this I’d like to jump down to Galatians 3:26 and 29 and put them together. Basically God is saying that we are sons of God by faith in Christ. If we are Christ’s then we are heirs according to the promise. He had summarized this earlier in verse 14. “…that the blessing of Abraham might come upon the Gentiles in Christ Jesus, that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.” The blessing of Abraham… That blessing is ours! That means when God made the promise to Abraham and his seed, the seed he is referring to is us– those who have believed in Christ. Galatians 3:29 says it explicitly: “If you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.”

The Christian answer then is that God blessed Abraham and his seed unconditionally. The law that came later could not cancel or add conditions to that blessing otherwise God would have been a liar in making such promises to Abraham. If I’m a Christian, I am an heir of that blessing because I am part of Abraham’s seed. That means that the promise that I am a recipient of, supersedes and precedes the giving of the law. There’s nothing in the keeping or the not-keeping of the law that can affect my status of blessing given by the promise of God. If I am required to keep the law in order to be blessed, God would be breaking His promise to Abraham, and by extension, to me. There is no curse hanging over the Christian. Let your mind and spirit think on this!

I need to add an additional thought here that I see I have failed to mention. The blessing we are referring to is a spiritual blessing. And that means, don’t miss this, it grants us all of the blessings of the New Covenant. I can’t go into all of that here, but a key component of that covenant is the complete and permanent forgiveness of trespasses and sins. Those who receive by faith the salvation God offers through Christ, are forgiven of every sinful thing they have ever done or ever will do! God removes all of our sins, casts them into the depths of the sea, never to be remembered against us again. And this blessing, including complete forgiveness, comes through faith, and does not depend in any way, shape, or form on how well we keep God’s commandments.

Ephesians 1:18

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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,

Paul’s prayer continues in verse 18. This verse begins with the participle phrase “having the eyes of your hearts enlightened.” Being enlightened is a passive verb. Our hearts are enlightened from the outside. Somebody enlightened them. Someone opened our eyes and turned the lights on for us. It is obviously God that has done this.

This enlightening has occurred so that we might know the hope to which God has called us. When our physical eyes are opened to something, we can see objects, examine them and, not just know that they are there, but become acquainted and understand their characteristics. It is the same way here. Paul is not saying that we just know that we have hope. We can see it, feel it, and appreciate it.

Hope in this sense is not “hope so” hope. It is a future promise that we are looking forward to with anticipation. So, God has opened the eyes of our hearts so that we would know that future which God has promised to us. He has called us to have that hope.

The second thing in this verse that He wants us to know is the riches of the glorious inheritance in the saints. The inheritance is described as His inheritance. What I think that means is that we are Jesus’ inheritance. Hebrews 7:13 quotes Jesus as saying “Here am I and the children whom God has given Me.” And in John 17:6, Jesus speaks of the men God has given Him. So, we Christians have been given to Christ by God, and I think that is the glorious inheritance which Jesus is receiving.

What does that do to our appreciation for the work of God when we consider the fact that Jesus wants us to know that He considers the inheritance He is receiving glorious?

Exported from Logos Bible Software, 11:19 AM October 12, 2020.

God’s Curse or Blessing? – Part 3

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Continued from Part 2

“‘Cursed is the one who does not confirm all the words of this law.’ “And all the people shall say, ‘Amen!’ ” “Now it shall come to pass, if you diligently obey the voice of the Lord your God, to observe carefully all His commandments which I command you today, that the Lord your God will set you high above all nations of the earth. And all these blessings shall come upon you and overtake you, because you obey the voice of the Lord your God:” (Deuteronomy 27:26–28:2, NKJV)

That leaves us in a precarious situation, doesn’t it? Not fulfilling every command leaves us under a curse. The blessing is for those who “observe carefully all His commands.” But carefully obeying every single command in both deed and attitude is not possible! That’s why God promises blessing to those who believe, just as He had blessed Abraham for believing.

So, Paul teaches us in Galatians 3 that there are two ways to live life, and these ways are mutually exclusive. He explains this in verses 11 and 12. In verse 11 he tells us that one way is to live by faith, “The just shall live by faith.” The other way, given in verse 12, is to live by the law. He says very clearly that the law is not of faith because those who do them shall live by them. The “them” I take to mean all of the commandments in the law. So you can live “by faith” or “by them, the commandments.” These are two mutually exclusive ways of living. Each one of us can live either by faith or by the law, but not both.

These are so mutually exclusive that Paul writes in Galatians 5:4, “You have become estranged from Christ, you who attempt to be justified by law; you have fallen from grace.”

Back in Galatians 3, Paul now makes the statement that Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law because Christ became cursed for us. Why? What is the purpose? He goes on in verse 14, “that the blessing of Abraham might come upon the Gentiles in Christ Jesus, that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith” (Emphasis mine). Jesus Christ fully kept the law in every way including all deeds and attitudes. And yet, he bore the judgment of the curse. This happened so that blessing could be given to us, the blessing given to Abraham unconditionally. In other words there were no constraints of law-keeping on Abraham in order to receive the blessing. We receive the truth of this blessing by faith — by believing what God has said concerning Christ’s work on the cross for us. When we believe this we move from being under the law and its curse, to living by faith — a totally different approach to life.

In Galatians 3:15 we read that even men’s contracts are binding. We know that is true in our culture. When you sign a contract, it is a binding agreement. Therefore it is even more so if God makes the contract. God’s contracts are binding. God is faithful and true and His contracts cannot be broken. God made a contract with Abraham and his seed, and he made it as a one-sided promise. Nothing can void the contract which God gave to Abraham and his seed.

This is where the real crux of the argument begins to come into play. This is such an important truth that I hope that you will take the time to really think about what is happening here. Galatians 3:17 tells us that the law which came 430 years after the promise to Abraham cannot annul or cancel the promise which God had made to him and his seed. You see, the law that the Israelites were given that conditioned either blessing or curses was given long after God promised a blessing to Abraham. That law cannot add conditions to the promise God gave him. God won’t hold Abraham and his seed accountable to the law in order to receive His blessing. That would be adding terms to a contract already ratified by Himself. And who is Abraham’s seed. As you’ll see in a future article, the seed is all those who believe God and trust Him. Therefore, the curse for disobedience, cannot apply to any of those who truly come to God through Christ.

If you know a little bit about Old Testament history, you know that Abraham lived before Moses. God’s rescue of the Israelite people and the subsequent giving of the law came 430 years after Abraham’s time. God had made a binding contract with Abraham and nothing that would happen later could annul that agreement. Why? Because God’s Word and promises are certain and binding. If man’s contracts cannot be abrogated, how much less can God’s? What Paul is saying is that if God were to give the blessing of the inheritance based on the law, then it wouldn’t be the result of a promise any more, but would be based on our keeping the law. But God gave it as a promise without any conditions.

Ephesians 1:17

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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,

Paul’s prayer is going to encompass several spiritual requests for the people of Ephesus. But first, we need to notice the source of these spiritual benefits. He speaks of God in two ways. First, he calls Him the God of our Lord Jesus Christ.

I mentioned at the beginning, but it continues to amaze me that Paul, the Jewish scholar and pharisee, and persecutor of all those identified with Jesus Christ, would say God is the God of our Lord Jesus Christ. He is clearly identifying himself with Jesus Christ here. He says our Lord Jesus Christ. He’s acknowledging the lordship of Jesus, and he is referring to Him as the Messiah. This is the God he is asking to provide certain spiritual blessings to them.

The second way he refers to God is as the Father of glory. God is the glorious God who created all things and to whom all glory should be rendered. He is the God of might and dominion, but He is also Abba Father.

What is he asking this God to give them? First, he is asking for God to give them the spirit of wisdom and revelation.

Some translations capitalize Spirit for us to understand that this is the Holy Spirit. The original language didn’t use capital letters and so we don’t know if this was the intention of not. But in any case he is asking that God would give them a wise spirit. A spirit that would be discerning, able to sort out truth from error and apply it to the various situations they faced as individuals and as a church.

He also prays for a spirit of revelation. In the days of the New Testament, the scripture was not completed and God revealed His truth to the apostles in order for the truth to be confirmed. I’m not sure if this is what Paul is referring to here. But the challenge to me is that when we pray for others, we should pray for spiritual things such as a spiritual wisdom from God to be given to others in our family and church fellowship.

This wisdom and revelation should be in the knowledge of God. God has revealed himself in His Word and He wants us to get to know Him in that way. We need to pray for one another that our wisdom and understanding in life would grow according to our knowledge of God. There are all kinds of philosophies swirling around. We need to make sure that what we latch onto is consistent with who God has revealed himself to be, and not just some whim or feeling that happens to be sweeping through at the moment.

Exported from Logos Bible Software, 12:09 PM October 5, 2020.

God’s Curse or Blessing? – Part 2

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Continued from Part 1

Galatians 3:10 reads: , “For as many as are of the law are under the curse; for it is written, ‘Cursed is everyone who does not continue in all things which are written in the book of the law, to do them.’” Notice that it is necessary to continue in all things in order to avoid the curse. The problem is that many Christians are viewing life as a law-based scheme. They are attempting to please God, be acceptable to God, and grow in their Christian life by keeping the law. This approach is doomed to failure as we shall see.

Please stay with this. Things that are worth knowing and understanding are worth a little effort of thinking and studying. 

Paul begins his thought in Galatians 3:1. The first thing we read is that Paul appears somewhat frustrated by the fact that the Galatian Christians have been turned away from the truth of the gospel. We need to read carefully so that we can discern whether we too have missed the gospel. He appeals to the fact that the crucifixion of Christ had been clearly portrayed for them so that they would know what His death had accomplished. So he begins his detailed instruction with this question, “Did you receive the Spirit by the works of the law or by the hearing of faith?” The answer to the question should be obvious – by the hearing of faith. Salvation comes by faith alone — trusting only in the promises God has made, which tell us that those who receive and trust Christ will be eternally forgiven and saved.

In verse 3 he asks another question. “Having begun in the Spirit are you now made perfect by the flesh?” The answer should obviously be “No.” So the teaching here is that we begin the Christian life by faith. It cannot be earned. It must simply be believed. Similarly, maturing in the faith is achieved the same way — by faith. It is not accomplished by the keeping of rules. Growth in the Christian life and growing in Christ-likeness are accomplished by faith and not by submitting to the law. In order to illustrate this point, Paul brings up Abraham in verse 6. He explains that Abraham believed God, and it was counted as righteousness for him. God had just showed up at Abraham’s door one day and promised him some things, and Abraham took God at His word. God counted this faith, this believing, as righteousness for Abraham. That means, God declared Abraham perfectly righteous. These promises were made by God unconditionally. That means nothing was required of Abraham except to believe and receive those promises as a gracious gift from God. Because Abraham believed God, God declared him righteous.

In verse 7, Paul tells us, then, that those who are of faith (like Abraham was) are the sons of Abraham. God had promised Abraham that all nations would be blessed through him and verse 9 tells us the conclusion of this section: “Those who are of faith are blessed with believing Abraham.” That means that if you have placed your faith in the promises of God given through His Son, Jesus Christ, you are one of those who are blessed along with Abraham. There you have one of the key words of this study: “blessed.” You see, we began this study with the concept of the blessings and the curses of God. This then sets up the basis for the argument Paul is going to use in the rest of the chapter and it is an extremely crucial argument if you want to understand your relationship to the blessings and curses of God.

According to verse 10, what is the standard for avoiding the curse? If we’re under the law, the standard is that we must continue in all of the things written in the book of the Law. We’re not allowed to deviate from it to either side. We must hit the nail on the head every time. This is exactly the point in Deuteronomy 26:

“‘Cursed is the one who does not confirm all the words of this law.’ “And all the people shall say, ‘Amen!’ ” “Now it shall come to pass, if you diligently obey the voice of the Lord your God, to observe carefully all His commandments which I command you today, that the Lord your God will set you high above all nations of the earth. And all these blessings shall come upon you and overtake you, because you obey the voice of the Lord your God:” (Deuteronomy 27:26–28:2, NKJV)

That leaves us in a precarious situation, doesn’t it? Not fulfilling every command leaves us under a curse. The blessing is for those who “observe carefully all His commands.” But carefully obeying every single command in both deed and attitude is not possible!  That’s why God’s promise of blessing through believing is so important. Believing takes us out from under God’s curse and places us under God’s blessing, just as it did for Abraham. We are blessed because we believe, and the requirement of law-keeping in order to satisfy God has been removed. Being obedient is important for us as children of God, but not for merit, not for scoring points with God. Believing God’s promise credits us with Jesus’ righteousness. He is the one who scored all the points and merited all the blessing for us.

Ephesians 1:16

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I do not cease to give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers,

Because of what he has heard, Paul tells them that he does not cease giving thanks for them. The faith and love he has heard about ignites a spirit of thankfulness for what God is doing in and through these people. When we hear of faith and love among the people of another church, do these qualities generate a genuine spirit of thankfulness in us?

This thankfulness results in the remembering and mentioning of them in prayer. I don’t know about you, but prayer is hard for me. I don’t like it really, because it demonstrates our total inability and inadequacy to accomplish things in our own strength. But God calls us to pray for ourselves, our family, and our church ministries. In this case, Paul prayed for a church where he had been ministering, and, having heard of their faith and love, he prays for them that God will accomplish many spiritual things in their lives.

Exported from Logos Bible Software, 11:56 AM October 5, 2020.

Are You Under God’s Curse or Blessing? – Part 1

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The Bible says we are cursed if we do not perfectly keep all of the Law’s demands. How does this work and what hope is there for us to escape this curse? Paul’s teachings in Galatians 3 is very important for Christians to understand. Often we just read these passages and don’t really think through what God would have us to know and believe.

Let’s begin, though, in Joshua 8:30. In this passage, Joshua split the people up and sent half to Mount Ebal and the other half to Mount Gerizim. I know that’s not the most interesting beginning, and you may be tempted to tune me out, but please stay with me on this and follow the logic that God has laid out for us.

In Deuteronomy 27-28, Moses had commanded this event to take place when the people reached the Promised Land. The people on Mount Gerizim were to read the blessings that you will find recorded in Chapter 28. The people on Mount Ebal were to read the curses. You’ll notice that God’s blessing included every facet of life:

Deuteronomy 28:3-6 “Blessed shall you be in the city, and blessed shall you be in the country. Blessed shall be the fruit of your body, the produce of your ground and the increase of your herds, the increase of your cattle and the offspring of your flocks. Blessed shall be your basket and your kneading bowl. Blessed shall you be when you come in, and blessed shall you be when you go out.”

Similarly the curses were declared. There are curses to match each blessing:

“Cursed shall you be in the city, and cursed shall you be in the country. Cursed shall be your basket and your kneading bowl. Cursed shall be the fruit of your body and the produce of your land, the increase of your cattle and the offspring of your flocks. Cursed shall you be when you come in, and cursed shall you be when you go out…”  (Deut 28:16-19).

Notice the summary curse in verse 27:26: “Cursed is the one who does not confirm all the words of this law by doing them.” So the point is that in order to be blessed, one must keep all of the commandments perfectly. If you look at Deut. 28:47-48 you will see that not only the deeds must be done, but the attitude must also be perfect:

“Because you did not serve the Lord your God with joy and gladness of heart, for the abundance of everything, therefore you shall serve your enemies, whom the Lord will send against you, in hunger, in thirst, in nakedness, and in need of everything; and He will put a yoke of iron on your neck until He has destroyed you” (Emphasis mine).

Paul picks up this theme in Galatians 3:10 where he writes, “For as many as are of the law are under the curse; for it is written, ‘Cursed is everyone who does not continue in all things which are written in the book of the law, to do them.’” Notice that it is necessary to continue to obey all the law in order to avoid the curse. The problem is that many Christians are viewing life as a law-based scheme. They are attempting to please God, be acceptable to God, and grow in their Christian life by keeping the law. This approach is doomed to failure, and since it is not possible to keep every single requirement of God’s law, you find yourself cursed. 

God doesn’t want you to be living this way. All false religions put an emphasis on keeping the rules and being rewarded for success and being judged for failure. Even as Christians, many of us struggle with a cycle of trying and failing, and wondering if what we are doing is going to be accepted by God. In His Word, God reveals a different way of living that avoids the impossible task of being perfect, and still puts us in the place of blessing.

To be continued…

Ephesians 1:15

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For this reason, because I have heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love toward all the saints,

In the next few verses, Paul is going to tell the Ephesian Christians what he is praying for them. He begins, though, by giving them the reason and motivation for his praying. This explanation takes us through both verses 15 and 16.

The first reason he gives is that he has heard of their faith in the Lord Jesus. My immediate thought is, “Has anyone heard of my faith in the Lord Jesus?” The Ephesian Christian’s faith must have been strong enough and evident enough that someone told Paul about them. Their faith must have stood out to this person in such a strong way that it had an impact on whoever it was that told Paul about it.

The second thing he mentions is that he has also heard of their love toward all the saints. How would that love have manifested itself? Love produces action and so there must have been an abundant demonstration, within the church and toward saints in other places, of love. It would have consisted of sacrificial sharing of resources, kindness, a forgiving spirit, gentleness, humility, and any number of other things that demonstrated that love. The point is that it was evident. Love is evident not through the absence of arguing and bickering, but through the positive demonstration of love.

Exported from Logos Bible Software, 11:36 AM October 5, 2020.

Ephesians 1:14

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Who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory.

The Holy Spirit is the guarantee of our inheritance. He is the first installment. Just as we, when we provide a down payment on a car, we are guaranteeing the owner that we will make good on the rest of the payment. So the Holy Spirit is the guarantee of the rest of the payment that God has promised us.

This verse tells us that the Holy Spirit is the guarantee until God redeems His purchased possession. In other words, God has purchased us. He has provided the down payment of the Holy Spirit. The ultimate redemption and claim of his purchase hasn’t occured yet. In the mean time, God’s Holy Spirit is present with us.

This truth is meant to encourage us with the truth that God will not renege on His promise. It’s absurd to think of it, but the idea is that if God were to back out of His promise, we could keep the Holy Spirit, because He is God’s down payment.

All of this is to the praise of the glory of God. Haven’t we seen this over and over in this passage? God’s glory and grace deserve praise. Everyone in heaven and earth needs to know how great God is.

Exported from Logos Bible Software, 2:31 PM October 1, 2020.