Ephesians All-In-One

Table of Contents Ephesians 1:1-14 Page 2 Ephesians 1:15ff Page 11 Ephesians 2:1-10 Page 20 Ephesians 2:11ff. Page 30 Ephesians 3:1ff. Page 39 Ephesians 3:14-21 Page 49 Ephesians 4:1-6 Page 56 Ephesians 4:7ff., Part 1 Page 64 Ephesians 4:7ff., Part 2 Page 74 Ephesians 4:17ff. Page 83 Ephesians 4:25ff. Page 94 Ephesians 5:1ff. Page 103 Ephesians 5:15ff. Page 113 Ephesians 6:1ff. Page 124 Ephesians 6:10ff. Page 136 This is a series I wrote, at a time of "almost." Academically/exegetically, I was "almost" comfortable with discourse analysis (Steve Runge style), but I had little idea how to use it effectively. Spiritually, I was aware that there was something about the Spirit-filled life that I didn't understand. I "almost" understood Ephesians 5:17ff., in particular. But I drew back from teaching on being filled with the Holy Spirit, because I knew there was something I was missing. I knew I wasn't filled, and didn't know how to be filled. The really cool verses in Ephesians about our dominion and power in Christ Jesus I mostly passed over. That was more of a "clueless" than an "almost." I've resisted the urge to rewrite sermons. This series is a testimony to where I was at the time, and it is what it is. Plus, editing is an unhappy, tedious job, and I'd rather work through a new book, than try to fix what's broken. This is how life often works-- we do the best we can in service to God, at the time. And look back, and know it could've been better. But God is merciful, and gracious. And God knows I tried my best. Ephesians 1:1ff. This sermon marks the new start of a series I'm planning on Ephesians. Whenever you start a study on a new book in the Bible, it's normal to give a few introductory remarks about the book to give you kind of a big picture to work with. So the big picture of Ephesians looks something like this, I think: God has this vision, this plan, to make a single, holy family, who will live in peace with himself, and with each other. He is going to accomplish this vision through Jesus. Our responsibility, in response to this, has two parts. First, we say "yes" to God. We join God's family. HOW we say "yes" I'll talk about later. Second, we walk worthily of our calling. The Ephesians have said "yes" to God, but they aren't walking worthily. They are living in their old sins. They aren't living in peace. And so Paul writes this letter to them, to show them how and why they should start walking rightly with God. And, mostly importantly, to push them to start walking rightly. This is a letter that is designed to persuade the Ephesians to change how they think, and how they live. I'd explain all this better, but the problem with introductions is that they can ruin the book. It's like explaining a movie or a novel before you even start it. Why not instead let it explain itself? There's a few things I should explain about how I preach, up front. I preach, essentially, like a Puritan. What this means is that my sermons are very serious. I'm not going to try to entertain you. I'm not up here to make myself look clever, or funny. As much as possible, I'm not going to make this about me, at all. I'm up here because I think Jesus wants me to be here, and because there are things in the Bible that God really wants you to know about himself, about his son, and about how he wants you to live. Second, my sermons are built around the Bible. The Bible is the focus; it's not me. My goal is to explain the Bible in a way that makes it grab you the way it should. One last thing. There are going to be times when I teach, when you can't decide if I'm right or wrong. You don't know what to think. Other times, you'll find yourselves disagreeing with me. That's ok. I don't expect everyone to agree with me. And a lot of what I'm going to teach is going to be very new to you. All I ask, is that you try to balance the need to be discerning, with the need to be open-minded. When--not if--you find yourself disagreeing, go back to the Bible. Read the verses I'm interacting with slowly, out loud. And then do this: say to yourself, "Garrett says that when Paul writes [Insert verse here] that what Paul means is [insert explanation here]. But I think that when Paul writes [verse], he means [explanation]. I think if you do this, you'll see, hopefully, that what I'm teaching is tied very closely to Paul's specific language. I try very hard to take the Bible at face value. So if you're disagreeing with me, consider whether you are really disagreeing with me, or if your real disagreement is with Paul. So, this is all you get for an intro. I'd rather actually teach the Bible, than teach about the Bible. What I'm going to do first is read through all of Ephesians 1:1-14. Try to listen for two things as I read: (1) How God has blessed us, and (2) How God has blessed us through Jesus. ------------------------ Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus through God's will: To the holy ones being in Ephesus, and to the faithful ones in Christ Jesus. Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Blessed/praised! [is] the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the one blessing us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenlies in the King, in so far as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world to be holy and blameless before him in love, predetermining us for adoption through Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will for the praise of the glory of his grace, [with] which he showed favor to us in the beloved. In him we have the freedom/release through his blood--the forgiveness of wrongdoing1-- according to the riches of his grace, which he caused to abound toward us, in/with all wisdom and understanding making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure which he planned in him, for the stewardship of the fullness of the times, to bring together everything in the King, the things in the heavens, and the things in the earth in him. In him also we were chosen,2 being predetermined according to the purpose of the one accomplishing everything according to the desire of his will, so that we, the ones having first hoped in the Chirst should be for the praise of his glory. In him also you, hearing the word of the truth-- the good news of your salvation--3 in him also, giving allegiance,4 you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of the promise, who is the down payment of our inheritance, for the redemption of possession, for the praise of his glory. vs. 2 "Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ." We tend to skip over the introductions to letters--or maybe it's just me. But Paul begins his letter with something we really don't want to miss. Paul here announces to them, as God's representative, that God gives them two things: (1) grace, and (2) peace. Grace is one of those million dollar Christian words that no one can really explain. Right? More often than not, you can translate it as "God's favor and help."5 God loves the Ephesians; he desires to help them and do good for them. We sometimes wonder what God thinks of us, and I assume that this was true for the Ephesians as well. Know that God loves you. Know that God likes you. Know that God wants to help you, and do good for you. The second thing Paul announces to them is God's peace. Paul is writing this letter to a church made up entirely of Gentiles. Gentiles, historically, were not God's people. They rebelled against God, and lived outside of the covenant God set up with Moses. They lived as God's enemies. But now, through Jesus, we Gentiles live in peace with God. So far in the letter, you should know that God loves you, that he likes you, that he wants to do good to you, and that you are at peace with him. This should make you thankful, and make you want to praise God. So Paul pushes you in this direction. Verse 3-6:6 Blessed/praised [is] the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the One blessing7 us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenlies in the Christ, in so far as8 He chose us in him before the foundation of the world to be holy and blameless before him in love, predetermining us for adoption through Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure9 of his will for the praise of the glory of his grace, [with] which He showed favor to us in the beloved. When we think about what God has done for us, our immediate response should be to praise God. That's what this entire section is-- praise to God. In the OT, in the psalms, one of the things we find on a regular basis is the psalmists retelling the story of what God has done for Israel. When the psalmists tell these stories-- which are God's stories-- they are glorifying God. And it leads them to praise and glorify God. These verses in Ephesians work the same way. Telling God's story is a way, all by itself, of praising and glorifying God. And it also leads us to praise and glorify God. We can't talk about what God did for us through Jesus, without it leading to worship. So let's talk about what God has done for us. Verse 3: "Blessed, or praised, is the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the one blessing us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenlies. Everything we are going to read today points directly to God, as praise to God. This is why we worship God. This is why we find ourselves humming worship songs during the week. This is why we go through life incredibly thankful to God for what He's done for us. God has blessed, and continues blessing you, with every spiritual blessing in the heavenlies. God has held nothing back. He has given you everything he possibly could. What has God given you? First, He chose you, as a church, in Christ, before the foundation of the world. This verse has been a source of an enormous amount of controversy in the church. And I really don't want to get into it. I just want to say two things about it that are often lost. First, God chose you in Christ. Jesus is God's chosen one. And when we place our allegiance in King Jesus, we become part of God's chosen people. Second, when you read the OT, what jumps out at you over and over is that Israel is God's chosen people. Israel is God's prized possession; Israel is the people that God loves. The Ephesian church is made up entirely of Gentiles. No one ever said that Gentiles are God's chosen people. Gentiles are outsiders; idol-worshippers; far from God (Eph. 2:1-3). When Paul writes here that you Ephesians (and you, whoever I'm teaching) were chosen in Christ before the foundation of the world, what he is saying is that your election preceded Israel's. God didn't just choose Israel to be a holy and blameless people. God chose you, as Gentiles, to be his holy and blameless people. And he chose you for this in Christ. God adopted you into his family in Christ. This should lead to you praise, immediately. Praise be to God, who chose us Gentiles to be adopted into his family in Christ. The other thing that we really need to hear in these verses is Paul's strong emphasis on Jesus. Everything God has done for us, and continues to do for us, he did in and through Jesus. God chose you in Christ, the chosen one. God made you his holy people in Christ. God adopted you in Christ. God showed his grace-- his favor and help-- to you through Jesus In the first century, the early church debated how Gentiles could be made right with God and become part of God's people. Did Gentiles have to become Jews to be part of God's people, or did God accept them as Gentiles? We take the answer to this question for granted now, but this was a difficult issue. The answer to the question is this: God forgives Gentiles' sins, and adopts them into his family, through Jesus. When people repent of their sins, submit to Jesus as King, and are baptized into Jesus (Rom 6:3), they become part of God's people. Praise be to God, who has richly blessed us in Jesus. But in saying all these, we are just scratching the surface of what God has done for us Gentiles in Christ. Verse 7-10: In him we have the freedom/release through his blood--the forgiveness of wrongdoing10-- according to the riches of his grace, which he caused to abound toward us, in/with all wisdom and understanding making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure which he planned in him, for the stewardship of the fullness of the times, to bring together everything in the Christ, the things in the heavens, and the things in the earth in him. All of us used to be slaves to sin. But "in him"-- in Jesus-- we were freed from sin, and forgiven of our wrongdoing. Paul then expands on this by talking about God's mysterious plan. Paul will talk about this more later in Ephesians, but for now, I'll say this: God had this mysterious plan, this vision for what the world should look like. And this vision looks something like this: God wants to create a single holy family, who will live in peace with him, and with each other. How will God bring this plan into effect? In verse 8, we read that God planned this in King Jesus. Somehow, what Jesus accomplished through his death and resurrection brings everything together-- everything in the heavens, and everything in the earth. I'm hoping you find yourself wanting me to explain this better. How does Jesus' death and resurrection bring everything God created together, into one holy family? Our next verses begin to answer this. Verse 11-13: In him also we were chosen,11 being predetermined according to the purpose of the one accomplishing everything according to the desire of his will, so that we, the ones having first hoped in the King,12 should be for the praise of his glory. In him also you, hearing the word of the truth-- the good news of your salvation--13 in him also, giving allegiance,14 you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of the promise, who is the down payment of our inheritance, for the redemption of possession, for the praise of his glory. When we think about what divides people today, we usually think in terms of race, or nationality. White and black; American and Russian. Maybe we think, rich and poor. Or, Republican or Democrat. But the main division between people in the world, historically, has been Jew and Gentile. Jews were God's holy chosen people. Gentiles were idol-worshipping outsiders. When Paul talks about how God is bringing everything together on earth, this has to include Jew and Gentile. Paul has been talking about you Gentiles so far. Here, in verse 11, he says, "also we were chosen." "Also---we-----were chosen." What Paul is doing here is deliberately writing as a member of the Jewish people. Paul also does this in Romans, Galatians, and later in Ephesians. This is something Paul often commonly does to help people think more clearly about what it means to be Jew and Gentile. So here, Paul says, "also we were chosen." This is his signal that he's going to deliberately speak as a representative of the Jewish people. We Jews were the first ones to hope in the Messianic King. We waited for centuries for God to fulfill the promises he'd made in places like 2 Samuel 7, or Isaiah 7-11. How were Jews chosen? How were they set apart? Paul says they were chosen in Christ. Jews would say that Israel was God's chosen people. And it would explain this choosing as a mystery. It wasn't because of anything great about themselves; it was simply God choosing to love them and be faithful the promises he'd made to Abraham (Deut. 7:7ff). But Paul says, "we Jews" were chosen in Christ. Jesus is the chosen one, and our election-- our calling-- is a calling in Jesus. This calling, this election is made for a specific reason here. Paul says, God chose us Jews so that we would praise his glory. God wants us Jews to praise him. That's why he called "us Jews." In verse 13, Paul turns from speaking about "us Jews" to addressing "you Gentiles." In him also you, (1) hearing the word of the truth-- the good news of your salvation--15 in him also, (2) giving allegiance,16 you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of the promise, who is the down payment of our inheritance, for the redemption of possession, for the praise of his glory. Verse 13 is a little tricky. Basically, there were two things you did before the Holy Spirit sealed you. First, you heard the word of truth-- the gospel, the good news of how God was saving people. Second, you gave allegiance. (At some point, I really need to explain this translation!). The gospel is not something you respond to with "belief." It's not about believing something to be true. "Believing" means something more like allegiance, or loyalty, or commitment. The gospel is something you obey (Rom. 10:16). You submit to Jesus as King. So you heard the gospel, and you responded by giving allegiance to Jesus. These are both big, important ideas. But neither one of these verbs is Paul's main point here.17 Hearing the word of truth, giving allegiance, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit. God sealing you with the Spirit is the main point. If you've heard the good news, and responded by giving Jesus your allegiance, choosing him as Lord, God has given you amazing spiritual blessings. He gave you the Holy Spirit. He has given you promises. He has given you an inheritance. Knowing this, what should we do? Paul then pulls everything back to God at the end. Why did God do all this for us Gentiles? God is creating a holy people, made up of Jews and Gentiles, because he wants people to praise him. God did this for the praise of his glory. All of us have gone through times when we get distracted by life, and stop really thinking about what God has done for us in Jesus. We take it for granted. We don't value it. We don't appreciate the sacrifice Jesus made. We aren't thankful. Hearing God's story leaves us cold. Your problem, maybe, is that you are caught in sin. There are things in your life that you are doing, that you know are wrong. And you tell yourself, it's no big deal. You tolerate them; you don't repent. And then you find it a burden to come to church. You find passages like Ephesians 1 leaving you cold. You struggle to worship. You sing the words, but there's nothing behind them. You get to church, and you can't wait to go back home. If you find yourself reading Ephesians 1, and it leaves you cold. If it doesn't move you. If it doesn't make you want to worship God. If this is you, you don't appreciate what God has done for you. You don't value it. Or maybe you just don't understand it. I don't know. But I'm determined to change that in this series. Everything else that Paul says in Ephesians is built on these first verses. Everything in our walk with God starts here, with what God did for us in Jesus. If you understand, and appreciate, what God did for us in Jesus, you will praise God. And you will walk worthily of your calling. Verse 3: "Praised be God, the one blessing us with every spiritual blessing in the heavens in Jesus." Everything starts here: Praise God! Ephesians 1:15ff. For this reason18 I also, hearing about your allegiance to the Lord Jesus and your love for all the holy ones, do not stop giving thanks for you, remembrance making in my prayers, in order that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ--the Father of glory19--may give to you a spirit of wisdom and revelation in/by knowledge of him20, the eyes of your heart having been enlightened so that21 you will know what is the hope of his calling, what [are] the riches of the glory of his inheritance to the holy ones, and what [is] the surpassing greatness of his power for us--the ones giving allegiance22--according to the working of the might of his strength, which he has worked/accomplished in the King, raising him from the dead, and seating [him] at his right hand in the heavenlies, above every ruler and authority and power and dominion and every name being named, not only in this age, but also in the coming one, And all things/beings23 he24 subjected under his25 feet, and him26 he gave as head over all things to/for the church, which is his body--the fullness of the One filling/fulfilling all things in all ways.27 Last week, we studied Ephesians 1:1-14. There, we learned that God is making a single, holy family, and he is calling all people to join his family through Jesus. If we really understand what God has done for us in Christ, we can't help but praise God. God has been incredibly good to us. God has loved us when we did nothing to deserve it. And for God to forgive our sins, and make us part of his family---? It's great. It's truly good news. I'm thrilled to be part of God's family. And I'm thrilled that you are part of God's family. And that God's family continues to grow around the world. I see what God is doing--I see God's plan coming together-- and it makes me happy. It makes me praise God. This brings us to today's passage. Paul understands what God is doing in the world. God has this vision, this goal, to make one single family for himself. Paul sees God's plan, and he sees it starting to come to fruition. God's family is growing across the world, and Paul praises God for this. In today's passage, in verse 15, Paul turns from this bird's eye perspective, to praising God specifically for what God is doing in the Ephesian church. Paul is thankful for them. So, verse 15: For this reason28 I also, hearing about your allegiance to the Lord Jesus and your love for all the holy ones, do not stop giving thanks for you, remembrance making in my prayers, There are two things in particular about the church that make Paul give thanks. The first is their allegiance to the Lord Jesus. The second is their love for all the holy ones. What I'd like to do now is help you think about these two things. Your English Bibles are going to all translate the first thing differently than I did. They read, "hearing about your faith in the Lord Jesus." But what does it mean to have faith? There is a family of related Greek words for faith. Pistis is the noun. Our English Bibles usually translate this as "faith" or "belief." Pisteuo is the v erb. Our English Bibles usually translate that as "I believe." There are times when the Greek does mean something like "believe." But the idea usually is much bigger than this. And since "faith" and "belief" are such a core part of who we are as God's people, and how we live, I want to take a little time to explain this. Let's turn first to Romans 3:1-3. 3 Then what advantage has the Jew? Or what is the value of circumcision? 2 Much in every way. To begin with, the Jews were entrusted with the oracles of God. 3 What if some were unfaithful? Does their faithlessness nullify the faithfulness of God? God has faith. Did you know that? That word at the end there, that our English Bibles will all translate as faithfulness, is the same Greek word that is (nearly) always translated as "faith" or "belief" when it relates to us. Does it make sense to say that God has faith? Does God believe Jesus died on the cross for his sins? Does God believe Jesus is Messiah? In Romans 3:3, when Paul says God has "faith," this can't be what he means. The idea here is that God has made promises to Israel, and God has kept those promises. God is faithful. Our English Bibles all translate "faith" here correctly as "faithfulness." What I would argue is that this is one of the very few places where our English Bibles get it right. Many Jews were "unfaithful." This is the same Greek word, with a little prefix to make it the opposite. The problem with the Jews wasn't that they believed the wrong things. Their problem was that they were unfaithful to God. They were faithless. But God is faithful. God has faithfulness. This is really what faith means. "Faith" is not mainly about believing certain things to be true about Jesus. Faith is about faithfulness. God has faithfulness toward us. God has given us promises, and he is faithful to keep those promises. He is faithful. He keeps "faith" with us. And we have faithfulness toward God, and toward his son Jesus. So, in Ephesians 1, when Paul thanks God upon hearing about the Ephesians' faith, what he is saying is that he's heard about their continued faithfulness to Jesus. He's not thanking God because they continue to have great theology. He's thanking God because they continue to live faithfully toward Jesus as Lord, and as King. Faith is faithfulness. This is a much better translation. Another verse that can help us think about the meaning of "faith" is in 1 Timothy 5:11. The first century was very much a man's world. And what I mean by that, is that it was difficult for women to survive independently, and provide for themselves. This was especially true for widows, who may or may not have children. In the early church, the church took very seriously its responsibility to look after widows. If you were a widow, you could sign up on this list, and the church would take care of your material needs. In these verses, Paul talks about which widows should, and shouldn't, be put on the list. The point he's making is that younger women shouldn't be on the list; the church shouldn't be helping them financially. Now younger women refuse. For whenever their strong physical desires lead them away from Christ, they wish to marry, incurring (lit: having) condemnation, because their former pledge they broke. The word faith is in this verse. It's the word "pledge." In order to get on the list of widows the church cares for, widows had to make a pledge that they wouldn't remarry. Instead, they would serve God alone from this point forward. What we would say, in modern terms, is that the way to get on the list is to pledge to become a nun. Amusing, or no? The problem is that if the widows are younger women, there's a good chance they will meet someone that sweeps them off their feet, and they'll find themselves wishing to marry. If they do this, after they have made this pledge, they will stand condemned. Not because it's wrong to remarry if your spouse dies. But because they made a pledge to God, to commit themselves completely to God and the church, and to not remarry. And the Greek word here translated as "pledge," again, is pistis-- it's faith. So what does it mean to have faith in Jesus? It means making a pledge to Jesus. It's a promise, to serve King Jesus from this day forward. So what does "faith" mean? It means, first of all, faithfulness. Second, faith is a pledge to Jesus. Faith is a promise we make to him, to live for him. If we try to combine these two ideas, what does it mean to have faith? I think the best way to describe "faith" is as allegiance. We understand with allegiance, that it means a commitment, and that it's based on a pledge. So when you see my translations, I'm going to try to consistently translate it as allegiance. Now the word "pistis" doesn't always have these ideas of pledge and faithfulness everywhere in the NT. There are times where it does mean something more like "belief." But when Paul talks about giving our pistis to Jesus, it absolutely means giving Jesus your allegiance. When you come to Jesus, this isn't just about believing that he's the Son of God, or the Messiah, or believing that he died on the cross for you. It's great if you have great theology. You need to know these things. But what God wants is for you to get on your knees in front of King Jesus, and submit to him as King. You make a pledge to him. You give your faithfulness to him. And this pledge, this allegiance, is a promise you make for life. Today, you continue to give Jesus your allegiance. It's quite possible that many of you were taught that "faith" means something much different than this, and that you've never really given your allegiance to Jesus. You maybe didn't even know you were supposed to do this. You thought "faith" was basically about believing the right things about Jesus. This was me-- I distinctly remember the moment this truth hit me. I remember where I was (Camp Nathaniel), where I was sitting (which cabin), and what I was reading. And I remember being shocked. If this is you, I'd be happy to meet with any of you and help explain this more. I just want you all to be clear, that this allegiance to King Jesus isn't optional. This isn't something you choose to do later, after you are saved. If you want to be part of God's family, you have to give King Jesus your allegiance. So... going back to Ephesians 1:15. For this reason I also, hearing about your allegiance to the Lord Jesus and your love for all the holy ones, do not stop giving thanks for you, remembrance making in my prayers, Paul has heard two things about the Ephesian church, that make him give thanks to God. First, hearing about their allegiance to the Lord Jesus. Second, hearing about their love for all the holy ones. There is a trend among Christians to think the church isn't important. We think our allegiance to Jesus is a private, individual matter. We come together each week, sure. We worship together; we pray together; we listen to sermons together. But are we living as a family? Do we genuinely love each other, help each other? The Ephesians love each other. They get it. And so Paul thanks God for this. Now, all of this isn't to say that the Ephesians are a perfect, or nearly perfect church. There are things the Ephesians lack. And it's at this point that Paul transitions to how he prays for them. He thanks God for them, but he also has some specific prayer requests for them. There are things he wants God to do for them, and here Paul tells them what those are. For this reason I also, hearing about your allegiance to the Lord Jesus and your love for all the holy ones, do not stop giving thanks for you, remembrance making in my prayers, in order that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ--the Father of glory29--may give to you a spirit of wisdom and revelation in/by knowledge about him30, Paul's prayer is, essentially, that they'd understand what God has done for them through Jesus. There are things they need to know about Jesus. There's something about God's plan they don't get. And if they understood this, they'd have a spirit of wisdom and revelation. Paul then develops this basic prayer like this: the eyes of your heart having been enlightened so that31 you will know 1) what is the hope of his calling, 2) what [are] the riches of the glory of his inheritance to the holy ones, 3) and what [is] the surpassing greatness of his power for us--the ones giving allegiance32--according to the working of the might of his strength, which he has worked/accomplished in the King, raising him from the dead, and seating [him] at his right hand in the heavenlies, There are three specific things Paul wants them to know. (1) The hope of God's calling, (2) The riches of the glory of his inheritance to/for the holy ones, (3) the surpassing greatness of his power for us-- the ones giving allegiance-- according to the working of the might of his strength. The first two things on the list have to do with the future God has planned for us. We have a hope. We have an inheritance. God's calling isn't just about what he has already done for us in forgiving us, and adopting us. It's not just about the present, as we live in allegiance to Jesus. It's also about what God has promised he will do. We live in eager expectation of what God will do. We live in hope, looking forward. What is this hope? I'll come back to this later. For now, just understand that living as Christians means looking forward, in hope. The third thing Paul wants the Ephesians to know is this, in verse 19: "to know the surpassing greatness of his power for us-- the ones giving allegiance." I want to start this verse by explaining, of all things, the dash marks. - - the ones giving allegiance. What Paul is doing here is called overspecification. That's the super nerdy way to talk about this. When you see dashes in my translations, that's almost always why they are there. When Paul uses overspecification, it's because he wants his readers to think about something in a particular way. The idea here, in this verse, is that Paul wants the Ephesians to think about themselves in a particular way. We might think of ourselves as residents of ND, as farmers, as middle-class. There's lots of ways we can think about ourselves. But for Paul's purposes, the important thing at this point, is that you think of yourselves as people who are giving allegiance to Jesus. This is who you are. You're lots of other things, but at this point, right now, think of yourselves as ones giving allegiance. And what Paul is saying about God's power, he is saying for people who are giving their allegiance to Jesus. We talk a lot about how God is all-powerful, but we maybe struggle to think about why this actually matters. The idea with God being all-powerful is that God can do whatever God wants to do. Here, Paul says God used his power for the church-- for us. It's one thing to know that God is all-powerful. It's a very different thing to realize that God is using that power for us. God is using that power for you. Paul then makes this more specific in verse 20. God used his power for us through Jesus, raising Jesus from the dead, and seating him at his right hand in the heavenlies, above every ruler, and authority, and power, and dominion, and every name being named, not only in this age, but also in the coming one. When you think of the cross, you probably tend to think of it in terms of Jesus dying for us-- for our sins. He died in our place. But what God did in raising Jesus from the dead is bigger than this. We need to let Paul stretch our understanding of the meaning of Jesus' death and resurrection. What exactly did Jesus accomplish on the cross? There are many rulers, authorities, powers, and dominions, both on earth, and in the heavens. God has a kingdom, but there are other kingdoms. Satan has a kingdom, and he along with other wicked spirits, is fighting God. When Jesus died in obedience to God on the cross, this marked the decisive blow against Satan. The cross, and resurrection, mark God's victory. How?33 What is it that gives Satan power over people? Why does he get to claim people as his own? The thing that gives Satan power over people is sin. Colossians 2:13-15 13 And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, 14 by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross. 15 He disarmed the rulers and authorities[b] and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in him.[c] The thing that gives Satan power over people is sin. Satan's weapon against us is sin. If we were to put this in Ephesians 6 terms, the sword of Satan is sin. And Jesus, by dying for our sins, disarmed all of the spiritual forces opposing God. Jesus took their sword. When Jesus died for our sins, he disarmed the rulers and authorities, and he triumphed over them. They have no claim over us any longer, because our sins were nailed to the cross with Jesus. Verse 22: And all things/beings34 he35 subjected under his36 feet, and him37 He gave as head over all things to/for the church, which is his body--the fullness of the One filling/fulfilling all things in all ways.38 Because Jesus was faithful, in dying on the cross for our sins, God exalted Jesus above everyone and everything. Jesus has been given authority over everything. And why did God do that? God did all this for the church. I'll read verse 22 again: And all things/beings39 he40 subjected under his41 feet, and him42 he gave as head over all things to/for the church. God did all this for us. So as we go through life, we know that Jesus is in charge. We don't fear Satan and his kingdom-- let alone any earthly kingdom. We know that Jesus triumphed over them at the cross. We know that Jesus has been given authority over them all. This doesn't mean we don't need to be careful to live rightly. Satan is looking for weak spots, for vulnerabilities, in us as individuals, and us as a church. But we don't fear him. We don't fear anyone or anything. And we know that when King Jesus returns, he will make everything right. All authorities that challenge Jesus will meet their final defeat. And we will be part of God's kingdom, in the new earth, forever. This is our hope. All these powers have already been placed at Jesus' feet. They are already subject to Jesus. And the day is coming when they will be completely crushed (Rom. 16:20--super cool verse, but I won't unpack it). Paul's prayer for the Ephesians is that God will show them all of this. But Paul knows he has a responsibility here too-- and so he teaches them. Understand that you are part of something much bigger than yourself, and this little church. You have a glorious hope, as part of God's family, because you are giving allegiance to Jesus. You've made a good decision. You picked the right King to pledge your lives to. As we close in prayer, my prayer for you today echoes Paul's. Father, I thank you for this church. I pray that you would make this church know what you've done for them in Jesus. Help them understand that you've exalted Jesus to your right hand, over all your enemies, and how that should give them hope and confidence in you, as they go through life. We praise you for your love and faithfulness. Ephesians 2:1ff. Today's sermon is on Ephesians 2:1-10. But I want to start by reading all of chapter 2. We often make a mess of chapter 2, especially in verses 8-10, and the reason we make that mess is because we ignore Paul's larger argument. Paul is writing to Gentiles, explaining to them that they are made alive, and made part of God's family, through Jesus, and not through the Mosaic covenant. ------------------------------- And (it was)43 you (plural)-- the ones being dead in your wrongdoing and sins, in which you all formerly walked according to the age of this world, according to the ruler of the authority of the air-- the one now working in the sons of disobedience-- in which44 we45 also all lived formerly in the desires of our flesh, doing the will of the flesh and of the mind, and we were children by nature46 for wrath47 as also the rest of them48-- Now,49 God, being rich in mercy, because of his great love with which he loved us50--and us being dead in our wrongdoing-- he made us alive together51 in/by Christ--by grace you (plural) all are saved-- and he seated us together52 in the heavenly places in/by Jesus Christ, in order that he might show in the coming ages the surpassing riches of his grace in kindness upon us in/by Christ Jesus. For53 by grace you are saved through allegiance, and this not from yourselves, of/from God (it is) the gift, not from works,54 in order that no one can boast.55 For FOR HIM we are a made thing,56 created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared before hand, in order that in them57 we may/will walk.58 Therefore59, remember that formerly you (plural)--60 the nations in/by the flesh, the ones being called uncircumcision by the ones being called circumcision in the flesh made by hands-- that you were at that time apart from Christ, having been alienated from the citizenship of Israel and strangers to the covenants of the promise, not having hope and without God in the world. Now,61 in Christ Jesus you,62--the ones formerly being far away--63 have become near by the blood of the King. For he is our peace, the one making both64 one, and the dividing wall of the partition breaking-- the enmity by his flesh-- the law of the commandments in ordinances abolishing, in order that: the two he might create in/by himself into one new person, making peace. and he might reconcile both by one body to God through the cross, killing the enmity in himself. and coming, he proclaimed the good news of peace to y'all-- to the far65-- and peace to the ones near.66 because through him we have access-- we both67-- by/in one Spirit to the Father. Therefore68, consequently, no longer you are strangers and foreigners, but you are fellow citizens of the holy ones and household members of God, being built on the foundation of the apostles and the prophets, being the cornerstone of King Jesus himself, in whom the whole building, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord, in whom also you are being built up together into a dwelling place for God in the Spirit. Verses 1-3 And (it was) you (plural) -- the ones being dead in your wrongdoing and sins, in which you formerly walked according to the age of this world, according to the ruler of the authority of the air-- the one now working in the sons of disobedience-- in which also we all lived formerly in the desires of our flesh, doing the will of the flesh and of the mind, and we were children by nature for wrath as also the rest of them-- One of the things our English Bibles work very hard at, is making it so you can read any single verse on its own and have it make sense. This makes it easier to memorize, and easier to understand. The problem with this comes in passages like Ephesians 2, where verses 1-3 aren't supposed to make sense on their own. We don't actually get the main point-- the main verbs-- until verse 4. But before Paul can get to his main point, he needs the Ephesians to pictures themselves in a particular way. Stop, for just a minute, and think about what your life looked like before you submitted to Jesus as King, before you repented from your sins and pledged allegiance to Jesus. If you held a mirror in front of your life back then, what did it look like? Basically, when we read verses 1-3, imagine them answering this question: "Who were you?" So who were you Ephesians? You were dead in your wrongdoing and in your sins. You went through life on a road of wickedness, like the rest of the world, obeying Satan-- who gets quite the title here. He is "The ruler of the authority of the air-- the one now working in the sons of disobedience." Whatever else you might have been, whoever else you might have been, doesn't matter right now. The important thing is to remember that you were dead, living a life of sin against God. When you hold up the mirror to your life back then, you need to see how ugly you were. It's gross. It's embarrassing. It's humbling. Verse 3 adds a wrinkle to this, but I have to start at verse 1 again, or you'll miss it: And (it was) you-- the ones being dead in your wrongdoing and sins, in which you formerly walked according to the age of this world, according to the ruler of the authority of the air-- the one now working in the sons of disobedience-- (3) in which we also all lived formerly in the desires of our flesh, doing the will of the flesh and of the mind, and we were children by nature for wrath as also the rest of them-- Notice in verse 3 that Paul is all of a sudden talking about "we also." "We also" all lived formerly in the desires of "our" flesh. "We also" were children by nature for wrath as "also the rest." Who is "we also?" We know who the "y'all" is. It's the Gentile Ephesians. But who is "we also?" If you don't catch this, you aren't going to hear Ephesians correctly. This is a big deal. There are two distinct groups here. There's "y'all Gentile Ephesians." And there's ALSO "we," "us" who also lived a sinful life, who were also rightly objects of God's wrath. Who is "we also?" If we read all of chapter 2 at the same time, the answer is obvious. "We also" is Jews. Start reading in verse 11: For he is our peace, the one making both one, and the dividing wall of the partition breaking-- the enmity by his flesh-- the law of the commandments in ordinances abolishing, in order that: the two he might create in/by himself into one new person, making peace. and he might reconcile both by one body to God through the cross, killing the enmity in himself. and coming, he proclaimed the good news of peace to y'all-- to the far69-- and peace to the ones near.70 "Y'all" are Gentiles, who were far from God, worshipping idols, living wickedly. "We also" are the Jews who started near. We Jews didn't worship idols; we Jews knew who God was. However, "we Jews" were not righteous. We Jews also lived a life of sin; we Jews also deserved God's wrath. The bottom line is that "we Jews" and "you Gentiles" were all in the same boat. All of us were sinners; all of us deserved God's condemnation (cf. Rom. 3:9-20). So hopefully you see yourselves clearly, and Jews, clearly. In verses 1-3, Paul holds up a mirror, and he says, "This is what you looked like. You Gentiles were ugly, walking in sin, doing wrong. And so were we Jews." This brings us to verses 4-7: Now God, being rich in mercy, because of his great love with which he loved us--and us being dead in our wrongdoing-- he made us alive together in/by Christ--by grace y'all are saved--71 and he seated us together in the heavenly places in/by Jesus Christ, in order that he might show in the coming ages the surpassing riches of his grace in kindness upon us in Christ Jesus. Here, Paul gets to his main point.72 Now that you've seen yourselves, and Jews, the way Paul wants you to, you can see how good God has been to you-- and to the Jews. "God, (1) being rich in mercy, (2) because of his great love for us-- and us being terrible, wicked people-- God did 2 things for us. (1) He made us alive together in Christ. (2) He seated us together in the heavenly places in Christ. It makes no difference to God whether you are a Jew or Gentile. Either way, God made all of us alive together IN CHRIST. Either way, God seated us together in Christ. Why did God would do this? (1) God loves you. God loves you despite your wrongdoing-- despite the fact that he has every right to be angry with you. (2) God wanted to show how good he could be to you. This was verse 7: "in order that he might show in the coming ages the surpassing riches of his grace in kindness upon us in Christ Jesus." Do you understand this? Do you see how good God has been to you? Do you see how richly he has blessed you in Christ Jesus? So it doesn't matter, as far as salvation goes, whether you are a Jew or a Gentile by birth. Either way, all of us walked in sin. Either way, all of us were by nature children for God's wrath by right. Either way, God made us alive together IN CHRIST. This brings us to verses 8-10, which you maybe know: For by grace y'all are saved through allegiance/faithfulness, and this not from yourselves, of/from God (it is) the gift, not from works, in order that no one can boast. For FOR HIM we are a made thing, created in King Jesus for good works, which God prepared before hand, in order that in them we may/will walk. First, just a word about the two "for"s in these verses. What "for" does is signal that Paul is about to strengthen an argument he just made. He's not going to say anything new; he's not pushing his argument forward. Verse 8 basically answers one question. Given everything we just read, HOW are we saved? And the answer is, "by grace."73 What this means, specifically, is we are saved by the grace that God gives through Jesus. We are saved by being joined to Christ through allegiance. If we are saved by grace, through JESUS, how are we NOT saved? We are NOT saved by "works," because God is determined to make sure no one can boast. And if salvation was by "works," people would have a reason to boast. I'm guessing everyone in this room thinks that "works" are "good works." Or maybe we'd say, "legalistically trying to obey God, apart from Christ." This is how this passage is commonly taught. But most NT scholars74 would disagree with this, and I think it really doesn't work at all.75 The better answer goes something like this: "works" is a shorthand for "works of the Mosaic law, done in an effort to obey the covenant God set up between himself and Israel." James Dunn says it best (I'm paraphrasing): "When Paul talks about "works," or "works of the law," it's not just any works that Paul has in mind. "Works" are works of the Mosaic law, done in the attempt to place yourself under the Mosaic covenant in the belief that it's through keeping the covenant that we are rightly related to God." The clearest passage teaching this is Galatians 2:11-16. 11 But when Cephas came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face, because he stood condemned. 12 For before certain men came from James, he was eating with the Gentiles; but when they came he drew back and separated himself, fearing the circumcision party.[a] 13 And the rest of the Jews acted hypocritically along with him, so that even Barnabas was led astray by their hypocrisy. 14 But when I saw that their conduct was not in step with the truth of the gospel, I said to Cephas before them all, "If you, though a Jew, live like a Gentile and not like a Jew, how can you force the Gentiles to live like Jews?" 15 We ourselves are Jews by birth and not Gentile sinners; 16 yet we know that a person is not made right by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ, so we also have believed in Christ Jesus, in order to be made right by faith in Christ and not by works of the law, because by works of the law no one will be made right. Whenever you see Paul talking about "works," or "works of the law," if you look 10 verses to either side, he is ALWAYS talking about the relationship between Gentiles and the Mosaic law. Basically, God accepts Gentiles on the basis of their allegiance to King Jesus-- not on the basis of their becoming Jews. Specifically, this means that Gentiles don't have to be circumcised, or follow the food laws, or keep the Sabbath, or keep other holy days. They are made right with God through Jesus, and not through the Mosaic covenant. So how are we made alive? How are we saved? We answer this question the same way, regardless of whether we are Jews or Gentiles by birth. The path to salvation runs through Jesus. Jesus is God's grace to us. Why did God set it up this way, so that salvation is only through Jesus? Paul says that God is determined to make it so no one can boast. Here, we tend again to think about people bragging about how righteous they are, as though our non-Christian friends are going around trying to please God by obeying him.76 But boasting in Paul is usually a specifically Jewish problem.77 Rom 2:17: But if you call yourself a Jew and rely on the law and boast in God... (really I should read through verse 27 at least) Romans 3:27: Then what becomes of our boasting? It is excluded. By what kind of law? By a law of works? No, but by the law of faith. 28 For we hold that one is made right78 apart from works of the law. 29 Or is God the God of Jews only? Is he not the God of Gentiles also? Yes, of Gentiles also,30 since God is one-who will make right79 the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through faith. 31 Do we then overthrow the law by this faith? By no means! On the contrary, we uphold the law. Jews had lots of reasons to boast, but God has deliberately set it up so no one-- no Jew-- can boast. Jews and Gentiles, TOGETHER, are saved by grace-- by what God has done for us in Jesus. Now Paul knows, from experience, that when people read this, some people will immediately hear this and try to take advantage of it. They'll say something like this: "Jesus destroyed the Mosaic law, so we can live however we want. We aren't under law; we are under grace" (Rom. 6:1ff is a longer version of this argument; 1 Cor. 6:12). So he immediately, in verse 10, clarifies his argument. Verse 10 answers the question: "What were we saved for?" For FOR HIM80 we are a made thing,81 created in Jesus Christ for good works, which God prepared before hand, in order that in them82 we may/will walk.83 When God made us alive, made us a new creation, he did so for a specific reason. God made us alive FOR HIMSELF. God made us alive so that we would walk IN GOOD WORKS. I've known so many Christians that really don't understand this verse, and it scares me. Anytime they hear someone teach about the importance of obedience, and loyalty, and allegiance, and good works, they start squirming. They can't wait to jump in and say, "we are saved by faith and not by works." What they've done is take Ephesians 2:8-9 as a promise. They think Paul is saying, "My obedience doesn't matter. Good works are optional." But if we remember that what faith really means, is faithfulness, and allegiance, we will understand that faith and obedience are inseparable. You can't bend your knee, in submission to King Jesus, without committing to serve and obey him. What we were saved for? We were saved FOR HIM. We were saved for good works, done in obedience to God. I don't know how to explain this any better. God made you a new creation, so that you could do good works-- so you would love God, and love others. If you are trying to please God, don't worry about being legalistic. Don't worry that you're obeying God for the wrong reasons. Don't worry that you are trying to earn your salvation. Just obey. Do good works. Live FOR HIM. That's why God saved you. That's why God made you a new creation. LIVE FOR HIM. So when we step back, and try to see Paul's argument as a whole, what do we get here? What's the big idea? All of you, whether you were born a Jew or Gentile, lived a life of sin. You were wrongdoers; you were immoral; you were people who by all rights should've suffered God's wrath (vs. 1-3). But God, because he is rich in mercy, and because he loves you, sent Jesus to die on the cross for your sins. When we place our loyalty/faith/allegiance in King Jesus, we are joined to Christ. We are made alive together-- Jew and Gentile--IN CHRIST; we are seated in the heavenlies together--Jew and Gentile-- IN CHRIST. This salvation is IN CHRIST-- it is through God's grace (vs. 4-7). Some of the Ephesians seem to be struggling with this.84 They wondered if Jesus wasn't enough-- if they needed Jesus, plus the Mosaic covenant, to be made right with God (vs. 8-9). Paul says this is absolutely wrong. God has richly blessed you, been rich in mercy toward you, and he has done this through Jesus. If you understand how much God loves you, and what Jesus' death did for you, you won't be tempted to become Jews. There's no point. Instead, you come to Jesus in faith, pledging your allegiance to him, submitting to Jesus as King, living FOR GOD (vs. 10). God has made you alive in Christ, and not in Moses. God has made you a new creation in Christ, and not in Moses. God did this so you would live FOR GOD. So live FOR God, out of your allegiance (faith) to Jesus. Ephesians 2:11ff. Let's start today by rereading Ephesians, beginning at Ephesians 2:1: And (it was) you-- the ones being dead in your wrongdoing and sins, in which you formerly walked according to the age of this world, according to the ruler of the authority of the air-- the one now working in the sons of disobedience-- in which we also all lived formerly in the desires of our flesh, doing the will of the flesh and of the mind, and we were children by nature for wrath as also the rest of them-- Now, God, being rich in mercy, because of his great love with which he loved us--and us being dead in our wrongdoing-- he made us alive together in/by Christ--by grace you are saved-- and he seated us together in the heavenly places in/by Jesus Christ, in order that he might show in the coming ages the surpassing riches of his grace in kindness upon us in/by Christ Jesus. For by grace you are saved through faith, and this not from yourselves, of/from God (it is) the gift, not from works, in order that no one can boast. For FOR HIM we are a made thing, created in King Jesus for good works, which God prepared before hand, in order that in them we would walk.85 Therefore86, remember that formerly you--87 the nations in/by the flesh, the ones being called uncircumcision by the ones being called circumcision in the flesh made by hands--, that you were at that time apart from Christ, having been alienated from the citizenship of Israel and strangers to the covenants of the promise, not having hope and without God in the world. Now, in Christ Jesus you--the ones formerly being far away--88 have become near by the blood of the King. For he is our peace, the one making both89 one, and the dividing wall of the partition breaking-- the enmity by his flesh-- the law of the commandments in ordinances abolishing, in order that: the two he might create in/by himself into one new person, making peace. and he might reconcile both by one body to God through the cross, killing the enmity in himself. and coming, he proclaimed the good news of peace to you-- to the far90-- and peace to the ones near.91 because through him we have access-- we both92-- by/in one Spirit to the Father. Therefore93, consequently, no longer you are strangers and foreigners, but you are fellow citizens of the holy ones and household members of God, being built on the foundation of the apostles and the prophets, being the cornerstone of King Jesus himself, in whom the whole building, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord, in whom also y'all are being built up together into a dwelling place for God in the Spirit. Last week, I taught on Ephesians 2:1-10. The flow of the argument there goes something like this: (1) You Gentiles, and we Jews, were dead in our wrongdoing and sins (vs. 1-3). (2) God loved all of us so much that he sent Jesus to die for us. God made all of us-- Jew and Gentile-- alive in Christ. He seated all of us--Jew and Gentile--in the heavenlies in Christ. (vs. 4-7) (3) The bottom line is that we are saved in/by Christ-- this is what means when Paul says we are saved by grace-- through allegiance to Jesus. God's grace-- his favor, kindness, and help-- were given through Jesus (vs. 8-9). (4) We are NOT saved through Moses, or the Mosaic covenant. This is what Paul means when he says "not by works" (vs. 8-9). (5) We are saved FOR good works. God made all of us a new creation so that we could live FOR GOD. So that we would walk in the good works God prepared ahead of us to do. (vs. 10) In truth, if there was one thing I hoped to do last week, it was to help you see that faith and good works are not two different things. Faith really means something like allegiance, trust, and commitment. If you join the U.S. army, they ask you to pledge allegiance to this country above everything else right? They are asking for your faith-- for your allegiance. (GET QUOTE ABOUT REPENTING AND FAITHING IN JOSEPHUS). The Ephesian church is made up of Gentile Christians. They have pledged their allegiance to King Jesus. They have done this-- they have pledged allegiance-- but they have this nagging fear that Jesus isn't enough. Do they need to become Jews to be made alive? Are they second-class Christians because they are Gentiles? Does the Mosaic covenant have something extra to offer them if they become Jews? Are they missing out on some of God's blessings? I think we can look at verses 1-10 and probably decide we don't-- but it'd be nice is if someone would sum up the argument and help explain how these verses relate to us as Gentiles. Fortunately for us, we get a "therefore" in verse 11. Our passage this week directly builds on Ephesians 2:1-10, but it's like everything in our Bibles works together to keep us from seeing this. Verse 11 gets this enormous heading; it gets this big white space. And we get to this heading, and this white space, and we do two things. First, we stop reading. We tell ourselves, "Dude, I read my Bible for the day. I got to the white space." And we tell ourselves, "Dude, this section is new. It's not connected to what I just read. You can tell because it gets its own heading." But verse 11 begins with DIO, "therefore." There are two Greek words translated as "therefore" in our English Bibles, but they don't mean the same thing. Depending on your translation, there's one in verse 11, and there's one in verse 19. But these are actually two different Greek words. Verse 11 is DIO. Verse 12 is OUN. Basically, the point of DIO in verse 11 is something like this: "Since all of verses 1-10 are true, this is the conclusion you should draw. So Paul is going to make things very easy for us-- as long as we ignore the white space in our Bibles and the extra heading. Verses 11-12 Therefore, remember that formerly y'all-- the nations in/by the flesh, the ones being called uncircumcision by the ones being called circumcision in the flesh made by hands--, that you were at that time apart from Christ, having been alienated from the citizenship of Israel and strangers to the covenants of the promise, not having hope and without God in the world. If verses 1-10 are true-- and they are-- what difference does it make? What should we do? The first thing Paul says we should do is (1) "Remember." Paul keeps trying to remind the Ephesians of what their lives looked like before they placed their faith in Jesus. "Y'all" were the nations according to the flesh-- according to human standards. "Y'all" were called "the uncircumcision" by the ones being called "the circumcision." This is an awkward way to put it, right? Why doesn't Paul just say, "You were the uncircumcision, and Jews were the circumcision?" Paul isn't willing to call you Gentiles the uncircumcision. The reason for this is found in Romans 2:25-29: 25 For circumcision indeed is of value if you obey the law, but if you break the law, your circumcision becomes uncircumcision. 26 So, if a man who is uncircumcised keeps the precepts of the law, will not his uncircumcision be regarded[b] as circumcision? 27 Then he who is physically[c] uncircumcised but keeps the law will condemn you who have the written code[d] and circumcision but break the law. 28 For no one is a Jew who is merely one outwardly, nor is circumcision outward and physical. 29 But a Jew is one inwardly, and circumcision is a matter of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the letter. His praise is not from man but from God. A Jew might call you uncircumcised, but the true circumcision is the circumcision of the heart, the one done by the Spirit. This is who you were-- the nations by the flesh, the ones being called uncircumcision. But you know, and Paul knows, that it would be wrong to simply call you uncircumcised. When you became Christians, you received a circumcision of the heart. So, getting back from the rabbit trail... What were you before you were joined to Christ? What does Paul want you to remember about that time? Therefore, remember that formerly you-- the nations in/by the flesh, the ones being called uncircumcision by the ones being called circumcision in the flesh made by hands--, that you were at that time apart from Christ, having been alienated from the citizenship of Israel and strangers to the covenants of the promise, not having hope and without God in the world. What does it look like to be apart from Christ? If you notice in the translation I gave out, I have four things indented underneath "apart from Christ." Basically, these four things are an explanation of what it means to be apart from Christ. When you were apart from Christ, you (1) were alienated from citizenship in Israel, (2) strangers to the covenants of the promise, (3) not having hope, and (4) without God in the world. When were those things true? When you were apart from Christ. Paul is making a bold claim here. If you asked a Jew how you, as a Gentile, could become part of Israel, how you could gain access to the promise the covenants offer, how you gain a relationship to God, they will tell you that it's very easy. You gain those things through Moses. You place yourself under the Mosaic covenant. A Jew would say, your problem is that you are a Gentile. Your problem is that you're not a Jew. But Paul says, whether or not you have these things depends on if you are in Christ. When you didn't have those things, it wasn't because you are Gentiles. The problem was, you didn't have Christ. Verse 13-18 Now, in Christ Jesus you, the ones formerly being far away-- have become near by the blood of the Christ. For he is our peace, the one making both one, and the dividing wall of the partition breaking-- the enmity by his flesh-- the law of the commandments in ordinances abolishing, in order that: the two he might create in/by himself into one new person, making peace. and he might reconcile both by one body to God through the cross, killing the enmity in himself. and coming, he proclaimed the good news of peace to you-- to the far-- and peace to the ones near. because through him we have access-- we both-- by/in one Spirit to the Father. Paul then signals in verse 13 that he is pushing his argument forward. This is a new paragraph, a new thought. You who used to be far, who used to be apart from Christ, are now near to God. How? It's through Jesus. HE is our peace. Paul emphasizes this by putting it first: HE is our peace. Jesus makes the two people-- Jew and Gentile-- one. Jesus tore down the dividing wall separating Jew from Gentile. Jesus abolished the Mosaic covenant. Why? For two reasons: (1) in order that he might create one new person, Jew and Gentile together, making peace. It doesn't work for God to have two different groups of people who are in conflict with each other. This only works if the dividing wall of hostility is torn down, so that people can be at peace. The Mosaic covenant had to go. (2) In order that he might reconcile both by one body to God through the cross, killing the enmity in himself. God wants to be at peace with all people, reconciled to all people. This was only possible through Jesus. So Jesus IS our peace. He is the one who made peace between Jew and Gentile by tearing down the dividing wall of the Mosaic covenant. He is the one who made peace between all people-- Jew and Gentile-- and God. Jesus not only is our peace. Verse 17 says Jesus also PROCLAIMED the peace. He offered peace to us, to the Gentiles, who were far away from God. And he also offered peace to those who were near to God-- to the Jews. Jews had a head start; they began closer to God. They at least worshipped the one true God; they knew God's history with the world. We Gentiles were farther away, worshipping idols. But whether we are Jews or Gentiles, it is THROUGH JESUS that we have access-- both of us-- by one Spirit to the Father. Here again, "THROUGH JESUS" is given emphasis. Do you want access to God? Do you want to be able to approach God? You gain this THROUGH JESUS. Verse 19-22 Therefore94, consequently, no longer you are strangers and foreigners, but you are fellow citizens of the holy ones and household members of God, being built on the foundation of the apostles and the prophets, being the cornerstone of Christ Jesus himself, in whom the whole building, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord, in whom also you are being built up together into a dwelling place for God in the Spirit. Probably the easiest way to understand this section is to picture a Jew holding a bunch of promises in his hands. A Jew will say, "Because I live within the Mosaic covenant, I'm a citizen of Israel. I'm part of God's family, built on the prophets. I worship in the temple where God lives. I have a ton of reasons to boast. I have massive advantages over you pagan Gentiles." Now imagine Paul taking those promises from the Jew, and holding them out to you, and saying, "If you want these promises, place your allegiance in King Jesus. It's true that you were strangers and foreigners to God. You were far from him. Now, though? Now, because you are in Jesus, you are fellow citizens, part of God's family, part of God's temple. If you were to walk by the temple in Jerusalem, you'd say, with a sense of wonder, "God used to live there." But now God lives in us. He moved. We are God's temple. The bottom line is that there is no reason for you, as Gentile Christians, to feel inadequate. There's no reason to worry that you are second class citizens of God's kingdom, or that God has special blessings only for his people who are also Jewish. What else could God possibly offer you, more than what he's already done through Jesus? God has richly blessed you; he's loved you so much. He held out both hands to you, offering his beloved son. Do you think he has a third hand behind his back, with secret blessings for Jews? NO. So let's make a checklist.95 Do you want: 1) to be part of God's nation? 2) to be part of God's family? 3) to be at peace with God? 4) access to God? 5) hope (of the inheritance; see 1:11)? 6) to be God's temple? If you want what God offers through Jesus, you repent from your sins, and you submit to Jesus as King.96 You then pledge yourselves to him through baptism (1 Pet. 3:21). And if you've done this, you can check off everything on this list. There's no second list. There's no secret Jewish blessings. God loves you, and accepts you, as Gentiles. And if you ever struggle with this, or doubt it, you need to remember what God did for you IN CHRIST. So as you go through life, having given your allegiance to Jesus, having become part of God's one holy family through Jesus, be thankful. Praise God for what he has done. Praise God for his mercy, for his love. And live your life, out of this thankfulness. Ephesians 3:1ff. For this reason I Paul, the prisoner for King Jesus for you nations/Gentiles97--if indeed you heard about the stewardship98 of the grace/ministry99 of God given to me for you-- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ By100 revelation the mystery was made known to me, just as I wrote above briefly, about which101 you are able, (when) reading, to understand my insight into the mystery of Christ, which in other generations was not made known to people,102 as it has now been revealed to his holy apostles and the prophets by the Spirit, that the nations/Gentiles are fellow heirs103 and fellow members of one body and fellow sharers of the promise104 in King Jesus through the good news, of which I became a servant according to the gift of God's grace of God given to me, according to the working of his power. To me, to the least of the least105 of all the holy ones-- this grace was given, to proclaim the good news to the nations of the fathomless riches of Christ, and to enlighten everyone as to what is the stewardship of the mystery hidden from the ages by God-- by the One who created all things-- in order that the many-sided wisdom of God might now be made known to the rulers and to the authorities in the heavens through the church according to the purpose of the ages, which he did in/by King Jesus our Lord, in whom we have the boldness and access in confidence through allegiance toward106 him. Therefore, I ask you not to be discouraged by my sufferings for you, which are your glory. ------------------------------ In chapter 2, Paul very briefly explained what God has done for all people-- Jews and Gentiles-- through Jesus. God made one person, tearing down the wall separating Jew from Gentile, making it so everyone has peace with God and with each other through Jesus. Jesus is our peace. When most of us think about "the gospel," we view it on a much smaller level. We say, the good news is about how you can have a relationship with God. Or, it's about how your sins can be forgiven. Or--and I really dislike this one-- the good news is about how you can go to heaven when you die. That's gross. Don't do that. Paul is trying to widen their perspective on the good news, and help them to see God's cosmic plan. When you look at the world as a whole, what God wants is to create one people, one nation, one family, who will live in peace with HIM. Passages like this make me wish I was a Charles Spurgeon or Jonathan Edwards, who could lift your eyes up to the heavens, and help you really see this. Your gospel is too small. Your understanding of God is too small. But how can I help you-- and myself-- understand this? How can Paul help the Ephesians understand this? It's at this point in Ephesians that Paul begins to pray for the Ephesians. God can help us. Verse 1: For this reason, I, Paul, the prisoner for King Jesus for you nations/Gentiles--if indeed you heard about the stewardship of the grace/ministry of God given to me for you-- This is a confusing verse by itself, because Paul begins a rabbit trail that goes all the way through verse 13. The easiest way to begin understanding what's going on in this verse is to skip down to verse 14: "For this reason I bend my knee before the Father, from whom every family in the heavens and on earth is named." Verse 14 is what Paul planned to write. Paul has a specific prayer for the Ephesians, and he begins chapter 3 with every intention of telling them about this prayer. What he wants to say is, "It's for this reason that I pray for you. I pray that you'd understand what God has done for us through Jesus, and what his plan is for the entire world." But instead, we read this in verse 1: For this reason I Paul, the prisoner for Christ Jesus for you nations/Gentiles--if indeed you heard about the stewardship of the grace/ministry of God given to me for you-- Who is Paul?107 Paul describes himself as a prisoner for King Jesus for "you" Gentiles. But after Paul says this, he kind of checks himself. Paul says, "It's just barely possible that you don't really understand who I am. You know I'm an apostle; you know I'm in prison. But--maybe?-- you don't understand how God is using me." Most people have some topic that, if you start talking about it, is like putting a quarter in them. Some people are huge Vikings fans, and if you even mention them, or talk about how Aaron Rogers is the greatest quarterback of all time--him, or Tom Brady-- you are guaranteed to get a response. It's like you put a quarter in them. Other people live for fishing, or hunting, or coffee, or video games, and they can talk to you about that for hours. Paul lives as God's servant, to tell Gentiles the good news about Jesus. But do you Ephesians really understand what that means? Do you see the bigger picture of what God is doing in the world? Do you Ephesians understand what a responsibility and a privilege that this is for Paul? Maybe you don't. So Paul says, "On the off-chance you don't really understand all of this, let me tell you. This is the quarter in my back, and I'm happy to explain this." Verses 2-7 Verses 2-7 are a single sentence. Some translations break it up, to try to make it easier to follow, but I'm going to try to read it as a whole. By revelation the mystery was made known to me, just as I wrote above briefly, about which108 you are able, (when) reading, to understand my insight into the mystery of Christ, which in other generations was not made known to people,109 as it has now been revealed to his holy apostles and the prophets by the Spirit, that the nations/Gentiles are fellow heirs110 and fellow members of one body and fellow sharers of the promise111 in Christ Jesus through the good news, of which I became a servant according to the gift of God's grace of God given to me, according to the working of his power. God had this vision for the world. He was going to make a single, united, holy family, to live in peace with him, and with each other. How could God accomplish this? This is impossible, right? The answer is found in Jesus. Paul says, when you read what I've written, you'll understand my insight into the mystery of Christ. Somehow, God was going to use Jesus to make peace between himself and all of creation. No one knew what God was planning. No one knew that the Gentile nations would be fellow heirs of God's kingdom, fellow members of one body, and fellow sharers of the promise in King Jesus through the good news. No one understood that God would do this by abolishing the Mosaic covenant, and offering peace through Jesus the Messiah. This is something that God has only NOW revealed to Paul, and to the other apostles and prophets.112 God made Paul a servant to the good news. This is Paul's responsibility, and it's his privilege. Getting to tell Gentiles about what God has done through Jesus is a gift. And God empowers Paul to do this. Imagine getting to tell people about how God has made peace with them through Jesus. Imagine being able to tell people, "God sent Jesus to die on the cross for our sins, so that he could make peace with the world through Jesus. God is making one people, one family, for himself. If you give your allegiance to Jesus, placing your faith in him, God will forgive your sins, and you become part of God's family." Paul has the privilege of revealing God's plan to the Gentiles, telling them what God has done for them through Jesus. How great would it be to have God working through you to offer his grace to people? Paul says, "No one knew about this. And now God has revealed this mystery to me, along with the other apostles and prophets, so that we can tell Gentiles about Jesus." Verse 8: To me-- to the least of the least113 of all the holy ones-- this grace was given-- to proclaim the good news to the nations of the fathomless riches of Christ, and to enlighten everyone as to what is the stewardship of the mystery hidden from the ages by God-- by the One who created all things-- Paul had the greatest job of all time. He got to tell the nations how GOOD God had been to them in King Jesus, when they pledged their allegiance to him. People like good news. The story of what God has done for us through Jesus is the BEST NEWS. Paul gets to tell people about the fathomless riches of Christ, to show everyone what God has done for us. The astonishing thing about this, from Paul's perspective, is that God's grace was given TO HIM. I've bolded and underlined the first part of verse 8, because Paul is giving emphasis to this. "It was to me, to the super-least of all the holy ones, that this grace was given. Paul isn't proud; Paul doesn't think he's something special. He actually makes up a word to describe himself here. If Paul said he's the least of the apostles, you'd all understand that if there was a list of apostles, Paul's name is way at the bottom. But this isn't enough. He says something like, "I'm the super-least of them all." Paul knows he began all of this by persecuting the church, trying to destroy it. He is the least-deserving of them all, and he will never forget this. Despite this, God chose Paul to be his servant, to share God's grace with you Gentiles. More than anyone else, Paul knows that God is good-- God has been good to him, and God is good to you Gentiles. So now I'm going to start reading again in verse 7, and this time push through to verse 12. To me-- to the least of the least of all the holy ones-- this grace was given-- to proclaim the good news to the nations of the fathomless riches of Christ, and to enlighten everyone as to what is the stewardship of the mystery hidden from the ages by God-- by the One who created all things-- in order that the many-sided wisdom of God might now be made known to the rulers and to the authorities in the heavens through the church according to the purpose of the ages, which he did in/by King Jesus our Lord, in whom we have the boldness and access in confidence through allegiance/faithfulness toward him.114 When Paul tells Gentiles the good news about God has done for us in Jesus, and people come to faith in Jesus, what is the result? It's the church.115 It's us as a body. And we are quite the mix of people. There are Jews and Gentiles. Slaves and free. Men and women. People of every race. Americans and Russians. Westerners and Easterners. But all of us are one in Christ. Why did God do this? Well, one reason at least is given in verse 10: "in order that the many-sided wisdom of God might now be made known to the rulers and to the authorities in the heavens through the church." Who are the rulers and authorities in the heavens? What does this mean? We maybe want to say, "It's angels," but it's a little more complicated than that. Let's turn first to Deuteronomy 32:8-9. It's important that you read it in the ESV though116: When the Most High gave to the nations their inheritance, when he divided mankind, he fixed the borders[a] of the peoples according to the number of the sons of God.[b] 9 But the LORD's portion is his people, Jacob his allotted heritage. The idea in Deuteronomy is that God picked out Israel as his special portion-- as his own people. And all the other people in the world got put under the authority of divine beings called "sons of God." These "sons of God" aren't simply angels. We should think of them as powerful, top-tier (except not God's tier-- is that unclear?) divine beings. These "sons of God" ruled over the nations, but they weren't content with what they were given. They constantly battled God and God's people, and disobeyed God. The classic text talking about this is Psalm 82. God has taken his place in the divine council; in the midst of the gods he holds judgment: 2 "How long will you judge unjustly and show partiality to the wicked?Selah 3 Give justice to the weak and the fatherless; maintain the right of the afflicted and the destitute. 4 Rescue the weak and the needy; deliver them from the hand of the wicked." 5 They have neither knowledge nor understanding, they walk about in darkness; all the foundations of the earth are shaken. 6 I say, "You are gods, sons of the Most High, all of you; 7 nevertheless, you shall die like men, and fall like any prince."[a] 8 Arise, O God, judge the earth; for to thee belong all the nations! The "sons of God" were given the responsibility of judging the nations, but they did a rotten job. As a result, in verse 6, God promises them that even though they are divine beings, and should live forever, God will kill them. They'll die like people die. Then, in verse 8, the psalmist asks God to judge the earth, because the nations rightfully belong to God. Two other passages that talk about "sons of God" are Genesis 6:1 and Job 1:6. Gen 6:1 When man began to multiply on the face of the land and daughters were born to them, 2 the sons of God saw that the daughters of man were attractive. And they took as their wives any they chose. Job 1:6: "Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan[b] also came among them (ESV). So now let's turn back to Ephesians, because Paul talks about these powers a few times in this letter. Eph. 1:20-21. "When God raised Jesus from the dead, he seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion" (ESV). Eph 2:2: 2 And you were dead in the trespasses and sins 2 in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience- (ESV). Eph. 6:10-12: 10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. 11 Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. 12 For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. And now we are going to cheat a little and leave Ephesians for Col. 2:13-15. 13 And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, 14 by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross. 15 He disarmed the rulers and authorities[b] and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in him (ESV). We as Westerners tend to look around the world, and assume that basically, the only things that are real are we can see. Except we believe in God, and maybe Satan. But it's more complicated than this. God has been fighting a cosmic battle with these "sons of God" for centuries. God gave the "sons of God" authority over the nations, but they misused it, they defied God, and tried to create rival kingdoms. What will God do with them? In his wisdom, God decided to strike a crushing, crippling blow to the authorities by sending Jesus to the cross. When God this, he disarmed them, he publicly shamed them, and he triumphed over them (Col. 2:13-15). So when we turn back to Ephesians 3:10, what do we see? "in order that the many-sided wisdom of God might now be made known to the rulers and to the authorities in the heavens through the church." These rulers and authorities have been fighting God for centuries. But they were completely blindsided by God's move to send Jesus to the cross for our sins. None of them saw this coming, or had any idea that God would do this. If they had known God's plan, they never would've killed Jesus. But now, from the other side of the cross, God's wisdom is obvious. When the rulers and authorities in the heavens look at the church, what do they see? They see their defeat. They see God's wisdom. They see God freeing people from their kingdoms, making one nation, one people for himself. And, in the end, there's nothing they can do about it. All they can do is watch, and marvel at God's wisdom. God did this in order to rub their noses in it.117 He's saying, "this is what wisdom really looks like." Jesus is God's checkmate. Verse 12: And it's IN CHRIST that we have boldness and access to God in confidence through faith. How can we, as Gentiles, approach God's throne? We approach IN CHRIST, confidently, knowing we have access because of Jesus. You shouldn't worry that God hasn't accepted you, or that there's something else (like the Mosaic covenant) you need. Verse 13: Therefore, I ask you not to be discouraged by my sufferings for you, which are your glory. Paul is doing what God wants him to do. His job-- his responsibility-- is to tell Gentiles about what God has done for them through Jesus. This is why he's in chains. It would be easy for the Ephesians to think about Paul in prison, and get discouraged. How does the church lose someone like Paul to prison, and not end up worse off? How is that not depressing? But Paul sees the much bigger picture, and this picture should leave us with a sense of awe. God is creating one nation, one person, one family in Christ. And God has given Paul an incredible honor. He gets to tell Gentiles the good news about what God has done for them in Christ. If Paul has to be imprisoned for this, so be it. He tells them, "Don't be discouraged by my sufferings for you, which are your glory." Paul's sufferings are for their glory. What does this mean? We don't normally think of ourselves with this type of language. We have been glorified. How did God glorify us through Jesus?118 Weird, right? But it makes perfect sense. When we were apart from Jesus, we were dead in our wrongdoing and sins. We were without God, without hope, alienated from God's people. NOW? Now, God has so richly blessed us, making us heirs, making us part of his family. God lifted us up; he glorified us. Paul is willing to make whatever sacrifice he has to, to tell others about Jesus. Paul lives for this-- to tell the Gentiles about what God has done for them through Jesus. God is giving his grace to people through Paul, and he is glorifying people through Paul. And Paul understands that whatever suffering he has to endure as a result, is worth it. "If my suffering results in your glory, I'm more than willing to do so." So don't feel bad for Paul. Don't be discouraged. Look at the bigger picture. See how God has revealed his wisdom to the heavenly rulers and authorities, defeating them through the cross. See how God is making one family, one people, who live at peace with him. Understand that Paul lives as a servant of this good news. And if Paul has to suffer for you Ephesians, so that you can place your allegiance in King Jesus and join God's people, and so that you can be lifted up and glorified, then that's a great trade. It's your allegiance to Jesus, and God's worldwide plan, that are important. What a privilege it would be, to be able to share the good news of God's plan to Gentiles. Imagine God giving someone that kind of responsibility. What an honor. Who wouldn't be willing to suffer anything for God, to make this good news known? Who wouldn't be willing to suffer so that their family, and friends, and co-workers could be glorified? Paul is truly blessed. Eph. 3:14-21 For this reason I bend my knees before the Father--from whom every family in the heavens and on earth is named-- 1) in order that he may give to you according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in the inner person, so that Christ may live in your hearts through faithfulness119, in love having been firmly rooted and established, 2) in order that you may be able to grasp with all the holy ones what is the breadth and height and depth and to know Christ's love that surpasses knowledge.120 3) in order that you may be filled with all the fullness of/from God. Now to the one able to do more than everything/everyone, beyond all measure what we ask or perceive, according to the power working in us, to him (be) glory in the church and in King Jesus for all generations forever and ever. Amen. In Ephesians 2, we learned that God has this incredible plan for his creation. God is creating one family, one nation, one people for himself. He is making peace with all people through Jesus. Jesus is our peace. God is doing something in the world that is far bigger than Kulm, or North Dakota, or the United States. God is making peace with all people, across every line that separates people, through Jesus. If we were up in the heavens, with the rulers and authorities, it'd be easier to see God's wisdom and purpose in all of this. But here we are, sitting in Kulm. How does all of this relate to our own small church here? How does it relate to the house church in Ephesus? In verse 14, Paul comes back down from talking about God's global plan, to talking to the Ephesians. He says, "Since all of these things are true, I pray to my Father for some very specific reasons for you." And so Paul begins, for the second time, by telling the Ephesians how he prays for them. why he prays for them. If you read it carefully, you'll notice that Paul doesn't actually say what he prays for them. He tells them WHY he prays for them. It's this WHY that explains how this Ephesian church fits into God's much bigger picture. Before I jump in, I want you all to look at the translation I've handed out, and find the numbered sections, (1), (2), and (3). Three times in this section Paul writes, "in order that." And how we understand these three sections, and the relationship of these "in order thats," makes a huge difference in how we read the section. Picture these three "in order thats" as dominoes. The way I'm going to teach this, is that these are three separate requests Paul makes of his Father.121 The other way to read this, and I just can't make it work, is that these dominoes are in an order, and Paul makes one prayer request and then the other two naturally fall over as a result. If you want to go home and wrestle with this, feel free. I might be wrong. Fair enough? But I'm feeling pretty good about this. Paul's first prayer request runs from verses 14-17: For this reason I bend my knees before the Father-- from whom every family in the heavens and on earth is named-- (1) in order that he may give to you in accordance with the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in the inner person, so that Christ may live in your hearts through faithfulness122, in love having been firmly rooted and having been established, God is rich in glory. Glory has to do with three main things. First of all, God's glory means that he is powerful. God can do whatever God wants to do. Second, God's glory means he's radiant. God shines. Third, God's glory means he is lifted up, above everything and everyone else. God is RICH in glory. And Paul prays that God would give to the Ephesians in accordance with the riches. If you're a server in a restaurant, and Bill Gates sits in your section, what kind of tip do you hope to get? You hope to get a tip that's in accordance with his riches. A nice tip from me might be $10. I'm not rich. I have a lot of mouths to feed. But if Bill Gates thought you did a good job, and gave in accordance with his riches, who knows what will be left for you? God is rich in glory. He's rich in radiance; He's rich in power. And Paul prays that God would give as a God who is rich. God isn't going to run out of glory, so Paul prays that he would give generously out of it. To what end? Why does Paul want God to give richly, in accordance with the riches of his glory? "in order that he may give to you in accordance with the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in the inner person" so that Christ may live in your hearts through faithfulness123, in love having been firmly rooted and having been established, God is rich in glory, which means he's rich in power. Paul prays that God would give out of that glory, so that the Ephesians are strengthened through his Spirit. If we were going to work backward and figure out exactly what Paul prayed, the end result would be something like this: "Father, send your Spirit powerfully on the Ephesians to strengthen them." We tend to think of the Holy Spirit as someone we either have, or don't have. Right? We're Baptists; we aren't Pentecostals, we aren't charismatics. This is our loss. The Spirit can work more or less powerfully in us. We can act in ways that hinder the Spirit. Or we can act in ways that show an openness to the Spirit. But even more than this, we can pray that God would send his Spirit powerfully on us, to strengthen us. Don't let your theology keep you from praying biblically. "Father, send your Spirit powerfully on this church to strengthen it." This is not a prayer for Samson strength. Paul's hope for the Ephesians isn't that they be able to rip lions apart with their bare hands, or destroy buildings, or kill thousands of Philistines. This is a prayer for strength in the inner person, for a very specific reason. "so that Christ may live in your hearts through faithfulness." There is something wrong with the Ephesians' faith in Christ. Part of the problem might be that they don't fully understand what God did for them in Jesus. They wonder if they need to Judaize, putting themselves under the Mosaic covenant, in order to receive all of God's blessings. The other part of their problem is that they living in sin. They aren't living faithfully. Faith, at its core, means loyalty and allegiance. And when they stray from this allegiance to Jesus, and find themselves looking elsewhere, it means they are looking away from Jesus. Paul prays that God would strengthen them so that Christ would live in their hearts through faithfulness. Through allegiance. Right now they are vulnerable, and he prays that God would strengthen them. Jesus is enough, and they need to commit to him LIKE he's enough. They need to continue to be faithful, so that Christ continues to live in them. Again, faith is a commitment. Jesus lives in us, because we place our faith-- our allegiance-- in him. The last line here is this: in love124 having been firmly rooted and having been established. There are two participles here, "ing" verbs. When participles follow the main verb, they explain it. Picture a strong, healthy oak tree. It's roots go down forever, and it's strong. Paul prays that they would be like an oak tree, rooted and established IN LOVE. This love is God's love. God's love is the soil that we put our roots in. It holds us in place, it's the source of our growth; it's our starting point. God expects you to be faithful to him. How can we keep our focus on him, and not get distracted by the world, or by sin? What anchors our faith? The answer, is "God's love anchors your faith." We are faithful to God because we know how much God loves us. God loves you. This brings us to Paul's second request. For this reason I bend my knees before the Father--from whom every family in the heavens and on earth is named-- 1) in order that he may give to you according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in the inner person, so that Christ may live in your hearts through faithfulness125, in love having been firmly rooted and established, 2) in order that you may be able to grasp with all the holy ones what is the breadth and height and depth and to know Christ's love that surpasses knowledge.126 How much does Jesus love you? In the last line, Paul says that this love surpasses knowledge. You could think about Jesus' love forever, and you will never fully understand it. You will never fully understand a love that goes to the cross for your sins. Paul's prayer, though, is that you will know Christ's unknowable love. This brings us to our final request, in verse 19. For this reason I bend my knees before the Father--from whom every family in the heavens and on earth is named-- 1) in order that he may give to you according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in the inner person, so that Christ may live in your hearts through faithfulness127, in love having been firmly rooted and established, 2) in order that you may be able to grasp with all the holy ones what is the breadth and height and depth and to know Christ's love that surpasses knowledge.128 3) in order that you may be filled with all of God's fullness. in order that you may be filled with all of God's fullness. Paul began this section by talking about how God is rich in glory. He's not going to run out, and so he can give freely and generously out of that to us. This last prayer echoes the first. God is full. He doesn't need anything; he lacks nothing. Paul prays that the Ephesians would be filled, out of God's fullness. This sounds great. What does it mean? Let's cheat ahead, and turn to Eph. 4:11-16. 11 And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds[c] and teachers,[d] 12 to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, 13 until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood,[e] to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, 14 so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes. 15 Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ,16 from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love. Fullness sounds like a super cool mystical/spiritual filling-- and it is-- but it's also practical. What God wants is for you to be a mature, stable church. He wants you to understand what he's done for you through Jesus, and how much he loves you. If you've reached this point, you'll be rooted and established in God's love, and you'll no longer be vulnerable to false teaching. The reality is that many Christians will believe anything they hear. If someone has a mic, and they're up front, we believe them. The Ephesians, apparently, are being told that they have to become Jews to be part of God's people. They think God is holding back some special blessings and privileges for Jewish Christians. If you were filled with God's fullness and spiritually mature, understanding what Jesus did on the cross, and God's bigger plan, you'd see that this is ridiculous. Paul's prayer for them is that God would give them this spiritual maturity. "Father, fill them out of your fullness." The most important thing you can ever study, or learn more about, is what God did for you through Jesus. You can't think about this enough; you will never fully understand it. But you need to. If you don't understand what God did for you through Jesus, on the cross, you will never understand God's love. You won't be firmly rooted and established; you'll be vulnerable to all sorts of dangers. If you don't understand what Jesus did in tearing down the wall separating Jew from Gentile, you'll be tempted to Judaize. You'll misread passages like Genesis 17, or Deuteronomy, and you'll put yourself under the Mosaic law/covenant. Why does Paul pray for them? What does Paul want for them? (1) Paul wants them to be strengthened, so that Christ to continue to live their hearts through faithfulness.129 (2) Paul wants them understand how much Jesus loves them. (3) Paul wants them to be filled with God's fullness. This brings us to verse 20. As Paul describes his prayer to God for them, and what God has done for them, he can't help himself, and he ends by offering a doxology of praise to God. How can you think deeply about what God has done for you, without it leading you to praise God? You can't. It's impossible. Praise God, for his mercy and his love. So Paul writes this doxology, and we will close with this: Now to the one able to do more than everything/everyone, beyond all measure what we ask or perceive, according to the power working in us, to him (be) glory in the church and in King Jesus for all generations forever and ever. Amen. Ephesians 4:1-6 Therefore130, I exhort you, I, the prisoner of the Lord, worthily to walk of the calling with which you were called, with all humility and meekness, with patience, putting up with one another in love, hurrying131 to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace, one body and one spirit, just as also you were called in one hope of your calling, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who (is) over all and through all and in all. Verses 1-6 are one single sentence in the Greek. The main point is in verse 1, and then everything else explains this one main point. What is this point?: The reason that God sent Jesus, according to Eph. 2, is because God is creating one people who live in peace with him, and peace with each other, and live obediently toward God. Jesus is our peace. If you want to be at peace with God, and with people, and be part of God's family, you repent of your sins, you place your allegiance/faith in King Jesus, and you get baptized as your pledge to God. My hope this morning is that this describes all of you. You've heard God's call as good news, and obeyed it. But now what? How should you now walk, now that you are part of God's family, and at peace with God and with each other? The answer is deceptively simple: Worthily. Worthily is emphasized in the Greek through word order. This is the one word you need to hear, above all the others here. "Therefore132, I exhort you, I, the prisoner of the Lord, worthily to walk of the calling with which you were called." In Eph. 2:1-3 Paul says that "you Gentiles" used to walk a certain way. You had a road that you traveled in your life, and that road was a road of wrongdoing and sin. You were the walking dead. And (it was) you-- the ones being dead in your wrongdoing and sins, in which you formerly walked according to the age of this world, according to the ruler of the authority of the air-- the one now working in the sons of disobedience. Paul then returned to this road imagery in Eph 2:10. For FOR HIM we are a made thing, created in King Jesus for good works, which God prepared before hand, in order that in them we would walk. In Eph. 2, Paul gives one explanation for why God made you a new creation in Jesus. God created you in King Jesus FOR HIM, for GOOD WORKS, which God prepared before hand, in order that IN THEM we might walk. Your problem, from God's perspective, was that you walking down the wrong road in life. You were on the road of sin, apart from God, that leads to death. God wanted you on the road of obedience, that leads to eternal life (Rom 6:22; Gal. 6:6-8).133 So one of the ways of thinking about what salvation means, is it means God picking you up from this road of sin, and putting you on the road of obedience toward God. This brings us back to Eph. 4:1. Therefore134, I exhort you, I, the prisoner of the Lord, worthily to walk of the calling with which you were called. If God saved you so that you would walk in good deeds, what should you do? Walk in good deeds. Walk worthily of God's calling. Being part of God's family is a tremendous privilege. You are God's adopted children. You now call God "Father." Act like this is a privilege. Act like God has glorified you (3:8). Act like God has made you his holy temple, where he now lives. Walk worthily. Verses 2-6 explain what exactly this looks like: Therefore, I exhort you, I, the prisoner of the Lord, worthily to walk of the calling with which you were called, with all humility and meekness, with patience, putting up with one another in love, hurrying to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace, one body and one spirit, just as also you were called in one hope of your calling, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who (is) over all and through all and in all. If we were going to sit down and make a list of what it means to walk worthily of our calling, I'm not sure that our lists would immediately begin like Paul's here. I'm confident that they don't, actually. Walking worthily of your calling means, first and foremost, living in peace with each other. I mean this very specifically. Look around the room. Seriously. Look. You need to live in peace with each other. That's right at the top of God's list of what it means to walk worthily of your calling. We struggle to really understand how important this is, because we view our faith as an individual thing. When we tell people the good news, we ask them, "Do you want to have a personal relationship to God?" When we ask people how they are doing spiritually, we ask, "How is your walk with God?" When we talk about how we are doing spiritually, we say, "I don't feel close to God right now." Or maybe I do. We wonder, truthfully, why we even need church. Why not just stay at home on a Sunday morning, sipping coffee, maybe doing devotions as a family, and wrap things up in time for the pregame football show? Why are we even here? If Ephesians 2 taught you anything, I hope it's that God's plan is much bigger than this. God is making one nation, one people, one family, who will live in peace with him, and with each other. Asking people if they want a personal relationship with God, or with Jesus, is misleading. It's missing the point. "Do you want to be part of God's family, that lives in peace with God and with each other? Do you want to be able to call God 'Father'?" This is what God has called you to. And now that you've heard this calling as good news, and responded to it, walk worthily of that call. Verses 2-6 explain very concretely what this means. It means, verse 2, walking with humility and meekness.135 A lot of your Bibles translate the second word as "gentle." The idea with πραΰτης isn't really gentleness. It doesn't mean talking like a kindergarten teacher, or not being forceful. The main dictionary (lexicon) for Greek gives this definition: "the quality of not being overly impressed by a sense of one's self-importance" (BDAG). It means, "don't view yourself as being hot stuff in the church." If our starting point for thinking about church is that we need to live in unity, at peace with each other, then we should be thinking about what breaks that peace. What is it that keeps us from maintaining unity? I think that pride is somewhere way up near the top of this list. Pride is a terrible thing. Who among us is most likely to think they are indispensable to the church? Who is impressed with their own self-importance, and thinks the church should be built around us? I think there's three particular groups of people who struggle with this. (1) If you are someone who is important outside the walls of this church, you are more likely to view yourself as being super important inside. Do you have a great job? Are you someone that society respects? Are you used to being in charge at work, making the tough decisions? Are you wealthy? If this is you, it's really easy to carry that over to the church. You are the MAN. You were born to lead. If this is you-- if you are rich, or important in society-- you need to be careful among God's people. For you, walking worthily, in humility and meekness, is going to be difficult. (2) I think the second group of people who struggle to walk in humility and meekness are people in leadership positions at church. It's one thing to sit in church on a Sunday morning, and secretly wish that the worship time was longer or shorter, or that you sang different songs. Or that the sermons would be longer or shorter, or topical or going through books of the Bible. Or that someone else was up front. Or that the church would do this program, and not that one. It's one thing to be sitting there, and not really able to do anything about it except resist the urge to complain, and another to be sitting there as a leader in the church. If you are a leader in the church-- an elder, a pastor, a worship leader, a director of women's ministry, you can get your way. That's exciting, right? That's a great perk of being a leader. A great reason to become an elder. If you want more say in how the church does everything, become a leader. Be the man. If you are in church leadership in any role, there are going to be times when you find yourself disagreeing with other people about what you should do. There will be times when you'll have an overwhelming urge to take your good idea, your vision for what the church should look like, and force it through. You can call it a lot of things. "Giving the people a vision." "Being a strong (servant) leader." "A high and holy calling from God." "Being a prophet for the people." But if you find yourself grabbing people by the throat, and ramming ideas and programs down it, you need to stop and think about if what you're doing, and how you're doing it, shows humility and meekness. I'm not saying, "Don't lead." But leading as a servant is a dodgy business. Be careful. Walk with humility and meekness. Church is not about you. It's not about using your position to get what you want. It means serving the church, in humility. It means being a slave to the church (Mark 10:35-45). It's means not confusing your personal preferences with what's best for the church. (3) The third group of people that I think struggle with walk with humility and meekness is people who haven't really committed to the church. Most of us, when we first choose a church, do so with a consumer mentality. Why am I here, and not at the church down the street? For some of you, it's because your family is from here. This is the church you have roots in. For others, it's because this is the church that best meets your perceived needs. You enjoy the worship, the preaching is tolerable, and it's not too far from home. All things considered, it's like a 6/10, and the church down the road is like a 4. You view church, basically, as being about you. If this is you, you're going to struggle to walk in humility and meekness. If something in this church changes that was really important to you, you drive home after church and realize that it's no longer a 6/10. It's like a 3. You realize, "I don't even want to go there anymore." At no point did you ever think, "I can see why the church did this change. I personally don't like it-- I wish they hadn't-- but in humility and meekness, out of my love for the church and the desire to keep the unity and peace-- I am okay with it. Next on the list: walking with patience. There are times when you're going to get frustrated with each other. Sometimes people-- other people, never you-- are stubborn, and they refuse to change. Or they keep doing the same thing, over and over, that you don't like, and it tears you up. Or they annoy you to no end. I don't know. Other people don't always walk in humility and meekness. And that's super frustrating. Be patient with each other. This is how you walk worthily of your calling. So next on the list, is this: "Putting up with one another in love." What it means to walk worthily of your calling is "putting up with one another in love." I think this is a hilarious translation.136 Truly. But my Greek reader's version, and the main lexicon, both give this as their main translation (gloss). So there you have it. "Putting up with one another in love." There are people in this church, that when they start talking to you, it's all you can do to not walk away from them, or start daydreaming. Put up with one another. If I was starting a social group from scratch, it wouldn't look like this church. Some of you don't play Rook or board games. You're interested in really boring things. Golf? Fishing? But I put up with you. And you put up with me. And don't miss the little bit at the end. "Putting up with one another in love." We don't put up with each other, only until we can get in the car after service and complain to our spouses about them. We don't put up with people, and gossip about them, or backstab them, as soon as they're not around. We put up with one another in love, knowing that they are part of God's family. And we are happy they have placed their allegiance in King Jesus, and are part of this family. It'd be nice if eventually we reach the point where we can just say, loving each other. But start here. Put up with one another in love. NEXT: rushing to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace, There are times in church when we fight, and our unity breaks down. What do we fight over? What bothers us, makes us upset with each other? All of us have different things that are really important to us. I have a friend who is a music-lover, and she has very definite ideas about worship. She gets frustrated when the worship is too loud, or when it's not long enough, or when the lyrics are dumb, or when all the songs are in the same key signature. I don't even know what a key signature is. Or if I'm using the word right. All I know is, not every song should be in C? G? Beats me. Some of you are better students of the Bible and theology than others. I don't say this to shame you, or anything else. I'm just saying, that's how it is. The more carefully, and longer, you've studied the Bible, the more problems you are going to have with what churches teach. Many Christians in church, when they listen to teachers, really aren't very discerning. But a few of you, I'm guessing, it seems like every time someone teaches, at some point in the lesson you find yourself cringing or flinching. Did he really just teach that? You say, "I know that's not biblical, because Paul says such and such in Romans." You hear everything. And the more important the Bible is to you, the bigger deal these disagreements become. Sometimes, these disagreements are over something that's absolutely core to our faith. If someone is teaching something heretical, and you can't convince them they are wrong, and the church leadership refuses to address your concerns, leave. Absolutely. Don't support that ministry; don't be part of it. Find a different church. But if you are arguing about something that's not actually central, you have to learn to keep perspective on it. This has been a hard thing for me. I'd like to think I'm making progress. There will always be reasons to fight, and reasons to be upset with each other. And conflict is inevitable. What do you do when it happens? Going back to the verse: "rushing to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace," If your unity has broken down, you rush to fix it. You know that God is creating one family who will live at peace with him and with each other. If that peace is broken, it needs to be fixed right now. If you said or did something you shouldn't have, you rush to apologize. If someone hurt you, you rush to forgive. Keep the peace. Your natural reaction, when your peace is broken, is not going to be work to keep the unity of the Spirit. The natural reaction is going to be to avoid them, or gossip about them, or backstab them. If it's bad enough, you'll leave the church. Or maybe you'll let it simmer, forever. If something has happened between you and someone else in this church, you HURRY to make things right. The Holy Spirit has united all of us137, and when that unity is broken, you RUSH to fix it. There is an urgency to church unity. one body and one spirit, just as also you were called in one hope of your calling, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who (is) over all and through all and in all. I said earlier that some of you maybe feel like you have nothing in common with each other. If we were starting a social group, it wouldn't look like this church. If we were hanging out, we'd run out of casual conversation pieces within 5 minutes, and just awkwardly stare at the ground or each other. Awkward. But we have the most important things in common. We are one body, and one spirit. We have one Lord. We share one faith. We all had the one baptism. (If you haven't been baptized, by the way, you need to get baptized.) We have one God and Father of all, who is over all, and through all, and in all. It maybe doesn't seem like we have much in common, but when it comes to the most important things in life, we are all united. God has made us one, in Jesus. God is making ONE people, ONE family, for himself in Christ. So live as one family. What does it mean to walk worthily of your calling? It doesn't mean you, as a Lone Ranger Christian, struggling to live faithfully toward God in isolation. Walking worthily means living in humility as part of God's people, in peace with each other, rushing to keep that peace. How should you walk? Walk worthily. Walk worthily, as a member of this church body. Ephesians 4:7ff., Part I. Now138 to each one of us was given this grace/ministry according to the measure of Christ's gift. Therefore139, it says, "Rising into the height, he captured captives, he gave gifts to people." Now140 the "he rose"-- what/who is (it) except that he also descended to the lower part of the earth?141 The one descending-- he is also the one ascending above all the heavens, in order that he might fill/fulfill all things. And he gave, on the one hand, apostles, on the other hand prophets, on the other hand evangelists, on the other hand pastors and teachers for the fixing/equipping142 of the holy ones, (1) for the work of service/ministry, (2) for the building of Christ's body until we all reach for the unity of faith and the knowledge of the son of God, for a perfect/mature man, for the measure of the maturity of the fullness of Christ, in order that no longer143 we may be infants, being tossed by waves and being carried by every wind of teaching in the trickery of people, in cunning for the scheming of error/deceit. Now speaking the truth in love, we must grow into him into/for him with reference to all, who is the head, Christ, from whom the whole body, being joined together and being held together through every supporting ligament according to the working by measure of each part, makes the growth of the body for the building of itself in love. Over the years, I've read my fair share of commentaries and academic journal articles on the Bible. I have never, ever, read more passionate-- and even angry-- scholars on any other subject, than I have on today's verses. At first, I was surprised by this-- amused, really, if I'm going to be honest. You don't expect to see that kind of heat in the types of books I was reading. But then eventually everything clicked all at once for me144, and I got it. This is a passage that changes everything about us as a church. That said, this is a tricky passage. I'm not going to lie. It's hard. I don't know how to explain all of it. And I could spend a lot of time describing the different ways scholars have wrestled with bits and pieces of it. And at the end, what I would say about each of the tricky bits is, "I don't know who is right." But even though some of the details are tricky, the main points are pretty straightforward. So what I've decided is, I'm not going to try to cover every little detail of the passage. I can't. I don't understand them. That makes it easy, right? Instead, I'm going to focus on the main points, and try to help you see the flow to Paul's argument. If you really understand what Paul is saying, it has the potential to completely change how you understand the church, and your role in it. We will have to work at this one, but the end result will be worth it. The other thing I'll say up front about this passage is that I'm not going to get through the whole thing in one week. I try really hard to get through a section each week, because I'm sneakily trying to help you all learn how to read and understand larger sections of Scripture at a time. But this is going to be an exception to the rule. Verse 7 starts like this: Now,145 to each one of us was given this grace/ministry according to the measure of Christ's gift. Let's flip back to Ephesians 3:8 to start this, so we start this right. There, Paul said this: To me-- to the least of the least146 of all the holy ones-- this grace was given, to proclaim the good news to the nations of the fathomless riches of Christ, and to enlighten everyone as to what is the stewardship of the mystery hidden from the ages by God-- by the One who created all things-- In Eph. 3:8, God gave Paul a specific ministry. His job was to proclaim the good news about Jesus to the nations. Paul calls this God's gift to him. It's a privilege to have God give you a job to do. It's a privilege to be entrusted with an important task. And Paul was grateful for that. He knows he doesn't deserve this. It's important that you see how Paul describes this ministry. He says, "this grace was given." What we are supposed to hear, is that Paul was given a specific ministry that is both a privilege, and a responsibility. "This grace was given." This language is common for Paul. He often describes ministry as "a grace that was given." 1 Cor. 3:10 2 Cor. 8:1 (this one is key) Gal. 2:9 2 Tim. 1:9147 Paul was given the grace-- the ministry-- of telling the Gentiles about what God has done for them in Christ. The Macedonians were given the grace-- the ministry-- of giving money to the Jerusalem church that was starving because of a famine. So let's turn back to Ephesians 4:7. "To each one of us was given this grace according to the measure of Christ's gift." Paul is not talking here about saving grace. Paul is talking about specific ministries in the church. God gave each of you a specific job for the church. This job, this ministry, is both a privilege and a responsibility. We don't all have the same responsibilities. We are a unity in Christ, but we aren't all the same. We don't all do the same job. Some of us received one grace-- one ministry-- others received another. But all of you have at least one ministry that you are supposed to devote yourselves to (Acts 6:4).148 In verse 8, Paul then supports this idea that each of us is given a ministry by quoting Psalm 68:18. Therefore149, it says, "Rising into the height, he captured captives, he gave gifts to people." At first glance, this verse looks really hard. It never really gets any better, in my experience. What we are going to do is focus on two things. First, ask yourselves the question, who is the "he"? Whoever "he" is, "he" did three things. "He" (1) rose into the heights. "He" (2) captured captives. "He" (3) gave gifts to people. Who is "he"? Second, notice how the quote ends. "He gave gifts to people."150 Whoever "he" is, it's important to know that "he" gave gifts to people. Paul is aware, I think, that anyone reading this is going to feel a little lost. And so he explains this quotation for us in verse 9: Now151 the "he rose"-- what/who is (it), except that he also descended to the lower part of the earth?152 The one descending-- he is also the one ascending above all the heavens, in order that he might fill/fulfill all things. Before I say anything else, write this on your handout. "The point of verse 9 is that the psalm must be referring to Jesus."153 If we move away from this at all, I get really confused again. Jesus came from heaven, right? He preexisted, in heaven, with the Father. He came down to earth, and then after being crucified, he rose again. Jesus descended, and he ascended. He went down, and then up. I wish I could be more help than this. I don't really understand what Paul is saying. But the main point of verse 9, again, is that the psalm must be referring to Jesus. And if this verse is talking about Jesus, then we know that Jesus gave gifts to people. It's this point that Paul has been working toward. Jesus gave gifts to people. If you are hopelessly lost at this point, I'm sorry. If you're feeling sad that this is the best explanation you're going to get this morning, I'm sorry about that too. I'm just as sad about it. Just focus on this: Jesus gave gifts to people. Verse 11 And he gave, on the one hand, apostles, on the other hand prophets, on the other hand evangelists, on the other hand pastors and teachers Jesus gave gifts to people, right? Now we read in verse 11 that Jesus gave apostles, prophets, evangelists, and pastor-teachers. Some of you who have done studies in spiritual gifts are going to read this verse, and you're going to be tempted here to say that Jesus gave some people special gifts, or abilities. You hear Paul saying Jesus gave some people the gift of apostleship, the gift of evangelism, the gift of teaching. These are the gifts that Jesus gave people. That's not what Paul is saying here. Paul is saying, Jesus gave these people to the church, as a gift to the church.154 Your pastors are Jesus' gift to you. Your evangelists are Jesus' gift to you. After Jesus ascended to heaven, he had presents he wanted to give you as a church. He wanted to bless you as a church. So it wasn't enough that Jesus died on the cross for your sins, and made peace between all of you and God. Jesus also gave you gifts. He gave you pastors, teachers, evangelists, prophets, and apostles. Is this how you view your church leaders? When you think of them, do you say to yourself, "These people are Jesus' gift to us"? I usually don't. This is actually one of the more painful sermons I've had to write, because I know very well I've had really bad attitudes at times over the years, with some pastors more than others. Is this a struggle for you? These people are Jesus' gifts. In verse 12, Paul tells us why Jesus gave the church these people as gifts. he gave, on the one hand, apostles, on the other hand prophets, on the other hand evangelists, on the other hand pastors and teachers for the fixing/equipping155 of the holy ones, (1) for the work of service, (2) for the building of the body of Christ This verse is really, really interesting. And actually, after reading commentaries, it's controversial. Incredibly controversial. I have never in my life read more angry scholars, than I have on this verse. The reason this is controversial is that these verses are at the heart of an argument over the role of church leaders, and the laity, and how the two relate to each other. I've blown over some of the disagreements earlier in this passage because they aren't really a big deal. That, and (lol) I don't get them. But the way we read these verses has a huge impact on how we understand ourselves, and our leaders, so I'm happy to dive into this one. The easiest way into this controversy is going to be by comparing two translations, the KJV and the ESV. KJV: 11 And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; 12 For the perfecting of the saints, (NOTICE THE COMMA) for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ: ESV: 11 And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds[a] and teachers,[b] 12 to equip the saints for (NO COMMA) the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, I'm guessing the two main differences jump out at you immediately.156 First, do church leaders equip people, or do they perfect them? Which translation is right? Second, do leaders have one main job here, or three? So let's take these one at a time. First, do leaders equip the saints, or perfect them? The Greek word, that I'm pretty sure I'm supposed to say out loud at this point, is καταρτισμός.157 It's used in Mark 1:19 to describe mending fishing nets. Say you're a fisherman for a living, and you get to fish with nets. You're not stuck with a lousy fishing rod. Some of you here fish, so I'm going to give you great advice. If you're going to go net-fishing, you have to make sure the nets don't have huge holes. If there are big holes, the big fish will swim through them. So fishermen mend their nets. The word is also used to describe mending bones.158 If you break your arm badly, you go the doctor, and they do horrible things to your arm to straighten it before putting a cast on it. So the idea is that there is often something wrong with us as laity. We are like a fishing net with huge holes, or like a broken arm, and we can't do what God created us in Christ to do. We can't do all of the good works God planned for us ahead of time (Eph. 2:10).159 Pastors and teachers are like mechanics, or like doctors. They fix us, so that we can do the ministries Jesus gave us to do. So which translation is right? Well, they sort of both are. There is maybe something you lack, that keeps you from serving God effectively (1 Thess 3:10). Maybe you are caught in sin. You'll never be able to serve God if you are living in unrepentant sin. Pastors, teachers, prophets, and evangelists can fix you, if that's your problem. They come along, and warn you. Or maybe the ministry Jesus gave you was to be an evangelist. But you don't know the good news well enough to actually share your faith. An evangelist can fix you. Or maybe you don't know the basics of our faith well enough to be rooted, and secure. Teachers can fix you. It's like we are broken cars, and these leaders are mechanics who fix us so that we can go and do what we need to do. The second hugely debated thing has to do with how we set up the passage.160 Most translations set it up like this:161 he gave, on the one hand, apostles, on the other hand prophets, on the other hand evangelists, on the other hand pastors and teachers for (πρός) the fixing/equipping of the holy ones (1) for (εἰς) the work of service/ministry, (2) for (εἰς) the building of the body of Christ The KJV sets it up like this: he gave, on the one hand, apostles, on the other hand prophets, on the other hand evangelists, on the other hand pastors and teachers (1) for (πρός) the fixing/equipping of the holy ones, (2) for (εἰς) the work of service/ministry, (3) for (εἰς) the building of the body of Christ. The difference between these two translations, in English Bibles, comes down a single comma. The ESV says pastors fix laity, so that the laity can do the work of ministry and build the church. The KJV says pastors have 3 jobs: they fix people, they do the ministry, and they build the body of Christ. Which translation is right? In the Greek, when people want to make a numbered list, they didn't write, "first, second, third." They didn't even have commas or any punctuation originally. When they wanted to signal to their readers they were making a list, they repeated the preposition. In these verses, Paul uses two different prepositions, pros and eis, but we are forced to translate them both as "for." They basically mean the same thing. They mean "for."162 I think the reason Paul used different prepositions, was to make sure we didn't accidentally read Paul like the KJV does. And, as far as I know, every modern translation agrees with this. Even the NKJV takes out the comma now. So the ESV is right. So, what's the end result of all of this? How are we supposed to read this passage? Jesus, after ascending to heaven, gave all of us at least one special ministry--one grace. This is the ministry we are supposed to devote ourselves to. Jesus gave a few people leadership roles in the church. To some he gave the grace of apostle, others prophecy, others evangelism, others pastor and teacher. The reason Jesus gave these people this ministry was to fix us, so that we are able to do the work of ministry, and so that we can build up the body of Christ. Basically, they make it so we can do the ministry Jesus gave to us. The reason this is controversial is because if this is right, church doesn't revolve around the pastors and teachers. Next week, I'll talk more about our role as laity in the church, and about what it means that Jesus gave us each a ministry. This week, I want to give some thoughts about our leaders' role in church. In many churches, both the pastor, and the church, expect the leaders to do the work of the ministry. Leaders are the only ones who are really allowed to do anything. They do all the teaching; they find curriculum for any teachers under them. They do all the counseling, and all the visitation. If you know someone who is open to hearing the good news about Jesus, you'd say to them, "You should go down to our church to talk to my pastor. He can explain all of that to you." At these churches, there's a strong focus on only leaders being allowed to do certain things. Only the ordained pastor can lead communion. Only the ordained pastor can baptize new believers. If you sin in a Catholic church, and you want forgiveness of sins, where do you have to go? Only the Catholic priest can hear confession of sins (contrast James 5:16). The end result is a very top-down organization. Leaders lead with authority and do the ministry; congregations submit and passively grow. If you have an idea for ministry, you need to bring it to the elders and justify it, and they get to decide if it fits in with their vision for the church's ministry. I'm going to call this the KJV of church. This is not biblical. What Paul is saying so far-- and I'm just not going to get all the way through this passage-- is that Jesus gave each of you a ministry. This ministry is a grace given to you; it's a privilege, and a responsibility. This ministry is Jesus' gift to you (Eph. 3:8). Notice, it's Jesus who hands out ministries. The problem is that some of you aren't able to do the ministry Jesus gave you. If you are living in unrepentant sin, you can't serve. It simply doesn't work. You won't desire to serve; you won't be able to serve effectively. At best, any service you offer will be hollow. And it will leave you exhausted and burnt out, because your life is a lie. For others of you, you aren't going to be able to do whatever ministry Jesus gave you because you don't know how. There are core parts to your faith that you simply don't understand well enough. The special job Jesus gave pastors, teachers, apostles, evangelists, and prophets, is to fix you so that you can serve. They are the mechanics of the church; the doctors. Their job is to fix you so that you can do the work of ministry, and so that you can build up the body of Christ. I'll have to finish this next week, but I want to leave with 2 thoughts. First, Jesus gave you a ministry so that you can serve, and so that you can build up Christ's body-- this church. This ministry is a privilege, and a responsibility. You need to figure out what that is. Second, some of you know that there's no way you can serve. Maybe your lives are a train wreck. Life is falling apart all around you, or you are caught up in some terrible sin. Or it's all you can do, to stay married to your spouse one more week. All you can do in life is hang on. And the idea of acting doing ministry... would be funny, if your life wasn't so hard. If you know that you can't do the ministry Jesus gave you, whatever it is, you need someone to fix you. Is there someone in the church who can do that for you? Jesus gave the church leaders to help you. So use them. Humble yourselves, and let them know you need help. Or maybe you don't think you're really able to serve, because there's so much you need to learn. There are people in this church who would love to mentor you and strengthen your faith. Second, and this is the flip side, leaders in this church are not here to do all the ministry. The KJ version of the church is an unhealthy church. You have a responsibility; take that seriously. Don't dump everything on them. Finish with Acts 6:4? Ephesians 4:7ff, Part 2 Now,163 to each one of us was given this grace/ministry according to the measure of Christ's gift. Therefore164, it says, "Rising into the height, he captured captives, he gave gifts to people." Now,165 the "he rose"-- what/who is (it) except that he also descended to the lower part of the earth?166 The one descending-- he is also the one ascending above all the heavens, in order that he might fill/fulfill all things. And he gave, on the one hand, apostles, on the other hand prophets, on the other hand evangelists, on the other hand pastors and teachers for the fixing/equipping167 of the holy ones (1) for the work of service/ministry, (2) for the building of Christ's body, until we all reach for the unity of faith168 and the knowledge of the son of God, for a perfect/mature (adult) man, for the measure of the maturity Christ's fullness, in order that no longer169 we may be infants, being tossed by waves and being carried by every wind of teaching in people's trickery, in cunning for the deceitful scheming. Now speaking the truth in love, we must grow into him into/for him with reference to all, who is the head, Christ, from whom the whole body, being joined together and being held together through every supporting ligament according to the working by measure of each part, makes the growth of the body for the building of itself in love. Last week, we started working through Ephesians 4:7-16. We didn't get far, only up through verse 12. It's a difficult passage, and I guess I talked a lot. This morning, I want to start by quickly retracing Paul's argument, and then hopping back in at verse 13. Verse 7 reads like this: Now170 to each one of us was given this grace/ministry according to the measure of Christ's gift. The idea here is simple. Jesus gives each of us a ministry, as he pleased. This ministry may have nothing to do with our own natural abilities or interests. Or it may. That's up to Jesus. But the important thing is, Jesus gave each of us a ministry. Verses 8-10 are a quotation of Psalm 68:18, followed by an explanation. Therefore171, it says, "Rising into the height, he captured captives, he gave gifts to people." Now172 the "he rose"-- what/who is (it) except that he also descended to the lower part of the earth?173 The one descending-- he is also the one ascending above all the heavens, in order that he might fill/fulfill all things. Almost everything in here is debated, but the main point goes something like this: only Jesus descended and ascended, so the psalm must be talking about him. And if the psalm is talking about him, then the end result is this: Jesus gives gifts to people. What gifts did he give? Verse 11 tells us: And he gave, on the one hand, apostles, on the other hand prophets, on the other hand evangelists, on the other hand pastors and teachers Some of you are going to be tempted to read this and say, Jesus is giving people the spiritual gift of evangelism, or teaching, or prophecy. But the idea here is that Jesus gives these people to the church as a gift to the church. Jesus gives gifts to people. Jesus gives apostles to the church. Why did Jesus give apostles, prophets, evangelists, teachers and pastors as gifts to the church? Verse 12 tells us: for the fixing/equipping174 of the holy ones (1) for the work of service/ministry, (2) for the building of Christ's body, Each of us is given a specific ministry for the church. We are the holy ones. Leaders fix and equip us, so that we can do the work of ministry, and so that we can build Christ's body-- the church. Leaders are like mechanics, or doctors. If we unable to serve because we are caught in sin, they can correct us in love, and restore us in love. If we don't know the basics of what it means to follow Jesus, and what God's big plan is for us and the world, our teachers can help us. They fix us, and equip us, so that we can serve and do the ministry Jesus gave us to do. In verse 13, Paul gives us the end goals: until we all reach (1) for (εἰς) the unity of faith and the knowledge of the son of God, (2) for (εἰς) the perfect/mature man, (3) for (εἰς) the measure of the maturity of Christ's fullness, There are three end goals to all of this. Here again, Paul basically numbers them by repeating the preposition at the start of each one. (1) The first purpose is to reach, as a whole, as a church, the unity of faith and the knowledge of the son of God. If you notice that for #1, there's one preposition-- one "for"-- given for both of these. What that tells us that the two ideas are closely related. In Ephesians 2:14, we read that Jesus is our peace. He is the one who tore down the wall separating Jew from Gentile, and made peace between all people, and between all people and God. If we know what Jesus has done for us, and if we see how important peace is to God, we will strive to live in peace with each other. So when leaders fix us, and when we serve, this is the goal we are working toward. What we want is this: to live in peace with each other, in the knowledge of what Jesus did on the cross for us to bring us together. The second goal is this: "until we all reach the perfect man." The word for "man" here is the word for an adult man. The goal then is that we all grow up, and become perfect, mature adults. In Matt. 5:48, Jesus said, "Be perfect, as your heavenly father is perfect.175 Our Father is absolutely perfect. Our goal is to be like our Father. Your goal can't be, "I know I will always sin." You don't get to set the bar low. God's goal is that we will be perfect. And we keep striving together, as a church, to grow toward God's high bar. We need to stop saying we will always sin--or at least, say it far less often. We need to stop letting this comfort us. Our goal, is that all of us, as a body, become perfect. The third goal is this: "for the measure of the maturity of Christ's fullness." Jesus is full. He is full of glory, like his father. He is exalted in heaven. He is everything God wants in a son. He lacks nothing. Paul's prayer for the Ephesians, in 3:19, was that they would be filled with God's fullness. So the idea here is something like, "growing in maturity, until we are full like Jesus is full." The goal is to "be all that God wants you to be." So these are the three end goals. If we hit those goals, we will be set for verse 14: in order that no longer we may be infants, being tossed by waves and being carried by every wind of teaching in the people's trickery, in cunning for the deceitful scheming. When I was in college, and just dating Heidi, I used to drive her crazy. I'd read a book, and I'd be confident it was right. It explained everything perfectly. And then 2 months later, I'd read a different book, and decide I'd been wrong. I'd have these huge swings in theology. Back and forth, back and forth. None of the things I was agonizing over were at the core of Christianity, but that's not always the case. There are people out there who teach things that are incredibly wrong, and incredibly dangerous. For example, the Ephesians seem to be worried that they are missing out on some of God's blessings because they are Gentiles. Should they become Jewish Christians? This is incredibly dangerous and wrong--but how can I prove that to you? Well, if you understand what Jesus did on the cross for you, and that God's plan was to make peace between all people and himself in Jesus, you won't be tempted to Judaize-- to become Jewish by putting yourself under the Mosaic covenant. What would be the point, given what Jesus has done for you, and given God's plan? The Bible, and theology, if done rightly, are anchors that keeps you from being tossed by waves and every wind of teaching. If you are grown, mature adults in Christ, you're not going to be nearly as vulnerable to false teaching. And by this, I don't mean, teaching that misinterprets points here and there. Every week, when I write sermons, I have to make dozens of choices about who is right and wrong on a particular point, and how I should understand something. There are scholars who are godly men and women, who don't always get it right. I don't always get it right. If you and I disagree about the interpretation of a given passage or verse, it shouldn't tear you up inside. People are going to constantly disagree on things. What Paul is talking about here isn't that. He's talking about people who are pushing dangerous, false teaching. These are the big ideas that can shipwreck your faith. They will mess you up. When a Mormon comes to your door, how vulnerable are you? Do you find yourself being pulled in by their slick teaching? Do you have to just not answer the door, because you know you're vulnerable? Our goal as a church is to grow in maturity, so that we don't fear Mormons-- or anyone else. Our faith is anchored strongly in Jesus, and we are going to be tough to move. Hopefully, your teachers really are gifts from Jesus, and they are helping your faith become more and more stable and mature. Verse 15 Now, speaking the truth in love, we must grow in all ways176 into him who is the head, Christ, from whom the whole body-- being joined together and being held together through every supporting ligament according to the working of each single part--177 makes the growth of the body for the building of itself in love. We, as a church, are Jesus' body, and we are supposed to grow in all ways into him. It's like we are already united to him, but we need to be more united. We grow into him, and we help others in this church grow into him more, in every way. Jesus gave each of us a ministry to build the church. Each of us are like supporting ligaments, that hold the body together. We all were given a grace--a ministry-- to do this. This ministry is maybe given to help the church grow outward, and reach our community with the good news about Jesus. Or maybe it's a ministry that helps the church grow in spiritual maturity. I don't know. I don't know what grace Jesus gave you. But he gave you a special job to do, and that job-- and you-- are central to holding the church together. I said last week at one point that this passage has the potential to change everything about the church. It should challenge us, and how we view ourselves, and leaders, and how we all work together in the church. What I want to do at this point, is give you two pictures, of two churches, to help you see at a practical level what this looks like. Our first church we will call the KJV church. This church reads Eph. 4:12 like this: Jesus gave leaders to the church as gifts for three main reasons. Leaders fix the holy ones; leaders do the work of ministry; leaders build up the church. Leaders know and decide what ministries the church will do. They plan everything out, and then they grab enough of you to run each particular program. They decide the curriculum. They make all the decisions. If you have a ministry idea, you have to justify it to them. You have to explain to them how it fits into the church's mission as the leaders understand it. Leaders do the ministry. They lead, they counsel, they baptize, they give communion, they hear confession, they evangelize. The church supports, and grows. Our second church we will call the every-other-translation-of-Ephesians 4:12 church. In this church, the people understand that Jesus gave each of us a ministry as a gift to the church, to build it up and strengthen it. This is the ministry that you devote yourselves to. If you are walking in the Spirit, somehow mysteriously-- or maybe in a way that isn't mysterious at all-- Jesus will draw you toward a specific ministry. This ministry might already be going in the church, or it might be something completely new. You feel this pull, and you think to yourself, "I think this is my ministry." You bring your idea to the pastor, and he's surprised. You can tell; he's surprised. This doesn't mean he's upset. Far from it. He's thrilled. Your pastor understands that Jesus gave you a ministry, and this ministry is one he never, in a million years, would've thought of starting or leading himself. He encourages you, he asks you what you need. He gives you a key for the church, because you need the building. He tells you, he's not going to play an active role in this. He might never show up. But he's legitimately happy about this. He gives you his blessing; he prays a blessing over you and your ministry. And he offers to brainstorm, to help you get it started. This isn't a false example. I had a crazy idea two years ago. I felt pulled to teach a Greek class at my home church. It's crazy, right? Most pastors would look at this, and they'd think, "Seriously? If I could have someone volunteer 5-10 hours a week doing something in the church, it wouldn't be teaching Greek." But when I asked the pastor at the time if he'd be okay with this, he was genuinely excited. He told me, happily, that I was the third person in a week to come to him with a ministry idea. As a leader, who knows what ministry God will choose to bless, and how he will use that in the church? Maybe your crazy idea will be the one that leads to revival in the church. Maybe it will end up being the single greatest outreach in the history of the church. Maybe it will change just one person's life. Who knows? And as a leader, when people come to you with an idea, your response is to be thrilled. Here is someone who is walking in the Spirit, who knows what Jesus wants them to do to serve the church. This ministry of mine is winding down. A month ago, I felt a pull to think about how to wrap it up. I have no explanation for why. And now, for 2 months (and counting), I've found myself writing sermons as fast as I can, for reasons I can't explain. I can't go two days without working on them, or I start going crazy. I don't know what Jesus is doing. I just feel like he's preparing me for something. Probably pulpit supply. Not something at my home church. And if my wife read this, she'd be shocked. This is not how I talked, for most of my marriage. This is weird. Jesus has given each of you a ministry for the church. It might be up front; it might be behind the scenes. It might be inside the church; it might be reaching out. All of us are supposed to tell people the good news about Jesus as we have opportunity, but maybe your ministry is to really go after this. Jesus wants you to open your house up and show hospitality to people. You are supposed to have people over to watch football, or play games, or go fishing with them, or whatever. I don't know. And somehow in all of that, God will take that and bless it, and draw people to himself. I don't know what Jesus wants you to do. But he wants you to do something. He gave you a ministry. And you need to figure that out. I want to finish this morning by talking a little about the idea of spiritual gifts. Some of you have taken tests, or gone through classes, where you are supposed to find your spiritual gift. I haven't studied 1 Corinthians in detail, so I don't dare comment on that. But I will say this, based on what I've read in Ephesians, and from the way Paul has talked about "the grace that was given to us." (1) Each of us is given a ministry. There is no idea in Ephesians or 2 Cor. 8 of a special ability. Jesus gave each of us a ministry in the church. And the gifts Jesus did give, are leaders. Your pastors are Jesus' gift to you. (2) The spiritual gifts material can give you the impression that whatever ministry Jesus gives you, is yours for life. If you are a teacher, this is your job. If you are a prophet, this is your job. Let's turn to 2 Cor. 8:1-5. 8 We want you to know, brothers,[a] about the grace of God that has been given among the churches of Macedonia, 2 for in a severe test of affliction, their abundance of joy and their extreme poverty have overflowed in a wealth of generosity on their part. 3 For they gave according to their means, as I can testify, and beyond their means, of their own accord, 4 begging us earnestly for the favor[b] of taking part in the relief of the saints- 5 and this, not as we expected, but they gave themselves first to the Lord and then by the will of God to us. The job Jesus gave the Macedonian church, as a whole, was to give generously to the Jerusalem church that was suffering from a famine. They gave way beyond their means. This was the grace given to them. This was their ministry. There is no idea here that this is the ministry Jesus gave them for all time. There is no idea here of special ability. Whatever ministry Jesus gives you, might only be for a season. If you are a new Christian, Jesus doesn't want you to be an elder or teacher. Biblically, you can't be (1 Tim. 3:6). And the reason you can't be an elder, if you're a new Christian, is that it would be dangerous for you, because it's ridiculously easy, when someone gives you a mic, to think you're hot stuff. It's hard not to get big-headed-- and if that happens, God can't really use you. But as you mature as a Christian, maybe, down the road? Who knows? Your ministry can change. (3) Third, and I don't have a verse for this one, so view it with a little more suspicion maybe. In my experience, when Jesus wants you to do a particular ministry, you will feel pulled toward it. This is a ministry that you are supposed to be able to view as a privilege, and a responsibility. It doesn't mean it's not hard, or painful at times. But it's truly a privilege. My dad went to seminary. He has a pastoral degree- an MDiv. My dad is not a pastor. When he's been in leadership roles, he's been miserable. He knew that this was not the ministry Jesus had for him. And this is not something that's changed in 40 years. The ministry Jesus gives you, you are supposed to view as a grace. It's a sign of Jesus' favor, and kindness toward you.178 (4) Many of you maybe really don't do much in the church. This could be because you've always thought it's the pastors' job to do the ministry of the church. You're old school, KJV. Jesus intends for you to be a blessing to the church. He gave you a ministry. Your ministry is not to warm your spot in the pew. (5) Some of you know that you really aren't able to do much in the church. You can't serve, because you know you're caught in sin. Your leaders would love to help you truly repent. They won't condemn you, because they know how easy it is to fall into sin. But if you need help, get help. Go to the people Jesus gave this church to fix you. Go to your leaders. (6) Some of you can't serve very well because your faith is so shaky. There's so many things you don't understand, and you know you're vulnerable to all kinds of false teaching. Jesus gave the church leaders for that as well. There are people in this church who would love to mentor you and strengthen you, so that you can serve the church. So that you can do the ministry Jesus gave you to do. Don't be a KJV church. Understand that Jesus gave each of you a ministry to build up the church in unity, and maturity. Figure out what ministry Jesus wants you to do. Then do it. Ephesians 4:17ff Therefore179, this I say and I testify in the Lord, no longer walk just as also the Gentiles/nations walk in the futility of their mind, being darkened in their understanding, being alienated from the life of God180 because of the lack of knowledge being in them because of the hardness of their heart, who, having become calloused181, themselves they gave over to self-abandonment for the pursuit of all uncleanness in greediness.182 Now183 you184 did not in this way learn Christ--185 if indeed him you heard (about),186 and in him you were taught, just as is truth in Jesus, that you take off the old person being ruined187 by deceitful desires-- the one in accordance with the prior way of life, now188 to being renewed189 in your spiritual mind,190 and you put on the new person -- the one in accordance with God being created in/with/by righteousness and holiness from the truth.191 Over the last three weeks, we worked our way through Ephesians 4:1-16. If we don't understand, or remember, these verses, we're not going to be able to really hear today's passage right. So I want to start by reminding us of the overall flow of Paul's argument. Paul had one main point in 4:1-6, it's right here in verse 1. How should we walk, given what we know about God's plan for the entire world and for us? If we know how much God loves us, and what he did for us by sending Jesus... If we know that God's plan was to make one people for himself, living in peace with him and with each other. What should we do? What is our response? (Read 4:1). Therefore192, I exhort you, I, the prisoner of the Lord, worthily to walk of the calling with which you were called, If we really understand what God did, and we are thankful, we will walk worthily of our calling. Paul then explains what this means in verses 2-6: with all humility and meekness, with patience, putting up with one another in love, hurrying193 to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace, one body and one spirit, just as also you were called in one hope of your calling, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who (is) over all and through all and in all. Most of us tend to think about what it means to be a Christian in an individualistic way. And what I mean is, most us say something like, "God saved me from my sins, so I can have a personal relationship with God." If this is right, we'd assume that walking worthily of our calling means living obediently vertically, in my relationship with God. I obey him (pointing up). But God's plan for the world was not to save you as an individual. God is creating a people for himself, a single family, to live in peace with him and with each other. And we, as a church, are supposed to live in peace with each other. We walk (1) with patience, (2) putting up with one another in love, (3) hurrying to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There are going to be times when we don't want to do this. Every family has its fights. But when families fight, they usually understand that at the end of the day, we are brothers and sisters, and we have to forgive each other, and show grace to each other. I know a guy whose sister did a terrible thing to him, and he refused to forgive her. She felt terrible about what she'd done. Truly terrible. And he wouldn't forgive her. I tried telling him, "But she's your little sister. At the end of the day, no matter what she did, she's your little sister." I thought for sure that'd work. I felt dirty saying it, like I was using a cheap shot. It's cheating, saying that, right? My sister will forever by my little sister, no matter what she could possibly do to me. We are family, and we will make it work. The people of this congregation are your brothers and sisters. They are your family. Walking worthily of your calling means living in peace with God, and with them. This brought us to Ephesians 4:7-16. God has a plan for the church. He's creating a family that is holy-- set apart-- to live together with him in peace. But look at us. What a mess, right? What a disaster we are. And so we read: Now194 to each one of us was given this grace/ministry according to the measure of Christ's gift. Therefore195, it says, "Rising into the height, he captured captives, he gave gifts to people." Now196 the "he rose"-- what/who is (it) except that he also descended to the lower part of the earth?197 The one descending-- he is also the one ascending above all the heavens, in order that he might fill/fulfill all things. And he gave, on the one hand, apostles, on the other hand prophets, on the other hand evangelists, on the other hand pastors and teachers for the fixing/equipping198 of the holy ones, (1) for the work of service/ministry, (2) for the building of Christ's body until we all reach for the unity of faith and the knowledge of the son of God, for a perfect/mature man, for the measure of the maturity of the fullness of Christ, in order that no longer199 we may be infants, being tossed by waves and being carried by every wind of teaching in the trickery of people, in cunning for the scheming of error/deceit. Now speaking the truth in love, we must grow into him into/for him with reference to all, who is the head, Christ, from whom the whole body, being joined together and being held together through every supporting ligament according to the working by measure of each part, makes the growth of the body for the building of itself in love. We as a church don't look like God's vision. We struggle to love each other, and live in peace. Part of the reason we struggle is that we don't understand God's big plan, or what he did for us through Jesus. How do we get from where we are, to where God wants us to be? How do we grow in unity, in love, in the depth of our understanding? It was for this reason that Jesus gave each of us a ministry for this church. We build the church. We help it grow. And to a few people in each church, Jesus gave some type of leadership ministry. The reason the church has pastors, and teachers, and evangelists, and apostles, and prophets, isn't because that's just what churches are supposed to do. The reason we have these people is because Jesus gave them to us, to fix us. We all have a job to do. This job is a responsibility, and a privilege. But we find ourselves unable to really do it. We don't really understand our faith. Or we are caught in sin. We need help. Your leaders fix you, like a mechanic or a doctor, so that you can do the job Jesus gave you. What this should lead to, verse 16, is the growth of the body, for the building of itself in love. This brings us to Ephesians 4:17. What our church leaders do is fix us, right? Paul is an apostle, a pastor, a teacher. If anyone is a leader in the church, it's Paul. And because Paul is a leader, his job is to fix the church. And the Ephesians are broken. They aren't living in peace with each other; they aren't living as a holy family set apart for God. And if they are broken, they won't be able to do the different ministries Jesus gave them to do. And so Paul says this: Therefore200, this I say and I testify in the Lord, no longer walk just as also the Gentiles/nations walk in the futility of their mind, God has this plan for the Ephesians, just like he does for us. He wants them to live in peace with him, and with each other, in holiness. But there is the incredible gap between God's vision for them, and who the Ephesians actually are. The Ephesians are living terrible lives. They are still living like they used to, before they gave their allegiance to Jesus. And so Paul tells them here, "You have to stop walking as the Gentiles do in the futility of their minds." In Ephesians 2, Paul said that all of you, before you were saved, were dead in your wrongdoing and sins in which you walked. And now, look at you. You're doing the same sins. How? Why? When Paul says, don't walk as the nations walk, this should sound weird. We should stop, and say to ourselves, "Wait. The Ephesians are Gentiles. They're not Jews." Paul is saying, you were Gentiles. Now, you are God's people. That is your identity. So how do the Gentiles walk? Verses 18-20 expand on this.201 First of all, Gentiles are darkened in their understanding. There was one vacation we went on as kids, where my parents drove out of their way so that we could go through this scenic bypass. It's a place with stunning beauty. We got there right as the sun set. I'm sure if we could've seen it, we'd have understood its beauty. We'd have marveled at what God had created. But we were darkened in our understanding. We couldn't see reality as it was. Gentiles are darkened in their understanding. They don't see God, and the world, how they actually are. Second, Gentiles are alienated from the life of God. God has a single family, a single family who serve him and worship him. Imagine that family living in a house, celebrating, enjoying each other's company. Gentiles are on the outside of the house. They are excluded. Why are Gentiles excluded? Paul gives two reasons:202 (1) because of the lack of knowledge being in them (2) because of the hardness of their heart. First, Gentiles, lack knowledge. They don't know the truth about God and what he wants, and what Jesus did. Second, their hearts are hard. This is a terrible combination. If someone just lacks knowledge of right and wrong, or what God wants, but their heart is soft and open to instruction, you can help them, right? You can teach them. If someone knows right and wrong, but they are stubborn, that's harder. But there's always the chance that this knowledge will work its way into them. If you truly know that God wants you to live at peace with everyone in this church, and you are hard-hearted about it, what happens next? My hope would be that this knowledge will make you miserable. I don't see how you can know something like this, and keep your hearts hard. But if you lack knowledge AND you're hard-hearted? That's brutal. What can you do for someone like that? And that's the situation Gentiles are in. In verse 19, Paul reminds them what all of this leads to. who, having become calloused, themselves they gave over to self-abandonment for the pursuit of all uncleanness in greediness. If you don't know about God's life, and you're stubborn, you become calloused. Normally, I like having callouses. They protect my hands and feet; they are like a badge of honor that I work hard. But when your heart is calloused-- not good. When your heart is calloused, there is no reason to ever say "no" to sin. You give yourselves over to self-abandonment to chase unclean things. Will these things make you happy? Meh? Maybe, for a moment. But it's more like, there's no reason NOT to do these things. There's no reason not to live it up. If you are offered a chance to sin, why say no? So we understand why the Gentiles live this way. Their minds are all messed up. They don't see the world, and God, for how they are. And they are hard-hearted. We look at people living this way, and we ache for them. We know they aren't happy. We know these things are ruining them. But we also get it. We know why people live this way. But you? You Ephesians? Verse 20-24 Now,203 you204 did not in this way learn Christ-- if indeed him you heard (about),205 and in him you were taught, just as is truth in Jesus, that you take off206 according to the former behavior, the old person being ruined207 by deceitful desires. now208 you are being renewed209 in your spiritual mind, and you put on210 the new person-- the one in accordance with God being created in/with/by righteousness and holiness from the truth. We all understand why the Gentiles live like they do. They don't know the truth; their hearts are hardened; and they go through life saying to themselves, "Why not?" You, though? When you were taught the good news about Jesus and about God's plan to make peace with all people, what exactly did people say to you? What is it that God requires of people who want to come to him? What were you taught about Jesus? There are many ways to tell people the good news, but the core content of the gospel doesn't really change. And one of my greatest fears is that you have never really heard the full gospel. Echoing Paul, "You heard something, but it wasn't really Jesus." You were taught something, but it wasn't in Jesus." And the reason I get panicky about this is because in my own church, growing up, the good news wasn't really taught. So what I want to do this morning is explain the good news to you. There are many ways to explain it, and different approaches you can take to it, but the heart of the good news doesn't change. I want to share this with you, for my own peace of mind. Then I'll know, at least one time, you heard the good news about Jesus. If I base the gospel message on Ephesians, it sounds something like this: (1) What God wants most, is to have a single family that is holy, and set apart, for him. This family is supposed to live in obedience toward him, living in peace with God and with each other. (2) There is a huge obstacle to God's vision for the world, and that obstacle is sin. All of us were dead in our wrongdoing and sins. We didn't understand who God was, or what he wants. We were ignorant, and we were hard-hearted. We chased sin, not God. (3) God responded to this by sending his son Jesus to die on the cross for our sins, to make peace between himself and us. This is the good news-- that God loved us, despite our sin and rebellion, and God made a way for us to live in peace with him and with each other. So when you hear this, does it sound like good news? Do you want to be part of God's family? Do you want to have your sins forgiven, and live in peace with God and his family? If you hear this as good news, then the Bible teaches you do three things in response.211 (1) Repent from your sins (Acts 2:38; 17:30; 1 Thess. 1:9). You are walking on a road of sin and wrongdoing, right? Repenting means turning from that road, and turning toward God in commitment to him. (2) Submit to Jesus as King. Christians usually call this placing your "faith" or "belief" in Jesus, and these aren't wrong, but these are misunderstood so often I've started to avoid this. What "faith" means is allegiance.212 You come to Jesus, you fall on your knees, and you submit to Jesus as King (Mark 1:40; 5:22, 32-34). (3) And the third thing you do is get baptized. Baptism is how you tell God you giving yourself to him, that you are dying to yourself, and to sin, and you want to live for God (Gal. 2:19-20; Rom. 6). 1 Peter 3:21-22: 21 Baptism, which corresponds to this, now saves you, not as a removal of dirt from the body but as a pledge to God for a good conscience, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, 22 who has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God, with angels, authorities, and powers having been subjected to him. Baptism is your pledge to God. Many Christians don't like this verse (or Acts 2:38-41). They don't like the idea that baptism does anything, or that it's even necessary. They want to say all we need is faith, and that baptism is a public declaration of faith. They don't have any verses supporting this.213 Baptism is your pledge to God. It's how you tell God you desperately want him to save you.214 It's how you are joined to Christ, and die to yourself, to Sin, and how you give yourself to God and his messiah (Rom 6). I want to be clear. I'm not saying baptism does anything apart from repentance and allegiance to Jesus. I think baptism is how you tell God you want to repent and how you give allegiance, confessing Jesus as Lord.215 So the three things you do, again, are this: (1) You repent from your sins. This means, you turn from them, and commit yourself to God. (2) You submit to Jesus as King. (3) You get baptized, as your pledge to God. And the reason you do this is because you want to have your sins forgiven, and be part of God's family, set apart as holy for him. It's possible that some of you were never really taught Jesus. You were taught something, you heard some version of the gospel, but it wasn't really Jesus. You heard something, but it wasn't Jesus.216 And if it wasn't really JESUS you heard, it's almost certainly because you were taught a watered-down version of the gospel. Were you taught you have to simply confess your sins, and admit you've sinned, or were you taught you have to repent? Were you taught that you confess Jesus as Savior? Or were also taught you confess him as Lord, Master, King? Salvation is not free; it costs you everything. You give Jesus your allegiance; you give your life to him. Was it HIM you heard? Was it IN HIM that you were taught? If you've never made this commitment, come talk to me. So, monster rabbit trail concluded, where were we in Ephesians? Chapter 4, verse 20: Now217 you218 did not in this way learn Christ--219 if indeed him you heard (about),220 and in him you were taught, just as is truth in Jesus, that you take off the old person being ruined221 by deceitful desires-- the one in accordance with the prior way of life, now222 to being renewed223 in your spiritual mind,224 and you put on the new person -- the one in accordance with God being created in/with/by righteousness and holiness from the truth.225 Picture who you were apart from Jesus as an old shirt. You were being ruined by your deceitful desires. They were destroying you. When you give your allegiance to Jesus-- when you come to him in faith-- you take off that old clothing. You take off the old person. You are being renewed in your spiritual mind, and you put on the new person. What is this new person?226 The one being created how God wants, in righteousness and holiness, whose starting point is the truth. As new parts of Jesus' body-- as new parts of the church-- you can't walk like you used to walk. You have to stop walking on the road of sin and wrongdoing. You take off your old way of life, and put on the new one being created in righteousness and holiness. All of us have felt the pull of sin. These desires are like a magnet, drawing us in. They offer us lies-- these sins will make you happy, they will give you pleasure, they will give you security. These desires are deceitful. If you were still Gentiles, I would understand living in sin. I'd understand giving into these deceitful desires. You're minds were messed up; your hearts were hardened. But you are not like the Gentiles. You know what God's life looks like. You are not excluded from his family. You are not darkened in your understanding. Your hearts are not still calloused (Rom. 2:29). So don't live like the Gentiles. Live as people who are thankful to God for the ways he has blessed you in Jesus. Live as people who have taken off your old self, the one being ruined by sin, and who have put on the new self. You are clean; you are holy. So live that way. Why is this so important? Paul is going to answer this question in chapter 5, but for now, know this: Jesus has given each of you a ministry for this church, to build it up and help it grow. If you are walking in sin, unrepentant, you can't walk worthily of your calling. You can't do the job Jesus gave you to do. You have to start walking rightly, if for no other reason than that this church needs you. We need you to do the job Jesus gave you, so that we grow in unity, in spiritual insight, and in peace. Ephesians 4:25ff. Therefore227, taking off228 the lie, speak truth, each of you with his neighbor because we are members/parts of one another. "Be angry, and don't sin." The sun must not set on your wrath229, and don't give a place to the devil. The one stealing must no longer steal, now rather he must labor, working the good230 with his own hands, in order that he may have [something] to share with the one having need. Every rotten word from your mouth must not come out, but231 if anything good for the building up of the need, in order that it may give grace to the ones hearing, and232 don't irritate233 the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. All bitterness and rage and anger and abusive speech must be removed, with all wickedness. Become kind [and] compassionate toward one another, showing grace to one another, just as also God in Christ showed grace to you. Therefore, become imitators of God, as beloved children, and walk in love just as also Christ loved us and gave himself for us, an offering and sacrifice to God for a fragrant smell. God has a plan. God is making one family, who will live in peace with him and with each other. And to that end, Jesus gave each of us a ministry in the church, to build the church up, help it grow in love and unity. The problem is, some of you are still living like you used to, before you gave your allegiance to Jesus. You leave these walls, and you walk the same road of sin and wrongdoing you used to walk. And as long as you live this way, you're useless to God. Paul gives us two pictures in Ephesians to help us think about how we should live. There are two roads we can take in life. We can walk in the road of obedience and faithfulness to God, or we can walk on the road of sin and wrongdoing. Which road will we take? Last week, Paul gave us the picture of two shirts. When we give our allegiance to Jesus, we take off our old self, the one being ruined by deceitful desires, and we put on the new shirt being created in holiness and righteousness. The problem is, we keep finding ourselves digging in our closet, trying to find that filthy old shirt. The shirt was comfortable; it was familiar. We remember that shirt as being far greater than it actually was. It's just a filthy rag. Today's passage is basically a more detailed explanation of this shirt imagery. What does it look like to take off your old shirt of sin, and put on the new shirt of holiness and righteousness? What does this really mean? What does God want? Verse 25 Therefore234, taking off235 the lie, speak truth, each of you with his neighbor because we are members/parts of one another. Paul begins here by saying, "taking off the lie." it's the same verb he uses to say, "take off your old shirt." When we lived in sin, wearing that old rag, what we were really wearing was a lie. We wrapped ourselves in lies to excuse our behavior. If we are living in sin, we have to lie to ourselves to hide from our guilt and shame. We say, "I can't help sinning. Or, I deserve it. Or, it doesn't hurt anyone. Or, they deserve it. Or, it makes me happy." If you are living in sin, wearing the old shirt, the first thing you have to do is take off the lie. Be honest about how you are living, and why you are sinning. Every sin starts with a lie. So take off the lie. Stop deceiving yourselves. Then what? "Taking off the lie, speak truth, each of you with his neighbor, because we are members of one another." Your responsibility to live in God's truth doesn't end there. If you see a brother or sister wearing their comfortable old sins, you need to speak the truth to them. At an old job, one of my co-workers went to the same church as me. Everyone knew he called himself a Christian. Everyone knew he didn't live like a Christian at work. He wore the lie. I saw this, and I did nothing. How do you confront a hot-head? How do you speak the truth in love, when you worry he's going to turn around and say terrible things to you? I chickened out, and I did nothing. I failed him. We are members of one another. You have a responsibility. And if you aren't living rightly, and someone from this church comes to talk to you, you need to understand why they are doing it. I hope, they are doing it because they love you, and they are concerned about you, and they know that we are all members of Jesus' one body. They could let you go, and do your own thing, and tell themselves that each person's faith is basically a private matter. That would safer for them, and easier for both of you. But if they do that, they will be harming the church. There are few things in life more painful, more difficult, than being told you are living wrong in some way. Or that people are concerned about you. It takes humility to hear this. No one likes to be corrected. Your immediate response is going to be to say, "They are judging me." "They are condemning me." Or you'll immediately say, "They're wrong about me. I'm okay." Your response should be, "They love me a lot. They took an enormous risk in talking to me about it, because they are concerned about me, and about this church as a whole. So I need to genuinely consider whether or not they are speaking truth into my life." if you really love someone, you will speak the truth in love to them. it's that simple. Verses 26-27 "Be angry, and don't sin." The sun must not set on your anger, and don't give a place to the devil. In the first line in verse 26, Paul is quoting the Greek version of Psalm 4:4.236 "Be angry, and don't sin." Some of you struggle with anger much more than others. I say "struggle," but for some people being hot-headed is almost a badge of honor. They smile about it, like it's funny, like it's no big deal. When you find yourself running hot, really upset, it's what you do next that's important. The lie you tell yourself is, "They deserve a tongue lashing." And you tell yourself, "I will feel so much better if I just unload on this person." Don't sin. "Be angry, and don't sin." Paul then gives a 2-part explanation of Psalm 4:4. What does it mean to not sin when you're angry? The first thing to know about anger is that you can't stay angry for very long. Paul writes, "The sun must not set on your anger." You either need to resolve whatever the situation was, or give it to God. But anger is not an emotion you can live with. You can't go to bed angry. Second, when you get angry and sin, and when you stay angry, what you are doing is giving a place to the devil. What does this mean? There's three main options. (1) The first is take this very literally. When you give into anger, you are creating a space inside yourself for Satan. You are making a place for him. In support for this, you could point to Matt. 12:43-45. 43 "When the unclean spirit has gone out of a person, it passes through waterless places seeking rest, but finds none. 44 Then it says, 'I will return to my house from which I came.' And when it comes, it finds the house empty, swept, and put in order. 45 Then it goes and brings with it seven other spirits more evil than itself, and they enter and dwell there, and the last state of that person is worse than the first. So also will it be with this evil generation." (2) The second option is to view this in terms of Satan's kingdom, and God's kingdom. God's kingdom is growing; Satan's is shrinking. But when Christians live in unrepentant sin, God's kingdom shrinks. The idea here, of giving a place to Satan, is that it means giving ground to him. We could then use Judges 20:36-37 LXX as support: 36 And the descendants of Benjamin saw that they were struck, and the men of the children of Israel gave ground to Benjamin because they trusted in the ambush that he set up against Gibeah. 37 Then, as they retreated, the ambush rose up and deployed against Gibeah; and the ambush poured out, and they struck the city with the edge of the sword.237 (3) The third option is to understand "giving a place" in terms of Romans 12:18-19, where we find the same phrase. The NIV translates it as "leaving room." 19 Do not take revenge, my dear friends, but leave room for God's wrath, for it is written: "It is mine to avenge; I will repay,"[a] says the Lord. The idea in Romans 12 is that when we take vengeance into our own hands, we are failing to leave God the opportunity to act. If someone punches you, what you want to do is get up, and punch them back. But what you should do is slide over, and make room for God. And let him decide what he will do. I think this third option is probably the best. But I'm not so in love with it, that I'll only give you that option. Wrestle with it. Decide for yourself. So, returning to Ephesians 4:25, what I think it means is something like this: When we sin in our anger, and stay angry for a long period of time, we are leaving an opening for Satan. We are creating a vulnerability in ourselves, that he can exploit. This ties in really nicely with Ephesians 6, and the armor of God. The idea there is that we need to live righteously, so that Satan can't effectively attack us. Verse 28: The one stealing must no longer steal, now rather he must labor, working the good238 with his own hands, in order that he may have [something] to share with the one having need. I've talked a lot about ministry lately, and how Jesus gave us each a specific job to help grow the unity of faith, and the church. But this doesn't mean that our normal, everyday work is unimportant. You are supposed to labor. You're supposed to work with your hands. That's a good thing. God created you to work. Don't be embarrassed or ashamed because you're a farmer, or mechanic, or UPS driver. Don't think that your work has no value. Work is good. It's good to work. And part of the reason it's good to work, is so that we can share with people who have need. We read last week in 2 Corinthians 8, that the grace-- the ministry-- that God gave to the Macedonian church was to provide for the Jerusalem church that was suffering from famine. If someone has a legitimate need, it's good to be in a position where you can help them. Work is good. Verse 29 Every rotten word from your mouth must not come out, but239 if anything good for the building up of the need, in order that it may give grace to the ones hearing, and240 don't irritate241 the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. How do we decide what to say to people? Very few of us are intentional in how we talk to people. We react. We wing it. So many of the things we could say are rotten. Dirty jokes, gossip, criticism, complaining. Do we think about what we say, or do we just let everything come out? If you've ever put something rotten in your mouth, you know how hard it is not to spit it out. You bite into a rotten grape, and everything about it is wrong. It's squishy; it tastes like it's halfway to becoming wine. We want to spit it out. Our rotten words come out just as easily. Don't do it. Swallow them. "Every rotten word from your mouth must not come out." Swallowing our rotten words is only the first half of what Paul commands. What should come out of our mouths? Most of the time when we think about our tongues, and what we say, we tend to focus-- I do anyway-- on trying to do this (both hands over the mouth). It seems impossible not to say whatever you want. And as soon as the words are out, you can't take them back. But it's not enough to learn to muzzle ourselves. The harder thing, maybe, is learning to use our words to build each other up. We are supposed to look for opportunities to help people with our words. Do people need encouragement? Do they need prayer? Do they need someone to challenge them to live rightly? Our goal in talking to people should be to show them grace. Let your words bless people, and leave them better off. Paul's next command is this: "Don't irritate the Holy Spirit of God." Most of our translations will translate this as, "don't grieve the Spirit." So we understand it like, "Don't make the Spirit sad." But you can make a good case for translating it, "don't irritate the Spirit."242 Imagine that you're a huge army, and you're marching toward some city to capture it. The enemy has calvary, and they are constantly trying to flank you and probe you for weaknesses. In Greek literature, this word λυπέω is used to describe this type of attack.243 It's irritating. It's annoying. When we talk using rotten words, we irritate the Holy Spirit. We annoy the Spirit. Do you really want to irritate the Spirit, when it's the Spirit who sealed you for the day of redemption when Jesus returns? I don't want to mess with the Spirit. Verse 31-32 All bitterness and rage and anger and abusive speech must be removed, with all wickedness. Become kind [and] compassionate toward one another, showing grace to one another, just as also God in Christ showed grace to you. Paul doesn't say here, "Be kind and compassionate." He says, "Become kind and compassionate." Become people who are kind. Become people who are compassionate. Show grace to each other. Most Bibles translate this as, "forgive each other, just as God in Christ forgave you." This really isn't the normal word for forgive here.244 It's bigger than forgiving. Showing grace245 to each other means putting up with one another in love. It means helping each other. It means being patient with each other. It means doing your very best to live in peace with everyone, and help others live in peace. When God showed you grace in Christ, it's far bigger than just forgiving you. Although that's great. All of the ways God has been kind and good to us in Christ, being gracious to us-- we also should show grace to others. 5:1-2 Therefore, become imitators of God, as beloved children, and walk in love just as also Christ loved us and gave himself for us, an offering and sacrifice to God for a fragrant smell. God gave us grace in Christ. He is kind to us. He is compassionate toward us. He made us part of his family. He has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in Christ. Imitate your Father. Be a blessing to people. The second command is this: "Walk in love." Paul has already told us to walk worthily of our calling, to walk in the good deeds God prepared ahead of time for us, and to NOT walk in our old sins and wrongdoing. Here, we add on to this imagery again. "Walk in love." As you walk through life, walk in love. What does this mean? Paul helps us. "Walk in love, just as also Christ loved us and gave himself for us, an offering and sacrifice to God for a fragrant smell." If we want to know what it means to walk in love, we should look to Jesus. Jesus loved us and gave himself for us. He sacrificed himself for us. So when we think about how we should live, we should look to our heavenly Father, and Jesus, as examples. What does it look like to show grace to people? What does it look like to be kind, and compassionate, and to live sacrificially? Our heavenly Father, and Jesus, showed us. Imitate them. When we step back, and try to see the passage as a whole, what is Paul teaching here? This entire section is Paul's explanation of the "two shirts" imagery. Before you were a Christian, you wore filthy clothes, being ruined by sin. And when you placed your allegiance in Christ, you put on new clothing, being made in holiness and righteousness. Or at least, this is what you were supposed to do. Some of us still act like we prefer our old rags. And this is nowhere more obvious than in the way we talk to each other. People are going to do things in this church that you don't like. Or they will say things to you that you don't like. What happens next? What will you do? Become kind and compassionate toward each other, showing grace to each other. Look for ways to build each other up. Love each other. This is what it means to wear the new clothing. Live in holiness and righteousness. Ephesians 5:1ff. Now,246 sexual immorality and all uncleanness or greediness must not be named among you, just as it is fitting for the holy ones, and shameful behavior247 and foolish talk or coarse/crude joking, which aren't proper,248 but rather thanksgiving. For this you know, knowing that every sexually immoral or unclean or greedy one, who is an idolater, does not have an inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God. No one must deceive you with empty words, for because of these things God's wrath is coming on the sons of disobedience. Therefore,249 don't be/become fellow sharers with them, for you were formerly darkness. Now250 you [are] light in the Lord. As children of light walk, for the fruit of the light [is] in all goodness and righteousness and truth, testing/examining what is pleasing to the Lord. And don't be co-partners in the unfruitful deeds of darkness, now rather even expose them. For the things being done in secret by them are shameful even to speak. Now all things being exposed by the light are made visible. For everything being made visible is light. Therefore251 it says, "Rise, the sleeper, and rise from the dead, and the Messiah/Christ will shine on you. ------------------------------------------ Verse 3 Now,252 sexual immorality and all uncleanness or greediness must not be named among you, just as it is fitting for the holy ones, and shameful behavior253 and foolish talk or coarse/crude joking, which aren't proper,254 but rather thanksgiving. For this you know, knowing that every sexually immoral or unclean or greedy one, who is an idolater, does not have an inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God. No one must deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God is coming on the sons of disobedience. Paul begins this section of Ephesians by listing three sins that we, as God's holy ones, must completely avoid: (1) sexual immorality, (2) all uncleanness, and (3) greed. Paul knows these sins are wrong, and the Ephesians know these sins are wrong. So Paul can begin here, not by saying "don't do these sins" but by saying, "don't even name these sins among you." What does this mean? "Sexual immorality, and all uncleanness or greediness must not be named among you." All of us appreciate a good story. If someone has something hilarious happen to them, you want to hear the story, right? As I was writing this sermon, msn.com had a big story up about how a runner was attacked by a mountain lion and killed it by choking it out. No one believed him, but when they autopsied the mountain lion, his story checked out. Crazy. These are the kinds of stories we find ourselves talking about sometimes at church-- "the things we name among us." And there is nothing wrong with these stories. But sometimes the stories we tell among ourselves have to do with people getting caught up in sin. We say, "Did you hear what so-and-so did?" Or, "Did you hear about that pastor's affair in such-and-such a town?" And then we tell the sordid tale. Probably, we make all right noises as we tell our story. We shake our heads, we go, "tsk, tsk." We say, "What a shame." But why are we telling this story? We're making all the right noises, saying all the right things, but if we find these stories interesting, I think it says something about ourselves. For all our talk, we find the deceitful desires of sin appealing. We find ourselves drawn to them. We know these sins are wrong; we know we shouldn't do them. But we're like a kid in a candy store, and we find ourselves wanting to get a close look. They're fascinating. I think what Paul means when he says these sins must not be named among you, because they aren't fitting, is something like this. We hear stories like this, or we know stories like this, and we want to share. Someone else knows these stories, and we want to hear. But these sins are dangerous, and we need to treat them like they are dangerous. So these sins are not proper topics for casual conversation. If you need to warn someone about these sins, then warn them. If you're up front preaching, and the verse is about sexual immorality, you have to warn. If a fellow believer is doing these sins, you need to warn them. But don't be telling stories about celebrities, or people you know, who have been sexually immoral. This isn't the type of thing that's fitting conversation for God's holy ones. Paul then gives three more sins to avoid naming. "Shameful behavior, foolish talk, and crude joking." These sins aren't proper. Don't name them either. Most of us, I hope, are aware when we start saying really stupid things. We make a joke we shouldn't have, and we feel gross inside afterward. That was dumb. These sins aren't proper; they aren't fitting for God's holy ones. What is fitting? What is proper? "Thanksgiving." These are the two choices.255 On the one side, sexual immorality, uncleanness, greediness, shameful behavior, foolish talk, and crude joking. On the other, thanksgiving. I think at this point we need to just stop and think about this. If I was going to make two lists, a list of things to do, and a list of things not to do, I'd put "obedience" on one side, and "sin" on the other. This wouldn't be wrong, but that's not what Paul says here. He says, "instead of talking about these things in casual conversation, be thankful." You know you are keeping the right perspective on everything in life when you find yourself regularly thanking God. People who are thankful value what God has done for them. I was dead in my wrongdoing and sin, and God mercifully forgave my sins and made me part of his family in Christ. By all rights, I was the kind of person who was naturally destined for wrath. But God in his love made me his son. If I keep this in mind, and I'm really truly thankful to God for what he did for me, I won't sin. So when you see or hear a story about someone's greed, or moral uncleanness, or sexual immorality, you don't find yourself wanting to tell other people. You see these things, or hear these stories, and you know that these are the types of sins God rescued you from. These sins are dangers. They aren't entertainment. This brings us to verse 5, where we get a "for" statement. What "for" statements do is explain or strengthen some point just made.256 For this you know, knowing that every sexually immoral or unclean or greedy one, who is an idolater, does not have an inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God. No one must deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God is coming on the sons of disobedience. Paul just told you that sexual immorality, uncleanness, and greed are not fitting-- not proper-- for God's holy ones. Instead, your starting point should be thanksgiving to God for everything he's done for you. But, on the off chance that this isn't enough to keep you from doing them, Paul now offers you a serious warning. If you are sexually immoral, or unclean, or greedy, you have no inheritance in God's kingdom. Before I say anything else, know that I hate talking about verses like this. I take no pleasure in this. I cry almost every time I have to teach through verses like this. Actually, let's do this. Let's turn to Acts 20:25-31. When Paul is saying goodbye to the Ephesians in Acts, he knows he's never going to see them again. This is it. What do you say, as a pastor, the last time you see your flock? Paul says this: 25 "Now I know that none of you among whom I have gone about preaching the kingdom will ever see me again. 26 Therefore, I declare to you today that I am innocent of the blood of any of you. 27 For I have not hesitated to proclaim to you the whole will of God. 28 Keep watch over yourselves and all the flock of which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers. Be shepherds of the church of God,[a] which he bought with his own blood.[b] 29 I know that after I leave, savage wolves will come in among you and will not spare the flock. 30 Even from your own number men will arise and distort the truth in order to draw away disciples after them. 31 So be on your guard! Remember that for three years I never stopped warning each of you night and day with tears. As a teacher, it's really tempting to get to scary verses like this, and water them down. Or skip over them. But I think how this works, is when I get to verses like this, God sits up a little straighter on his throne, and listens more carefully, and takes notes. Because these are the kinds of verses that are the basis for how God will judge me as your teacher. If I warn you, and you repent, we are both good. If I warn you and you don't repent, you're blood is on your hands. But I'm ok. If I don't warn you, and you don't repent, your blood is on my hands (Ezekiel 3). I'm determined to be able to say to God, I'm innocent of your blood. If you ignore me, and ignore God, your stubbornness will not be my fault. So let's start this over. Verse 5: For this you know, knowing that every sexually immoral or unclean or greedy one, who is an idolater, does not have an inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God. No one must deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God is coming on the sons of disobedience. Paul is not talking here about special extra rewards you get. He's talking about eternal life (Gal. 6:6-8; 1 Cor. 6:9-11; Rom. 6:22 ESV; 8:12-13), I SHOULD PROBABLY EXPLAIN THIS THROUGH MATT 19:16-30, COMPARING 16 AND 23.257 Do these sins, and you lose your inheritance. And Paul says-- notice this-- that you Ephesians already know this. He's not teaching something new. Every Christian knows that the basis for the final judgment is the works produced by faith. This isn't controversial. It's not new. But sometimes we forget this.258 I would LOVE at this point to offer you some type of reassurance. I'd love to comfort you, and point to some other verse in the Bible to explain this one away. It'd be great if I could do that. And almost every single pastor at this point is going to do exactly this. If Paul left the tiniest opening here, I'd jump through it. Believe me. But what we all need to do is look at ourselves in the mirror, honestly. Are you sexually immoral? Are you morally unclean? Are you greedy? Or have you repented of these sins? If you haven't repented, if you are tolerating these sins, you won't receive eternal life. I don't even know what else to say. You can't tolerate sin. Paul knows that it's at exactly this point that we want to water down his words. He knows we don't want to hear this. And so he gives us this in verse 6: "No one must deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God is coming on the sons of disobedience. Anyone who tells you anything other than what Paul just said is trying to give you a false hope. The reassurance they give you is hollow-- it's empty. It's because of these sins that God's wrath is coming. Just because God has been patient with us up to this point, doesn't mean that his wrath isn't coming. If you are practicing these sins, stop. Be ruthless in dealing with them.259 You are placing yourself in terrible danger. God's wrath is coming. In many churches, people are told something like this: God loves you unconditionally. You have eternal life guaranteed, no matter how you live. This is what you want to be told. You want to hear, "You can live however you want, and God loves you the same. God has a plan for you, to bless you and not harm you." The problem is that almost every single NT book has a verse like this, that destroys this theology. You have to persevere. Some of you are Calvinists, staunchly, and you find yourself being really unhappy right now. If this is you, let me try to explain it like this. A good Calvinist, like a John Piper, will say 2 things. First, you must persevere. You have to be faithful to King Jesus to the end to receive eternal life. Second, you will persevere. Theologians like Piper think that God will make sure you don't, in the end, fall away. You won't be sexually immoral, you won't be greedy, you won't be morally unclean. So the difference between Piper and me on this isn't on whether or not you must persevere. Everyone is supposed to say, you must persevere. The difference between us is that I don't know how to take these warnings seriously, without concluding that it's possible to fall away. I'm a simple Bible-believing Christian.260 If Paul warns congregations day and night with tears (Acts 20), worried about them, I assume he's worried for a reason. And I know myself, and I know I'm perfectly capable of sexual immorality, or moral uncleanness, or greed. And I know if this is who I am, I won't have eternal life with God. Now Piper, to his great credit, when he gets to verses like this, he will do a good job warning his flock. Other pastors, when they come to passages like this, "accidentally" hop over them, or they spend 20 minutes trying to sooth you.261 Hopefully, when they do this, you see them squirming. They stammer; they stutter; they're embarrassed by the passage. They shift around; they get sweaty. When you see someone up front doing that, that's a good sign of two things: (1) it's a warning passage, and (2) they are refusing to take the warning seriously. Any reassurance people give you at this point is empty. It's hollow. If you ever see someone doing this, you should stop listening to them for a minute, and actually read what the Bible says. Verse 5-6 one last time: For this you know, knowing that every sexually immoral or unclean or greedy one, who is an idolater, does not have an inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God. No one must deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God is coming on the sons of disobedience. Verse 7 Therefore,262 don't be/become fellow sharers with them, for you were formerly darkness. Now263 you [are] light in the Lord. So if Paul's convinced you that you must avoid sexual immorality, uncleanness, and greed, what's the next step? We all know people who do these sins. Don't join them in these sins. Don't do it. Maybe you feel peer pressure. Maybe the sins look tempting. Don't do it.264 This doesn't mean you can't hang out with non-Christians. It means, don't hang out with them when they are doing these sins. Don't share in their sins. These sins belong to the darkness. You were formerly darkness; now you are light. Hopefully, you remember what life looked like before you were saved. You were darkness; you were dead. And you know God's wrath is coming on the disobedient. This used to be you. Now, though, you are light. God has given you a higher calling; he's made you part of his family, creating peace with you. It's interesting in these verses how Paul talks about light and darkness. What I want to say is, you were walking in the darkness, and now you are in the light. But that's not quite what Paul says. You were darkness. Now you are light in the Lord-- in Jesus.265 Paul then grabs this image of light and darkness, and runs with it. Continuing in verse 8: As children of light walk, for the fruit of the light [is] in266 all goodness and righteousness and truth, testing/examining what is pleasing to the Lord. You are children of light. So walk as children of light. What does this mean? Paul gives us another "for" statement to explain this. The fruit of light is in all goodness, and righteousness and truth. We are all familiar with the idea of the fruit of the Spirit, probably, from Galatians 5. You can tell if someone is walking in step with the Spirit, because their lives look like the fruit of the Spirit-- love, joy, peace, patience, and so on. Here, "fruit of the light" is basically the same thing. If you walk as children of the light, you will bear the fruit that is found in goodness, righteousness, and truth. So as you walk through life, you will find yourself having to make choices about right and wrong. How do you make that decision? The last line explains what this looks like.267 "Testing/examining what is pleasing to the Lord." The question you are supposed to ask is this: "Does doing or saying this please Jesus?" Some things are wrong; some things are right; and some aren't one or the other. Choosing a cheeseburger or a taco for lunch-- I don't think Jesus cares. But when it's a moral decision, we need to think about what we are doing. You need to stop, and ask, "If I do this, or say this, am I walking in the light? Does it lead to goodness, righteousness, and truth? Does it please Jesus?" Your goal is to please Jesus. So walk as children of light. Verse 11: And don't be co-partners in the unfruitful deeds of darkness, now rather even expose them. For the things being done in secret by them are shameful even to speak. Now all things being exposed by the light are made visible. For everything being made visible is light. You are children of light. So you walk in the light. You don't do the unfruitful deeds of darkness. Instead, you expose them. As you go through life, you are a light. And everyone who is around you is exposed by that light. You are not greedy people. You don't love money; you don't live for money and the things it can buy. And when you around people who are greedy, their greed is exposed. People see that you are content with what you have, and it shines light on their own sin. You are not sexually immoral people. You are children of light. And when your co-workers share dirty videos on their smartphones, and you are in the room, they glance at you. In that moment they pass their phone, they know their sins are exposed. They feel like the light coming off you. And they know that what they are doing, is a deed of the darkness. It's the kind of sin that people hide, because it's shameful. But because you are there, their sin is exposed. I'm not saying you should go around at work or school calling out people for their sins. You can't expect non-Christians to walk as children of the light. That's not how it works. You aren't children of the light, unless you repented of your sins, gave your allegiance to Jesus, and were baptized as an appeal to God. You can't expect people to be content, and not greedy, if they aren't Christians. But people see the light coming off you, and it forces them to be honest with themselves about how they are living. You expose their sins, simply by being living as people who are holy-- who are set apart for God. You call people to join God's family. This brings us to the interesting quote in verse 14. Therefore268 it says, "Rise, the sleeper, and rise from the dead, and the Messiah/Christ will shine on you. There's a lot of discussion about what exactly Paul is quoting here. There's no single verse that says this. Or really, anything close to this.269 So most scholars think Paul is quoting an early Christian hymn. But that's about as far as their agreement goes on this. I think it means something like this, in the context of Ephesians: You used to be dead in your wrongdoing and sins. You were excluded from God's family, and you lived in the darkness, as children of the darkness. When you gave Jesus your allegiance, Jesus shined on you. And he continues to shine on you. Maybe we are like the moon. We walk as children of the light, because Jesus shines on us. We reflect Jesus' light. 270 So when people see our light, it should point them to Jesus. When we take a step back, what does this part of Paul's argument teach us? For all of us, there are basically two ways to live.271 You can live as children of the darkness. This means walking through life in the way you used to, before you became part of God's family. You could walk in sexual immorality, uncleanness, and greed. You could act shamefully, talk foolishly, and tell crude jokes. The question you need to ask yourself is this: "Should I?" "Should I go back to my old way of life, to my old road of sin and wrongdoing?" Paul says, "Don't do this." These things aren't fitting-- they aren't proper-- for people who God as set apart for himself as holy. More than this, these sins will kill you. They will keep you from inheriting your share in God's kingdom. They will keep you from eternal life. If there was any wiggle room on this, I would be happy to share it with you. But the truth is what it is. And anyone who tells you otherwise, is teaching you hollow and empty words. The bottom line is this: You can't walk as children of darkness. You gave that up; don't go back to it. Instead, please, walk as children of the light. Ephesians 5:15ff. Now sexual immorality and all uncleanness or greediness must not be named among you, just as it is fitting for the holy ones, and shameful behavior and foolish talk or coarse/crude joking, which aren't proper, but rather thanksgiving. For this you know, knowing that every sexually immoral or unclean or greedy one, who is an idolater, does not have an inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God. No one must deceive you with empty words, for because of these things God's wrath is coming on the sons of disobedience. Therefore, don't be/become fellow sharers with them, for you were formerly darkness. Now you [are] light in the Lord. As children of light walk, for the fruit of the light [is] in all goodness and righteousness and truth, testing/examining what is pleasing to the Lord. And don't be co-partners in the unfruitful deeds of darkness, now rather even expose them. For the things being done in secret by them are shameful even to speak. Now all things being exposed by the light are made visible. For everything being made visible is light. Therefore it says, "Rise, the sleeper, and rise from the dead, and the Messiah/Christ will shine on you. Therefore,272 watch carefully how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the most of the time, because the days are evil. Because of this do not become foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord [is], and do not be drunk with wine, but be filled with the Spirit, speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and praising in your hearts to the Lord, giving thanks always for all things in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to the God and Father, being subject to one another in the fear/reverence of Christ, wives to their own husbands as to the Lord,273 because a man is head of the wife, as also Christ [is] head of the church, he [being] savior of the body, but as the church is subject to Christ, thus also the wives to the husbands in everything. Husbands274, love the wives, 275 just as also Christ loved the church, and gave himself for her, in order that he may make her holy, cleansing her with the washing of the water in/by the word, in order that he may present the glorious church to himself, not having a spot or wrinkle or anything like this, but in order that she might be holy and blameless. Thus also husbands ought to love their own wives as their own bodies. The one loving his wife loves himself. For no one ever hated his own flesh, but he nourishes and cherishes it, just as also Christ [does] the church, because members we are of his body. For this reason a man will leave his father and mother, and he will be joined to his wife, and the two will become into one flesh. This mystery is great. Now I am speaking about Christ and the church. Nevertheless, also you, each one of you [husbands], must love the [wife] as himself.276 Now the wife, that she must fear/revere her husband. ---------------------------------------------- Today's verses build directly off last weeks, so I'm going to go ahead and start reading from 5:3. Hopefully, as I read them, you'll find yourself thinking, "Hey, I understand these verses." (Read vs. 3-end). There are two ways you can live. You can live as children of the light, or you can live as children of the darkness. The question that faces you, every single day, is which of these you will choose. On the one hand, you can choose to live as children of the darkness. You can do the types of sins that are shameful to even talk about: sexual immorality, moral uncleanness, greed, shameful behavior, foolish talk, and crude joking. If you choose this, there are two things you need to understand. First, these things aren't fitting-- they aren't proper-- for God's holy people. Second, these things will keep you from inheriting God's kingdom. If you are this type of person, you don't get eternal life. So if you choose the life of darkness, you need to understand that there is a very real cost. Your other option is to walk as children of the light. Your starting point in life is thankfulness. You value what God did for you in Jesus. You know you were dead in your sin, without hope, without God, on the outside of God's family. And God forgave your sins in Jesus, and made peace with you. God brought you into his holy family, to live as holy people. And you understand that if God brought you into his family, to be part of his holy people, you need to live as holy. So how will you live? Which will you choose? This brings us to Ephesians 5:3, and the beginning of our passage today. Therefore, watch carefully how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the most of the time, because the days are evil. What does it mean to be wise? You can define wisdom this way: living skillfully, in light of what you know to be true. We can live either as children of the light, or children of the darkness. And we understand that the choice we make has eternal consequences. What is the sensible choice? Which choice will show that you are wise? Logically, you will walk as children of the light. You will walk carefully, not as unwise but as wise. Paul then adds this: "making the most of the time."277 Each of us has this small window of time on earth. This is it. We don't know how long we have. Usually, when we think about this--or maybe it's just me--we think about lying on our death bed, and hoping we aren't filled with regret. We don't want to look back on our lives, and realize how much of it we wasted. But here, I think Paul is saying something a little different than this. All of us are walking on a road in life, and this road eventually ends. There are only two possible destinations. One road ends with God's wrath (Eph. 5:6). The other ends with inheriting God's kingdom (Eph. 5:5). We understand that we only have so much time on earth. Each of us has an expiration date on earth. Part of what it means to walk wisely, is to understand that you don't have forever. And at the end of that road, whichever you choose, you will be face to face with God. There's one more little line in this sentence: Therefore, watch carefully how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the most of the time, because the days are evil. We are all surrounded by evil. How do we avoid sinning? We don't do it by withdrawing from the world. We don't form separate colonies. The answer is, watch carefully how you walk. Verse 17: Because of this do not become foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord [is], Paul appeals to the Ephesians as sensible, wise people. Don't become foolish. You know the truth about God, and what he wants, and what he's done for you in Christ. Live wisely, out of that knowledge. Understand what Jesus wants from you. So often when Christians talk about finding God's will for their lives, they think in terms of who they will marry, or where they'll live, or what job they will do. Do you know what God's will-- or here, actually-- Jesus' will is? Jesus' will is that you live wisely. And with this, we come to verse 18, which begins a single sentence that goes all the way through verse 24. and do not be drunk with wine, but be filled with the Spirit, (1) speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, (2) singing and (3) praising in your hearts to the Lord, (4) giving thanks always for all things in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to the God and Father, (5) being subject to one another in the fear of Christ, wives to their own husbands as to the Lord,278 because a man is head of the wife, as also Christ [is] head of the church, he [being] savior of the body, but as the church is subject to Christ, thus also the wives to the husbands in everything. The easiest way into understanding this is to go straight nerd, right off the bat. Paul starts this section with 2-- and only 2-- commands. (1) Don't be drunk with wine, but rather, (2) be filled with the Spirit. This is the main idea for the section. "Be filled with the Spirit." Then, you'll notice there's a long string of indented phrases after that, that begin with "ing" verbs: speaking, singing, praising, giving thanks, being subject." These "ing" verbs are participles. And when participles follow the main verb, they work to help explain the main idea. So these 5 "ing" verbs all explain what it looks like to be filled with the Spirit. They aren't separate commands. They aren't the focus. The focus is on 2 things: (1) don't be drunk with wine, but (2) be filled with the Spirit. So let's start there. "Don't be drunk with wine, but be filled with the Spirit." One of the things that teachers or speakers do sometimes to help you hear them a certain way is offer you a contrast.279 Obama used to do this a lot. He'd say, "Some people say, we should do this or that. Some people want you to believe this or that." What Obama was doing was setting this idea out there, so that he could interact with it somehow. "Some people think that health care isn't a right for everyone. But I say, we all deserve to receive the health care we need." Obama starts it that way so that you have a framework for understanding what follows. Jesus used this as well. In Mark 2:17, Jesus said, "It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners." By setting up the contrast, Jesus is forcing his hearers to think about why Jesus came, with a sharpness to the thought you might otherwise miss. Usually, in these contrasts, the less important point is put first, and it is supposed to shape the way you hear the more important second point. The fancy term for this is point-counterpoint sets. So, returning to Ephesians, Paul here gives us a point-counterpoint set. "Don't be drunk with wine, but be filled with the Spirit." Paul's concern here isn't that the Ephesians are getting drunk. He's trying to give you a framework, a particular perspective, to help you understand what it means to be filled with the Spirit. So let's start by talking about being drunk with wine. Let's understand the frame. When people are drunk-- when they are filled with wine-- it influences every single part of their lives. You can tell when someone is under the influence. They walk a certain way-- they can't walk in a straight line. They talk a certain way-- everything's slurred, and comes out slow. And they see the world in a certain way-- their field of vision narrows, everything gets blurry. When you are drunk with wine, it influences every single aspect of your life. Don't be drunk with wine, but instead, be filled with the Spirit. Being filled with the Spirit is exactly like being drunk with wine. When you are filled with the Spirit, it influences every single part of your life. You see the world in a certain way. You see what God wants; you see right and wrong clearly. You walk in a certain way. You walk as children of the light. You walk worthily of your calling. And you talk a certain way-- you don't tell crude jokes, you don't gossip. Instead, you build each other up. When it comes to be filled with the Spirit, we should have two questions: (1) What does it look like to be filled with the Spirit? (2) How can we be filled with the Spirit? Let's take these in turn. (1) What does it look like to be filled with the Spirit? Paul actually tells us here, in some detail, what this looks like. When participles follow the main verb, they explain it. Here, we have 5 participles. "Be filled with the Spirit, (1) speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, (2) singing and (3) praising in your hearts to the Lord, (4) giving thanks always for all things in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to the God and Father, (5) being subject to one another in the fear of Christ, wives to their own husbands as to the Lord,280 because a man is head of the wife, as also Christ [is] head of the church, he [being] savior of the body, but as the church is subject to Christ, thus also the wives to the husbands in everything. It's obvious when people are filled with the Spirit. They speak to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs. They find themselves singing and praising in their hearts to Jesus, for what he's done for them. Let's stop there for a minute. You can tell when someone is filled with the Spirit, because they LOVE worshipping God. If you are worshipping on a Sunday morning, and you find your attention wandering, or yourself getting bored, or you keep checking your watch, you're not filled with the Spirit. Something is wrong with you. Your perspective on life is off; you're not starting your life from a thankful heart. This is especially true in the Western church. I've been in churches where people will leave ugly little notes in the offering plates about how long worship is. (clear throat): "To whom it may concern: 20 minutes is far too long to worship God. You have to cut that down. 15 is plenty." Your attitude when you worship reveals whether or not you are filled with the Spirit. Fourth on the list: Spirit-filled people give thanks, always, for all things, in the name of our Lord Jesus to their God and Father. You can tell when someone is filled with the Spirit, because their starting point in life is gratitude. No matter what happens in life, I thank God for what he's done for me. I was dead, and now I'm alive and part of God's family. I give thanks. Fifth. Spirit-filled people are subject to one another in fear of Christ. They don't insist on getting their way. They walk with humility, and meekness. They put others first. If we look at this list, it's easy to tell who is filled with the Spirit. Spirit-filled believers genuinely worship God. They live out of thankfulness for what God has done. They submit to one another, not insisting on getting their way. And wives submit to their husbands. Okay. So. This brings us to husbands and wives. I think the secret to reading this section rightly, is obeying the words that are addressed to you. Wives, when you are addressed, you obey those words. Husbands, when you are addressed, you obey those words. So, wives. Paul addresses you first, and this is what he says to you. "Be filled with the Spirit, (1) speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, (2) singing and (3) praising in your hearts to the Lord, (4) giving thanks always for all things in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to the God and Father, (5) being subject to one another in the fear of Christ, wives to their own husbands as to the Lord, because a man is head of the wife, as also Christ [is] head of the church, he [being] savior of the body, but as the church is subject to Christ, thus also the wives to the husbands in everything. Within the church, all of us are supposed to be subject to each other. This is a sign that we are filled with the Spirit. We live in humility. We don't insist on getting our own way. And we live that way out of our fear--or reverence-- for Jesus. Wives, your marriage is supposed to mirror the church. You are supposed to be subject to your husbands, in the same way you are subject to Jesus. Your husband is your head, in the same way Jesus is head of the church. The church is subject to Jesus in everything. We, as a church, don't get to pick and choose which areas we will obey Jesus, and which we won't. Jesus is Lord. Jesus is King. In the same way, wives, you are supposed to be submit to your husbands in everything. You fear, or revere him, the way you do Jesus. Husbands. These are not your words. Paul isn't talking to you yet. Paul isn't commanding you to rule over your wife. To make her submit to you. To be the head of the house. These words are for your wives. And if you have any brains, you will let her wrestle with these. Don't nudge her. Don't poke her. Don't smile at her. Paul is asking a great deal of your wives here. This is costly. So let her wrestle with it. Wives are supposed to submit to their husbands in everything. Husbands, Paul addresses you in Ephesians 5:25. These are your words. These are the ones you have to obey. Husbands, love the wives, just as also Christ loved the church, and gave himself for her, in order that he may make her holy, cleansing her with the washing of the water in/by the word, in order that he may present the glorious church to himself, not having a spot or wrinkle or anything like this, but in order that she might be holy and blameless. Thus also husbands ought to love their own wives as their own bodies. The one loving his wife loves himself. For no one ever hated his own flesh, but he nourishes and cherishes it, just as also Christ [does] the church, because members we are of his body. Husbands, where in here do you see Paul telling you to be the man of the house? Where do you see Paul telling you to make sure your wife submits to you in everything? To make sure she serves you; make sure she does things your way, on your time? Paul doesn't say this. You are head of your wife. If you are a simple Bible-believing Christian, there's no way around this. You are. But this doesn't mean what you think. This is not something to gloat about. This is not a position to use for your advantage. Your job is to love your wife, in the exact same way Christ loved the church.281 There is nothing Jesus didn't do for the church. He gave his entire life for the church, which is his body. Thus, also, in the exact same way, husbands, you ought to love your wives as your own bodies. If you do this, you are loving your own body, because the two of you have become one. Husbands, your job is to love your wife. You care for her; you cherish her. You treat as if she's part of you-- because she is part of you. Husbands and wives, if you have a problem with these verses, there are probably two reasons for this. First, you don't trust your spouses to obey their verses. Second, you don't want to obey your verses. We want to live selfishly. When I find myself frustrated with Heidi, you know what I want to do? I want to say, "Heidi. Submit to me in everything, as the church does to Jesus. Obey Paul." But those are not my verses. Those verses are for my wife. And she will either take them seriously, or she won't. But MY verses are to love Heidi, and nourish and cherish her. I'm supposed to give myself for her. My job is to obey my verses. If I don't do this, it means I'm not filled with the Spirit. Wives, I know you don't want to submit. No one naturally wants to submit. And your husband maybe doesn't love and cherish and nourish you the way you want. He makes this hard for you. Nevertheless, YOUR verses tell you to submit, just as you submit to Jesus. If you don't submit, this shows you aren't filled with the Spirit. So hear the verses Paul gives you. And hope your spouse does the same. But obey your verses. And taking a step back. Paul's focus in this whole section is on being filled with the Spirit. This is his main command: "Be filled with the Spirit."282 If the participles Paul lists are a struggle for you-- if you find worship to be a burden, if you aren't thankful, if you don't submit to each other-- then you aren't filled with the Spirit. As Baptists, we tend to view being filled with the Spirit with either confusion, or distrust. But we can't ignore this. Paul commands you to be filled with the Spirit, and he gives you a picture of what it looks like. How can you be filled with the Spirit, if you aren't right now? I'll come back to this next week, but I don't think it's complicated. You need to walk wisely, as children of the light. You walk worthily of your calling. You walk carefully. You walk in thankfulness. If you do this, and you don't tolerate sin in your lives, you will be filled with the Spirit. Walk wisely. Be filled with the Spirit. Let the Spirit influence every aspect of your life. Ephesians 6:1ff Children, obey your parents [in the Lord]. For this is right(eous). Honor your father and mother, which is the first commandment with a promise, in order that well with you it may be, and you may be long-lived on the earth. And fathers, don't make your children angry, but bring them up in discipline and instruction. Slaves, obey the according-to-the-flesh lords, with fear and trembling, in the sincerity of your heart, as to the King, not with eye service as people-pleasers but as slaves of the King, doing the will of God, from the heart/soul, with goodwill serving, as to the Lord, and not to people, knowing that each of you, whatever good he may do, this283 he will receive/get back from the Lord, whether slave or free. And the lords, the same things do for them, giving up the threat, knowing that the Lord of both them and you is in the heavens, and there is no partiality with him. ----------------------------------------------- Children, obey your parents [in the Lord]. For this is right. Children, obey your parents. How should you obey them? Paul says, obey them "in the Lord." [I'LL PROBABLY TAKE THIS SECTION OUT IF IT'S AN ACTUAL SERMON. THIS SERMON IS WAY TOO LONG. BUT I'LL KEEP IT IN FOR READERS). Actually, Paul MAYBE says "in the Lord." If you're reading the NRSV, you'll see a footnote in your Bibles here, and that footnote tells you, " Other ancient authorities lack in the Lord."284 We have lots of early copies of Ephesians, and other NT books, and they sometimes disagree with each other. This doesn't need to freak us out, but what happens sometimes is that we aren't quite sure what Paul wrote. Either Paul wrote, "Children, obey your parents in the Lord," and 7 of our very early copies of Ephesians somehow didn't include that. They took it out for some reason. Or, Paul simply wrote, "Children, obey your parents," and some of the very early copyists read this and gave it a little more force-- "obey your parents in the Lord." Most of the time, when we have issues like this with our NT, where we aren't quite sure what someone actually wrote, it looks a lot like this. It's not an issue that makes a huge difference in how we read a passage or understand it. I don't think it needs to make us less confident in the Bible. Here, the most likely explanation is that Paul simply wrote, "Children, obey your parents, for this is right." And shortly after people began copying his letters, someone added "in the Lord." So. Paul's opening command to children is very simple. "Children, obey your parents." Paul then strengthens this command with a "for" statement. The reason you need to obey your parents is because this is "right." This word "right" could just as easily be translated "righteous." Actually, it's usually translated as "righteous" elsewhere (Rom. 3:10; 5:7; 1 Tim. 1:9). This word, "righteous," is basically a relational word. When you act rightly toward someone within the context of your relationship, you are righteous.285 We are in a relationship with God, right? When we give God what we owe him, given our relationship to him, we are acting righteously toward him. We are acting rightly (Rom. 2:13). God is also righteous. When God gives us what he owes us, because he has made a commitment to us, God acts rightly-- righteously (Rom. 3:26).286 Children have an obligation to live rightly in relationship to their parents, and give them what they are owed. And this obligation, is first of all, to obey. So when children obey their parents, they are living righteously. They are living rightly. Paul then continues, in verse 2, with a second command. Honor your father and mother, which is the first commandment with a promise, in order that well with you it may be, and you may be long-lived on the earth. What does it mean to honor your parents? It means to live in a way that brings honor to them. When we put it this way, this is complicated. My wife, Heidi, is from Jamestown. And half of Jamestown knows that Heidi is the daughter of [______________]. Whenever she does or says anything in Jamestown, people see her as [________________________]'s daughter. And she either brings honor to them, or she brings shame to them. Heidi is supposed to live in a way that brings honor to them. If you find yourself bad-mouthing your parents, you are dishonoring them. You won't always agree with your parents. There are things about the way your parents do things that bother you. And this is especially true if you have a job, like farming, where you work with them. When you disagree with them, if you think you have to disagree with them, do so in a way that still respects and honors them. Honor your parents. Paul doesn't talk here about in-laws, but I see no reason why this wouldn't apply to them as well. When you married your spouse, you took on another set of parents. You need to live in a way that honors them as well. It's possible that you struggle with your in-laws. Lots of people do. Your in-laws maybe do lots of things very differently, and have very different perspectives on things. But you need to live, and talk, in a way that honors them. If you are bad-mouthing them to other people, you are dishonoring them. And if you are bad-mouthing them to your spouse, you are putting your spouse in a terrible spot. Your spouse has to honor his/her parents. So they are going to get defensive. Their parents' honor is at stake. Honor your in-laws. The other thing that honoring your parents means is taking care of them in their old age. As our parents age, they begin to need more and more help physically. It's harder for them to do the basics of life-- laundry, cooking, shopping. And then, it gets harder for them to do even more basic things, like showering, or getting up out of a chair. It's hard to see your parents age. Or it should be. But as you watch them age, you know, because you are God's holy people, that you have an obligation to them. You will take care of them, as best as you are able to. If there are widows in the church, that need our help, we will do our best to take care of them. But the primary responsibility for the elderly falls on you, their children. 1 Timothy 5:3-8 3 Honor widows who are really widows. 4 If a widow has children or grandchildren, they should first learn their religious duty to their own family and make some repayment to their parents; for this is pleasing in God's sight. 5 The real widow, left alone, has set her hope on God and continues in supplications and prayers night and day; 6 but the widow[b]who lives for pleasure is dead even while she lives. 7 Give these commands as well, so that they may be above reproach. 8 And whoever does not provide for relatives, and especially for family members, has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever. Honor your parents. Honor your grandparents. If you do this, Paul gives you two promises. in order that well with you it may be, and you may be long-lived on the earth. If you want your life to go well, and live a long life, honor your parents. Verse 3 And fathers, don't make your children angry, but bring them up in discipline and instruction. Paul now turns to address fathers. I don't know why he doesn't include mothers here. I'm tempted to guess, but it would just be a guess. In this verse, Paul uses a point-counterpoint set. What this means is that the first command, "Don't provoke your children to anger", acts as a frame for understanding the second command. The second command is more important, but we won't read it correctly unless we read it within the frame the first command gives. So let's start with the frame. "Fathers, don't provoke your children to anger." Paul has already talked in Eph. 4 about anger. Anger is a dangerous emotion. Paul wrote, "Be angry, and don't sin. Don't let the sun go down on your anger, and don't leave an opening/opportunity to Satan." Fathers, you have to parent in a way that doesn't make your children angry. If you are harsh with them, or unreasonable, or constantly critical, or abusive... there are lots of things you can do that will provoke your children to anger. Don't do this. Don't provoke them to anger. Don't make them vulnerable to Satan. Surely, this isn't what you want for them. So that's the frame. We keep that in the back of our minds. Now we get to the second part, which is almost always more important. "Don't provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in discipline and instruction." Fathers, you have a responsibility to your children. You have to raise your children in a particular way, with discipline, and with instruction. You can't ignore your children. You can't neglect your responsibility. You can't leave this to your wife, or to the church. Bring your children up in discipline and instruction. I think it's at this point we need to bring the frame back into view. When some of you hear about the importance of raising your children with discipline and instruction, you immediately think like you're an army sergeant running a boot camp. Discipline! Instruction! And who cares about their feelings! What Paul is saying here, is that you can raise your children with discipline and instruction, in a way that doesn't provoke them to anger. I think I can say this even more baldly: If you are disciplining or instructing your children, and they become angry with you, you are parenting wrong. You need to think about how you are talking to them, and what you are doing to them, and why. This brings us to verse 6, where Paul writes to slaves. Slaves, obey the according-to-the-flesh lords, with fear and trembling, in the sincerity of your heart, as to the King, not with eye service as people-pleasers but as slaves of the King, doing the will of God, from the heart/soul, with a good attitude287 serving, as to the Lord, and not to people, knowing that each of you, whatever good he may do, he will receive/get back from the Lord, whether slave or free. None of us are slaves. We are either employers, or employees. So how are we supposed to read these verses about slaves? For those of us who are normal employees, I think these verses resonate with us. We understand that things are different for us than slaves, but these verses pack a crazy punch. I think if we feel the force of this, we are reading these verses correctly. Most of us, at one point or another, struggle with bad attitudes at work. We think our bosses expect us to work too hard, for too many hours, for not enough money. But we know-- and our bosses know-- that most of us really aren't stuck in our jobs. If your boss makes you miserable, you can always quit. You can walk out the door, and show them (!). You can stick it to the man. But if you're a slave, you're stuck. Some types of slavery are worse than others.288 In Rome, some slaves were given a great deal of honor and responsibility, and lived better than free people. And people voluntarily sold themselves into slavery at times, either because they needed to in order to survive, or with hopes of moving upward socially. Slavery didn't even have to be for life-- you could sell yourself into slavery for a few years, and then be freed at the end of that time. Reading these verses maybe feels awkward to you, but you have to understand that in a world without food stamps, and without much opportunity to advance in life, slavery isn't necessarily a bad thing. If I was starving to death, and I had a wife and 5 kids at home, and they were starving to death, I would do whatever I needed to do to provide for my family and myself. I'd totally sell myself into slavery. And if my kids were starving, and I could sell them to someone who would provide for them, it'd rip my heart out. But I can't let them die. That said, slavery wasn't most people's dream for their lives back then, and it isn't now. If I was a slave, I'd have two main thoughts.289 First, my life stinks. Truly. Second, my life doesn't matter. If I'm a slave, I wonder what difference my life makes to God, and to the church, and to anything that really matters. You can try to sell me on this lofty vision of God's call, and God's one holy family, but what does that have to do with me, a slave? Some of you maybe view your work in basically the same way. You have a job, that you don't love, and you find it frustrating and meaningless. Maybe, as a result, you've job-hopped from one dead-end job to the next. Or maybe you are just grimly hanging on until you can retire. But either way, you view most of your life as wasted time. You work 40, 50, 60 hours a week, but life for you is really about something else. Some of you understand that Jesus has given each of you a ministry-- a job-- to build up the church. And you take this responsibility seriously. You tell people, "I work construction during the week, but-- and you are quick to say this-- I lead worship on Sunday mornings, or I teach Sunday school, or I help with YFC, or I do pulpit supply occasionally. Your job is just your job-- it's what pays the bills so that you can serve God. For a few of you, maybe, you take this responsibility, and privilege, seriously enough that your normal job really bothers you. You know you could do so much more in life, if it wasn't for that 9-5 gig that takes up all your time. For others of you, work is something you endure as you wait for evenings and weekends. Not because you have this burning desire to serve God in some way, but because that's YOUR time, to distract yourself, amuse yourself, and somehow make up for the drudgery of work. But every week, Monday comes. And you hate your job. Whichever of these two groups you find yourself in, the reality is that most people don't view their jobs as having any eternal significance, or really mattering. Ministry is something you do here (at church), or in evangelism, or who knows what. But work is really it's own separate thing. And, truthfully, you think work is a waste of time. If this is what you think, what does Paul say to you? Ephesians 6:5: "Slaves, obey the according-to-the-flesh lords." Paul gives slaves one main command. "Obey." "Obey your earthly lords." At UPS, we are all told, "Work as directed." If your boss tells you to do something, and it's not wrong, do what you're told. Now, all of us who have had kids know that there's lots of ways to obey. When you tell your kids to do something, there's LOTS of ways they can obey. They can stomp off pouting, doing it. They can do it incredibly slowly, acting like it's nearly impossible. Or like it's total agony. They can whine and complain. When we watch our children "obey", we marvel at this display. It's terrible, for sure. But impressive, in its own way. So what does it really mean to obey?290 Paul has one main command for slaves: obey. But Paul then builds on this, over and over. He makes a huge thing over this. Paul has to do this, because he knows that slaves don't want to obey. If we don't want to obey, we should understand why slaves would struggle with a bad attitude. So as we read this, we should ask ourselves two questions. How should slaves obey? Second, why should slaves work this way? Slaves, obey the according-to-the-flesh lords, with fear and trembling, First, work with fear and trembling, knowing they can discipline you. Your bosses are far more limited in what they can do to you than a master would be to a slave, but a powerful supervisor can make life absolutely miserable for you. Fear them. Know what they can do to you. Second, work in the sincerity of your heart. When you are at work, you don't pretend to work. You don't do as little as possible, as slowly as possible. When you are at work, work. Third, work as to the King. Your boss is not a perfect human being. And you maybe don't get along with your boss very well-- or maybe you do. I don't know. But when you are working, work as though your boss is King Jesus. The fourth explanation of how to work is complicated. It's hard to break this down very far. Work not with eye service, as people pleasers, but as slaves of the King, doing God's will from the heart/soul, with goodwill serving, as to the Lord, and not to people. Work is not about currying favor, winning office politics, trying to look good. When I'm delivering packages, I'm supposed to view myself as Jesus' slave, doing God's will from the heart. I serve with goodwill, wanting what's best for the company. And I work as though I'm working for the Lord Jesus, and not my supervisor. I work for the Lord Jesus, not UPS. When I work this way, I'm obeying God. I'm living as a child of the light. I'm walking worthily of my calling. This brings us to verse 8: Work as slaves of the king, knowing that each of you, whatever good he may do, this he will receive/get back from the Lord, whether slave or free. If you work hard, with a good attitude, as though working for Jesus, with goodwill, trying to please Jesus-- if you do all this, you have a promise here. Whatever good you do, Jesus will repay you with good. Jesus will do good for you. You will get some type of reward from Jesus for your hard work. Does Paul mean Jesus will repay you on earth? Or is this a heavenly repayment? Paul doesn't expand on this. I'm not sure. Really, it doesn't matter. The important thing is that when you work hard, doing good, Jesus sees your work, and he will repay you with good. These verses should be a huge encouragement to many of you. If you are working rightly, work isn't a waste of time. Work isn't spiritually irrelevant. Work is a major part of how you obey God. When you are at work, working rightly, you are doing God's will. You are serving your King. And King Jesus is watching you, and he will repay you for all the good you do at work. This is true for you, regardless of where you work. You maybe think that farming doesn't have anything to do with obeying God. It does. You can obey God at work. You can obey God by being a good stay-at-home mom. Any job you have, approached rightly, can be done in a way that makes God happy. Some of you here are lords-- supervisors. Paul has much less to say to you, but if anything, it's actually more challenging. Verse 9: And the lords, the same things291 do for them, giving up the threat, knowing that the Lord of both them and you is in the heavens, and there is no partiality with him. What does it mean that lords are supposed to do the same things? Slaves were told that whatever good they do, Jesus will repay them with good. Jesus will do good for them. "Lords" are supposed to do good to the slaves, just as slaves do good to the lords. There's maybe one supervisor in a 100 that goes to work and thinks to themselves, "I wonder what good I can do for my employees today." "Lords" are supposed to do good to their employees. Paul then expands on what it means to do good by saying, "giving up the threat."292 This is probably the hardest line in the entire letter. How can you effectively supervise people without threatening them? I say that, not trying to be sarcastic at all. For real. If you're running a company, or supervising, and your employees have rotten attitudes and are lazy, what exactly are you supposed to do to them? You have to threaten, right? Apparently, there's a better way to motivate people. You can talk to them without threatening them. Does this mean you can't ever fire people? I don't think so. But you have to give up the threat. If they screw something up, correct it without threatening. So, finishing the section on lords off, "and the lords, the same things do for them, giving up the threat, knowing that the Lord of both them and you is in the heavens, and there is no partiality with him. You may be the lord-- lower case L--at work, but all of us share one Lord in heaven, and he treats us all the same. The Lord Jesus doesn't care if you're a master or a slave. He repays all of you on the same basis. So as you sit there, thinking about how to treat your employees, know that you have a boss in heaven who is watching you. Do good to them, without threatening them, knowing that you have a supervisor in the heavens, and he treats everyone the same. He doesn't care that you're a sup. When we talked about husbands and wives, I said that the most important trick to hearing those verses rightly, was obeying the verses addressed to you. That still holds true here. If you are children, you need to hear the command to obey and honor your parents. Those are your verses. If you are fathers, you need to hear the command to not provoke your children to anger, but raise your children in instruction and discipline. Employees, serve your boss like you are serving your Boss in the heavens. And bosses, do good to your employees, giving up the threat. As you go, think about your verses, and how God wants you to live at work. And be encouraged-- don't lose sight of this. Your work is not irrelevant. A major part of what it means to walk rightly with God, to walk as children of the light, is living rightly at home and at work. You can obey God, and do God's will, and please God, at home and at work. Work and family don't keep you from serving God. They are where you do most of your service to God.293 Ephesians 6:10ff. Finally, become strong in the Lord and in the might of his power. Put on294 the full armor of God so that you are able to stand against the scheming of the devil, because the struggle for us isn't against blood and flesh but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic rulers of this darkness, against the wicked spiritual ones295 in the heavenlies. For this reason take up the full armor of God, in order that you may be able to resist on the evil day and, everything having accomplished, to stand. Therefore, stand,296 girding yourself with the truth,297 and putting on yourself the breastplate of righteousness, and tying your feet with the readiness for the gospel of peace, in everything taking up the shield of faith, with which you are able all of the flaming arrows of the evil one to quench. And the helmet of salvation receive, and the sword of the Spirit, which is God's gospel,298 with all prayer and petition praying at every time in the Spirit,299 and for this being alert, with all perseverance and petition for all of the holy ones and for me, in order that to me a word may be given at the opening of my mouth, with boldness to make known the mystery of the gospel,300 for which I am an ambassador in chains, in order that in them I may speak boldly as it is necessary for me to speak. -------------------------------------------------------- Finally, become strong in the Lord and in the might of his power. Paul here begins by signaling the letter is nearing its end. "Finally." And I find myself being sad about that. What Paul does in this passage is take the entire letter, and explain it in terms of spiritual warfare. God has made one family, one people, one kingdom, who lives in peace with him and with each other. God has done all this through Jesus. Jesus is our peace. And God has done all this at great cost to Satan. God struck the decisive blow against Satan and his kingdom at the cross, and resurrection of Jesus. But the battle rages on. If God's kingdom is growing, winning-- and it is-- it's because Satan's kingdom is losing ground. The initial question each of us has to answer is this: Do you want to be part of God's kingdom and God's family? Do you want to live in peace with God, and with each other? Do you? If you want in, if you want to be able to call God "Father," you repent, you submit to Jesus as King, and you get baptized. If you haven't done this, and you want to, please, come talk to me. Then what? Now that we are part of God's family, God's kingdom, what happens next? In Ephesians, Paul says the next step looks like this: Now, as God's holy people, we are supposed to walk worthily of our calling, as children of light, out of thankfulness for what God has done. This means walking rightly, at peace, with God and with each other. And it means shining as a light to the world, exposing the darkness.301 Every single part of this is related to the spiritual warfare between God and Satan. Every single part of this is related to our battle, in Jesus, with the demonic. And that's what today's passage is about. Paul begins, in verse 10, by commanding the Ephesians, "Become strong in the Lord." The Ephesians, right now, have not been strong in the Lord. The reason for this is very simple. Let's turn back to 4:17. Therefore302, this I say and I testify in the Lord, no longer walk just as also the Gentiles/nations walk in the futility of their mind, being darkened in their understanding, being alienated from the life of God303 because of the lack of knowledge being in them because of the hardness of their heart, who, having become calloused304, themselves they gave over to self-abandonment for the pursuit of all uncleanness in greediness.305 The Ephesians are weak because they are living as children of darkness. They don't value what Jesus did for them; they don't value being part of God's family. They aren't thankful. If they did value what God has given them in Christ, and were thankful, they wouldn't be living like the Gentiles. As a result, they are weak. They are vulnerable. So Paul begins this section with a command: "become strong in the Lord, and in the strength of his might." The solution to their weakness is to become strong. Not by lifting weights. The strength they need is found in Christ. Jesus is strong, and we want to share in the strength of his might. But how? How can we share in Jesus' power? Verses 11-12: Put on306 the full armor of God so that you are able to stand against the scheming of the devil, because the struggle for us isn't against blood and flesh but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the world rulers of this darkness, against the wicked spiritual ones307 in the heavenlies. We become strong in the Lord by putting on the full armor God gave us. This armor protects us against the devil's schemes. Satan is working very hard to figure out how to defeat you as an individual Christian, and you as the church. But we are not defenseless. God has given us armor. Paul then gives us a point-counterpoint set, to help us understand think about God's armor. Again, the way these sets work is that the first point is less important than the second, but it frames the second and helps us understand these better. So let's think about the frame first. "Our struggle is not with blood and flesh." If we are part of God's holy kingdom, we find ourselves in the middle of a war. But this war is not with people. Our war is not with Russia, or Syria, or Iran, or North Korea, or any of the 100+ countries the U.S. has troops in. That isn't OUR war. People are not our enemies. We aren't supposed to pick up armor, and guns, to fight them. Don't shoot Muslims, or other Christians. Instead, who is our struggle with? Put on308 the full armor of God so that you are able to stand against the scheming of the devil, because the struggle for us isn't against blood and flesh but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic rulers of this darkness, against the wicked spiritual ones309 in the heavenlies. If our battle isn't with people, who is it with? Our war is with the rulers, authorities, cosmic rules of this darkness, and wicked spiritual ones in the heavenlies. A few weeks ago, I talked about language the OT uses to describe these beings. They are called the "sons of God" in places like Genesis 6 and Job 1. Let's turn to Deuteronomy 32:8-14 (ESV). I SHOULD REALLY GO THROUGH VERSE 17 When the Most High gave to the nations their inheritance, when he divided mankind, he fixed the borders[a] of the peoples according to the number of the sons of God.[b] 9 But the LORD's portion is his people, Jacob his allotted heritage. 10 "He found him in a desert land, and in the howling waste of the wilderness; he encircled him, he cared for him, he kept him as the apple of his eye. 11 Like an eagle that stirs up its nest, that flutters over its young, spreading out its wings, catching them, bearing them on its pinions, 12 the LORD alone guided him, no foreign god was with him. 13 He made him ride on the high places of the land, and he ate the produce of the field, and he suckled him with honey out of the rock, and oil out of the flinty rock. 14 Curds from the herd, and milk from the flock, with fat[c] of lambs, rams of Bashan and goats, with the very finest[d] of the wheat- and you drank foaming wine made from the blood of the grape. God picked Israel as the special nation he would rule over. The rest of the world God split up on the basis of the number of the sons of God. So each son of God had authority over one particular nation or people group, and they were responsible for wisely ruling over their particular nation. But this didn't work out very well. The sons of God rebelled against God, and didn't do a good job ruling. They didn't rule rightly, or justly (Psalm 82). And they attempted to wipe out God's people. And Israel, for their part, didn't serve God faithfully. Instead, they worshipped the sons of God (Deut. 32:17). So the end result of all of this is chaos, and total rebellion. Open warfare raged between God and the sons of God for centuries. What Ephesians adds to this is that God struck the decisive blow against the sons of God through Jesus. Jesus' death and resurrection disarmed them (Col. 2:13-15). God will win. The sons of God will lose. But just because they will lose, doesn't mean they've surrendered. They will fight to the bitter end, and they are fighting you. So when Paul talks about the cosmic rulers and wicked spiritual ones in the heavens in Ephesians 6, Paul is talking about the sons of God that God put in positions of authority over the nations. But they took that authority, and rebelled against God. How can we possibly defend ourselves a spiritual enemy we can't see, that can rule over nations? Verse 13 For this reason take up the full armor of God, in order that you may be able to resist on the evil day and, everything having accomplished, to stand. Paul says again, take up God's full armor. This is your protection. You take this up for two reasons: in order that you can resist on the evil day, and everything having accomplished, to stand. I'm sure I've never seen that last line before. Our job isn't simply to resist, and stand. We have a job to do. There's something we are supposed to accomplish. What is this? Paul doesn't yet say. Maybe we have to keep reading... But our job here isn't to grimly hang on, until Jesus returns. There's something we are supposed to do. Verse 14 Therefore, stand,310 girding yourself with the truth,311 and putting on yourself the breastplate of righteousness, and tying your feet with the readiness for the gospel of peace, in everything taking up the shield of faith, with which you are able all of the flaming arrows of the evil one to quench. Okay. So many of you have heard these verses before. Paul uses powerful imagery here, and most pastors at some point will find themselves itching to teach this. The question I have for you, at the outset, is how far should we push this imagery? Does it matter that the truth is a belt? Or that salvation is the helmet? Do I need to teach you about the different types of armor, and how they worked? Is that helpful? I'm not sure that it is.312 My fear in reading these verses, is that we will focus so much on Paul's imagery that we actually miss the point. And the point is this: you, as a church, and as individuals, are part of a larger war with Satan. He is scheming against you, probing for weaknesses. How can you defend yourself, and accomplish whatever it is that God wants you to do (Eph 2:10)? So I'm not going to talk about Roman armor. Sorry. Instead, I'm going to talk about truth, and righteousness, and the gospel of peace, and faith. These are the things that protect you-- and help you accomplish God's purpose for you. Truth. How does truth protect you from Satan? Let's turn back again to Ephesians 4:20: Now you did not in this way learn Christ-- if indeed him you heard (about), and in him you were taught, just as is truth in Jesus, that you take off the old person being ruined by deceitful desires-- the one in accordance with the prior way of life, now to being renewed in your spiritual mind, and you put on the new person -- the one in accordance with God being created in/with/by righteousness and holiness from the truth. God is making one HOLY family. And when you place your allegiance in Jesus, you take off the old person, the one being ruined by the lie, and put on the new one whose starting point is the truth. What is the lie? The lie is that sins are good-- that they will make you happy, that they are good for you, that there are no consequences. What is the truth? The truth is that God is making a HOLY family, and we need to live as HOLY people. So when Satan tests you, probing you for weaknesses, do you remember this truth? Do you understand why God saved you? Do you live out of this truth? Truth protects you. Put on the truth. The second piece of armor is righteousness. Righteousness is essentially a relational word.313 If we give someone what they are owed, given our relationship to them, we are living rightly with them. I made a vow to my wife, and when I am faithful to her and love her, and give myself for her, I live rightly with her. We read in Ephesians 6:1 that when children obey their parents, this is "righteous." This is what it means for children to live rightly. If we look at Ephesians as a whole, we have an obligation to live a certain way toward God, toward each other in this church, toward our family, and toward the people we work with. Paul has covered everything. So when we walk worthily of our calling, as children of the light, we are walking in righteousness toward God. That righteousness protects us from Satan. When we live in peace with each other, in humility and meekness, rushing to be reconciled when we fail, we live rightly with each other. That righteousness protects us from Satan. When wives submit to their husbands, they are acting rightly toward them. Their righteousness protects them from Satan. When husbands love their wives and give themselves for them, they are acting rightly. Righteously. Their righteousness protects them. If you instead live selfishly, demanding your rights, refusing to forgive, your armor has a huge gaping hole. You are ridiculously vulnerable. So put on the breastplate of righteousness. Live rightly with God, and live rightly with each other. That righteous living is part of your protection against Satan. He will test you at work, and at home, and at play-- but if you live rightly, you aren't vulnerable. The third piece of armor is a readiness to share the good news about what God has done in Jesus. Heh. Maybe, this is a major part of what we are supposed to accomplish. If there's one thing I hope you've learned from this series, it's what the good news about Jesus really is. Jesus has made it possible for us to live in peace with God and each other. Jesus has struck the decisive blow against Satan. And if you hear this as good news, and want to be part of God's family, you will repent, place your allegiance in Jesus, and be baptized. And then... you will be ready to share this good news with others. You are ready to do so. You go through life ready to tell people the good news about Jesus, and God's plan. The next piece of armor is the shield of faith: in everything taking up the shield of faith, with which you are able all of the flaming arrows of the evil one to quench. Faith is not about believing in Jesus, like you'd believe in Santa Claus. Faith is about loyalty, allegiance, and faithfulness. Your loyalty to Jesus protects you against Satan's attacks. They are a shield for you. Next on the list is the helmet of salvation. Paul says, "receive this." In Ephesians, when Paul talks about salvation, it's about something we've already received.314 How can we receive what we already have? God has given us salvation. But it's another thing to grab hold of that salvation, and claim the benefits and promises, and responsibilities. Salvation isn't something you look at and admire. Salvation is something you wear. Next on the list is the sword of the Spirit. and the sword of the Spirit, which is God's speech/gospel315, When we hear that the sword of the Spirit is the word of God, we instinctively say that Paul is talking about the Bible. We think about how Jesus resisted Satan in the wilderness by quoting Deuteronomy. This isn't the worst thing in the world to think, but it's not quite right. And I know I'm just a guy, but what I'm about to teach, actually has widespread academic support. The word we translate as "word" here is rhema. It's not the normal word logos. And this is how rhema is used in Romans 10:8-10: 8 But what does it say? "The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart" (that is, the word of faith that we proclaim); 9 because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved. 11 For the Scripture says, "Everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame." 12 For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, bestowing his riches on all who call on him. 13 For "everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved." The rhema of God-- the word of God-- is the good news about Jesus (so also 1 Peter 1:25). It's the mystery Paul has the privilege of sharing with the nations. It's not the Bible. It's the good news about Jesus. So what is Paul teaching here in Ephesians 6? In our war against Satan, God has given us a weapon to take the fight to Satan. That weapon is the gospel. God has a kingdom, and Satan has a kingdom. God's kingdom grows, and wins, through the gospel. That's how we bring the fight to Satan. That's how God continues winning, pushing against Satan's kingdom. It is the gospel that's the Holy Spirit's sword. It's through the gospel that the Holy Spirit cuts through people's hard-heartedness, through their rebellion against God. It's through the gospel that the Holy Spirit fights Satan. So how important is it that you share the good news about Jesus? The gospel is your weapon. Proclaiming the gospel is the job God expects you to accomplish. Share the good news. Usually, when people teach on the armor of God, they stop right here. But in the Greek, we aren't to the end of the sentence. And if we cut this off here, we will almost certainly hear this entire section wrong. Next on the list of God's armor is praying in the Spirit. with all prayer and petition praying at every time in the Spirit,316 Prayer helps protect us from Satan. We know we are vulnerable; we know we need God, and can't do anything apart from him and his Spirit. And so we pray for help, constantly. "God, help us resist Satan. Help us walk as children of the light." Paul then transitions to talking about to talking about prayer for each other, and for himself. This is still part of the same sentence. Don't read this as if it's separate. and for this being alert, with all perseverance and petition for all of the holy ones and for me, in order that to me a word may be given at the opening of my mouth, with boldness to make known the mystery of the gospel,317 for which I am an ambassador in chains, in order that in them I may speak boldly as it is necessary for me to speak. We don't just pray for ourselves. We pray for each other. We pray for missionaries, in particular, who are on the frontlines of this battle. Paul here is modeling what it looks like to be God's soldier. Paul is ready to share the gospel. He has the shoes on that are the readiness for the gospel. Paul needs prayer, that he would be bold, in making known the mystery of the gospel. This is his weapon for bringing the fight to Satan. Every time you share the gospel with someone, you are engaging in spiritual warfare. And the gospel is how the Holy Spirit attacks. The gospel is the sword of the Spirit. Paul knows he must speak the gospel. It's necessary that he speaks boldly. So the basics of spiritual warfare are straightforward. Satan is probing you as individuals, and you as a church, for weaknesses. He knows he's going to lose, but he's determined to hang on to his kingdom as long as he can. He's going to down fighting. You defend yourselves against Satan by living rightly, by walking worthily of your calling, out of thankfulness for what God has done for you in Jesus. You walk worthily at home, with your spouse, with your kids, with your parents. You walk worthily at work, with your co-workers, with your boss, with your customers. You walk worthily with your friends. And as you walk worthily, going through life, you bring the fight to Satan, working as God's soldiers, by sharing the good news. You are ready to share the gospel, and you are praying for boldness in sharing it. Your job is to make known the mystery of what God has done for people in Jesus. And if you accomplish this, the Holy Spirit will work powerfully through your faithfulness. Live rightly. Share the gospel. 1 "the forgiveness of wrongdoing" is overspecification, helping us to think about the release/deliverance/freedom we have through Jesus' blood in a particular way. 2 or, in whom we have obtained an inheritance (BDAG alternative). is Paul describing Jews here first, then Gentiles? 3 "the good news of your salvation" is overspecification, describing the word of truth in a particular way. 4 Bibles have "believing" here. 5 BDAG: a beneficent disposition toward someone, favor, grace, gracious care/help, goodwill 6 I've underlined the words talking about how this is "in Christ," but they aren't given emphasis through word order in the Greek. 7 most English Bibles are going to translate this as a past tense. "who has blessed." participles don't have time to them. aorist participles view the action as a whole. present participles view it from within as a process. This is an aorist participle. So it's just viewing God's blessings as a whole. 8 καθώς. 3rd BDAG meaning: ③ of cause, since, in so far as, esp. as a conjunction beginning a sentence (B-D-F §453, 2; Rob. 968; 1382) J 17:2; Ro 1:28; 1 Cor 1:6; 5:7; Eph 1:4; 4:32; Phil 1:7. 9 state or condition of being kindly disposed, good will (BDAG) 10 "the forgiveness of wrongdoing" is overspecification, helping us to think about the release/deliverance/freedom we have through Jesus' blood in a particular way. 11 or, in whom we have obtained an inheritance (BDAG alternative). Paul is speaking intentionally as a member of the Jewish people here, having just talked about the Ephesians as Gentiles. 12 lit: the ones having hoped beforehand. 13 "the good news of your salvation" is overspecification, describing the word of truth in a particular way. 14 Bibles have "believing" here. 15 "the good news of your salvation" is overspecification, describing the word of truth in a particular way. 16 Bibles have "believing" here. 17 Participles aren't the main point. Paul's clarifying how you are sealed. 18 I'm going to emphasize this, just to help show it closely it's connected. 19 This is overspecification. Think of God as being the glorious Father= the Father of glory. 20 him=Jesus. 21 εἰς plus an infinitive= purpose. enlightened for the purpose that.... 22 overspecification. Think about "us" as being people giving allegiance. 23 Position 2 emphasis. 24 God. 25 Jesus. 26 Position 2 emphasis. 27 overspecification. Think of the church in a particular way, as being the fullness of the One filling all things in all ways. 28 I'm going to emphasize this, just to help show it closely it's connected. 29 This is overspecification. Think of God as being the glorious Father= the Father of glory. 30 him=Jesus. 31 εἰς plus an infinitive= purpose. enlightened for the purpose that.... 32 overspecification. Think about "us" in a particular way, as being people giving allegiance. 33 Shout out to John Piper. This section was agony to write; I knew I was missing something. It's still messy, but I feel like I'm closer to getting it. https://www.desiringgod.org/messages/the-fall-of-satan-and-the-victory-of-christ 34 Position 2 emphasis. 35 God. 36 Jesus. 37 Position 2 emphasis. 38 overspecification. Think of the church in a particular way, as being the fullness of the One filling all things in all ways. 39 Position 2 emphasis. 40 God. 41 Jesus. 42 Position 2 emphasis. 43 I added "it was" in order to show that "y'all" is a direct object of a missing verb. It's not the subject of the verb, something is being done to "y'all"-- we just don't know what yet. It's the object of the verb. 44 "which" is the wrongdoings from v. 1 45 "We also" is a group distinct from "Ya'll (Gentile) Ephesians." This becomes clearer the farther we get into this passage, but "we also" is referring to Paul speaking as a representative of Jewish Christians. 46 "We" (Jews) were by nature objects for wrath, as also the rest (of the Gentiles). A remarkable statement. 47 Best, ICC: "Children of wrath are not angry people but people subject to the wrath of God; for this form of the idiom see Jn 17:12; Lk 20:36; 2 Th 2:3; 2 Pet 2:14." 48 "rest of them"=Gentiles 49 "de." Argument is taking a step forward here. 50 All of verses 1-3 basically supposed to be funneled into "us." We need to understand how terrible we were, or we won't understand how good God was to us in Christ. 51 "He made us-- Jew and Gentile-- alive together in Christ. 52 He seated us-- Jew and Gentile--together in Christ. 53 "For" statements explain/strengthen some point just made. 54 Works are not "good works." Works is a short-hand for "works of the Mosaic covenant, done in the belief that it's through keeping the Mosaic covenant that people are right with God." 55 Boasting is a specifically Jewish problem usually. "We" Jews boast in our privileges-- the covenant, the promises, the blessings. Romans 2:17-24 is very close to this whole passage, esp. v 23. ALSO ROMANS 3:27. 56 Or, We are HIS made thing. 57 Position 2, given emphasis 58 Paul comes back to this in 4:1. "I exhort you to walk worthily of the calling with which you were walked." Also 4:17: "No longer walk just as the nations walk..." This is a problem in the church. 59 This is the "therefore" that builds off the preceding argument. "Since this is true, . . . " διό. 60 Here, proof that "you" refers to Gentiles. Overspecification, describing "y'all" in a particular way. 61 "de." Argument is taking a step forward here. 62 Here, again it's clear-- "ya'll" refers to Gentiles. Jews were "near"; Gentiles were "far." 63 Here again, overspecification. "Think about yourselves, as ones who were far away from God." 64 Jew and Gentile 65 Gentiles 66 Jews. 67 Jew and Gentile 68 ouv signaling a resumption of the argument after a very lengthy "for" (gar). 69 Gentiles 70 Jews. 71 Note that "saved"= being made alive. We have to be careful to let Paul explain what it means to be saved. 72 The "de" ("Now") signals the argument is pushing ahead here, and we finally get our main verbs ("God made alive"; "God seated"). 73 Paul fronts this for emphasis, to make sure we don't miss it. "BY GRACE" you are saved. 74 The main voices against this are John Piper, Douglas Moo, D.A. Carson (I think), Thomas Schreiner, and Francis Watson. People advocating this include Matera, N.T. Wright, E.P. Sanders, James Dunn, Martyn de Boer, Sharyn Dowd, Michael Gorman, Scot McKnight, Garlington, J. Louis Martyn, etc. The traditional view is quickly losing-- it's just a matter of spreading this to churches from academia. 75 Other problems with this approach is that (1) Paul everywhere assumes that no one tries to obey God-- so no one does good works (2) faith and works are inseparable, especially once people realize "faith" is about allegiance/loyalty, not about believing something is true or not true; (3) Paul doesn't seem concerned that people think good works coming from faith in/with the Spirit are necessary for eternal life (Gal. 6:6-8; Rom. 6:22; Eph 5:5)--they are. 76 But Ephesians 2:1-3, not to mention Rom. 2-3, specifically says non-Christians don't go around trying to please God. This is a huge problem for the standard Reformation view of Eph. 2:8-10. 77 See also Phil. 3:3, and surrounding argument. "We" Christians boast in Christ, but Paul has lots of reasons to have confidence in the flesh. Paul is deliberately messing with the "boasting" language. 78 ESV has "justified." 79 ditto. 80 Position 2 Emphasis. 81 Or, We are HIS made thing. 82 Position 2, given emphasis 83 Paul comes back to this in 4:1. "I exhort you to walk worthily of the calling with which you were walked." Also 4:17: "No longer walk just as the nations walk..." This is a problem in the church. 84 It's also possible that Paul just customarily puts this in letters, to make sure his Gentile churches don't start walking down the wrong path. Writing this footnote after finishing the sermon series and cleaning this up, Paul doesn't make a big deal about the dangers of Judaism and being under the Mosaic covenant-- nothing like Galatians in feel. 85 Paul comes back to this in 4:1. "I exhort you to walk worthily of the calling with which you were walked." Also 4:17: "No longer walk just as the nations walk..." This is a problem in the church. 86 This is the "therefore" that builds off the preceding argument. "Since this is true, . . . " διό. 87 Here, proof that "you" refers to Gentiles. Overspecification, describing "y'all" in a particular way. 88 Here again, overspecification. "Think about yourselves, as ones who were far away from God." 89 Jew and Gentile 90 Gentiles 91 Jews. 92 Jew and Gentile 93 ouv signaling a resumption of the argument after a very lengthy "for" (gar). 94 ouv signaling a resumption of the argument after a very lengthy "for" (gar). 95 This checklist is basically what Paul means by "salvation" in Ephesians. We tend to think in terms of eternal life, but Paul speaks differently of that (Eph. 5:3-5). 96 This submission is not a one-time decision for Jesus. It's a pledge of allegiance, ongoing. 97 explicitly describing them as Gentiles here (O'Brien, Ephesians, 226). 98 οἰκονομία responsibility of management 99 Paul often describes his ministry as the "grace" God gave him. 100 "according to" 101 or, "in accordance with which"; "with reference to which" 102 literally: "to the sons of men/people." 103 1:14. We have an inheritance; we aren't the inheritance (contrast Weirsbe). 104 cf. 2:12. 105 Paul makes up a word here. It's a comparative of a superlative. "Less than the least." (O'Brien, 240). 106 or, "faithfulness toward." 107 overspecification. Paul wants us to view him in a particular way, as someone who is in prison for Jesus, for them. 108 or, "in accordance with which"; "with reference to which" 109 literally: "to the sons of men/people." 110 1:14. We have an inheritance; we aren't the inheritance (contrast Weirsbe). 111 cf. 2:12. 112 When Paul speaks of prophets here, he is speaking about people living at the same time as himself. These are modern-day prophets, not Isaiah, etc. Prophecy is an ongoing ministry in the church (Eph. 4:11). Not sure how to talk about this without losing the flow of the argument (trying not to rabbit trail myself). 113 Paul makes up a word here. It's a comparative of a superlative. "Less than the least." (O'Brien, 240). 114 Could also be "Jesus' faithfulness." This is a hugely debated issue in NT studies, but I'm just going to stick with the traditional evangelical view. 115 God's wisdom is revealed "through the church." 116 because the ESV follows the Dead Sea scrolls and the Septuagint, and not the Masoretic Text-- which was deliberately changed to hide this. 117 "in order that"; Eph. 3:10. 118 What's super interesting about this language, I think, is how it helps explain Rom. 8:30. We often treat "glorified" there as a future promise (and as evidence of eternal security), but it's an aorist (simple past tense). God made us right; God glorified us. This isn't a promise; this is a statement about what God has already done for us. This process of glorification will be completed at Christ's return (Col. 1:24-27 ESV much better than NIV here; Col. 3:1-4; 2 Thess. 2:13-15; 2 Tim. 2:8-10) Also, it's tempting to pull in Eastern Orthodox language about theosis here (2 Pet. 1:4). 119 Here is a good example of how translating "pistis" ("faith") differently leads to very different senses. Allegiance? Loyalty? "Belief" is really inadequate. 120 "The surpassing of knowledge love of Christ." 121 The only other example I can find of this use of multiple "ina" (in order that) is Galatians 4:4-5. This pretty much has to be the sense though (see also Peter T. O'Brien, Lynn Cohick). 122 Here is a good example of how translating "pistis" ("faith") differently leads to very different senses. Allegiance? Loyalty? "Belief" is really inadequate. 123 Here is a good example of how translating "pistis" ("faith") differently leads to very different senses. Allegiance? Loyalty? "Belief" is really inadequate. 124 This is fronted for emphasis, so I'm going to try to focus on God's love in this section as a result. 125 Here is a good example of how translating "pistis" ("faith") differently leads to very different senses. Allegiance? Loyalty? "Belief" is really inadequate. 126 "The surpassing of knowledge love of Christ." 127 Here is a good example of how translating "pistis" ("faith") differently leads to very different senses. Allegiance? Loyalty? "Belief" is really inadequate. 128 "The surpassing of knowledge love of Christ." 129 Perseverance is necessary. 130 ouv. Not the therefore that builds off the preceding argument as since A, B. The therefore that signals resumption of the argument after a digression (the doxology?). 131 could be translated "being eager." The idea of speed is involved. 132 ouv. Not the therefore that builds off the preceding argument as since A, B. The therefore that signals resumption of the argument after a digression (the doxology?). 133 I should maybe clarify this, that it's the obedience/good works from faithfulness. 134 ouv. Not the therefore that builds off the preceding argument as since A, B. The therefore that signals resumption of the argument after a digression (the doxology?). 135 I'm not sure why Bibles consistently translate it as "gentleness." KJV is much better on this. Idea is not asserting/claiming, not about being soft-spoken. BDAG: the quality of not being overly impressed by a sense of one's self-importance 136 Also amusing: Miah kind of snorting when she read this for me. "Does it really say that?" 137 I think this is a better understanding than "spiritual unity." "Unity of/from the Spirit" 138 de signaling an advance in the argument. 139 dio. This the therefore that builds off the preceding argument. 140 de signaling an advance in the argument. 141 This refers to Jesus descending to earth, not hell. The point is that this verse has to be talking about Jesus-- only he descended, and ascended. 142 Newer translations say "equipping." Older write "perfecting" (KJ, ASV), Vulgate "consummation of the saints"; syriac peshitta, for the perfection/maturation of the saints(Liddell and Scott) "to adjust or put in order again, restore; to furnish completely "م) Bauer, Arndt, Gingrich) "to put in order, restore; to put into proper condition, complete, make complete; to prepare, make, create; to prepare something for someone";2* (^ ay er) "to mend, complete; to fit out, equip, put in order, arrange, adjust." 143 Position 2, emphasized by Greek word order 144 or at least, I think it did. 145 de signaling an advance in the argument. 146 Paul makes up a word here. It's a comparative of a superlative. "Less than the least." (O'Brien, 240). 147 I cherry-picked the best examples. But 1 Cor. 1:4; Eph. 3:2, 7, 8; 2 Tim. 1:9. This section is adapted from Stephen Berding, What are Spiritual Gifts: Rethinking the Conventional View, pages 122ff. 148 Use Acts 6:4 later? idea is that we aren't called to be evangelists. we don't devote ourselves to it. But we pray for opportunities, and we tell people about Jesus when we have chances. 149 dio. This the therefore that builds off the preceding argument. 150 It's common for NT writers to quote OT passages, up to the point they really want to focus on. See Acts 2:16-21. We can get caught up in all the intermediate details, but it's often the last point that's most important. (So focus on how everyone who calls on Jesus will be saved, not on the wonders in heaven, and the blood moon, etc. in Acts). 151 de signaling an advance in the argument. 152 This refers to Jesus descending to earth, not hell, probably. The point is that this verse has to be talking about Jesus-- only he descended, and ascended. Apparently, the sky is also viewed as part of earth. So lower parts of the earth= the stuff we walk on. 153 Fun fact. Some early Jewish interpretations of this phrase say it's talking about Moses. So part of Paul's point, maybe, is that it's about Jesus not Moses. The problem with this Jewish interpretation is...Moses died. 154 The NRSV actually does a really nice job on this point-- it adds in a couple words to clarify Paul's argument. More and more, I like that translation. 155 Newer translations say "equipping." Older write "perfecting" (KJ, ASV), Vulgate "consummation of the saints"; syriac peshitta, for the perfection/maturation of the saints(Liddell and Scott) "to adjust or put in order again, restore; to furnish completely "م) Bauer, Arndt, Gingrich) "to put in order, restore; to put into proper condition, complete, make complete; to prepare, make, create; to prepare something for someone";2* (^ ay er) "to mend, complete; to fit out, equip, put in order, arrange, adjust." 156 Don't forget to underline and capitalize the differences in the handout, lol. 157 People will totally remember that one. 158 Heliod.ap.Orib.49.1.1. (pl.), Sor.1.73 (pl.). Liddell-Scott. 159 There's a cool link here between do the "good works" God prepared ahead of time, and "the work of service," but I'm not going to really make a big deal about that for time reasons. 160 how we diagram it? how we understand the prepositional phrases? not sure how to say this in an uncomplicated way. 161 I need to make sure to put this in a handout or people won't understand/see the differences. 162 this is oversimplified, but... whatever. Explaining this better would be needlessly complicated. They both can mean "for," and they both mean "for" here. 163 de signaling an advance in the argument. 164 dio. This the therefore that builds off the preceding argument. 165 de signaling an advance in the argument. 166 This refers to Jesus descending to earth, not hell. The point is that this verse has to be talking about Jesus-- only he descended, and ascended. 167 Newer translations say "equipping." Older write "perfecting" (KJ, ASV), Vulgate "consummation of the saints"; syriac peshitta, for the perfection/maturation of the saints(Liddell and Scott) "to adjust or put in order again, restore; to furnish completely "م) Bauer, Arndt, Gingrich) "to put in order, restore; to put into proper condition, complete, make complete; to prepare, make, create; to prepare something for someone";2* (^ ay er) "to mend, complete; to fit out, equip, put in order, arrange, adjust." 168 the unity that comes from faith 169 Position 2, emphasized by Greek word order 170 de signaling an advance in the argument. 171 dio. This the therefore that builds off the preceding argument. 172 de signaling an advance in the argument. 173 This refers to Jesus descending to earth, not hell. The point is that this verse has to be talking about Jesus-- only he descended, and ascended. 174 Newer translations say "equipping." Older write "perfecting" (KJ, ASV), Vulgate "consummation of the saints"; syriac peshitta, for the perfection/maturation of the saints(Liddell and Scott) "to adjust or put in order again, restore; to furnish completely "م) Bauer, Arndt, Gingrich) "to put in order, restore; to put into proper condition, complete, make complete; to prepare, make, create; to prepare something for someone";2* (^ ay er) "to mend, complete; to fit out, equip, put in order, arrange, adjust." 175 The last "perfect" here is P2, emphasized in Greek word order. 176 in all ways, more literally: "with reference to all" 177 literally, "according to the working in/by the measure of each single part 178 so my defense of this point is rooted in what "grace" is. Jesus gave us a grace--divine favor and help--for the church. If you're doing what Jesus wants, it should feel like this is a grace (even if it's really hard at times). 179 marking resumption of the argument, ouv. 180 this is an interesting genitive. life from God?=life God gives? God's life? as though we are somehow participating in it? The life we have, that has God as a central part of it? Like the movie, "A bug's life." Your life looks a certain way. 181 This participle is functioning as a kind of summary of everything Paul just said about the Gentiles. He grabs that point, and then pushes forward with it. Something similar is Romans 5:1. 182 the thing they are chasing in life is uncleanness 183 signaling an advance in the argument. 184 "you" is Position 1, signaling a switch in the topic. Moving from Gentiles to "you." 185 we expect this of Gentiles-- but you!? You know/learned better. 186 "you have heard about Jesus, right?" 187 or "being corrupted." I think ruined is probably clearer. the one being ruined in accordance with the deceitful desires. 188 signaling an advance. This idea is not on the same level as the previous one. 189 this is a present infinitive, so it's imperfective. The idea is that this is viewed as open; as ongoing. "to take off" and "to put on" are aorist, meaning they are viewed as a whole. not a process. 190 "the spirit of your mind." I don't think this is referring to the Holy Spirit here. 191 overspecification. "This is what the new person is like." 192 ouv. Not the therefore that builds off the preceding argument as since A, B. The therefore that signals resumption of the argument after a digression (the doxology?). 193 could be translated "being eager." The idea of speed is involved. 194 de signaling an advance in the argument. 195 dio. This the therefore that builds off the preceding argument. 196 de signaling an advance in the argument. 197 This refers to Jesus descending to earth, not hell. The point is that this verse has to be talking about Jesus-- only he descended, and ascended. 198 Newer translations say "equipping." Older write "perfecting" (KJ, ASV), Vulgate "consummation of the saints"; syriac peshitta, for the perfection/maturation of the saints(Liddell and Scott) "to adjust or put in order again, restore; to furnish completely "م) Bauer, Arndt, Gingrich) "to put in order, restore; to put into proper condition, complete, make complete; to prepare, make, create; to prepare something for someone";2* (^ ay er) "to mend, complete; to fit out, equip, put in order, arrange, adjust." 199 Position 2, emphasized by Greek word order 200 marking resumption of the argument, ouv. 201 This is a classic-looking example of how participles following the main verb explain the main verb. And how repeated prepositions ("because") create numbered lists. 202 repeated preposition creates numbered lists. 203 signaling an advance in the argument. 204 "you" is Position 1, signaling a switch in the topic. Moving from Gentiles to "you." 205 "you have heard about Jesus, right?" 206 what to do with the aorist infinitive here. It's viewing it as a whole. Infinitives don't express time. Basically, it's either on or off, being viewed as a whole and not a process. 207 or "being corrupted." I think ruined is probably clearer. the one being ruined in accordance with the deceitful desires. 208 signaling an advance. This idea is not on the same level as the previous one. 209 Present infinitive. imperfective (ongoing) action. 210 aorist infinitive. Viewing it as a whole. It's either on or off?? 211 The response to the good news I'm describing here is mostly based on Acts, Mark, and 1 Peter. There are other ways to describe #2 in particular. 212 or loyalty, commitment, faithfulness. something like that. 213 Acts 16:31 can't possibly contradict 2:38-41. Luke, because he's a good story teller, doesn't always describe the full gospel message in the speeches, but he shows the people doing all three things. The jailer believes in Jesus, he shows his repentance by washing their feet and feeding them, and he gets baptized. He does the three things you have to do. And I think it'd be a huge mistake to read Eph. 2:8-9, as though "faith" is all that's needed--no repentance, no baptism. The point there is that we are saved through God's grace, as mediated through Jesus, and not through the Mosaic covenant. It's about faithfulness to Jesus, not placing oneself under the Mosaic covenant. 214 This passage is probably one of the better verses against the view of infant baptism. Baptism is YOUR appeal to God. 215 I don't know how else to take 1 Peter 3:21-22 seriously, as God's inspired word. All I'm doing is parroting Peter. 216 if indeed in him you were taught. again, trying to capture the P2 here. 217 signaling an advance in the argument. 218 "you" is Position 1, signaling a switch in the topic. Moving from Gentiles to "you." 219 we expect this of Gentiles-- but you!? You know/learned better. 220 "you have heard about Jesus, right?" 221 or "being corrupted." I think ruined is probably clearer. the one being ruined in accordance with the deceitful desires. 222 signaling an advance. This idea is not on the same level as the previous one. 223 this is a present infinitive, so it's imperfective. The idea is that this is viewed as open; as ongoing. "to take off" and "to put on" are aorist, meaning they are viewed as a whole. not a process. 224 "the spirit of your mind." I don't think this is referring to the Holy Spirit here. 225 overspecification. "This is what the new person is like." 226 Paul uses overspecification to clarify what the new person is. -- the one in accordance with God being... 227 dio. building off preceding argument. 228 This is the same verb as above. take off the old man=take off the lie. It's the lie that keeps our old man on. Or, it's the lie that keeps us from taking off our old man? 229 This is not the normal word for anger. παροργισμός (PsSol 8:9; LXX mostly act. 'provoking to anger': 3 Km 15:30; 4 Km 23:26 or 'an action that calls forth anger' in someone: 2 Esdr 19:18) state of being intensely provoked, angry mood, anger, pass. (Jer 21:5 w. θυμός and ὀργή) Eph 4:26 (cp. the Pythagorean saying Plut., Mor. 488bc; also 1QS 5:26-6:1; CD 9:6-8).-DELG s.v. ὀργή. M-M. TW.229 230 so... part of the good works that God gave us to do (2:10) means working, so we can provide for ourselves and for the needy. also, maybe, work is good. 231 "but" works as a point-counterpoint. A contrast is offered, to make us think more clearly how we are supposed to speak. The reason I try to translate "de" as now is to reserve "but" (alla) for these point-counterpoints. 232 the "and" here ties these two closely together? when we speak rotten words, we irritate the Spirit? Or is it more that they are on the same level, not pushing everything forward? Irritating the Spirit has to be something we do through our speech. It's the only thing being talked about. 233 translations all say, "grieve." But this meaning is for the passive use of the word. "Caused to be irritated=grieved." When it's used as an active (and not passive), it means to vex, irritate, offend, insult (BDAG). 234 dio. building off preceding argument. 235 This is the same verb as above. take off the old man=take off the lie. It's the lie that keeps our old man on. Or, it's the lie that keeps us from taking off our old man? 236 In the Greek OT, it's actually 4:5. 237 Brannan, R., Penner, K. M., Loken, I., Aubrey, M., & Hoogendyk, I. (Eds.). (2012). The Lexham English Septuagint (Jdg 20:36-37). Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press. 238 so... part of the good works that God gave us to do (2:10) means working, so we can provide for ourselves and for the needy. also, maybe, work is good. 239 This is another point-counterpoint. We are supposed to read the first command as a frame, to help us think about the second in a particular way. The second command is more important. What should come out of our mouths? 240 the "and" here ties these two closely together? when we speak rotten words, we irritate the Spirit? Or is it more that they are on the same level, not pushing everything forward? Irritating the Spirit has to be something we do through our speech. It's the only thing being talked about. 241 translations all say, "grieve." But this meaning is for the passive use of the word. "Caused to be irritated=grieved." When it's used as an active (and not passive), it means to vex, irritate, offend, insult (BDAG). 242 "Grieve" is when it's in the passive. "Be irritated"=grieved. But in the active, as it is here, it means "irritate." 243 Liddell-Scott. 3. in histor. writers, of cavalry and light troops, harass, annoy an army by constant attacks, Hdt.9.40, cf. 61, Th.6.66, X.HG6.3.14, An.2.3.23, etc.; λῃσταὶ .. τὴν Λακωνικὴν ἧσσον ἐλύπουν Th.4.53, cf. Ar.Av.1427.243 244 It's χαρίζομαι, not aphiemi. 245 "Grace," again, usually means favor/help/kindness. 246 signaling advance in argument. the next step... 247 behavior that flouts social and moral standards, shamefulness, obscenity (BDAG). 248 Verbs expressing present necessity, obligation, possibility, and propriety often use imperfects (Robertson, 919). 249 ouv, signaling a return to the main argument. Which is what here? Basically, signaling a return from the scary reminder of what they know about the fate of those who live this way. The "for" this you know is a digression. 250 vuv de. Now for time, and now for advance in the argument. 251 dio. Building on preceding argument. 252 signaling advance in argument. the next step... 253 behavior that flouts social and moral standards, shamefulness, obscenity (BDAG). 254 Verbs expressing present necessity, obligation, possibility, and propriety often use imperfects (Robertson, 919). 255 Runge calls these point-counterpoint sets. Two sets are put in front of you; the first one is usually less important, but provides a framework for understanding the second usually more important one. This is the function of "alla" "but." I'll talk about these more in the next sermon. 256 "gar." They strengthen/explain. They don't push the argument forward. 257 Matt. 19:16-30; compare verse 16 with 23. This is two different ways of saying the same thing. Anyone reading this, that has a problem with it, I'd be happy to email a copy of my lesson on the basis for the final judgment. This teaching used to be part of the Church's basic teaching, and every systematic theology (with the exception of Grudem) I've read faithfully discusses it. But pastors are too scared to teach it. I maybe cry my through this in fear, but I teach it. 258 And sometimes we are in churches that refuse to teach this. 259 1 Cor. 9:27; Matt. 5:27-30. 260 I can't understand things like, "a possible impossibility." Or, "Part of how God makes sure we persevere, is by giving us these warnings." 261 Worst I ever saw was a pastor who spent 3 sermons--maybe an hour and a half-- dancing in front of a verse that he didn't want to teach. Only to ultimately skip over it, and not deal with it. 262 ouv, signaling a return to the main argument. Which is what here? Basically, signaling a return from the scary reminder of what they know about the fate of those who live this way. The "for" this you know is a digression. 263 vuv de. Now for time, and now for advance in the argument. 264 The RSV/NRSV makes it sound like you shouldn't hang out with unbelievers at all. But the idea is that you can't join people in doing these sins. 265 "Lord," with maybe a couple exceptions?, is always used for Jesus, not the Father. 266 I'm not quite sure how to explain the "in." This is where you find the fruit? He's not saying, the fruit is goodness, righteousness, and truth. The fruit is in all goodness, righteousness, and truth. 267 Participles following main verbs explain. 268 dio. Building on preceding argument. 269 This is probably wrong. After reading O'Brien, he thinks it's a combination of Isaiah 26:19 and 60:1. I need to fix this at some point. 270 Jesus shines. Mark 9:3. 271 This is very Psalms 1/ Proverbs type here. "The two roads" is standard OT theology. 272 ouv. resumption of the argument. 273 when wives think about how they ought to relate to their husbands, their model is how they, and the church, live toward the Lord Jesus. You submit to Jesus, because he's Lord/head. 274 For husbands, when they think about how they ought to relate to their wives, they should think about how Jesus treated the church. Jesus loved the church, gave himself for her, to make her set apart for himself, so he'd make her glorious, understanding that she is part of you, and that loving her is loving yourself because she's part of you. You nourish and cherish your wife, as Christ did the church. Jesus understands that we are part of his body, and he treats us accordingingly. 275 How this is indented makes a big difference in how it's understood. You could argue it's subordinate to being filled with the Spirit, having gone from husbands to wives as the topic. But it's an indicative verb. And if it was less controversial, I don't think I'd read it that way.??? RIP the way I understood verse 21. 276 "Husbands" and "wives" aren't in there, but the gender is clear from the definite articles. 277 Participles following main verb explain. 278 when wives think about how they ought to relate to their husbands, their model is how they, and the church, live toward the Lord Jesus. You submit to Jesus, because he's Lord/head. 279 Runge calls these point-counterpoint sets. Basically, this is why I reserve my use of "but" for "alla" statements. 280 when wives think about how they ought to relate to their husbands, their model is how they, and the church, live toward the Lord Jesus. You submit to Jesus, because he's Lord/head. 281 What some will want to say here is that Christ is Lord over the church, so the husbands should be Lord over their wives. But how does Paul use Jesus as an example here? The focus, when he's talking to men, is on how Christ served the church. The focus, when he's talking to women, is how Christ is the head. I think if we respect Paul, we will understand that the most important thing we can do here, is obey the verses addressed to us, and take seriously the significance of Jesus' life, as Paul uses it. 282 Technically, the command to husbands has its own separate main/indicative verb. But the lack of any connecting word, kai, de, whatever, shows it's closely related. It's not a separate thing (O'Brien's commentary, who cites Wallace). Basically, "be filled with the Spirit" is the overriding command for the entire section, going into children and slaves in chapter 6. 283 this= the (whatever) good. 284 Ernest Best, ICC: NA27 brackets ἐν κυρίῳ. It is read by 𝔓46 א A D1 Ivid Ψ 0278 0285 33 1739 1881 𝔪 a m vg sy co but omitted by B D* F G b; McionTvid Cyp Ambst. Both readings are therefore well supported. If not originally present the phrase is what would be added to 'Christianise' the injunction; if its addition had been influenced by Col 3:20 it would have qualified δίκαιον; if the influence had come from 5:22 or 6:7 ὡς τῷ κυρίῳ would have been expected. The presence of the phrase accords with its general use in the letter (cf 4:17; 6:10) and in Paul. However, if originally present it is difficult to see why it should have been omitted. Marcion provides the earliest evidence for its omission and Masson has suggested that he left it out because he found it difficult to associate κύριος with the Decalogue. This is speculative and does nothing to account for its omission by other church Fathers who did not share Marcion's views on the OT. Had Marcion wished to alter the text it would have been more logical for him to omit the OT quotation. If AE had intended to refer here to the Lord would he not have used ὡς as in 5:22; 6:7? Was there however any need to refer to the Lord? What AE says about obedience is well enough supported by his quotation from the Decalogue which his readers would have seen as a divine instruction. To Jews the commandment would have sounded Jewish but Christians having taken over the OT would have seen it as Christian. With considerable hesitation we prefer therefore to read the shorter text. 285 The best example of this is found in Genesis 38, which tells the story of two people: a man named Judah, and his daughter-in-law Tamar. Judah refused to act rightly toward Tamar, not giving her what she was due. He was supposed to give her his son, to give her a child. Tamar took what was rightly hers by tricking (? not quite the right word) Judah into impregnating her, and Judah's final words are these: 26 Then Judah identified them and said, "She is more righteous than I, since I did not give her to my son Shelah." And he did not know her again." She acted rightly within the context of her relationship; Judah did not. So when the Bible speaks of God's righteousness, it refers to God acting rightly, in terms of fulfilling his commitment to his people. 286 This is often considered to be one of the main issues Romans addresses. How can God be considered righteous, when so many Jews have rejected Jesus as Messiah? Has God been unfaithful to his promises, to his people? 287εὔνοια② a positive attitude exhibited in a relationship, good attitude, willingness (BDAG) 288 The following discussion of slavery is adapted from Hoehner, Ephesians. 289 Spurgeon has a great sermon on slavery I found helpful for getting into it, entitled "Our Motto" (1879). https://www.spurgeongems.org/vols25-27/chs1484.pdf 290 So what I'm trying to do here is help people see why Paul has to use so many subordinate clauses explaining how and why to "obey your human lords." Obeying isn't something we want to do, so Paul works at this to help us. 291 Position 2, emphasis. 292 participles following main verbs explain. 293 especially, as my dad would say, in particular seasons of life. 294 Earlier, Paul had said, "to put on the new man-- the one in accordance with God being created righteousness and holiness of the truth." (4:24) This is not a different thing. 295 English Bibles usually have "spiritual forces of evil." "forces" isn't there. Really, "the wicked spiritual ones in the heavenlies." 296 The most important verb in this section is here: stand. The rest of these explain how/in what we should stand. Participles ("ing" verbs) that follow the main verb explain. 297 putting on a belt around yourself in/with truth. 298 I'll defend this below. See Romans 10:8-10. "speech/utterance" (rhema) of God 299 This line doesn't begin a new sentence. There's no reason to chop this up. 300 Paul is modeling what it looks like to have the readiness for the gospel. 301 I'm pretty sure I read this wrong when I went through the first time. Scholars were divided between "exposing" meaning living rightly, as lights, and your example exposing, or that exposing means challenging sin. But I think exposing actually refers to proclaiming the gospel. 302 marking resumption of the argument, ouv. 303 this is an interesting genitive. life from God?=life God gives? God's life? as though we are somehow participating in it? The life we have, that has God as a central part of it? Like the movie, "A bug's life." Your life looks a certain way. 304 This participle is functioning as a kind of summary of everything Paul just said about the Gentiles. He grabs that point, and then pushes forward with it. Something similar is Romans 5:1. 305 the thing they are chasing in life is uncleanness 306 Earlier, Paul had said, "to put on the new man-- the one in accordance with God being created righteousness and holiness of the truth." (4:24) This is not a different thing. 307 English Bibles usually have "spiritual forces of evil." "forces" isn't there. Really, "the wicked spiritual ones in the heavenlies." 308 Earlier, Paul had said, "to put on the new man-- the one in accordance with God being created in righteousness and holiness of the truth." (4:24) This is not a different thing. 309 English Bibles usually have "spiritual forces of evil." "forces" isn't there. Really, "the wicked spiritual ones in the heavenlies." 310 The most important verb in this section is here: stand. The rest of these explain how/in what we should stand. 311 putting on a belt around yourself in/with truth. 312 I'm going to have to pass over this, and that's maybe a mistake, but what Paul is doing in here is grabbing verses from the LXX (Greek Old Testament) that describe the armor that God himself wears, and saying that we have been given the armor that God himself wears. 313 What I'm not saying, but mean, is that righteousness is NOT basically a forensic/legal word. 314 This is actually unusual for Paul, and the NT. Usually, salvation is discussed as something that will happen, when we will be saved from God's wrath on the day of judgment. 315 rhema, not logos 316 This line doesn't begin a new sentence. There's no reason to chop this up. There's no new indicative verb. 317 Paul is modeling what it looks like to have the readiness for the gospel. --------------- ------------------------------------------------------------ --------------- ------------------------------------------------------------ 147