I URGE YOU, THEN. "I have showed you the secret Plan of God and the glory of Christ and his church to make you aware of _who you are!!!_ What I am about to say is based on the fact of _who you are_ in Christ!!!" A PRISONER BECAUSE. "I am a prisoner because I serve the Lord. My Jewish enemies have pu... [ Continue Reading ]
BE. "Christian ethics call you to be humble, generous, and patient always! Show that your love is real by being helpful to one another in the problems and sorrows of life.... [ Continue Reading ]
DO YOUR BEST. "As Christians you all have unity in the _one Spirit_ (1 Corinthians 12:13), and by the peace which grows out of love and that binds you together, do your best to preserve this unity!!!" Compare Colossians 3:14.... [ Continue Reading ]
THERE IS ONE BODY. Not _one kind of body,_ but ONE BODY composed of every one who is IN FACT a son or daughter of God! Even though each congregation is _the body of Christ_ (see note on Ephesians 2:22), and Christ is the head of each congregation in that sense, yet Christ is the head of the ONE BODY... [ Continue Reading ]
ONE LORD. Jesus Christ (Acts 2:36), who by his bloody-death bought men for God and is head of the church which he built (Matthew 16:18). ONE FAITH. One living, life-giving confident trust which centers in _God's finished work in Christ._ Our _creed_ is Christ!!! ONE BAPTISM. The _one baptism_ which... [ Continue Reading ]
ONE GOD AND FATHER. Not many "gods," but ONE God for all men, both Jew and Gentile, whom the Spirit gives the right to call Father (Romans 8:15). WHO IS LORD OF ALL. See 1 Corinthians 15:28. WORKS THROUGH ALL. _MacKnight_ views this in the sense of Romans 8:28. IS IN ALL. See Acts 17:28. The whole p... [ Continue Reading ]
EACH ONE OF US. "In addition to the gifts which I have just mentioned, which each and every Christian receives, I now mention the special gifts which Christ has for us individually. Each receives what Christ has to give them, in proportion to what Christ himself has given, some more and some less, b... [ Continue Reading ]
AS THE SCRIPTURE SAYS. Psalms 68:18 Septuagint. "When Christ went up to the very heights of heaven itself, he took many captives with him (the evil spirits and powers who had made slaves of men by using sin, the curse of The Law, and the fear of death); and he gave spiritual gifts to all men, both J... [ Continue Reading ]
NOW? "Because the Jews deny that Jesus is The Christ because of his shame and death, I show you that he went up' can have no other meaning but that he first came down to earth from heaven. This must be true, if the one who _went up_ is divine, as the Psalm shows!" [Lower depth of the earth = the low... [ Continue Reading ]
SO HE. God's throne is said to be above the heavens, since God is _above_ all! As Christ sits at God's right side, he has been raised above all! Paul declares that all the gifts working in the church at Ephesus, whether normal or supernormal, have their origin in the Christ who went up to heaven!... [ Continue Reading ]
IT WAS HE WHO. Paul identifies the _gifts_ as specific services performed in the body of Christ. APOSTLES. If we take this in the strict sense, it means the Twelve and Paul. Their work was complete and not one can or did take their place. They belong to the _first generation_ of the church. PROPHETS... [ Continue Reading ]
TO PREPARE ALL GOD'S PEOPLE. Christ gave the _gifts_ mentioned in Ephesians 4:11 to prepare the believing Jews and Gentiles, who are God's people, for the ordinary work of Christian service (both telling others the Good News, Acts 8:4; and benevolence), to build up the body of Christ (in spiritual s... [ Continue Reading ]
AND SO. The _work_ of the leadership is to bring each Christian, man or woman, to the highest degree of spiritual maturity possible! By doing this, Christians come to a _oneness_ in faith and knowledge of Christ. Lack of _oneness_ implies spiritual immaturity. OF CHRIST'S FULL STATURE. The _Exposito... [ Continue Reading ]
NO LONGER BE CHILDREN. Children are weak, inexperienced, easily fooled. God has purposely set up this world as an _obstacle course!_ We reach our _eternal goal_ only by using all of God's help to avoid the mudholes, the barbed-wire, the barriers, and everything else the Devil puts in our way to send... [ Continue Reading ]
INSTEAD. "Rather than being children, we must grow up to Christ's full stature!" Truth spoken without love can destroy the one who uses it! See Revelation 2:4-5 and notes. But truth spoken in love will bless both the one who speaks and the one who hears!!!... [ Continue Reading ]
UNDER HIS CONTROL. "As the _head,_ Christ controls his body. Under his control, all the different parts of the body (Jew and Gentile, slave and free, man and woman) fit together in a synergetic community where the whole is greater than the sum of its parts." The health and growth of the whole body d... [ Continue Reading ]
IN THE LORD'S NAME, THEN. "This is the Lord's command I speak to you! Do not live any longer like the heathen do! They live lives that are morally and intellectually futile! Do not be fooled by their mysteries and secrets, which they call _true wisdom!"_ WORTHLESS. "They _waste_ their mental powers... [ Continue Reading ]
IN THE DARK. "They are ignorant of truth and do not know they are ignorant!!!" IN THE LIFE THAT GOD GIVES. _The Expositor's Greek Testament_ says: "This cannot mean the _godly life,_ the way of life approved by God. For ZOE in the NT seems never to mean the _course_ of life, but _life_ itself, the p... [ Continue Reading ]
THEY HAVE LOST. "They are no longer able to feel shame or guilt at the things they do!" THEY GIVE THEMSELVES. See Romans 1:24-32.... [ Continue Reading ]
NOT WHAT YOU LEARNED. The message of the Good News included the command: _You must be holy, because I am holy_ (1 Peter 1:16).... [ Continue Reading ]
YOU CERTAINLY HEARD. Paul links Christ with the _shape_ of moral life! AND AS HIS FOLLOWERS. See note on Ephesians 4:13_. Jesus_ refers to the _Christ of history,_ through whom God spoke (Hebrews 1:2), and whose words form the message of the Good News (John 14:26; Acts 1:1-2).... [ Continue Reading ]
SO GET RID OF. "Because you are new in Christ, your life must be a series of deliberate choices in which you get rid of your old self (Romans 8:12-13) to live new in the Spirit! The _life style_ of the Christian must _match up_ with his or her new relationship with Christ!!!... [ Continue Reading ]
COMPLETELY NEW. "You made a promise to God in your baptism (1 Peter 3:21), and you must change your whole way of thinking, with God's help (Romans 12:1-2)_." Becoming holy =_ taking _being put right_ with God seriously!!!... [ Continue Reading ]
YOU MUST PUT ON. Note this is said to those who are already Christians!!! The _Expositor's Greek Testament_ says: "... but as the holy form of human life which results from redemption,' created once for all in and by Christ, and participated in by the individual convert." We do become _new_ in our n... [ Continue Reading ]
NO MORE LYING THEN! Lying was _standard practice_ in the Gentile world. BECAUSE. "I want you to see the union we have with each other through our union with Christ! This is the reason you must tell the truth to your brother! Being part of the body of Christ means that your whole life is shared with... [ Continue Reading ]
DO NOT LET. "Anger can lead you into sin, if it is not controlled!" [Paul quotes Psalms 4:4 Septuagint.] DO NOT STAY ANGRY. "Do not let your anger turn into a grudge and make you hostile!... [ Continue Reading ]
DON'T GIVE THE DEVIL. "Uncontrolled anger and violent temper give the Devil a chance to tempt you into evil actions!" [_Erasmus_ translated this: "Give no chance to heathen to say bad things about the holy religion which you profess."]... [ Continue Reading ]
WHO USED TO ROB. Here is a strong statement of the _Christian work ethic._ Honest work is the best antidote to a dishonest life! But notice the emphasis on _to be able to help the poor!!!_... [ Continue Reading ]
DO NOT USE HARMFUL WORDS. Christians must work to build, not to destroy! Compare James 3:5-12.... [ Continue Reading ]
AND DO NOT MAKE. "If you use harmful words and live unholy lives, you will make God's Holy Spirit sad, and deprive yourself of His help!" GOD'S MARK OF OWNERSHIP. This mark of ownership was placed on them in the new birth of water and the Spirit (John 3:5). A GUARANTEE. We expect to be completely se... [ Continue Reading ]
GET RID OF. "All these things make the Spirit sad!... [ Continue Reading ]
INSTEAD. Christian love is: acting toward others as God has acted toward you! These are positive qualities that the Spirit leads you to develop (as the written word teaches you)! Compare Ephesians 4:3; Galatians 5:22-26. [Contrast this with the Gentile philosopher Epictetus, who said: "If one is in... [ Continue Reading ]