EPHESIANS CHAPTER 4
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Eph 4,1-4
(91g) Thy kingdom come
>>
The called >> Walking along the narrow way >>
Responding to the call of God
Eph 4,1-3
(71e) Authority
>>
Ordained by God >> Worthiness of man >> Perfecting the worthiness He
has given us
(77h) Thy kingdom come
>>
Tapping into the power of God through humility >>
The high position of a humble servant
(93d) Thy kingdom come
>>
The narrow way >> Walk in a manner worthy of
your calling – A person might ask, ‘What about good
works, don’t they play a part in unity?’ Yes they do; good works are a
manifestation of truth, but good works can be
forged, and so can charisma. When God reveals Himself to a person, and that person conveys
what he has learned to other people, the Holy Spirit follows obedience to His truth. Before we build unity
in the Church we must share the truth with one another, and before we can
share the truth we must know it for ourselves, and to know it we must obey it. Each person needs to
develop his own relationship with God, so when we come
together, we have something to offer each other. Truth is synonymous with
freedom (Jn 8-32). If people
have pursued freedom in virtually every war,
shedding blood throughout the ages in hope of attaining it, we will have to pursue God's freedom with the same veracity in order to achieve
unity, only not with guns and bombs but with the armor of righteousness on the right hand and on the left
(2Cor 6-7).
(99m) Thy kingdom come
>>
Perseverance >> Persevere in ministering to the
body of Christ
(105k) Thy kingdom come >>
Faith >>
Led by the Spirit to the truth >>
Spirit will lead you to Christ
– There is a word that Paul often used
throughout this chapter, “truth.” Does the truth have anything to do with
unity? You bet it does! As we wholeheartedly seek God, He discloses
Himself to us, and when He does, we come to know the truth, and as we
develop a relationship with Him, we have something to share with the brethren, which
causes unity to grow between us. “What is Truth?” is the
question Pilate asked Jesus at His crucifixion. “Truth” is best understood
in contrast to its cousin: “fact.” What’s the difference between "fact" and
truth? People use these two interchangeably, but according to Scripture
there is literally a world of difference between the two. Facts should remain in the domain
of worldly knowledge. Science, for example, knows many facts about the natural
universe, but “truth” comes from God.
Everyone has an opinion, and so does God, and His opinion is the Truth.
Therefore, If God does not reveal the truth to us, then we don’t know it.
“Truth” is the product that results from combining the Holy Spirit with
the word of God in prayer. It is not so much that we
are waiting for God to reveal His truth, as it is God waiting for us
to make a commitment to the word of God and prayer. See also: Spirit and the Word (Spirit reveals
God's word);
1Tim 4,7-11; 116a
(126l) Thy kingdom come
>>
Manifestations of faith >> Patience >>
Be patient with your brother –
What did James say? We are quick to anger and quick to give up on the
attributes of God, the fruits of the Spirit. What is Paul asking us to do but be patient
with God, who asks us to be patient with the brethren and use the tools He has
given us to love them. Faith is a
mystery; Paul talked about the mystery of godliness (1Tim 3,8-16), which is
perhaps the greatest mystery of all. It is easy to believe in God, but how
many people believe in Him enough to receive His faith? God
calls us to live by walking in the fruits of the
Spirit (Gal 5,22-25), and this is translated as being tolerant with our brother. Next time we want to give up on somebody, we
need to remember that God has not given up on us. Intolerable as our brother
seems at times is seven times more that God tolerates us; and if it weren't for His grace and
mercy, none of us would see the Lord (Heb 12-14). As it is, He is happy to help us, and the
only thing he asks from us is genuine faith from a sincere heart.
(128e) Thy kingdom come
>>
Manifestations of faith >> Gentleness >>
Be gentle in all your ways >> Put gentleness in
your character
(129f) Thy kingdom come
>>
Manifestations of faith >> Unity >>
love perfects unity >> Love is the mortar
between the blocks – How do we know when we have a bona-fide unity
growing among us, and how do we distinguish it from mere socializing?
Our
freedom in Christ is defined by the Holy Spirit; how much more is it
defined by unity when we choose to live in peace with one another? Unity is not
defined by one member’s freedom but by one body’s freedom consisting of many
members. Enforcing the acceptance of certain rules, doctrines, attitudes and
values is
a humanistic unity, resembling a cult, and there is no freedom in it, but the
freedom of genuine unity is led by the Spirit.
(131h) Thy kingdom come
>>
Manifestations of faith >> Unity >>
Interdependence >> Being selfless toward one
another – If there is
genuine unity in
the Church,
it is the result of being led by the Spirit. Social functions and chumming with
friends at church is one thing, but "unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace" is another.
Attributing sociability to unity is a travesty. Claiming to have some level of unity just because we like to
jibber-jabber about anything but God exposes humanism in our Churches. This is
one of Satan’s tactics
keeping us from pursuing genuine unity, thinking we already
have it. The term “Secular Humanism” is redundant, since all humanism is
secular.
People are good at socializing; it comes naturally to us, and that which comes
natural originates from the flesh, and that which is of the
flesh opposes God. When the chips are down and people come looking for
answers in the Church and find nothing but social
functions, it is like visiting a cemetery and seeking hope from the dead.
(139b) Temple
>>
Building the temple (with hands) >>
Encouragement >> The adversity of our brothers
encourages us
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Eph 4-1,2
(4j)
Responsibility >> The choices you
make >> Accountable for your deeds
(96h) Thy kingdom come
>>
Attitude >> Having an attitude of humility
Eph 4-1
(12g) Servant
>>
Bond servant >> Their relationship with God –
The Lord never forced Paul to submit to Him, though a whip had often torn his back
for doing the Lord’s
will, and for this reason Paul said in Gal 6-17, “I bear on my body the
brand-marks of Jesus,” as though Christ Himself wielded the
cat-o-nine-tails. Paul’s love for God was so great that He could even have
Paul whipped and it wouldn’t change his loyalty. This is the kind of loyalty
that we need to show the
Lord, knowing that God wants only the best for us, but He also wants the
best for those around us and wants to use us to reach them. The
question is, are we willing to endure ill-treatment for the sake of winning
some to Christ? We live in a world that hates God, and Paul was
completely devoted to evangelizing even his persecutors in hope that they
would escape the torments of hell to be instead counted in the rolls of
heaven. This indicates the importance of our salvation; the fact that we are
born-again and going to heaven is worth sacrificing our earthly lives that some may be saved.
(53g) Paradox
>>
Opposites >> Preaching freedom in bondage
(61a) Paradox
>>
Two implied meanings >> Prisoner—In jail /
Of God’s will –
Paul called himself a prisoner of the Lord, and he happened to be in jail
when he wrote this epistle. He was in jail as a result of doing the will of God,
preaching the gospel to every creature that came within earshot of him.
Everybody heard the gospel wherever he went; Paul made sure of it; he was
the greatest evangelist the world has ever known. He was the Lord’s
prisoner, not just in jail, but also a prisoner of the Lord’s will, a
bondslave of Christ. He was addicted to the will of God, compelled by
the Spirit, yet Paul’s will was perfectly intact so he could rebel if he
wanted. Paul wrote about being slaves of righteousness
in Romans chapters six and seven, and this is what he meant, not that we
should do the will of God until it lands us in jail, but that we
should be committed enough to doing the will of God that it affects the
world around us.
(246b) Kingdom of God
>>
Spirit realm imposed on the natural realm >>
Literal manifestations >> Literal bondage to
Christ
Eph 4-3
(6b)
Responsibility >> Advocate God’s cause >>
Jesus’ yoke of love –
It is interesting that Paul chose peace of all the fruits of the Spirit that are in order of importance, love being top, joy being second
and peace third. It is down the list a ways; yet note its significance. How much more important is joy and love?
Living in this world and in
the flesh we will meet resistance, and when it comes, peace is the one fruit that keeps us in one
piece without falling apart. Without peace we cannot have unity;
bickering and
constant friction is the antithesis of unity; it is what brings down the
house. We could say that it was a lack of love or a lack of joy, but a lack
of peace describes a decimated battlefield better than any of them. If we make the
necessary sacrifices in our flesh to keep it subdued, and if we protect
unity through this bond of peace, love and joy will follow, and we
will enjoy the fruits of our labor and sacrifices.
(7g) Responsibility
>>
Protecting the gospel >> Defending your
territory
(9c)
Responsibility >> Prevent disunity within
the body of Christ >>
Prevent discord within the Church
(46c) Judgment
>>
Spiritual warfare >> Subjecting your flesh >>
Knowledge is our weapon
(54j) Paradox
>>
Opposites >> Freedom with fences –
Unity of the Spirit is the essence of freedom, contained in the
bond of peace. Although we have a new will to serve God, there is a
point that we must force ourselves to obey Him, because we live in the
weakness of sinful flesh. Coercing our flesh to do the will of
God represents the bond of peace. Sometimes it is not easy to live in peace,
and in those moments we must hold our tongue and force our flesh to submit to one another in
love.
(96j) Thy kingdom come
>>
Attitude >> Having a peaceful attitude
(126h) Thy kingdom come
>>
Manifestations of faith >> Peace >>
Anointing of peace
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Eph 4,4-10
(130d) Thy kingdom come
>>
Manifestations of faith >> Unity >>
Being in one accord >> Having one origin –
During the First Century there was one body, one Spirit, one hope, one faith
and one God, but now there is a hundred of each. There are many baptisms; some
say we must baptize in Jesus’ name only, others say we must baptize in
Father, Son and Holy Spirit; and if they don’t say it right, supposedly it
won’t work, like an incantation of magic. We get baptized and it is no
longer what God intended; it is now a formula, something they read from a book
like a witch stirring her pot, speaking over the person like voodoo. This is
what baptism is to unsaved people: they put their confidence in the ceremony
instead of God, who raises the dead. We no longer resemble the Church that
Jesus established, and baptism is just one of many examples of that. There is
only one Spirit, yet every false religion has its own spirit these days, and
the hope of some is to extract as much of the unrighteous mammon from the
people as possible. There is one God and Father, yet look how many gods there
are in the world. Since the fall of man there were many gods, yet after the
Church was born, they added to the list with Christian gods in various
denominations, and none of them can agree with each other, so there is no hope
of unity. These are not flavors of Christianity; every denomination says,
‘we’re right and they’re wrong.’ Before the second coming of Christ,
God will fix all these problems, because He’s not coming for a church like
this, but one without spot of wrinkle or any such thing (Eph 5-27). If He were
coming just for Pentecostals, then maybe they have a point, but He’s not
coming for any denomination but for the one and only True Church. In order for
all the denominations to unite, God will need to intervene. Unity that God
intends will dissolve all the denominations, and for that reason it will be
painful for many. This is a problem we caused that we can’t fix, yet there
is occasion for hope.
Eph 4,4-6
(136a) Temple
>>
Your spirit is the temple of God >> The body of
Christ >> Similarity in the body >>
The things we have in common >> Common faith
-- These verses go with verse 13
(255h) Trinity
>>
Father, Son and Holy Spirit >> Three in one >>
There is only one God
Eph 4-4
(136g) Temple
>>
Your spirit is the temple of God >> The body of
Christ >> Jesus’ spiritual body –
The Church worldwide is the body of Christ, and each person in the
true Church is
considered a member of His body. The Holy Spirit is in each person and in the body
as a whole. We are members of His body that God has
made to accomplish certain things to help other members accomplish
their work. As we collectively fulfill His calling, it establishes unity,
which represents the body of
Christ. The Holy Spirit’s role in the individual is to help establish unity,
while His role in the body is to present the Church to Christ as a bride. There is only one bride; not
many, and she has a collective soul in unity, which is the soul of Christ. He
shares His soul with us in the Holy Spirit, and we share our soul with Him in
all the souls of the Church united as one. Christ will marry the unity between us, just as the Father, Son and Holy
Spirit are perfectly unified. The the bride of Christ is not mentioned anywhere
else but in heaven, suggesting that here on earth in the flesh we are
considered His body, doing His work through the Holy Spirit who
dwells in us, suggesting also that the goal of the Holy Spirit is to
collectively prepare us for the heavenly transformation into the bride, whose
members have melded into one.
Eph 4-5
(66c) Authority
>>
Lordship of Christ >> Jesus is Lord of His
people
(118c) Thy kingdom come
>> Faith >>
Eyes of your spirit >> Seeing through the eyes
of your spirit -- This verse goes with verse 13
(130c) Thy kingdom come
>>
Manifestations of faith >> Unity >>
Being in one accord >> Having one faith –
There is only one Jesus, though there are many religious beliefs about Him, and though
each denomination believes a little differently from another, yet there is
only one true faith. We all have a mixture of fallacy and truth, and our goal
is to truncate the fallacy along with its deeds and keep the truth intact with
the
true faith. Most people in the Church
assume they properly understand the doctrines of God’s grace, but in fact
many of the teaching about grace have been distorted just as all the teachings of the Bible, if not
more-so, and the one true faith really does
revolve around the subject of grace. We all believe in Jesus’ blood
sacrifice for the remission of sin, which is the one thing most of us get
right because the Bible was so explicit about it.
(191a) Die to self (Process of substitution)
>>
Separation from the old man >> Baptism >>
Immersed in His Spirit
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Eph 4-6
(54ea) Paradox >>
Opposites >> Creation does not know its creator (Pantheism) –
Some might say that this verse validates the teaching of pantheism
that says God lives and dwells in His creation; that is, He lives in rocks, trees,
etc; so to worship the creation is to worship God. For example, the druids
worship trees because they believe God lives in them. Paul said that God is
“over all and through all and in all,” so do they misunderstand this verse? If
God the Father is in all things, then doesn’t that mean He is in the forest and in
the earth, stars, planets and moon? In a sense pantheism is not entirely wrong;
God exists in the creation but not like pantheists say He does. A common problem of
man is that people come to the right conclusions but stumble over the implications. For one thing, the Bible condemns worshipping the creation, calling it idolatry. God doesn’t
want man worshipping anything but Him; if we take one step from Him and worship
something else, He considers it
idolatry. Man worships this technological age, and if God is in all things, then why can’t we worship
our I-phone? Most people are not thinking about God when
they surf the web. God divested Himself from the creation after the fall
of Lucifer and then kicked man into the curse when he fell too. His presence is no longer in the creation, though His power remains, holding
all things together (Col 1-17). They have studied the nucleus of the atom and have
concluded that there is a force that holds all the particles unnaturally close
together within the nucleus; this is the force that is released in an
atomic bomb. After He makes all things new fully reinvesting Himself into the new
creation, He still doesn't want us worshipping it. See also: God cursed the creation through Satan;
1Tim 5-21; 15g
Eph 4,7-16
(227h) Kingdom of God
>>
God’s kingdom is a living organism >> God
working in you >>
Depending on Jesus to impart His gifts into us >> He gives us what we give to each other –
Unity
is more than agreeing with each other, more than
getting along, more than being in the same room together; unity is an
interconnection of people with
spiritual bonds, resulting from God giving us power to bear fruit that gives us hope to
believe in the truth. Note
that hope is mentioned twice, denoting a catch-22: we need hope to bear
fruit and we need to bear fruit to have hope. This is where a special work from God is
needed to provide the initial spark, a divinely inspired hope that lights our
lamp. It is the sharing of our light
that makes the connection between us so special, in that we are sharing our
relationship with God, and it increases our faith in the truth. Our brothers and sisters also have a special
relationship with God that is unique as ours. In sharing our gifts we
develop trust, and trust builds bonds.
Eph 4-7,8
(28a) Gift Of God
(Key verse
for entire chapter) –
God's many gifts are our only true possessions. He ultimately intends to give us His entire
creation. His generosity portrays His limitless love and approval, illustrated no better than at the cross, where He demonstrated His benevolent nature to His
people. This chapter systematically addresses the many facets of God's grace and mercy through a comprehensive list of references, so the reader can understand the vastness of His heart and His eternal favor upon mankind.
(31i) Gift of God
>>
Grace >> Having the ability to respond to the word
Eph 4-7
(116i) Thy kingdom come
>> Faith >>
Working the grace of God >> Working God’s
kindness –
When Paul said “each one of us,” he didn’t refer to unbelievers or
believers of a false religion but members of the True Church. God is a God of
diversity, yet His diversity is also united, whereas our rendition of
diversity has fragmented the Church. Each one has received a special gift; it
is not just special in quality but also in quantity; some people were given
more than others, and we’ve all been given something unique. Some have been
given a lot and done nothing with it, while others have been given little and
accomplished great things with it. Paul was a man who received a lot and did a
lot with it. The optimum goal is to fulfill our ministry and accomplish
everything He has called us to do, which will require us to die to the world,
the flesh and to the devil. These have nothing to do with God’s calling in
our lives. Rather, they are the things that deter us from doing His will.
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Eph 4,8-10
(237h) Kingdom of God
>>
Pursuing the kingdom >> Transferring the kingdom >> The Church is transferred to the kingdom
>>
The ascension >> Jesus’ ascension –
This verse speaks of evacuating the place called “Abraham’s bosom” (Lk
16,19-31), where all the people went who died in faith since the beginning of
man, and Christ has taken them to heaven, so that now when the children of God
die in faith, they are immediately received into heaven. There is another
place called Hades that has been left untouched since the beginning of time,
that is, since Lucifer fell into sin with all the fallen angels who followed
him. When Jesus ascended, he led those who were faithful to God, who lived and
walked as Abraham did, and He gave them gifts that they might use them to work
for God in heaven. He also gave gifts to those who belong to the Church on
earth that they might serve Him in Spirit and truth. Giftedness originated at
Christ’s ascension, when Jesus became the Great High Priest.
(248e) Priorities
>>
God’ s preeminence >> Jesus is first >>
Jesus has first place in everything
Eph 4-8
(57f)
Paradox >> Opposites >> To be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord
(216c) Sovereignty
>>
God overrides the will of man >> God’s will
over man >> Compelled by the Spirit >>
God takes advantage of your love for Him >> He
forces you by your desire for His calling
Eph 4-9,10
(103i)
Thy kingdom come >> Purifying process >>
God purifies His church >> Jesus goes through
God’s purifying process – There is a teaching that Jesus went to hell
after He died on the cross. This verse attests to
it. To descend into the lower parts of the earth is to be in hell. Whether by
analogy or by fact, hell is at the center of the earth. He went as far as the
human soul could go from God, visiting the place of the dead of
those who are incapable of repenting, and preached to them the hope they
missed, and proved how wrong they were to follow darkness that led them
there. After He announced His victory over death and hell, He
ascended far above all the heavens, “that he might fill all things.” Now
there is nothing God hasn't experienced and no place He hasn't gone; this is what the cross has done for God. It allowed Him to
suffer
all of man’s experiences, so His creation cannot say it knows something that
He doesn't know.
Eph 4-9
(47h)
Judgment >> God Judges the world
>>
Hell >>
Prison of the bottomless pit –
“Lower parts of the earth” refers to Hades. Peter said that He preached to
those in attendance, those who are locked in their hellish prison and personally
let them know what they lost by rebelling against God. They lost everything.
Instead of seeking God for hope of a better life, they cared only for themselves
in this life, the life that only promised they would perish, sacrificing any
hope of a life that would come after this one. Jesus went to Hades and told them
how big a mistake they made. Jesus is the origin of all things. He descended to
the bottom of Hades and then ascended to the top of heaven, so He would Lord
over all things to the glory of the Father. He is Lord of the punishment of the
wicked and Lord of the reward of the righteous.
Eph 4-10
(253b) Trinity
>>
Relationship between Father and Son >> Jesus is
equal with the Father >> Jesus has all the
external qualities of the Father >> Son is
infinite and eternal like the Father
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Eph 4,11-16
(6j) Responsibility
>>
Being spiritual >> Ministering to each other by
the strength in your Spirit
(7h)
Responsibility >> Defend God’s cause
>>
Protecting the Church – Part of protecting
the Church is ensuring the
maturity level of the people by helping them grow spiritually so they can fight
the demon forces of this evil age, often clothed in human flesh. Through discipline
we guarantee a deeper relationship with Christ, which in turn
ensures the proliferation of the Church, causing it to grow and protecting it from extinction. Although
it is largely God’s job to ensure the Church endures from generation
to generation until His return, we have a part in working
with Him to mature the body.
(43h) Judgment >>
Satan destroyed >> Perfect (mature) –
The purpose of leadership is to mature the body of Christ. That doesn’t mean
the congregation should be sponges and just take in the ministry; rather, the people have a vital purpose. They are to mature to a point that they
can minister to each other. The people are greater in number and have just as vital a role
in the ministry as the shepherds. Paul paints a
word-picture of a well-oiled machine, a healthy body with all its working parts
in place, no one sick, no broken bones, no feeble body parts or limbs out of
place, but all
pushing forward in one direction. If there were thousands of
people in the Church who all played a part in the growth of the body, the leaders would
help develop
their ministries with the goal of establishing God's kingdom, maturing in the faith, reaching the lost, causing
the growth of the body spiritually and numerically. So we see that it is not just the
five-fold ministry in charge of the development of God’s church but is the
people themselves, whose ministries are in charge of their own maturity.
The purpose of church leadership is to constantly raise the bar and ensure the bar is met, never
arriving but always striving for higher truth. Through the hope of sharing their gifts, they see the results and watch
the brethren grow in the faith. Every member of the body makes a vital contribution, “according to
the proper working of each individual part,” denoting responsibility and
accountability among the saints.
(68a) Authority
>>
Doing God’s work under His authority >> Ministry
of helps >> Help God’s people
(80j) Thy kingdom come
>>
Know the word to minister to people >> To edify
one another
(110ja)
Thy Kingdom Come >> Faith
>>
Spirit and the word >> Spirit of revelation >>
Revelation of the truth >>
Revelation of the true Church
– Some
say that the ministry of apostles and prophets is no longer with the Church; but
if
that were the case, prophets would not be mentioned in the book of
Revelation. Will they suddenly reappear? Prophets don't suddenly appear; God
makes them by a meticulous process over a course of many years. Paul mentions prophets
in his letters, proving they were around during his time and were meant to
remain, so if there are no prophets it's not God's fault, but the result of
being suppressed and oppressed by the Church, by their own people, until their
ministry is squelched. The spirit of prophecy is a gift to the body, and all the
gifts are meant to lead
the body into the fruits of the Spirit, which can only be achieved through an environment
of hope. Longsuffering, for example, is one of the fruits of the Spirit, but hope
is required to suffer for long periods and to be patient beyond
our ability. Hope encourages us to produce the fruits of the spirit, which
produces love. Leadership equips the saints with
everything they need for life and godliness (2Pet 1-3), while the people produce the fruits of
the Spirit, according to the working of each individual part (v16), attains
“to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a
mature man.” Unity is a product of the fruits of the Spirit and grows alongside knowledge that only the Spirit
can reveal.
These are the things that make for unity. See also: Prophets;
Col 4-12; 98d
(129e) Unity (Key verse)
--
Definition: a
mutual exchange of spiritual wisdom and insight from all members of the body of
Christ in a common state of
maturity.
(131jc) Thy kingdom come
>>
Manifestations of faith >> Unity >>
Many members but one body >> Many bricks but one temple
-- These verses go with verse 25. It says, “From whom the whole body, being
fitted and held together by that which every joint supplies…” (v16;
NASB; 1977). What is
“that”? That refers to the anointing, which every joint supplies.
"Anointing" and truth are interchangeable words; we speak the truth and God uses
it to fit together the members of His
body by what every joint supplies, according to the proper working of each
individual part….” This cannot happen in a few faithful Christians to
generate any hope of spiritual growth. Rather, unity can form only when the
entire body works together to accomplish the spiritual goal of
maturity. Unity comes from God; it is more rare, thus more valuable than
gold. Unity has power, not political or social unity, where people band
together under a single idea to get their point across and their will
established. Unity in the Church engendered by the Holy Spirit is
different; it is a product of the Spirit. It can only happen when all the members
play their part and seek the truth to have something to share with others, “causing the growth of the body for the building
up of itself in love.” The process of building up itself refers to
synergy. Once the momentum builds in favor of unity, it begins to establish
itself on its own; God takes over and empowers His body in the world. On occasion some churches have seen a divinely inspired
unity for short periods, but then complacency and disobedience take over and
unity dissolves.
(137m) Temple
>>
Building the temple (with hands) >>
Maturing with our brothers >> Employing your gifts
to mature the body
– All the members in the five-fold ministry have
different levels of truth and have different ways of expressing their truth.
Apostles possess all five gifts; prophets possess four, evangelists three, and
so-on. The more gifts a person has the fewer their numbers in the Church,
whereas the fewer the gifts a person has the more people like them in the Church; this is why there should be more teachers than
pastors in every church. This would cure pastor burnout, as is common among churches. Apostles
establish churches, prophets establish truth in churches, evangelists establish
people in churches, pastors oversee the ministry, and teachers are the ministry.
That is, every member in the body is a teacher (Jn 10-2), but there are also
Teachers who mentor the teachers.
(140g) Temple
>>
Temple made without hands >> Christ builds the
temple from the bricks of the Church – Paul addresses the five-fold
ministry, saying that God, “gave
some as apostles…” some what? What did God give to make them apostles? Billy
Gram called it unction, while the Bible calls it anointing. This is where the
anointing makes its clearest impression on the Church. This spiritual unction is
a divine ability to know the truth from God and to do His will. He has given an anointing based on the
measure of Christ's gift to apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and
teachers, for the purpose of equipping the saints to establish the truth among
saints.
Submitting to this anointing empowers the assembly to receive the truth from the
five-fold ministry “for the work of service, to the building up of itself in
love.”
(245a) Kingdom of God
>>
Spirit realm imposed on the natural realm >>
Literal manifestation of
Jesus Christ >> Manifesting the body of
Christ
KJV
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Eph 4,11-13
(8k)
Responsibility >> Responsible to defend God’s cause >>
Preparing for the ministry – This is a
list of job titles in the Church that are coveted by people for various
reasons, but the only good motive for wanting one of these
five-fold ministry positions is for building up the body of Christ. This
five-fold ministry is designed to help the Church
reach a
maturity level through edification that would eventually influence the world around
them to love God and love their fellow man.
(101k) Thy kingdom come
>>
Ambitious to promote the Kingdom of God >>
Building up the body of Christ -- These verses go with verse 16
(152ia)
Witness >> Validity of the Father >> Witnesses of the father
>> Prophets >> The Church holds the position of a prophet >>
Church operates under a prophetic anointing >> Delivering a prophetic
message from God
Eph 4-11,12
(13e) Servant >>
Serve the body >>
Promoting its health >> Serve as a covering
for others
(149f) Witness
>>
Validity of Jesus Christ >> Works of the Church bear witness to Jesus >> Evangelism >>
Preaching the gospel to the world >> Preach "Thy kingdom come" –
Pastors are simply not able to wear all five of these hats. Most pastors attempt to
wear his hat and the teacher’s hat to the exclusion of the other three,
and he might occasionally form a posse and
seek to win souls within his community in evangelism efforts, and that way
wear three of the five hats, still there are two hats he has not addressed
at all: the prophet and the missionary. This five-fold ministry should
consist of
separate and distinct people. For
example, Paul is talking about a concerted effort in reaching the lost, not
a mere event when people occasionally knock on doors, and an hour later meet at the
Church for cookies and milk. They should not be just somebody who is willing to
accept the role, but people who actually have the gift of evangelism, and
the same is true for all the gifts. Conversely, it is useless to evangelize
communities to win souls for Christ if we have no plan in place to
mature them in the faith, otherwise they will just walk in one door and out the
other. Churches that do not place edification as top priority will find that
people get
discouraged and stop coming to church and eventually fall away from the faith
altogether, making it almost impossible to win them back to Christ.
(152d) Witness
>>
Validity of the Father >> Witnesses of the
father >> Apostles >>
Fruitful results prove apostleship
(152ka) Witness >>
Validity of the Father >> Witnesses of the
father >> The Church holds the position of a prophet >>
True prophets >> Called as prophets
(239i) Kingdom of God
>>
Pursuing the kingdom >> Pursuing the knowledge
of the kingdom >> Teachers >>
The gift of teaching >> Teachers are a gift to
the body –
Every church should have these
five qualities. An apostle is essentially a missionary who establishes churches, and evangelism is part of
that effort. Between the
apostle and the evangelist is the prophet who has two purposes: he
works both on the frontlines making new converts and in the Church edifying
the saints. Pastors and teachers also work hand-in-hand, but too often in
the Church today the pastor is the only one of the five who has a
significant ministry. Some churches have teachers to
accompany and enhance the pastoral ministry; this dynamic duo is extremely
effective.
(240b) Kingdom of God
>>
Pursuing the kingdom >> Pursuing the knowledge
of the kingdom >> Pastor (Shepherd) >>
Pastor has a shepherd’s heart – Many
pastors and parishioners think the height of the pastoral ministry is
the sermon, but his real purpose is a shepherd, who leads the people into a victorious life in Christ Jesus, while
the teacher leads the people into the true doctrines of the
faith. Years
ago, we could walk into a church any day of the week without an appointment
and the doors would be unlocked, but go to any church on a weekday now and
the doors will be locked tight under pretence of a high crime rate. This
has played into the hands of many pastors who don't want to be bothered with
people's questions and problems. It would be one thing if the pastor were
unavailable because he works a second job, but more likely he is out of his
office playing golf and enjoying the day
while his parishioners are in hot, smelly factories working for a living.
KJV
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Eph 4-13
(118c) Thy kingdom come
>> Faith >>
Eyes of your spirit >> Seeing through the eyes
of your spirit -- This verse goes with verse 5
(136a) Temple
>>
Your spirit is the temple of God >> The body of
Christ >> Similarity in the body >>
The things we have in common >> Common faith
-- This verse goes with verses 4-6
Eph 4-14
(76b) Thy kingdom come
>>
Motives >> Seeking authority for security >>
Motives based on desire for power
(159m) Works of the devil
>>
Essential characteristics >> Counterfeit God >> Counterfeit truth
– As a result of knowing the truth we
are no longer susceptible to false doctrine but know immediately when we hear a lie. We discern the truth by the Spirit of God, and in so doing we also
discern what is errant. Just as the Holy Spirit teaches us right from wrong in
our behavior, so He teaches us right from wrong in our knowledge. The moment we hear a word that does not correspond with the things God has
taught us, we know it is a lie that comes from evil and deceitful schemers. We don’t question what is true because we
have become convinced, knowing from whom we have learned it (2Tim 3-14). See also: Spiritual warfare;
162a
(162a) Works of the devil
>>
Carried away by the storms of the devil –
Paul said in Eph 1-18,19 that he hoped we would understand the word of God by revelation
of the Holy Spirit, and in this passage he said that it is for the sake of
securing unity among our fellow saints. However, if we are not achieving these
milestones, we become
susceptible to unscrupulous men, which accounts for the many false doctrines
that constitute our beliefs and for the many denominations that have fractured
the Church. We will fall prey to their devices and come under bondage to their
knowledge spawned by demons if we are not diligent to fight off these wolves. They will ravage us and make us their slaves,
taking every truth dear to our heart. One way to tell if we are among a ravaged people is to speak
the truth in love, and if they rebuke us and condemn us, it is proof
they believe a lie and hate us for knowing the truth. See also: Spiritual warfare;
162k
(162k) Works of the devil >>
Being a slave to the devil (Addictions) >>
Bondage >> Being slaves of men >>
In bondage to the burdens of men >> In bondage to religion –
Shepherds today don’t see there is a ministry among the saints
but consider their own ministry the only viable one and subsequently oppress
all other ministries in "his" church. This is why the Church isn’t
growing, and it is why God's people have no hope. There is no excuse for the
way leadership views and treats the body of Christ today. One day they will pay
dearly for the the deceptions they
have forged against the Church, as Jesus said to the Pharisees,
“Truly I say to you, they have their reward in full” (Mat 6-2). The vast majority of churches
today are led by modern-day Pharisees, who withhold the ministry from
the people. Jesus said in Jn 10-1,2, “Truly, truly, I say to you, he who
does not enter by the door into the fold of the sheep, but climbs up some
other way, he is a thief and a robber. But he who enters by the door is a
shepherd of the sheep.” Every person who enters by the door is a Christian
and a shepherd of the sheep; not just the leaders are leaders. See also: Spiritual warfare; Eph 4,17-21;
172e
(182g) Works of the devil
>>
The origin of lawlessness >> Deception >>
Three causes of interpreting Scripture falsely >>
Because they want to be approved by men
(196f) Denying Christ
>>
Man exercises his will against God >> Immaturity >> Not mature enough to seek God
>>
Unable to know the mind of Christ
Eph 4-15,16
(4l)
Responsibility >> Advocate God’s cause >>
Being accountable to your brother –
There are many elements to unity, one of them being trust. Building trust between
people involves a high degree of predictability in our behavior and response
to adversity, which speaks volumes about our character. Therefore, we construct unity among the members of
the Church by building character in
our lives, so when we love God and our fellow man, we don’t tear down
with our left hand what our right hand is building.
(91h) Thy kingdom come
>>
The called >> Walking along the narrow way >>
Those who walk in their calling are united –
This passage teaches that the ministry belongs to the people, but we go to
church and see that the ministry belongs to the pastor, suggesting that there
is a disparity between what Scripture teaches and how the Church conducts
business. The ministry belongs to the person in the pulpit, whose position is
a career choice. Every week he must devise a new sermon and hopefully attract
more parishioners in order that his church can numerically grow. However, the
Church falls far short of fulfilling the great commission that states we
should make disciples of all nations. The church has gone AWAL (Absent Without
Official Leave). Instead of trying to emulate the Scriptures, the church today
has effectively emulated Catholicism that began in the third century with a
reformation in the 15th century, giving twelve hundred years of Catholic
tyranny over the True Church and over the world in general. Martin Luther led
the protest against Catholicism, though the protestants maintained the
Catholic notion of strong central leadership. Jesus said, “But you are not
to be called ‘Rabbi’, for one is your teacher, the Christ, and all of you
are brothers. Call no man on the earth your father, for one is your Father, he
who is in heaven. Neither be called masters, for one is your Master, the
Christ” (Mat 23,8-10). The blame for strong central leadership can be
squarely placed on those in charge of the church, whose goal is to benefit
themselves. If the pastor gave back the ministry to the people as he should,
he would be sacrificing his own salaried position, like shooting himself in
the foot. If the pastor surrendered strong central leadership, his position
would become superfluous and his importance dramatically reduced, though the
Church would still need a leader to oversee the ministry. Paul talks about
each member making a contribution to the body, and by it growing with a growth
that is from God. He is saying that if the ministry is put into the hands of
the people, the Church would grow as it should; but when the pastor hoards the
ministry, he stifles growth. So, there are many changes that need to happen in
the Church today, and those changes will happen before Christ comes. There is
a Great Endtime Revival coming, and a great reordering will take place; the
Church will return to the ways of the First Century so that God is at the
helm, but for now the pastor is in the place of Christ, for strong central
leadership is in reference to Christ. All the members of the Church pretend to
be the pastor’s disciples, but in fact very few can remember his sermon
before the days end. They go home unchanged from week to week and return just
as immature and lazy as ever. Truth be known, nobody believes in the current
system; it’s just a business, having little to do with faith.
See also: Apostasy (The Church is disobedient);
Act 17,16-32; 175m
(95g) Thy kingdom come
>>
Attitude >> Having a cooperative attitude >>
An attitude that fosters unity -- These verses go with verses
25-32
(136d) Temple
>>
Your spirit is the temple of God >> The body of
Christ >> Variation in the body
(137a) Temple
>>
Building the temple (with hands) >> Jesus is the
foundation >> Jesus is head of the Church
(229f) Kingdom of God
>>
God’s kingdom is a living organism >> Kingdom
grows by itself >> God causes the growth >>
God uses us to cause the growth – God has revealed
the truth to each of us for the purpose of comprehending it together. When we grow
up in all aspects unto Christ, we take His form as a
body of believers as we behave like Him. “Speaking the truth in love” doesn’t sound too
complicated, but first we
must know the truth, and that takes discipline. He didn’t tell
us to speak the facts of the Bible to each other, for truth and facts are not the
same. He told us
to speak the truth, which comes from God, speaking the revelation of Jesus Christ
to one another and combining it with love as a manifestation of truth, pouring the
fruits of the Spirit on each other as Samuel poured the oil of anointing on
Kind David, so we can grow up in all aspects unto Him.
Eph 4-15
(85i) Thy kingdom come
>>
Words of your mouth >> That are spoken in faith >>
Will justify you -- This verse goes with verse 25
(107i) Thy kingdom come
>> Faith >> Hearing from God >> Church is of the truth >>
God’s people speak the truth -- This verse goes with verse
25. Paul
says we should speak the truth in a loving way that benefits others. The Bible
often speaks about “faith” and love together, because they are one,
but in this case Paul put together “truth” and love. Is there a way
to speak the truth apart from love? No, in that if we didn’t have love, we
wouldn’t know the truth, because faith and love operate together, and, like
love, faith only believes the truth. Faith is the definition of God. In
contrast, believing is man’s version of God’s faith. Faith is the
composition of the Father; He is made of faith; He consists of it. People
believe everything imaginable, but the truth stands by itself, and there is no
fellowship with God apart from faith, and nobody knows the truth except by
faith, and to speak the truth apart from love proves we don’t know the
truth. People call us Bible thumpers, who think we pound on people with the
Bible, but this is not speaking the truth in love, and those who do this prove
they don’t know the truth, though they may have read the Bible.
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Eph 4,17-21
(172e) Works of the devil
>>
Manifestations of the devil >> Tares among the
wheat >> Communion between the world and the Church >> The Church in the world
–
It is one thing to commit sin, but it is another thing to revel in it. Lots of
people commit sin and have regrets, and they wish for a way to escape the
lifestyle and mindset of the world. If they knew the way of escape from this
thin veneer of reality, they would take it, and this opens the door to
receive the gospel of Christ. They hate their sin and seek righteousness, and
they hear about God that He has made a way for us to escape the sentence of
hell and made a way for us to live a better life through the Spirit, shunning
evil to spite the sinful nature that lives in our flesh. In their contempt for
sin they seek God and find Him in Christ and are saved, but there are others
who revel in their sin, who wouldn’t want to live any other way. They are the difference between night and
day, the difference between those who love God and those who hate Him. The
difference resides in their hearts more than in their behavior. Satan is ruler
of those who do evil and God is ruler of those who do good. God and Satan are
opposites of each other in ways we cannot imagine. Satan is the father of
reprobates, the maker of psychopaths, the very essence of evil, while Jesus is
the maker of goodness, righteousness and truth, and of those who practice
these things are His children. See also: Spiritual warfare; Eph 4,17-20; 92h
Eph 4,17-20
(19h) Sin
>>
Having the mental disease of the world >>
Worldly influence on the mind
(92h) Thy kingdom come
>>
The narrow way >> What kind of trail is this? >>
The wrong gate is wide and many enter by it –
Paul used the word “gentile”, though he referred to both Jews and
gentiles, so why did he use gentiles to include them both? What gives it
away is this statement, “have given themselves over to….” He
spoke the same way in Romans chapter one referring to those of a reprobate
mind when he said, “Therefore God gave them over in the lusts of their
hearts to impurity” and “For this reason God gave them over to degrading
passions” (Rom 1,24-26). We should remember that the gentiles were
Paul’s primary ministry, and if every gentile fit this description, Paul
would have reached no one with the gospel. Paul was describing someone who
was indifferent to the teachings of Christ. No matter what we tell them, none of it ever gets through
their defenses. Another clue to the kind of people Paul had in mind was
the fact that they had hardened their hearts; they belligerently stood in
their godless behavior,
willfully ignorant of His love and mercy, and Paul was telling the
Ephesians not to walk in their futility, bringing down shame upon anyone who
would emulate them, destined to perish. Not everybody is like this; Paul
would enter a city and start preaching Jesus and people would fall on their
faces and rejoice in the love of God. Some fear death, while others
refuse to acknowledge their mortality, but one thing is sure: those who
value things that are destine to perish will perish with them, unless they
repent. Paul said not to be like them, because when these people die, they go to hell, and that
is the end of their story. Paul
warned the Ephesians about these things after he told them about the wonderful future
waiting for those who believe in Jesus (Eph 1,18-23; 2,1-7), being some of
the most profound statements in the Bible regarding
our eternal future, yet after saying this he warned them about following the
impulses of their flesh. These two teachings are opposite each other, yet he
was writing to the same people, epitomizing the contrast of receiving
promises from God while living in a
body of sinful flesh, given a tremendous hope and then told not to
drop it for worldly pleasures and treasures and hardening their hearts
against the Lord. We must be vigilant and keep the faith and never quit
believing in Jesus, because we know He loves us, but He allows us to be
tested prior to receiving a kingdom that He promised is worthy of suffering
temporal hardship. See also: Spiritual warfare; Eph 4,17-19; 162g
(156K) Witness
>>
Validity of the believer >> Evidence of being
hell-bound >> Living an ungodly lifestyle >>
Practicing sin
(167j) Works of the devil
>>
Manifestations of the devil >> Do not conform
to the world >> The world of sin
(169f) Works of the devil
>>
Manifestations of the devil >> The world is
blind to God >> Willful blindness
Eph 4,17-19
(19b) Sin
>>
Twisted thinking >> Evil is good >>
Darkness of man’s thinking
(79b) Thy kingdom come
>>
Renewing your mind >> Satan will control your
mind if you don’t
(135a) Temple
>>
Your body is the temple of God >> Sins of the
body >> Immorality >>
Sexual perversion >> A mixed bag of impurities
(153e) Witness
>>
Validity of the Father >> God bears witness
against the world >> Shame >>
Hiding under a cloud of guilt >> Preferring
darkness over the light
(162g) Works of the devil
>>
Being a slave to the devil (Addictions) >>
Bondage >> Addicted to sin >>
Being a slave to the sinful nature -- These verses go with verse 22. We must not only pursue the truth, we must
also repress our fleshly desires. We either walk in the Spirit or we walk in
the flesh with these two opposing one another. If we surrender to our flesh, it will
strip us of our faith, and leave us with only a shell of a belief system,
but if we submit to the Spirit of God, it is tantamount to being inducted
into the army and fighting a spiritual war against the sinful passions and
desires of our own flesh. If we let it, sin will take everything we received from God and lower us to a
reprobate mind that can no longer believe in God. Our flesh will never be
satisfied until it dictates full reign over us and sits as king of our
decision-making process, just like a rich man is never satisfied with his
money but always wants more. However, we have power to subject our flesh to
the will of God, having no obligation to submit to its tyranny as it would
have us believe. We are lord of our flesh and
not the other way-round; we call the shots and tell it what to do. With the
Holy Spirit at our side, we have all the power we need to make right
decisions for our lives, which will benefit everyone around
us. See also: Spiritual warfare; 217d
(171c) Works of the devil
>>
Manifestations of the devil >> Outward
appearance >> Vanity >>
Vain experience >> Things you do in the
absence of God
(184a) Works of the devil
>>
The origin of lawlessness >> Darkness >>
Hiding behind your own imagination >> Hiding
behind a false partition
(211a)
Salvation >> Jews and gentiles are being saved >> Gentiles
included >> Fellow heirs with Israel (Spiritual Jew) >> We are
one in Christ –
When Paul used the word “gentiles”, we should remember that the Ephesian
Church consisted of gentiles, so by “gentiles” he meant sinners.
God had Israel understand that they were set apart from the world to be
God’s chosen people and become an example to the world that man should
seek God through them as they furnish the world with a model of behavior,
but Israel rejected God’s purpose for themselves. When the new covenant
came, it had an evangelistic side, and Paul went preaching salvation through
the blood of Christ. When he reached the city of Ephesus, he
told them not to act like the gentiles, meaning they were not to live like
sinners, but to live as God's chosen people, separate from the world,
as Israel was called, set apart from sinners, and to live above the
elementary principles of the world. In other words, Paul was addressing the
Ephesians in this letter as spiritual Jews, and when we look into all of
Paul’s letters, we see this concept reiterated.
(217d) Sovereignty
>>
God overrides the will of man >> God’s will
over man >> God gives up on you >>
When you give yourself over to sin
–
“Callous” refers to a toughened growth that forms on the skin from
repetitious use,
and in their case it is a toughened growth that forms on their hearts from
repetitious abuse. Paul was protecting them from becoming hardened to the things of God, so when
they heard about the love and mercy of Christ, the message wouldn't just
bounce off them. He was proactively teaching them to accept the Scriptures
and believe the truth about God, instead of surrendering to their
sins. Paul didn't want them espousing a willful ignorance, sinning as a way of life, darkening their understanding
and hardening their hearts to God’s truth. See also: Spiritual warfare; Eph 4-18;
176c
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Eph 4-18,19
(74k) Thy kingdom come
>>
Heart of man is sinful >> The heart determines
which light is in you
Eph 4-18
(26d)
Sin >> Consequences of sin
>>
Death is separation from God’s life
(57b) Paradox
>>
Opposites >> World’s perspective versus God’s
perspective
(176c) Works of the devil
>>
The religion of witchcraft >> Ignorance >>
Ignorance lurks in darkness –
Normally we use the word “darkness” in terms of people’s lack of
understanding and education, but Paul is saying almost the opposite, that
everything they know and understand is not only wrong but wicked and evil and
has darkened their understanding. If they didn’t know anything at all,
it would be better than believing a lie, for their knowledge has made them completely
ignorant and led them astray. Ignorance is the engine that runs their
knowledge. They look into the sky and see sun, moon and stars, and they say
that all these things have come into existence through time and chance,
which is the deity they worship. Their false knowledge has excluded them from
the life of God. In them is layer upon
layer of self-deception and satanic delusions,
conglomerated into a single mental framework they call "truth".
Hard as we try to reach them, it is impossible; they are marked out for
destruction, sons of the devil, objects of God’s wrath, prepared for
destruction. Satan has deliberately led them into this horrible fate, and they
ignorantly follow him. Jesus said that anybody who builds their house on a
rock is wise, so they build their reality on the foundation of their stony
hearts, in denial of God's love and mercy, who was brutally tortured and murdered by people of
similar worldview. See also: Spiritual warfare; Eph 4,20-24; 78i
(221e) Kingdom of God
>>
The elusive Kingdom of Heaven >> Kingdom hidden
behind the veil from the world >> God hides from
the mind of man >> He hides the truth from man’s
understanding
Eph 4-19
(22d) Sin
>>
Greed takes without consideration for others >>
The worldliness of greed
Eph 4,20-24
(78i) Thy kingdom come
>>
Renewing your mind by the word >> Spirit renews
as the flesh decays –
Paul talks about laying aside the old man and dying to self, putting away our evil passions and desires like folding up a shirt and retiring it to the drawer. Our bodies are attracted to the “lusts of deceit,” and all lust is deceitful. We haven’t done anything to make our flesh want sin, for our flesh does this on its own, and it can get us in a lot of trouble if we don’t learn to control it. We have the body of an animal that wants absolute freedom to express its every whimsical feeling. Our flesh is corrupted from birth, having a natural affinity for the deceptions of addiction. If we let it off its leash, it easily deceives us to let it continue down the dark path of its choosing, making us responsible for everything it leads us to do. Paul is telling us to lay it aside, that we may pursue God instead. We are called to put on Jesus Christ like putting on a new shirt, clothing our sinful flesh with the good works that God has prepared for us, “which has been made in the likeness of God, created in righteousness and holiness of the truth.”
See also: Spiritual warfare; Eph 4,22-24; 42i
(110g) Thy kingdom come
>>
Faith >>
Spirit and the word >> Born of the Spirit by the
truth >> Conceived by the Spirit of truth
(230d) Kingdom of God
>>
God’s kingdom is a living organism >>
Partaking >> Partaking of the power of God >>
Partaking of the ministry of the Holy Spirit
Eph 4-20,21
(106n) Thy kingdom come
>> Faith >> Hearing from God >> Purpose of hearing from God >>
God gives us instruction –
Everybody in the Ephesian Church has heard about Christ, but Paul asked if
they “heard Him”. We
Christians have heard the voice of the Holy Spirit in our hearts, and obeying
His voice has caused us to be born-again. The Holy Spirit teaches us about Jesus. There are pastors who stand in the pulpit and preach their
sermons every week, and we say they are our teachers, but we have
only one teacher, who is Christ, and we are all brothers (Mat 23-8). The fact
of being able to hear the voice of God in our heart acts as a seal of our
salvation, who teaches us about our heavenly Father. We can hear His voice, and by that
we are safe. When we get lost in a crowd, the chattering people represent various false
teachings, and we cannot hear the Holy Spirit over all their voices. Our
heavenly Father calls us to a lonely place where only His voice can be heard,
and He rings true in our heart, and by that we know that one day we will be
united with Him in His heavenly kingdom.
(109i) Thy kingdom come
>> Faith >> Spirit and the word >> Spirit the teacher >>
Spirit trains us to be like Jesus
Eph 4-21
(107e) Thy kingdom come >>
Faith >> Hearing from God >> Truth of the trinity >>
Jesus is truth
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Eph 4,22-32
(6h) Responsibility
>>
Being spiritual >> Ministering to God by
submitting to the Holy Spirit
(46f) Judgment
>>
Spiritual warfare >> Fall of Satan >>
Resisting Satan’s deception
Eph 4,22-24
(6d)
Responsibility >> Advocate God’s cause >>
Jesus’ yoke of death
(41g) Judgment
>>
Satan destroyed >> Be like Jesus >>
God’s righteousness is His doing
(42i) Judgment
>>
Satan destroyed >> Transformed >>
Conform to the mind of Christ –
It says that the old self is being corrupted according to the lusts of deceit.
People who walk in the flesh go from one level of corruption to another. By the end of their
lives they are grumpy and cranky as a result of accumulated sin. Paul is
telling Christians to “be renewed in the spirit of your mind.” The spiritual Christian
meditates on the thoughts of God by
putting on the new self. See also: Spiritual warfare; 59e
(59e) Paradox >>
Two implied meanings >> The new self -- Holy Spirit dwelling in the believer /
The person we are destined to become –
This phrase “new self” has two implied meanings. First, the Holy Spirit
dwells in the believer to become a new influence in
our lives, and the second meaning of the “new self” is what Paul addressed in
Eph 2-10, “We are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.” To walk in these good
works is to wear them like we wear our clothes to cover our
nakedness. Our clothes are an extension of our bodies, just like our works,
except that our clothes don't define us as much as merely represent us in the
world, and our works do that too, being what
people see of us. James said that the tongue directs the whole body, for what we say is part of our deeds. Therefore, another meaning of this verse is to
become the person that God has predestined of us from the foundation of the
world. See also: Spiritual warfare; 86h
(86h) Thy kingdom come
>>
Obedience >> Be doers of the word >>
Clothe yourself with the word of God >> Obey
the truth –
To believe in Jesus and continue in our old lifestyle is attempting to operate
in two opposite realms that contradict and each other and ultimately cancel
each other. Our “former manner of life,” the lifestyle we practiced
before we were saved we lay aside. It is called the old self, suggesting that it
is still with us. When Paul wrote about dying to self, he was not referring
to it actually dying, but forcing it into a torpid
state (or hibernation), which means like a hungry bear it could awaken at any
time and ravage the countryside if aroused. That is, the opportunity to
walk in our old way is ever-present. God doesn’t carry us to heaven the moment
we get saved but leaves us here, giving us opportunities to prove our loyalty
and faithfulness. The
Bible uses clothes symbolically to represent our works of both the sinful and
the divine nature. It says to take off the sinful works like we would take off
our
clothes and put on the new self, consisting of the divine
nature. See also: Spiritual warfare; 187h /
Contrast of two
natures;
Col 3-9,10; 228i
(113e) Thy kingdom come
>> Faith >>
The anointing >> Heaven’s clothes >>
Garments of the new creation
(133c) Temple
>>
Your body is the temple of God >> Holiness >>
God is holy >> The Holy Spirit –
Any student of the word knows about Paul’s analogy of the new self: its
application is so accurate that it hardly seems like an analogy. To those who
walk with God it is reality. There is an old self and a new self; the old self
never went away; we have just been called to ignore it, which is not easy. Our
old self pertains to our flesh, which makes and breaks all its promises and
operates so much like the devil that we can hardly tell the difference between
them. If the Bible didn’t talk about the devil, we wouldn’t know he
existed. We would just attribute all our lusts of deceit and trickery to our
flesh, but the Bible teaches that Satan works with our flesh to deceive us and
ignores the Spirit of God who has come to dwell in us. Rom 7-11 says that sin
is deceitful; it tricks us into committing sin, and the devil does the same.
We don’t feel like we are being tricked when we sin; rather, it seems right
to us, but in view of the truth and of the Spirit who dwells in us, and in
view of our hope of eternal life and the promises that God has made to us, it
is a trick. Satan deceives us into trading our faith for sin, as he tricked
Eve into eating the forbidden fruit for the hope of being like God, when she
was already made in His image. Make no mistake; sin erodes our faith. Sin,
Satan and our flesh are so much the same that we call them the unholy trinity.
Paul is telling us to ignore the world, the flesh and the devil and focus on
our relationship with Christ. We have been given the Holy Spirit, who evens
the playing field, though it doesn’t seem like it when we are tempted.
Temptation results from paying more attention to our flesh than to our Spirit;
in fact, whatever is our focus is what dominates our lives. If we give into
our flesh, it will take us over, and our spiritual lives will crash and burn;
but if we focus on the word of God and prayer and stay in fellowship with the
brethren, Christ will grow strong within us, and the world, the flesh and the
devil will be forced to recede in the background.
(139k) Temple
>>
Temple made without hands >> Hiding place >>
Abiding in Jesus
(155k) Witness
>>
Validity of the believer >> Evidence of
salvation >> You will know them by their fruits >>
You will know them by their good deeds >> Good works that prove we
belong to Christ
(183g) Works of the devil
>>
The origin of lawlessness >> Spirit of Error (Anti-Christ / Anti-Semitism) >>
Spirit of the broad road >> Spirit of the world
(187h) Die to self (Process of substitution)
>>
Separation from the old man >> Die to the flesh >>
Spirit versus the flesh >> Deny the flesh to
walk in the Spirit >> More the flesh dies, more the spirit lives –
The “old man” refers to the way we lived before we were saved; it refers
to how we spent our time pursuing pleasures, getting angry over the smallest
things and going on quests for revenge. Paul commands us to
die to these things. The old man doesn’t die just because we got saved;
rather, these forces of the old and new man regularly clash; they cannot live together in any sense of
harmony; one must submit to the other, and since our sinful flesh refuses to
submit, we must subject it to a dying process through the the force of our own
will, coupled with the power of Christ who dwells within us. The sinful nature
or the divine nature, only one can be the dominant figure in our lives, and it
is our choice which one emerges on top, and we have
only one good choice. Our reward for subjecting the flesh is a ministry, but
if no ministry comes of it, it erases any incentive to become free. This is
the fault of the Church in these evil times. See also: Spiritual warfare; Eph 4,25-31;
192j
(228i) Kingdom of God
>>
God’s kingdom is a living organism >> God
working in you >> God works in the new creation
(238e) Kingdom of God
>>
Pursuing the kingdom >> Transferring the kingdom >> The kingdom is transferred to
the Church >>
New creation >> The new creation is our
spiritual identity –
When the Holy Spirit comes and dwells in our spirit, the two
become one, and in that sense we are married to Christ. This is the new self.
Christ takes one Spirit that is common to all (the Holy Spirit) and places Him in each member of
His body, creating a new person. He doesn’t create the same person in
each but a new and unique person, not like adding the same color to a spectrum, which would produce the same tint. Our Christian
brothers and sisters who have a deep and abiding love for God are often closer
to us than to our immediate family members if they are not saved, because we share a common Spirit
and have the a common heavenly Father and a common Savior who is our big
brother.
KJV
WEB
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Eph 4-22
(2o)
Responsibility >> Avoid offending God >> Get out of His way >> Quit sinning
(22g)
Sin
>>
Lust (craving pleasure) >> Fleshly mind
(159d) Works of the devil
>>
Essential characteristics >> Counterfeit >>
Counterfeit godliness >> Counterfeit righteousness
(162g) Works of the devil
>>
Being a slave to the devil (Addictions) >> Bondage >> Addicted to sin >>
Being a slave to the sinful nature -- This verse goes with verses 17-19. The
elementary principles of the world come naturally to us, but the Christian walk
is contrary to our nature. The world can stop us in our tracks and make us
think about everything we have sacrificed for our faith in Jesus. We sacrifice
our sinful ways in order to gain Christ, but there are days when we want to
revisit our past. We fall to temptation and then return to Christ and realize it wasn’t worth it. We need to remember
that during times of temptation, we are being deceived, in that sin
never delivers as advertised, and even if it did, the outcome would be death
(separation from God). We learn more about the corrosiveness of sin by falling to our temptations than we do by
overcoming them, but how many times does it take to learn this simple fact?
When we overcome our temptations, we realize we dodged another bullet. See
also: Spiritual warfare; Eph 4-14;
159m
(166l) Works of the devil
>>
Manifestations of the devil >> Carnality/Secularism (mindset of the world) >>
The carnal mind cannot discern between good and evil >>
The old mind
(190d) Undressing
(Key verse)
(190e) Die to self (Process of substitution)
>>
Separation from the old man >> Circumcision >>
Undressing >> Take off your sins -- This
verse goes with verse 25. Paul
was talking about the ramifications of circumcision, surgically removing the
unnecessary skin surrounding the penis that symbolizes taking off
our sins like we take off our clothes. It shouldn’t come as a surprise that the symbol of circumcision
refers to the male genital. It is the body part that is most difficult to
control.
(191i) Die to self (Process of substitution)
>>
Result of putting off the old man >> Set apart >>
Set apart from sin –
Abraham and all the men of the Old Testament may not have interpreted
circumcision as Paul did, though Paul affirms that it is a sign of faith,
Abraham believed God and it was reckoned to him as righteousness (Gal 3-6).
According to this context, circumcision is also a sign of repentance. Sanctification means
to be set apart (separated) from worldliness to fulfill God's purposes, and death is also a form of separation, in
that when a person dies, he is separated from his body. In that sense, when
a person sins, he is severed from his relationship with God, and when a person
goes to hell, he is severed from every aspect of God. Conversely, when we submit
to the process of sanctification, we are separated from our sins. Sanctification begins on the day
of our spiritual birth as a
life-long process with the goal of setting us apart from our sins. Paul called this dying to self.
Eph 4-24
(255e) Trinity
>>
Holy Spirit’s relationship between Father and Son >>
God’s word is Spirit >> God is Spirit
Eph 4,25-32
(78n) Thy kingdom come
>>
Putting your heart on display >> The result of a
renewed mind
(95g) Thy kingdom come
>>
Attitude >> Having a cooperative attitude >>
An attitude that fosters unity -- These verses go with verses
15&16
(158d) Works of the devil
>>
Essential characteristics >> Divide and conquer >>
Strife >> Disagreements
KJV
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Eph 4,25-31
(192j) Die to self (Process of substitution)
>> Turn from sin to God >>
Repent >> Stop practicing sin >>
Stop sinning –
How is Paul's list of don'ts inherently different from the Ten Commandments?
Moses commanded the Israelites to obey God with their flesh, whereas Paul
expects us to use the Holy Spirit to put to death the sins of the body (Rom
8-13). When we get away from God, it is amazing how
quickly the mind of Christ erodes and the fleshly mindset takes over our
perspective. When we neglect our spirit, it is only a matter of weeks, not
years, that
we are thinking and talking and acting just like the world. We still believe in God, and the doctrines
of our faith remain in place, and we are still saved, but our mind has forgotten how to
believe. We need to develop the mind of Christ and maintain it. The soul of
Jesus was the soul of God, and for this reason He naturally understood His
Father, so before He received His anointing at the baptism of John, His mind
was already in tune with God, but we are not like that. Our mind naturally
understands the world, the flesh and the devil. Those of us who belong to
God have the Spirit of God dwelling in them, who cries in our heart “Abba Father,” but
when we let our mind off its leash, it goes right back to the world, the
flesh and the devil. It is like cleaning up a pig and then taking off its
leash and watching it head straight for the mud hole.
See
also: Spiritual warfare; Eph 4-22; 162g
Eph 4,25-27
(163j) Works of the devil
>>
Being a slave to the devil (Addictions) >> Used
by Satan to destroy your own life
Eph 4-25
(85i) Thy kingdom come
>>
Words of your mouth >> That are spoken in faith >>
Will justify you -- This verse goes with verse 15
(107i) Thy kingdom come
>> Faith >> Hearing from God >> Church is of the truth >>
God’s people speak the truth -- This verse goes with verse
15
(131jc) Thy kingdom come
>>
Manifestations of faith >> Unity >>
Many members but one body >> Many bricks but one temple
-- This verse goes with verses
11-16
(136h) Temple
>>
Your spirit is the temple of God >> The body of
Christ >> Body of Christ consists of individual
members
>> We should live as Christ lived
(190e) Die to self (Process of substitution)
>>
Separation from the old man >> Circumcision >>
Undressing >> Taking off your sins --
This verse goes with verse 22
Eph 4-26,27
(62a) Paradox
>>
Anomalies >> Being clever >> Responding with wisdom to your
enemies >> Outwit them – Before
we go to bed, we should make sure we have
forgiven everyone we know and love, make sure that everyone has forgiven us, and not give
the devil an opportunity. We cannot control other people’s lives; we can
only control our own, and we can determine in our heart to forgive everyone who has offended
us before the sun goes down. We don’t want anger to turn to bitterness,
which
is a trick of the devil, for we are aware of his schemes. Unforgiveness and
bitterness is an
ugly thing. We wanted God to forgive us and he did; therefore, we should
forgive others as God has forgiven us (Lk 6-31).
(215b) Sovereignty
>>
God controls time >> God’s timing >>
God Has Good Timing >> God’s time is
sufficient –
One day is enough to be angry, and then God tells us that tomorrow is a new
day and a new opportunity to live apart from chronic anger. When we sleep on
it, we distance ourselves from our problems, so we have a better perspective and can better deal with
the circumstances and make better decisions, our
emotions being in a better state. For the person who is chronically angry,
though, one day is the same as the next, and
they rob themselves of all the blessings of God. They need to remember that
the anger of man does not achieve the righteousness of God (Jm 1-20). Whenever God
wants something from us, it is always based on a process of substitution,
because we have nothing to give; otherwise, it wouldn’t take long before we
gave everything away and have nothing. God doesn't want to take
anything from us, because He knows we have nothing to start; that is why He came to
save us, so when He asks something from us, we can expect a substitutionary
process, and in this case God wants to substitute His righteousness for our
anger. Therefore, we need to pursue the righteousness of God in place of anger
before our head hits the pillow. See also: Substitution; Eph 4-28; 25h
Eph 4-26
(8b) Responsibility
>> Use time efficiently
>>
Use wisely the daylight hours –
When we get
upset, we must keep profanity from spewing from our mouths. Here Paul is acknowledging the fact that many of us have this
problem and advises us to take that critical moment when we are angry and
determine to
give a blessing instead.
(69e) Authority >>
Righteous judgment (outcome of discernment) >> Righteous anger >>
Church is angry at sin
Eph 4-27
(158a) Works of the devil
>>
Excerpts of the greatest verses of this chapter
Eph 4-28,29
(128a) Thy kingdom come
>>
Manifestations of faith >> Goodness >>
Doing good for the sake of your brother –
There will always be needy people in the Church and in the world. It is
inevitable, for Jesus said, “you always have the poor” (Mat 26-11). Those who
campaign for government office in order to get votes say they will rid poverty, but it is impossible
to rid poverty. On the contrary, the vast majority of
poverty stricken people in the world are the result of political and corporate
corruption, and for that reason the trickle-down theory works only for attitudes and values, not for money, otherwise poverty
would be solved. We cannot solve poverty; we can only
help those in need. Actually, those in poverty are an opportunity for others who have a surplus to exercise charity. It also allows the poor
man to exercise faith in requesting help from God.
(235d) Kingdom of God
>>
Pursuing the kingdom >> Invest in the kingdom >>
Tithing >> Offerings >>
Help your weaker brother -- These verses go with verses 1-5
KJV
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Eph 4-28
(13h) Servant
>>
Support the body >> Serve selflessly
(25h) Sin
>>
Poverty (Forms of fear) >> Thief >>
Stealing from some one – A Christian
thief may be the ultimate oxymoron. In
this day and age it is not always easy to know who is truly poor because of
so many government handouts and scams. Just because someone on a street
corner is waving a piece of cardboard with some writing on it doesn’t mean
he is poor; it might be his job, but more likely he is in bondage to a
deleterious lifestyle that is destroying him, in which case throwing money
at him is like throwing it into a black hole. He needs to be freed from his
bondage before any good can come to him. One way to tell if
a person is poor is to take him to a McDonalds and buy him a hamburger.
After doing that a few times, if he is not actually poor, he may turn down
our offer to save his appetite for steak dinner later that night. Thievery
was happening in the Church even in Paul’s day, and note that Paul
didn’t get all bent out of shape about it. He just told the thief to
repent. That is, instead of taking, learn to give. The definition of repentance is
to do an about-face; i.e., the Bible’s cure for kleptomania was to substitute
taking for giving. God does not want to take
anything from us; He wants to fill us with
Himself and replace what He takes of our sin
with His righteousness. He
wants us to help meet
the needs of others instead of being a burden, and note that Paul didn’t say we
should give money; who knows where that would go. Knowing who is
in need requires us to look for needs and lending assistance; this is the
opposite of looking for things to steal. The Church in the first century were
godly people, easily exposing the thief, isolating him and giving
him an ultimatum to either stop stealing or leave the church community. Practicing thieves should not be allowed to remain
among God's people unless they can prove they are in the process of
repentance. See also: Substitution; Eph 4-32; 128f
(101j) Thy kingdom come
>>
Ambition >> Be an ambitious businessman for
God >> Ambitious in the business world of this
life –
The business world of this life and the gospel have a couple things in common. Where the world and the Church meet is in the fact that if we can’t be useful in some way,
then we are good
for nothing, such as those who don’t work and expect
the government to support them when they are fully capable of holding down a
job. Usually it is the very same people who are good for nothing on a
spiritual level too. They add nothing to the Church; instead, they are takers. It is their way of getting through life, but this is not
God’s way. His ways are just the opposite; He only gives, never takes, and
He is calling us to emulate Him, giving to those in need, ‘that we may be
children of our Father who is in heaven’ (Mat 5-45). He doesn’t want us
to be in need, even though it is practically inevitable that some day we too
may find ourselves in need. He wants us to help others, so when it is our turn to be on
the receiving end of assistance, we have paid it forward.
This translates to getting a job and being paid more than we need, so we have a surplus as our offering to God that we can use to help
others in need. This is true Christianity (Jm 1-27). Those who live out their Christianity in this
way understand the gospel well as any professionally degreed Bible scholar.
(119g) Thy kingdom come
>>
Manifestations of faith >> Freedom >>
Debt free
(130f) Thy kingdom come
>>
Manifestations of faith >> Unity >>
Committed to caring for the needs of the body >>
Committed to supporting one another
(131c) Thy kingdom come
>>
Manifestations of faith >> Unity >>
Brother depends on you >> To care for his
needs – To him who steals, go the opposite
direction; instead of stealing, accumulate value through hard work, so we may have something to offer those in need. If we are called to share the
truth we receive from God to help build up the body of Christ, then we
should also offer something of physical value. No matter how
spiritual, we still live in a physical world and have physical needs,
and God wants us to help others, for this is love.
(213f) Sovereignty
>>
God is infinite >> Jesus owns you >>
We are his instruments >> We are tools in the
hand of God >> We are extensions of His body
Eph 4,29-32
(139h) Temple
>>
Building the temple (with hands) >> Edification –
After we have built up each other in unity by speaking
the truth in love, we should not tear down our work using the same orifice (Jm
3-11). Are we a united people, or are we just
socially inclined? Truth makes for unity, but there are other things that
edify: forgiveness. Always have something to share with one another, both physically and spiritually,
whatever our brother needs. Edify means edifice, which is another word for
house, especially the roof. We should ensure our words edify and offer
ourselves as a covering for others, making people feel at home
with us, letting the anointing emanate from us as we speak the truth in
love, that the Holy Spirit may convince the brethren we are telling
the truth, that they may be blessed indeed.
KJV
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Eph 4-29
(8c) Responsibility
>> Use time efficiently
>>
Use wisely this moment
– God wants us
to be spiritually in tune with
Him. Some people say they don’t have the time to hone their spirit because
they work to support a family.
That is why Paul told us it would be better if we remained single. A person who gets married and raises a family has done a good
thing, and they will receive a blessing from God who raise their children in the admonition of the Lord. If we could be spiritually in tune with
Him the way Paul is telling
us, we would raise our children to serve the Lord as a natural outcome of our
faith. Our family members always know when our heart is in our faith. If we serve
the Lord in Spirit and truth, we
will have the right response for the need of every moment.
(32b) Gift of God
>>
God is our Father >> Grace >> Word of His grace
(85h) Thy kingdom come
>>
Words that are spoken in faith >> Verbalize your
faith –
When Paul said, “let no unwholesome word proceed from your mouth,” that
itself is a mouthful. We have been called to build up the body of Christ, and
if we are not doing it, then whatever we are saying and doing to the contrary
is probably tearing down the Church. Controlling the words we speak is the most
difficult challenge of our lives; nobody has ever tamed the tongue (Jm 3-7,8), but that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t try. When we think of the
impossibility of success and then realizing that Jesus was perfect in speech, never letting
any unwholesome word proceed from
his mouth, it shows the
miracle of this man who came and demonstrated for us what it is to be a
Christian.
(89e) Thy kingdom come
>>
Fear of God is the beginning of wisdom >> Wisdom
is sometimes best unspoken –
People talk too much. If we spent more time thinking what
to say than saying whatever comes to mind, the world would be a better
place. The fact that we all stumble over our words is a major clean-up project for
us all; moreover, many things we
say are not edifying, and when it comes to Christianity, things that are not
edifying work against unity by default. Hence, before we
speak a word, we should test it against the standard that Paul gave, whether
it is good for edification, whether it is appropriate for the need of the
moment and whether it gives grace to those who hear. If what we want to say
isn't designed to do
these three things, we shouldn’t say it. We have God’s grace to help and
His forgiveness when we stumble, so the challenge has been placed before us to monitor
our words.
(116g) Thy kingdom come
>> Faith >>
Working the grace of God >> Through the words
you speak – When it comes to
edifying the body of Christ, the words we say are like icing on the cake, but after we have done the will of God we can tear down
the body of Christ by speaking evil against one another. “Roof” is the
literal definition of a shelter; it is the roof that keeps
the elements at bay, yet a poorly constructed roof will leak, and water-damage
can destroy the whole house.
(150i) Witness >>
Validity of Jesus Christ >> Works of the Church bear witness of Jesus >> Speak the word of the
Spirit >>
Speaking the words that God has spoken to you –
Of all the passages of the Bible that convict us of sin, verses like this touch everyone. We can certainly monitor the words that proceed from our
mouth, but not successfully, “for we all stumble in many ways. If
anyone does not stumble in what he says, he is a perfect man, able to bridle
the whole body as well” (Jm 3-2). The main cause of stumbling is our words.
Saliva makes them slippery like a fish, so even if we catch them we still may
not be able to secure them in the boat. Before we know it we are slandering a fellow brother
or a family member again.
Eph 4-30
(70e) Authority >>
Sin of familiarity >>
Familiarity-enemy of discernment >> Spirit
grieves over sin
(132d) Temple
>>
Your body is the temple of God >> Holy Spirit is
in God’s people >> God gives his spirit as a
pledge >> His Spirit is a seal –
The seal in many respects is like a woman’s hymen. God seals the woman at
birth, until her husband on their wedding bed breaks the seal at the consummation
of the marriage. Her hymen proves that she is a virgin, and that is what we are to God with the seal of
the Holy Spirit unbroken. When we get to heaven and He sees that the seal of
the Holy Spirit is
in tact, He will know that we have come to the right place and are spiritual virgins, that we have not joined
ourselves with other spirits or played the harlot in spiritual adultery or corrupted
ourselves by the world.
(226d) Kingdom of God
>>
Illustrating the kingdom >> Rewards of the Kingdom of Heaven >> Reserved in heaven >>
Our inheritance is reserved in heaven
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Eph 4-31,32
(43d) Judgment
>>
Satan destroyed >> Conform to the ministry of
Christ’s church
(124e) Thy kingdom come
>>
Manifestations of faith >> Love >>
Acts of love >> Do to others as you would have
them do to you
(138l) Temple
>>
Building the temple (with hands) >> Exhortation >>
Admonishments –
There are dozens of admonitions like this speckled throughout the epistles,
and it would seem odd that God would put them here if He has given us an
anointing to overcome sin. That is, if we have the Spirit of God dwelling in us,
why does He need to tell us to obey Him? Moreover, what is the difference between
the Law of the Old Testament and Paul’s exhortations to be good? Doesn’t
walking by the Spirit solve every problem? Essentially, yes it does on a
theological standpoint, but in practice our body is immersed in the sinful
nature and is constantly seeking opportunities to express itself in various
ways of sin. So we walk by the Spirit in order to counteract these tendencies. In Ephesians chapter six Paul
writes about
putting on the armor of God: the helmet of salvation, the breastplate of
righteousness, the shield of faith, and other things to fight the battle of
sin. Then he said in Eph 6-13,14, “Having done everything, to stand firm.
Stand firm therefore….” After we’ve put on our armor, we still must
stand firm. Also, in Romans chapter six he speaks about the death of our flesh
caused by the Spirit symbolized in baptism; then in verse 12 he says,
“Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its
lusts.” Paul is saying that God is helping us in the battle against sin, but
we must work with Him to battle these evil forces. It is our
responsibility to disallow sin to reign in our flesh, and if we resist the
devil on the evil day, the temptations will weaken and God will multiply our strength to help us win
the next battle.
Eph 4-31
(24l) Sin
>>
Poverty (Forms of fear) >> Unrighteous anger
Eph 4-32
(12d) Servant >>
Father is our example through Christ –
We are to forgive one another as God has forgiven us through Christ. Being forgiven and being able to
forgive are just as miraculous as miracles; in fact, we could say that forgiveness is a miracle, both
in giving and receiving, and is the greatest of all gifts.
The context of these verses continues in Ephesians 5, verses 1 & 2.
(69h) Authority
>> Righteous judgment >>
Meditate on discernment >> Judging what is pure –
If we repent and purify ourselves from sin through Christ, we will receive discernment
who is
pure and who isn't. That is, we will learn people’s hearts and know
things about them they don’t know we know about them. Discernment is knowing
things without the natural means of learning them. Discernment is a spiritual
gift, and the more we live like Christ, the more discernment we will have,
and this will also make us transparent to others.
The people we encounter, whether it be an acquaintance or an old friend, we
will know their heart, who to trust, who not to trust, and we will know how to minister to
them and be a blessing in ways they need most.
If we seek that which is righteous and holy, we can impart them
into others.
(120d) Thy kingdom come
>>
Manifestations of faith >> Forgiveness >>
Forgiving your brother >> As God has forgiven
you
(123d) Thy kingdom come
>>
Manifestations of faith >> Love >>
Spiritual affection >> Compassion >>
Reaching out to those in need
(127a) Thy kingdom come
>>
Manifestations of faith >> Kindness >>
Be kind like God >> Practice the kindness of
God
(128f) Thy kingdom come
>>
Manifestations of faith >> Gentleness >>
Be gentle in all your ways >> Be gentle toward
one another – God has forgiven
us; therefore, we should forgive one another. We are set free from the vices and devices of the
world, the flesh and the devil as God implements His power in our
lives—our efforts become His efforts. We exert ourselves to overcome the
sinful passions and desires of the flesh, and God applies His strength to
our strength, so when we seek the freedom of Christ, we find that it is
actually Him doing it. On one hand, seeking freedom from sin on our own
doesn’t work, for even the desire to please Him is from God. On the other
hand, expecting Him
to do it for us is equally wrong thinking; rather, it is a concerted
effort of God empowering us with His grace as we exercise that grace to
become free. When Paul gives us these admonitions, he assumes we will operate
through God's grace that saved us and that dwells in us. By this grace God frees us from sin
and empowers us to fulfill His
purpose and calls us to a process of substitution. In verse 31 Paul commands us to stop sinning and in verse 32 he commands us
to love the brethren; we cannot forgive or love the brethren,
until we put away bitterness, wrath and malice. See also: Substitution; Eph 4-26,27;
215b / Working
the grace of God (Synergy) Rev 5-11,12; 130b
See
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