Life Project Blog

To a large degree, chapter one is an introduction to the letter. In the first two verses, Paul identifies himself and addresses his recipients in his usual style, and then he jumps into his introduction beginning in verse 3.

These verses can be summed up as words of praise and thanksgiving, words that are difficult to read without feeling the passion and excitement that Paul and his recipients must have felt; whatever you do, don’t take them for granted:

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. (v. 3)

Have you ever really reflected on this verse?  Read it again slowly and let it sink in…

This is one of those “wow” moments!

 For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love he predestined us for adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will— to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves. In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace that he lavished on us. With all wisdom and understanding, he made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in Christ, to be put into effect when the times reach their fulfillment—to bring unity to all things in heaven and on earth under Christ.

Ephesians 1:4-10

In these verses, Paul gives us a thumbnail sketch of the letter; you can see our redemption all though the passage. You can also detect the purpose for this great salvation in the last two verses, for God’s grace came for a purpose that goes all the way back to Genesis, the purpose for which He created us in the first place. Even though things went crossways in the garden when Adam and Eve sinned, God desires to bring all things back together under the banner of Jesus Christ, and for this reason He saw fit to devise a plan of redemption for as many as will respond, a plan for which the elect are predestined.

I must point out here that many good Christians have been willing to make mischief with the concept of selection and predestination, usually putting things together in a way that results in their having been predestined, and most of the rest of us not. Naturally, we aren’t going to venture into divisive mischief here. Paul, it seems to me, is talking here about all of those who have responded to God’s grace, for are we not “predestined” to great things in Christ?

At any rate, I think that this glorious passage is best left for each to reflect upon, after all what could I possibly add to these words? No, they are best left to our individual worship and prayer time, for they will fill your day with glory and thanksgiving.

Paul’s letter to the Ephesians was probably written sometime between 58 and 60 AD and closely parallels Colossians. It is both encouraging and challenging, for it paints a picture of a victorious Christian life that might at first seem too difficult for us to achieve yet viewing it carefully we will find some hints that show us it is more attainable than we might have thought at first glance.

The major themes of the letter are glorious indeed; that we are saved by grace through faith; everything follows from this premise. That we cannot earn our salvation is another of the letter’s themes and following from this we reach the climax of the letter in the theme that we are not only saved by grace through faith in Jesus Christ, but that we are saved by grace for a purpose, and that purpose is that God would work to build His Kingdom through us. This is precisely why I asserted that even though it may seem at first glance that Paul is setting out a standard that we cannot reach, since God is working through us, what was unreachable at first becomes attainable.

To set all of this out, Paul has divided the letter into two main sections. The first begins at 1:1 and continues through 3:21 and deals with God’s plan for salvation. Then, beginning with 4:1 and continuing through the end, Paul describes our response to salvation.

I ran across something interesting as I was doing a little checking to be sure I remembered this outline correctly. I looked at a couple of commentaries and I saw two different ways to describe this second section. One of them is what I have written here, that it is our response to salvation. The other commentator called it our responsibility, rather than our response. At first, this may not seem like a big difference, and in one way it really isn’t, after all if we perceive a responsibility we would want to respond. Yet this implies a duty or an obligation, and while this may be true, and I wouldn’t argue against it, it has a subtle tinge of legalism implicit in the thought.  Contrast that idea with our response to salvation; this is quite a different outlook, even though it may not be obvious at first. We have received salvation as God’s free gift, so we respond to this gift gratefully and alter our lives, so that God may work in and through us.  Doesn’t this sound like love in action to you? Whatever changes that may take place in a Christian’s life as a result of their receiving salvation should come from our love of God and of others, rather than merely as a duty required by some sort of regulation, and when this is the case, change becomes not only possible but it becomes inevitable.

I am really looking forward to our latest journey which will begin next time- see you then!

Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. Whoever sows to please their flesh, from the flesh will reap destruction; whoever sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life. Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers.

Galatians 6:7-10

Paul is moving to the thrill-packed conclusion of his letter, pointing out that God cannot be mocked.  In saying this, it is important for us to note that he is speaking in a specific context of flesh vs. Spirit.  His major point then, is that we cannot follow Jesus by living a life dedicated to ourselves, our wants, likes, preferences and desires.

I’m, writing this and trying to think of an example of this “mocking” scenario, and the first thing that pops into my head is an example I hesitate to use, not wanting to appear to be too harsh… but consider this one:  People who are always late for church.  Yes, I’ve heard the excuses, they forgot to set the alarm… 10 weeks in a row.  The wife takes forever to get ready, can’t get the kids going that early, blah blah blah!  Funny thing: They get the kids to school on time, they get to work on time, but on Sunday it simply isn’t possible… and church is later than work or school.  Now, let’s be candid, these good folks aren’t fooling me, so they aren’t fooling God either.  They just don’t care very much about worshiping God; they can do it on their own terms, when they want.  This is “flesh” speaking, and if this sounds wrong to you, please reread “Rebellion.”

There are plenty of other examples, and you may think this one is cutting too fine a line; maybe you’re right!  Yet Paul is talking about priorities here, where do our priorities lie? Are they on the things of God, or are they on the things of the earthly life? Yes, I agree that timeliness may be a small matter, but it does reveal our priority systems.  How much more serious would it be if these priorities extend into other areas?  Something to think about…

In any case, Paul’s point is crystal clear, if we are focused on the flesh, things won’t always turn out so well. If we are focused on the Spirit, the rewards more than cover any inconvenience we might endure. Therefore, as much as is possible, we should “do good” for others, for this is pleasing in God’s sight, because it is an active expression of God’s love in our lives.