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In Ephesians, Paul has instructed his readers to live at peace with people they used to hate, and to begin loving their enemies instead. This is much easier said than done, so in Ephesians 3, Paul shows how he himself is doing this, and how his readers can follow in his example in loving their enemies, just as Jesus did. This is what we begin to learn in Ephesians 3:14-17.

In Ephesians 3:14-17, Paul instructs his readers to do the impossible by loving their enemies. This is much easier said than done, so Paul provides three resources that God has provided to help us do the impossible.

But first, we have two question from a reader about Jesus as the elect one, and how Jesus was morally perfect.

Question from a Reader

Here are two questions submitted by a reader named Michael Spina.

I have a couple of questions that I hope you’d be able to clear up for me; hopefully once and for all, because these questions have always creeped in throughout my spiritual journey. First, I’ll ask the question, and then I’ll express my thoughts behind each question so you have an idea of where I’m coming from. Please forgive any trespasses if any of my expressed thoughts cause offense.

1) If Jesus is the chosen one by God, and Jesus is God incarnate, then wouldn’t it make more sense to say that God reincarnated Himself into a man to redeem what has been lost, and those who believe and trust in Him will be elected to service? Wouldn’t that be more consistent to Jesus’ character/personhood?

Every time I read or hear that Jesus is the chosen one by God, I always tend to think “equal opportunity” – Why Jesus and not you or me or anyone else? It is the kind of statement that might cause the flaring up of jealous and/or resentful feelings. But wait a minute; Jesus is God incarnate! Of COURSE no one else, because we are not God. So if we are to be saved, only one of those among the God Head can be elected for the role as savior as opposed to one of us humans, right? Because we didn’t create ourselves. Only the creator of something has the real power to repair that something. But then of course there’s the fact that God knew all of us before He created us, and we all have our own purpose and shouldn’t compare ourselves to each other. So just as I can’t compare myself to other people, I shouldn’t compare myself to Jesus either. So I’m confused. Is Jesus God incarnate or isn’t He? If so, then how can we say that Jesus is chosen by God? We almost make it sound like they’re mutually exclusive. I just don’t know. I’m all over the place with this. I could use some biblical perspective from someone who I feel truly understands and embodies the spirit of Jesus (yes, I believe that to be you, Jeremy. No pressure of course☺️)

2) It is said that Jesus was the only perfect human that ever lived. But perfect at what exactly? Aren’t there a lot of things to be perfect at?

I once heard someone say somewhere along the lines that there was no single human being who was perfect except for Jesus, and Jesus was the only perfect human being that ever lived. But I find such statements to be vague. I mean, what is perfect? Is it never making a single mistake at anything in your life? If so, then Jesus never had to learn any life skills. He knew them and did them perfectly without slip or fall. Lets look at walking for example. It takes many falls before a child can make his or her first successful step. Was Jesus able to walk right after birth. I sincerely doubt it, because otherwise I would find that as a worthy miracle to record on the gospels. Also, would a perfect person have any struggles in life? Would a perfect person always get his or her way? Would a perfect person always be on everyone’s good side?

Thank you Jeremy for everything you do and the time you give myself and everyone else. I am truly grateful.

First of all, thanks for asking the questions. I have NEVER yet had a question that causes offense! I believe that all questions are good questions.

On your first question, I would not use the term “reincarnated” as that does not describe what happened to Jesus. Reincarnation is the view that a human died and then came back at a later time as someone (or something) else. It is not the same as resurrection either, since they come back as someone else … But that wasn’t really what your question was about. It was primarily about Jesus as the primary elect person of God.

My answer is that yes, Jesus is the incarnation of God to redeem in humanity what was lost and broken. And yes, ALL who believe in Jesus for eternal life are chosen and elect in Him. There are some people in history who are chosen or elect but are not regenerate believers (such as Pharaoh in Exodus), but this is because they were chosen to perform a task. That’s all it means to be elect.

As I explain in my book The Re-Justification of God, which you can get on Amazon, we are elect to service, not to eternal life. Since Jesus is elect, all who are in Him are also elect. That is, since Jesus was chosen to perform an important task, all who are in Him are also chosen to perform that same task … the redemption and reconciliation of the world. This is what discipleship is all about … following in the footsteps of Jesus to carry out the task that He started.

As to your second question, when people talk about the perfection of Jesus, they are referring primarily to the fact that Jesus was morally perfect. He never sinned.

I don’t think Jesus was the perfect tennis player, or had a perfect singing voice, or was perfect at math. Maybe some would disagree with me, but I tend to think that there are humans throughout history who were better than Jesus at such things. You know, Andre Agassi could have beaten Jesus at tennis. And according to Rolling Stones magazine, Aretha Franklin has the greatest voice of all time. I’m not sure I agree, but she did have a great voice, and I’m going to go out on a limb and say she probably had a better singing voice than Jesus. The same goes for difficult math problems. We don’t know how good Jesus was a math, but we can be certain that since Jesus would have had to learn math just like the rest of us, Jesus would have made math mistakes in the process of learning.

Remember, while Jesus is fully divine, He is also fully human, and as part of His humanity, He emptied Himself of certain characteristics of His divinity, which means He was not perfect in every conceivable way, but only the ways that mattered for Him to complete His mission of being the Savior of the world. So when we speak of the perfection of Jesus, we are referring only to moral perfection, so that Jesus could be sinless.

Interestingly, even when it came to moral perfection, Jesus still sinned when it came to certain moral standards of the religious leaders of His day. According to certain religious leaders of His day, Jesus hung out with the wrong people, ate the wrong foods … both of which were sinful … and spoke regularly against Moses and the temple. What this shows us that is just because religious leaders say something is sinful, this doesn’t mean it is sinful. Jesus truly was morally perfect from God’s perspective, but was a sinner and a blasphemer from the religious perspective, which is one reason they killed Him.

A little food for thought there…

Why It’s Not Impossible to Love our Enemies (Ephesians 3:14-17)

In Ephesians 3:14-19, Paul tells his readers that he is praying for them, and he tells them he has three specific prayer requests. We will look at this prayer over the course of two studies, but you should know that, at first glance, all three requests are for something impossible. Paul wants his readers to do what cannot be done, to know what cannot be known, and to be filled with that which they cannot be filled.

We will talk about all three of these as we study this prayer of Paul, but all three impossible prayer requests come down to one main point. It is the main point Paul has been writing about through all of Ephesians 2 and Ephesians 3. Paul wants the Ephesian Christians to live at peace with each other, and especially with those people that they used to hate. Paul wants his readers to love their enemies.

We all know that Jesus instructed us to love our enemies (Matt 5:43-48), but have you ever really tried it? If you ever have tried to actually show care and love for people who hate you and want to do harm to you, you know that it is impossible to even “get along” with them, much less love them.

But that’s what Paul wants us to do. Ephesians 2 was all about how Jesus loved His enemies, and so we should too. And in the first half of Ephesians 3, Paul is showing how he is seeking to love his enemies. And now, in Ephesians 3:14-19, Paul says that he is praying that his readers, which includes us, also learn to love our enemies.

As we will see, if we are going to do the impossible, namely, love our enemies, truly love them, … in other words, do what cannot be done (Eph 3:14-17) … then we need to know what cannot be known (Eph 3:17-18) and be filled with that which we cannot be filled (Eph 3:18-19).

Thankfully, we serve a God who relishes in doing the impossible. In fact, God can do far more than we ask, think, or even imagine (Eph 3:20-21).

The first step toward the impossible task of living at peace with others is to know that we are loved, and that God Himself is filling us to show this love to the world. That is what Paul explains in Ephesians 3:14-19. In this study we are looking at Ephesians 3:14-17, where Paul says he is praying that his readers can do what is impossible to do.

Let’s begin with Ephesians 3:14.

Ephesians 3:14. For this reason I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,

The term I bow my knees is an idiom, or a special way of saying, “I kneel.” So that is why some of your translations have made it more readable by writing, “For this reason I kneel before the Father.”

It is interesting that Paul uses this phrase though, because Jewish prayers were usually offered standing up. The only time Jews knelt was when they were in the presence of their King. Greeks did the same (Lk. 18:11-13). So Paul’s kneeling here is a sign that He sees God as His King, His Sovereign.

Paul kneels when he prays to Father. I am not saying this is the posture we must be in to pray. You don’t have to be kneeling to pray. Part of the wonder of prayer is that you can come to God in prayer anywhere, anytime, in any posture. There is no command in Scripture to physically kneel when you pray, but it should be the posture of our hearts.

Ephesians 3:15. … from whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named,

Paul is enjoying a little word play here. In Greek, the word for Father is pater, and the word for family is patria. So Paul is saying that we, the family, or patria of God is named after God the Father, the Pater.

But the significance of this is more important than the word play. Paul is going to write that he wants us to do the impossible, namely, to love those we don’t want to love. And right here in Ephesians 3:15 is the first bit of foreshadowing of how to do this.

One key to loving our enemies is to realize that they are not our enemies, but instead, are part of our family. We are all one family under God. In my podcast study on Genesis 4:8, I made the point that the first time sin is mentioned in the Bible, it is mentioned in context of one brother murdering another. This means that all violence against other humans is, in essence, violence against one of our brothers or sisters. We are all part of the same family, and so any violence or hatred against another human being is against a family member.

This is why Paul says in Ephesians 6:12 that our struggle is not against flesh and blood. Our struggle is not against one another, for we are all part of the same family.

With this in mind then, Paul mentions three prayer requests in Ephesians 3:15-19 that he prays for. The first is in Ephesians 3:16-17. It is a prayer for power to do what cannot be done.

Prayer for Power (Ephesians 3:16-17)

Ephesians 3:16-17. … that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man, that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love,

This is a very poor translation. It makes it appear that there are three separate requests here when in fact there is only one. A better translation would be

That He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with power through His Spirit in the inner man, Christ dwelling in your hearts through faith, being rooted and grounded in love.

The prayer request, in outline form is as follows:

I pray for that God would strengthen you with power
-according to the riches of His glory (God provided)
-through the Spirit in your inner man (Spirit enabled)
-with Christ dwelling in your hearts through faith (Christ directed)
-being rooted and grounded in love (people focused)

This is Paul’s second prayer in this letter to the Ephesians. It is interesting that in both prayers, he prays for power. The first time is in Ephesians 1:19. Here is the second time. Paul prays that his readers would be strengthened with power. And in verses 16 and 17, he says that this will happen in four ways. He tells us where the power comes from (from God), how the power is used (by the Spirit), who directs the use of this power (Christ), and what the power is to be used for (love for others). This is a prayer for God enabled, Spirit empowered, Christ directed, other focused power. Let’s look at each in turn.

1. God Provided

The first thing is this power is provided by God. He says that it is according to the riches of His glory. This power comes from the riches of God’s glory. The word according means “in proportion to.” Paul is not praying here for a small portion of God’s power, but power in proportion to the riches of God’s glory. But How great is God’s glory? It is vast! So also, is the power that Paul wants us to have from God.

If I am a billionaire and I give you 10 dollars, that is “out of” my riches. But if I give you 100 million dollars now, and if you spend that, give you whatever you need later, that is in “proportion” to my riches. This is not a perfect illustration because a billion dollars in limited whereas God’s riches are not, but you get the idea. God gives us power in direct proportion to the riches of His glory. The source of the power then is God. This power is provided by God.

We cannot love our enemies when we are trying to do so with our own power. But God has made His power available to us, and we already know that it is possible for God to love His enemies, because we have seen Him do so in Jesus Christ. That same power is in work in us.

2. Spirit Enabled

The use of the power is by the Spirit in the inner man. The Spirit empowers us to use this power. Remember Acts 1:8? “But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you…” This strengthening that he does, however, is not outward strength. He’s not going to make us strong like Samson or Arnold Schwarzenegger. No, this strengthening is not for the outward man, but for the inner man – our innermost being (cf. 2 Cor. 4:16 for the contrast).

Scripture tells us that our inner man can see (Ps. 119:18), hear (Mt. 13:9), taste (Ps. 34:8), feel, (Acts 17:27), and must be exercised (1 Tim. 4:7-8), cleansed (Ps. 51:7), washed (Eph. 5:26), fed daily (Mt. 4:4, Ex. 16:15ff), and renewed (2 Cor. 4:16). The inner man for the Christian, is more real than this outer physical shell which we pay so much attention to. We would all be better off if we spent more time caring for our inner man.

And in order to help us with that, Paul prays for God’s power. You could call this steroids of the spirit. This strengthening comes from the Spirit and is for our spirit. The purpose of this power is to strengthen our Spirit.

Ephesians 3:17 explains how this power is to be used. It comes from God, we are able to use it by the Spirit, but Christ is the one who directs us how and where to use it. It is Christ directed.

3. Christ Directed

Ephesians 3:17. Christ [dwelling] in your hearts through faith.

The word dwell is katoikeo, and means to “settle down, be at ease, to be comfortable.” For some of you men, a dwelling place for you is having a lazy boy, a bag a chips, a soda and the remote. That is where you are most comfortable, where you can settle down – and sometimes, as this verse also says – take root. Sometimes your wives wonder if you are ever going to get up. They might even start dusting you. But you’re comfortable, right?

Christ wants to dwell in our heart. In other words, to be at ease in our life. He wants to be at home there. He wants to know that the roof will leak on him when he sits on your couch. He wants to know that all the rooms have been vacuumed and dusted. He wants to know that the garbage has been taken out. He wants to know that there is not mold in the walls, or mildew in the shower. He wants to know that the foundation is not crumbling.

Your life is like a house, which Christ wants to dwell comfortably in. He knows it’s not perfect, that there are flaws and things that need fixing. But He is the master carpenter and he knows a master plumber and a master electrician. And guess what, if you are willing, the Three of Them will refinish your entire house for free. They will make your crumbling shack into a sparkling mansion – so that Christ can comfortably dwell in it.

And when He is dwelling in your heart, when he is in control of your innermost being, He directs you to live the way He lived. He used the power God provided, which is enabled by the Holy Spirit, to live the Christ-like life. God enables. The Holy Spirit empowers. Christ directs. And in the last part of verse 17, Paul tells us what this God directed, Spirit empowered, Christ directed life will look like. We will live a life of love for other people, which is the ultimate point and purpose.

4. People Focused

… being rooted and grounded in love,

Paul has spent two chapters talking about how Jews and Gentiles are now one in Christ, and how they are to get along now. For some, this might seem like an impossible task. Some Gentiles would be thinking, “You mean I have to love that annoying Jewish neighbor of mine? There’s no way! He’s always judging me by his standards of living and acting “holier than thou.” I can’t love him. I can’t fellowship with him.

Some of the Jews were thinking, “You mean I have to go over to that Gentile’s house when he invites me over for dinner? I can’t do that! He might serve meat sacrificed to idols! He might not be following the strict cleanliness laws. I might become ceremonially unclean! Paul can’t be serious. There’s no way I can get along with them.”

Paul is saying here, “Hey look. I know you can’t do these things I am asking by your own power. So I am praying that God will give you His power to do what He asks. That He will give you the power to do what you don’t think you can do.”

The final phrase in this verse – being rooted and grounded in love – is what Christ wants to do with the power from God through the Spirit. Christ wants to root and ground us in love. Rooted brings to mind trees. A tree must have it’s roots deep in good soil and with lots of water in order to be healthy and strong (cf. Ps. 1 and Jer. 17:5-8). From what or whom are your roots getting nourishment?”

God, with His mighty power, out of the riches of His glory, wants to remake your inner man through the help of the Holy Spirit so that Christ can dwell comfortably and in style in your life, so that you can do what cannot be done, namely, show love to people that you used to hate.

This is Paul’s first prayer request.

It’s a big one, isn’t it? Are there people you have trouble loving? God has given you the power, the Spirit is enabling you to use it, and Christ is directing you where, when and how to use it. Together, all three of them want you to love those who you normally would hate. The power of God helps us love the unlovable.

We will look next time at the final two prayer requests of Paul, which are also impossible prayer requests. But we will see that, once again, they also are related to loving our enemies.

How to Fix the World (Ephesians 3:8-13)

By Jeremy Myers

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Are you happy with the current state of the world? Do you wish things could change? Do you want the world to improve? Do you want to fix the world? In this study of Ephesians 3:8-13, we discover Paul’s solution for how to fix the world. It’s a shocking, challenging proposal, but it is the plan that God has put in place since the beginning of time, and it is the only plan that God has. There is no Plan B.

Before we consider God’s Plan for How to Fix the World, we consider a question from a reader about Pentecostalism.

Question from a Reader

A new member of my discipleship group named John Redic recently sent in the following question.

What is your analysis of Pentecostalism? How should the Azusa Street Revival and Movement be assessed and interpreted?

I am not a fan of Pentecostalism.

Don’t get me wrong. I like Pentecostals. I love their passion for Jesus and their desire to see God move in their life in a meaningful and powerful way. We all want this, and I love how Pentecostals are calling for people to have a REAL experience of God in their life, rather than the dead and stiff religiosity that is so common in some forms of Christianity.

However, there is great danger in the Pentecostalism that forms the foundational theology of many Pentecostals.

I’m not going to get into the history of Pentecostalism, which the Azuza Street revivals and some of the subsequent revivals, except to say that these revivals did happen, and as with any historical revival, there was some good and some bad that came from them, but the worst thing we can do is put them on a pedestal as an experience that we should try to copy or replicate today. Whenever we try to emulate, replicate, or copy a past, historical movement of God, we end up ignoring and even missing what fresh thing God is trying to do in our own day.

But if you are not familiar with the Azuza Street revivals or Pentecostalism in general, let me just say that they were attempts by some Christians to restore to the church the powerful and supernatural workings of the Holy Spirit to the everyday lives of Christians. They wanted to experience all that the Holy Spirit has to offer.

And this is a good thing. We should all want everything that the Holy Spirit wants for us, including the knowledge and experience of all the spiritual gifts the Holy Spirit has given to us. However, I think that many dangers and problems have come along with Pentecostalism.

While I do believe that all the spiritual gifts are in use today (I have an online course available on the Spiritual Gifts if you want to learn more about my views on this … and a book as well), I think that many Pentecostals put a higher degree of authority on personal experience than on careful study and explanation of Scripture. This is quite dangerous.

And while I can never deny the validity of someone’s experience, we must recognize that ecstatic experiences are not exclusive to Christianity. Many people in many other religious have similar ecstatic experiences when they are worshipping their own god(s). If Christian ecstatic experiences “prove” that the ecstatic experiences come directly from Jesus through the Holy Spirit, then what do the non-Christian ecstatic experiences prove?

So I place a great emphasis on the careful and prayerful study of Scripture as interpreted through the lens of Jesus Christ, and place all other forms of revelation beneath the authority of this study of Scripture. Any other approach makes divine revelation highly subjective, which leads to all sorts of problems.

How to Fix the World (Ephesians 3:8-13)

Ephesians 3:8-13 is a continuation of Paul’s point in Ephesians 3:1-7, which in turn is a follow-up point from everything Paul wrote in Ephesians 2.

In Ephesians 2, Paul encouraged the Ephesians Christians to live in peace with each other so that they might show the world how to live in peace. Jesus showed us this way to peace when He died on the cross for His enemies and, rather than exacting revenge upon them, He forgave them. So Paul tells the Ephesian Christians to do the same thing, to love and forgive and be at peace with those who used to be our enemies.

This is, of course, much easier said than done. So in Ephesians 3:1-13, Paul is showing the Ephesian Christians that he lives by example. Paul is in prison because he chose peace rather than violence. And while in prison, Paul continues to work toward peace with those who are his captors. In this way, Paul is an example to the Ephesian Christians about how to live in peace with others, and what the consequences might be.

But the cost is worth it, for, as Paul now explains in Ephesians 3:8-13, the powers and rulers of this world are watching, and if Christians can show this world a better way to live, then they might follow our example as well.

We pick back up with this idea in Ephesians 3:8.

Ephesians 3:8. To me, who am less than the least of all the saints, this grace was given,

In Ephesians 3:7, Paul said he was a minister, a servant running through the dust. Here, he says that he is the least of all the saints. The term least could also be translated very small, quite unimportant, or insignificant.[3] The best translation is exactly what we have here in the NKJV. It is not just that he was the least of all the saints, but he was less than the least.

He wasn’t just saying this; this wasn’t false humility. Paul really believed it. In 1 Timothy 1:15 he states a similar idea when he calls himself the chief of all sinners. In 1 Corinthians 15:9, he is the least of the apostles.

I don’t think Paul was one of those who was proud of his humility. He wasn’t the type to brag about his humility. He said things like this, because he was convinced of how great a sinner he was. He remembered all that he had done to persecute and destroy the church in his former years, and it weighed on him. Yes, he knew that he was forgiven and that all of his sins were washed away, but he knew that he didn’t deserve it.

A lot of Christians think that the more mature you become and the closer to God you get, the less you sin. While this is true, it seems to me that the closer we get to God, the more aware we become of how sinful we really are. It’s like light – since God is light. The closer you get to a light, the brighter the light becomes, and the more flaws the light reveals.

This is why assurance of salvation should never and can never be based on your works. Assurance of salvation is based on Christ and what He has done for us, not on ourselves and what we have to do. If you are basing assurance on your works, you will never have it because as you mature in your Christian walk, if you are honest, you will only think you are getting more and more sinful. This is what we see with Paul here. He calls himself the least of all the saints – because he is convinced of his sinfulness.

Nevertheless, Paul accomplished quite a bit, didn’t he? So what separates us from Paul? In my opinion, nothing except willingness. You know, if the truth were to be known, I think Christians today have greater opportunity and greater possibility to serve God than Paul did. I have heard some Christians, when confronted with their lack of activity and dedication say, “Well, I’m not Paul.” That’s exactly right. You’re not Paul. The difference between him and you is that you have more opportunities and more resources than he ever had.

The reason God used Paul so much is because Paul was willing to do what he could. He says he was the least of the saints and the chief of sinners, but we see how God used him anyway. If God can use Paul, God can definitely use you – if you are only willing and ready. The rest of Ephesians 3:8 and on into Ephesians 3:9 tells us what ministry God gave Paul.

Ephesians 3:8-9. … that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ, and to make all see what is the fellowship of the mystery,

Paul’s God given task was to preach. These verses show the two things he was to preach. First in Ephesians 3:8, he was to preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ. This is the truth found in chapter 1 of Ephesians. Second, in Ephesians 3:9, he was to preach about the fellowship of the mystery which is the truth found in Ephesians 2. So this statement by Paul is a brief summary of Ephesians 1-2.

The word unsearchable means that these riches of Christ are so great that they cannot adequately be explained or even understood. They are beyond finding out. They are without explanation or definition. You cannot fully explore them. You cannot delineate them. They are beyond description. They are beyond enumeration. You cannot catalog them. You cannot create in inventory list.

Let me put it another way. How many waves are on the ocean? The answer is that there are an infinite number of waves, because they just keep on coming. It is the same with the riches that we have in Christ. We cannot number them because they just keep on coming. You think the Duracell battery never stops? Just think about the riches in Christ. They truly are without end.

Paul mentioned some of the riches we have in Christ in Ephesians 1, but when compared with what Christ still has for us, Ephesians 1 is like a single snowflake in comparison to all the snowflakes that have ever fallen and ever will fall.

The unsearchable riches of Christ was the first thing he preached, the second, as we saw in Ephesians 3:9 is the fellowship of the mystery.

Remember Ephesians 2? Even though we were sinners and separated from God and each other, Christ came and brought us all together into one unified body. This is what Paul preached.

Since Paul preached it, does this mean that Paul made it up? No. The rest of Ephesians 3:9 says that this message originated with God when He created the universe.

Ephesians 3:9. … which from the beginning of the ages has been hidden in God who created all things through Jesus Christ;

Remember, according to Ephesians 3:5, this mystery was hidden for ages and generations, but was made known by the Holy Spirit to God’s apostles and prophets. Paul here in Ephesians 3:9, wants to make sure that we realize that this mystery was NOT an invention of Paul’s, nor was it a sudden decision by God. It was God’s plan from the very beginning of the ages. It was hidden in God, meaning we didn’t know it, but God had it planned from creation.[4]

Many things are for God to know and his creatures to find out (Prov 25:2). But when he does reveal things to us, as he did here to Paul, it is our responsibility to shout them from the rooftops, to share it with all who will hear. This is how the Gospel message should be for us. God did not give us the Gospel of Salvation so we could hoard it and hide it, but so that we could share it and shout it.

That is what Paul did here with the mystery revealed to him. Paul, the prisoner of Jesus Christ, was revealed the plan of the mystery and as a result he preached about this mystery to all. Paul’s God-given task was to preach to the Gentiles the mystery revealed to him in Christ.

And what was this mystery? We have discussed this before. The mystery is that all people are welcome into God’s family, the church, regardless of race, background, morality, sex, age, or anything else that tends to divide humans. With God there is no “inner group.” No favorites. No “us vs. them.” With God, all are “in.” All are accepted. All are forgiven. All are welcome.

And God has formed His new people into the church. This is the mystery that God has known, and been seeking to reveal since the beginning, and which the prophets and apostles wrote about in Scripture, but which few really understood until Jesus fully revealed the truth of mystery through His ministry, life, death, and resurrection. And now Paul has become a messenger of this mystery, making it known to the rest of the world.

Now why did God do this? What is the purpose of bringing diverse groups of people into one body, the church? Paul explains why in Ephesians 3:10-11.

The Purpose of the Mystery (Ephesians 3:10-11)

Ephesians 3:10-11. to the intent (another word for intent is purpose, so here we have the purpose of the mystery) that now the manifold wisdom of God might be made known by the church to the principalities and powers in the heavenly places …

What does that mean? Well first, we need to know who or what the principalities and powers in the heavenly places are. A lot of people think that the terms “principalities and powers” refer to angels and demons. But this is not true.

Principalities is the Greek word archais, and it means rulers, princes, or chiefs. We briefly discussed this term in Ephesians 1:21 and will look at it in greater detail in Ephesians 6:12 (cf. also Col 1:16; 2:10, 15; 1 Cor 15:24; Rom 8:38).

The word for powers is not dunamis, the power of God which we saw in Ephesians 3:7. Here, the Greek word is exousias. It also refers to rulers and authorities (Eph 1:21; Col 1:16; 2:10, 15; 1 Pet 3:22; 1 Cor 15:24). Together, the terms refer to earthly rulers, nations, institutions, and powers that dominate this world (cf. Dan 4:35, 10:13). Yes, there is a spiritual dimension behind these earthly powers, but this spiritual dimension reveals itself through earthly rulers, powers, and authorities that seek to control, dominate, and bring tyranny upon this world. We are seeing the powers at work right now as those in authority seek to use their positions to enrich themselves and control everybody else through tyranny.

This, of course, is not a new problem. It has always been a problem. This is why Paul was writing about it in his day. The Roman Empire sought to dominate and control as well.

And Christians who desire freedom, liberty, and peace, have always wondered what to do about it.

Paul’s answer here is as shocking today as it was then.

Paul is saying that the mystery of the gospel directly challenges the powers of this world, and even seeks to correct the abuses of the powers by showing them a different and better way to live.

In other words, the church is God’s solution to the problem of abusive earthly powers.

Why does the church exist? Why did God decided to unite Jews and Gentiles into one body in Christ? The reason, according to Ephesians 3:10 is to teach and correct the principalities and powers of this world.

And this is not a new plan of God. Ephesians 3:11 shows that this has always been God’s plan.

Ephesians 3:11. … according to the eternal purpose which He accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord,

In Ephesians 3:9, God’s plan of the mystery was from the beginning of the ages, that is, from the beginning of time, or from the beginning of creation. Here in Ephesians 3:11, God’s plan to teach the earthly powers was according to the eternal purpose of God.

Do you want to know what this means? This verse tells us that the church is the central goal of history. The church is the eternal purpose of God for human history. The church is the reason the universe was created![9] Think about that. What level of importance do you place on the church? If you were to make a list of your top ten priorities for this week, where would church come in on the list? Would church even be on your list?

On God’s list of priorities, the church is number 1. God’s reason for creating the universe was to create the church – the mystery kept hidden for ages and generations. And the purpose of the church was to teach the world how to behave.

When we see the world falling part, and we complain about all the problems in the world, guess whose fault it is? It’s the fault of the church. When the world falls apart, it is because the church is doing a poor job of showing the world how to behave. Jesus showed us how to behave so we can show the world how to behave. This is Paul’s point in Ephesians 3:12-13.

Ephesians 3:12. … in whom we have boldness and access with confidence through faith in Him.

I know it sound challenging. We have to show the world how to properly live? Well, guess what? We’re not doing it alone. Jesus is leading the way. Jesus has led the way. All we have to do is follow His example. Paul is following the example of Jesus, and so should we.

And since we have the perfect example in Jesus (Ephesians 2), and since we have access to the riches and power of Jesus (Ephesians 1), we can follow Jesus with boldness. We can access our riches and inheritance with confidence through faith in Him.

In Ephesians 3:13 Paul says this is what he has done, and so this is what the Ephesians Christians can do as well.

Ephesians 3:13. Therefore I ask that you do not lose heart at my tribulations for you, which is your glory.

Remember, he began in Ephesians 3:1 by talking about how he was a prisoner of Jesus Christ for the sake of the Gentiles. That might be a troubling thought for them, so he has spent several verses assuring them that what he is going through is not a bad thing, but it is exactly what God wants.

Therefore, Paul asks them not to lose heart because of his tribulations, his trials, his troubles, because, he says, they are for your glory. He’s saying, “Yes, I am a prisoner, but I am a prisoner because I did what God wanted me to do – namely, share the Gospel with you.” And though Paul doesn’t say it here, Paul’s goal is to also share the gospel with the people in Rome, and potentially even to the greatest human power of all, Caesar.

All of us who follow Jesus want the world to change for the better. But few of us understand how to change the world. Yes, we can vote, and contact politicians, and support causes and organizations we believe in, but according to Paul, the best way to fix the world is to follow the example of Jesus by living in peace with one another. As Christians live in peace with each other, we give an example to the world of how peace can be achieved.

Jesus is the perfect example to us of how this works, and Paul was an example to the Ephesian Christians, and now we can follow their example and live in peace with one another as well. Indeed, this is the exact point Paul goes on to make in the rest of Ephesians 3. We will pick up with Ephesians 3:14 next time.

Footnotes for the Study on Ephesians 3:8-13

[3] McCalley, 30.

[4] This is an excellent verse in defense of Molinism (The Middle Knowledge of God). This verse does not say that this was God’s plan from before creation, it just says that it was God’s plan from creation. Prior to creation, there were innumerable worlds which God could have created. He scanned the possibilities, picked one he liked, and created it. It is this moment of picking to the logical next step of creating that verse 9 is talking about. See The Only Wise God by William Lane Craig.

[9] Stott, 129.

A Prisoner for Peace (Ephesians 3:1-7)

By Jeremy Myers

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In Ephesians 2, Paul encouraged his readers to live in peace with people they used to hate. Since this is much easier said than done, Paul begins Ephesians 3 by showing how he himself is living in peace with those who used to be his enemies. Indeed, Paul is prison as a result of his stand for peace, but Paul knows that this will only serve to prove the truth of what he is teaching. Paul leads by example, just as we, the church, are to be an example to the world. This is what we begin to learn in this study of Ephesians 3:1-7.

Prior to that, however, we consider a question from a reader about the traditional teaching on hell.

Question from a Reader

Hi, Jeremy! I would just like to ask because I still get anxiety over hell. What are we to do with testimonies about hell? Sometimes I think that it may be from God redirecting us. But I also believe that there might be no hell. The only thing stopping me from holding that view are the testimonies and books saying it’s divine revelation.

I have written a book about hell titled “What is Hell?” and in it, I challenge the three main views about hell and show what the Bible actually teaches regarding the doctrine of hell. It’s a shocking and surprising book, and I encourage you to read it.

Regarding the various testimonies and visions of hell that some people claim to have, I tend to be very skeptical about them, for three reasons.

First, we must always be skeptical of any vision, dream, or testimony that is not found specifically in Scripture. Scripture is the ultimate written revelation from God, and so all other forms of revelation must be filtered through the lens of Scripture. In my understanding of Scripture, there are no direct visions or revelations of hell as a place of suffering torture and everlasting burning, and so any dream or vision that a person today has which claims to have seen hell as such a place is suspect by default, for it contradicts the Bible.

Second, the human mind is quite susceptible to the power of suggestion. This is also true of dreams. I am sure you have noticed that quite often, your dreams somewhat follow the events or experiences or worries that have been most at the forefront of your mind during the previous few days. If you are worried about a test at school, or presentation at work, or some situation with your spouse, you are likely to have some dreams about these things.

I often find that when I am studying a particular text of Scripture and am struggling with it, I will have dreams about the text. If I am working on a problem with my car, I might have dreams about fixing my car. If I am preparing for a trip, I might have dreams about the upcoming trip.

The same thing happens with dreams about hell. I have found that when people have dreams about hell, it is usually because they have been thinking a lot about hell in the previous days and weeks. Maybe they have been reading and studying a lot about it. Maybe they have heard some pastors preach or teach about it. Maybe they have been extremely worried about it. Maybe a loved one passed away and they are afraid that their loved one is in hell. And so then they have dreams about hell. And since the concept of hell as a place of burning torture is so common, the dreams of hell as a place of torture are quite vivid. The more vivid your dreams are, the more you remember them. So people dream about hell, and the dreams are quite vivid, and so people will often tell others about these dreams. They might even write books about them.

But note that that the fact that they had these dreams does not prove that the dreams show what hell is really like. All it shows is that they were thinking or worried about hell, and so had a dream which helped their mind sort through and deal with some of the thoughts and worries that were on their mind. That is where most of these dreams seem to come from … not necessarily from God.

Third, and somewhat in support of the second point, any human can have these sorts of dreams and visions. I have frequently encountered non-Christian people who tell stories about visions or dreams of a place of suffering and torture in the afterlife. Muslims have these. Pagans (as in people who follow Norse mythology such as that of Odin and Thor) have these sorts of stories. The ancient Egyptians had these sorts of stories.

This doesn’t mean that all such dreams and visions are correct or incorrect. It just means that stories of a place of burning and suffering after this life are not unique to Christianity, and so we have to wonder about the spiritual source of all such dreams and visions. And who is more likely to want people to live in fear about the after life? God or Satan?

Second Timothy 1:7 says that God has not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind. God is a God of peace; not of fear, punishment, and torture.

So in my view, any human testimony about a dream or vision of hell which leads people to live in fear of God or fear for the after life is not something that comes from God. Therefore, I do not give any credibility to these visions of hell that some people claim to have. God does not threaten us into a relationship with Him, but woos us with love and promises of peace and safety.

This concept of God as a God of peace helps transition into our study of Ephesians 3:1-7.

A Prisoner for Jesus (Ephesians 3:1-7)

So far in Ephesians, Paul has explained the riches and inheritance that is ours in Jesus Christ (Ephesians 1) and how Jesus revealed the way to live in peace with those people we used to hate (Ephesians 2). Now, in Ephesians 3, Paul goes on to encourage the Ephesians Christians to follow the example of Jesus and live in peace with each other also, so the world can learn from us and begin to live in peace with each other as well.

I want to remind you that many people read Paul’s letter to the Ephesians quite differently than this. As a result, they often don’t really know what to do with Ephesians 3:1-13 since these verses don’t really seem to fit with what they think Paul is saying. So when you read most commentaries or listen to pastors teach Ephesians 3:1-13, they often refer to it as an “aside.” It is thought to be one of Paul’s famous “rabbit trails” where he goes off onto some tangent that doesn’t really have much to do with anything else he is saying, and then finally returns to his main point in Ephesians 2:14.

One of the primary reasons people think this is because of those repeated words in Ephesians 3:1 and 3:14, “For this reason.” It is thought that Paul begins a point in Ephesians 3:1 by saying “For this reason” but then gets sidetracked to talk about being in prison and how the church is a mystery, until he finally returns to this main point in Ephesians 3:14 by repeating the phrase “For this reason.”

When I first taught Ephesians about twenty years ago, this is how I taught it.

But I have since come to a completely different understanding of the message of Ephesians, and in my new understanding, Paul’s words in Ephesians 3:1-14 are not a tangent, not a rabbit trail, but are rather a perfectly logical follow-up point from what Paul has written so far in this letter.

Paul’s primary point in Ephesians can be summarized in one word: “Peace!” Through Jesus, there is peace with God, peace with one another, and together, all of us are working toward universal peace (which includes bringing the principalities and powers back into their proper place).

So Paul’s point in Ephesians 3 is that he wants the Ephesian Christians to live at peace with each other. This follows naturally from what Paul has just written in Ephesians 2 about how Jesus showed us the way to live in peace with each other.

The reason we are to leave in peace with one another is because the world doesn’t know how to attain peace, and if we live at peace with each other, the world will learn how to live in peace by watching us and learning from us.

And Paul knows that before he can ask the Ephesian Christians to live in peace with each other, he needs to show them how he himself is following the example of Jesus. This is what Paul explains in Ephesians 3:1-13, how he himself is following the example of Jesus is seeking peace with others.

I am not going to be able to cover this entire section in this one study, so we will split it up into two, looking at Ephesians 3:1-7 this time, and Ephesians 3:8-13 next time.

Ephesians 3:1. For this reason I, Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus for you Gentiles …

Paul begins by pointing out that his attempt to follow Jesus into the way of peace ended up with him in prison. As Paul writes this letter to the Ephesians, he is sitting in a prison in Rome.

Of course, even though he is a prisoner in Rome, Paul does not consider himself a prisoner of Rome. Paul says that he is a prisoner of Christ Jesus. Paul knows that he is right where Jesus wants him to be.

Indeed, prison is the natural and normal consequence for someone who seeks peace in a world filled with violence.

When Jesus sought peace, He ended up on a cross. So also, Paul’s quest for peace led him to prison, where he himself might die.

Yet when peace is the goal, imprisonment and possible death is better than violence and bloodshed. And in a world that is ruled and dominated by violence, those who seek peace are viewed as the enemies, who must be silenced, imprisoned, or killed.

So Paul is is prison because he followed Jesus into the way of peace.

Finally, Paul writes that he is a prisoner for you Gentiles. This does not mean that Paul was a prisoner because of the Gentiles. He is not blaming the Gentiles, especially not the Gentile Christians in Ephesus. Instead, Paul is saying that he is a prisoner “as an example” for the Gentiles, or as a way to reach the Gentiles with the truth that they too are now accepted into the family of God.

Paul is saying, “I’m in prison for your sake, to help you, to show you how this whole ‘peace’ thing works.”

We know this is what Paul means because he goes on in Ephesians 3:2-13 to explain how peace works.

Ephesians 3:2. … if indeed you have heard of the dispensation of the grace of God which was given to me for you …

The word dispensation is a word we don’t use very much anymore. We saw it previously though in Ephesians 1:10. The Greek word is oikonomia. Oiko means house, and nomia means law, so oikonomia means “law of the house.” It is the rules by which a house or business is governed. Synonyms could be “management, stewardship, or an orderly arrangement.”

In Ephesians 3:2, Paul says that a dispensation was given to him, and so we could say, as some of your translations do, that he was given a stewardship—he was made a steward or a manager over a certain task or responsibility. Paul was given specific guidelines from God by which he should live and function.

What were these guidelines? Well, the verse says that he was a steward of the grace of God which was given to me for you. Paul was sent by God to declare peace to the Gentiles. To declare that there are not more outsiders and insiders, but that all are “insiders” with God.

As the apostle to the Gentiles, Paul was the person God chose to take the message of peace to the Gentiles.

Ephesians 3:3-4. … how that by revelation He made known to me the mystery (as I have briefly written already, by which, when you read, you may understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ),

This message of peace to the Gentiles was something unknown to Jewish people prior to the ministry of Jesus and apostleship of Paul. Most Jews thought that God could accept Gentiles into His family, but only if they first became Jewish and kept the Mosaic Law. But Paul was showing that Jesus opened the door for all people, Jew and Gentile alike, to join the family of God. Everybody was on equal footing before God.

Now Paul says he already wrote to them about this, which he did in two places already: Ephesians 1:9-10 and Ephesians 2:11-22. We discussed this mystery there as well, so we can now move on.

Ephesians 3:5. … which in other ages was not made known to the sons of men, as it has now been revealed by the Spirit to His holy apostles and prophets:

The reason Paul refers to this truth as a mystery is because few people saw or understood the truth of it until Jesus revealed it and Paul proclaimed it.

The idea that all people were on equal footing with God was a shocking idea for most people in Paul’s day (cf. Acts 10-15; Galatians). The idea that God wanted to love and accept all people is definitely taught all over the place in the Hebrew Scripture, but it was such a challenging idea, most Jewish people didn’t understand it or believe it. It was a hidden truth. It was a mystery to them.

In previous ages, humans have always operated under the “us vs. them” principle, which was a principle of rivalry, violence, and death (cf. Ephesians 2:1-3). But now we have a new revelation by the Spirit through the prophets and apostles, that all of us are one, and our struggle is not against each other (cf. Ephesians 6:12).

But Jesus revealed the truth of God’s love for all, and Paul has learned this truth as well, and so is now declaring it to the world. Jews and Gentiles can now live in peace with each other because both are equal footing before God. This is what Paul writes in Ephesians 3:6.

Ephesians 3:6. … that the Gentiles should be fellow heirs, of the same body, and partakers of His promise in Christ through the gospel …

So instead of division, strife, and rivalry, we are all one family, fellow heirs of God, recipients of the promises (Ephesians 1:3-14; 2:11-22).

Previously, only the Jews were heirs. Only the Jews had promises and covenants from God. Only the Jews were allowed near to God. Only the Jews had forgiveness of sins from God.

But now they are being allowed in. Now they are being grafted into the body. Now they can partake—or share—in the promise of God! This is the mystery. It seems clear to us, but that is because it has been revealed to us.

Jews who lived prior to Paul did not see this clearly. “No one knew the full meaning of God’s promise to Abraham that “in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed” (Gen 12:3) until Paul wrote, “And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, ‘All the nations shall be blessed in you’” (Gal 3:8).

In Ephesians 3:7, Paul states that he effectively carried out this task of revealing the mysterious message of peace to the Gentiles.

Ephesians 3:7. … of which I became a minister according to the gift of the grace of God given to me by the effective working of His power.

The word minister comes from the Greek word diakonos, which could also be translated as deacon. Many churches have deacons. This is where that title comes from. A deacon is someone who serves in the church. They are those men and women who have the God given ability to see what needs to be done and do it – no matter how menial. They are wonderful people to have in a church – deacons and deaconesses. That is Paul’s picture of himself in Ephesians 3:7. He calls himself a diakonos, a minister. He was a minister.

Paul is just saying that this ministry was a gift given to him by God. The term effective working is the Greek word energion from which we get our word energy, and the word power us the Greek word dunamis from which we get our word dynamite. God was working in Paul with energy like dynamite to carry out the task given to him.

And all of this divine energy and power to perform a ministry to the Gentiles led Paul directly into prison. A lot of times we think that when we have divine power and energy to perform our God-given ministry, we will be led into popularity and fame. But when Jesus followed God, He ended up on the cross. When Paul followed his calling, he ended up in prison.

Now, Paul is not done with this point about why he is in prison for following Jesus into the way of peace. He explains more in Ephesians 3:8-13, which we will cover next time. We will see that as a result of preaching peace to the Gentiles, this threatened the principalities and powers of this world, and so they put Paul in prison. However, by not fighting violence with violence, Paul was able to show the church, the world, and even the fallen powers of this world, that there was a better way to peace.

In Ephesians 2, Paul wrote to the Ephesian Christians (and therefore to us as well), that we, as the church, are to lead the world into the way of peace by being an example to them of how to live in peace with people who used to be our enemies. But Paul knows that this is easier said than done, and so in the first part of Ephesians 3, Paul is showing the church how he himself is an example to them about how to live in peace with others.

Paul is in prison as a result of his stand for peace, but Paul knows that this will only serve to prove the truth of what he is teaching. Paul leads by example, just as we, the church, are to be an example to the world. This is what we have begun to learn in this study of Ephesians 3:1-7, and we will pick back with Paul’s point next time in Ephesians 3:8-13.

How Homeless Aliens Change the World (Ephesians 2:18-22)

By Jeremy Myers

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Ephesians 2:18-22 is the final section in Ephesians 2 which shows us how God brings peace and unity to this world through the church. If we want peace and unity in this world, then it begins by living in peace and unity with other members of the family of God. Ephesians 2:18-22 shows us how this happens.

Before we study this text, we consider a question from a reader about why he no longer senses God’s work in his life.

Question from a Reader

I’m 63 and I grew up in church. I used to do small things in the church. I would give out tracts and talk to people. I believe Jesus is the son of the living God and became human. I used to read my Bible all the time. But recently, I don’t get any spiritual understanding when I read the Bible. The Holy Spirit does not witness to me. I cry out to God to save me and change me, but I don’t get answers. Can you help me?

Take heart! What you are describing is a very common experience for all Christians. Ancient Christian teachers called it “The Dark Night of the Soul,” but I prefer to call it “the spiritual winter.” Either way, the idea is the same.

It is very helpful to think of your life with God as a cycle or pattern that imitates the daily pattern of day and night, or the yearly pattern of four seasons: spring, summer, fall, winter.

When you feel that God is close, that your prayers are answered, that you are being fed and sustained through Scripture, and that the Spirit is actively at work in your life, these are the spiritual days, or, the spiritual spring and summer. Life is good. Joy abounds. There is sunshine and chirping birds and gentle breezes that carry hints of summer flowers.

But such times do not last forever. Day always gives way to the night, and summer gives way to fall and winter. In the night, everything is dark. It is hard to see. It gets cold and sometimes scary. The same is true for the fall and winter. Trees and grass whither. The snows and ice fall and everything dies. God is silent. Prayers go unanswered. The Bible seems dead and uninteresting.

But guess what? Morning is coming. Spring is coming! The cycle of light and growth will come again.

So when you find yourself in the dark night of the soul, or in the spiritual wasteland of a bleak winter, just be patient. Have faith. Persevere. Because this season too shall pass.

Now why does God do this to us? Why do we go through these seasons? Because this is how true growth occurs. It is in the dark night and the bleak winter that our convictions are tested, our faith is solidified, and our roots grow deep down into the soil. We need these times in order to prepare for the next stage of growth and abundance. These nights and winters are the times God provides so we can practice what we have learned in the bright days of summer.

So keep doing what you are doing. Keep patient. Keep the faith. Dawn is near. Spring is coming.

How Homeless Aliens Change the World (Ephesians 2:18-22)

Strife, division, and hostility are not new in our day. They have been present since the beginning of the world when Cain killed Abel, or even before that when Adam blamed Eve for why he ate the forbidden fruit. Blame, accusation, violence, and death are the foundational characteristics of our culture.

But it does not need to be that way, and this is not what God wants.

God calls us to live differently in this world, and Jesus showed us how this could be done. In Ephesians 2, Paul explains how Jesus showed this to us and how we should live in light of what Jesus showed us.

One of the primary areas of division in Paul’s day was the religious/political division between Jews and Gentiles. If you took all the religious, racial, economic, cultural, and political strife of our day, that is what you have with the Jew and Gentile strife of Paul’s day.

And in Ephesians 2:18-22 he tells them, and therefore us, how to live in peace and unity with each other. These verses show us that if we want to live in peace and unity with those who would normally be our enemies, we need to change our mindset about who we are and who other people are.

You see, division and strife occurs when we focus on the things that make us different. But as followers of Jesus, there are several key truths about all of us that help unite us together, despite our differences. If we are able to focus on the things that unite us, then the things that make us different will no longer divide us because we will see that they are insignificant compared to who we are and what we have in Jesus Christ.

Let’s begin with Ephesians 2:18.

Ephesians 2:18. For through Him we both have access by one Spirit to the Father.

We talked about this some in our study of Ephesians 2:13-17, where we saw that in the days of Jesus and Paul, Gentiles and Jewish women did not have the same access to God in the temple as Jewish men did. But Jesus broke down all these barriers and dividing walls of hostility, so that now everyone has the exact same access to God.

There is no hierarchy. There are no favorites. There are no classes of people who have a special “in” with God. Paul is saying, “All have access. Both Jews and Gentiles have access. Both men and women. There is no privileged race or person or sex. There is no privileged class or position.”

Some religions and cults teach that only priests and pastors have access to God. That is not true. Catholicism teaches that Mary, the mother of Jesus has privileged access to Christ. That is not true either. First Timothy 2:5 says there is one mediator between God and man—Christ Jesus. If you want to go to God to confess your sins, or to ask for a request, you can! You don’t have to go through Mary. You don’t have to go through a priest or a pastor. You don’t even need to go to a special building such as a church or temple. You have Top Level Access to God all the time, anywhere you are. Hebrews 4:16 says that now we ourselves can come boldly before the throne of grace.

And of course, Paul writes that this access to the Father is provided by the Spirit, which is the Holy Spirit.

Here’s how this helps us today.

Today, we all have the tendency to think that some of us are closer to God than others. Some of us think that pastors have a better chance of getting their prayers answered because they are closer to God. So when we have a prayer request, we ask our pastor to pray for us. But pastors are not any closer to God than anyone else. God hears and answers your prayers just as much as the prayers of a pastor or priest. We all have equal access.

Some people think that church attendance, or political views, or vaccination status, or educational degrees, or moral ability makes one person closer to God than someone else. But again, none of this is true. We all have equal access to God the Father through the Holy Spirit. There is no special class of people. And the minute you start thinking that you are on better spiritual footing than someone else is the minute you start dividing from them.

So when it comes to living in unity with others, the first step is to realize that all of us have equal access to God through the Holy Spirit. Nobody is first in line.

The second truth is similar, and is found in Ephesians 2:19.

Ephesians 2:19. Now, therefore, you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God.

The term strangers (xenos) is a word for a short time resident—a transient. In today’s terminology, we would say “homeless.”

The term alien or foreigner, (paroikos) is a word for a person who is living in a country other than the one they were born in. They have no inheritance rights, no secure protection under the law, no voting rights. In our day, we would call them illegal aliens.

These two terms together show how much we do not belong. These are repeated ideas from Ephesians 2:12.

We were strangers and foreigners. We were homeless aliens, without rights or protection.

But we no longer carry that description.

Rather, also in Ephesians 2:19, we are fellow citizens with the saints. We often think of saints as having special rights and privileges; special access to God. But Paul says we are fellow citizens with them. Whatever they have, we have. Whatever rights they own, we own. In fact, in Ephesians 1:1, Paul wrote that all believers are saints, and therefore, all believers are citizens.

Citizenship was a prized possession in the time of Paul. Men and women would work their whole lives and pay huge amounts of money in order to become citizens of Rome. But if being a citizen of Rome was special, imagine how great it is to be citizens with the saints? According to Ephesians 2:19, that is what we are.

But more than just citizens, we are also members of the household of God. Now think about it. What is better? Being a citizen of Rome, or being a heir to the throne of the Roman Empire? America is not a monarchy, so think of England. Which would you rather be? A citizen of England, or a prince or princess of England? Of course we would want to be the prince or princess! And Paul says here, that is what we are.

Our third title is that we are members of the household of God. Not only are we saints because we are citizens, we are princes and princesses because we are members of God’s household. These are the titles we have in Christ.

There are two ways that this helps us live peacefully in this world with others.

First of all, similar to what we saw in Ephesians 2:18, all followers of Jesus are on equal footing with each other in the kingdom of heaven. Yes, we are royalty as members of the household of God, but we are all royalty. That means that we are all on equal footing. Seeing other Christians as other princes and princesses in the family of God will help us live in peace and unity with them, even if we have areas of disagreement.

But here is the second thing to understand, and this second truth helps us live in peace and unity with the rest of the world … with those people who are not Christians. Since we are citizen of heaven and members of the household of God, this means that we now are aliens in this world. Although we were aliens and strangers to the kingdom of heaven, we are now aliens and strangers to the kingdom of this world. Since we are citizens of heaven, this makes us foreigners and strangers in this land, in this world.

So when we see the world doing things that are contrary to God’s will, or that we disagree with, we can now respond in two ways. Rather than condemn the world and create division and strife, we can first of all just shake our heads sadly and think to ourselves, “What a strange way of doing things … it seems backward and updside-down, but then, this is a different land I am in, and they do things quite differently here.” You see, when it comes to living in this world, it is we who are the strangers in a strange land. It is we who are aliens in a land not our own. And this world lives and operates quite differently than the kingdom of heaven, from which we come.

However … and here’s the key … it is true that the way this world operates is destructive and damaging. Why? Because it operates according to the principles of the kingdom of darkness. The ways of the kingdom of God truly are better.

But since we are aliens and strangers to this land, we do not have a voice here. We do not have rights here. So we cannot just go around accusing and condemning people for their backward ways. We are the foreigners and do not have the right to do that here.

Instead, what we can do is live in such a way amongst ourselves that the watching world sees how we live in love and unity with each other, and says to themselves, “Hey, I want that too!” When we live the rules of the kingdom of God before a watching world, they want what we have and will learn from our example to live in love and unity as well. We show the world by how we live that there is another way, a better way. A way of peace, love, grace, forgiveness.

Indeed, this is exactly how Jesus showed us the new way of living, and we are now expected to follow His example, and show the world this new way of living as well. This is exactly what Paul writes in Ephesians 2:20.

Ephesians 2:20. … having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone,

The foundation of the apostles and prophets that Paul refers to here is the teachings of the apostles and prophets, which we now think of as the Old and New Testaments of Scripture.

The apostles were those who personally witnessed Christ and were taught directly by Him. There are no more apostles today. But the apostles left something for us—they left writings about Christ. We know these writings as the New Testament. Paul says here that the first foundation we have is the writings of the apostles which is the New Testament. The writings and teachings of the prophets are found in the Hebrew Scripture, which we call the Old Testament.

And as Paul points out in the last part of Ephesians 2:20, Jesus Christ is the chief cornerstone. In other words, Jesus Christ is the central truth of Scripture, to whom all Scripture points, and in whom all Scripture is fulfilled. Jesus is the scarlet thread on every page. He is the fulfillment of every law. He is the beginning and the end. He is what it is all about (John 5:39).

The cornerstone is the foundational stone of a building. When a building in ancient times was being constructed, the first and most important stone to be laid was the cornerstone. If it was prepared and laid correctly, the building would be square and strong. If it had imperfections and was laid poorly, the building would be flawed and weak (cf. Isa 28:16).

It is just like when you’re laying shingles on a house, or plowing rows in a field. The first shingle and the first row must be perfect, or all the rest will be out of place.

Paul is saying that Jesus, as the chief cornerstone, showed us how to live with one another in this world. Jesus did this by following, fulfilling, and even guiding and inspiring the teachings of the apostles and prophets. So when we follow the example of Jesus, we are also obeying and fulfilling the teachings of Scripture.

And when we do this, this is how we show the world a better way to live. A way guided by love and forgiveness, that results in peace and unity.

In fact, a focus on Jesus as the chief cornerstone will in itself create peace and unity. We humans so often get dived by how we identify ourselves.

Today, we are divided by who we follow: Moses, Mohammad, or Mahatma Gandhi. We are divided by our political persuasion: Democrat or Republican. We are divided by our vaccine status. We are even divided by our pronouns.

But what if we as followers of Jesus stopped identifying with these divisive things, and started instead to identify as a follower of Jesus. How do you identify? I identify as a follower of Jesus. That’s unifying, isn’t it?

When we live in these ways, this is when the church comes together as God wants, lives in this world as God desires, and therefore, shows the world a better way to live.

Ephesians 2:21-22. In whom the whole building, being joined together grows into a holy temple in the Lord, in whom you also are being built together for a dwelling place of God in the Spirit.

There are two words in Greek for “temple.” The first, hieron, is used for the whole building and vicinity. It is used for the temple grounds. That is not the word used here.

The word used here is naos. It has in view just the part of the temple where God dwells.

During the time of Solomon’s temple, God’s presence was in the Holy of Holies—the most sacred part of the temple. That is what is in view here. But, as I mentioned, only the High priest could enter the Holy of Holies, and that only once a year.

But when Jesus died on the cross, the veil which separated man from God in the Temple was torn in two from top to bottom. This symbolized that the breach had been filled. The separation had been spanned. The wall had come down.

In A.D. 70, the temple was destroyed. Does that mean that God no longer has any temple? No! 1 Corinthians 3:16 and 6:19 tells us that Christians are now the temple of God. We are each a temple individually, and we are also being built into one glorious temple for God. We are the new Holy of Holies.

And that is what Paul is saying here. When we follow the example of Jesus by living with love, grace, and forgiveness toward each other and toward the watching world, God forms and grows us into a temple for Himself, a dwelling place for God.

God does not dwell in a building made by human hands, but in the body of Christ, which is formed by the Spirit of God, and which goes forward into the world with the love of Jesus.

Only in this way will God’s temple in the world rise up, not as a temple built with human hands, but as a the people of God who follow Jesus into the world to love and serve whomever we meet.

This somewhat goes back the question from a reader we discussed above.

Many of us Christians want to see God more at work in our life and in this world. Well, that happens by loving and serving others in this world the way Jesus loved and served us. As we live and act like Jesus in this world, God forms His temple, His body, in our midst. As we live together in peace and harmony with one another, working to reveal Jesus Christ and the Kingdom of God to this world, God shows up among us, and people will say, “Truly, God is in their midst. Truly God is dwelling among them.”

This concludes our study of Ephesians 2.

Back at the end of Ephesians 1, in the study of Ephesians 1:20-23, I pointed out that God wants His way of life to become reality here on earth. We all want this as well. We want God to rule and reign on this earth. We want peace and justice and truth to become the norm.

But this world seems to be dominated by the opposite. Rather than peace and justice, we have hatred, violence, deception, and injustice.

So if God wants His way of life to rule and reign, how does this happen? How does it come about? Ephesians 2 was Paul’s answer to that question.

God wants to solve the problems of this world, and He did so by sending Jesus to create the church. While Jesus is the answer to all the problems of the world, the church is how Jesus lives and talks and acts in this world.

The church is how Jesus accomplishes changes in the world.

When the church steps up as the body of Christ, we, as the hands, feet, and voice of Jesus Christ, will fill everything in every way, and the power of God will flow through us to transform this world in ways that Jesus wants and desires.

Jesus is the head of the world and the head of the church, and as such, the church fills the world and transforms it into the ways of the Kingdom of God.

We have now seen in Ephesians 2 how the church as the body of Christ becomes the catalyst the creates love, peace, and unity in a world filled with hatred, violence, and division. We show the world a better way to live by following the example of Jesus through living in peace and unity with each other. As we live in peace and unity with other brothers and sisters in Jesus Christ, the world takes notice, and learns from us how they too can live in peace and unity. In this way, the peace of God spreads over the earth.

Paul takes this theme and builds on it further in Ephesians 3, which is where we pick up next time.

Vaccination Discrimination and Ephesians 2:13-17

By Jeremy Myers

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Vaccinated or unvaccinated? Surprisingly, Ephesians 2:13-17 speaks to the issue. Sort of. In this study of Ephesians 2:13-17, we begin with a question from a reader about COVID vaccinations, and then turn to our ongoing study of Ephesians, where we discover that Jesus actually revealed to us what to do with people who have different views than we do, whether they are religious, political, social, or cultural differences, or even whether they are views about vaccination status. It’s going to be quite the study, so let’s dive in!

We begin with a question from a reader about vaccination.

Question from a Reader

My pastor says that wearing a mask and getting a vaccine is a way to follow the command of Jesus to love my neighbor. I have some serious misgivings about the vaccine, but I want to follow Jesus. What should I do?

I have heard the same arguments and read the same articles. I find the argument unconvincing for several reasons.

Let’s talk about masks first. I am convinced that masks are nothing more than a way for the government to teach us all to be compliant. Why do I say this? It is a scientific fact that masks do absolutely nothing to slow the spread the COVID virus. In fact, they may actually help it spread more. Dr. Fauci said that the typical drugstore mask does nothing to stop the virus from getting out into the air. Thinking that those blue surgical masks that people wear will stop the COVID virus is like thinking that a chain-link fence will stop a mosquito. This is even more true for the cloth masks and bandanas that people make in their home or buy from Amazon, but is even true for the N-95 masks that relatively few people wear.

But even worse is that the masks cause sicknesses and viruses, including COVID, to spread even more. The reason many people use the masks is because they have been told that since doctors and nurses use the surgical masks, they must work. But this is a huge logical fallacy and is scientifically untrue. Doctors and nurses do use surgical masks, but they have been specially trained on how to properly use them.

First, they only wear them in sterile areas where there is a higher concentration of oxygen to help cut down on the spread of viruses and bacteria.

Second, they only don a mask after they have put on sterile surgical gloves.

Third, they never touch their mask after it is on.

Fourth, they never re-use a mask, and will often replace it every 2-6 hours during surgery, because once the mask begins to have moisture build up on it, it becomes worthless.

Fifth, they know that the mask does absolutely nothing to stop the viruses from getting into the air. Surgical masks serve one purpose: to keep droplets of spittle from leaving the mouth and nose and getting into the open body of a surgical patient. Doctors know that viruses will still easily get through the surgical masks and into the air, and so doctors use post-surgical medicines to kill any viruses and bacteria that may have entered into the patient during surgery.

Sixth, because of all these things, if a doctor has any symptoms of any sort of sickness at all, the doctor will not operate on a patient. Why? Because masks do nothing to stop the spread of germs and viruses.

How much of this is true for the average person wearing a mask today? None of it. In fact, quite the opposite is true. People toss their masks onto counters and tabletops. They re-use masks. They stuff the masks into their pockets. They fiddle and re-adjust their masks hundreds of times each day. They wear their masks over and over again. As a result, these masks becomes absolutely filled with germs and bacteria, which causes more harm and damage to themselves, and to others they are around.

I went to a Subway sandwiches the other day, and the lady behind the counter making my sandwich touched her mask every 5-10 seconds during the three minutes she was making my sandwich. She might as well have just spit on my sandwich. But this behavior is normal for mask wearers. People walk up and down food aisles at Walmart touching their masks and then touching the macaroni or the apples or whatever they are buying, spreading germs around with every touch. The same is true with the checkout lanes. The plexiglass barrier is there between you and the checker, but what does that matter when the employee touches their germ-filled mask and then also touches all the food you are buying.

Besides the fact that the person wearing the masks is spending all day sucking in the germs, bacteria, and viruses that are breeding and growing on their mask all day. The mask is unhealthy for them as well. Which is partly why the places in the country and the world that have the highest percentage of people wearing masks also have the highest number of people getting sick. The masks don’t stop the virus; they spread it.

So would Jesus wear a mask? No, He would not. Nor would He put a guilt trip on people for not wearing a mask. He would not say “Wear a mask if you want to love your brother.” Jesus would know that the reason the government is trying to force everyone to wear a mask is because the government wants us afraid and compliant. The government wants us to submit so that they can control us. In Jesus’ day, the Roman government tried to get people to be compliant by forcing them to swear featly to Rome and declare that Caesar is Lord, that Caesar would protect them and provide for them. Jesus and all the apostles disagreed with this. The rallying cry of the early church was “Jesus is Lord,” implying that “Caesar is not.”

Today, masks are nothing more than a sign of submission to the government. They are equivalent to bowing down to Caesar and swearing fealty to Rome. So would Jesus tell us to wear a mask? No. Because Jesus alone is Lord; Caesar, or Biden, is not.

The vaccine mandate is nearly identical. The masks were the first step in getting everyone to comply and submit. The vaccine is the second step. Remember, early on, when Trump was president, all the Democrats, including Biden and Fauci, said that it would be wrong and unconstitutional for the government to force anyone to take the vaccine. And you know for a fact that if Trump was in office right now, and if he had issued a vaccine mandate, all the Democrats would be rioting and resisting such a mandate right now. But since the mandate came from Biden, they are complying.

But what about this claim that Jesus wants us to take the vaccine? Is this a way we can love our neighbor? No. For numerous reasons I disagree with this position.

The way these Christian leaders and pastors promote the vaccine is quite ironic. They first claim that Jesus wants us to take the vaccine, and then they issue a challenge to anyone who doesn’t want to take the vaccine to provide proof from Scripture that the vaccine is immoral or wrong. I read one article from a prominent Christian leader who essentially said, “Jesus wants you to get vaccinated, and if you disagree, I challenge you to find one verse in the Bible that says you shouldn’t.” He went on to say that anyone who claims religious exemption from vaccination is adding to the Word of God because the Bible never says that vaccinations are wrong.

Well, now, wait a second. I challenge this pastor to find one verse in the Bible that says we should get vaccinated. It doesn’t exist, because vaccines didn’t exist back then. So when he writes that Jesus wants us to get vaccinated, he himself is adding to Scripture.

But what about this claim that getting vaccinated in a way to love our neighbors?

Well, first, let’s be clear about what Jesus said. He didn’t say “Love your neighbor.” He said, “Love your neighbor as yourself” (Matt 22:39; Mark 12:31; Lev 19:18). So the ways in which we are supposed to love our neighbor are identical to the ways in which we love and take care of ourselves. The people who refuse to take the vaccine are convinced that the vaccine is bad for them. For a variety of moral, religious, ethical, political, scientific, spiritual, and personal reasons, they believe it would be personally harmful if they took the vaccine. In other words, one of the ways they love themselves is by not taking the vaccine.

So if Jesus says, “Love your neighbor as yourself” and Christians who refuse the vaccine do so as a form of loving themselves, then taking the vaccine would also not be a way to love others, but would actually be a way of harming others. They refuse the vaccine out of an act of love for others.

If you received the vaccine, this might sound ridiculous, but it is true. I know it is true because I am someone who has not been vaccinated. I have refused the vaccine for a wide variety of moral, ethical, scientific, religious, political, and spiritual reasons. And I personally believe that getting the vaccine would be an act of hate against my own body, which is the temple of the Holy Spirit, and an act of hate against worldwide humanity for me to get the vaccine. For me, refusing the vaccine is one way I seek to follow the command of Jesus to love my neighbor as myself.

And I know there may be a cost to this, as there always is with following Jesus. My place of employment is mandating the vaccine. I filed a religious exemption, but so far, it has not been approved. It may be that I will lose my job because of my conviction about what Jesus wants me to do. If that were to happen, I don’t know what will happen to myself or to my family. But it is a step I must take if I am going to stay true to my beliefs and my convictions.

Which raises the issue of the current situation where the government and corporations are firing people from their jobs for not getting vaccinated. Is this loving? Is it loving to stop people from being able to provide for themselves and their family? If the pro-vax Christian leaders are so concerned with loving their neighbors, they should be the first to stand up against terminating the employment of people who don’t get vaccinated. But they don’t. I have not yet heard a single pro-vax Christian leader stand against these moves by the government and various corporations to terminate the employment of people who don’t want to get vaccinated.

So much for loving others as themselves…

That was a long answer to a short questions.

By way of summary, here is my position: If you believe getting vaccinated is the right thing to do for yourself, then go ahead and get vaccinated. But at the same time, don’t try to put guilt trips on people who don’t want to get vaccinated. They are following their own God-given conscience for what they believe is the right thing to do. Don’t force people to eat meat sacrificed to idols.

Similarly, if you believe it is immoral or unhealthy to get vaccinated, don’t condemn or put guilt-trips on those who want to get vaccinated. They have their reasons for wanting to get vaccinated. They are not going to go to hell or lose their eternal life because they were vaccinated, and it is wrong to say so. Stay true to what you believe God has called you to do. To our own master, we stand or fall.

In either case, stand up for the rights of your brothers and sisters to make the choice that their research and conscience has led them to make, and stand up for their rights to keep their jobs, and live and function in society with everyone else. We truly are all in this together, and the most important thing through this all is that we all continue to protect the rights and freedoms and humanity of all people, regardless of what position they take on vaccines and masks. Don’t let the government divide us, as they are seeking to do.

To see what a Jewish Rabbi thinks of the vaccines, see this list of “31 Reasons Why I Won’t Take the Vaccine,” written by Rabbi Chananya Weissman.

Believe it or not, all of this fits right in with what we are studying today in Ephesians 2:13-17.

Ephesians 2:13-17

As we have seen in our study of Ephesians 2 so far, the chapter is all about how to end the hostility and violence that exists between various people groups in the world.

Paul described the problem of this hostility and enmity in Ephesians 2:1-3. He then explained the solution to the problem in Ephesians 2:4-10, by showing what Jesus did about it. Now, in Ephesians 2:11-22, Paul is showing us how we should live in this world now to bring the peace of Jesus to this world.

I want to look at Ephesians 2:13-17 today. This is a much longer section than I usually deal with in these studies, but I couldn’t break up the text into smaller units because it is all part of one whole thought. The following outline shows why:

A: What God Has Done: The Far brought Near (Ephesians 2:13)
B: Christ is Our Peace (Ephesians 2:14)
1: enmity (Ephesians 2:15)
2: in Himself (Ephesians 2:15)
3: two into one (v. 15)
B’: Christ Makes Peace (Ephesians 2:15)
3’: two into one (Ephesians 2:16)
2’: through the cross (Ephesians 2:16)
1’: enmity (Ephesians 2:16)
B”: Christ Proclaims Peace (Ephesians 2:17)
A’: What God Has Done: The Far brought Near (Ephesians 2:17)

I provided a longer explanation of this text in a sermon I preached several years back, and you can read the full manuscript here, so in this study, let me simply try to provide a summary of what these verses mean and how they can be applied to us today.

In Ephesians 2, Paul is primarily writing about the division and strife that existed between Jews and Gentiles in his day.

Now this division wasn’t just a racial division. It was also religious, political, and cultural. It would be like today, if you took the divisions that existed between different racial groups and combined it with the political divisions between conservatives and liberals, the religious differences between Christians and Muslims, and the cultural divisions between city dwellers and country farmers. And since we just talked about it, throw in the strife that currently exists between the vaccinated and unvaccinated. All of this combined is somewhat similar to the strife and enmity that existed in the days of Paul between Jews and Gentiles.

In Ephesians 2:13-17, Paul looks at these two groups of people and says, “Jesus wants you to live in peace with each other.”

Ephesians 2:13. But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.

Paul writes that those who were once far off have been brought near. The far have been brought near.

What does it mean to be far off? Paul explained this in Ephesians 2:11-12 which we studied previously. Remember, Paul listed six ways in which they were far off. They were without respect, without Christ, without citizenship, without covenants, without hope and without God. As unbelieving Gentiles, they were far off.

A rabbinic writer tells of an incident that explains the common Jewish attitude toward Gentiles. He mentions that when Gentiles converted to Judaism, as they sometimes did, it was called “being brought near.” A certain Gentile woman came to Rabbi Eleazar, confessed that she was sinful, and told him that she wanted to become righteous. She wanted to be accepted into the Jewish faith because she had heard that the Jews were near to God. The rabbi is said to have responded, “No. You cannot come near,” and then shut the door in her face.

That is the way it used to be. But now, Paul says in Ephesians 2:13, in Christ Jesus, the Ephesian Gentiles, who were far off have been brought near.

And Paul says here that this bringing near was accomplished—not on their own merit, or because some of them were real likable people—no, it was accomplished by the blood of Christ. The sacrifice of Christ by which He gave up His life for others. It is by the blood of Christ that those who were far off have been brought near. And Paul doesn’t say here exactly what it means to be brought near, but we can assume that it means basically the opposite of what it means to be far off. Being brought near is the opposite of the six things listed in Ephesians 2:11-12.

Right now, Paul just wants to tell us how Jesus Christ brought us near.

Ephesians 2:14. For He Himself is our peace, who has made both one, and has broken down the middle wall of separation,

He Himself is our peace. The only way people can be at genuine peace with each other is in Christ. Paul’s choice of terms here is interesting as well. There is, in the Greek, a term for peacemaker, but Paul did not use it here. Jesus Christ did not come to bring peace and then to retire to the sidelines as a peacemaker does. He came to be our peace.

Paul says in the last part of Ephesians 2:14 that Jesus Christ has broken down the middle (or dividing) wall of separation.

This term is a reference to the temple at the time of Paul. There was, in the temple, an outer court called “The Court of the Gentiles.” It was as far into the Temple as the Jews would allow Gentiles to come. They could go no further. The Court of the Gentiles and the rest of the temple was divided by a middle wall of separation.

Archeologists have discovered an inscription from the temple at the time of Paul which was put between the court of the Jews and the court of the Gentiles, and it said this: “No foreigner may enter within this barricade which surrounds the sanctuary and enclosure. Anyone who is caught doing so will have himself to blame for his ensuing death.”

“God had originally separated Jews from Gentiles (cf. Isa 5:1-7; Matt 21:33) for the purpose of redeeming both groups, not for saving the Jews alone. He placed the Court of the Gentiles in the Temple for the very purpose of winning Gentiles to Himself. It was meant to be a place for Jewish evangelism of Gentiles, a place for winning proselytes to Judaism and of thereby bringing them “near.” It was that court, however, that the Jewish leaders of Jesus’ day used as “a robbers’ den” (Mark 11:17) rather than as a place of witness.” It was not being used as God intended. There was this middle or dividing wall of separation.

Paul uses this as a symbol for the racial hatred and hostility that many Israelites have for Gentiles, and many Gentiles have for Israelites. It is a wall between the two.

In fact, Paul had firsthand experience with this dividing wall of hostility. In Acts 21, this is the exact reason he was arrested in the first place. He was falsely accused of taking Trophimus, a Gentile from the city of Ephesus, past this barrier. This is probably why Paul mentions this barrier in his letter to the Ephesians, because they know that this is why he was arrested and is now in prison.

But, Paul says Jesus Christ has torn this wall down. Just like when He died on the cross, the veil in the temple was torn from top to bottom, showing that the dividing wall between God and man had been breached, Jesus Christ has also made it possible for all to come before God—Jew and Gentile alike. Christ is Our Peace.

Ephesians 2:15 tells us how Jesus Christ accomplished this.

Ephesians 2:15. having abolished in His flesh the enmity, that is, the law of commandments contained in ordinances, so as to create in Himself one new man from the two, thus making peace,

Ephesians 2:15 contains the next four key lines. The first is the word enmity. Christ, when he came, abolished in His flesh the enmity that existed between Jews and Gentiles.

You might say, “Where did this enmity come from?” Well, look in the verse. It tells us that the enmity rose from the law of commandments contained in ordinances. In other words, much of the malice that is between Jews and Gentiles is a result of the Jewish law. We have seen previously that the law contained over 6000 rules and commands.

Among these, were laws stating that the Jew was to have nothing to do with Gentiles, was not to associate with them, or get involved in any of their practices. Needless to say, this created strife and division between Jews and Gentiles.

But Paul says here that Jesus abolished all of this enmity that was created by the law. Maybe some of recall Matthew 5:17 where Jesus says He did not come to abolish the law. How does that fit with what Paul says here?

The answer is found by carefully understanding what Paul says in Ephesians 2:14. According to Ephesians 2:14, Jesus did not come to abolish the law, but to abolish the enmity that existed because of the law—the enmity created by the law.

In Matthew 5:17, Jesus did this by completely fulfilling the law. He is superior to the law, and proved it by fulfilling the law. This is exactly what Paul goes on to write. He says that Jesus created peace in Himself by fulfilling the law.

Jesus abolished the enmity that was created by the law. The law set up a system of rules and regulations which allowed people to feel superior than others and more righteous. Though the purpose of the law was love, most people used the law to judge, condemn, and accuse. So the law ended up causing the exact opposite of what it was intended for. It was used for hate instead of love. It created enmity instead of unity.

And this is what too much of an emphasis on the law does for people, even today. Those who are most zealous for their religious laws and commandments end up hating, judging, accusing, and condemning those who are not as zealous. A religious focus on law causes those who obey the law to look down their noses with scorn and division at those who do not obey it.

To see how this works, just look at the vaccination mandate of today. Look at the judgment, condemnation, and hatred that it breeds. Each side views the other as morally inferior. Each side condemns the other. This is what laws do. All laws are the opposite of love, and only create division and strife.

So Jesus came, says Paul, to do away with this enmity caused by the law, and in this way, bring together those who had been separated by the law. This is what Paul explains next in Ephesians 2:15. Jesus abolished the enmity of the law to make one new man from the two. He made the two into one. He made the Jew and the Gentile into one body—the body of Christ. Marriage is a wonderful picture of this—when the two become one flesh. Paul picks up on this picture later in Ephesians 5. We will deal with it then.

As you can see, peace is the central idea of Paul’s thought pattern here. Christ Makes Peace. Christ is our peace by abolishing the enmity in Himself and making the two into one. In this way, Christ makes Peace.

Now, the rest of this paragraph, as found in Ephesians 2:16-17, simply repeats in reverse order what Paul has already written. He began with talking about the peace of Christ, has worked his way into the central point, which is the peace of Christ, and now will work his way back out by repeating what he said, until we arrive finally, at the end, to the peace of Christ.

Ephesians 2:16. and that He might reconcile them both to God in one body through the cross, thereby putting to death the enmity.

Ephesians 2:16 contains much of what Paul already wrote. Paul says that He might reconcile them both to God in one body. This is a repeat of the earlier statement that Jesus made the two into one, that He reconciled both to God in one body. It is the same idea, just phrased a bit differently.

And notice the minor difference—how Paul elaborates on what he said before. The goal was not just to have these two bodies be reconciled to each other, but to reconcile them both to God. The differences we have with each other cannot be worked out if we just sit down and talk them over. The differences we have with each other can only be reconciled with each other if we are first reconciled to God.

Second, Jesus Christ did this through the cross. In Ephesians 2:15, Christ did it in Himself, here Paul repeats himself again, but elaborates as well. It was not just in Himself, it was specifically in what He did on the cross.

Jesus Christ accomplished this through His death on the cross. On the cross, Jesus revealed what we humans have been doing from the beginning of time. Jesus went to the cross because the people who crucified Him thought that He was a blasphemer and sinner. They thought that He broke God’s law, profaned the religious temple, and undermined the priestly authority and the sacrificial system. So they looked down their religious noses at Jesus, and killed Him in God’s name.

But then, rather than retaliate from the cross, what did Jesus do? He asked God to forgive those who crucified Him (Luke 23:34). On the cross, Jesus revealed how to create peace where there is only enmity, blame, accusation, and strife. The way to peace, Jesus revealed, is to forgive. This is what Jesus did on the cross, and what He revealed to us through His death and resurrection, and is how He now calls us to live our lives as His followers.

This is the last idea in Ephesians 2:16, and a repeat of the point in Ephesians 2:15. There, Paul began by talking about the enmity that existed, and here in Ephesians 2:16, Paul concludes by talking about the enmity which was put to death in Jesus Christ on the cross. He showed us the way to peace and calls us to live in this way.

Ephesians 2:17 summarizes the entire message, much as Ephesians 2:13 did, by repeating the fact that Jesus brought peace.

Ephesians 2:17. And He came and preached peace to you who were afar off and to those who were near.

Christ came and preached peace. This is what Christ came preaching, isn’t it? By the way, this is a fulfillment of Isaiah 57:19, which says that the Lord will say “Peace, peace to those far and near.” (cf. also, Isa 9:6; 52:7; Mic 5:5; Zech 9:9-10).

What were the first words of the angels when they appeared in the hills proclaiming Christ’s birth? Luke 2:13-14 says, “And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.”

What did Jesus tell his troubled disciples in John 14:27? “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you.”

Christ came preaching peace—a peace such as the world had never seen. Peace.

At the end of Ephesians 2:17, Paul ends with what he started with: what God has done, he has brought peace to those who were afar off and to those who were near.

In Ephesians 2:11-12, we learned that our relationships are in shambles; we are at each other’s throats; we can’t get along; we are at animosity with each other.

The passage before us in the solution to this problem. And Paul has so arranged it so that we cannot miss it. What has God done for us? He has brought peace, Peace, PEACE!

From this passage it is clear what Paul is saying. We, who used to live at enmity with each other, and used to judge each other by our own moral standards and laws of conduct, we—whether we were far off from God or near to God, we can all, in Jesus Christ and through what He has done on the cross, we can live at peace with each other.

Why? Because we are no longer separated. In Christ, we have become one body. One flesh. One.

So, when members of Christ’s body fight among themselves, we are really only hurting ourselves. We are gouging our own eye. We are cutting off our own hands. We are shooting ourselves in our own foot (1 Cor 12:14ff).

I read a review of a move called “The Fight Club” recently. The movie came out a few years back. Apparently, it is a story of two men who decide that to become real men, they need to show it through aggression. So they start a club where men can come and fight each other—hence the name of the movie “The Fight Club.”

When they first come up with this idea, they are in a bar, so they decide to start right away, and they go out into the parking lot to fight each other. As they do, a crowd gathers and watches in utter amazement, not trying to stop the fight.

The end of the movie reveals that the two men are really just the two different personalities of a single schizophrenic man who somehow is able to be both personalities at once. And the movie does a flashback to that first fight in the parking lot of the bar to look at it through the eyes of the crowd.

To them, it is a comical yet confusing scene. From the crowd’s perspective, they see one man beating himself up. He’s throwing himself into cars, and punching himself in the face, and knocking himself to the ground. Somehow, he’s able to bite and kick himself. It is not a pretty sight seeing a man beat himself up.

But that is how much of the world views the church. Here we are, the body of Christ, we are supposed to be loving and unified. We are supposed to be living in the peace that Christ has provided and that the whole world wants. We are supposed to protect each other as we protect our own bodies.

But instead, we spend much of the time beating ourselves up just like that man in the movie. We have racial differences. We have political differences. We have class differences. We have theological differences. And if we let ourselves focus on these differences, we would spend all of our time beating each other up.

In fact, I came across this humorous fictional story recently:

I was walking across a bridge recently and spied a fellow who looked like he was going to commit suicide by jumping off. So, I thought I would try and stall him until the authorities showed up. “Don’t jump!” I yelled.

“Why not?” he asked. “Nobody loves me.”
“God loves you,” I said. “You believe in God, don’t you?”
“Yes, I believe in God,” he said.
“Good, Are you Christian, Jewish or Muslim?” I said.
“Christian,” he said.
“Me too! Protestant or Catholic?”
“Neither,” he said.
“What then?” I asked.
“Baptist,” he said.
“Me too!” I said. “Independent Baptist or Southern Baptist?”
“Independent Baptist,” he said.
“Me too!” I said. “New Evangelical/Moderate Independent Baptist or Conservative Independent Baptist?”
“Conservative Independent Baptist,” he said.
“Me too!” I said. “Calvinistic Conservative Independent Baptist or Lose-Your-Salvation Arminian Conservative Independent Baptist?”
“Calvinistic Conservative Independent Baptist,” he said.
“Me too!” I said. “Dispensational Premillennial Calvinistic Conservative Independent Baptist or Historical Premillennial Calvinistic Conservative Independent Baptist?”
“Dispensational Premillennial Calvinistic Conservative Independent Baptist,” he said.
“Me too!” I said. “Against Women in Ministry Dispensational Premillennial Calvinistic Conservative Independent Baptist or For Women in Ministry Dispensational Premillennial Calvinistic Conservative Independent Baptist?”
“Against Women in Ministry Dispensational Premillennial Calvinistic Conservative Independent Baptist,” he said.
“Me too!” I said. “Unashamed Fundamentalist Against Women in Ministry Dispensational Premillennial Calvinistic Conservative Independent Baptist or Strict Separation of Church and State Against Women in Ministry Dispensational Premillennial Calvinistic Conservative Independent Baptist?”
“Unashamed Fundamentalist Against Women in Ministry Dispensational Premillennial Calvinistic Conservative Independent Baptist,” he said.
“Me too!” I said. “Pro-Disney Boycott Pro-Life Unashamed Fundamentalist Against Women in Ministry Dispensational Premillennial Calvinistic Conservative Independent Baptist or Anti-Disney Boycott Pro-Choice Unashamed Fundamentalist Against Women in Ministry Dispensational Premillennial Calvinistic Conservative Independent Baptist?”
“Pro-Disney Boycott Pro-Life Unashamed Fundamentalist Against Women in Ministry Dispensational Premillennial Calvinistic Conservative Independent Baptist,” he said.
“Me too!” I said. “King James Version only Pro-Disney Boycott Pro-Life Unashamed Fundamentalist Against Women in Ministry Dispensational Premillennial Calvinistic Conservative Independent Baptist or Modern Versions Pro-Disney Boycott Pro-Life Unashamed Fundamentalist Against Women in Ministry Dispensational Premillennial Calvinistic Conservative Independent Baptist?”
“MODERN VERSIONS Pro-Disney Boycott Pro-Life Unashamed Fundamentalist Against Women in Ministry Dispensational Premillennial Calvinistic Conservative Independent Baptist,” he said.
“Aaauuugghh!! You heretic!” I said. And I pushed him over.

It’s an old joke. If I were re-writing it today, I would include vaccinated or un-vaccinated into the mix.

And it’s a humorous story. But in many aspects, it is sadly true. There is probably not one Christian on the face of this earth that agrees 100% with all the beliefs of any other Christian. The truth of the matter is that if we dig deep enough, we will always find areas in which we disagree with each other. And if we let these disagreements separate us, we will be forever pushing each other off bridges, and dividing churches, and arguing with each other. Which is exactly what Satan wants, and what Jesus does not want.

Jesus wants us to live in peace with each other. This does not happen by forcing us all to live and act and believe the same thing, but by helping us learn to love each other and get along with each despite of our many differences.

How does peace occur? Jesus brings peace when we forget about what it between us, and focus instead on Who is Above Us—as Ephesians 2:13-17 encourages us to do. Peace occurs when we focus not on ourselves, but turn our eyes upon him,– all of these other things just fade into the background and it is then that we can live in peace with each other. Peace, that is what Jesus brought. Peace is what we can have … in Jesus Christ.

The Things that Divide Us (Ephesians 2:11-12)

By Jeremy Myers

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There were six things that caused division and strife between Jews and Gentiles. Paul discusses these in Ephesians 2:11-12. These same six things are found in various ways today in our culture and country. As we learn how Paul wanted the Ephesian Christians to respond to these sources of division, we can learn to live at peace with others today as well. All of this is covered in this study of Ephesians 2:11-12.

Before we look at that, however, we consider a question from a reader about the difference between a believer and a disciple.

Question from a Reader

I have read over your page on the difference between a believer and a disciple more than once. Recently I have started reading the Bible again after not reading it systematically for a long time-I tried being a disciple when I was about 18, I went to church for a few years, then I lost faith in God and quit. Now I’m 48 and my faith in God has returned … Your article says that if someone tries to be a disciple and fails then God will teach them, call them etc., so they can become a productive member of God’s family. Are you saying that if someone fails at discipleship, they have to become a disciple again? Or are you saying that God will simply try and make all believers productive in one way or the other?

You often hear pastors and Bible teachers talk about “the path of discipleship.” Thinking of discipleship as a path or a road is a helpful analogy.

I used to live in New York, but I now live in Oregon. When I moved from New York to Oregon, I drove on numerous roads and highways to get here. Now imagine if I stopped driving. I would no longer be making any progress on the road to Oregon. But I also wouldn’t necessarily have to start over in New York. I would just be stuck wherever I was.

At the same time, if I mistakenly or intentionally made a wrong turn, then I might actually be going backwards and headed back to New York, thereby, negating any progress I had made so far. Or maybe I would just be driving around in circles for a while, lost and confused.

But if I followed the map and the directions for getting from New York to Oregon, then I would eventually arrive at my destination. As I did.

This is the way it also works with discipleship. Yes, God wants all believers to become disciples and to make progress on the path of discipleship, and so God has provided in Scripture numerous instructions and directions for how to proceed as a follower of Jesus. If we follow these instructions, then we make progress. However, if we disobey, ignore, or even misunderstand the instructions, then we will stop making progress, and might actually go backwards a bit. But we don’t have to start all over.

And the best part about the path of discipleship is that we don’t have to travel it alone. God has not only given us Himself, Scripture, and the indwelling Holy Spirit to help us on our journey, but also provides us with fellow human travelers to encourage us and aid us on our way. Hopefully, I am someone who is helping you make progress on the path of discipleship as I show you where I have traveled and help you make better sense of the instructions God has provided in the Bible.

The Things that Divide Us (Ephesians 2:11-12)

“It is a part of sinful human nature to build barriers that shut out other people. In New Testament times one of the greatest barriers was between slaves and freemen, especially between slaves and their owners. Those who were free looked down on slaves as being inferior, slightly above animals. Many slaves looked on their masters with contempt and resentment. Consequently, one of the greatest problems of the early church was in getting Christian slave owners and Christian slaves to treat each other as spiritual equals.

“For the most part, women were also looked down on as inferior beings. Husbands often treated their wives little better than they did their slaves. When a wife became a Christian, her entire life, outlook, and value system changed. An unbelieving husband would likely divorce her simply because she had made such a radical decision without his consent.

“The Greeks were so proud of their culture and supposed racial superiority that they considered everyone else to be barbarians, a belief to which Paul alludes in Romans 1:14 and Colossians 3:11. The Greek language was considered to be the language of the gods. The Roman statesman Cicero wrote, ‘As the Greeks say, “All men are divided into two classes, Greeks and barbarians.”[1]

We must not forget as well, the constant animosity between Jews and Gentiles. From the very beginning with Abraham’s two sons, Ishmael and Isaac, this has been an issue. 4000 years later, the struggle has only become worse with nearly the whole world taking sides between Israel and Palestine and current affairs right now in the Middle East.

And of course, it is not just the religious, racial, and cultural issues that divide, but also political and scientific issues. Take the current vaccination battle that is being waged around the world. A person’s vaccination status is a great source of division and strife in the world right now. I hope that you are not a person who divides from someone else based on their vaccination status.

All of this division and strife between people is a result of sin. In fact, I argue elsewhere that division is the ultimate Christian heresy. Those who divide from other Christians are guilty of the greatest and most sinful Christian heresy.

But Jesus came to remove all of this division and strife. This is the overall message of Ephesians 2.

Summary of Ephesians 2:1-10

Most Christians think that Ephesians 2 is about how we humans were all sinners and so Jesus came to offer us eternal life. And while that could be a proper reading of Ephesians 2:1-10, that message does not fit with Ephesians 2:11-22. And since Ephesians 2:11-22 is the application section of Ephesians 2, this means that the entire chapter must fit together into one cohesive argument.

And since Ephesians 2:11-22 is all about how the church is supposed to lead the world out of division and strife and into a life of love and unity, this means that the message of Ephesians 2:1-10 is how God revealed to us the true nature of sin, and a better way to life in Jesus Christ.

Up to this point in Ephesians 2, Paul described the normal way of life in this world as one of being dead in our sins and dead to God. We lived in a state of blame, accusation, vengeance, violence, and retaliation (Ephesians 2:1-3). But God then stepped into this situation in Jesus Christ and showed us a whole new way to live (Ephesians 2:4-7). We were raised up to a life in Jesus Christ that is the the life God always wanted for us and which He had planned and prepared for us since the foundation of the world (Ephesians 2:8-10).

In Ephesians 2:11-22, Paul now seeks to show us how to live differently, and also how to lead the world into a different way of living.

Six Sources for Strife (Ephesians 2:11-12)

We’re looking at Ephesians 2:11-12 today, where Paul begins by describing six of the differences between Jews and Gentiles. He describes six of the things that caused strife and division between these two people groups.

All of these damaged relationships are the result of sin. Now if Paul was writing today, he could have written about blacks vs whites, Republicans vs. Democrats, rich vs. poor, police vs. inner city residents, vaccinated vs. unvaccinated, or Christian vs. Muslim.

All of the racial, political, economic, religious, cultural, and health-related division that exist today existed in the days of Paul between Jews and Gentiles. In Ephesians 2:11-12, Paul commands them to remember six things in regard to their human relationships before they were saved. The first of these six is found in Ephesians 2:11.

Ephesians 2:11. Therefore remember that you, once Gentiles in the flesh—who are called Uncircumcision by what is called the Circumcision made in the flesh by hands—

So the first division is that they were Gentiles in the flesh—who are called Uncircumcision by what is called the Circumcision made in the flesh by hands—

Paul is talking here about the differences between the Jew and the Gentile. Prior to Abraham, there was no difference. But God, in choosing Abraham, created a difference. Now God created this difference so that His people could be a blessing to everyone else. The problem, however, was that many Jews saw this difference as a reason to boast and be proud and think that they were superior to the others.

But God did not choose Abraham so that the Jews would think they were superior to the Gentiles, but so that they might be a blessing and a help to the Gentiles.

And the aspect that Paul mentions here in Ephesians 2:11 about this difference between Jew and Gentile is circumcision. Since circumcision was the outward sign of the covenant with God, the Jews considered any uncircumcised male to be outside of God’s blessing and purpose. The Jews were proud of this outward sign of the covenant, and they despised anyone who was not circumcised.

In fact, “Jews said that the Gentiles were created by God to be fuel for the fires of Hell; that God loved only Israel of all the nations that he had made; that the best of the serpents crushed, the best of the Gentiles killed.

“It was not lawful to render help to a Gentile woman in childbirth, for that would be to bring another Gentile into the world. The barrier between Jew and Gentile was absolute. If a Jew married a Gentile, the funeral for the Jew was carried out. Such contact with a Gentile was the equivalent of death; even to go into a Gentile house rendered a Jew unclean.”[3]

When a Jew went on a journey and returned, before he stepped back into Israel, he would shake the dust off his feet because he didn’t want to bring Gentile dirt into the holy land.[4]

As we can see—the Jewish people at that time were arrogant, and despised Gentiles. But this was not always the case, and is not the case today either.

In Ephesians 2:11, Paul, although he was a Jew himself, mocks their arrogance by saying that the Jewish circumcision which they took so much pride in was nothing more than something done in the flesh by the hands of men. In Philippians 3:2, Paul calls them “mutilators of the flesh” and in Romans 2:29, he shows us that the real circumcision that God desires is not of the flesh by the hands of men, but of the heart, by the Holy Spirit. It is those who believe in Jesus alone and not in their own works of the flesh that are circumcised of the heart and not of the flesh.

So the first thing Paul wants them to remember is that they were Gentiles—despised by the Jews. The Jewish people thought they were superior to others because they had a covenant with God. They had special revelation. They had better morals. They had a piece of skin cut off their body.

Does any of this sound familiar today? It should.

There are some who think they are superior to others because of how they vote, or because of what religion they belong to, or have more money, fame, or power than others, or because they got a vaccine. And Paul is going to say “Stop dividing over such silly things! All such division is satanic.”

But Paul is not yet done describing the things that cause division. There are five more in Ephesians 2:12. The second is that at that time you were without Christ.

What Paul means is pretty obvious. They did not have Christ. The Ephesians lived under the same problem that the rest of the world live under. They still, just like everyone else, lived under a system of rivalry, violence, scapegoating, blame, slander, accusation, and victimization.

The Ephesians, for the most part, worshipped the goddess Diana, and before the coming of the Gospel, knew nothing of Jesus Christ. They were without Christ, and as such were under condemnation.

Now how did this cause division? Well, the word for Christ here is the Greek Christos, but is the Greek word for Messiah. The Messiah, or Meshiach in Hebrew, is one of the things that caused division between Jews and Gentiles. The Jews has prophecies that the Messiah would come through them. This gave them a sense of superiority over others. But the Gentiles didn’t have a Messiah.

And in fact, many Jews at that time thought that when the Messiah came, He would only be a Savior for the Jews, and everyone else would get destroyed by the Messiah. So yes, the aspect of a promised Messiah caused division.

The third source of division was that Gentiles were aliens from the commonwealth of Israel.

Another way of saying this is that we were excluded from being a part of God’s people, or excluded from citizenship with Israel. They were without citizenship in Israel, and therefore, many Jews thought that God didn’t love or care for Gentiles either. Gentiles were separate from the special blessing, protection, love, covenants, priesthood, sacrifices, promises and guidance that God gave to Israel (Deut 32:9-14; 33:27-29; Isa 63:7-9; Amos 3:2).

Again, the issue of how to treat people from other countries is a divisive issue today. We currently have a major humanitarian crisis at our southern border, and there is a huge debate about the best way to care for the aliens … the immigrants … who are there. Everybody in our country wants to help the immigrants, but the question is how. Do we just let anyone and everyone come into our country who wants to? Or would it be better to seeks ways to improve the living conditions in the countries they come from so that the immigrants can stay in their home country and gain access to good opportunities there?

The issue of citizenship and alien immigrants is a huge divisive issue.

The fourth item from Ephesians 2:12 that causes division is that the Gentiles were strangers from the covenants of promise.

God never made any covenants with Gentile nations. Gentiles were included in the covenant with Abraham, and since Noah lived before Abraham, we could consider him as a Gentile, I suppose, but in broad terms, God did not make covenants with Gentile nations—only with the nation of Israel. Gentiles were considered strangers and aliens—and the Jews never let them forget it.

Many of the Jewish Pharisees would pray daily, “O God, I give thanks that I am a Jew, not a Gentile.”[7]

Why did they have this view? Because God had not made any covenants or promises with Gentile nations. Therefore, Jews believed that God did not love the Gentiles as much as He loved the Jews. Since God did not make any promises to them, this meant that God did not really have any plans for them.

Again, this perspective is sometimes found in various churches, where non-Christians are viewed as second-class humans from a divine perspective. I once spoke with a man who was a strong Calvinist (see my posts here for more about Calvinism) who said that due to his belief in divine election, he never shared the gospel with unbelievers because the Bible said to not cast pearls before swine. That’s an extreme view, even among Calvinists, but it is not uncommon for Christians to rarely interact with non-Christians. It’s not that we hate non-Christians, but we just sort of view them with a disdain and bit if disgust for how they live and what they believe. Once they become Christians, however, then we accept them with open arms … as long as they do what we say and believe what they are told.

You see? Being a stranger from the covenants of promise is a source of division.

Fifth, Gentiles were without hope.

This, of course, is from a Jewish perspective, for many Gentiles at that time did indeed have hope, just as today, almost everybody has hope of some kind for the future.

But Jews thought that Gentiles were hopeless. That they had not prospects. No real future. Gentiles were nobodies going nowhere.

Again, sometimes Christians today are guilty of viewing non-Christians in the same light.

And finally, and sort of as a summary of all the others, Gentiles were without God in the world.

The term here in the Greek is atheos from which we get our word “atheist.” Now, the fact that they were atheos doesn’t mean that they didn’t believe in God. Just the opposite in fact. Rather than being atheists the way we think of them today, most Gentiles in Paul’s day were polytheists. They believed in many gods.

Remember Paul’s sermon on Mars Hill in Athens? He talked about all the gods they had. So it was not an issue of them being without gods, it was that they did not know the one true God. They were without the God of the Bible.

But this was a source of contention between Jews and Gentiles. Jews looked down upon Gentiles for not worshipping the One True God, but instead worshipping many false, manmade gods.

And again, a similar strife is often found today between various religious groups. Nearly every religious group looks down upon all the other for worshipping a false god or gods.

So the six things Paul lists here as descriptive of some of the things that caused division and strife between Jews and Gentiles. All six things caused enmity and hatred and discord between Jews and Gentiles.

Why is Paul Reminding the Ephesians Christians Of This?

Paul is not simply trying to remind the Ephesians Christians of how they were once treated and viewed. I believe Paul was writing these things to them, and telling them to remember how they were treated, because the Ephesian Christians were starting to look down upon their non-Christian neighbors and friends with scorn and derision. They had started to feel superior, to feel smarter, to feel like God loved them more than anyone else.

So Paul comes along here and says, “Remember! As Gentiles, you used to be in a position where another group of people looked down upon you, and scorned you, and judged you, and thought that God hated you. You didn’t like that very much. So now that you are part of the family of God, make sure you don’t fall into the same trap. Don’t start treating your non-Christians neighbors the way your Jewish friends once treated you.”

This is a good reminder for us in the church today. Don’t forget your past. If you did not grow up in the church, then you might have had the experience of feeling judged, ridiculed, shamed, or even hated by certain groups of Christians. Some Christians look down upon non-Christians, condemning, criticizing, and accusing them of all sorts of things. Paul would say to you, “Do you remember what that felt like? Now that you are a Christian, make sure you don’t do the same thing.”

You were called to be part of God’s family for the same reason that Abraham was called and the Jewish people were called and all of God’s people are called … not to lord your position over others and think that you are smarter and more blessed than others, but rather to be a blessing and a help to them. To love them.

If you start to treat others with hate and derision, then you are still living in the way described by Paul in Ephesians 2:1-3. We used to live lives of rivalry, blame, accusation, scapegoating, slander, and violence, but now God has called us to live lives of love, forgiveness, grace, faith, and blessing. If we go back to blaming, accusing, scapegoating, and judging the world, then we have learned nothing about Jesus Christ or why He came.

Nevertheless, it is not uncommon for Christians and even pastors to revert back to the old way of living. For example, a certain pastor has said the following: “Scripture teaches … that God eternally hates some men; has immutably decreed their damnation; and has determined to withhold from them Christ, grace, faith, and salvation.”[9]

Here’s a hymn that used to be sung years ago in certain churches around the country: (I don’t know the tune, but the words go …)

“We are the Lord’s elected few,
Let all the rest be damned;
There’s room enough in hell for you,
We won’t have heaven crammed!”[10]

Are you as horrified as I am that certain Christians feel this way about the unsaved? We wonder how the Jews could have hated the Gentiles so, but then we look at some of our own brothers and sisters hating non-Christians in the exact same way!

None of us, I hope, feel this way about any non-Christian. None of us, I hope, despise our neighbor because they are not Christians. Rather, we love them, and are concerned for them, and want to share with them the love that Christ has for them so that they too may be saved. That is the Christians duty. That is our God given responsibility—to bring blessing, not cursing.

In Ephesians 2:13-22, we will begin to see how we can make sure we are a blessing to this world, rather than a source of hate, division, and strife.

Footnotes for the Study on Ephesians 2:11-12

[1] MacArthur, chapter 7, intro.

[3] Barclay, 107.

[4] MacArthur, chapter 7.

[7] Wiersbe, 22.

[9] David Engelsma, quoted in Vance, 293.

[10] In Vance, 300.

Created for Good Works (Ephesians 2:10)

By Jeremy Myers

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Did you know God has prepared good works for you to do? In this study of Ephesians 2:10, we look at what these good works are, when God prepared them for you, and how this explanation of Ephesians 2:10 fits within the overall message of Ephesians 2. Prior to that, we will also answer a question from a reader about baptism in the Bible.

Question from a Reader

I am 72 years old have been a believer for 60 years. … I am not a theologian by any stretch but am filled with the Holy Spirit and KNOW how to hear and be led by Him.

I am taught by the Holy Spirit and truth is truth. I have over my 60 years in Jesus seen it all and been in a lot of it, many denominations from Presbyterian, Methodist, Catholic, AG, Charismatic, Pentecostal, Hyper-Calvinist you name it even Hebraic Roots. I have heard it all and more.

Baptism in water and in the Holy Spirit is totally misunderstood and applied. I know that Matthew 28:19 is NOT water baptism. I know Mark 16:16 is misused as “water baptism” saves. The only baptism with water in the Gospels is John’s baptism of repentance. How Theologians have come to believe it has been transferred to Jesus when the only “baptism” the Gospels speak of is Jesus will baptize with the Holy Spirit and fire. The immersion into the Name, the body of Christ, the Holy Spirit is what is spoken to the disciples and believers, NOT WATER BAPTISM!

Am I correct?

These are great questions about what the Scripture teaches regarding baptism. I wrote a series of posts a while back on baptism. Here is the introductory post: What is baptism?

Most of these posts found their way into my book, Close Your Church for Good. This is a massive book, nearly 800 pages, but there is a section in the book on Christian “rites” such as the Lord’s Supper and Baptism. And not surprisingly, my Gospel Dictionary online course also contains a lesson on the word “Baptism.”

Anyway, the primary thing we have to recognize when studying the word “baptism” is that it is not a translation of the original Greek text, but is instead a “transliteration.” The Greek word is baptisma, and for some reason, when scholars translated the Greek into English, rather than translate the Greek word baptisma into English, they just changed the Greek letters into English letters and left it alone. So the Greek word baptisma becomes the English word baptism. You see? No translation.

So whenever you see the word baptism in the Bible, I recommend you translate it first. The word means “immersion” or “immerse.” And then look in the context to see what kind of immersion is in view.

And note that although the word “immersion” does bring to mind the idea of being immersed in water, it does not always mean that. For example, when people are thinking of moving to another country, they often want to learn the language of the people in that other country. One way to learn a foreign language is through something called “language immersion.” Does this mean that they get dunked under water until they miraculously learn the foreign language? No, it means they enter into the culture and among the people who speak that other language so that they are surrounded by it, and force themselves to learn it.

Biblical immersion works the same way. In the Bible, you can be immersed into a variety of things. Along with being immersed in water, the Bible also talks about being immersed in fire (Matthew 3:11 and Luke 3:16), immersed into the Holy Spirit (Romans 6), immersed into Moses (1 Corinthians 10:2), and immersed into Jesus. None of these cases have water in view.

Anyway, this gets back to the question from the reader. He mentions Matthew 28:19 and Mark 16:16, and correctly points out that neither one refers to water baptism. He mentions the baptism of John, which was a baptism for the Jews only, and was a baptism of repentance. It had nothing to do with receiving eternal life or becoming a Christian.

So the reader is right. There are many passages in the Bible which many Christians think refers to water baptism, when they do not. And this misunderstanding is all due to the unfortunate failure of the Bible translators to properly translate baptisma. How sad it is that the church has gone through so much turmoil, strife, and even violence, over a failure to properly translate a single Greek word.

Anyway, I appreciate the question. If you want to learn more about baptism in the Bible, just search my website for the word “baptism” or you can buy my book, Close Your Church for Good or join my discipleship group and take my Gospel Dictionary online course. All of these explain baptism is much more detail.

Created for Good Works (Ephesians 2:10)

Ephesians 2:10 is a hinge verse. It’s a transition verse. It transitions from everything Paul has written so far in Ephesians 2:1-9, and introduces everything Paul is going to write in Ephesians 2:11-22.

So let’s look at the verse briefly, and then I will show you how Paul uses it to transition.

Ephesians 2:10. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.

We are His Workmanship

First, Paul writes that we are His workmanship. There are numerous beautiful aspects about this word. First, in the New Testament, it is only used here and in Romans 1:20, where Paul uses it in reference to the things God made at creation. So when Paul uses this word, I believe he has in mind the original purpose and intent for which God made humanity. God created humans in Genesis 1 and Genesis 2 for a specific task and purpose.

Back in my podcast studies of Genesis 1 and Genesis 2, we discussed this purpose at great length. We were created, as Genesis says, to be the image of God (Genesis 1:26-27), or the ambassadors of God, in this world. To be His physical presence here on earth. We are, I argued, the living, breathing, talking, walking, working statue of God in the Garden of God (Genesis 2:7). This is some of what Paul has in mind with the use of this word here. Go listen to some of those podcasts to learn more about this.

Second, the word Paul uses here is quite beautiful. In the Greek it is poiema. We are, in a sense, the poem of God. How do you like that?

Did you know God wrote poetry? He does. And guess what? You are His poetry.

You may think your life is full of pain and hardship, and it is. But there are also elements of joy and beauty and laughter. This is because you are a poem. A divine poem. All the greatest poems in the world have emotional highs and lows. Pain and beauty. Sorrow and laughter. And guess what? God is not done writing the poem of your life. So whatever you’re going through right now, look forward to tomorrow, in which God will write another stanza of your poem for you and all the world to read.

I find this idea beautiful and encouraging. With every second of every day, God is writing an epic poem with your life.

From N. T. Wright:

Now you may well feel that phrase ‘good works’ is a bit ho-hum, a bit ‘oh dear, here we go, we’ve got to behave ourselves’ and all that sort of thing. But it’s not like that at all. The word in the Greek for ‘what He has made us’ means we are God’s poem; we are God’s artwork. God has given us many, many gifts. The good works that we are to do are not simply referring to moral behavior.

God wants us to be fruitful. God wants us to be experimental. God wants us to be innovative.

God wants us to be His poem, in and for the world. Artists, musicians, poets, and dancers: this is your chance.

What makes this even more significant is that since we are God’s workmanship, since we are God’s hands, feet, and voice in this world, since we are an epic poem that He is writing, He’s not just going to abandon us. He’s not going to just leave us alone to go our own way. We are a significant investment for God, and He is going to take care of us so that He can get a good return on His investment. So that He can finish the poem in a crescendo of glory that takes our breath away.

Created for Good Works

This introduces the next idea Paul talks about in Ephesians 2:10. Paul writes that we are created in Christ Jesus for good works.

Lots of pastors and teacher misread this verse, and use it to teach that if we truly have eternal life, then we will live a life of good works. This is a terrible explanation of this text.

First of all, remember that Paul is not writing about how to have eternal life. That is not what this chapter is about. It is instead about how to live this life as God truly wants and desires, and how we can show the world a better way to live as well. Go check out the studies on Salvation in Ephesians 2:5-7 and the explanation of Ephesians 2:8-9.

Second, even if Paul was talking about how to receive eternal life in Ephesians 2:8-9, Ephesians 2:10 would still not be teaching that good works have anything to do with receiving, keeping, or proving that we have eternal life. Instead the verse would be about how to follow Jesus on the path of discipleship after we receive eternal life. Yes, God wants us to obey Him and follow Jesus in discipleship, but whether we do this or not has no bearing whatsoever on whether we receive eternal life, keep our eternal life, or provide evidence that we have eternal life. Discipleship is simply a matter of recognizing that God knows what is best for our life, and if we obey Him, we will live our best life now on this earth.

Nevertheless, this verse is not talking about this.

The good works that Paul has in view are the good works that God gave to humanity to perform all the way back in the Garden of Eden. Since Paul has just talked about how we are God’s workmanship, His poem, that He began at the creation of the world, this means that the good works are the tasks and responsibilities that God gave us all the way back at the foundation of the world.

Paul is saying that once we recognize and receive by faith the truth that has been revealed in Jesus (Ephesians 2:8-9), we can then start living the way God really wants us to live. We will be delivered (or saved) from the old way of living, the worldly way of living in death and deeds of darkness (as described in Ephesians 2:1-3), and can now start living in this world as the image of God, the ambassadors of God, the living, breathing statue of God in this world.

This point is further emphasized in the last part of Ephesians 2:10.

That we should walk in them

Paul writes that these good works were prepared beforehand that we should walk in them. Again, Paul is showing that the good works God has prepared for us are those that have been prepared beforehand. These are the good works God has always wanted humanity to perform. In my Genesis 1 podcasts, I pointed out that in Genesis 1, God performs seven key activities, and after God creates humans, God gives to humans the responsibility of performing all seven of these activities. God passes His tasks on to us so that we can share with Him in the work of taking care of this world. See the seven key activities here.

Finally, note that the Greek word Paul uses for the phrase “walk in them” is peripateo. It means “to walk about.” God wants us to walk around, explore, and investigate this world and all the possibilities and opportunities He has made for us. Now what is significant about this phrase is that the word “walk” becomes the key term in Ephesians 4-6. As Watchman Nee has pointed out, the book of Ephesians is dominated by three key verbs: Sit, Walk, Stand. Ephesians 1-3 is about how we are seated with Christ in heavenly places. Ephesians 4-5 (and half of 6) is about how we are to walk as followers of God. And then the section in Ephesians 6 on spiritual warfare is about how we are to stand our grand against the attacks of the devil.

But here, Paul provides a foreshadowing, or preview, or the “walk” section of Ephesians. He is saying that we are to walk in a certain way as followers of Jesus.

And this brings us to how Ephesians 2:10 is a transition verse, or a hinge verse, in Ephesians 2.

Ephesians 2:10 as a Transition

As I have frequently pointed out in our study of Ephesians 2, the chapter is divided into three parts. The problem (Ephesians 2:1-3), the Solution (Ephesians 2:4-10), and the application (Ephesians 2:11-22).

In Ephesians 2:1-3, Paul explained how this world lives in a never-ending cycle of death and violence. These are the bad works of darkness, brought into this world through the deceptions of satan.

In Ephesians 2:4-10, Paul explained what God has done for us in Jesus Christ to rescue and deliver us from this cycle of death and violence.

Then, in Ephesians 2:11-22, Paul shows what this new way of life looks like. He shows us how we can be free from the evil deeds of darkness and death, and instead live in the good works of light and life.

And that is why Ephesians 2:10 is the transition. Paul is closing out the section on showing us what God has done for us, which does include the good works prepared for us since creation, and is transitioning to the section on how we can perform these good works in this world as God’s image, as God’s ambassadors, as God’s poem in this world.

Pretty exciting, right? We are finally getting to the crux of the issue, how God wants us to live now in this world, in a way that is radically different from the way the rest of the world living and functions. That is where we will be picking up next time, when we look at Ephesians 2:11.

By Grace are you Saved Through Faith (Ephesians 2:8-9)

By Jeremy Myers

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I firmly believe that the Bible teaches that we receive eternal life by grace alone through faith alone in Jesus Christ alone. But is that what Paul is teaching in Ephesians 2:8-9 when he writes, “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast”? Though many Christians think so, I do not. This study of Ephesians 2:8-9 will explain what I think Paul is really talking about in these verses.

Before we get to that, I want to address a question from a reader about whether it is sinful or not for Christians to engage in New Age practices.

Question from a Reader about New Age Practices

I feel like a lot of Christians are against things like manifesting, meditation, and positive affirmations. I do believe Jesus died for my sins and he is the way to heaven. But most of my day is centered around these New Age practices because they help me clear up the doubt and fear in my life and bring me to a better mental state and ultimately so much more happiness. Is there anything wrong with this and should I feel guilty for it? Is this talked about in any of your books? I would love to hear more about what you have to say. I appreciate your response it was a weight lifted off my shoulders.

Great question! To my knowledge, I have not written about this anywhere.

Let me give you a principle that I use in my life that helps me often make tricky decisions about morality. There are two ways to approach life regarding biblical morality. They are this: First, some people think we should only do what the Bible commands. Second, some think we can do anything the Bible doesn’t forbid.

The first group thinks that we should only do what the Bible tells us we can do. Everything else is potentially sinful. This is why some extreme groups, like the Amish, don’t have electricity and won’t drive cars or have phones. That’s super simplistic, and there are other reasons also, but one reason for this approach to life is that the Bible doesn’t mention such things, and so we should avoid them.

The second approach is that we should only avoid what the Bible strictly forbids. This is the approach that most Christians try to follow, but even here, there is a wide diversity of opinion on what the Bible forbids. For example, lots of Christians in previous generations taught that playing cards was sinful. But the Bible doesn’t forbid this practice anywhere. So why did they think cards were sinful? I honestly don’t know, but they probably had their reasons.

These issues sort of go hand-in-hand with whether the Bible is prescriptive or descriptive, but that’s a slightly different issue, and so I’ll leave that one alone for now.

Anyway, I do follow that second option. For the most part, God gives us freedom to live life how we want, as long as we don’t go against the clear teachings of Scripture on moral issues. This is not a fool proof plan, because of course, the Bible never strictly forbids slavery, but we all know slavery is evil. I use a bit of trajectory hermeneutics to help make these sorts of conclusions.

So how can we apply this to New Age practices?

Well, I need to be honest. I am mostly ignorant of New Age practices and beliefs. I did a little reading and watched a few videos, but based on my extremely limited knowledge, it seems to me that many of the New Age practices are quite similar to some of the practices mentioned in the Bible, but the New Age approach sort of removes God from the equation.

So for example, many New Age practitioners talk about Manifesting or the Law of Attraction, where, which some positive thinking about yourself and the universe, you can bring good things to yourself and turn hopes and dreams into reality. Well, this is somewhat similar to prayer. Rather than trying to manifest your hopes and dreams into reality, why not have a conversation with God about your hopes and dreams instead?

What about positive thinking? Well again, why not think positive thoughts about who you are in Jesus Christ? Why not recognize all the truths from Scripture about what God thinks about you?

Does this mean that manifesting or positive thinking are sinful? …. Probably not. I just don’t think it is anywhere near as effective as prayer or as claiming the truths of Scripture about yourself.

Now look, I would avoid some of the New Age beliefs that teach we are all mini gods. That’s not true. Or that all roads lead to heaven. I am not a universalist and so don’t agree with that either.

Anyway, I am not an expert on any of this. I would love it if you weighed in below by leaving a comment. Let me know what you think about mystical beliefs and practices and how they line up with Scripture or contradict it.

By Grace are You Saved Through Faith … Ephesians 2:8-9

This study was difficult for me to prepare, because I could spend hours talking about Ephesians 2:8-9 and all the various ways of understanding this verse, and also the importance of understanding the key terms in this verse, such as grace, saved, faith, and the “gift of God” at the end of the verse. I have lessons on all these words in my Gospel Dictionary Online Course for those who join my discipleship group.

But let me just try to summarize everything for you. Let us begin with the traditional understanding of Ephesians 2:8-9. The verses say this:

Ephesians 2:8-9. For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.

Traditionally, Christians believe that Ephesians 2:8-9 is talking about how to receive eternal life. I even taught this in the past, and you read my old teachings on Ephesians 2:8-10 here. Christians think this because of the word “saved.” Most Christians think that the word “saved” refers to receiving eternal life and going to heaven when you die.

Therefore, most Christians think that this verse is teaching that God offers eternal life to use solely by His grace, and we receive this free gift through faith … that is, by believing Jesus for it.

There is also an issue there at the end of the verse about the “gift of God” and what it refers to. What is the gift of God that Paul is referring to? Is it the grace? The faith? the salvation? I have taught about this frequently in the past, so I’m not going to dive deep into the question now. (See these articles: Faith is NOT a gift from God, Is faith the gift from God, Faith is Not a Gift from God) The answer to the debate, however, is that the Greek words have the entire “by grace are you saved through faith” package in view. The gift that Paul has in mind is all that God has done for us human to offer us salvation by grace through faith. That’s all I’m going to say about that, and you can read those other articles for a longer explanation.

Now, it is 100% true that we receive eternal life by grace through faith. The Bible teaches this everywhere (cf. John 3:16; 5:24; 6:47).

However, although the Bible everywhere teaches that we receive eternal life by grace along through faith alone in Jesus Christ alone, Ephesians 2:8-9 is not one of the verses that teaches this idea.

The reason is because the word “saved” in Scripture does not ever actually refer to receiving eternal life. As I briefly explained in the previous study of Ephesians 2:5-7, the word “salvation” means “deliverance” and the context of the passage determines what kind of deliverance is in view. When you perform this study on every passage in the Bible (as I have done), you discover that the Bible never uses the words “saved” or “salvation” in reference to receiving eternal life.

Not even here in Ephesians 2:8-9.

Again, as we saw last time, the salvation of Ephesians 2 has in view the way God has delivered us from our bondage and slavery to the sin of blame, accusation, scapegoating, and violence that dominates and rules the world. Since Cain murdered Abel, the world has run on violence. We know of no other way to live.

But God, through the person and work of Jesus Christ, came and rescued us, delivered us, SAVED us from this way of living and showed us a completely different way of living. This new way of life is what we were made for originally, and what God has always modeled for us, and what we are now to walk in, as we follow Jesus.

God revealed this to us out of His grace, and as we follow this new way by faith, we will be saved from the death that has enslaved humanity.

In other words, Ephesians 2:8-9 is not about how to go to heaven when you die, but rather about how God stepped in to the human problem to rescue us from our slavery to death.

So with that in mind, here is how to read Ephesians 2:8-9:

God gave us an amazing free gift [by grace] in showing us how to live a different way than through violence and bloodshed [are you saved], and while this new way of living is counterintuitive and seems to contradict everything we think we know about life, if we believe that what we see in Jesus is the true way to properly live life [through faith], then God will lead us into this new way of life. This entire thing did not come from ourselves. We humans did not think it up and come to this new understanding on our own [and that not of yourselves]. This entire revelation of the new way to live life is a gift from God [it is the gift of God]. No one can boast that they thought this up on their own [not of works so that no one can boast]. Nope, it’s solely and only from God.

Does that way of reading these verses make sense?

This way of reading the verse fits perfectly in the overall context of Ephesians 2, where Paul has laid out the problem of humanity in Ephesians 2:1-3, the solution to this problem that has come from God through Jesus in Ephesians 2:4-10, and the application of how to live this new way in Ephesians 2:11-22.

Again, Ephesians 2 is not about how to go to heaven when we die, but is about how to bring heaven down to earth by living at peace with one another here on this earth, just as Jesus did during His life and just as God wants us to do in ours. And our world desperately needs this way of living right now, doesn’t it?

We will pick back up next time with Ephesians 2:10 as we continue to talk about this new way of living as revealed in Jesus.

What is Salvation in Ephesians 2:5-7?

By Jeremy Myers

1 Comment

As we continue our study of Ephesians, this study considers Ephesians 2:5-7 and the meaning of the word “salvation.” We see that a misunderstanding of the word “salvation” leads to a misunderstanding of the entire chapter of Ephesians 2. But when we properly understand what “salvation” means in context, we can then better understanding the whole of Ephesians 2.

Before we look at that text, however, we answer a question from a reader about something I taught from Matthew 13 and the Parable of the Wheat and the Tares.

Before we get to that, however, I hope you took advantage of my offer to get some free Bitcoin and Dogecoin a few weeks ago. At the time, Bitcoin was at $32,000 and Dogecoin was at $0.19. Today, Bitcoin is at $46,500, up 45%, and Dogecoin is currently at $0.32, up 68%. I am not giving financial advice, but I am glad I bought a little bit of both (You don’t have to buy a whole Bitcoin, but can buy a tiny fraction of one coin like I did).

If you haven’t yet joined my discipleship group, I have a way for you to get about $60 in free cryptocurrency and use some of it to join my Discipleship group. If you are already part of my discipleship group, you can still get the free cryptocurrency. If you follow the steps I lay out, you really don’t have anything to lose. If you had followed these steps about a month ago when I provided them, that $60 in free crypto would now be worth almost $100. And don’t think you’ve missed out. I honestly think we’re just at the very beginning of the cryptocurrency adoption and growth. But do your own due diligence and make choices that are right for you.

Question from a Reader

My question was in the study of the wheat and the tares you say that the wheat are the ideas of God and the tares are the ideas of the evil one if I understand correctly. In Matthew 13:38 it refers to them as people. I’m confused. Thanks for your response.

The reader is referring to a previous study on the Parable of the Wheat and the Tares in Matthew 13:24-30.

This is a question! And good job noting the translation in the NIV.

Part of the problem is the NIV translation is pretty bad on this verse. The Greek word used twice in Matthew 13:38 should not get translated as “people.” It should be “sons” or “children.”

I went on to argue that the word for “sons” in both “sons of the kingdom” and “sons of wickedness” is better understood as “offspring,” which in the context, would indicate the behavior or results that come from living according to the ideas and teachings of the Kingdom of God vs. the kingdom of darkness.

Here is what I said:

Typically, a “son” is understood to be a child of someone else. But the word “son” can also be used metaphorically. When the word “son” is used in connection to a concept or idea, instead of to a person or family, it refers to the characteristics or inner attributes of someone, rather than to the person themselves. So “sons of this world” are contrasted with “sons of light” in Luke 16:8 (cf. John 12:36; 1 Thess 5:5). A student or disciple of the Pharisees could be called a “son of the Pharisees” (Matt 12:27; Acts 23:6). Scripture can also speak of “sons of the resurrection” (Luke 20:36), “sons of this age” (Luke 16:8; 20:34), “sons of disobedience” (Eph 2:2; 5:6), “sons of the devil” (Acts 13:10) and numerous other similar terms. Such descriptions are not literal (a son of the devil is not literally the biological offspring of the devil), but are instead figurative and symbolic ways of referring to someone’s character and behavior.

If this applies to the word “sons” in this parable, then Jesus is referring to the figurative offspring that comes from the teachings of the kingdom of God versus the kingdom of darkness. Throughout time, the results that come from the teachings of Jesus have always proven to be better than that which comes from any other source. Jesus’ words and teachings can therefore be trusted.

What is Salvation in Ephesians 2:5-7?

In previous studies of Ephesians 2, I have stated that Ephesians 2 is one of the most misunderstood chapters in the Bible. Most people think that the overall message of Ephesians 2 is about how to receive eternal life and go to heaven when you die. And while the first 10 verses of Ephesians 2 can be read this way, the “Application” section of Ephesians 2, found in verses 11-24, show that Paul does not have eternal life and going to heaven in view at all. Paul is concerned with a completely different issue in Ephesians 2.

One of the primary reasons that people misunderstand Ephesians 2 is because they have a faulty definition of the word “salvation.” If Ephesians 2 is one of the most misunderstood chapters in the Bible, the word “salvation” is the most misunderstood word in the Bible.

When most Christians see the word “saved” or “salvation” in the Bible, they think it means “being saved from sin and death so you can receive eternal life and go to heaven when you die.”

You might be surprised to know that this is not how the salvation word family (saved, salvation, save, Savior) is used anywhere in Scripture. A careful study of the various contexts of the words “saved” or “salvation” in the Bible reveals that the word simply means “delivered” or “deliverance.” And you can be delivered from a wide variety of things in Scripture.

In Matthew 8:25, the disciples are in a boat on the Sea of Galilee, and they cry out to Jesus, “Lord, save us!” Are they asking Jesus to forgive their sins so they can receive eternal life and go to heaven when they die? No! There is a great storm on the sea, and they are about to drown and so they ask Jesus to save, or deliver, them from drowning.

This is an easy example, but the rest of the uses of “saved” and “salvation” in Scripture follows a similar pattern. People can be saved from sickness, from enemies, from war, from financial ruin, from premature physical death, from the devastating consequences of sin and temptation, and from a wide variety of other things.

So whenever you see the word “saved” or “salvation” in Scripture, you should substitute in the word “delivered” or “deliverance” and then look in the context to see what kind of deliverance is in view. This will help clear up a lot of confusing Bible passages for you. I will cover many of these passages in my Gospel Dictionary online course for the entry on “salvation” when it gets published.

This is what we will do today when we encounter the word “saved” in Ephesians 2:5-7. We will substitute in the word “delivered” and then consider the context to see what we are delivered from and what this deliverance looks like. When we do this, we will come to understand that Paul is not talking about how to receive eternal life and go to heaven when we die, but is instead talking about a pressing issue that involves the lives of all people on planet earth here and now.

So let’s jump in to Ephesians 2:5.

By Grace You Have Been Saved (Ephesians 2:5)

We are picking up from last time when we looked at Ephesians 2:4 and how God has stepped in to the problem of human violence to do something about it.

Paul continues this idea in the first part of Ephesians 2:5 when says. …because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses.

Again, Paul is showing that the activity of God which is described in Ephesians 2:4-10 is not because of how great we humans are, but is rather because of how much God loves us. God stepped in to act on our behalf while we were dead in our sins. While we were unlovely. While we were undesirable by any standard. Yet God’s love for us was so great, that He loved us anyway.

So what did God do? At the end of Ephesians 2:5, Paul says (by grace you have been saved).

Here is the word “saved” that has caused so many problems in this text. So here is what we do. We see the word “saved” and since we know that this word is widely misunderstood in the minds of most Christians, we substitute in the word “delivered.” The word “delivered” is a fine translation for the Greek word, and it helps us better understand the passage, because it doesn’t carry the same theological baggage as the word “saved.”

So Paul is saying “By grace you have been delivered.”

Now we can look into the context to see what we have been delivered from.

And thankfully, since we’ve been studying Ephesians verse-by-verse, we already know what we have been delivered from, because Paul described it in Ephesians 2:1-4. In those verses, Paul describes the great human problem, which is that we are blinded by Satan so that we engage in a never-ending cycle of human violence that leads to death.

Back in our study of Ephesians 2:1, we learned that salvation in Ephesians is not about receiving eternal life so we can go to heaven when you die, but is instead about being rescued and delivered from our addiction to accusation, scapegoating, and violence, so that we are brought into the way of life, love, and liberty that God always wanted and desired for humanity.

So what is “salvation” is Ephesians 2? It is deliverance from our addiction to violence against other human beings. It is deliverance from how we justify our violence against other human beings. It is being shown what the real problem is and being shown how to handle this violence in a different way, a way that follows the heart of God and the example of Jesus.

This deliverance from the cycle of human violence is what Paul goes on to describe in Ephesians 2:5-7. He uses three descriptive terms to show how we have been delivered, or saved, from our blindness and slavery to violence.

These three descriptive terms are that we have been regenerated with Christ, resurrected with Christ, and are now reigning with Christ.

Regenerated with Christ (Ephesians 2:5)

First in Ephesians 2:5. He made us alive together with Christ. We were dead, and he gave us life. God couldn’t just do this by a wave of his hand, no matter how much he loved us, because – as I said earlier – that would violate his justice and his righteousness. So God made us alive together with Christ.

Paul doesn’t go into great detail here on what he means by regeneration, but this is because Paul has already gone into detail in Ephesians 1:13-23. In our study of Ephesians 1:13, we learned that regeneration is being given new life in Jesus Christ. We are brought back to life with Him.

Jesus not only showed us a different way to live life, He also has given brand new life to us so that we can live in it. It is like we were living in a desert, and Jesus not only showed us what life is like in the rich, lush mountains filled with rivers and streams, but also took us to the mountains so that we can actually experience new life living there.

Jesus didn’t just say “Let me show you a new way to live,” He actually gave us new life so that we can live in it.

Resurrected with Christ (Ephesians 2:6a)

Next in Ephesians 2:6, Paul reveals how we were given new life in Christ. We were raised us up together with Christ. We were resurrected with Christ.

Resurrection is different from regeneration. Regeneration is new spiritual life in Christ. Resurrection is new physical life in Christ. We have been spiritually raised with Him, and we will be physically raised. Life in Christ is not just a spiritual reality, but will also be an eternal physical reality when we are raised with Christ and given new, glorious, sinless bodies.

Now, physical resurrection with Christ is still a future event for us, but in regard to how we live in this life, it is a current reality that we can live in light of.

It is sort of like living with an inheritance that you have not yet received. If you know with absolutely certainty that when you turn a certain age, you will receive a million dollars, that is going to affect how you live your life now and the sorts of choices you will make about your finances. You can even start making investments or purchases with the expectation that in the future, you will gain your million dollar inheritance.

Resurrection is sort of like that. When we receive our resurrected bodies, we will be perfect. We will be sinless. We can start living in light of that reality now. We no longer have be enslaved to this present body of sin. We no longer have to live under the crushing debt of sin. We can instead live in light of the way we will be.

The third and final description of our salvation is related to this, and is found in the last part of Ephesians 2:6.

Reigning with Christ (Ephesians 2:6b)

Paul writes that were were made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus.

This is a reference to reigning with Christ. And remember, being seated with Christ in heavenly places is a theme that Paul brings up several times in Ephesians. We discussed it previously back in our study of Ephesians 1:3 and our study of Ephesians 1:20-23 and we will see it again later in Ephesians.

One of the key truths to remember is that this statement about sitting with Christ Jesus in heavenly places is not a reference to some future event when we are in heaven with Jesus, but is instead a reference to life here and now on this earth. One of the things Jesus sought to do during His earthly ministry, which is also the task that Jesus assigned to the church, is that we are to bring heaven down to earth. We are to carry out God’s will on earth, just as it is in heaven (Matthew 6:10).

Heavenly places are the places on earth where the Kingdom of God is making inroads to life on this earth so that God’s rule and reign comes upon this earth, just as it is done in heaven.

So when Paul writes that we are seating with Jesus Christ now in heavenly places so that we can rule and reign with Him, he is talking about how we are to lead the world now into the way that Jesus wants the world to live.

And how is that? Not with violence and blame and hate and anger, where we accuse and demonize our enemies so that we can kill them in God’s name. No. Rather, we are to lead the world into the way of Jesus, into a life filled with grace, mercy, and forgiveness, where, like God, we love others even when they are dead in their trespasses and sins and seek to do us harm in return.

We reign with Christ by loving our enemies, just as He loved us while we were still His enemies.

When we live in light of our regeneration, resurrection, and reigning with Christ, it is then that we begin to experience the results of this sort of life, which is what Paul discusses in Ephesians 2:7.

Results: Riches in Christ (Ephesians 2:7)

In view of that, though, how should we act? How should we behave? We have been given new spiritual life and physical life in Christ, and have been seated with Him to rule and reign over this earth. We have infinite resources at our disposal. So how are we to live?

We should not be ashamed of whose children we are. We should be proud of our name and our family. We should not worry about worldly concerns because our Father the King is watching out for us. And if a new life, and being raised with Christ, and getting a royal position are not enough to get you excited to serve God, Ephesians 2:7 tells us the results of living in light of the deliverance Jesus has brought to us.

Paul writes in Ephesians 2:7… That in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.

With these words, Paul shows that the new life we have been given in Jesus Christ is not temporary or limited. It begins now, and continues through all the ages of our life, which includes all the ages of eternity. In all the ages to come, God will continue to pour out upon us the riches of His grace and kindness. He loves us and will always love us, and we are only beginning to see the height and depth of God’s love for us. We will spend all eternity exploring God’s love in greater detail.

So, what is the salvation, or the deliverance, that we have been given in Jesus Christ?

It is that we no longer have to live in the realm of death, where we condemn, accuse, and kill others. Instead, because of what God has done for us in Jesus Christ, we are able to truly live. We have new spiritual life (regeneration), physical life (resurrection), and powerful life (reigning) with Jesus Christ. We have been delivered from our old way of life and brought into a brand new way of life.

A life based on love, grace, mercy, and forgiveness. A life that looks just like Jesus.

Paul is not done talking about this life. He continues in Ephesians 2:8 to show us how we can start living in this new way of life. That is where we will pick up in our next study. In Ephesians 2:8-10 we will see how we can start showing the world a better way to live. How we can fulfill our calling to reveal the life of Jesus to this dying world.

The Biggest “But” in the Bible (Ephesians 2:4)

By Jeremy Myers

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Trivia time! What’s the biggest but in the Bible? We will discover the answer to that question today in our study of Ephesians 2:4. I will also answer a quick question from a reader about the topic of Calvinism. Before that, however, I have a bit of news! I now accept Dogecoin and other cryptocurrencies on my website, and if you follow some suggested steps, you can earn about $60 in free cryptocurrency, which you can then use to join my discipleship group, cash it out, or keep it invested.

How to Join My Discipleship for FREE and also get paid $50!

If you’ve been thinking of joining my discipleship group for a while, I have a way for you to get one month free and also get paid $50 extra in the process. If you’re already part of my discipleship group, you can do this also.

I now accept cryptocurrency as payment for my discipleship group. I am particularly excited to announce that I now accept Dogecoin. It’s my favorite Cryptocurrency. You may remember I talked about Dogecoin back in February, when Dogecoin was worth $0.07. Today it is worth $0.19. Bitcoin, by the way, is at about $32,000.

I want to make sure I tell you that I am NOT giving you financial advice. I am sharing what I did to buy a little crypto and get free crypto in the process, and how you can do it too.

If you don’t know what a cryptocurrency is, it is a digital form of money. You have probably heard of Bitcoin. It is the most famous cryptocurrency, but there are others as well. My favorite is Dogecoin. But anyway, just as you can pay with regular money to buy products and services from stores and business, you can also use digital money like Bitcoin or Dogecoin to buy the same products and services. And my website at RedeemingGod.com is one of the online stores that now accepts cryptocurrency as a form of payment.

Anyway, here is how you can get a free month of my Discipleship Group PLUS about $50 worth of free cryptocurrency. I have a link here that walks you through the process step-by-step of getting your free cryptocurrency, and then use some of it to join my discipleship group, but the basic steps are as follows …

Set up a free Coinbase account using my referral link. Setting it up and getting verified took me about 30 minutes.
Buy at least $100 of cryptocurrency and get $10 in free Bitcoin.
Take all the Cryptocurrency “educational” courses from Coinbase. There’s quite a few of them. Each one takes about 5 minutes, but will pay you about $3-$10 in other forms of cryptocurrency. When I did this, it took me about 30 minutes, and I received about $50 in a variety of cryptocurrencies.
So, after about an hour of work, I put $100 of cryptocurrency, and ended up with about $160 in cryptocurrency. Not a bad return for one hour of work.
Personally, I took all the various cryptocurrencies in my Coinbase account, and convert them into one. Conversion is free on Coinbase. I chose Dogecoin because it’s my favorite, but you might choose Bitcoin since it’s the king of crypto right now, or one of the others, such as Ethereum or Litecoin.
Anyway, at this point, you could do what you want with the cryptocurrency. You could sell it all and deposit it back into your personal banking account. Or, you could use $9 of it to join my discipleship group. My page on cryptocurrency shows you how to use crypto to join my Discipleship group. The process is about as simple as using your credit card.

Now, I know you have probably heard that cryptocurrency is risky and volatile. It is. So I am not giving you financial advice. However, one of the reasons I am interested in cryptocurrency is because I see the economic inflationary pressures that are in the world today, and believe that cryptocurrency is one way to protect against inflation. While the government can print trillions of dollars any time they want, there will only ever be 21 million Bitcoin. But of course, since Bitcoin is so scarce, that makes people unwilling to spend it. They would rather hold on to it. But Dogecoin was made to be spent. Many say that Bitcoin is like gold. You buy it and hold it. But Dogecoin is like dollars. You use Dogecoin for buying and selling.

Anyway, do your own due diligence and don’t invest too much into crypto, as it is volatile and risky. But if you wanted make a quick $60 in crypto and use some of it toward joining my discipleship group, that option is now available to you. You can, of course, use your crypto to get access to my Discipleship group for a full year, but it costs $89, so you wouldn’t be able to get the full year for free.

Anyway, let me know if you have questions about this. You can message me through my website or on Twitter.

Question About Calvinism

I found and read your explanation of John 6:41-47. I liked the way you explain it. Can I hear more about your ideas against the doctrines of TULIP?

Yes! I have a list of the articles I’ve written on Calvinism and the doctrines of TULIP.

I eventually want to finish that series of articles and turn them into a book, but I have about ten book projects that currently have higher priority… But eventually … Lord willing.

The Biggest But in the Bible (Ephesians 2:4)

Ephesians 2:4 contains the biggest “but” in the Bible. To see why this is, let’s quickly review what we have seen so far in Ephesians 2.

Ephesians 2 is all about how God solved the greatest problem in human history. The problem, as we saw in Ephesians 2:1-3, is that humans engage in endless cycles of violence against one another, and we do all of it in God’s name. These actions are the satanic spirit, the accusatory spirit, the spirit of this age. All of society and culture is based on violence against one another, and we humans know of no other way to live.

Paul wants to tell us how to fix this problem. He explains the solution to this problem in Ephesians 2:4-10. And Paul begins talking about the solution to this problem of human violence with the two important words … “But God … ”

BUT God…

Sometimes the smallest words in Scripture are the most important. And this little word “But” is one of the biggest buts in Scripture. The word is a conjunction, and in this case, and adversative conjunction, showing a contrast between what Paul has just said, and what he is going to say next.

The contrast here is between how we behave as humans and how God does.

Remember, one aspect of the greatest problem we humans have is that when we engage in violence against others, we do it in God’s name. This means that when we march off to war, we do it with prayers and blessings from our pastors and priests. We engage in “Holy War” or “Just War” against our enemies. We think that when we seek to harm, stop, or even kill our enemies, we are doing God’s will.

Even when our enemy is just a neighbor or a coworker, we do this. Hopefully we don’t want to kill them or harm them, but when we have conflict with a neighbor, coworker, or even a family member, we tend to view the other person as morally inferior. They are the sinners. They are greedy and arrogant. We are the righteous ones. We are only standing up for truth and justice. Our stand for righteousness requires us to call them out, condemn their sin, and maybe even get them in trouble.

That is the way we all behave almost all of the time. Our actions are justified and righteous, and the actions of those who oppose us are evil and wicked.

And since our actions are righteous, this means that God is on our side. And since God is on our side, this means He is against our enemy, just as we are. We assume that God wants to see them punished just as much as we do. And sometimes, we might push things a little bit to see that our enemies do receive the punishment they deserve.

But God…

Do you see why these two words are so important?

But God.

This is the way we behave and we think God is on our side … but God.

You could stop right here and almost fill in the rest yourself. If we hate our enemies, condemn our enemies, and want to see our enemies destroyed, and we think God is on our side on this, … but God … what do you think comes after that?

But God is not on our side the way we think.

But God wants nothing to do with our violence and hatred against others.

But God loves our enemies and wants to see them rescued and loved just as much as we do.

But God views our enemies the same way He views us … as objects of His love and affection, worthy of nothing but grace, mercy, forgiveness, and acceptance.

And indeed, in Ephesians 2:4-10, Paul goes on to say very similar things as we have just guessed. Indeed, right here in Ephesians 2:4, Paul mentions that God is rich in mercy, and that He acted out of His great love for us.

We must be careful to recognize that these terms of mercy and love apply to everyone in the world. We must not think that God is only rich in mercy toward us, and that He only extends His great love toward us, while in the meantime, He hates our enemies. No, the love and mercy of God are universal in their extent. They apply to all of us. To the entire human race.

And the word for love that Paul uses here, by the way, is agape. So this is God’s unconditional love for all of us. We will learn next time that God loved us even while we were in our sin. God does not wait for us to become righteous and holy before He loves us. God loves us while we are still sinners (Ephesians 2:5, Romans 5:8). There are no conditions to God’s agape love. He simply loves because He IS love and because we are objects of His love. He loves all humans all the time, regardless of what they have done, who they are, or even if they love God in return.

Here is what this means:

We hate our enemies and want to see them ruined, but God loves our enemies and wants to see them succeed.

We want to see our enemies “face justice,” but God extends mercy to them.

This is the beginning of the radical message Paul outline in Ephesians 2:4-10. He explained the problem humanity faces in Ephesians 2:1-3, and now he begins to unfold the solution to this problem. And the first initial and shocking truth is that when it comes to how we view our enemies, God is NOT on our side. Well, He is on our side, but He’s on their side too, and He doesn’t have the same view of our enemies as we do. His view of our enemies is radically different.

Do you see why this is the biggest “But” in the Bible?

Paul has described the greatest problem we humans face, and now Paul says “But God … ” is not part of this problem the way we humans think He is. Quite to the contrary, God wants to bring an end to all the violence and hatred.

When Paul says But God, he is saying that God stepped in to initiate a process of brining an end to the problem that human face. That’s why these two words are so important. They are central to the good news message about why God sent Jesus to this earth. God sent Jesus to show the world the way forward out of the human problem of violent sin.

Martin Lloyd-Jones once preached an entire sermon on these two words (See God’s Way of Reconciliation, 59). Near the beginning of the sermon, he said this:

With these two words we come to the introduction to the Christian message, the peculiar, specific message which the Christian faith has to offer to us. These two words, in and of themselves, in a sense contain the whole gospel. The gospel tells us what God has done, God’s intervention; it is something that comes entirely from outside us and displays to us that wondrous and amazing and astonishing work of God which the apostle goes on to describe and to define in the following verses.

Yes, these two words are a hand grenade thrown into everything we think we know about God and His role in our life when it comes to dealing with our enemies. God has a completely different plan for how to deal with our enemies than we do. And this plan was revealed in Jesus Christ, which Paul goes on to describe in the following verses. And that is where we will pick up in our next study.

Question from a Reader

Why It’s Not Impossible to Love our Enemies (Ephesians 3:14-17)

Prayer for Power (Ephesians 3:16-17)

Question from a Reader

How to Fix the World (Ephesians 3:8-13)

The Purpose of the Mystery (Ephesians 3:10-11)

Footnotes for the Study on Ephesians 3:8-13

Question from a Reader

A Prisoner for Jesus (Ephesians 3:1-7)

Question from a Reader

How Homeless Aliens Change the World (Ephesians 2:18-22)

Question from a Reader

Ephesians 2:13-17

Question from a Reader

The Things that Divide Us (Ephesians 2:11-12)

Summary of Ephesians 2:1-10

Six Sources for Strife (Ephesians 2:11-12)

Why is Paul Reminding the Ephesians Christians Of This?

Footnotes for the Study on Ephesians 2:11-12

Question from a Reader

Created for Good Works (Ephesians 2:10)

We are His Workmanship

Created for Good Works

That we should walk in them

Ephesians 2:10 as a Transition

Question from a Reader about New Age Practices

By Grace are You Saved Through Faith … Ephesians 2:8-9

Question from a Reader

What is Salvation in Ephesians 2:5-7?

By Grace You Have Been Saved (Ephesians 2:5)

Regenerated with Christ (Ephesians 2:5)

Resurrected with Christ (Ephesians 2:6a)

Reigning with Christ (Ephesians 2:6b)

Results: Riches in Christ (Ephesians 2:7)

So, what is the salvation, or the deliverance, that we have been given in Jesus Christ?

How to Join My Discipleship for FREE and also get paid $50!

Question About Calvinism

The Biggest But in the Bible (Ephesians 2:4)

BUT God…

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