Ephesians

Ephesians 2:9

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Here is my commentary on Ephesians 2:9. I am publishing these once or twice a week, but you can read all of the available articles at our web-site, www.new-life.org.au

Ephesians 2:9

… not because of works lest any person boast.

We are saved by faith and not by works lest we should become boastful.

The idea that we could save ourselves in any way is, on the face of it, ludicrous. There is a huge chasm separating us from God. The chasm is called sin. We might be able to cross that chasm if we were not crippled by sin. but everyone is born in sin. It is only someone without sin who can cross the chasm, that is Christ. We cross the chasm by trusting in the one who can cross it for us.

it is folly to think that our works and get us to heaven. This does not stop people trying.

Religion is one such method. It is almost universal that people fearing God, or the gods, are angry with them present sacrifices or perform religious rituals in order to earn God’s/ the gods’ favour. This does not work, and cannot work, because it starts to with the false premise that God is impressed by our puny gifts. He made the whole of creation! Will He be swayed by our returning to him what he already owns?

Sometimes even christians think that God may be impressed by religious activities such as a forty day fast or some kind of prayer marathon. God already knows who we are. It is He that gives us the ability and determination to do these things.

Charitable deeds are another way people try to assuage gilt. Selling your possessions and giving it all to the poor is a worthy deed, but it will never, of itself, gain the favour of God.

In ancient times there was a collection of belief systems called Gnosticism. These varied in lots of ways and tended to collate beliefs from all the religions including paganism, Judaism, and Christianity. The common link in all of these belief systems was that attaining certain types of knowledge (Greek: gnosis ) would allow a person to rise to higher levels of spiritual power, and ultimately to Heaven itself.

The modern-day equivalent would be the conference junkie, or the person who looks for hidden “Bible codes” thinking that such knowledge will set them free or draw them closer to God.

Other works might be living a lifestyle of poverty, volunteering to serve the poor, missionary work, or whatever. Pastors are often bemused to receive discounts from business people hoping to earn brownie points with God.

All of these things that have been mentioned are not wrong of themselves. When they become ways in which we try to earn salvation or God’s favour then they become toxic to our souls.

People try to earn God’s favour, seemingly unaware that his love is there for the taking. We try to please God in all kinds of ways, but it is futile because he already loves us.

if only the person driven by guilt to do the good works would stop, hear the promises of God, and then put their trust in Jesus.

My works will never tempt God to love me. but a heart surrendered to him, trusting in Christ, will draw his affection.

John 3:18 says,” He who believe believes in Christ will not be condemned.”

We are saved by faith and not by works so that nobody has anything to post about.

If I were to do some outrageously courageous religious deed, such as fasting or charitable work, I could, with some justification, boast about that. I could draw attention to myself as a “good person.”

When I simply turn away from my sins, and accept the gift of salvation in Jesus Christ, then there is nothing to boast about. I can’t even think that I was smart enough to work it out, because even the faith that allows me to reach out to Jesus is a gift from God.

There is nothing to boast about. Any fool can get saved. Any sinner can repent. To boast about it is as foolish as a person claiming to be superior because they put on a life preserver as their boat was sinking.

One sin that christians should never be capable of his self-righteousness. It is Christ who makes us righteous and not our own works. Therefore we should never assume that we are better than paedophiles, prostitutes, or drug addicts. We just sin differently to them.

What an awesome message this is, to be saved by faith not works. Of course, some people find this offensive. They think that people should have to atone for their sins in some way. Pride makes it hard for them to believe it is all free of charge. Grace sometimes can be offensive to people who want to pay their own way.

Key points in this verse:

  • We are not saved by works
  • Religious deeds, charitable giving, and extensive knowledge of the Bible will not impress God
  • Christians have nothing to boast about and have no reason to be self-righteous

Ephesians 2:8

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Here is my commentary on Ephesians 2:8. I am publishing these once or twice a week, but you can read all of the available articles at our web-site, www.new-life.org.au

Ephesians 2:8

For by grace you have been saved through faith,.and this is not your doing, it is the gift of God.

It is God’s grace that saves us, setting us free from sin and death and lifting us to eternal life in the heavenly realms.

grace is God’s favour extended towards us. The same word in Greek (charis) is the root word for gift (charisma). God’s favour is a gift to us.

God loves His creation, His people, and so He is constantly pouring out his love, his gift to us.

Life itself is a gift from God. He sustains us and the whole of creation right down to the level of atoms. We are held together literally by God. He sustains us with an abundance of every necessity. He knitted us together in our mother’s womb.

Eternal life comes as a gift also. We could not earn this, and we certainly do not deserve it. Every person has sinned and fallen short of God’s glory. The wages of sin is death (Romans 6:23).

Some people say they just want justice from God. They see God as a judge who must surely punish “sinners” – which they think would be other people. But we have all sinned and we all deserve nothing less than death at God’s justice .

Salvation from the death penalty comes in the form of grace. God gifts us eternal life, not because we deserve it but because he loves us.

This grace of God – never ending, overwhelming in its nature – brings us to salvation. Salvation means to be made whole in body, mind and spirit.

To be saved is to be restored to our right state, the state we were created to live in before sin spoilt things. This is more than a legal status or a legal position of being moved from the” guilty” list to the “ not guilty” list. Salvation is not merely a legal transaction.

When Jesus healed people, the word translated as “ healed” is the same word used for salvation. On different occasions in the gospels, the same words are used for “ your faith has healed you” and for “ your faith has saved you.”

Salvation is a state of wholeness.

Sin leads to death at every part of our being because it separates us from the Father, the source of life. We are born in sin, so from the time we are born we start to die. Our bodies inherit death because sin has mutated our DNA. We are dead spiritually because we were designed for the Holy Spirit to dwell with our spirits. We are dead mentally because without the Holy Spirit to teach us, even the most intelligent person can only reach 50% of their potential.

We are in this state of death right until the time that Jesus comes in and pronounces, “Your faith has saved you.”

We still live in a broken world so that the healing we receive from Christ is partial. Our salvation is also only partial in the sense that we continue to fall short of God’s glory.

What is imperfect in this life will be made perfect in the next life when we are liberated from all the effects of sin and death forever.

Salvation is received by faith. Faith is the ability to reach out and receive God’s gift. A gift is only a gift to the extent it is received and valued by the recipient. Faith recognises the gift and its value. Faith receives salvation offered to us by grace.

A gift only comes into being at the behest of the giver. The giver must decide to make a gift before the recipient can receive it. God’s grace comes first.

Faith, then, is the act of reaching out to receive God’s gift of salvation.

Faith is often misunderstood as believing what is not true along the lines of believing six impossible things before breakfast.

Faith is rather the act of trusting that the giver of life wants to give to us what we could not get for ourselves. Faith is, in part, an assenting, a mental agreement process. But it is more an act of the will than just an intellectual exercise. I believe in my head that planes can fly. When I board a plane, I have to trust that the pilot, along with a whole community of specialist workers, can get me safely to my destination.

So I may know with my head that God is able to save people. I need to know in my heart that God is able and willing to save me. When I trust him for my eternal destiny, I don’t have to rely on good works, right doctrine, or religious practice.

My God has saved me by his work alone.

There is nothing I can add to God’s grace. There is no sense in which I can contribute to salvation. It is not my own doing, it is the gift of God.

If I can earn salvation it is not a gift. If I can substitute another path to salvation than the gift God has given, that is not faith.

Key points in this verse:

  • We are saved by grace
  • Salvation is God’s gift to us.
  • Salvation is more than a promise of eternity.
  • Salvation is wholeness of body, mind and spirit.
  • There is nothing we can add to what God has given us in Christ.

Ephesians 2:7

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Here is my commentary on Ephesians 2:7. I am publishing these once or twice a week, but you can read all of the available articles at our web-site, www.new-life.org.au

Ephesians 2:7

“In order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus.

God has” seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus” (v. 6) ”in order that in the coming ages…”

God’s purposes in seating us with Him are now revealed. It is firstly about the future.

God looks at the really, really long term outcome. From before the beginning of time He purposed to create a race of people capable of responding to His love, having first tasted the reality and consequence of sin.

The goal of this plan is expressed in the future, “in the coming ages.” The word “ages” here is the word which we derive aeon. it is a long period of time, a multi-generational period. When you are in the middle of it, it seems like it is all you have ever known, the only way things have ever been or ever will be.

There have been several such ages in history. One of them began with the death and resurrection of Jesus. It will end when Jesus returns for his church, and the new heavens and earth of Revelation are instituted.

This present age will come to an end. Nobody knows the day or the hour, except the Father. From Paul’s perspective, writing in the first century, that time was an aeon away. For us it might still be a long time away.

In the coming ages God will show the incomparable riches of his grace.

This phrase makes me think of another phrase,”trophy of grace.” Every born again follower of Jesus is a trophy, a prize won for God by his grace through the death of Christ.

We are in God’s trophy room or His treasure house as signs of His great victory in Christ. Often we don’t feel like we are rating very highly on the Christian league table. It doesn’t matter; the fact that we persevere in our walk of faith with Christ makes us his treasures.

Who is God showing the riches of his grace to?

Firstly, He is showing off to the rest of humanity what he has done for them in Christ. For as long as we live faithfully, our words and actions serve as an ongoing testimony of God’s rich grace. The Holy Spirit is constantly nudging people to see Christ in us.

On the Day of Judgement, we will each be rolled out as a testimony to God’s great love , both to those who are saved and to those who are unsaved alike.

To the saved, we will be an example of the same grace that they experienced. I used to think that Judgement Day was about God revealing all my secret and shameful sins, but now I see it as a day when God brags about all his beloved children, and his grace being on show to the universe.

To the unsaved, we will be the end of all excuses. If God could save me from my messed up life, and thousands of others who had all kinds of abuse, violence, and neglect to overcome, then there is no excuse for anyone to reject him.

Secondly, God wants to show off his grace to all the heavenly beings — the angels and seraphim , cherubim and living creatures. “These people, billions of them, were born in sin yet were saved by my love.” The miracle of salvation is something that angels have never experienced.

Finally, God wants to show off his great grace to satan, the great enemy. Satan rebelled because he wanted to be God, and he has projected that desire onto people ever since. Every believer is a testament against the deception of satan.

God desires to show the incomparable or immeasurable riches of His grace. God’s grace cannot be measured or compared to anything else.

When God was showing Abraham the destiny that God had for him, He used analogies such as the grains of sand on the seashore and the stars in the sky.

In our age we have become used to the huge numbers that scientists come up with. We know that the universe is bigger than Abraham could see. But God’s grace is greater still.

If you had all the gold in the world, all the mansions, all the privately-owned islands, all the cattle and sheep, it is just a fraction of God’s grace.

The incomparable riches of God’s grace.

His grace never gives up and never runs out. We can’t fly far enough to escape it; all we can do is close ourselves off from it.

Of course, the great tragedy is that so many people prefer to block out the grace of God rather than humble themselves to admit that they need it. The limitation is not in God, but in people.

God’s grace is expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus.

Jesus did not have to die for us. He chose to do that out of love for us. You could describe that as an act of kindness.

We tend to think of kindness as a desire to give someone a treat or a gift for no particular reason other than we want to do it for that person. We might buy flowers for someone going through a hard time, forgive a small debt, buy dinner for someone.

Kindness is motivated by love, a tangible expression of love.

Our idea of kindness just fades into insignificance when compared to that of Christ.

He died for us. He received no personal benefit from the transaction except for the joy of our response. This is perfect kindness.

The reason why we are now seated in heavenly places is the kindness of Christ. He bore the brunt of our sin and our rebellion against God. He paid the price of our redemption.

He saw a need we could not fulfil ourselves, and rather than seeing us die, He died for us. The innocent died and the guilty ones were set free.

Every hope that we have for eternity is in Christ.

Key points in this verse:

  • God’s plan extends to the coming ages
  • This present age will come to an end, but God is looking to the future ages
  • We are both the riches of God’s grace and the recipients of the riches of His grace
  • God wants to brag about his children, showing us off as trophies of grace
  • God’s grace never fails and never runs out
  • We are saved by the ultimate kindness of Christ

Ephesians 2:6

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Here is my commentary on Ephesians 2:6. I am publishing these once or twice a week, but you can read all of the available articles at our web-site.

Ephesians 2:6

God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus.

The work of God in saving us from sin and death is already completed. When God rose Christ from the dead, He also raised from the dead all who were, and all who would be, “in Christ.”

Even those of us who were born historically two millennia after Christ, were raised with him.

The Lord has a different perspective on time than we do, so it’s best not to get too caught up in chronology.

The fact that we have already been raised with Christ means that the work of salvation is completed. There is no doubt about whether God will do this for the followers of Christ as it has already been done.

There are all kinds of anxieties that can be set Christians.

  • Am I good enough?
  • Do I have enough faith?
  • Will God accept me?
  • What else do I have to do to be saved?

No! It has already been done. We’ve been raised up to new life in Christ. We have been raised to heaven and are sitting there with Christ now.

Because that work has been completed, it cannot be undone. It can’t be added to or taken away from.

When we know this in our hearts, then we can relax in Christ. There is no fear, no anxiety. We do not have to prove ourselves worthy of salvation or do enough good deeds. It is finished! We have been raised up.

Every church service is, or should be, a reminder that Christ died for me, and that He has been raised up to life, and therefore I am raised up also.

Our resurrection depends on being “with Christ.” It is as if we have to hold onto his hand as he is raised in order to be raised also.

Connection with Christ, or fellowship with him, is the central, most important duty of a Christian. It is in Christ that we are saved, and it is with Christ that we are raised to the heavenly realms.

Many Christians seem to struggle with maintaining a close relationship with Christ, but this is essential to our salvation. It is not enough to say just one prayer to be saved, although this is a good thing.

We have to maintain the relationship with Christ. There are various means for this such as reading the Bible, prayer, corporate worship, fellowship with other believers.

Many of us are like the man who told his wife, “ I told you I loved you on our wedding day. If there is any change to that I will let you know.”

No, our being with Christ or in Christ requires us to deepen the relationship.

We were raised on the first day we said “Yes” to Christ, but why would we settle for anything less than close communion with him?

God seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus.

When Christ was raised from the dead, He raised us with him, and when He was seated at the right hand of the Father, we were there too. We are there “in Christ Jesus.”

This means that I am both a creature of earth and of heaven. My physical body is on earth, but my spirit is united with Christ in the heavenly realms.

We see the world in three dimensional form, but there are many more dimensions that we do not see. We experience the world through physical senses, but the spiritual realm is often hidden from us.

Paul tells us that we are already seated in the heavenly realms with Christ- even if we are not aware of this.

Our sins have been washed away through Christ and we are now entitled to dwell in heaven. In the past, our sin cut us off from all fellowship with God, but now we have authority to be with him in the heavenly realms.

If we are already seated with Christ, we need to see all things from His perspective, from a heavenly perspective. We need to develop spiritual senses that enable us to see beyond the physical. Paul talks about this later in his discussion of spiritual warfare. We are not fighting in the flesh but in the spirit, overcoming spiritual powers.

As Christians, our real dwelling place is in the heavenly realms- in the spirit realms. This is not future but is a present reality founded on what God did in the past in Christ.

Key points in this verse:

  • We have already been raised from death in Christ
  • We do not need to add to Christ work. It is complete
  • We must pursue relationship with Christ
  • God has seated us in heavenly places in Christ
  • We must learn to see things from a heavenly perspective, not just the physical perspective

Ephesians 2:5

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Here is my commentary on Ephesians 2:5. I am publishing these once or twice a week, but you can read all of the available articles at our web-site.

Ephesians 2:5

[God] made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions– it by you have been saved

In this and the next few verses, Paul talks about grace and faith working together to bring us to salvation. The past few verses were about God’s love lifting us from wrath. Now he talks about death and life.

We were dead in our transgressions.

Previously Paul talked about living in the flesh and sin, but now he reveals something shocking — we were dead in our transgressions.

It is ironic that’s the people who most want to indulge the sinful nature regard christians as lacking a life. Those who are “ living” in transgressions are actually dead.

The film “The Matrix” illustrate this perfectly. In the movie, The human race had been captivated by aliens who held everyone in a trance. People were deceived by a computer program which made them believe that they were living normal lives.

The flesh deceives us so that we believe we are living, when we are actually dead.

To be dead in transgressions means that we live a sub-human life. We were meant for so much more than a life of self-centeredness , of self-indulgence. Every person was created by God for a purpose, and unless we surrender ourselves to God, we are living below our optimum humanity. To “ live” in transgressions is to live with the purpose and direction of an animal.

To be dead in transgressions means that our spirit is dead. The spirit is the part of our nature that communicates with God. It is the breath that God breathed into Adam, and which Christ breathed into the disciples. Until our spirit is animated by the Holy Spirit, it remains dead .

To be dead in transgressions is to be sleep walking towards hell. It is like a condemned prisoner who is on his way to the execution chamber. His body is alive but he has no future other than death.

We were once dead in our transgressions, but God made us alive with Christ.

As we stated in the previous verse, it is God who takes the action in Salvation. He takes the initiative, all we can do is receive what he has done.

God made us alive with Christ, even when we were dead.

Just as God raised Christ from the dead, he raised us also with Christ. When we first saw the truth of the gospel we were raised from the dead. Life came flowing into our spirit, and we came to life.

This is God’s work of resurrection. New life flows to the spirit of the new believer. Suddenly the chains that kept us in the grave are released, and we start to feel alive, really alive, for the very first time.

It is as if we are born again, brought into a new form of life that we have never experienced before .

We could not do that by ourselves. Nobody can summon the energy to raise themselves from the grave. God did this, all by himself.

We have been saved by the grace of God.

To be saved means to be rescued where we could not save ourselves. Our ship was sinking in rough seas when a helicopter came to lift us to safety. We were lost in the bush with no food when the rescue patrol found us.

Right at the point of our death, the death of Christ raised us to life.

The word for saved means also to be healed or made whole. We were broken, dead, lost, and without hope. Then God saved us.

We were headed for hell with no possible way out. As the sentence was declared, Jesus stepped in and took our punishment away. We expected eternal hell, stared receive eternal Heaven .

This Is all by grace, the grace of God.

We need to see that it is God’s grace. The living God graces us with His gift of life.

Many people have a fuzzy idea about terms such as grace. They think that the universe is favourably disposed to us and this is grace. They think that grace, like God, is some sort of impersonal force that makes sure that everything works out.

This is God’s grace, Father God gifting us with his mercy and his life. Grace literally means a gift. Salvation comes as a gift from the Father.

We cannot earn grace because that would be a wage. We are not entitled to it like an inheritance. Grace is a free gift with no strings attached.

Salvation comes as a free gift.

We were dead in our sins, but God made us alive because of his free gift to us in Christ.

Key points in this verse

  • We were dead in our transgressions even though we thought we were alive full.
  • We had a sub-human existence until we were rescued.
  • We were sleepwalking to hell.
  • Salvation is God’s free gift to us.
  • We cannot save ourselves. We need God’s grace to save us.
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Here is my commentary on Ephesians 2:4. I am publishing these once or twice a week, but you can read all of the available articles at our web-site.

Ephesians 2:4

But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy …

God loves us with great love (a more literal rendering of this phrase) and is rich in mercy.

We need to always bear in mind that it is God who is the subject of our salvation. It is God who takes the decisive action to put to rights our terrible predicament regarding sin.

The previous verse talks about how we once lived in our sins and transgressions. We were objects of wrath.

God intervenes to deal with sin. We might expect that his intervention to fix sin and to deal with the objects of his wrath wold be to pour and judgement and punishment on these sinners .

But God acts first out of his great love and his rich mercy .

The Lord takes the initiative and God the Son becomes a human being. Jesus comes into the world to effect salvation for all who put their trust in him.

God acts from love and mercy, not from judgement or vengeance. This is not to say that there is no judgement for those who remain in sin. God’s love at this time does not mean that he’s gone soft on sin. Far from it! He took the fall; He paid the price; He gave up everything in the hope of rescuing some.

God loves us with great love.

The love that God shows us is, in Greek, agape. This is love that is poured out for the sake of the person who is loved. God’s love does not wax or wane depending on our response to him. He loves the greatest sinner just as much as he loves the greatest saint.

Agape love is love that says, “ I love you regardless of what you do or do not do for me.” Agape love is the reckless love of the father in the parable of the prodigal son.

Some people infer that because God’s love is unwavering and independent of the response of its object, that this agape love is unemotional. Gods love is not subject to ups and downs in the ways human love may be, but that does not make it unemotional. God’s love Is love, not a rational, intellectual, dispassionate exercise of good thoughts to us.

The Old Testament reveals the Lord as a God whose love for his people is passionate and emotional. He describes himself as a husband who is jealous for his wife Israel .

God loves us with a great love. His love is not stingy or doled out by the teaspoonful. God’s love is lavish, immense, never ending. Nobody can tell how high or deep or wide or long is God’s love for us. The cross gives us a picture of His love in that God has laid down his own life for us.

God loves his creation, especially people whom he made in his own image. He has an abundance of love for us, love that never runs out. Even when he judges people, it will be from a position first of love.

God is rich in mercy.

We deserve to be punished for our many sins and transgressions. At one time we lived in sin. It was our lifestyle; we were unrepentant and just didn’t care. Perhaps we did not know we were sinners.

God’s mercy is seen in the way he defers punishment. He did not strike us down immediately after our first sin, not even after our first thousand sins. Although our first sin was enough to condemn us, he gave us chance after chance after chance to turn away from our wickedness. In fact, he gives every person their entire lifetime to come to a place of recognising that they are a sinner.

Gods mercy is seeing also in that the defers final judgement so that as many people as possible may be saved (2 Peter 3:9). Judgement against the world’s wickedness will come, but the Lord holds back, waiting for the fullness of his kingdom to be filled .

God’s mercy is seen also in the fact that he freely welcomes us into his family. When we repent and turn to him, the record of sin is deleted instantly. There is no qualifying period, no need to meet certain standards of behaviour.

Sometimes law courts give a suspended sentence. A person may be sentenced to prison, but it is suspended for a time period. If the criminal commits no further crimes in that suspension period, his prison term is revoked. But if any offence is committed, the full prison sentence must be served.

But God wipes away our sins immediately. We don’t have to be perfect for a year before we qualify. God’s mercy is instant and covers all of our sins, past and future.

God is rich in mercy. He has so much mercy to give away, there is more than enough to go around. When Jesus fed the 5000 people, the abundance or richness of the miracle was seen in the fact that everybody had enough to eat and there was much more left over than was present to start off with.

God has more than enough mercy to go around. Because he loves us with great love, he is prepared to forgive our sins and failures repeatedly and often. The only requirement is that we seek his grace.

Gods mercy is so rich that he forgives the sins we forget to confess. Some people obsess about ”keeping short accounts with God”, that is looking for every misdemeanour and offence they might have committed, so they can confess it all to God. We must not be afraid of overlooking something that God might hold against us.

God is rich in mercy, rich enough to forgive the greatest and least of sins, those we confess and those we forget to confess. He loves us with great love.

Key points in this verse

  • God loves us with great love
  • God initiates our salvation; we respond to him.
  • God deals with sin by paying for it Himself
  • God’s love, agape love, flows to us whether we respond or not.
  • God is passionately in love with us
  • God is rich in mercy
  • God delights to welcome sinners into his family
  • God has more than enough mercy to go around

Ephesians 2:3

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Here is my commentary on Ephesians 2:3. I am publishing these once or twice a week, but you can read all of the available articles at our web-site.

Ephesians 2:3

All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our sinful nature and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest we were by nature objects of wrath.

We were all sinners before we were saved. We also lived among them, that is, sins and transgressions. We were not born innocent, but had what theologians used to call “original sin.” We were born sinful from the start.

Our lives have all been different in many ways, but every person has this tendency to sin. Paul calls this the “sinful nature” or in some translations” flesh.” In some people this is seen in obvious acts of immorality and criminality. In others the sinful nature operates in more respectable ways. However, it is all sin.

Flesh or sinful nature is not related to our bodily make up. Is a concise expression for the part of our nature which always tends towards sin or rebellion against God,

We have all sinned and fallen short of God’s glory. There is no exception apart from Jesus.

Pleasing the sinful nature is the default setting for humanity. Unless we consciously intervene, we will inevitably sin.

A car with its wheels incorrectly aligned will drift to the left or the right unless the driver constantly steers the vehicle the opposite way. An intervention from the driver, and ultimately a mechanic, is necessary.

We all veer towards sin unless we choose not to. But even our thoughts and desires are tainted by sin so that we cannot always make the right choice. We need to be made over by God.

So until we come to Jesus and allow the Holy Spirit to adjust our thinking we are doomed to sin, even if we try to do what is right.

Before we were saved we were living in sin and transgressions, gratifying the cravings of our sinful nature.

It is not hard to work out what these cravings of the flesh nature might be. In fact psychologists define a hierarchy of needs which is, in fact, a guide to the fleshly nature.

We have a physical needs such as food, water, shelter, sex and so on. The need for food easily changes to gluttony as we feed the body as much as possible when food is available. The drive for sex turns to last when it is unrestrained.

Then there are issues that relate to safety. but our self-directed sinful nature demands that need his meeting ways that are harmful to others.

As we go up the hierarchy of needs we discover that, although these are God-given drives that exist in all of us, they so easily lead us to sinning if we live independently of God. This is particularly true of the higher order needs of self- esteem and self- actualisation. These are driven by self- a code word for flesh.

We were once in that place of being led by the flesh, the sinful nature, that lives independently of God. We once lived in rebellion against God.

Because we are born with this sinful nature, and therefore default to sin, before we were Christians satan had very little to do to secure our destruction. We were left to our own devices, and as we lived in sin, we would have died in sin, and ultimately we would go to hell. It should not be a surprise that it is after we are saved we become subjects of satan’s attacks . These take the form of temptation, persecution, and so on.

Before we are saved, while we are still under the dominion of the flesh, we are “objects of wrath.” This refers to God’s wrath.

We think of wrath as being anger that is out of control, rage on steroids.

Gods wrath is rightly understood as judicial fury against sin. God is not angry with people. In fact He loves people. He loves sinners, but he is furious about sin and the deeds of the flesh.

Sin separates us from God. It is no wonder that He has wrath towards it and towards its practitioners. He has determined that all who rebelled against him and continue to rebel will be punished. This is justice- a forensic form of wrath.

When cases are brought to court that are notoriously evil or depraved, we expect that the perpetrators are rightly punished. Our anger at the awfulness of the crime demands it.

God sees the awfulness of sin and how it alienates us from him and results in us hurting one another. As long as we continue to sin we are objects of wrath, candidates for great punishment .

There can be no more fearful punishment for sin then total removal from God’s presence. This is what Hell is like. It is a place of total separation from God and from everything that makes life enjoyable. Hell is the place where sin reaps its ultimate harvest .

God will give us all a chance to repent, an opportunity to turn to Him and receive His forgiveness. But all who refuse his grace remain under his wrath.

Key points in this verse

  • We were all sinners before we were saved by faith in Christ
  • The sinful nature always defaults to sin unless there is an intervention
  • Gratifying the fleshly nature results in sin, even when all we are doing is trying to meet our needs
  • All who are living in sin are objects of God’s wrath

Ephesians 2:2

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Here is my commentary on Ephesians2:2. I am publishing these once or twice a week, but you can read all of the available articles at our web-site.

Ephesians 2:2

“ … in which you used to live when you followed the ways of the world, and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is still at work in those who are disobedient.”

We used to live in “sins and transgressions” until Christ set us free. We all have a history “Before Christ”, and when we are tempted to judge others from a position of self-righteousness, it is good to remember that we, too, once lived in sin.

Sin is so all-encompassing that it is no exaggeration to say that we once lived in it. Sin is like the air around us. It is always there even if we are not aware of it.

Sin is living for ourselves without reference to God’s will. In parts of the Bible it is described as lawlessness, rebellion, and witchcraft. When we live for ourselves without reference to the Lord, we are truly living in sin.

We used to follow the ways of the world before Christ came in.

Those who live in the world have their ways, just as christians have their ways. Whereas christians leave to serve Christ, the people of the world live to serve themselves. Vices are renamed virtues. Sins are redefined to make them more palatable.

The word “world” is not the physical planet on which we live, but the masses of humanity who go their own way, ignorant or rebellious against God.

God loves the world so much that He sent his one and only Son so that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

God loves the world, but the world does not love God. The world sets up its systems which deliberately exclude God.

The people who follow the ways of the world live for themselves. They work for money that does not last; their priorities can be summed up in the proverb, “Eat, drink and be merry for tomorrow we die.” Their attitude is to live life to the fullest because they see no prospect for eternity.

The people of the world think that they are being wise in their own ways, walking in their own freedom. Yet they are directed by the” ruler of the kingdom of the air.” The kingdom of the air is satan’s realm. It is the second heaven according to some people, the first being the celestial realm of the sun, moon and stars.

When people live for themselves, they are living for Satan. Despite their claims to be free, they are in the deepest of bondage. Having abandoned any sense of duty to their Creator, they have fallen into captivity to the devil.

That is why the world always sets itself in opposition to Christians. This is why so many Christians around the world face severe persecution. This is why society loves all manner of perversion and decadence, and they hate the church.

Those who walk in the ways of the world are really being directed by satan who is the ruler of the kingdom of the air. We cannot ever expect anything different. Sinful people, unredeemed people, sin because they are separated from God and in fellowship with Satan.

Many Christians are unaware of the spiritual war that they are fighting. This will be discussed in Ephesians 6 where the nature of the war is elaborated. For now we must recognise that the war is being waged, and humans are the prize on both sides.

There is no neutrality in this war. Satan will destroy everyone regardless of whether they are fighting for him or ignorant of him. He leaves alone those who are already on the path to hell. He takes great delight in causing suffering and distress to those whom he considers his enemies.

Those who are disobedient to God are those who allow the spirits of evil to work in their lives. The more determined people are to oppose God, the more they have allowed the spirits to work in them and through them.

People indulge in all kinds of evil acts including violence, sexual perversion, lust, theft, fraud, blasphemy and so on. They argue that anything is justified as long as nobody gets hurt. They overlook the fact that any act of disobedience causes hurt to someone even if it is only the disobedient person.

Human beings were created in the image of God. We are created for his purposes and any disobedience to God is a denial of our reason for being. We mar that image that is in our hearts whenever we indulge our selfish desires.

Acts of disobedience amongst christians are acts of surrender to the evil one. We deny our Creator and Redeemer. We turn away from the path of separation to God and back to the ways of the world which lead to bondage and captivity.

Key points in this verse:

  • We were once Sinners but have been set free by Christ.
  • Sin is following the ways of the world
  • Whether by intent or in ignorance, the world sets itself in opposition to God
  • God loves the world but the world does not love God
  • Those who live in the world are really in bondage to satan who is the ruler of the kingdom of the air
  • We are in spiritual war and need to be aware of this
  • Following the ways of the world leads to disobedience
  • We are created for God’s purposes and must obey him

Ephesians 2:1

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Here is my commentary on Ephesians2:1. I am publishing these once or twice a week, but you can read all of the available articles at our web-site.

Ephesians 2:1

As for you, you were once dead in your transgressions and sins.

The gospel is deeply personal. It is not a theory or a general culture. You are either in or out. You either believe in Christ and receive his forgiveness, or you do not believe t and consequently remain on the outside of the Kingdom.

We have many opinions on issues that do not directly affect us, but the gospel is different. “As for you,” Paul says. We saw in the very first verse of chapter one that this letter is directed “to the saints,” that he is those who have responded to the gospel and now are God’s holy, or set apart, people.

This is me, and you, (assuming you are born again). It is us, the church, the ones called out and sanctified by Christ .

We all need to make a decision to follow Christ if we are to be saved and be a part of God’s kingdom.

It affects people who hear the gospel and respond to it as individuals, but are then counted as part of the organic body of Christ.

“You were once dead in your sins & transgressions.”

We were once dead. I was dead in my sins, but now I am alive in Christ. I was the condemned man on the way to the execution chamber, a dead man walking.

But then I stopped being dead. Christ came into my life and moved me from the “dead” column to the “alive” column. The condemned man is set free, declared innocent. Now instead of being dead, on a relentless conveyor belt to hell, I am alive, rescued by Christ.

Countless millions of people are dead men and women walking. Their hearts beat and their bodies move, but they are dead in their sins.

So we used to be! But now I am alive in Christ. The sins that hung around my neck, pulling me inexorably into the depths have been cut off and carried away by Christ.

We were once dead in our transgressions and sins.

The word for transgressions here suggests an accidental breaking of the law- stumbling aside, a false step.

When I am driving, sometimes I don’t notice that I’m going down hill and my speed has increased above the speed limit. Someone coming into the country doesn’t recognise that we have strict laws about what may be brought in. They might have some food product that is prohibited and forget to declare it on the card.

In both cases the law has been broken, but not intentionally.

It is these transgressions that Paul says have kept us in death. I did not know God’s requirements, so I failed. I tried to live a good life, but I am not perfect.

Intentions are not what matters. I have broken God’s holy law, falling short of his glory. I have failed to live up to His standards.

The cumulative effect of my transgressions has made me dead spiritually. I was estranged from God by my breaching of His law.

The word for sins means to miss the mark or to fall short. This is more serious because it suggests wilfulness. We know what we should do but we refuse to do it. It is rebellion against God’s will.

We are all born in sin. We all have that sinful nature handed down from Adam and Eve. We refused to do what God wants us to do.

This outright rebellion moves us away from God, the source of all life, and so we die.

In the previous analogy of driving, sin is when I decide to recklessly ignore the speed limit. I know I should drive at less than 60 km per hour, but I choose to drive at 100 kilometres per hour. My action is a total disregard for the law, and now renders me likely to have a crash.

Sin is when we know what we should do and wilfully do the opposite. It kills us and those around us.

I was once dead in my sins and transgressions, but now, thank God, I am alive because of what Christ has done.

This Is a miracle. It is only God who can turn death into life. It is only God who can raise up the dead person and breathe into them the breath of life.

Key points in this verse:
The gospel is personal and we must have apply it to our own lives.

We were once dead but we are now alive in Christ.

We can accidentally transgress God’s laws or deliberately break them but the result either way is the same – death.

Ephesians 1:22-23

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Here is my commentary on Ephesians 1:22-23. I am publishing these once or twice a week, but you can read all of the available articles at our web-site.

Ephesians 1:22-23

And he has put all things under His feet and has made him the head over all things for the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way”.

God has placed all things under the feet of Christ.

There is nothing in all of creation whether on earth or in the heavens, which is greater than Christ. He reigns over all things.

To say that God has put all things under Christ’s feet is to suggest the total victory by Christ against everything that would stand against him.

All of the demonic hordes are under His feet.

All human powers and institutions are under His feet.

Every culture that blasphemes the name of Jesus is under His feet.

Every political leader is under His feet, even those who seek to put themselves above His reign.

There are strongmen and religious systems, dictators of the left and the right, corporate power and political parties, all opposed to the rule of Christ. Yet even these are under His feet.

Media figures and artists mock Christians and scoff at the gospel. They blaspheme against Jesus in a way that they would not dare against Muhammad. Even these are under the feet of Christ.

He could snuff them all out in an instant, but that is not His way. He allows the way of grace to unfold and to play out in all possible ways before bringing judgement, so that no one can argue that His judgement is harsh or unfair in any way.

Not only has God placed all things under the feet of Christ, He has made Christ the head of all things.

The authority of Christ is over all human and demonic forces. He actively directs the affairs of men and angels.

It is not as if Christ were sitting back patiently waiting to see how things play out. He is actively directing society, culture, politics, and every institution to maximise His own glory.

As Paul says in Romans,” in all things God works for the good of those who are called to His purposes”. So Christ manipulates even the opposition to achieve His ends. Christ manipulates even the opposition to achieve His outcomes.

All of this is for quote the church quote. Christ to love for His people, His flock, is so huge that he directs everything for the sake of the church.

When Paul speaks of the church he does not think of an institution or a human creation that controls the preaching of the faith. The church is an organic thing, a body, that consists of many people in congregations large and small who claim the allegiance to Christ above all other things.

So Christ is head over all things for the sake of the church, of the believers, around the world.

In some places, at some times, the church grows best under conditions of difficulty- opposition and even persecution. In other times and places it is peace and co-operation with civic authorities that moves the gospel forward.

Whether we are in times of peace or persecution, Christ is with us and bringing out the best possible outcome for the church.

When times are chaotic and difficult we must always remember that Christ is the head over all things.

Paul now briefly turns his attention to the church.

The church is the Body of Christ. Christ no longer lives on the earth, but the church does. We are the physical representation of Christ on the earth today.

To say that the church is the Body of Christ is to say that it is the physical agency by which Christ’s will is brought into being.

The church makes disciples by bringing people to the new birth or salvation and then training people to be mature disciples. The church is the light in the darkness, seeking to proclaim the name of Christ to those who do not know him yet. This is called mission or evangelism.

Mission takes many forms. The word itself conjures up visions of ministers going to primitive people to tell them about both Jesus and civilisation. Despite the tremendous advances in communications and technology in recent decades, many people have no knowledge of Jesus.

In many parts of the world, the mission of the church is going forward with such rapidity that something like one third of the world claims to be christian. In the west the church is losing ground rapidly and must adjust to becoming a missions frontier.

The compassionate ministries of the church are also a form of mission. Here the church aims to be the Body of Christ by being His hands and feet to the neglected parts of society- the poor, the very young, the chronically ill, and the aged .

In all kinds of ways the church is Christ’s body, being a physical manifestation of the grace of God in the world.

The church is the fullness of Christ.

In a sense this is an aspirational or idealistic statement. Paul says that the church has not yet reached the fullness of the measure of Christ and that the church will not be mature until it does (Ephesians 4:13).

But the church is the fullness of Christ in the sense that he promised he would be with us until the end of the age, and that wherever two or three meet in His name there He is in the midst of us.

Wherever the church gathers for worship or prayer, He is with us, in us, and fills us.

There seems to be a contradiction here. If Christ fills us whenever we meet, why does Paul say we have not yet received the measure of the fullness of Christ? Why do we need the five fold ministry gifts to move us into a deeper fullness of Christ?

When we are saved, we receive the fullness of Christ. Nothing is held back from us. However, sin, immaturity of faith, lack of understanding, prevent us from receiving as much as we might. As we mature in Christ, as we learn more from the Bible, as we grow in faith and understanding, we move to deeper experiences of faith and of the Holy Spirit .

The baptism in the Holy Spirit is one such step. As the Holy Spirit manifests in the gift of tongues, we find ourselves enabled and motivated to pray for things in a new and powerful way. We might experience a miracle as we take a faith step in praying for someone, or the joy of helping someone come to salvation.

All of these experiences increase our capacity for receiving more of the fullness of Christ.

The same is true for the church. As individual congregations move in faith to share the gospel or pray for miracles, the collective faith of the church grows exponentially. If the congregation senses that it is being opposed by satanic forces, it’s faith will grow to understand how to overcome . As the congregation worships in the power of the Holy Spirit, the power of Christ is made manifest amongst them.

So churches can experience a collective increase in their capacity to express the fullness of Christ.

The last phrase of the verse is difficult to understand. “Of him who fills all things in every way.” How can we understand that Christ fills all things?

We should not think of this as being a kind of pantheism which suggests that Christ fills physically the creation.

Paul said in verse 22 that Christ has put all things under his feet. Christ rules over all things, and so all of the creation is under his rule. In that sense He fills all things.

As the creation is renewed by the restoration of people to God, the glory of Christ will literally fill all things. In the book of Revelation we are told that in the New Jerusalem there is no need for the sun and moon, for the glory of God lights it and the Lamb is it’s lamp (Revelation 21:23)

Key points in these verses:

  • All things are under the feet of Christ
  • Christ is completely defeated His enemies
  • He is head over all things, actively moving things forward for His glory
  • While Christ would be justified in bringing judgement against those who oppose him, in grace he holds back to allow people time to repent
  • Christ’s authority is for the sake of the church.
  • the church is the Body of Christ
  • the church does the will of Christ in the world
  • the church, and the individuals who make it up, have the fullness of Christ
  • We are able to grow in our capacity to receive Christ
  • The glory of Christ fills all things