faith

Fighting From Our Knees

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18 To that end, keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints, 19 and also for me, that words may be given to me in opening my mouth boldly to proclaim the mystery of the gospel, 20 for which I am an ambassador in chains, that I may declare it boldly, as I ought to speak. – Ephesians 18b-20 ESV

Paul ended his description of the armor of God with a call to prayer, strongly advising his readers to “pray in the Spirit at all times and on every occasion” (Ephesians 6:18a NLT). Constant communication with the Father is essential for our spiritual survival. Prayer is not simply a tool we use to get what we need from God.

As Paul will show, prayer is not to be used for our own selfish desires either. Throughout this letter, Paul has been addressing God’s mysterious doctrine of the church, the body of Christ. In chapter one, Paul addressed Christ’s headship over the church, which He had earned through His sacrificial death and resurrection.

And he [God] put all things under his feet and gave him as head over all things to the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all. – Ephesians 1:22 ESV

And all believers are members of that body because they share a common faith in Christ, and that faith was a gift from God, “not a result of works, so that no one may boast” (Ephesians 2:9 ESV). The church was the mysterious or previously undisclosed plan of God to miraculously join Jews and Gentiles into one body, “that he might create in himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace, and might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross” (Ephesians 2:14 ESV). 

It was God who made us “fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God” (Ephesians 2:19 ESV). And it is through the church that “the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places” (Ephesians 3:10 ESV). It was Paul’s prayer that the Ephesian believers would “know the love of Christ” and be “filled with all the fullness of God” (Ephesians 3:19 ESV). Paul knew that God had a divine plan for the church. He also knew that the future success of the church, including all those who would become part of it through faith in Christ, was totally dependent on the work and glory of God. That is why he ended his prayer in chapter three with the following words:

Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen. – Ephesians 3:20-21 ESV

The body of Christ, the church, is a powerful force, but only as long as it remains dependent upon God. It is a divinely ordained agency of change in the world, but only when it remains committed to the will of God and connected to His power made available through His Spirit. When we lose sight of the fact that God saved us and placed us within the context of the body of Christ, and begin to see our salvation as something individualistic and isolated, we miss the whole point.

A self-centered, what’s-in-it-for-me attitude has no place within the body of Christ. Even the armor of God is of little use to the Christian if worn in isolation and utilized as a one-man army. As Christians, we must come to grips with the fact that we are in this battle together. Even the best-equipped, most highly trained army will fall to its enemy if its members fail to fight as one. And without constant communication with and obedience to its commander, even the most powerful army will suffer defeat. So Paul calls the army of God to “pray in the Spirit at all times and on every occasion. Stay alert and be persistent in your prayers for all believers everywhere” (Ephesians 18 NLT).

There is a sense of camaraderie and co-dependent community in his words. We are to pray not only for ourselves, but for one another. We should desire that every believer on the planet live in the power of the Spirit and in accordance with God’s will. The body of Christ requires members who are healthy, whole, and committed to the cause of Christ. That is why Paul even asks for prayer on his behalf.

And pray for me, too. Ask God to give me the right words so I can boldly explain God’s mysterious plan that the Good News is for Jews and Gentiles alike. – Ephesians 6:19 NLT

Paul knew he needed the prayers of the saints to remain committed to the call God had given him. He coveted their prayers, and he longed for them to pray for one another.

What more selfless, loving thing can we do than pray for God to protect, guide, strengthen, and embolden our fellow believers? We must realize that our strength, while provided by God, depends on our unity with other believers. Together, we form a powerful force that can dramatically alter the landscape of the world in which we live. Solitary soldiers, even though well-armored, will have little impact “against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places” (Ephesians 6:12 ESV).

So we must pray. We must seek God’s face, determined to know His will, lift up our fellow soldiers, and rest in His divine strategy for ultimate victory.

Father, I am amazed at how prayerless I can be at times. My prayer life always seems to ebb and flow based on the severity of my circumstances. When times get tough, I turn into a veritable prayer warrior. But when things are going my way, I tend to go radio silent in my prayer life. In those moments are comfortable in my life, I talk with You less because I think I need You less. But nothing could be further from the truth. I desperately need You at all times, and prayer is not intended to be an emergency response system I use in times of trouble. That is why Paul said, “Always be joyful. Never stop praying. Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus (1 Thessalonians 5:15-17 NLT). And Paul reminds me that prayer is not solo-sport with me as the focus. It is a group endeavor. That is why he said, “Stay alert and be persistent in your prayers for all believers everywhere” (Ephesians 6:18b (NLT). I am part of the divine team You have created and I fight alongside a host of other Christ followers who deserve my support and supplications. I need their prayers and they need mine, so that the body of Christ might remain strong, unified, and able to “resist the enemy in the time of evil” (Ephesians 6:13 NLT). Thank You for this much-needed reminder. Now, help me to live, not as an army of one, but as a prayerful and properly equipped member of the army of God. 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.

Victory In Jesus

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13 Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm. 14 Stand therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, 15 and, as shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace. 16 In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one; 17 and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, 18 praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. – Ephesians 6:13-18a ESV

This passage deserves a second look. Paul tells us to “put on every piece of God’s armor so you will be able to resist the enemy in the time of evil. Then after the battle you will still be standing firm” (Ephesians 6:13 NLT).

He uses two Greek words, ἀνθίστημι (anthistēmi) and ἵστημι (histēmi). The first means “to stand against,” and the other means “to stand” (“G436 – anthistēmi, G2476 – histēmi – Strong’s Greek Lexicon (KJV).” Blue Letter Bible). To “withstand in the evil day” carries the idea of standing your ground in the midst of battle. You are under attack and surrounded by the enemy, but you refuse to surrender your position; instead, you resist. Paul is describing a defensive posture, not an offensive one, because the enemy is bringing the battle to you.

Jesus told Peter, “I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overpower it” (Matthew 16:18 NET). Satan is out to destroy God’s people and is constantly assaulting His church from without and within. But Paul calls us to stand our ground, to resist. James uses the same Greek word, ἀνθίστημι (anthistēmi), when he writes, “Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you” (James 4:7 ESV).

Paul is calling us to stand firm, immovable, ready, and prepared for action. But how are we to accomplish that? What is the secret to standing firm? Paul makes it quite clear: it is the whole armor of God. The belt of truth, the breastplate of righteousness, feet shod in the gospel of peace, the shield of faith, the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit. These six items comprise the indispensable equipment for every soldier of God. You can’t survive without them. It isn’t a question of whether the enemy will attack; you will see battle, and it will be intense. Satan is bringing the war to your doorstep each and every day, but God has given us all that we need to withstand and stand firm in the heat of the battle.

The belt of truth is the first and most essential piece of equipment. It most likely refers to the truth as revealed in God’s Word. Truth is key to standing up to the enemy’s lies. Remember, the goal is to “stand against the schemes of the devil” (Ephesians 6:11 ESV). That word, “schemes,” means “deceit or trickery.” Jesus confirmed that Satan is a liar.

“He has always hated the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, it is consistent with his character; for he is a liar and the father of lies.” – John 8:44 NLT

He is cunning and clever, and he uses falsehood as his primary weapon of choice. So, truth will be one of our greatest assets as believers.

The breastplate of righteousness refers to the righteousness of Christ. Like the armor of a Roman soldier, this breastplate is designed to be the primary source of protection against the enemy’s assaults. A Roman breastplate was designed to shield the main portion of a soldier’s body, from the neck to the thighs. As believers, we are covered by the righteousness of Christ. It is His righteousness that has made us right with God. When the enemy attacks and hurls darts of accusation against our self-righteousness, we are protected by the righteousness imputed to us by Christ. Satan can accuse us, but he cannot harm us. We must take up Christ’s righteousness daily and understand that it is what He has given us that protects us from the enemy’s assault.

No soldier would go into battle without shoes. How can you stand firm without proper footwear? And Paul describes these shoes as “the readiness given by the gospel of peace” (Ephesians 6:15 ESV). The gospel of peace, the good news, enables us to stand firm without slipping or sliding amid uncertainty or losing our spiritual footing. Because of what Christ accomplished on the cross, we have peace with God. We are His, and He is ours. That is why Paul could confidently claim, “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 ESV).

The shield of faith is not something you wear, but something you hold. Like all of the other pieces of armor, it is provided by God; it is His armor. Our faith is not self-manufactured; it is a gift of the Spirit, provided for us by a gracious and loving God. As long as we stand behind our faith, we are safe. It is when we set aside our faith that we become vulnerable to the enemy’s darts. Faith is our trust in God and in His promises regarding us. The author of Hebrews describes it this way: “Faith shows the reality of what we hope for; it is the evidence of things we cannot see” (James 11:1 NLT). God has promised to never leave or forsake us. He has assured us that He is preparing a permanent place for us in His eternal Kingdom. He has also promised to fight all our battles for us and has placed His all-powerful Spirit within us. But we must trust in these truths at all times. A weak shield is of little use in the heat of battle. Strong faith in a powerful and faithful God will provide protection every time, no matter how difficult the circumstances.

The helmet of salvation protects our mind. It is the awareness of God’s ongoing saving work in our lives. It refers not only to our coming to faith in Christ but also to our ongoing sanctification and God’s daily saving work. Through His Son’s death, he saved us from sin and death, but He is also saving us from the flesh, the world, and the enemy. Our salvation was not a one-time event; God continues to save and protect us from the enemy’s attacks, preserving us for the destiny He has planned for us. But we must remain focused on His saving work regardless of the circumstances we face. We must constantly remind ourselves that He is faithful and strong, and that the battle is already won.

The sword of the Spirit is the Word of God, and it is designed for hand-to-hand combat. The Scriptures are what we use when the enemy gets up close and personal. God’s Word provides us with the truth we need to deflect the lies of Satan. It is both a defensive and an offensive weapon, allowing us to protect ourselves and to bring harm to the enemy. Referring to the Holy Spirit, Jesus said, “when he comes he will convict the world of its sin, and of God’s righteousness, and of the coming judgment” (John 16:8 NLT). The Spirit of God, in conjunction with the Word of God, is essential in our fight against the forces of this world.

Finally, Paul tells us to keep “praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication” (Ephesians 6:18a ESV). Prayer is nothing more than communication with God. Like a soldier on the battlefield, timely communication from headquarters is key to victory. We must listen to our heavenly commander, the Lord of Hosts. He is the captain of the armies of heaven, and He has a battle plan in place. We are not to act as freelance mercenaries, operating on our own agenda and implementing our own battle plan. It is through prayer and the reading of God’s Word that we receive instructions. Prayer provides us with a means of sharing our needs and news from the battlefield. Staying in touch with God is essential to our survival.

The battle is real. The enemy is powerful. But our God is great, and our armor is time-tested and proven reliable in the heat of battle. God has designed it and provided it to us so that we might stand firm in the ongoing spiritual battle we face. And John assures us that we can fight confidently, for our victory is assured by God.

But you belong to God, my dear children. You have already won a victory over those people, because the Spirit who lives in you is greater than the spirit who lives in the world. – 1 John 4:4 NLT

Father, we are the most well-equipped military force on the planet. We have an all-powerful, all-knowing Commander in Chief and have been equipped with the finest defensive and offensive weapons to assist in the battle. We have a training manual that is second to none, a secret source of power in the form of the Holy Spirit, and a battle plan that guarantees our victory. You, the Creator of the universe, have promised to fight alongside us. There is no battle or skirmish we will face that You will not be there with us. And even when we grow weak and tired, Your Holy Spirit will renew our strength and reinvigorate our efforts. As Isaiah said, “those who trust in the LORD will find new strength. They will soar high on wings like eagles. They will run and not grow weary. They will walk and not faint” (Isaiah 40:31 NLT).

I don’t like to think of life as a battle, but my experience tells me that it is. I have learned that the enemy is real and his assaults produce casualties among God’s people. But it’s not because he is more powerful, it is because we fail to wear the spiritual armor You have provided. Many of us refuse to admit that this world is a war zone. We would rather view it as some kind of extended vacation with a few hiccups and headaches along the way. But this life can be dangerous and deadly, because the enemy is alive and well. He is out to steal, kill, and destroy, and yet, he is a defeated foe because of Christ’s death on the cross. But until Your Son returns, we must continue to stand firm, fight well, and trust faithfully. Then we will be able to say with Paul, “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, and I have remained faithful. And now the prize awaits me—the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give me on the day of his return” (2 Timothy 4:7-8 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.

The Redemptive Revolution

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5 Bondservants, obey your earthly masters with fear and trembling, with a sincere heart, as you would Christ, 6 not by the way of eye-service, as people-pleasers, but as bondservants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart, 7 rendering service with a good will as to the Lord and not to man, 8 knowing that whatever good anyone does, this he will receive back from the Lord, whether he is a bondservant or is free. 9 Masters, do the same to them, and stop your threatening, knowing that he who is both their Master and yours is in heaven, and that there is no partiality with him. – Ephesians 6:5-9 ESV

As Paul continues to discuss the application of what it means to walk as children of light, in love and in submission to one another, he brings up a relationship that is particularly difficult for contemporary believers to understand. He has already addressed the relationships between husbands and wives and between children and their parents. Now he takes on the relationship between slaves and their masters.

There are those who have labeled Paul as a proponent of the institution of slavery because he does not speak out against it. But Paul, like Christ, was not out to revolutionize civil institutions or bring about social upheaval. He was interested in redeeming the lives of those who comprised the existing society. So, while it is true that Paul does not speak out against or condemn the socially accepted practice of slavery in his day, this does not mean he was a supporter of it. In fact, in the letter he wrote to Philemon, Paul appeals to his brother in Christ regarding one of his slaves, a man called Onesimus. Evidently, Onesimus had run away from Philemon, somehow met Paul, and became a believer. This runaway slave ended up ministering to Paul while he was a prisoner in Rome. Paul had encouraged Onesimus to do the right thing and return to his master, Philemon. Slavery was legal in Paul’s day, and Onesimus was obligated to return to Philemon or face severe punishment.

But Paul wrote his letter to Philemon to explain the change that had taken place in Onesimus’s life and to ask Philemon to view his former slave as a brother in Christ.

For perhaps he was for this reason separated from you for a while, that you would have him back forever, no longer as a slave, but more than a slave, a beloved brother, especially to me, but how much more to you, both in the flesh and in the Lord. – Philemon 1:15-16 NLT

This is exactly the kind of context Paul has been addressing in his letter to the Ephesians. Slavery was a socially accepted and legally sanctioned part of the culture of the day. Yet Paul was calling slaves and masters who came to faith in Christ to radically change their perspective regarding this institution. It has been estimated that in the 1st century AD, roughly 10 to 20 percent of the entire Roman Empire’s population were slaves. In Rome, the estimate jumps to as high as 33 percent. Anyone could become a slave. It was common for prisoners of war to be sold as slaves, yet Roman citizens could also become enslaved if they were unable to pay back a debt.

It was into this complex cultural milieu that the gospel began to spread. As a result, slaves, who were viewed as property and considered sub-human in many ways, were coming to faith in Christ. Not only that, they were becoming members of local congregations. It was not uncommon for a 1st-century church to include slaves and their masters among its members, and within the church there was a unity and equality unheard of elsewhere in the culture of that day. Which is why Paul wrote to the churches in Galatia: “For you are all children of God through faith in Christ Jesus. And all who have been united with Christ in baptism have put on Christ, like putting on new clothes. There is no longer Jew or Gentile, slave or free, male and female. For you are all one in Christ Jesus” (Galatians 3:26-28 NLT).

In the context of the body of Christ, everyone was considered equal and to be treated with dignity and honor. But while coming to faith in Christ freed someone like Onesimus from sin, it did not free him from slavery. In fact, Paul wrote to the Corinthians and told them, “Yes, each of you should remain as you were when God called you. Are you a slave? Don’t let that worry you—but if you get a chance to be free, take it. And remember, if you were a slave when the Lord called you, you are now free in the Lord. And if you were free when the Lord called you, you are now a slave of Christ” (1 Corinthians 7:20-22 NLT).

Paul was primarily concerned with seeing a change in believers’ behavior, not in their social status. He was focused on their walk, the daily living out of their faith within the context of their existing social relationships. He wrote to the church in Ephesus, “Slaves, obey your earthly masters with deep respect and fear. Serve them sincerely as you would serve Christ” (Ephesians 6:5 NLT). Once again, Paul insists that their motivation be Christ-centered, as if they were serving Christ. Jesus had become a slave, a servant on their behalf, even dying in their place so that they might be freed from slavery to sin. Now, Paul was calling them to serve their earthly masters with deep respect and fear. Rather than forced subservience, Paul was calling them to willing submission. He even gives them very specific instructions on how their faith should manifest in their relationship with their masters.

Try to please them all the time, not just when they are watching you. As slaves of Christ, do the will of God with all your heart. Work with enthusiasm, as though you were working for the Lord rather than for people. – Ephesians 6:6-7 NLT

Notice that Paul encourages them to do God’s will with all their heart. What would God’s will be in their particular situation? To walk as children of light. To walk in love. To walk in a manner worthy of their calling. Yes, even within their context as slaves because, in reality, they were slaves of Christ. Their earthly situation was temporary. So they could work with enthusiasm, performing their earthly responsibilities as if they were doing it for the Lord, knowing that “the Lord will reward each one of us for the good we do, whether we are slaves or free” (Ephesians 6:8 NLT).

But Paul is not done. He also addresses those individuals in the Ephesian church who were masters. He tells them, “Masters, treat your slaves in the same way. Don’t threaten them; remember, you both have the same Master in heaven, and he has no favorites” (Ephesians 6:9 NLT). Paul does not castigate them for their role as masters or demand the immediate emancipation of their slaves; he calls them to apply their newfound faith to their cultural context. Their faith in Christ was to have a relationship-altering impact on their lives. Masters were to view their slaves as brothers, not property. And, in their role as masters, they were to do everything as unto the Lord. This was a game-changing, life-altering moment for these individuals. Can you imagine what kinds of renewal of the mind and shifts in their paradigm were taking place as they wrestled with the newfound faith in Christ and the reality of the social construct in which they found themselves? This particular relationship between slaves and masters would put the daily application of faith in Christ to the test like no other. 

Jesus did not come to revolutionize the structures of society; He came to transform the lives of the people who make up that society. He did not come to radically alter institutions, but to redeem individuals. Political change and legal sanctions do nothing to remedy the condition of the heart. Overthrowing a society’s evil social structures through rebellion or civil disobedience may bring about external change, but it will never fix the problem of sin. Believers, living as children of light in the midst of darkness, loving unconditionally, submitting to one another willingly, and obeying Christ joyfully, are the true change-agents in the world.

Father, we like to fix things. We are wired to right all wrongs and set the record straight on all injustices and inquities. But we live in a fallen world where man’s inhumanity to man is on constant display and unrighteousness seems to be the factory default setting. When Your Son entered the world, He did so at the zenith of Rome’s power. Yet He didn’t rail against the injustices of Roman rule or demand the overthrow of the emperor. He didn’t lead an insurrection or call for a grassroots uprising against the status quo. No, Your Son preached repentance and the need for salvation from sin. He called for heart change, not regime change. And Paul continued to preach Jesus’ message of freedom from slavery to sin and death because he knew that was the key to impacting society. Only changed hearts and lives will produce lasting change in a society. The gospel alone can turn masters into brothers, slaves into servants of Christ, oppressors into encouragers, and persecutors into proponents of the gospel. Jesus’ disciples had hoped He was the Messiah who had come to overthrow the Roman government, but He had come to conquer sin and death. Help me to understand that changing the culture is an inside job that begins within the hearts of people. The gospel is the key to changing the culture, one individual at a time. 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 High Privilege of Parenting

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1 Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. 2 “Honor your father and mother” (this is the first commandment with a promise), 3 “that it may go well with you and that you may live long in the land.” 4 Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord. – Ephesians 6:1-4 ESV

When considering Paul’s call for believers to submit to one another out of reverence for Christ, it is important to remember that this is impossible without the power of the Holy Spirit. Yes, you could pull it off in your own power for a season, but it wouldn’t be long before your old sin nature raised its ugly head, causing pride and self-centeredness to take center stage again. For wives to submit to their husbands and husbands to sacrificially love their wives, the Holy Spirit is a non-negotiable necessity. He alone can provide the fruit we need to “walk as children of light (for the fruit of light is found in all that is good and right and true” (Ephesians 5:8 ESV).

Here in Chapter 6, Paul draws our attention to yet another relationship in which the fruit of the Spirit will be essential; he calls for children to obey their parents. The Greek word Paul uses is hypakouō, which conveys the idea of hearing as well as obeying. It implies a child submitting to the God-given authority of their parents, and that the obedience rendered to them must be “in the Lord,” which is another way of saying “out of reverence for Christ” (Ephesians 5:21 ESV). Just as wives are to submit to their husbands “as to the Lord,” children are to obey their parents with an awareness that they are really submitting to the will of God for their lives.

Paul knows this will be very difficult for young children to comprehend. Even after a child comes to faith in Christ, they will have difficulty understanding what it means to obey in the Lord. That is where the careful, patient, and persistent training from godly parents comes in. Even very young children are naturally prone to disobedience. Their wills develop quickly, and their innate desire to do what they want shows up very early in their development. Obedience is not natural to children. They may not initially realize they are being disobedient, but their natural drive toward autonomy will lead them to choose their own will over their parents’.

In these first three verses, Paul seems to address two phases of childhood, starting with young children and then focusing on adult children. After commanding children to obey, Paul turns to the Mosaic law and quotes the fifth commandment: “Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long in the land that the Lord your God is giving you” (Exodus 20:12 ESV). And he adds a side note: “This is the first commandment with a promise” (Ephesians 6:2 ESV).

Paul calls for honor, not just obedience. The word “honor” carries with it the idea of reverence and veneration. In Hebrew, it is kabad, which means “heaviness” or “weight.” There should be a sense of weightiness or significance that adult children give to the God-given role of their parents in their lives. While young children will not be able to grasp the significance of this concept, older children, especially adult children, can and should.

It is interesting to note that in Deuteronomy 6, Moses told the people of Israel, “Now this is the commandment — the statutes and the rules — that the Lord your God commanded me to teach you, that you may do them in the land to which you are going over, to possess it, that you may fear the Lord your God, you and your son and your son’s son, by keeping all his statutes and his commandments, which I command you, all the days of your life, and that your days may be long” (Deuteronomy 6:1-2 ESV).

Moses was calling the people of God to obedience so that their days would be long in the land. Then Moses went on to give them the motivating factor behind their obedience to God:

You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates. – Deuteronomy 6:5-9 ESV

Verse five contains the Shema, which Jesus would later say is the greatest commandment. Love is to be the primary motivating factor behind obedience to God. And Paul seems to be saying that, ultimately, love should underlie children’s obedience to their parents and the honor they give them in their later years. But for this to happen, Moses said parents were to teach their children diligently. They were to talk about the things of God all the time. Obedience to God was to be a constant topic in the home, and parents were to be the primary source of instruction and illustration of what that obedience looks like.

Which is why Paul addresses fathers. In God’s economy, fathers are held to a higher standard; they are responsible for the spiritual well-being of their household. So Paul warns fathers about provoking or exasperating their children. Nothing will frustrate a child more than inconsistency in their father’s life. His behavior toward and in front of his children will have a dramatic impact on their spiritual well-being. Parental hypocrisy is one of the most damaging influences on a child’s life. Fathers who say one thing and do another end up frustrating and confusing their children. Fathers who demand one set of standards for their children while failing to apply those standards to themselves will cause anger and resentment in their children. Which is why Paul says, “Fathers, don’t provoke your children to anger” (Ephesians 6:4 ESV).

Another surprising cause of anger within children is a lack of discipline. Children need boundaries, supervision, and discipline in their lives. This will require the parents to train their children, and the father is ultimately responsible. A father who is overly strict or heavy-handed in his discipline will end up exasperating his children. But it is also true that a father who is lax in providing his children with loving discipline and godly instruction will provoke his children to anger. That is why Paul tells fathers to bring up their children in the discipline and instruction of the Lord. It should be the goal of every believing parent to raise godly children. While we can’t cause our children to come to faith in Christ, we can provide an environment in which the truth of the gospel is lived out in their presence and the love of God is modeled in their lives.

Parenting is a God-ordained role that comes with weighty responsibilities. But the Psalmist reminds us that “children are a heritage from the Lord, the fruit of the womb a reward. Like arrows in the hand of a warrior are the children of one’s youth. Blessed is the man who fills his quiver with them!” (Psalm 127:3-5 ESV). Our children are to be seen as blessings, not burdens. Their presence in our home is a gift from God, an inheritance designed to outlast our lives and bring Him glory for generations to come. But the hope of their future faithfulness begins under our watch and depends on our willingness to “bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord” (Ephesians 6:4 ESV).  What we say and do matters. How we live and love makes a difference. Faith cannot be inherited, but faithfulness to God can be modeled so that the next generation can learn of His goodness and greatness. 

We will not hide these truths from our children;
    we will tell the next generation
about the glorious deeds of the Lord,
    about his power and his mighty wonders.

He commanded our ancestors
    to teach them to their children,
so the next generation might know them—
    even the children not yet born—
    and they in turn will teach their own children.
So each generation should set its hope anew on God,
    not forgetting his glorious miracles
    and obeying his commands.
Then they will not be like their ancestors—
    stubborn, rebellious, and unfaithful,
    refusing to give their hearts to God. – Psalm 78:4, 5-8 NLT

Father, the job of parenting is never done. Even as our children leave the nest, we find ourselves still listening, loving, guiding, and directing. Even as our children move into adulthood, they continue to watch our lives and  mirror our behavior. They may stop asking our advice, but they continue to recall the lessons we taught them along the way, both good and bad. The things we said and did when they were young are seared into their memories. What we do when they are young has long-term implications. Even when we are gone, they will still remember our words and actions. They will recall the life lessons we imparted and either embrace or reject them. The degree of our faithfulness to God when they were young will either motivate or demoralize them when they are older. Give us the strength to parent well, to grandparent faithfully. Don’t let us grow weary in doing good. Holy Spirit, empower and equip us to run the race well and to finish strong. Our children’s lives depend upon it. We cannot save them, but we can provide them with a safe and fertile environment in which truth is taught, love is boundless, patience is abundant, and faith is lived out in everyday life. 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 Love of God

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14 For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, 15 from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named, 16 that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being, 17 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love, 18 may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, 19 and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.

20 Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, 21 to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen. – Ephesians 3:14-21 ESV

Paul picks up where he left off in verse one of this chapter, opening verse 14 with the same phrase: “For this reason…” He repeats that after taking a brief aside to discuss the mystery of the church in verses 2-13. Now he is ready to make some applications regarding God’s unification of Jews and Gentiles into one household of faith.

In Chapter 1, Paul prayed for their spiritual enlightenment, asking that God would give them “the Spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of Him” (Ephesians 1:17 ESV). Now, in Chapter 3, he tells his audience that he offers another prayer request on their behalf. He prays for their spiritual strength.

…that according to the riches of his glory he [God] may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being. – Ephesians 3:16 ESV

In Chapter 1, he prayed that they might know God. Here he is praying that they would experience “the fullness of life and power that comes from God (Ephesians 3:19 NLT). Earlier, he prayed that they might know the hope they have in Christ. Here he is praying that their knowledge of that hope would strengthen their faith.

The author of Hebrews described faith as “the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen” (Hebrews 11:1 ESV). Faith and hope go hand in hand and are inseparable. Faith makes what we hope become as real and tangible as if we already possessed it. But hope is not based on what we can already see. Paul told the Romans, “Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience” (Romans 8:24-25 ESV).

Jesus gave His followers the promise of the indwelling Holy Spirit. God guaranteed them eternal life. Jesus told His disciples He was going to prepare a place for them. But none of these things can be seen with the human eye. We have no tangible, visible proof of their existence, so they remain unseen by us. But by faith, we believe them to be true and real. Why? Because they have been promised to us by God. We trust His word and rely upon His faithfulness.

For those who are in Christ, the hope of the indwelling Spirit of God has been realized. But the hope of eternal life remains unfulfilled and beyond our present experience. Yet, we believe in it because God has proven Himself to be reliable and trustworthy.

God is not a man, so he does not lie. He is not human, so he does not change his mind. Has he ever spoken and failed to act? Has he ever promised and not carried it through? – Numbers 23:19 NLT

And the Spirit of God provides us with the strength we need to believe, even in the midst of doubt and uncertainty. Paul’s desire was that Christ would continue to dwell in their hearts through faith. He was not insinuating that they could somehow lose their salvation; he was concerned that they might begin to lose focus on Christ’s sufficiency in their lives. He wanted them to know that they were “rooted and grounded in love” (Ephesians 3:17 ESV), the love of God. They were firmly and securely planted in the love of God through their faith in Christ, and Paul wanted them to fully comprehend that fact. He longed for them to know the same truth he wrote to the believers in Rome.

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

Paul wanted the Holy Spirit to give the Ephesian believers the strength to fully comprehend how powerful and vast God’s love for them really was. It is one thing to have knowledge of God, but another to understand and appreciate the love of God. When we begin to comprehend His incredible love for us, as displayed in His sacrifice of His own Son on our behalf, we are able to view life through His eyes, instead of our own. We stop seeing every little trial as a punishment and start viewing them as opportunities to trust in a loving God who has great plans for us. When we focus on all that God has done for us in the past and all He has promised to do in the future, we feel His love and gain strength for the journey. He has not left us, and He will never forsake us.

For Paul, it all boils down to an understanding of and appreciation for God’s love. It was God who had saved the Ephesians. In the midst of their sinfulness and helplessness, God intervened, sending His Son to die on their behalf. Paul put it in simple, yet profound terms in his letter to the Romans.

…but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. – Romans 5:8 ESV

The apostle John adds the important distinction that Jesus did what He did out of love as well.

We know what real love is because Jesus gave up his life for us. So we also ought to give up our lives for our brothers and sisters. – 1 John 3:16 ESV

The selfless, sacrificial love of the Father and His Son should encourage, empower, and flow through them. Paul prayed that they would be filled with all the fullness of God. This is not a prayer that his readers would become gods, but that the very nature of God, His love, mercy, grace, righteousness, compassion, selflessness, and holiness, would fill them and exude from them.

And Paul had every confidence that what he was asking from God would be provided by God. Why? Because He is “able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think” (Ephesians 3:20 ESV). God doesn’t just have the power to save; He has the power to sanctify completely, and He has made it possible by placing His Spirit within us. His power is not an external force acting upon us; it is internal and supernatural. The very same power that raised Jesus from the dead resides within us, transforming us from the inside out. His love for us is not static; it is actively revealed in His ongoing activity in and around our lives as He molds us into the likeness of His Son.

God is patiently and lovingly working within individuals and within the church. He is doing things we cannot see. He is accomplishing works that are invisible to our eyes. But in faith we wait expectantly, hope confidently, labor joyously, and endure patiently. We are loved, He is faithful, and He is far from done.

Father, You loved me so much that You sent Your Son to die for me. But His death was not final; it ended with His resurrection and return to Your side in heaven. And You have promised to send Him back one day. His work is not yet complete. Your plan of redemption has not yet been finalized. Your Son loved me enough that He gave His life for me. But His death not only paid the penality for my sins; it paved the way for the Holy Spirit to come and indwell me. His presence in my life provides me with the power to live in obedience to Your will. The Spirit’s love for me is relentless and unwavering. Despite the many times I fail to listen to His promptings or appropriate His power, He has promised never to leave me. He is with me to the end. And because of Your love, my end is secure and my future is set — for eternity.

The love of God is greater far
than tongue or pen can ever tell;
it goes beyond the highest star,
and reaches to the lowest hell;
the guilty pair, bowed down with care,
God gave His Son to win;
His erring child He reconciled,
and pardoned from his sin. 

O love of God, how rich and pure!
How measureless and strong!
It shall forevermore endure:
the saints’ and angels’ song! – Frederick M. Lehman (1917)

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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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

The Wondrous Ways of God

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

34 “For who has known the mind of the Lord,
    or who has been his counselor?”
35 “Or who has given a gift to him
    that he might be repaid?”

36 For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen. – Romans 11:33-36 ESV

Paul sums up the last three chapters regarding Israel’s rejection of God, their partial hardening, and their ultimate restoration as His chosen people with a statement about His incomparable character. He marvels at God’s riches, wisdom, and knowledge. He confesses that God’s ways and judgments are unsearchable and inscrutable. But what is Paul’s point? What is he attempting to say about God?

I think the New American Standard Version has a more accurate rendering of Paul’s opening line: “Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God!” The word “riches” refers to abundance or fullness. Paul says that God is overflowing with wisdom and knowledge.

“God’s ‘wisdom’ is His ability to arrange His plan so it results in good for both Jews and Gentiles and His own glory. His ‘knowledge’ testifies to His ability to construct such a plan.” – Dr. Thomas L. Constable, Notes On Romans, 2009 Edition

We may not always understand what God is doing, but we can always trust that whatever He does is right and good. Paul goes on to say that God’s judgments are unsearchable. The Greek word “judgment” carries a judicial sense. It can mean “condemnation of wrong, the decision (whether severe or mild) which one passes on the faults of others” (Outline of Biblical Usage).

We have no right to judge God for what He does, including His judgment of mankind’s sins or His choosing to show mercy to some who deserve His judgment. His “ways” or actions are beyond our comprehension. His thought processes exceed our limited capacity of understanding. Isaiah confirmed this reality when he wrote, “‘My thoughts are nothing like your thoughts,’ says the Lord. ‘And my ways are far beyond anything you could imagine. For just as the heavens are higher than the earth, so my ways are higher than your ways and my thoughts higher than your thoughts’” (Isaiah 55:8-9 NLT).

Paul continues to quote Isaiah to support his point.

Who is able to advise the Spirit of the Lord? Who knows enough to give him advice or teach him? Has the Lord ever needed anyone’s advice? Does he need instruction about what is good? Did someone teach him what is right or show him the path of justice? – Isaiah 40:13-14 NLT

In verse 35, Paul resorts to quoting Elihu, one of Job’s well-meaning but ultimately unhelpful friends.

“If you are good, is this some great gift to him [God]? What could you possibly give him?” – Job 35:7 NLT

He also quotes the words God spoke in response to Job’s questioning of His ways.

“Who has given me anything that I need to pay back? Everything under heaven is mine.” – Job 41:11 NLT

God is not to be questioned or placed under the microscope of our finite minds. While His ways may seem strange or even distasteful to us, they are always right, just, and good. There is always a method and a meaning behind what appears to us as madness. God doesn’t need our advice and does not seek our counsel. He doesn’t owe an explanation for His actions, and we certainly don’t deserve His.

God is not obligated to redeem anyone and is not required to extend His saving grace to any man or woman. That He does so at all should astound and amaze us. It should leave us in awe of His incredible love, patience, and faithfulness. When Paul wrote, “For God has consigned all to disobedience” (Romans 11:32 ESV), he was saying that God was justly passing sentence on all men for their sin and rebellion against Him “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23 ESV).

Every human being is guilty of disobedience or “obstinate opposition to the divine will” (Outline of Biblical Usage), and that includes both Jews and Gentiles. But God has decided to show mercy to some, but not because they deserved it. As Paul explains, God shows “mercy on whomever he will, and he hardens whomever he wills” (Romans 9:18 ESV). His mercy and compassion have nothing to do with human will or self-effort (Romans 9:16), but are His sole prerogative. Which is why Paul concludes, “For from him and through him and to him are all things” (Romans 11:36 ESV). The New Living Translation puts it this way: “For everything comes from him and exists by his power and is intended for his glory.”

Salvation is a gift of God and is based solely on His mercy. It has nothing to do with anything inherently good in the one who receives it. No one deserves God’s mercy. What He chooses to do in regard to sinful mankind is completely up to Him. As God, He is free to do whatever He deems to be just and good, and all that He does, He does for His own glory. His actions always reveal His character in a way that illustrates and accentuates His glorious nature. Whenever He acts, He expresses His judgment, and He does so in a perfectly just and righteous manner. When He punishes, He never does so unjustly; it is always deserved. When He shows mercy, it is never at the expense of His justice. In other words, it is never unjust or unfair.

When God pardons the sins of those who believe in His Son, He doesn’t just turn His back on their sins and act as if they never happened; that would be unjust and unrighteous. Their sins deserve punishment. Their crimes require sentencing and payment of the penalty due. So God took care of the penalty with the death of His Son. He paid the price for our sins by sending His Son to die in our place. And as Paul declares, “How unsearchable are His judgments and how inscrutable are His ways! How wonderful are the ways of God!”

Father, You are the just judge who always rules rightly and without partiality. You are the righteous Law-Giver and the flawless Law-Keeper. You are light and in You there is no hint of darkness (1 John 1:5). I may not always understand Your ways, but that gives me no right to question Your motives or character. You are always in control and Your plans are always perfect, righteous, and good. In the moment, when the circumstances of life appear difficult and even unbearable, I can sometimes question Your goodness and greatness. I can begin to doubt Your love for me. But Paul reminds me that all things come from You; they pass through Your sovereign hands and are intended for my good and Your glory. 

“…everything comes from him and exists by his power and is intended for his glory” (Romans 11:36 NLT).

Paul’s imprisonments were part of Your will for him. It was from those prison cells he penned the majority of his letters. Some of his most encouraging words came during what must have been his most discouraging moments. Yet, he didn’t allow his suffering to stifle his faith or keep Him from trusting Your will for his life. I want to make his prayer my own, asking that I might live my life in submission to Your marvelous, mind-boggling, and fully reliable will for my life.

For I fully expect and hope that I will never be ashamed, but that I will continue to be bold for Christ, as I have been in the past. And I trust that my life will bring honor to Christ, whether I live or die. For to me, living means living for Christ, and dying is even better. But if I live, I can do more fruitful work for Christ. – Philippians 1:20-22 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.22

Our Ready, Willing, and Able God

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25 Lest you be wise in your own sight, I do not want you to be unaware of this mystery, brothers: a partial hardening has come upon Israel, until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in. 26 And in this way all Israel will be saved, as it is written,

“The Deliverer will come from Zion,
    he will banish ungodliness from Jacob”;
27 “and this will be my covenant with them
    when I take away their sins.” – Romans 11:25-27 ESV

Paul has been establishing the fact that God is not yet done with Israel. While the majority of Jews have rejected Jesus as their Messiah, a remnant has been shown mercy by God and placed their faith in His Son as their Savior. Paul was living proof of that reality, and there were other believing Jews in the church in Rome.

The Gentile believers had much for which to be grateful to the Hebrew nation. It was through the Jews that their Savior had come. Jesus was a descendant of Abraham and born into the line of King David, all in keeping with the promises made to both men. And while those Jews who refused to accept Jesus as their Savior were “broken off because of their unbelief” (Romans 11:20 ESV) and the Gentiles were grafted in, that did not mean that God had turned His back on His chosen people. If He was able to mercifully take Gentiles and graciously graft them into the root of Abraham, could He not do so with the Jews? Paul poses that very question.

And even they [the Jews], if they do not continue in their unbelief, will be grafted in, for God has the power to graft them in again. – Romans 11:23 ESV

The important word here is “belief.” Faith in Christ is required for anyone, whether Jew or Gentile, to be grafted into the root of Abraham. Paul wrote the Gentile believers in Galatia, reminding them of their status as children of Abraham because of their faith in Jesus, the descendant of Abraham.

The real children of Abraham, then, are those who put their faith in God. What’s more, the Scriptures looked forward to this time when God would declare the Gentiles to be righteous because of their faith. God proclaimed this good news to Abraham long ago when he said, “All nations will be blessed through you.” So all who put their faith in Christ share the same blessing Abraham received because of his faith. – Galatians 3:7-9 NLT

He went on to clarify, “Through Christ Jesus, God has blessed the Gentiles with the same blessing he promised to Abraham, so that we who are believers might receive the promised Holy Spirit through faith” (Galatians 3:14 NLT).

It is through faith, our belief in the saving power of Jesus Christ, that we inherit the promises made to Abraham. We become part of God’s family through belief in His Son, and the same thing is true for God’s chosen people, the Jews. But Paul indicates that a “partial hardening has come upon Israel” (Romans 11:25 ESV). The term Paul used is interesting. It is pōrōsis, and it means “obtrusiveness of mental discernment, dulled perception” (Outline of Biblical Usage). The root word means “to grow hard, callous, become dull, lose the power of understanding.”

For the time being, the Jews, individually and collectively, are experiencing a callousness to the gospel message, but this was all part of God’s divine plan. As Paul wrote earlier, “their rejection means the reconciliation of the world” (Romans 11:15 ESV). It was their rejection of Christ that led to the gospel being taken to the rest of the nations of the world. But Paul indicates that there will be a point when “the fullness of the Gentiles has come in” (Romans 11:25 ESV). Thomas L. Constable explains what this phrase means:

“When all the Gentiles whom God has chosen for salvation during the present age of Jewish rejection (setting aside) have experienced salvation, God will precipitate a revival of faith among the Jews. Even though some Jews trust Christ now, God is not presently working through them as Israel as He will in the future (i.e., in the Millennium), after multitudes of them turn to faith in Christ. He is now working through the church.” – Dr. Thomas L. Constable, Notes on Romans, 2009 Edition.

Paul writes, “The Deliverer will come from Zion, he will banish ungodliness from Jacob and this will be my covenant with them when I take away their sins” (Romans 11:26-27 ESV). He is quoting the writings of the prophet Isaiah.

“And a Redeemer will come to Zion,
    to those in Jacob who turn from transgression,” declares the Lord.” – Isaiah 59:20 ESV

Paul understood this passage as a prophecy concerning the Messiah, which was partially fulfilled in the coming of Jesus. But upon His arrival, Jesus was met with opposition from His own people. The apostle John described the less-than-warm welcome Jesus received from His fellow Jews.

He came into the very world he created, but the world didn’t recognize him. He came to his own people, and even they rejected him. But to all who believed him and accepted him, he gave the right to become children of God. – John 1:10-12 NLT

The Jews didn’t exactly roll out the red carpet when Jesus appeared the first time. But God is far from done with them. He will still accomplish His will among the Jewish people and fulfill the promises He made to them, but it will not take place until He has completed His work among the Gentiles. There is a day coming when the number of Gentiles to be saved will be complete. Paul is not inferring that ALL Gentiles will be saved; he is indicating that there is a limited number of those who will place their faith in Christ, and when that number has been reached, God’s work among the Gentiles will have been fulfilled. He will then turn His attention to the Jews.

But when Paul says that “all Israel will be saved,” he does not mean that every single Israelite who has ever lived will become a believer in Jesus Christ. In the same way that not all Gentiles will come to saving knowledge of Jesus Christ, neither will all Jews. But when compared to the relatively small believing remnant of Jews that currently exists, the number that will come to faith in the future will be large, and there will be representatives from every tribe of Israel.

The prophet Zechariah predicted a future day when God would do a mighty work among the people of Israel. He quotes God’s promise to complete His divine plan for His chosen people.

“I will pour out a spirit of grace and prayer on the family of David and on the people of Jerusalem. They will look on me whom they have pierced and mourn for him as for an only son. They will grieve bitterly for him as for a firstborn son who has died.” – Zechariah 12:10 NLT

The day will come when the people of Israel will grieve over their mistreatment and rejection of their Messiah. But their sorrow will be turned to joy. 

“On that day a fountain will be opened for the dynasty of David and for the people of Jerusalem, a fountain to cleanse them from all their sins and impurity.

“And on that day,” says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, “I will erase idol worship throughout the land, so that even the names of the idols will be forgotten. I will remove from the land both the false prophets and the spirit of impurity that came with them.” – Zechariah 13:1-2 NLT

But not all Israel will be saved. The prophecy is very specific in indicating that God will redeem and restore a remnant of His chosen people.

“Two-thirds of the people in the land
    will be cut off and die,” says the Lord.
    “But one-third will be left in the land.
I will bring that group through the fire
    and make them pure.
I will refine them like silver
    and purify them like gold.
They will call on my name,
    and I will answer them.
I will say, ‘These are my people,’
    and they will say, ‘The Lord is our God.’” – Zechariah 13:8-9 NLT

God is ready, willing, and able to redeem Israel. He is not yet done with His chosen people, nor has He fully rejected them. He is simply waiting until the full number of Gentiles has come to faith in Christ, then He will turn His attention to the Jews. His plan is perfect, and His timeline is right on schedule. We don’t know when these things will take place, but we are to trust that they will, because our God is faithful, just, righteous, powerful, and fully capable of completing what He has started and fulfilling all that He has promised to the people of Israel and to us.

Father, as Paul has so persistently illustrated, You are a promise-keeping God. Your Word is filled with promises You made to the nation of Israel and You will fulfill every one of them. As Balaam said, “God is not a man, so he does not lie. He is not human, so he does not change his mind. Has he ever spoken and failed to act? Has he ever promised and not carried it through?” (Numbers 23:19 NLT). You are good for Your word. You don’t renege on Your promises and You never change Your mind. You are faithful, true, and totally trustworthy. And the fact that You will keep Your promises to Israel is a powerful reminder that You will keep the promises You have made to me and every other Gentile believer. You are more reliable than the sun coming up in the morning or the changing of the seasons. I am reminded of the words Paul wrote to Titus, reminding him of Your faithfulness.

I have been sent to proclaim faith to those God has chosen and to teach them to know the truth that shows them how to live godly lives. This truth gives them confidence that they have eternal life, which God—who does not lie—promised them before the world began. – Titus 1:1-2 NLT

Your plan is far from finished. Your will concerning the people of Israel is not yet complete. They remain hardhearted and incapable of accepting the truth concerning Jesus as their Messiah and Savior. But the day is coming when You will give them new hearts and a new capacity to see the error of their ways and return to a right relationship with You through faith alone in Christ alone, because You are faithful. 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

Blind Eyes and Deaf Ears

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7 What then? Israel failed to obtain what it was seeking. The elect obtained it, but the rest were hardened, 8 as it is written,

“God gave them a spirit of stupor,
    eyes that would not see
    and ears that would not hear,
down to this very day.”

9 And David says,

“Let their table become a snare and a trap,
    a stumbling block and a retribution for them;
10 let their eyes be darkened so that they cannot see,
    and bend their backs forever.” – Romans 11:7-10 ESV

Blind eyes and deaf ears. According to Paul, that was the current status of the majority of Jews “down to this very day” (Romans 11:8 ESV). They were unable to see Jesus for who He really was – their long-awaited Messiah, and they were incapable of hearing and comprehending the message of the gospel. As Paul had already stated,

They have stumbled over the stumbling stone. – Romans 9:32 ESV

Rather than accepting Jesus, the Son of God, as their Savior, they rejected Him because He had not met their preconceptions regarding the coming Messiah. He didn’t look like what they expected, and he didn’t do the things they hoped the Messiah would do. They believed the Messiah would come in the form of a conquering king, not a suffering servant. They were intrigued by Jesus’ miracles, but His message of repentance left them disappointed and disillusioned.

Paul has been pointing out the futility of pursuing a right relationship with God by attempting to keep His law. Paul has said that the Jewish people had a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge (Romans 10:2). In other words, they wanted to do the right thing, but they were going about it in the wrong way. They had misunderstood the kind of righteousness God required of them; it could not be self-produced or earned.

For being ignorant of the righteousness of God, and seeking to establish their own, they did not submit to God’s righteousness. – Romans 10:3 ESV

They had refused to place their faith in Jesus, who was God’s chosen means for providing righteousness for all men, including the Jews.

For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes. – Romans 10:4 ESV

With the coming of Christ, the misconception that men could be justified before God through human effort was brought to an end. And there had been some Jews who had heard and accepted this message of salvation through Christ. That is why Paul states, “The elect obtained it, but the rest were hardened” (Romans 11:7 ESV). There was a believing remnant among the Jews who had embraced the gospel message, and Paul had been among them. However, many were hardened. Paul used the Greek word pōroō to refer to the condition of the majority of the Jews in his day. That word means “to grow hard, callous, become dull, lose the power of understanding” (Outline of Biblical Usage).

While many had heard the message of the gospel, only a few believed. The rest made a conscious decision to reject it and were left in a state of spiritual stupor, “which renders their souls torpid so insensible that they are not affected at all by the offer made them of salvation through the Messiah” (Outline of Biblical Usage).

Paul was very familiar with this condition because he encountered it virtually everywhere he went on his missionary journeys. One of his first objectives upon arriving in a new town was to visit the local synagogue, where he would share the gospel with his fellow Jews.

Paul and Silas then traveled through the towns of Amphipolis and Apollonia and came to Thessalonica, where there was a Jewish synagogue. As was Paul’s custom, he went to the synagogue service, and for three Sabbaths in a row he used the Scriptures to reason with the people. He explained the prophecies and proved that the Messiah must suffer and rise from the dead. He said, “This Jesus I’m telling you about is the Messiah.” – Acts 17:1-3 NLT

But the usual reception Paul received was less than welcoming.

But some of the Jews were jealous, so they gathered some troublemakers from the marketplace to form a mob and start a riot. They attacked the home of Jason, searching for Paul and Silas so they could drag them out to the crowd. Not finding them there, they dragged out Jason and some of the other believers instead and took them before the city council. “Paul and Silas have caused trouble all over the world,” they shouted, “and now they are here disturbing our city, too. And Jason has welcomed them into his home. They are all guilty of treason against Caesar, for they profess allegiance to another king, named Jesus.” – Acts 17:5-7 ESV

While Paul was ministering in Lystra, a group of Jews arrived and “stoned Paul and dragged him out of town, thinking he was dead. But as the believers gathered around him, he got up and went back into the town” (Acts 14:19-20 NLT). Paul was well acquainted with the hardened hearts of the Jews to whom he sought to share the gospel. He had experienced firsthand just how stubborn and opposed to the message of salvation they could be.

And this condition was not new for the Jews. Throughout their history, the Jews had exhibited a pattern of rebellion and resistance to God’s will.  God had repeatedly offered them messages of repentance and watched as they rejected His messengers and their message. The prophets had faithfully called the people of God to repentance, promising them salvation if they would repent. But they had refused. Instead, they turned down God’s offer of restoration and redemption. And they had continued to do so even when Jesus appeared on the scene.

Not long after beginning His earthly ministry, Jesus chastised the Jewish religious leaders for their obstinacy and accused them of following the lead of their rebellious ancestors.

“You testify against yourselves that you are indeed the descendants of those who murdered the prophets. Go ahead and finish what your ancestors started. Snakes! Sons of vipers! How will you escape the judgment of hell? Therefore, I am sending you prophets and wise men and teachers of religious law. But you will kill some by crucifixion, and you will flog others with whips in your synagogues, chasing them from city to city.” – Matthew 23:31-34 NLT

Jesus mourned over the stubborn resistance of His own people and declared His desire that they would open their eyes and see Him as who He was: Their long-awaited Messiah.

“O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones God’s messengers! How often I have wanted to gather your children together as a hen protects her chicks beneath her wings, but you wouldn’t let me. And now, look, your house is abandoned and desolate. For I tell you this, you will never see me again until you say, ‘Blessings on the one who comes in the name of the Lord!’” – Matthew 23:37-39 NLT

Paul, like Jesus, had a deep affection for the people of Israel and desired to see them come to faith in Christ. He longed to see them repent and return to the Lord. But he knew that most would refuse to accept Jesus as their Messiah and reject His offer of salvation. But that didn’t stop Paul from sharing. He continued to share the good news of Jesus Christ with every Jew he met.

Paul had no idea just how big or small God’s believing remnant would be; he refused to worry about that. Instead, he continued to faithfully proclaim the gospel, boldly, unapologetically, and fearlessly. He knew that the Jews could only be awakened from their spiritual stupor by the Spirit of God. So, he simply shared and left the rest up to God.

Father, like the prophets before him, there must have been days when Paul became discouraged and defeated by his lack of success among his own people. He shared the gospel repeatedly, but the Jews returned the favor by rejecting his message, running him out of town, and even stoning him and leaving him for dead. Yet, he never threw in the towel or gave up his quest to see his fellow Jews come to faith in Christ. He was committed to his commission to share the gospel with Jews and Gentiles alike. He even said, “preaching the Good News is not something I can boast about. I am compelled by God to do it. How terrible for me if I didn’t preach the Good News!” (1 Corinthians 9:16 NLT). Paul never compromised his message, but he did make concessions, saying, “With those who follow the Jewish law, I too lived under that law. Even though I am not subject to the law, I did this so I could bring to Christ those who are under the law” (1 Corinthians 9:20 NLT), “doing everything I can to save some” (1 Corinthians 9:22 NLT). 

I want to have that kind of determination and dedication to Your will. I want to exhibit that kind of faith and sold-out commitment to Christ’s call to make disciples of all the nations. But too often, I allow the fear of man and the thought of failure keep me from fulfilling my role as an ambassador of Christ. Give me the boldness and love that permeated Paul’s life so that I might do everything I can to save some. 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

Free For All

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5 For Moses writes about the righteousness that is based on the law, that the person who does the commandments shall live by them. 6 But the righteousness based on faith says, “Do not say in your heart, ‘Who will ascend into heaven?’” (that is, to bring Christ down) 7 “or ‘Who will descend into the abyss?’” (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead). 8 But what does it say? “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart” (that is, the word of faith that we proclaim); 9 because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved. 11 For the Scripture says, “Everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame.” 12 For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, bestowing his riches on all who call on him. 13 For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” – Romans 10:5-13 ESV

In addressing the issue of how sinful man is justified or made right with God, Paul continues to contrast the difference between man-produced righteousness and righteousness based on faith. Because he was addressing some in the church in Rome who were Jewish believers, he draws on many Old Testament references to prove his point. In verse 5, he references the book of Leviticus, where Moses records the following words from God:

“I am the Lord your God. You shall not do as they do in the land of Egypt, where you lived, and you shall not do as they do in the land of Canaan, to which I am bringing you. You shall not walk in their statutes. You shall follow my rules and keep my statutes and walk in them. I am the Lord your God. You shall therefore keep my statutes and my rules; if a person does them, he shall live by them: I am the Lord.” – Leviticus 18:2-5 ESV

In his letter to the Galatian church, Paul clarified the meaning behind this passage.

For all who rely on works of the law are under a curse; for it is written, “Cursed be everyone who does not abide by all things written in the Book of the Law, and do them.” Now it is evident that no one is justified before God by the law, for “The righteous shall live by faith.” But the law is not of faith, rather “The one who does them shall live by them.” – Galatians 3:10-12 ESV

When God spoke of living by them (the laws), He was not simply talking about life, but about right standing before God, or righteousness. Keeping God’s law completely was required for anyone to be justified or viewed as sinless before God. But God made it clear that if anyone wanted to be justified before Him according to the law, they would have to obey every single requirement. And Paul confirmed this by warning that failure to comply with all the law brought a curse, quoting from another Old Testament passage.

“Cursed is anyone who does not affirm and obey the terms of these instructions.” – Deuteronomy 27:26 NLT

But Paul also provides the good news regarding this curse.

But Christ has rescued us from the curse pronounced by the law. When he was hung on the cross, he took upon himself the curse for our wrongdoing. – Galatians 3:13 NLT

Attempting to earn your way into God’s good graces through the stringent keeping of His law was a dead-end street that led nowhere. But God sent His Son to pay for man’s sins with His death on the cross.

Paul stresses that man’s salvation is to be based on faith in Christ, not on self-effort. It is not what man does that saves him, but belief in what Christ has done on his behalf. Paul summed up his belief with the following statement:

…if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. – Romans 10:9 ESV

Nothing more was required for men to be saved. Again, using Old Testament Scriptures to prove his point, Paul quotes and paraphrases Deuteronomy 30:11-14.

“Don’t say in your heart, ‘Who will go up to heaven?’ (to bring Christ down to earth). And don’t say, ‘Who will go down to the place of the dead?’ (to bring Christ back to life again).” – Romans 10:6-7 NLT

In other words, nobody has to earn their way into God’s presence and invite Jesus to come down. He came of his own volition and in compliance with the will of His Heavenly Father. He descended from heaven because no one could work their way there. And, secondly, nobody has to try to bring the crucified Christ back to life because He has already risen and sits at the right hand of the Father in heaven. Paul’s point is that human effort is unnecessary for salvation; it is based solely on belief.

For it is by believing in your heart that you are made right with God, and it is by openly declaring your faith that you are saved. – Romans 10:10 NLT

And Paul stresses that this believing faith is open to all.

Jew and Gentile are the same in this respect. They have the same Lord, who gives generously to all who call on him. For “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” – Romans 10:12-13 NLT

To call on the name of the Lord is to place your hope in Him rather than yourself. It is to recognize that your name or character is not enough to save you. Calling on the name of the Lord is an act of submission and dependence; it is an admission of need and a cry of help because we cannot save ourselves.

In Solomon’s prayer of dedication for the newly constructed Temple, he said, “If your people Israel are defeated by their enemies because they have sinned against you, and if they turn to you and acknowledge your name and pray to you here in this Temple,  then hear from heaven and forgive the sin of your people Israel and return them to this land you gave their ancestors” (1 Kings 8:33-34 NLT).

Solomon stresses the need for repentance, a turning away from their sin and a returning to the Lord. Acknowledging His name was the same as acknowledging His holiness and righteousness. It was to admit that His power alone can save. It is our word of faith, our confession of Jesus Christ as our Savior, that brings about our justification or right standing before God. When we turn from trusting in ourselves and place all our hope in Him, He rescues and redeems us.

Father, we seemed to be wired to work our way into Your good graces. We are used to doing everything in our own strength and enjoy getting credit for our hard work. But when it comes to salvation, we are helpless and hopeless. We can’t work our way into Your favor. As Isaiah said, “We are all infected and impure with sin. When we display our righteous deeds, they are nothing but filthy rags” (Isaiah 64:6 NLT). And Paul echoed those wods when he wrote, “Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it” (Ephesians 2;9 NLT). Your plan for our redemption and restoration was never based on our ability to live up to Your righteous standards. Even Your law, through righteous and holy, was intended to show man His sinfulness and need for a Savior. “For no one can ever be made right with God by doing what the law commands. The law simply shows us how sinful we are” (Romans 3:20 NLT).

Our inability to earn our way back into Your favor left us condemned and unclean before You. We deserved the penalty of death, but You provided a way for us to receive forgiveness and the gift of eternal life by sending Your Son as our sin substitute, and as the prophet Joel said, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved” (Joel 2:32 NLT). No more curse or condemnation. No more fear of death or threat of eternal separation from You. And all it requires is faith. 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