Eph 6.10-19

Psg: Eph 6.10-19 (link)
Date: 6/5/12

Read

Ephesians 6:10-20 NET

Finally, be strengthened in the Lord and in the strength of his power. Clothe yourselves with the full armor of God so that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world rulers of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavens. For this reason, take up the full armor of God so that you may be able to stand your ground on the evil day, and having done everything, to stand. Stand firm therefore, by fastening the belt of truth around your waist, by putting on the breastplate of righteousness, by fitting your feet with the preparation that comes from the good news of peace, and in all of this, by taking up the shield of faith with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. And take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. With every prayer and petition, pray at all times in the Spirit, and to this end be alert, with all perseverance and requests for all the saints. Pray for me also, that I may be given the message when I begin to speak – that I may confidently make known the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I may be able to speak boldly as I ought to speak.

Record

Be strengthened in:

• The Lord.
• The strength of his power.

Reflect

• cf 1.15-23, especially 19-23 on the power.
• Be strengthened by two things: God and his power.
• Are these two different things, or a hendiadys?
• The person and the power he provides.
• The rest of the passage talks about how, putting image various things God has given us. Namely, character and spiritual disciplines and the Word.
• God provides strength that can strengthen us, but we need to put it on.
• Feeling spiritually weak? Put these things on and be strengthened by God and his power.

Respond

• You are the source of strength. Not my abilities or successes, but you and your power. You are the only place I will find the strength I need and want. My flesh wants to feel strong apart from all others, including you. But the only way I will be strong is by being dependent.

Eph 3.1-10

Psg: Eph 1.3-10 (http://biblia.com/bible/gs-netbible/Eph1.3-10)
Date: 5/10/12

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1:3 Blessed* is* the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed* us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms in Christ. 1:4 For* he chose us in Christ* before the foundation of the world that we may be holy and unblemished* in his sight* in love.* 1:5 He did this by predestining* us to adoption as his* sons* through Jesus Christ, according to the pleasure* of his will – 1:6 to the praise of the glory of his grace* that he has freely bestowed on us in his dearly loved Son.* 1:7 In him* we have redemption through his blood,* the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace 1:8 that he lavished on us in all wisdom and insight. 1:9 He did this when he revealed* to us the secret* of his will, according to his good pleasure that he set forth*in Christ,* 1:10 toward the administration of the fullness of the times, to head up* all things in Christ – the things in heaven* and the things on earth.*

Record

He chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world that we may be holy and unblemished in his sight in love.
(NASB: … just as aHe chose us in Him before bthe foundation of the world, that we would be choly and blameless before 1Him. In love...)

Reflect

• [Note that Highquest did not choose the range of the passage well. The section goes through v. 14.]
• We have been chosen from before the foundation of the world to be made holy.
• When we think of the purposes of predestination, despite the debate about its scope, we tend more to think in terms of being chosen to be a collection of people, a choir, a set of workers, a collection of trophies. We don’t often think of our holiness as a purpose or telos.
• When God chose us (whatever “when” means before the foundation of the world), he had in mind making us holy.
• Therefore, being holy and becoming holy are part of our purpose. We fulfill God’s purpose in our lives in part by pursuing holiness. Not just that it’s good to be holy, but that it speaks to our purpose for existing. Why are we here? In part, to be holy! Being holy fulfills part of his purpose for us.
• This also means that the Fall was also in mind before the foundation of the world.
• God is the one who makes us holy.
• Our participation is a cooperation with his work, rather than working contrary to his purpose or being apathetic.
• He has created us for a purpose, and he will see that purpose accomplished. (“He who began a good work in you will be faithful to complete it,” Php 1.6).
• Our holiness is doubly sure: he predestined it, and he’s doing the work.
• NET note on the sentence break in v. 4: 12 tn The prepositional phrase ἐν ἀγάπῃ (en agapē, “in love”) may modify one of three words or phrases: (1) “chose,” (2) “holy and unblemished,” both in v. 4, or (3) “by predestining” in v. 5. If it modifies “chose,” it refers to God’s motivation in that election, but this option is unlikely because of the placement of the prepositional phrase far away from the verb. The other two options are more likely. If it modifies “holy and unblemished,” it specifies that our holiness cannot be divorced from love. This view is in keeping with the author’s use of ἀγάπη to refer often to human love in Ephesians, but the placement of the prepositional phrase not immediately following the words it modifies would be slightly awkward. If it modifies “by predestining” (v. 5), again the motivation of God’s choice is love. This would fit the focus of the passage on God’s gracious actions toward believers, but it could be considered slightly redundant in that God’s predestination itself proves his love.

Respond

• I see my purpose too often as a list of accomplishments, but you have set for me holiness as a purpose. You have created me in part for this purpose, and you will accomplish it. You have declared before this planet was hung in its place that my existence would serve your purpose of a holy me standing before you. I cannot fathom grace, I cannot express adequate gratitude, I cannot fully comprehend why.
• Make me a man who does not run contrary to your purpose. Make me a man who is never apathetic to your purpose. Make me a pursuer of your purpose - a pursuer of holiness.
• Our eternal prospect is to be radically different than we are now. I, for one, want to be like that prospect early.

Eph 4.17-24

Psg: Eph 4.17-24
Date: 4/22/12

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So I say this, and insist in the Lord, that you no longer live as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their thinking. They are darkened in their understanding, being alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them due to the hardness of their hearts. Because they are callous, they have given themselves over to indecency for the practice of every kind of impurity with greediness. But you did not learn about Christ like this, if indeed you heard about him and were taught in him, just as the truth is in Jesus. You were taught with reference to your former way of life to lay aside the old man who is being corrupted in accordance with deceitful desires, to be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and to put on the new man who has been created in God's image in righteousness and holiness that comes from truth.

Record

Put on the new man who has been created in God's image.

Reflect

• Since we did not learn Christ through darkened thinking, fleshly impulses, ignorance, or hardness of heart, we should put on the new man through the renewed spirit of kind. The old man is in the image of this fallen world, but the new man is in the image of God. Put him on like a garment. Make choices consistent with the new creation, because that's how we initially came to know Christ. Sanctification will be by grace, just like salvation (cf. Gal 3). Live according to positional truth.
• There is no real reason given here, no "What's in it for me?" There's more of a sense of "Why would I live incongruously with the grace that saved me?"

Respond

You have saved me by grace. You are sanctifying me by grace. You are worthy of nothing less than living by grace, putting off the old man and putting on the new man.

Eph 2.1-10

Psg: Eph 2.1-10 (http://biblia.com/bible/gs-netbible/Eph2.1)
Date: 4/20/12

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2:1 And although you were* dead* in your transgressions and sins, 2:2 in which* you formerly lived* according to this world’s present path,* according to the ruler of the kingdom* of the air, the ruler of* the spirit* that is now energizing* the sons of disobedience,* 2:3 among whom* all of us* also* formerly lived out our lives in the cravings of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath* even as the rest…*

2:4 But God, being rich in mercy, because of his great love with which he loved us, 2:5 even though we were dead in transgressions, made us alive together with Christ – by grace you are saved!* – 2:6and he raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, 2:7 to demonstrate in the coming ages* the surpassing wealth of his grace in kindness toward* us in Christ Jesus. 2:8 For by grace you are saved* through faith,* and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God; 2:9 it is not from* works, so that no one can boast.* 2:10 For we are his workmanship, having been created in Christ Jesus for good works that God prepared beforehand so we may do them.*

Record

Living life in the cravings of our flesh (3) v. being created in Christ for good works (10).

Reflect

• As a new creation, how do I decide what to do? What to prioritize?
• How do I balance rest (even recreation) with these good works that God has created?
• How much of my whining and moaning and complaining is because the cravings of my flesh are unsatisfied? That would be a case of living for the cravings of the flesh instead of for the good works God created.
• God doesn’t leave us here on earth to sit on a shelf. I’d rather be a tool than a trophy.

Respond

• You did not create me in Christ Jesus for applause that you prepared beforehand so that I may revel in it.

More on Structure

Last week, we looked at Eph 1:3-14 to see how seeing the structure of a passage can help us to understanding it more fully. In that passage, we saw a threefold structure to highlight the work of each Person of the Trinity. I mentioned then that the next article would look at Eph 2 to look for a structure and see how it helps us understand the passage.

First, read Eph 2. Some of your Bibles likely have some section headings, which were added by the translators or publishers. They are not part of the original text, and sometimes they are not always placed where I would place them. They can be helpful at times, but always check to see if perhaps you think they might be misplaced.

Answer the question (without the help of the added section headings): What is Eph 2 about?

Eph 2 has two main parts to it. Look for them. They might be marked by a topic change, by a phrase that starts a new idea, or other clue that helps the reader know that there's a new thought coming. Try to find the two major sections before continuing.

In this case, most of your section headings are likely correct. The first section is from v. 1 through v. 10, and the second is from v. 11 through v. 22.

These two sections have parallel structures to each other! Each half of the chapter has two subsections. In this case, there's a repeated idea in each section to mark off the beginning of the second half of each section. Look for a repeated key idea that subdivides both vv. 1-10 and vv. 11-22. Try to find it before continuing.

The repeated key idea is "but God..." (in v. 4, "but God," and in v. 13, "but now in Christ Jesus"). So now we have the main structure: vv. 1-10 (with subsections 1-3 and 4-10) and vv. 11-22 (with subsections 11-12 and 13-22).

Now, look at the subsections, and look at how the "but God" idea changes things from one subsection to the next. What was true in vv. 1-3 and 11-12? What is now true in vv. 4-10 and 12-22? What is it that God did so that "but God" changes us from what was true to what is now true?

Now, re-answer the question. What is Eph 2 about?

The Other Valuable Lesson on Bible Study

In my previous article, I talked about one of the toughest classes I ever had, and the valuable lesson I learned about studying the Bible by learning how to ask good questions about the Scripture. There are plenty of ways to find the answers, but asking good questions first will help lead you to the most valuable answers. I mentioned that this was one of two highly valuable methods I've learned to study the Word.

The second method sounds more scary than it really is. I have learned that finding the basic structure of a passage is tremendously helpful in studying what it means. Yikes! That's sounds hard and complicated! It can be, depending on how deep you want to go, but it doesn't have to be all that complicated.

Learning how to do this is more than a single article can teach, but I want to at least give you a favorite example of mine. Read Ephesians 1:3-14. Take a second to answer the question, "What is this passage about?"

There's a three-part structure to this passage. In this case, the three-part structure is marked by a phrase that is repeated. Look for it - see if you can find a phrase repeated three times in the passage. It's not verbatim the same, but it's close, and it's important to the passage. (Look for it on your own, but if you get stuck, keep reading for a hint.)

(Hint: Look in verses 6, 12, and 14.)

The repeated phrase is "to the praise of His glory," or something similar. If you didn't find it, stop and look for it until you see it.

Now, who is each one of these phrases talking about? (It's not the same person in each case.) Take a look before continuing.

That phrase occurs once for each person of the Trinity, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. And that gives us a basic structure of Eph 1:3-14 (vv. 3-10 are about the Father, 11-12 are about the Son, and 13-14 are about the Holy Spirit). Furthermore, each section tells us something about the unique ministry of each one. Plus, the passage as a whole shows us the Trinity (without even using the word "trinity").

Now, re-read the passage and re-answer the question we asked before, "What is this passage about?" Did the structure give you a deeper answer to the question (even a little)?

Finding the structure of a passage can help us understand it much better. Next week, we'll look at the structure of chapter 2 and how that helps us understand it better.