No One Saw That Coming

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1 For this reason I, Paul, a prisoner of Christ Jesus on behalf of you Gentiles— 2 assuming that you have heard of the stewardship of God’s grace that was given to me for you, 3 how the mystery was made known to me by revelation, as I have written briefly. 4 When you read this, you can perceive my insight into the mystery of Christ, 5 which was not made known to the sons of men in other generations as it has now been revealed to his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit. 6 This mystery is that the Gentiles are fellow heirs, members of the same body, and partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel.. – Ephesians 3:1-6 ESV

Something once hidden, but now revealed; that is what Paul means when he speaks of the mystery of Christ. In the Old Testament, the Jews knew of and longed for the coming Messiah, but they believed He would be the Savior of Israel alone. He was to be their king and redeemer, much like King David had been, leading them to great victories over their enemies and back into prominence as a nation.

Any relationship between their Messiah and the Gentile nations would come in the form of military victories over them and nothing more. The thought of the Messiah coming as the Savior of all mankind never crossed their minds. The only way a Gentile could partake of the blessings of Israel was through conversion to Judaism, including circumcision and the rigorous keeping of the Mosaic Law.

The book of Exodus records the instructions that God gave the people of Israel regarding the “strangers” or non-Jews who had left Egypt with them.

“If a stranger shall sojourn with you and would keep the Passover to the Lord, let all his males be circumcised. Then he may come near and keep it; he shall be as a native of the land. But no uncircumcised person shall eat of it. There shall be one law for the native and for the stranger who sojourns among you.” – Exodus 12:48-49 ESV

While Gentiles could and did convert to Judaism in the Old Testament, such conversions were relatively rare. The requirements for conversion were rigorous and kept many Gentiles from becoming fully functioning members of the household of Israel.

That’s where the mystery comes in. Paul was commissioned by Jesus Himself to reveal to the Gentiles that they now had access to God. They could worship Yahweh, the God of the Jews, but it would not require conversion or circumcision. Any requirement to keep the Mosaic law had been eliminated. Paul, a former Pharisee and zealous defender of the law, had strong feelings about its inability to produce the righteousness God demands.

The law of Moses was unable to save us because of the weakness of our sinful nature. So God did what the law could not do. He sent his own Son in a body like the bodies we sinners have. And in that body God declared an end to sin’s control over us by giving his Son as a sacrifice for our sins. – Romans 8:3 NLT

If the law could give us new life, we could be made right with God by obeying it. 22 But the Scriptures declare that we are all prisoners of sin, so we receive God’s promise of freedom only by believing in Jesus Christ. – Galatians 3:21-22 NLT

In his letter to the Ephesians, Paul was not preaching or promoting conversion to Judaism, but entrance into the Kingdom of God through faith in Jesus Christ. He was sharing the good news of salvation made available to both Jews and Gentiles because of the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus. In his letter to the Romans, Paul described the gospel as “the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, ‘The righteous shall live by faith’” (Romans 1:16-17 ESV).

With the coming of Christ, access to God was made available to all men through one means: Faith. It is not that faith was a new concept, nor that, prior to Christ, men had to gain access to God through works or by keeping the law. The author of Hebrews makes this clear in Chapter 11. There, he describes the Old Testament saints who “by faith” believed God’s promises and were declared righteous.

For by it [faith] the people of old received their commendation. – Hebrews 11:2 ESV

He goes on to state that “without faith it is impossible to please him [God], for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him” (Ephesians 11:6 ESV). Faith has always been God’s means by which men draw near to Him, and He sent His Son to make the life of faith available to Jews and Gentiles alike.

Paul writes, “This mystery is that the Gentiles are fellow heirs, members of the same body, and partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel” (Ephesians 3:6 ESV). From the day of Pentecost forward, the church became the home of God’s people; those who had placed their faith in His Son. The church of God became His holy temple, containing people from every tribe, nation, and tongue.

Don’t you realize that all of you together are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God lives in you? – 1 Corinthians 3:16 NLT

As Paul expressed this same idea to the believers in Ephesus.

So now you Gentiles are no longer strangers and foreigners. You are citizens along with all of God’s holy people. You are members of God’s family. Together, we are his house, built on the foundation of the apostles and the prophets. And the cornerstone is Christ Jesus himself. We are carefully joined together in him, becoming a holy temple for the Lord. Through him you Gentiles are also being made part of this dwelling where God lives by his Spirit. – Ephesians 2:19-22 NLT.

The church of Jesus Christ is the dwelling place of God and contains those who worship Him as a result of the access provided to them by the sacrificial death of Christ on the cross. It is their common faith in Christ’s atoning death on their behalf that provides them with the righteousness they need to come into God’s presence. No one earns their way into God’s throne room. No one merits God’s favor or escapes His judgment due to their own efforts. Paul has supported that promise throughout his letter to the Ephesians.

Now all of us can come to the Father through the same Holy Spirit because of what Christ has done for us. – Ephesians 2:18 NLT

Because of Christ and our faith in him, we can now come boldly and confidently into God’s presence. – Ephesians 3:12 NLT

None of this implies that God is done with the Jews or that the church has somehow replaced the people of Israel as God’s chosen people. We live in the church age, and this is part of God’s plan for this period of redemptive history. But the day is coming when God will fulfill all His promises to Israel. He is faithful and has not forgotten them. He will keep every promise He has made to them. But at the current time, we are experiencing the mystery of the church age, when Jews and Gentiles live together as the body of Christ, sharing a common faith in our crucified and resurrected Savior. We are all the beneficiaries of God’s amazing grace and mercy. He has made a way for us to be restored to a right relationship with Him, based solely on His grace as revealed in His Son and made possible by faith.

Father, Paul referred to the church as “the household of faith” (Glatians 6:10 ESV). Regardless of our ethnicity, social standing, former religious affiliation, or record of sinfulness, we all share the common bond of faith in Christ. None of us earned our way into Your good graces. There is no one who deserved Your favor and forgiveness. Even Abraham, the patriarch of the Hebrew people, was not declared righteous because he kept the law. Paul reminds us, “Abraham was, humanly speaking, the founder of our Jewish nation. What did he discover about being made right with God? If his good deeds had made him acceptable to God, he would have had something to boast about. But that was not God’s way. For the Scriptures tell us, ‘Abraham believed God, and God counted him as righteous because of his faith’” (Romans 4:1-3 NLT). You declared him to be righteous long before You gave Moses the law at Mount Sinai. And his righteousness was based on faith, not works. That is the pathway for all who desire to be restored to a right relationship with You; faith alone in Christ alone. And Your marvelous, mysterious plan for mankind’s redemption was made available to all through the same pathway of faith. As Paul reminded the Ephesians, “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast” (Ephesians 2:8-9 NLT). Amen

English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Permanent Text Edition® (2016). Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

New Living Translation (NLT) Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

One Body Through the Cross

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14 For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility 15 by abolishing the law of commandments expressed in ordinances, that he might create in himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace, 16 and might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility. 17 And he came and preached peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near. 18 For through him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father. 19 So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, 20 built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, 21 in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord.22 In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit. – Ephesians 2:14-22 ESV

To truly understand this passage, one must first grasp the nature of the relationship between Jews and Gentiles in Paul’s world. There was a long and deep-seated animosity between the two groups. To put it bluntly, Jews despised Gentiles. They viewed them with contempt and rarely, if ever, associated with them on any level. The Jews viewed themselves as the chosen people of God; everyone else was considered a Gentile, an outsider, and destined to God’s wrath and punishment.

It was forbidden for a Jew to marry a Gentile, and in the rare cases it did happen, the family of the Jewish son or daughter would consider their child as dead, even holding their funeral to mark the day. Paul has just told the Gentile converts in the church in Ephesus, “remember that you were at that time separated from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world” (Ephesians 2:12 ESV). Jesus, the Christ (the Greek word for Messiah), had been promised to the Jews and had been born as a Jew.

However, the Gentiles had been born outside the commonwealth of Israel, with no access to the covenant promises made to the people of God. So not only were they disdained by the Israelites, but they were also considered to be without hope and without God in the world. But Paul reminded that Jesus had changed all that.

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

The great chasm that separated the Gentiles from the Jews was closed by Jesus. He had made it possible for them to have hope and a relationship with God. But amazingly, Jesus had not just reconciled the Gentiles with God, but He had also reconciled them to the Jewish believers in their congregation. They were now one.

For Christ himself has brought peace to us. He united Jews and Gentiles into one people when, in his own body on the cross, he broke down the wall of hostility that separated us. – Ephesians 2:14 NLT

When God called Abraham and promised to make of him a great nation, that was the beginning of the Jewish people. God separated them out from the rest of the nations of the world. He took one man and his barren wife and miraculously gave them descendants “beyond number, like the stars in the sky and the sand on the seashore” (Genesis 22:17 NLT). God chose them as His own and revealed Himself in ways He had never done before with any other people group.

He rescued them from captivity in Egypt. He led them through the wilderness and met all their needs along the way. He gave them His law. He provided them the land of Canaan as their homeland just as He had promised Abraham. He fought and won battles on their behalf. He gave them prophets to speak to them. He provided kings to lead them and appointed priests to minister to them. And, as His chosen people, they were to be a light to the Gentiles, a visible example of what it looks like when men live in obedience and submission to God.

But they failed. They couldn’t keep God’s law and were incapable of remaining faithful to Him. They repeatedly rebelled and wandered from the truth of God, seeking after false gods and the fulfillment of their own selfish desires. And as a result, God punished them by sending them into exile. He disciplined His chosen people, but He also redeemed them from slavery again and returned them to the Land of Promise. But things would never be quite the same. They would never have another king or enjoy the peace and prosperity of David’s and Solomon’s reigns.

Then God sent His Son, the Messiah. After centuries of waiting, the long-awaited One arrived on the scene. But John records what happened. “He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him” (John 1:11 ESV). Jesus, the Son of God and the descendant of King David, was rejected by His own people. Instead of crowning Him as King, they demanded His crucifixion. But it was all part of God’s redemptive plan for mankind.

With His death, Jesus “broke down the wall of hostility that separated us” (Ephesians 2:14 NLT). The law had separated Jews from Gentiles, but it had also separated Jews from God. They could not keep the law. Instead, it exposed their sinfulness and condemned their lack of faithfulness to God.

But Jesus removed the barrier. He reconciled both Jew and Gentile to God “in one body through the cross” (Ephesians 2:16 ESV). He made it possible for men to be restored to God and to one another. Paul claimed that Jesus “brought this Good News of peace to you Gentiles who were far away from him, and peace to the Jews who were near” (Ephesians 2:17 NLT). The very same message of redemption was preached to all men, regardless of their ethnicity or religion. Restoration and reconciliation with God would be the same for both. As Paul stated earlier, it was to be by faith in the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. – Ephesians 2:8-9 ESV

Now, believing Jews and Gentiles were one. There was to be no more alienation, separation, animosity, pr hostility. As a result of their shared faith in Jesus Christ, they had become “fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God” (Ephesians 2:19 ESV).

The church, the body of Christ, had been God’s plan all along. It was always His intention to redeem men and women from every tribe, nation, and tongue. That is why He told Abraham that He would make him the father of many “nations,” not just the Hebrew nation. He had also told Abraham that through him all the nations of the earth would be blessed (Genesis 22:18), and that promise was fulfilled in Christ.

In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit. – Ephesians 2:22 ESV

Together, we form the people of God, reconciled to Him through a common faith in His Son, and living in the shared power of His Spirit. One nation under God.

Father, Your intention has always been to redeem a lost and dying world. You sent Your Son to serve as the atoning sacrifice for the sins of mankind, and not just for Jews, but also for Gentiles. You chose the descendants of Abraham as Your treasured possession and blessed them with Your presence, the Mosaic Law, and the sacrificial system. You repeatedly poured out Your grace and mercy on them and blessed them in so many ways, but they refused to honor You as God, choosing instead to worship false gods. They feined obedience, but practiced unfaithfulness. Yet, they were the means by which You sent Your Son into the world to redeem all men. As Paul put it, “He died for everyone so that those who receive his new life will no longer live for themselves. Instead, they will live for Christ, who died and was raised for them” (2 Corinthians 5:15 NLT).

Through the Jews, You proved that access into Your presence and awareness of Your moral code of conduct would not be enough. They enjoyed a unique relationship with You and knew Your expectations of them, but were completely incapable of remaining faithful and obedient. Legalism and lawkeeping was not going to work because “the law of Moses was unable to save us because of the weakness of our sinful nature. So God did what the law could not do. He sent his own Son in a body like the bodies we sinners have. And in that body God declared an end to sin’s control over us by giving his Son as a sacrifice for our sins (Romans 8:3 NLT). And the benefits of His death were not just for the Jews, but for all who would believe. And I am a grateful beneficiary of Your love, grace, and mercy. Thank You! Amen

English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Permanent Text Edition® (2016). Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

New Living Translation (NLT) Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

To God Be the Glory

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11 Therefore remember that at one time you Gentiles in the flesh, called “the uncircumcision” by what is called the circumcision, which is made in the flesh by hands— 12 remember that you were at that time separated from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. 13 But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. – Ephesians 2:11-13 ESV

In these verses, Paul seems to be contradicting a statement he made in his letter to the Philippian believers. There, he told them, “But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 3:13-14). Yet, here we hear him telling the Ephesian believers to “remember” – not once but twice.

So which is it, Paul? Are we to remember or forget? Should we look back or press forward? To both questions, Paul would simply answer, “Yes.” As always, when reading Scriptures, context is critical. In his letter to the believers in Philippi, Paul was stressing “the righteousness from God that depends on faith” (Philippians 3:9 ESV). He was contrasting human merit with God’s grace. Paul had spent the early years of his life trying to earn God’s favor and make himself acceptable to God. He boldly confessed his pre-conversion attempt to work his way into God’s good graces.

If anyone else thinks he has reason for confidence in the flesh, I have more: circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; as to the law, a Pharisee; as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to righteousness under the law, blameless. – Philippians 3:4-6 ESV

But he went on to admit, “whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ” (Philippians 3:7 ESV). In other words, all his past achievements and efforts at self-justification before God were worthless when compared to the free gift of grace made available to him through faith in Jesus Christ. This led him to conclude, “For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith” (Philippians 3:8-9 ESV).

So, when it came to his right standing with God, there was no looking back, and no need to dwell on his past efforts or put hope in his achieving righteousness on his own. His past accomplishments were worthless to him. So he chose to look ahead and press on to the goal of righteousness made possible through faith in Christ. Anything he had done in the past was of no value when it came to his future righteousness.

However, when Paul wrote to the Ephesians, he had a slightly different goal in mind. In verse 10, he reminds them, “For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them” (Ephesians 2:10 ESV). Good works were not a means of achieving right standing with God, but they should be a reflection of, and a response to, our right standing with God, made possible by faith in Jesus Christ. Good works were not to be meritorious, done in hopes of earning favor with God, but were to be done out of gratitude for all He has done for us. When it comes to works, grace is opposed to earning, but not effort.

In the verses above, Paul is specifically addressing the Gentile converts who were part of the local church in Ephesus. He wanted them to remember that their salvation had nothing to do with works. As a matter of fact, he points out that they weren’t even circumcised.

Don’t forget that you Gentiles used to be outsiders. You were called “uncircumcised heathens” by the Jews, who were proud of their circumcision, even though it affected only their bodies and not their hearts. – Ephesians 2:11 NLT

Prior to coming to faith in Christ, they had been on the outside looking in. Paul told them, “You were excluded from citizenship among the people of Israel, and you did not know the covenant promises God had made to them” (Ephesians 2:12 NLT). And to make matters even worse, he reminded them, “You lived in this world without God and without hope” (Ephesians 2:12 NLT).

Notice the difference in Paul’s emphasis between his letter to the Philippians and his letter to the Ephesians. One is calling them to get their minds off self-righteousness and any hopes of earning right standing with God through human effort. The other is a reminder to never forget who they were before God showered them with His grace. What makes grace so amazing is our total undeservedness. None of us is righteous. None of us deserved to receive God’s grace. And yet, despite our undeserved status, God made available to us His Son’s sacrificial death and gift of redemption. Which is why Paul placed two simple yet powerful words right in the middle of this section of his letter: “But now…”

That transitional statement should remind us of what Paul wrote earlier.

But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ — by grace you have been saved. – Ephesians 2:4-5 ESV

Despite our dead condition, God intervened on their behalf, out of His love and according to His rich mercy. And Paul wanted them to remember just how bad things had been, so that they would fully appreciate what God had done for them.

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

Far off…brought near. Outsiders…insiders. Enemies…friends. Condemned…justified. Dead…alive. Lost…found. Sinful…blameless. Guilty…forgiven.

Paul would have us never forget our past, but we should never dwell on it or allow it to cause any pangs of guilt. There is value in recalling how bad things were before we heard the good news of Jesus Christ. The glory of grace always shines brightest against the dark backdrop of human sin and hopelessness. It is in considering what God has done for us that we gain assurance and confidence in all that He has promised to do in the future. Paul put it well in his letter to the Colossians.

You were his enemies, separated from him by your evil thoughts and actions. Yet now he has reconciled you to himself through the death of Christ in his physical body. As a result, he has brought you into his own presence, and you are holy and blameless as you stand before him without a single fault. But you must continue to believe this truth and stand firmly in it. Don’t drift away from the assurance you received when you heard the Good News. – Colossians 1:21-23 NLT

According to Paul, believers should live with their heads on a swivel, occasionally looking back to recall who they were before Christ redeemed them, and confidently looking ahead to the promise of their future glorification. Recalling our past will deepen our gratitude for His grace. Focusing on His promise of an eternity free from sin, sorrow, and pain will strengthen our hope. And both will intensify our resolve to stand firm and remain faithful as we wait.

Father, it really does help to remember who I was before I came to faith in Christ. Even though I was only seven years old when I became a believer, I was, as the old hymn states, “a sinner, condemned, unclean.” All my righteous deeds were worthless in Your eyes. I was dead in my tresspasses and sins and worthy of condemnation and death. I was “living apart from Christ…excluded from citizenship among the people of Israel” and “did not know the covenant promises God” (Ephesians 2:12 NLT). But You stepped in and called me out of darkness into the marvelous light of Your grace. I was “far away from God, but now…have been brought near to him through the blood of Christ” (Ephesians 2:13 NLT). You did all that for me and, on top of that, You guaranteed me the gift of eternal life, free from sin and death and marked by perfect righteousness. 

To God be the glory, great things He hath done,
So loved He the world that He gave us His Son,
Who yielded His life our redemption to win,
And opened the life-gate that all may go in.
Praise the Lord, praise the Lord,
  Let the earth hear His voice;
Praise the Lord, praise the Lord,
  Let the people rejoice;
Oh, come to the Father, through Jesus the Son,
  And give Him the glory; great things He hath done. (Fanny Crosby, 1875)
Amen

English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Permanent Text Edition® (2016). Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

New Living Translation (NLT) Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

If Not For God

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1 And you were dead in the trespasses and sins 2 in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— 3 among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the flesh and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. 4 But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, 5 even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— 6 and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, 7 so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. 8 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, 9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast. 10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them. – Ephesians 2:1-10 ESV

But God…

Those two little words contain so much power and hold the key to the hopes of all mankind. In these verses, Paul expounds on the incredible gift of grace that made possible man’s redemption from hopeless enslavement to sin and his restoration to a right relationship with God. But the grace of God can be so overlooked and underappreciated.

Most people who believe in God foster the delusion that they somehow deserve His grace. While they are willing to admit that they are far from perfect, they take pride in the fact that they aren’t as bad as some other people. They somehow believe that God grades on the curve. But those kinds of thoughts are a reflection of either an over-inflated sense of self-worth or a very poor memory.

Even those of us who have placed our faith in Christ can suffer from memory lapses, conveniently forgetting our pre-salvation condition. Time has a way of sanitizing our memories and whitewashing our minds, eliminating any traces of our life before Christ.

But Paul was determined to remind believers of their past, not to demoralize or shame them, but to help them understand the glory of God’s grace. He wanted them to understand that their salvation was entirely undeserved and the result of God’s unmerited favor and love, and he used stark imagery to make his point.

And you were dead… – Ephesians 2:1 ESV

Whether they realized it or not, that was their pre-conversion state: dead, lifeless, helpless, and hopeless. God didn’t look down and see some who were better than others. He didn’t choose the more worthy ones. The Book of Genesis records God’s assessment of mankind not long after the fall.

The LORD observed the extent of human wickedness on the earth, and he saw that everything they thought or imagined was consistently and totally evil. – Genesis 6:5 NLT

David made a similar evaluation of humanity’s condition.

The Lord looks down from heaven on the children of man,
    to see if there are any who understand,
    who seek after God.

They have all turned aside; together they have become corrupt;
    there is none who does good,
    not even one. – Psalm 14:2-3 ESV

And in his letter to the believers in Rome, Paul stated, “Everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard” (Romans 3:23 NLT). Jews, Gentiles, rich, poor, males, females, slaves, and freemen are all dead, and dead men are incapable of doing anything to change their condition. But Paul went on to write, “Yet God, in his grace, freely makes us right in his sight” (Romans 3:23 NLT). That is the good news. All men, apart from God, are spiritually dead and headed to an eternity separated from God, which is the definition of spiritual death.

This death metaphor was very popular with Paul. He wrote the very same thing in his letter to the Colossians.

And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses… – Colossians 2:13 ESV

In the next part of chapter two, Paul reminded the Ephesians that before coming to faith in Christ, they had “no hope and without God in the world…” (Ephesians 2:12 ESV). But why would Paul use such demoralizing language, and what was the explanation he gave for declaring them spiritually dead and hopeless? It was because of disobedience and many sins. They had been following the course of this world, living according to its rules and obeying the commands of its prince, Satan himself. That’s a sobering and unflattering assessment of every believer’s pre-conversion condition and is difficult to accept. But that is the truth, whether we like it or not.

Just to make sure his audience fully got his point, Paul bluntly told them they were once sons of disobedience, enslaved to their desires and passions and controlled by their sinful natures.

All of us used to live that way, following the passionate desires and inclinations of our sinful nature. By our very nature we were subject to God’s anger, just like everyone else. – Ephesians 2:3 NLT

None of them were righteous, not one. All were separated from God because of their sins, and each deserved death; not a pretty picture. But Paul has good news.

But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ… – Ephesians 2:4-5 ESV

When we read Paul’s description of our condition prior to coming to faith in Christ, our natural response is to say, “But I didn’t…”, “But I wasn’t…”, or “But how could You?” We want to justify ourselves or explain that we weren’t that bad. Yet the painful reality is that, unless God had intervened, we would have remained just as we were: Dead. But the good news is that God stepped in. He did what we could never have done on our own. In His mercy and grace, He “showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners” (Romans 5:8 NLT).

Two times in these verses, Paul emphatically states, “by grace you have been saved.” We were not saved based on our merits. God did not reward us with salvation because of our good deeds. We were not saved because we managed to meet God halfway, and He took it from there. We were saved despite our sinful condition. We were dead, and God gave us life through Jesus Christ. Not only that, God “raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus” (Ephesians 2:6 ESV). Our salvation is so secure that Paul states that we already have a place reserved for us in Christ’s Kingdom. It is as if we are already there, and nothing can change that reality. Paul put it this way:

I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love. No power in the sky above or in the earth below—indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord. – Romans 8″38-39 NLT

By grace we have been saved and sanctified, and by grace we will one day be glorified. It is all by grace.

For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. – Ephesians 2:8-9 ESV

No one can stand at the gates of heaven saying, “I deserve to be here!” No one can claim admittance based on their own effort or hard work. Just as it is impossible for a dead man to make himself alive, it is impossible for anyone to make themselves more holy. Having a quiet time does not make you more righteous. Praying does not make you more godly. Going to church will never make you more like Christ. These spiritual disciplines are simply the means God uses to accomplish His sanctifying work in us. In and of themselves, they are incapable of transforming us. More knowledge of Scripture can lead to pride. An attitude of prayerfulness can actually lead to pridefulness. But when God is at work within us, He can use anything and everything to accomplish His work in us.

For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago. – Ephesians 2:10 NLT

God has done great things, and He is far from done. One day, He will culminate His redemptive plan for our lives and finish what He began. All because of His matchless, marvelous grace.

“But God…” That phrase should always be on our hearts and minds, constantly reminding us of our need for Him. Without Him, we were dead. With Him, we are alive. But God is not done yet. There is far more to come. And even though we struggle with trials, temptations, and difficulties in this life, we are loved by God, and He remains the source of all our hope and help.

Father, I could never repay You for all You have done for me, but I am grateful. The older I get, the more I realize my need for You and my hopeless condition without You. Yes, I still try to run my own life and make decisions without You, but I am quick to recognize the ignorance of my ways. I used to think I was somehow responsible for my sanctification; that I had to do my part. But I realize that, without You, I can do nothing. Any spiritual growth I have experienced in my life was Your doing, not mine. When I reflect on my faith journey, I can’t help but acknowledge Your grace and mercy. There were so many times I strayed and wandered, but You never let me go. I can’t count the many times I tried to take back control of my life, but You patiently put up with my stubbornness and stupidity. I have doubted You repeatedly, disappointed You regularly, and disobeyed You willingly, but You never stopped loving me. Thank You for all You have done and all that You are going to do. I am grateful. Amen

English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Permanent Text Edition® (2016). Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

New Living Translation (NLT) Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

The Knowledge of God

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15 For this reason, because I have heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love toward all the saints, 16 I do not cease to give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers, 17 that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him, 18 having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, 19 and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to the working of his great might 20 that he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places, 21 far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come. 22 And he put all things under his feet and gave him as head over all things to the church, 23 which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all. – Ephesians 1:15-23 ESV

Paul was grateful to God for the believers in Ephesus, that they had heard the word of truth, the gospel, and believed. As a result, they received the Holy Spirit as a guarantee of their future inheritance of eternal salvation. And Paul gave God all the glory, but he also gave God his thanks. He thanked God for the news he had received about their faith in Christ and their love for one another. Their relationship with Christ was maturing, and the presence of the Spirit within them was bearing visible fruit. As a result, their numbers were increasing. And Paul knew that it was all due to the gracious work of God in their lives. He had made it possible. He was the one who had called them, and He was the one who was sanctifying them. And one day, He would be the one who would glorify them, “to the praise of his glory” (Ephesians 1:14 ESV).

But Paul didn’t just express gratitude to God for all that He had done; he let them know that he regularly petitioned God for their ongoing spiritual well-being. And he was very specific as to what he asked God for. This was not so much a prayer as it was an outline of how he prayed for them. It seems that Paul wanted them to know just exactly what he viewed as necessary and of highest priority for their spiritual health. The first thing He asked God to do for them is quite revealing.

…that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him… – Ephesians 1:17 ESV

Here, Paul is asking God to give the believers in Ephesus the capacity to know Him better. God, the transcendent, holy, unapproachable God of the universe, has chosen to make Himself known to men. If God had not chosen to reveal Himself, no man or woman would ever be able to comprehend Him or hope to have a relationship with Him. In his letter to the Romans, Paul expressed God’s “otherness.”

Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways!

“For who has known the mind of the Lord,
or who has been his counselor?”

“Or who has given a gift to him
that he might be repaid?” – Romans 11:33-35 ESV

Yet he told the believers in Corinth…

But, as it is written,

“What no eye has seen, nor ear heard,
    nor the heart of man imagined,
what God has prepared for those who love him”—

these things God has revealed to us through the Spirit. For the Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God. For who knows a person’s thoughts except the spirit of that person, which is in him? So also no one comprehends the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might understand the things freely given us by God.  – 1 Corinthians 2:9-12 ESV

Because we have the Spirit of God living within us, we have the capacity to know God’s mind. We have been given the privilege of understanding the things of God, and it is primarily through God’s Word that He has chosen to reveal Himself to us. Paul was not praying for an intellectual knowledge of God, but for an experiential, personal, and intimate understanding of who He is and all that He was doing in their lives and in the world around them.

But Paul’s prayer for a growing knowledge of God had an ulterior motive; he wanted to see their hearts enlightened. For Paul, the heart represented the individual’s entire inner being. He knew that as they grew to know God better, they would be radically transformed from the inside out. It is as we come to know God that we truly come to know ourselves and the world around us. A clearer, more concise understanding of God allows us to comprehend the truth and view the world as it really is. As our understanding is enlightened, we begin to see that this world is not all there is. There is so much more. That is why Paul reminded them of the riches of their inheritance and the greatness of God’s power made available to them through Christ.

…that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints … – Ephesians 1:18 ESV

…and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe… – Ephesians 1:19 ESV

Paul wanted them to know the hope to which God had called them. He knew they would face difficulties in this life and that their faith journey would be rough at times. So he wanted them to fully understand that God’s divine plan for them included their future glorification. God’s power was great enough and His promises reliable enough to see them through any circumstance they may encounter in this life. God’s “immeasurable greatness” was working on their behalf at all times. And just so they would know how immeasurable that greatness really is, Paul described it for them.

This is the same mighty power that raised Christ from the dead and seated him in the place of honor at God’s right hand in the heavenly realms. – Ephesians 1:19-20 NLT

The very power that raised Jesus from the dead and allowed Him to return to His rightful place at His Father’s side is the same power at work on behalf of every believer. It is the power that will one day make possible our glorification and the redemption of our bodies. What God did for Jesus, He will do for us, and He is already sanctifying us, transforming us into the likeness of His Son, day by day, through the power of His Spirit and according to His divine redemptive plan.

Paul wanted his readers to know that God was in complete control. His Son was at His side and interceding on behalf of His body, the church.

God has put all things under the authority of Christ and has made him head over all things for the benefit of the church. And the church is his body; it is made full and complete by Christ, who fills all things everywhere with himself. – Ephesians 1:22-23 NLT

As we come to know God better, we come to trust Him more fully and grow in our understanding of His sovereignty and His Son’s work on our behalf. We are His people and the temple of His Spirit. And as Peter reminds us, “You are living stones that God is building into his spiritual temple. What’s more, you are his holy priests. Through the mediation of Jesus Christ, you offer spiritual sacrifices that please God.” (1 Peter 2:5 NLT).

God is at work in us, He is doing great work through us, and He has great plans for us. And the better we know Him, the more we will trust Him to do what He has promised.

Father, You have a deep desire for Your children to know and love You. You long for us to grow in our knowledge of You so that we will better understand Your character and learn to trust You more. You sent Your Son to live among us, and He modeled Your divine nature so that we could see You “in the flesh.” As John said, “No one has ever seen God, but the one and only Son, who is Himself God and is at the Father’s side, has made Him known” (John 1:18 BSB). And You constantly reveal Yourself through Your Word. The Bible is the revelation of You. It is not a self-help manual, our blueprint for living, or a primer on piety. It is a divine-ordained disclosure of who You are and how You work among men. And it points us to Jesus, in whom lives “all the fullness of God in a human body” (Colossians 2:9 NLT). And as Paul makes clear, we are made complete through our “union with Christ, who is the head over every ruler and authority” (Colossians 2:9 NLT). Coming to Jesus helped me come to know You. He revealed Your unfathomable love for me by sacrificing His life on my behalf. He modeled what it looks like to have a submissive and humble relationship with You as He lived out Your will “by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross” (Philippians 2:8 NLT). “Now he is far above any ruler or authority or power or leader or anything else—not only in this world but also in the world to come” (Ephesians 1:21 NLT). He is the head of the Church, the hope of the world, and the greatest expression of Your love, power, and faithfulness we will ever know. Amen

English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Permanent Text Edition® (2016). Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

New Living Translation (NLT) Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

A Profoundly Complex But Perfectly Simple Plan

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11 In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will, 12 so that we who were the first to hope in Christ might be to the praise of his glory. 13 In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, 14 who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory. – Ephesians 1:11-14 ESV

It is essential to pay close attention to the personal pronouns Paul uses in these verses. He begins to use the pronouns “we” and “you” to refer to two different groups of believers. This will be important to understanding the text. His use of “we” indicates that he is speaking to the converted Jews in Ephesus because he is one of them. When he uses the pronoun “you”, he is speaking to the Gentile believers in the church. So when Paul writes, “In him we have obtained an inheritance,” he is speaking to his fellow Jews. Jesus was born a Jew, and brought His message of the Kingdom to the Jewish people first, and the initial converts to Christianity were Jews.

In a sermon Peter gave right after the coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, he said to the Jewish crowd, “God, having raised up his servant, sent him to you first, to bless you by turning every one of you from your wickedness” (Acts 3:20 ESV). The Jewish disciples chosen by Jesus would be the very first converts. According to Paul, this was all predestined by God according to the counsel of His divine will. God had intended all along for the message of salvation to go to the Jews first, “so that we who were the first to hope in Christ might be to the praise of his glory” (Ephesians 1:12 ESV). But God had not left out the Gentiles.

Paul continues his letter by saying, “In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit” (Ephesians 1:13 ESV). God had planned all along for the good news of Jesus Christ to begin with the Jews and then spread to the whole world (the Gentiles). Jesus’ commission to His Jewish disciples, given just prior to His ascension into heaven, made their mission clear.

“All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” – Matthew 28:18-20 ESV

Just prior to that occasion, Jesus had appeared to the disciples in His resurrected form and had told them, “Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead, and that repentance and forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things. And behold, I am sending the promise of my Father upon you. But stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high” (Luke 24:46-49 ESV).

Luke records in the book of Acts that Jesus gave His disciples one last command before He left them. “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth” (Acts 1:8 ESV). And that is exactly what happened; they went to Jerusalem and waited. On the day of the Feast of Pentecost, the Holy Spirit came just as Jesus had promised. One of the end results of that amazing event was that the disciples were suddenly endowed with the miraculous ability to speak in languages they did not know. Empowered by the Holy Spirit, they witnessed to the tens of thousands of people from all over the world who had gathered for the feast. Luke records for us exactly what happened:

Now there were dwelling in Jerusalem Jews, devout men from every nation under heaven. And at this sound the multitude came together, and they were bewildered, because each one was hearing them speak in his own language. And they were amazed and astonished, saying, “Are not all these who are speaking Galileans? And how is it that we hear, each of us in his own native language? Parthians and Medes and Elamites and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya belonging to Cyrene, and visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, Cretans and Arabians—we hear them telling in our own tongues the mighty works of God.” And all were amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, “What does this mean?” – Acts 2:5-12 ESV

Peter preached a sermon, and 3,000 individuals came to Christ that day. The church age had begun, and the message of Jesus Christ would spread throughout the known world as these new converts returned to their hometowns at the end of the celebration of Pentecost.

Luke records that after Peter finished his sermon, the people “were cut to the heart” and asked, “Brothers, what shall we do?” (Acts 2:37 ESV). Peter told them, “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is for you and for your children and for all who are far off, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to himself” (Acts 2:38-39 ESV).

By accepting Jesus Christ as their Savior, they would receive forgiveness of their sins and be made right with God. They would also receive the Holy Spirit, just as the disciples had. This indwelling of the Holy Spirit was not tied to their baptism, but was simply a part of their commitment to express to the world that they were aligning themselves with the cause of Christ. It was an outward expression of their internal transformation. But the key was that they received the same Holy Spirit as the disciples.

Paul told the Gentile believers in Ephesus that they had been sealed by the very same Holy Spirit when they believed. As a result, they were assured of their future inheritance, just as Paul and the believing Jews in their congregation were. Because the Holy Spirit “is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory.” (Ephesians 1:14 ESV). The Holy Spirit is literally a “down payment” from God, reminding us that the promises He has made to us regarding our eternity are real and reliable. God’s Spirit never leaves us, and He will also never let us go. His presence within us assures us of our eternal security. He will reside within us until the day that Christ returns or God calls us home. Our inheritance is assured.

Father, I am always amazed and, at time, perplexed by Your plan to use the nation of Israel to accomplish Your divine will for the redemption of mankind. You purposefully and providentially set apart the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob to be Your chosen people. In doing so, You chose Isaac over Ishmael and Jacob over Esau. You took Jacob and from his small clan of 70 people, you made a great nation. His 12 sons would form 12 tribes, but it was from the tribe of Judah that you chose to raise up David, the future king of Israel. In handpicking David, You chose to reject his older brothers. But it was through the lineage of David, the young shepherd boy, that the Good Shepherd would come. It was He who said, “I have other sheep, too, that are not in this sheepfold. I must bring them also. They will listen to my voice, and there will be one flock with one shepherd” (John 10:16 NLT). And Jesus, the good shepherd, assures me, “My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish. No one can snatch them away from me” (John 10:27 NLT).

Father, You began with the people of Israel, but You did not limit Your focus to them alone; they were simply the conduit through which Your gift of grace and mercy would flow to all the nations. You chose to send Your Son as a descendant of Israel, but He would be the Savior of all nations. And when His own rejected Him as Messiah, You chose to send the message of salvation to the Gentiles. But You have not forgotten Your chosen people. As Paul wrote, “Now if the Gentiles were enriched because the people of Israel turned down God’s offer of salvation, think how much greater a blessing the world will share when they finally accept it” (Romans 11:12 NLT). Only You could have come up with such a profoundly complex but perfectly simple plan, and I am just another amazed and gratified beneficiary. Amen

English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Permanent Text Edition® (2016). Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

New Living Translation (NLT) Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

The Primacy of Predestination

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In love 5 he predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, 6 to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved. 7 In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, 8 which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight 9 making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ 10 as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in Christ, things in heaven and things on earth in him. – Ephesians 1:5-10 ESV

These verses contain one of the most difficult and hotly debated doctrines found in the Bible. Even before the Reformation in 1516, discussions concerning predestination had typically been heated and divided. There was little consensus on the topic because there remained a seemingly unbridgeable chasm between God’s sovereignty and man’s free will. It was Augustine of Hippo who posited the idea that the doctrine of election taught that “all saved must be predestined to salvation … before they have committed any deed of any sort” (Diarmaid MacCullough, The Reformation: A History).

Men who were on the same side of the Reformation rift, like John Calvin, Martin Luther, and Philipp Melanchthon, openly discussed and debated the doctrine of predestination. Even clerics within the Catholic Church held strong opposing views on the topic.

In the verses above, Paul introduces this issue somewhat casually, with little fanfare and little explanation. He simply writes, “In love he [God] predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will” (Ephesians 1:4 ESV). The Greek word translated “predestined” is προορίζω (proorizō), which means “to predetermine, decide beforehand; to foreordain, appoint beforehand” (“G4309 – proorizō – Strong’s Greek Lexicon (KJV).” Blue Letter Bible). It speaks of God’s sovereign role in man’s salvation.

John Stott writes, “Now everybody finds the doctrine of election difficult. ‘Didn’t I choose God?’ somebody asks indignantly; to which we must answer ‘Yes, indeed you did, and freely, but only because in eternity God had first chosen you.’ ‘Didn’t I decide for Christ?’ asks somebody else; to which we must reply ‘Yes, indeed you did, and freely, but only because in eternity God had first decided for you’” (John R. W. Stott, The Message of Ephesians, p. 26).

In Paul’s redemptive theology, mankind was in a terrible, irreconcilable state: dead in their trespasses and sins (Ephesians 2:1), blinded by the god of this world (2 Corinthians 4:4), imprisoned under sin (Galatians 3:22), incapable of understanding God or seeking Him (Romans 3:11), incapable of doing anything good (Romans 3:11), and devoid of any righteousness (Romans 3:10).

The blind are incapable of seeing light. The dead are unable to choose life. The deaf cannot hear the good news. Just as Jesus had to call Lazarus from the grave, He also had to give him the life required to obey that command. In the same way, the sinner must be given new life (regeneration) by God in order that he might comprehend and accept the gift being offered to him. Yes, as Dr. Stott so aptly put it, we do decide for Christ, but only after the Spirit of God has awakened us from death and given us the capacity to hear the good news and receive it.

In verse four of this chapter, Paul wrote, “he [God] chose us in him before the foundation of the world.” The word “chose” is the Greek word ἐκλέγομαι (eklegomai), which means “to pick out, choose, to pick or choose out for oneself” (“G1586 – eklegomai – Strong’s Greek Lexicon (KJV).” Blue Letter Bible). God, in His divine will, has chosen to redeem some of all those who have been condemned to eternal separation because of their sin and rebellion against Him. Had God not mercifully and graciously intervened and provided the Messiah as the answer to mankind’s sin problem, no one would have been saved. Adam’s sin condemned all mankind and left them in a helpless, hopeless state, unable to save themselves from the inevitability of their future condemnation. All stood condemned before God because of their sin, “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23 ESV).

Men don’t suddenly wake up, see their sin, and understand their need for a Savior; they must have their eyes opened by God. It is He who gives the spiritually dead life, the spiritually blind sight, and the spiritually deaf the capacity to hear His gracious offer of salvation for the first time in their lives. Salvation is the work of God, from start to finish. Jesus claimed, “No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him” (John 6:44 ESV). Later in the same chapter, John records Jesus saying, “This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless the Father has enabled them” (John 6:65 NIV).

Paul’s point is not to negate the role of man in his own salvation. We must believe,  accept, and turn away from our sin to the saving work of Jesus Christ. But every aspect of that process is made possible by God Himself. He “chose us in him before the foundation of the world” (Ephesians 4:4 ESV), and He chose us to “be holy and blameless before him” (Ephesians 4:4 ESV). He “predestined us for adoption as Sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will” – not ours. (Ephesians 4:5 ESV). It is all due to the “praise of his glorious grace” (Ephesians 4:6 ESV). It is in Christ that we have redemption through his blood and the forgiveness of our sins (Ephesians 1:7). He is the one who has made known the mystery of His will and lavished His grace upon us.

Salvation is a wonderful gift, provided by God for sinful men. There is not a man or woman who has ever lived who deserved to be saved or had the capacity to save themselves. Paul paints a very bleak picture when he writes, “None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God. All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one” (Romans 3:10-12 ESV). And yet, Paul reminds us of the good news: “But God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8 ESV).

The marriage between God’s sovereignty and man’s free will remains a conundrum we find difficult to explain.

“It [election] involves a paradox that the New Testament does not seek to resolve, and that our finite minds cannot fathom. Paul emphasizes both the sovereign purpose of God and man’s free will.” – Francis Foulkes, The Epistle of Paul to the Ephesians, p. 46

Yet our inability to resolve the apparent incongruity between God’s election and man’s autonomy does not invalidate its reality. As the sovereign Creator of the universe, God has every right to determine the destiny of His creation, including humanity. And because God is righteous, He must deal justly with the rebellion of all those to whom He gave life and the privilege of bearing His image. And while we might wrestle with the thought of a loving God condemning sinful humanity to death, His justice demands it. Critics of the doctrine of election cry foul, saying it paints God as unjust and unfair, but Paul vehemently disagreed with that conclusion.

Are we saying, then, that God was unfair? Of course not! For God said to Moses,

“I will show mercy to anyone I choose,
and I will show compassion to anyone I choose.”

So it is God who decides to show mercy. We can neither choose it nor work for it.– Romans 9:14-16 NLT

For God saved us and called us to live a holy life. He did this, not because we deserved it, but because that was his plan from before the beginning of time—to show us his grace through Christ Jesus. – 2 Timothy 1:9 NLT

Lazarus walked out of the grave, not because he chose to do so, but because Jesus commanded him to do so. But Jesus’ command was accompanied by the power to resuscitate Lazarus’ dead, lifeless body. Wrapped in burial cloths and devoid of life, Lazarus was in no condition to respond to Jesus’ call. His ears could not hear, and his brain could not process Jesus’ words. But Jesus “elected” to give him life by regenerating his body so that he could obey the command, “Lazarus, come out!” (John 11:43 NLT). It was Jesus who gave Lazarus the ability to step out of the darkness of the grave into the light of day. And we who have been elected by God can rejoice in the words of Peter when he wrote, “You are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light” (1 Peter 2:9 ESV).

Father, it is difficult to get my head around the concept of predestination. I have so programmed to believe in the sanctity of my own autonomy that it disturbs me to think that I am not always in control of my life. We humans treat free will a a priviliged and inaliable right. In our desire to think we are the masters of our fate and the captains of our souls, we relegate You to a sub-par position, immasculating Your power and diminishing Your sovereign rule and reign over our lives. But You are King and You rule over all. My salvation was not my decision; it was Yours. Like Lazarus, I was in no condition to choose life over death. I was dead in my trespasses and sins, but You chose to give me life. When I could do nothing, You did everything for me, including giving me the capacity to say yes to Your gracious and generous offer of eternal life. And I am forever grateful. Amen

English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Permanent Text Edition® (2016). Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

New Living Translation (NLT) Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Every Spiritual Blessing

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1 Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God,

To the saints who are in Ephesus, and are faithful in Christ Jesus:

2 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, 4 even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. – Ephesians 1:1-4 ESV

It is thought that Paul’s letter to the Ephesians was written between A.D. 60-62 while he was under house arrest in Rome. The book of Acts records that Paul had been to Ephesus and spent at least three years there ministering and spreading the gospel throughout Asia Minor. It was while Paul was in Ephesus that his presence caused great concern among the silversmiths who made their living by fashioning idols for the worship of Artemis, their goddess.

It seems that Paul’s success in sharing the gospel had caused a dip in sales and put a dent in the local silversmiths’ income. Demetrius decided to do something about Paul and his message. He gathered all the tradesmen and delivered an inflammatory speech designed to turn them against Paul.

“Men, you know that from this business we have our wealth. And you see and hear that not only in Ephesus but in almost all of Asia this Paul has persuaded and turned away a great many people, saying that gods made with hands are not gods. And there is danger not only that this trade of ours may come into disrepute but also that the temple of the great goddess Artemis may be counted as nothing, and that she may even be deposed from her magnificence, she whom all Asia and the world worship.” – Acts 19:25-27 ESV

Demetrius’ words whipped the crowd into a frenzy and nearly sparked a riot. But the authorities managed to calm the crowd, and Paul left the town safely. However, he never lost his love for the people of Ephesus or his concern for the local congregation there. So, while under house arrest in Rome, he composed this letter to encourage them to continue in their love for God and one another. He seemed most concerned about the unity of the church.

Like most of the newly formed congregations during that day, the church in Ephesus enjoyed a unique blend of converted Jews and Gentiles, slaves and freemen, wealthy and poor, and educated and uneducated. This strange amalgam of individuals from all walks of life put a tremendous strain on the church’s harmony. Paul was writing to call them to live in unity and to display holiness in their individual and corporate lives.

Paul describes himself as an apostle, literally, a “sent one.” He had been sent by Jesus Himself to share the good news of salvation with the Gentiles. What he had done in Ephesus had been based on his commission from Jesus and according to the will of God. Paul was simply the messenger.

He addressed his audience as saints and wanted them to remember that they had been consecrated or set apart by God for His service. By placing their faith in Jesus as their Savior, they had become God’s possession; they belonged to Him and were to live their lives in submission to His will and in accordance with His Spirit, whom He had placed within them.

Paul reminds them that God had blessed them “in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places” (Ephesians 1:3 ESV). Paul’s emphasis in this verse is extremely important to understand. He states that God had already blessed them, referring to this act of blessing in the past tense. God had already blessed them with every spiritual blessing, and the important thing to note is that those blessings find their source “in the heavenly places.” Paul is going to expand on that thought in the following verses, but it would appear that he is attempting to get his audience to understand that they had already been blessed beyond measure, and the greatest aspect of their blessing from God was the salvation and justification they received as a result of their faith in Jesus Christ.

To drive home his emphasis on the past, Paul reminds them that God had chosen them “before the foundation of the world,” with the intent that they “should be holy and blameless before him” (Ephesians 1:4 ESV). Their salvation was not happenstance or blind luck; it was not even their decision. Paul tells them that God elected them for salvation long before He created the universe and everything in it. And Paul will expand on that thought in the verses to come.

Salvation was God’s idea, not man’s. The thought that sinful men would choose to have a relationship with a holy God goes against the teachings of the Scriptures. Ever since the fall, mankind has been on a trajectory away from God, not toward Him. The farther man got from the garden, the more hazy his memory of God became. Men stopped seeking the one true God and began replacing Him with gods of their own making. Paul describes this downward trajectory quite well in his letter to the Romans:

Claiming to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things. – Romans 1:22-23 ESV

To make his point, Paul paraphrases Psalm 53:1.

None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God. All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one. – Romans 3:10-12 ESV

Paul wants his readers to comprehend the profound significance of God’s choice of them. He made their salvation possible and was the one who justified them through His Son’s death on the cross. His choice of them was not just so that they might escape death and eternal condemnation, but that they might live holy lives. Paul drives home the point that “he chose us in him … that we should be holy and blameless before him” (Ephesians 1:4 ESV).

God has an unwavering expectation that every believer live holy and blameless because He has equipped them to do so. Our holiness and blamelessness don’t start when we get to heaven; they begin here and now as we live as followers of Christ in this fallen world. We are saints, set-apart ones, who belong to God and are empowered by the Spirit of God to live as lights in a sin-darkened world. We have been chosen by God to reflect His glory and to share His message of grace to all those we meet. As Paul told the Philippian believers: “Live clean, innocent lives as children of God, shining like bright lights in a world full of crooked and perverse people” (Philippians 2:15 NLT).

Father, our salvation, sanctification, and ultimate glorification were all Your idea, not ours. The magnitude of Your marvelous grace should never cease to amaze us as we consider the hopelessness of our condition without it. We didn’t deserve Your mercy, but You poured it out anyway. We couldn’t earn Your forgiveness, so You provided Your Son as the Lamb that takes away the sins of the world. It was all Your doing and, as a result, we are blessed in every conceivable way. We enjoy a restored relationship with You. We are filled with Your Spirit and have access to His life-transforming power every minute of every day. You have given us Your Word to guide and direct our lives. And You have placed us within the body of Christ, where we experience community and unity as we live together as brothers and sisters in Christ. Thank You for all the blessings we have already received and all those yet to come. Amen

English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Permanent Text Edition® (2016). Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

New Living Translation (NLT) Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.22

To God Be the Glory

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25 Now to him who is able to strengthen you according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery that was kept secret for long ages 26 but has now been disclosed and through the prophetic writings has been made known to all nations, according to the command of the eternal God, to bring about the obedience of faith— 27 to the only wise God be glory forevermore through Jesus Christ! Amen. – Romans 16:25-27 ESV

Paul wraps up his letter with a doxology, a statement of praise to God. This entire letter has been a treatise on the praiseworthiness of God for His power, grace, mercy, patience, sovereignty, love, and the greatest expression of that love: the sacrifice of His Son as the payment for mankind’s sins.

Paul wanted his readers to know that the very same God who made salvation possible and who, in His mercy, chose them to receive redemption was fully capable of strengthening them and keeping them “according to his gospel” (Romans 16:25 ESV). Notice that Paul personalizes the gospel, calling it his own. In the early stages of his letter, he referred to it as the gospel of God (Romans 1:1) and the gospel of His Son (Romans 1:9). In chapter 15, he called it the gospel of Christ (Romans 15:19). But here he makes it his own.

It is the gospel of God because He is the one who made it possible. It is the gospel of Christ, the Son, because He is the one whose sinless sacrifice fulfilled the demands of the Father. But it was Paul’s gospel because he had been commissioned by Christ Himself to share the good news of salvation with the Gentiles. Paul refers to his mission to share the gospel with the Gentiles as a “mystery that was kept secret for long ages” (Romans 16:25 ESV). The Old Testament prophets had disclosed that the gift of grace made possible through the sacrificial death of Jesus would be made available to the Gentiles, but this divine plan was “kept secret from the beginning of time” (Romans 16:25 NLT). Even they did not understand that God would one day include Gentiles in His family. 

But with Jesus’ resurrection and the coming of the Holy Spirit, the mystery was “made known to all the nations” (Romans 16:26 ESV). In fact, that had been Paul’s primary task as an apostle of Christ. Immediately after Paul’s conversion, the Lord had said, “he is a chosen instrument of mine to carry my name before the Gentiles and kings and the children of Israel” (Acts 9:16 ESV). 

In his trial before King Agrippa, Paul recounted the commission he received from Jesus.

“And the Lord replied, ‘I am Jesus, the one you are persecuting. Now get to your feet! For I have appeared to you to appoint you as my servant and witness. Tell people that you have seen me, and tell them what I will show you in the future. And I will rescue you from both your own people and the Gentiles.  Yes, I am sending you to the Gentiles to open their eyes, so they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God. Then they will receive forgiveness for their sins and be given a place among God’s people, who are set apart by faith in me.’” – Acts 26:15-18 NLT

Paul had been appointed the apostle to the Gentiles, and he took his role seriously. He had spent years carrying the message of salvation throughout the Gentile world, introducing them to Jesus the Christ, the one who offered them a way to be made right with the one true God. Paul repeatedly told his Gentile audiences that their inclusion in the family of God had been a mystery, but was not a life-changing reality.

Now I rejoice in what I am suffering for you, and I fill up in my flesh what is still lacking in regard to Christ’s afflictions, for the sake of his body, which is the church. I have become its servant by the commission God gave me to present to you the word of God in its fullness—the mystery that has been kept hidden for ages and generations, but is now disclosed to the Lord’s people. To them God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. – Colossians 1:24-27 NLT

The gospel was once a mystery, hidden from the eyes of men. Though it was clearly revealed in the Scriptures, the Old Testament saints were unable to understand God’s plan of salvation for all the nations. Even Jesus’ disciples viewed Him as the Messiah of the Jewish people. They had no concept of Gentiles being included in Christ’s Kingdom. In fact, they had been shocked when they found Jesus talking with the Samaritan woman at the well. His decision to have a conversation with this pagan woman was unexpected and unacceptable. As a Samaritan, she was considered by the Jews to be an outcast and impure.

These very same men had heard Jesus disclose that He had come to the lost sheep of Israel. So, why was He wasting His time with a Samaritan?

Then Jesus left Galilee and went north to the region of Tyre and Sidon. A Gentile woman who lived there came to him, pleading, “Have mercy on me, O Lord, Son of David! For my daughter is possessed by a demon that torments her severely.”

But Jesus gave her no reply, not even a word. Then his disciples urged him to send her away. “Tell her to go away,” they said. “She is bothering us with all her begging.”

Then Jesus said to the woman, “I was sent only to help God’s lost sheep—the people of Israel.”

But she came and worshiped him, pleading again, “Lord, help me!”

Jesus responded, “It isn’t right to take food from the children and throw it to the dogs.”

She replied, “That’s true, Lord, but even dogs are allowed to eat the scraps that fall beneath their masters’ table.”

“Dear woman,” Jesus said to her, “your faith is great. Your request is granted.” And her daughter was instantly healed. – Matthew 16:21-28 NLT

When Jesus said to the woman, “It isn’t right to take food away from the children and throw it to the dogs,” He was simply expressing what the disciples were thinking. Jews would not mix with Gentiles because they considered them to be inferior. But Jesus came to change all that. His death would not be just for the Jews, but for all mankind, and Paul’s God-ordained commission was to make the mystery known to any and all who would listen, in order “to bring about the obedience of faith” (Romans 16:26 ESV)

As Paul stated earlier in his letter, the mystery of the gospel is “the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, the righteous shall live by faith” (Romans 1:16-17 ESV).

The gospel was made possible by the love, mercy, and grace of God. It was made possible by the gracious gift of His Son. It was made possible by His Son’s death, confirmed by His resurrection, and accomplished by the power of the Spirit of God. Everything about the gospel was God’s doing. Even Paul’s miraculous conversion and divine commissioning. So to Him alone belongs “glory forevermore” (Romans 16:27 ESV).

The words of the great old hymn sum it up perfectly.

To God be the glory, great things He has done;
So loved He the world that He gave us His Son,
Who yielded His life an atonement for sin,
And opened the life gate that all may go in.
Praise the Lord, praise the Lord,
Let the earth hear His voice!
Praise the Lord, praise the Lord,
Let the people rejoice!
O come to the Father, through Jesus the Son,
And give Him the glory, great things He has done. 

– To God Be the Glory, Fanny Crosby

Father, Your plan for mankind remained a mystery for generations, but You always knew what You were going to do. You had always planned to use the Jewish people as the conduit through which Your blessings to the nations would come. It was be through a child of Abraham and a son of David that Your gift of grace would become available to the entire world, not just the Jews. Your Son was born a Jew and a descendant of King David. Yet, “He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him.” (John 1:11 ESV). Jesus was their long-awaited Messiah, but they refused to accept Him. But John goes on to say, “But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God” (John 1:12-13 ESV). Jesus died for all. He sacrificed His life on behalf of all sinful humanity, not just some. He was the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. And I have been a beneficiary of that incredible mystery and marvelous truth. Amen

English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Permanent Text Edition® (2016). Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

New Living Translation (NLT) Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.22

Smooth Talk and Flattery

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17 I appeal to you, brothers, to watch out for those who cause divisions and create obstacles contrary to the doctrine that you have been taught; avoid them. 18 For such persons do not serve our Lord Christ, but their own appetites, and by smooth talk and flattery they deceive the hearts of the naive. 19 For your obedience is known to all, so that I rejoice over you, but I want you to be wise as to what is good and innocent as to what is evil. 20 The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.

21 Timothy, my fellow worker, greets you; so do Lucius and Jason and Sosipater, my kinsmen.

22 I Tertius, who wrote this letter, greet you in the Lord.

23 Gaius, who is host to me and to the whole church, greets you. Erastus, the city treasurer, and our brother Quartus, greet you. – Romans 16:17-23 ESV

As long as we live in this world, we will face opposition from within and from without. Paul had extensive experience dealing with both. But the one he seemed to warn against most was the inside job: those who posed as brothers and sisters of Christ but ended up causing division and disunity. In his other letters, Paul referred to them as false apostles and described them as “those who are looking for an opportunity to boast that their work is just like ours” (2 Corinthians 11:12 NLT). He pulled no punches in his less-than-flattering assessment of his detractors.

These people are false apostles. They are deceitful workers who disguise themselves as apostles of Christ. But I am not surprised! Even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. So it is no wonder that his servants also disguise themselves as servants of righteousness. – 2 Corinthians 11:13-15 NLT

Later in the same chapter, he states that these “false brothers” had actually threatened him with violence.

I have faced danger from men who claim to be believers but are not. – 2 Corinthians 11:26

Paul warned the believers in Galatia about “so-called Christians there—false ones, really—who were secretly brought in. They sneaked in to spy on us and take away the freedom we have in Christ Jesus. They wanted to enslave us and force us to follow their Jewish regulations” (Galatians 2:4 NLT).

Paul encouraged his young protege, Timothy, to beware of those who preach or teach contrary doctrine and promote disunity in the church.

Teach these things, Timothy, and encourage everyone to obey them. Some people may contradict our teaching, but these are the wholesome teachings of the Lord Jesus Christ. These teachings promote a godly life. Anyone who teaches something different is arrogant and lacks understanding. Such a person has an unhealthy desire to quibble over the meaning of words. This stirs up arguments ending in jealousy, division, slander, and evil suspicions. These people always cause trouble. Their minds are corrupt, and they have turned their backs on the truth. To them, a show of godliness is just a way to become wealthy. – 1 Timothy 6:2-5 NLT

The fact is, there have always been false teachers in the church; they can be recognized by the content of their teaching. If what they teach does not align with the teachings of Christ and the writings of the apostles as found in the New Testament, they are to be avoided like the plague. The difficulty is that their false teaching almost always contains a ring of truth, and that is intentional. Warren Wiersbe warns, “Satan is the counterfeiter. . . . He has a false gospel (Galatians 1:6-9), preached by false ministers (2 Corinthians 11:13-12), producing false Christians (2 Corinthians 11:26). . . . Satan plants his counterfeits wherever God plants true believers (Matthew 13:38).”

Out of his love for the body of Christ, Paul takes time to warn his readers about those “who cause divisions and create obstacles to the doctrine that you have been taught” (Romans 16:17 ESV).  The “doctrine” he refers to is the fundamentals of the faith, particularly when it comes to salvation. Anyone who attempts to add anything to the gospel is to be avoided at all costs. If their teaching is not based on faith in Christ alone, it is deceptive and dangerous. If they attempt to add anything else to the equation, they are false teachers.

Jesus plus works. Jesus plus circumcision. Jesus plus a second blessing. Jesus plus signs and wonders. Jesus plus anything adds up to nothing. These variations on the gospel are not the gospel as taught by Jesus and His disciples. Paul says these people “do not serve our Lord Christ, but their own appetites” (Romans 16:17 ESV). They’re in it for selfish reasons, preaching “a different kind of Good News” (Galatians 1:8 NLT) in the vain pursuit of power, prestige, and personal profit.

They employ smooth talk and flattery, using clever-sounding words and convincing arguments to deceive the unsuspecting. But in the end, what they teach is contrary to sound, healthy doctrine and is divisive. They tear down rather than build up. They create schisms and attempt to splinter healthy congregations. Disinterested in dialogue or debate, they demand that their way be the only way.

So Paul says, “I want you to be wise as to what is good and innocent as to what is evil” (Romans 16:19 NLT). He echoes the words of Jesus as He sent His disciples on their first ministry trip without Him.

“Behold, I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves, so be wise as serpents and innocent as doves.” – Matthew 10:16 ESV

We need to be wary of those who show up teaching “new truths.” After more than 2,000 years of Christian history and scholarship, there is little that is new under the sun. In fact, much of what shows up in our day as new insights into Jesus, the gospel, and the nature of the Church is nothing more than old heresies repackaged. They are simply rehashed teachings from centuries past.

We live in an age where anything new and innovative is attractive. But Paul would have us be careful and stick with the sound doctrine taught by him and his fellow apostles. We should always be suspicious of anything that shows up in the church as “new and improved.” A new view on Jesus is probably a false view. A new gospel, if it veers from the gospel as found in the New Testament, is no gospel at all.

At the end of the day, we must trust in the grace of God to protect us and keep the gospel message pure. Ultimately, Paul reminds us, “The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet” (Romans 16:20 ESV). The truth concerning Jesus and the gospel of God will win out. In the meantime, we must keep our focus on the matchless, priceless grace of God that saved us and sustains us. We must keep trusting in His way, His Word, and His perfect plan for the redemption of the world.

Father, fake Christians, false teachers, and faulty version of the gospel are everywhere. With the prevelance of social media and the internet’s ability to deciminate information quickly, the enemy is having a field day flooding the world with disinformation and dangerous doctrines masquerading as truth. He has always been a liar and his primary motivation is to deceive and distract from the life-changing message of the gospel. He promotes false versions of the truth in a vain attempt to thwart Your will by giving people false hope in pseudo gospels. These counterfeit gospels sound good but always rely more on human effort than Your grace. They almost always promote a form of salvation by works. They include Jesus but add a hint of self-help and behavior modification. Rather than salvation based on grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone, they offer a formula of Jesus + something = salvation. In doing so, they diminish Christ’s work on the cross and elevate the role of man in his own redemption. But You alone can save. Your Son’s death was the sole means of salvation for sinful humanity. And anyone who teaches anything else is to be avoided and their message refuted. Help us maintain the simplicity and integrity of the gospel even in the face of the enemy’s lies. Amen

English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Permanent Text Edition® (2016). Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

New Living Translation (NLT) Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.22