Praize Blogs

We saw in yesterday’s post that this book was not written for any specific problems being faced by the congregation at Ephesus, or its leaders, but to everyone there, and in the other churches. In Acts 20:29,30, when he returned from his third missionary journey, Paul warned the Ephesians at Miletus that men and women from among them would rise up speaking perverse things to draw the disciples of Jesus, which is all the saved people, away into sin.

From what we read in Revelation 2:2, "I know thy works, and thy labour, and thy patience, and how thou canst not bear them which are evil: and thou hast tried them which say they are apostles, and are not, and hast found them liars..." Ephesus was able to discern false teachers, and not fall into the trap. But, they lost their first love for Jesus, "Nevertheless I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy first love" (Rev. 2:4).

I Timothy 1:1-4, "Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the commandment of God our Saviour, and Lord Jesus Christ, which is our hope; Unto Timothy, my own son in the faith: Grace, mercy, and peace, from God our Father and Jesus Christ our Lord. As I besought thee to abide still at Ephesus, when I went into Macedonia, that thou mightest charge some that they teach no other doctrine, Neither give heed to fables and endless genealogies, which minister questions, rather than godly edifying which is in faith: so do." Apparently from all that has been written on this subject, all generations, including this one are warned to watch for the false teachers. That is, those who would rewrite the Bible, or at least water it down to make it meet their own needs. When Paul said that each church should read the letter he sent, he was including us. That’s why this Bible was written, and translated, even though not purely. It is our guide through this life, and our road map to heaven.

In this Ephesian epistle, Paul used the verb “agapao” 9 times and the noun “agape” 10 times. So we can say love is definitely a theme in this book. Ephesians begins with love in 1:3,6 (Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ: According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love: Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will, To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved.), and ends with love in 6:23,24. (Peace be to the brethren, and love with faith, from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Grace be with all them that love our Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity. Amen." One way this love is demonstrated is that the Jews and Gentiles in Ephesus considered themselves equal in the faith. They all loved Jesus and each other without segregation of heart, mind, body or soul. They were all one in the body of Christ.

“Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, to the saints which are at Ephesus, and to the faithful in Christ Jesus:” (Ephesians 1:1) Here we are told that Paul is an apostle of Jesus Christ by God’s selection, not by Paul’s choice. If man had been in charge of selecting this fourteenth apostle *, he would never have chosen Paul, for he had been zealous in his desire to help wipe out this radical Christian faith. When the disciple Stephen was stoned to death, Paul was there encouraging the people.  But this shows us that when God calls us to a ministry, He is relentless in His pursuit of us.  At the moment we accept His call, He gives us the authority and power to accomplish it. Any obstacles are overcome. So Paul was enabled to preach and teach with authority and with great success.

This letter was written to the saints who were in Ephesus, the hagiois, the called out ones.  In John Gill’s Exposition of the Bible, I read, “The Alexandrian copy, and some others, and the Vulgate Latin version, read, 'to all the saints'; whether officers of the church, or private members, whether rich or poor, bond or free, strong or weak believers, of greater or lesser abilities.” So every saint, no matter his/her standing in the church could accept this as a personal letter from Paul. It was written to the “faithful in Christ Jesus.” They were faithful by openly reach out to the lost for Christ, and they persevered in their holiness no matter who or what came against them. They were faithful to Jesus, His Gospel, and His commandments.  Many of these people had turned away from worshiping the Greek goddess and huntress, Artemis of Ephesus, also known by the Romans as Diana. They were now devoted to Christ and furthering the Gospel.

‘Grace be to you, and peace, from God our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ” (verse 2). What Paul meant here when he used the word “grace” is the increasing of grace. Let’s read John 1:14-18. "And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.  John bare witness of him, and cried, saying, This was he of whom I spake, He that cometh after me is preferred before me; for he was before me.  And of his fullness have all we received, and grace for grace.  For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.  No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him."  We are all receiving grace upon grace. Those who have much grace need to seek more. We need always to walk in grace. Grace is mentioned so many times in the New Testament that we have to know it is something significant for us to learn about. For it’s by grace you have been saved (Ephesians 2:5). Grace continually perfects the saved of God, so the closer you get to perfection, the more grace you need, because the harder the battle becomes.

The peace spoken of here is the peace of salvation, and the peace of relationship with God through Christ, and peace with each other. They had a peaceful conscience because they knew they were forgiven, and under grace. They had peace in the knowledge of their eternal salvation. For them, and for us, is no greater comfort found then resting in the knowledge of our position in God.

“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ:” (verse 3) God sent His Son to earth to die for us. He gave Him a human body, and a human nature. So many people think because Christ is God, He didn’t really feel pain as we do. But He did! He was human in every way. When Jesus came to earth, He had to grow through childhood, and young adulthood, before He became Jesus the Man. Jesus prayed to God, and He believed in Him. He knew that prayer was a mighty weapon to guard His own heart, and protect His disciples. He spent many nights alone in deep prayer. Example: the night before Jesus selected the twelve apostles, He spent time alone on a mountain in prayer seeking God’s desire and the Spirit’s wisdom to direct His selections (Luke 6:12, 13).

Jesus was not created like Adam, nor adopted like us, but was born naturally. According to Luke 1:35 the Holy Ghost, “...came upon Mary,” and the power of God overshadowed her. I have heard it argued that this means Mary and the Holy Spirit had relations.  No way would God join His perfection to mortal imperfection in such a way.  It makes more sense to think of the Spirit hovering above Mary as He did over the face of the earth at creation.  When God said something, the Spirit made it happen.  

We are blessed with every spiritual blessing. That is different from the physical blessings of health and wealth. Spiritual blessings are the eternal ones. That is, our salvation, our redemption, our adoption as children through Christ, and our eternal life in the spirit, and so on. This blessing also means that everything we need to live an abundant spiritual life, peace patience, love, kindness, etc. is provided.  So, from eternity past, we have been blessed with every spiritual blessing in the heavenlies, in Christ Jesus, Amen!

*In Acts 1, after Jesus had been taken to Heaven and the 120 were in the upper room, Peter reminded the people they needed to replace Judas Iscariot with a new apostle.  They prayed asking God for His choice then cast lots.  Matthias won, making him apostle 13.  Saul, who became Paul, was chosen by God in Acts 9, making him apostle 14.

More studies at http://www.newbeginmin1.org/BIBLESTUDYOPENING.html