Tag Archives: Christian Life

Ephesians 4:1

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I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called.

Ephesians

Ephesians 4:1

There’s a transition now from a more “doctrinal” section to what some might say is more practical. He’s basically says, “Because of what I’ve taught you in the first three chapters, I am now going to challenge you to live in a certain way.”

Paul is a prisoner, but the Ephesians were out there living their lives. He urges them to live in a way that fits the calling that they have received.

We as believers, have been called out of the world and into a relationship with Christ. We have been called to be followers, disciples of the Lord Jesus. Jesus lived a life of teaching and example for His followers. Paul is urging all of us to live in a way that fits the calling we’ve been given. If we live our lives in the old way as unbelievers do, there is a clash between that walk and the way Jesus would have us walk.

That should be our challenge as we begin this new year — live a life worthy of our calling.

Exported from Logos Bible Software, 10:57 AM January 8, 2021.

Ephesians 2:10

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For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.

Verse 10 begins with another “for.” He has just told us that our salvation is not of works, otherwise we would boast. Why is it not of works, Paul? Because we are His workmanship. The emphasis, I think, is on the word “His.” God is the master craftsman and we are His workmanship.

What is the goal of His creative working? We were created in Christ Jesus for good works. Salvation comes ahead of the works. God prepared these good works ahead of time for us to walk in them. When we walk in faithful obedience to God, we know that any good works we do, He prepared before hand for us. He has gifted each believer to fit into the body where He wants us to function. He prepares the works that we should do in that part of the body. There is no need to be looking around at what other people do and what gifts they have. God has prepared our works for us personally that we would walk in them. And, by walking in them, or, in other words, living them out, we are helping to build up the body of Christ.

Exported from Logos Bible Software, 8:48 PM November 4, 2020.

Ephesians 2:3

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Among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind.

Ephesians

Ephesians 2:3

We used to live as one of those sons of disobedience. he says in verse 3 that we all once lived among them. We were just like them.

What was our character? It was to live according to the passions of our flesh. Passions are lusts or strong desires that drive us to do things. Lusts of the flesh are strong desires that come from our physical bodies. John writes that the things of this world involve the lust of the eyes, the lust of the flesh and the pride of life.

In verse 3 here Paul explains that living in the passions of our flesh involves the carrying out the desires of the body and the mind. We do what we want. Whatever comes naturally based on the desires of the body, that is what we do. There’s not much thinking and virtually no self-control. If it feels good, do it! That’s the philosophy of the age we live in, but it has been the philosophy of the human race since the fall, and we were just like that.

Paul goes on to say that we were by nature children of wrath just like everyone else. Our nature is evil. It is in-born. The wrath of God rests upon all human beings because of their natural rebellion against God and because of the strong desire to do what we want to do without considering God or others.

Everyone is like that from birth onward. Just like they, we also were by nature children of wrath. We are no better.

Exported from Logos Bible Software, 2:00 PM October 26, 2020.

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.

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 1:3

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Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places,

Ephesians

Ephesians 1:3

What Paul is exclaiming here is that God is worthy of being praised. Blessed be God! Which God, Paul, are you talking about? Specifically, He is the God of the Bible, the God and Father of Jesus Christ.

Paul, who had been a persecutor of Christians and who denied that Jesus was Lord, now is blessing the God who is the Father of the Lord Jesus Christ.

And what has this God done? He has blessed us! He has blessed us in Christ. In giving Christ to us, God has blessed us with every spiritual blessing. See for example 1 Corinthians 1:30-31. There are no additional blessings that we are missing. In other words, we don’t need anything other than Christ. If we have Him and are in Him, we have every blessing heaven has to offer!

Think about that the next time you are tempted to murmur or complain. Think about that the next time you feel like you’ve been short-changed and want to ask for additional blessings from God. We’ve been blessed with every spiritual blessing.

Exported from Logos Bible Software, 10:53 AM August 29, 2020.

Ephesians 1:2

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Ephesians 1:2 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Grace and peace. This is common in Paul’s salutations, and we usually read right over it. But think about what it is saying. Unmerited favor and the peace of God and peace with God are being offered both from God and from Jesus Christ our Lord. This is more than a salutation. It is a promise from God through the mouth of his apostle. It is a promise to all those whose faith and trust are in Jesus Christ.

God has promised us His grace. We are, after all, saved by grace and not through any merit we could achieve. He has promised that His mercies are new every single morning!

And He has given us peace. Jesus said, My peace I give to you, not like the peace the world gives. (John 14:27 paraphrase.) And note that it is His peace. God is at rest. Nothing disturbs Him. His peace He gives to us.

Grace and peace from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ.

Exported from Logos Bible Software, 10:23 AM August 29, 2020.

Moment by Moment

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Suddenly yesterday I found myself singing the old hymn, Moment by Moment. To me, the very first line is an essential truth that we Christians need to grasp. I began to grasp this as a young man, but as the years have passed, I have realized how central this is to living the Christian life and finding victory over sin, and having joy in understanding what in fact took place when we were converted.

The first line of the song says, “Dying with Jesus by death reckoned mine.” I’ll expand on this as we go along, but what it is saying is that once I’m in Christ, His death is my death, and by extension, His resurrection is my resurrection.

Some scriptural examples:
Romans 6:8 Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him

Galatians 2:20 I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me.

Colossians 3:3 For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.

Ephesians 2:4-6 But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up together and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus.

These truths have been central and core beliefs for me. When Christ died, I died with Him. I died to the old life; I died to sin. Since I was also raised with Christ, I have been resurrected to a new life. These things are true for all believers, but it doesn’t always feel like it and we don’t act like it. But the key is the word “reckon” which is used in the song I started with. It means to count it to be true. It doesn’t mean “pretend” it’s true. It is true, but we need to reckon it true in our life. Romans 6:11 says, “Likewise you also, reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

I cannot stress enough how important this is. Satan reminds us that the wages of sin is death. Our answer should be, “I already had my death when Jesus died.” There is no further punishment for sin. It is finished!

I would strongly recommend a thorough and careful reading of Romans 6:1-14. Read it often and meditate on it deeply. Understanding this one truth can transform your life!