Ephesians

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“For we are His creation, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared ahead of time so that we should walk in them” (Ephesians 2:10 HCSB).

September 23, 2021

WHAT’S GOD’S PURPOSE FOR US? We cannot earn salvation, but having received it by God’s grace through faith, we become God’s “creation” (Greek: “poiema”). In Christ, we become God’s poem, His workmanship, His masterpiece. We are a new creation, therefore we begin to display the new nature in our daily walk, doing good works. Yet

“but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head—Christ” (Ephesians 4:15 NKJV).

September 25, 2020

DO YOU SPEAK THE TRUTH IN LOVE? In this verse, Paul described both the goal and the means of our speech to one another. The goal is maturity in Christ. And the means is twofold: “truth” and “love.” The mission of the Church is to make disciples who are being conformed to the image of

“For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.” (Ephesians 2:10 NKJV).

September 23, 2020

EVER WONDER WHAT GOD IS UP TO WITH YOU? We cannot earn salvation, but having received it by God’s grace through faith, we become God’s “workmanship” (Greek: “poiema”). We become God’s poem, His masterpiece. We are a new creation, therefore we begin to display the new nature in our daily walk, doing good works. Yet

“Don’t be drunk with wine, because that will ruin your life. Instead, be filled with the Holy Spirit” (Ephesians 5:18 NLT).

September 27, 2019

ARE YOU DEPENDING ON THE SPIRIT TO LIVE? Two commands are given here, with the first being illustrative to help understand and emphasize the second. They are: 1) Don’t allow your mind and senses to be dulled and dissipated under the influence of alcohol. 2) Instead, be continuously filled with the Spirit, so that your

“Don’t use foul or abusive language. Let everything you say be good and helpful, so that your words will be an encouragement to those who hear them” (Ephesians 4:29 NLT).

September 26, 2019

DO YOUR WORDS EDIFY OTHERS? In a generation of course communication we are to sound a different tone. Jesus taught that our words are an expression of our heart condition, saying, “Out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks” (Luke 6:45). Do you speak for the edification of the hearer or to benefit

“Now all glory to God, who is able, through his mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think” (Ephesians 3:20 NLT).

September 24, 2019

WHAT MIGHT GOD DO THROUGH ONE WHO GIVES HIM ALL THE GLORY? The apostle Paul closed his prayer at the end of chapter three with a beautiful benediction. He reminds us that all the glory (credit, thanks, honor, worship) belong to our omnipotent God. When we are able to rightly give God all the glory,

“I also pray that you will understand the incredible greatness of God’s power for us who believe him” (Ephesians 1:19 NLT).

September 22, 2019

THE INCREDIBLE GREATNESS OF GOD’S POWER FOR BELIEVERS Paul prayed that the believers in Ephesus would understand the incredible greatness of God’s power. Why? That they might live by faith in His power rather than their own. Do you want to see the wonder-working power of Christ in our world today? Then put away human

“Now these are the gifts Christ gave to the church: the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, and the pastors and teachers” (Ephesians 4:11 NLT).

September 25, 2018

THOSE CHRIST GAVE TO EQUIP GOD’S PEOPLE
Viewed as offices, at least one or two of these five roles would not remain active today. For instance, the office of apostle would include the qualification of having seen the resurrected Lord Jesus. Certainly, no one today could make that claim. However, viewed as “gifts,” as the NLT here translates it, the five may be considered not only active, but critical in the equipping of God’s people in the church.

Although the word “gifts” is not in the original Greek, it might be considered implied by the original, “he gave.” Viewing the five as gifts or as giftings, the characteristics of these five might be described as follows:

– APOSTLE – A gifted and passionate pioneer, who extends the mission of the church into new and healthy ways, breaking ground in new cultures, always looking to plant new churches where gospel hasn’t been heard.

– PROPHET – A gifted and passionate guardian of God’s Word, concerned with applying it to God’s people, calling for holiness and loyalty.

-EVANGELIST – A gifted and passionate proclaimer of the gospel as the core message of the church, a powerful enlister who invites people far from God to draw near.

– PASTOR/SHEPHERD – A gifted and loving nurturer and passionate defender of the flock, concerned for people care and maintaining unity in the family of God.

-TEACHER – A gifted communicator who is able to lead God’s people into deeper understanding of His Word, able to take complex things and explain them in simple, yet accurate and memorable ways, passionate about study and helping other to grow in knowledge and practice.

Viewed as “giftings,” doesn’t every church need all five in order to rightly equip the saints?

“Nevertheless let each one of you in particular so love his own wife as himself, and let the wife see that she respects her husband” (Ephesians 5:33 NKJV).

September 27, 2017

This is the summary of Paul’s instruction to husbands and wives. Husbands are to “love” their wives. This is the sacrificial love (Greek: “agape”) of Christ, which He expressed by laying down His life for us. Husbands are to be servant-leaders. Wives are to “respect” their husbands. A surprising command in light of the husband’s command to “love.” Shouldn’t the wife also love her husband? Yet, “respect” is the way most men receive love. So, respecting her husband is the best way to show her love. When the husband loves his wife with sacrificial love and the wife loves her husband with respectful love, then their house becomes a lighthouse, showing forth the “mystery” of Christ’s love for the church.

“according to the eternal purpose which He accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord, in whom we have boldness and access with confidence through faith in Him” (Ephesians 3:11-12 NKJV).

September 24, 2017

Americans may point to the First Amendment as the protection of free speech in our country. But it was revealed to the apostle Paul that it is actually those who are in Christ Jesus who have been given freedom of speech with God the Father. For those who are in Christ Jesus have been given both “boldness and access” to God. “Access” means that the curtain of separation between sinful man and holy God has been removed. Christ has opened up the “way” to God. We may enter into the very presence of God in Christ. Not only have we been granted an unlimited audience with God, we have been given freedom to speak all that we have on our hearts to Him. Yet, as Albert Barnes’s has noted, this “boldness is not rashness” and this confident access “is not presumption.” But we are able to approach God the Father with the freedom of being His children without fear of rejection.