Category Archives: Christian Life

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.

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.

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.

Bible Study Helps Available

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Over the years I have taught hundreds of Sunday School lessons, and written study guides for many biblical topics. I’ve made many of these available for download on my website. I’m thankful that many people have made use of these materials. Here is a picture of one of the download pages showing the topics and the number of downloads over the past four years. If you like Bible study, take a look at these pages to see if any of the topics might be of interest to you.

On the menu above choose “Teaching” and then “Roger” and you can choose from several general areas of study. Everything there is available there for your personal use and study.

Ephesians 1:13

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In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit,

Not only those who were the first to hope in Christ, as verse 12 says, but also the Ephesian believers, and, I believe, we as well, have the blessings of the promises of God.

Here we see some of the process. First, they heard the word of truth, the gospel. How can they believe on Him of whom they have not heard? So hearing is the first step.

What was heard? The gospel, which Paul says in Romans 1, is the power of God unto salvation.

Second, they believed in Him. Believing in Christ is what saves us. Believing, trusting, entrusting ourselves to Him is saving faith. Saying you believe isn’t the same as believing. Saying a prayer to accept Christ is not the same thing as believing. Going to church is not the same thing as believing.

The result of this believing as explained in verse 13 is that we are sealed with the promised Holy Spirit. The next verse is going to tell us that He is our guarantee, the down payment of our eternal inheritance.

The Holy Spirit is the one Christ promised to us before He left. He told us that He would not leave us comfortless, but would send the Holy Spirit to teach, guide and convict us, and be the one who encourages us as we travel through life.

Exported from Logos Bible Software, 1:23 PM September 28, 2020.

Ephesians 1:12

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So that we who were the first to hope in Christ might be to the praise of his glory.

Verse 12 finishes the thought from verse 11. So that… We learned in verse 11 that God works everything according to the counsel of his will. But in this predestinating work, the question is why? What is he trying to accomplish? Verse 12 gives the answer to that question. So that we who hope in Christ might be for the praise of his glory. There you have what is basically the answer to the greatest philosophical question of the universe. Why am I here and why is God doing what He is doing? The answer is so that those who place their hope in Christ would be to the praise of the glory of God. Do you see your life that way? That the reason you go to work, mow your lawn, vacuum your house, are all done for the glory of God? Whether you eat or drink or in whatever you do, do all to the glory of God. (1 Corinthians 10:31)

Exported from Logos Bible Software, 1:18 PM September 28, 2020.

All I Have is Christ

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VERSE 1
I once was lost in darkest night
Yet thought I knew the way
The sin that promised joy and life
Had led me to the grave
I had no hope that You would own
A rebel to Your will
And if You had not loved me first
I would refuse You still

VERSE 2
But as I ran my hell-bound race
Indifferent to the cost
You looked upon my helpless state
And led me to the cross
And I beheld God’s love displayed
You suffered in my place
You bore the wrath reserved for me
Now all I know is grace

CHORUS
Hallelujah! All I have is Christ
Hallelujah! Jesus is my life

VERSE 3
Now, Lord, I would be Yours alone
And live so all might see
The strength to follow Your commands
Could never come from me
O Father, use my ransomed life
In any way You choose
And let my song forever be
My only boast is You

Music and words by Jordan Kauflin. © 2008 Sovereign Grace Praise (BMI). Sovereign Grace Music, a division of Sovereign Grace Churches. All rights reserved. Administrated worldwide at www.CapitolCMGPublishing.com, excluding the UK which is adm. by Integrity Music, part of the David C Cook family. www.SovereignGraceMusic.org

Ephesians 1:11

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In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will,

In him we have obtained an inheritance. In other words, when we receive Christ, we enter into a relationship with God that makes us joint-heirs with Christ. That means we will receive the same inheritance that Christ receives. Ultimately we will rule and reign with Him. We are brothers and sisters to the Son of God.
Verse 11 repeats the fact that we have been predestined. God has planned and ordained the destiny of every one of his children. In verse 5 we are told that we have been predestined for adoption as his children. In this verse we learn that this predestination accords with God’s will. God never does anything outside of his own will. Everything he does aligns with His will. And remember, His will and plan have been the same forever. God never changes. So our predestination to be adopted as sons is in line with God’s eternal purposes.

Verse 11 goes on to tell us the character of God that this is all based on. God works all things according to the counsel of his will. Another way to put this is that God works everything according to the decisions that result from his will. We often will to do something, and then begin to put our will into effect. But many times, we fail to accomplish what we willed to do. God doesn’t have that problem. Everything He does is an out-working of His will.

And notice one other thing before we go on to the next verse. How many things does God work according to the counsel of his will? All things! There is not one thing going on in the universe that He has lost control of.

Exported from Logos Bible Software, 2:47 PM September 24, 2020.

Ephesians 1:9-10

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Making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth.

I think it will work best if we put verses 9 and 10 together. God, in revealing his message of grace and salvation, is making known to us the mystery of His will. A mystery, the way Paul uses the term, is something that God has kept unrevealed until a particular time in history. When that time arrives, He makes known that mystery to His prophets and apostles, who then incorporated the truth in the Scriptures.


Paul writes in Colossians 1:25 “I became a minister according to the stewardship from God that was given to me for you, to make the word of God fully known, the mystery hidden for ages and generations but now revealed to his saints.”
The God of the universe has a plan which He is gradually putting into play. And He, the God of the universe, has chosen to reveal that mystery to human beings. That is an amazing thing to contemplate.

Paul goes on to tell us in Ephesians 1:9 , that He is making this mystery known according to His purpose. So even the revealing is according to a purpose. And remember, God doesn’t change his plans. If He does something according to His purpose, it is a purpose He has always had in mind for the zillions of years of eternity past.

This purpose is set forth in Christ or displayed or revealed in Christ. Further, it is a plan for the fullness of time. When everything surges toward the conclusion, what is that plan, Paul? That purpose is to unite everything in heaven and on earth in Christ. Everything will be brought together in Christ. Remember that the word “Christ” means Messiah and that is none other than Jesus. And John told us that Jesus is the Word, the logos of God.
Logos means more than “word.” Logos, the way it was used in the Greek culture at Jesus time, meant the wisdom, logic, thought, and, yes, word, behind all of creation. John told us that this logos became a man and lived here on earth among us.

So in the end, everything will be brought together in Christ.
This is the mystery that had been hidden for thousands of years, but which God revealed to His apostles 2000 years ago.

Exported from Logos Bible Software, 10:47 AM September 22, 2020.