The Trinitarian Work of Christian Unity

Ephesians 2:11-22

In the Scriptures we might say that we find the overwhelming assumption of the doctrine of the Trinity. Nowhere in the Bible will we find the concise creedal statement, “God is one God eternally existing in three persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.” Yet when we study Paul’s letter to the Ephesians we are struck with the clear teaching on the unity of God along with the triune work of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit: “there is one body and one Spirit- just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call-one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all” (4:4-6). In the great doxological sentence of chapter one we find that God the Father accomplishes all things according the counsel of his will (1:11). This purpose is accomplished by redemption through the blood of Christ (1:7). This purpose is applied, sealed, and guaranteed in our hearts by the work of the Holy Spirit (1:13).

This same unified, harmonious work of one God in three persons is found in Ephesians 2:11-22. What is particularly glorious about this passage is that it teaches us that the unity of many believers into one unified body is accomplished by our Triune God. As a body of believers we reflect the image of the Triune God – many members in one body- through the work of the Triune God – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. As one body we do not lose who we are as individuals any more than Christ loses his personhood in his unity of essence with the Father. We are called to be unified, not uniform. This is part of the great mystery of the Godhead. There is diversity in the persons and functions of the Triune God. But it is diversity with perfect harmony and unity! And this is the work of God in his redeeming power through the Church.

In Ephesians 2:11-22 we find no less than twelve explicit references to the Trinity in twelve verses: five references to Christ – vv. 12, 13(2x), 20,21; five references to God – vv. 12, 16, 18, 19, 22; and two references to the Holy Spirit - vv. 18,22. God the Father has willed and decreed that a holy temple, a great household, a wonderful family be brought together throughout time and all over the world “to the praise of His glorious grace.”

But his children are rebels and sinners. Ephesians 2:11-13 paints a rather grim portrait of our sinful condition before the just and righteous God. We were “gentiles in the flesh,” the “uncircumcision.” We had no claim to an inheritance before God the Father. We had no place at his table. We were separated from Christ, aliens and strangers to the law of God and his covenant promises. We were at war with God, and at war with his people. We were far off, with no rightful access to God. We were without hope and without God in the world.
How might this hostility be abolished? How might these warring brothers be united? How might this sin be atoned? How will the prodigals, aliens, and strangers be brought into the commonwealth of Israel? By the Triune work of God.

First, by the purpose, decree, and power of God (Eph. 1:3-14). This sovereign purpose of God is the overarching theme of Ephesians, and more than that, the whole of God’s Word!
This purpose is accomplished by the work of Christ. In Ephesians 2:13 we see that we were brought near to the holy and just God by the blood of Christ. Jesus Christ made one body by giving up his own body on the cross. He made one new man, reconciling all men to God through the cross. He preached peace first to the Jew (who was near) and then to the Gentile (who was far off.)

This work of Christ is applied by the work of the Holy Spirit. We see in verse 18, while Jesus did
the work of atonement, the Spirit does the work of granting access. We have access to the Father by the indwelling presence of God Himself in us by the Spirit. We are made a “dwelling place for God by the Spirit.” We are a new household; each of his children by the spirit of sonship (Romans 8:15; Galatians 4:6). We are brothers and sisters “eagerly maintaining the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace” (4:3).

As I reflect on Ephesians 2:11-22, I have to ask myself if I typically look at unity in the body through the beautiful Trinitarian lens that Paul gives us in this passage. Try a little exercise with me. Consider a brother or sister in the church you find difficult to get along with. Perhaps they rub you the wrong way, or maybe they have legitimately hurt you in some way. Maybe you have a bone to pick with an elder in the church, or you have issues with the way a fellowship group leader teaches, or how he handled a situation. Now consider him in light of Ephesians 2:11-22 and the work of our Triune God in making both of you one “to the praise of his glorious grace.”

Remember that both of you share a common heritage of sinfulness, exile, separation from Christ, hopelessness, and alienation from God. Without the pure, undeserved grace of Christ, neither of you have any claim to godliness, goodness, nor glory. This tends to level our pride, doesn’t it? Keeps you from “thinking of yourself more highly than you ought” (Romans 12:3).

Next, remember that God chose him before the foundation of the world according to the purpose of His will. God the Father loves this brother as a son and has a glorious redemptive design for his life, and you are part of that design as a member with him of one unified body.

Now reflect of the blood of Christ that was shed to bring both this brother and you near to God. Through the body of Christ, you are now one body. Whatever hostility there is between you, it has been removed by the work of Christ. You were given peace through the cross of Christ. You have both been reconciled to God and this same power is at work to reconcile you to one another.

Consider the reality that you are both members of one household, children in the same family, citizens together of one nation, each fitted into a new structure, a holy temple in the Lord. You are each indwelt by the Spirit of God. The same Spirit that quickened your heart from death to life worked this same regeneration in the heart of your brother! The Spirit in you is the Spirit in Him [are you referring to ‘him’ your brother or ‘Him’ God?...wasn’t sure] and the same Spirit “who searches even the deep things of God” (1 Cor. 2:10). Through this same indwelling Spirit you are together part of the very dwelling place of God.

As we see our lives, our identity, and our relationships through the glorious work of our Triune God, what is it that might impede unity in the body? What human hindrance stands in the way of the decree of God, the blood of Christ, and the work of the Spirit? What sinful struggle or satanic strategy can thwart the harmony and order that is ours through the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. With this Trinitarian vision, heed the call of the Apostle to “maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.”

Dead Men Walking

Ephesians 2:1-10

There was a heartbreaking statement made by Anne Frank, “I keep my ideals, because in spite of everything I still believe that people are really good at heart.” Sadly, she would lose her life, and all that she held dear, to demonstrate not the truth of these puerile beliefs but the darkness of the human heart.

Paul spares us any sentiment in his description of the human condition here in Ephesians 2. He doesn’t swoon over the loftiness of the human spirit. On the same token, Paul’s description is not a cold cynicism or embittered disenchantment because of life’s disappointments and loss. Paul states plainly and forthrightly the rather bleak reality of our natural, sinful state apart from God’s grace: “you were dead in trespasses and sins.” The prophet Jeremiah states this reality in such stark terms as well, “the heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure; who can understand it” (Jer. 17:9). We are made in God’s image, but are fallen; in our natural condition we are dead men walking. In its litany for the burial of the dead, the Book of Common Prayer puts it rather famously, “in the midst of life we are in death.”

I am always fascinated by how we manage to skirt the reality of sin. It is as plain as the nose on our face. Sin and its consequences are everywhere: crime, poverty, disease, corruption, deception, pain, anguish. Pick up today’s newspaper and you will find a register of humanity’s awful, sinful situation from a local to a global scale. Each morning you look in the mirror and behold the deadly effects of sin – every day renders us a bit older, fatter, and greyer; drawing us closer to our inevitable demise. Yet, we are constantly denying and obscuring the plain reality of the sin around us and the sin within us. This denial in itself is part of the sinful condition. It is a sort of pride, a stubborn unwillingness to recognize our need and inability. We are prone to the same proud hope in self which plagued the Laodicean church in Revelation 3:17, “not realizing that you are wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked.”

There is a sort of sinful trifecta at work in our depravity outlined in Ephesians 2. Paul says that by nature we followed the “course of this world,” the “prince of the power of the world,” and lived in “the passions of our flesh.” The war on sin is fought on three fronts: the world, the devil, and the flesh. Interestingly, throughout the New Testament we find that the world is a system of ideas, desires, and agendas opposed and hostile to the kingdom of God and the work of the Spirit. This is the city of man: the empires built through human endeavor as a legacy to man apart from God’s power and grace. The world calls us to bow the knee to money, power, human influence, personal autonomy and self service. However imposing and powerful it might seem from our narrow creaturely perspective; this system is fleeting and vain, already under the judgment of God and will one day be destroyed (John 12:31).

Paul says that in our former “walk” we followed the “prince of the power of the air.” Paul calls this prince or ruler (Jesus refers to Satan as the ruler – archon- of the world in John 12:31) the “god of this age” in 2 Corinthians 4:4. We discover that there is a real and actual being in the universe who has set up a kingdom in opposition to God. Peter says that he is a devil (diabolos- accuser, adversary) who prowls about like a lion, seeking those he might devour. Paul’s description of Satan’s domain is interesting, and could mean a variety of things. He has dominion in the “power of the air” which could be translated atmosphere or even foggy atmosphere. Some have taken Paul to mean that Satan is the ruler of the shadowy and dark realm of powers and principalities who are at war with the Sovereign God of the universe. Some take “the power of the air” here to mean that he is the ruler of a passing and empty dominion, however powerful it might seem at any given moment. Certainly we must understand that there is a real enemy, a powerful adversary who wages war against God and his people. He seeks to deceive and devour, enticing humans into his control through the temptations of the world and the desires of our flesh. But his power is limited and restrained by God, and his kingdom is passing away and without any lasting influence.

Lest we remove ourselves from any culpability in this equation, Paul states clearly that we are part of the problem. We are by nature sinners through the trespass of Adam (Romans 5:12, 17). We were born sinners and “children of wrath.” Yet we also actively walked in these sinful desires, we lived in them, gratifying and pursuing our own self interests and fleshly concerns. In our flesh we aligned ourselves with the world and the prince of this world, against God’s rule and design.

This second chapter of Ephesians contains the familiar and glorious witness to the grace of God, “by grace you have been saved through faith” (2:8). Many of us have memorized this verse from childhood. Before Paul exalts the grace of God he uncovers the depths of our sin. The gospel of grace shines forth only in the context of depravity and the darkness of the human heart. We were dead in sin. There is nothing good and righteous in a corpse. We were lifeless, lost and without hope in the world (2:12).

There is another trifecta in this passage - the richness of God’s mercy, the greatness of God’s love and the immeasurable riches of his grace toward us in Christ Jesus (vv.4, 7). Verse 5 begins with a wonderful little word, the conjunction even (Greek- kai). It is one thing for a well man to praise God for a gift, or a sick man to praise God for healing. It is quite another for a dead man to praise God for life itself. It was not in our goodness that God reached down with his grace, it was even while we were dead in transgressions. It was not that God saw any innate potential in our hearts, it was even while we were dead. Our righteous deeds were filthy rags, our hearts were bloodless stones. Even there God’s rich mercy, his great love, his immeasurable grace breathed life.

Open Our Eyes - Part 2

Ephesians 1:17-23

Part I of this devotional gave us insight into what Paul prayed for all believers – spiritual maturity and an opening of our hearts to see beyond this world and to the riches of the next. Paul prays that we would catch a glimpse of the following: first, hope; second, a glorious inheritance; third, the immeasurable greatness of power. Paul doesn’t elaborate too much on these first two things, but spends four verses fleshing out what he means by the third. Let me point out just a few things from these closing words of Ephesians 1.

First, this power is spiritual. It is not just ‘natural’ or ‘physical’- though it is certainly that, as the bodily resurrection demonstrates. It is in this sense that we must have our ‘heart eyes’ opened up. We do not see this power at work in a natural, or normative, sense. God isn’t levitating chairs or blinking light bulbs in the parlor like some sort of poltergeist. As if this were any real display of power anyhow. Paul prays that we might see with the eyes of faith what is ‘beyond the veil,’ so to speak. Paul is assuring us that the same power that breathed life into the dead body of the crucified Lord, the same power that rolled back the stone, the same power that lifted Christ bodily into the heavens, the same power that established Christ as Lord of the Universe at God’s right hand, this power is at work in us, through us, and for us.

Second, I’d like to focus in on verses 22-23, “And he 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.” When Paul speaks of God’s power at work in ‘us,’ it is important to understand who this us is. Paul says that God’s power is “toward us who believe” and that those who believe are united to the church, which is the very body of Christ. There is a treasure of truth in Ephesians related to this wonderful new creation that God made in Christ, the church. I believe the central truth and theme verses of this letter are found in 3:10-11, “so that through the church the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places. This was according to the eternal purpose that he has realized in Christ Jesus our Lord.” There is a lot more to be said about this, but here in chapter one, we see that the power of God is not received, felt, and displayed in our lives individually. We are brought into a corporate relationship to God and the saints, and we are to corporately reveal and unfold the mystery and wisdom of God as the church.

This is a very important point, and is a driving principle in my life and ministry as a pastor, so we’ll linger here a bit. You will often hear me say, “I don’t believe in the priority and importance of the local church because I’m a pastor; I’m a pastor because of the biblical priority and importance of the local church.” What I mean to say here is that I don’t push membership and involvement in the local church because it’s crucial to my vocational success, or because it is in my job description. I push membership and involvement in the local church because I believe it is crucial to the growth and sanctification of the believer and the spread of the gospel to the world. Because of this conviction I gave my life to leadership and service in the local church. The church is not a social club; it is not a therapeutic program; it is not a non-profit community center. The church is the body of Christ, the instrument of God’s sovereign and saving power, the inheritor of all the spiritual blessings of God in Christ, the display of God’s wisdom to rulers and authorities (seen and unseen). The believer who embraces the fullness of this Ephesian ecclesiology, who commits fully to this glorious design of God will see hope to which he has called us, the riches of God’s glorious inheritance, and the immeasurable greatness of his power.

Open Our Eyes - Part 1

Ephesians 1:17-23

It is good for us to pay attention to verses like Ephesians 1:17. Here is an answer to the question, “How did great men of God like the Apostle Paul pray? And what did they pray for?” We have a partial answer to the first question in 1:16, “I do not cease to give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers.” Paul prayed with constancy and fervency. When should we pray? The answer here is ‘whenever!’ or ‘as much as possible!’ We find from verse 16 as well that Paul allowed thanksgiving (over need, anxiety, fear, desire) to rule his heart as he lifted it to God. All the glorious truths of our salvation spelled out in 1:3-14 cause the Apostle’s heart to overflow in thankful prayer for God’s people. In the next wonderful paragraph we discover what Paul prayed for the Ephesians and for us, and what we should be praying for each other.

Paul asks that God might give us “a spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him.” Paul desires that God’s people might be full of a heavenly wisdom which equips them to see through the deception of the world, the flesh and the devil. Consider Paul’s words to the Corinthians, “Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might understand the things freely given us by God. And we impart this in words not taught by human wisdom but taught by the Spirit, interpreting spiritual truths to those who are spiritual” (1 Corinthians 2:12-13). In a real sense, Paul is asking for spiritual maturity. This maturity comes from the Spirit of God, who dwells within us.

What an interesting phrase in verse 17, “a spirit …of revelation.” This is, of course, a reference to the revelatory work of God in the Scriptures. God has unveiled his purpose and design for the universe in the Scriptures. But there is a sense in which we are to have a spirit of revelation. Theologians have called this the doctrine of illumination, the work of the Spirit of God enlightening the truths of God to his people through his word. Paul further defines this spirit of revelation in verse 18, “I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened…” What a wonderful phrase! First of all, Paul is asking for an enlightenment that reaches deeper and further than that which is seen or known in the natural realm. He is asking for that wisdom and knowledge that allows us to grasp that “eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison” (2 Corinthians 4:17).

Paul’s great concern for the Ephesians is that they might be given a heavenly perspective and spiritual maturity that allows them to see beyond the struggles and temptations, even the mundane satisfaction of their daily lives. He asks God to open the eyes of our hearts to “the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints.” We must be given spiritual eyes to look beyond the vain and empty hopes of this world. If we are only able to see the material, earthly world around us, then we would be hopeless, despairing people. Imagine having all that this world offers: money, beauty, fame and reputation. Would you be happy? Consider those who have such things. Are they happy? Are they satisfied? The reality is, they are some of the most desperate, unsatisfied people we can imagine. Why? Because they have experienced all the joys that the world offers and have discovered it tragically lacking.

So, what is it that Paul wants us to catch a glimpse of? What is it that our ‘heart eyes’ must see? Hope, a wonderful inheritance and power beyond our imagination…if we follow God’s design for his people.

Thanking God for His People

Ephesians 1:15-16

You may have heard me joke regarding my own noble profession, “Don’t be a shepherd if you don’t like the smell of sheep.” I’m not sure who coined it, but the saying is certainly true. Another once said, “If it weren’t for people and their problems, ministry would be great!” I recently inquired of a man in our church about how his fellowship group was going. He joked, “Apart from all these messed up people, I love it!” Of course, such exclamations are silly. Ministry is people. What is a fellowship group without people? Yes, people can be difficult; people have problems. These problems can be messy and ugly. And, pastors and faithful servants get the joy of seeing the mess up close and personal. But we press on. We continue to serve people with the good news; we continue to pursue others with Spirit-filled fellowship. We do this not because they are good, or because they are without problems; quite the opposite. People are sinners, and our sin is deep and dark. It brings chaos, pain and ultimately, death. But Jesus’ redeeming love is deep and wonderful. It restores order, comforts the afflicted and breathes forth life.

The struggles of ministry, and the reality of people’s sin and depravity, is only half of the story. Yes, if you take seriously the ‘one anothers’ of the New Testament, you’ll discover that the road of obedience to these commands is dangerous and fraught with sorrow. But we find the rest of the story as we travel along. A glimpse of it is found in Ephesians 1:15-16 as Paul begins his intercession for the Ephesian church. He prays, “…because I have heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints, I do not cease to give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers.” Paul faced all sorts of ‘people problems’ in his mission to bring the light of the gospel to a dark world. This letter is one of the prison epistles written by Paul under house arrest. He was so reviled by the Jewish leadership that he was framed (Acts 21) and falsely accused. The Ephesians understood the conflicts that go with bold gospel ministry- stubborn opposition, demonic activity and riots (Acts 19). Remember over in Philippians where Paul tells us that there were those who were “preaching the gospel out of envy and rivalry…thinking to afflict me in my imprisonment” (Phil. 1:15-18). Talk about persecution. I’ve never been imprisoned for my faith in Christ; much less received persecution and affliction by so called Christians while in prison! But this was only part of the story.

Consider the striking source of Paul’s joy: the faith and love of God’s people. Consider also that the great bulk of the New Testament canon is not a collection of dry theological treatises, but personal correspondence. We have God’s Word through the letters of love, warning, joy, sorrow, and hope to God’s people. After all, the salvation of people was the great goal of Paul’s ministry. He was “a prisoner for Christ Jesus on behalf of you Gentiles” (Eph. 3:1). This being so, it is understandable that he rejoiced in the faith of God’s people; for people were putting their faith in Christ. He can take hope that as he is in chains, the people of Ephesus soldier on in loving all the saints. This was Paul’s consolation at the end of his life. All had deserted him; no one was with him at his trial. Though he must have struggled mightily with depression and loneliness, we find these stirring words, “But the Lord stood by me and strengthened me, so that through me the message might be fully proclaimed and all the Gentiles might hear it” (2 Tim. 4:17). This is the valuable lesson from these two verses in Ephesians, and the whole life of the Apostle Paul: the ministry of the gospel is hard (life threatening, in fact), God is good and people are being saved.

I can say Amen to Paul’s thanksgiving here. Yes, the sheep are stinky (but then, shepherds don’t smell like roses either) but their faith and love are a great joy to me. I love to hear the testimony of people committing themselves to a fellowship group with fear and reluctance only to find the blessing and joy of communion with God’s people. My Dad, a 40-year veteran of pastoral ministry, would be asked what it is like being a pastor. He would respond simply, “I love the view.” Those who give themselves to the mandate of sacrificial service to the body of Christ (whether they are pastors, elders, deacons, fellowship group leaders, or Sunday school teachers) are given a skybox view of the Spirit’s work. Paul faced great struggle and opposition in Ephesus; and he was able to enjoy the fruit of his labors just through the hearing of the Ephesians faith in Christ and love for the saints. This news was a source of unceasing thanks for the Apostle.

This week, whatever difficulties I might face as a pastor, I will resolve to remember the wonderful people that God has given me to work with and for. I will look beyond the struggles and find joy in the reality that I am surrounded by people who are full of “faith in Christ Jesus.” I will find joy, with the apostle Paul, in the many examples all around me of the love of God’s people for the lost and one another. Today, this stinky shepherd will not cease to give thanks for the stinky sheep, remembering them in his prayers.

Thank God for His Gracious Choice

Ephesians 1:4

It is Thanksgiving week, one of my favorite times of the year. A time of feasting. There is something wonderful about taking two or three days to eat every kind of glorious dish imaginable (which is better- the turkey leg on Thursday or a thick slice of turkey meat on mayo-enriched Wonder bread on Friday?). A day focusing on giving thanks is fundamentally biblical and distinctively Christian. Thanksgiving as a holiday remains relatively unscathed by the mind-numbing commercialization and secularization of our culture. Christmas is no longer truly Christmas in America, but has become some strange pagan snow festival following the rituals of Halloween in the financial calendar. Thanksgiving is so innately centered upon such a core Christian virtue, that our eucharistic celebration almost defies all attempts at overt commercial defilement.

Yet, there is a silent tension around most tables in the moments before the bird is carved. What are we truly thankful for? Food? Clothing? A three bedroom split plan with two cars and matching kids? To whom is all this thanks given? Do we thank each other? Do we thank ourselves? Our secular commitments thunder forth in that silence, however hard we try to sacramentalize our actions and words around the table. In such secular silence, we must sing forth with all the blessings of the gospel presented to us by Paul in Ephesians 1:3-14. Volumes could be written, and have been, on the wonderful truths strung together by Paul in this incredible 12 verse run on sentence. I will focus on a cardinal doctrine of the Christian faith which is seen by the Apostle as a fountain of blessings to the believer.

We should praise God for his sovereign election. Paul says that we have been ‘chosen in Christ before the foundation of the world’ (verse 4). If you are a Christian, your salvation is not because of ‘works done by us in righteousness, but according to God’s mercy’ (Titus 3:5). We would thank ourselves, if salvation was obtained by our own wisdom or power. But, no thanks to us, it was while we were yet sinners that Christ died for us. In Ephesians 2: 1-3 Paul describes our position outside of the gracious election of God: dead in trespasses and sins, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, living in the passions of the flesh, carrying out the desires of the mind, by nature children of wrath. But it isn’t the voice of a just judge that we hear through the gospel, but rather the calling of a merciful Father. Yes, the doctrine of divine election has rankled many who seek to preserve some degree of human responsibility in the work of salvation. And it should not surprise us that a doctrine that so elevates God and so minimizes human effort should cause chagrin. Nonetheless, praise and thanksgiving should echo through our hearts at the realization of our profound need and God’s wonderful grace in election.

Paul begins here, with God’s gracious sovereign choice, because this is where it all begins for us. It does not begin with us, it begins with God. The Apostle John said it simply and powerfully, “We love because he first loved us” (1 John 4:19). All of the blessings piled up by Paul in these opening verses flow from the sovereign grace of God: adoption, redemption, forgiveness, revelation, inheritance, the seal and deposit of the Holy Spirit. And what is the basis for his choosing? Is the election of God simply some capricious and arbitrary design? No, says Paul, it is according to the “kind intention of his will” (1:5). This doesn’t solve the mystery of God’s design, and mysterious it certainly is from our very limited and human perspective. But, however mysterious and confounding the doctrine of election might be, Paul assures us that it is anchored in goodness and love, which he calls God’s eudokia (good will, good pleasure, or kind intention in the New American Standard).

This thanksgiving I will give thanks to God for his mysterious, and gracious choice of a sinner like me. I will give thanks to God for all the blessings that flow from this fundamental grace. And in all the questions, the struggles, and the trials that face me and the people of God, I will rest in God’s eudokia. I will never fully understand the design of God in all these things, because his thoughts are not my thoughts nor are his ways my ways (Isaiah 55: 8). But, he promises that all things work together for the good of those who love him and are called according to his purpose, he promises that all things will be to the ‘praise of his glorious grace’, and he promises that all things will find their place in the merciful and kind intention of the sovereign plan.

A Song of Praise for Ungrateful Worry Warts

Ephesians 1:3-14

I am an ungrateful so and so. I readily confess it. I am also a worry wart. I am easily spun into fear and anxiety at the prospect of want, or the threat of worldly insecurity. In my ingratitude I am like a little child who eats his fill at dinner only to cry for dessert. Ingratitude is selfishness. Ingratitude is greed. Ingratitude is impatience. To state the obvious, it is a failure to be thankful for what we have and what we have been given. Ingratitude tends to highlight in bold relief the ugliness of the sinful heart. It is not just improper desire, but improper desire in the presence of plenty, blessing and grace. Fear and anxiety for the believer is not just natural concern stemming from a frail human condition; it is the failure to consider the abundant wealth of God’s care and faithfulness in the past and his promise for the future. For the one redeemed from sin and death by the free gift of eternal life in Jesus Christ (Romans 5:16), ingratitude and anxious doubt become woeful sins indeed. They are a failure to recognize the greatest treasure of all that is his: namely, the righteousness and life of the Son of God himself.

In Ephesians 1:3-14, Paul offers up a hymn of praise to God as he thinks upon “every spiritual blessing” that is ours as saints through Christ. Paul piles up blessing after blessing that is secured for his people by the work of Christ: election, adoption, redemption, forgiveness, revelation, inheritance, and the down payment of the Holy Spirit. This passage is dense with theological meaning, yet it is primarily doxology before it is theology; it is praise before all else. It goes beyond thanksgiving that flows from the rich blessings offered to us; it is a whole life, a whole being, of praise. The greatest blessing in this hymn is found in the line, repeated three times, “to the praise of his glorious grace” (1:6,12,14). In verse 12, Paul states rather succinctly that the purpose of all of these blessings is that “we might be to the praise of his glory.” This great purpose should transcend all of our worries and anxious concerns. You are a child of God and exist for His glory! What earthly concern can overshadow this incredible truth? The great wonder of our salvation is this: that we become vessels that embody and reflect the greatest thing that exists in the universe – God and his glorious grace. All of the blessings set forth by the Apostle are wonderful, but they are not wonderful because of us and our enjoyment of them. They are blessings that result in the greatest blessing of all- a recognition and vision of God’s character, his person, his power, his glory.

Ephesians is broken into two sections: the first dealing with the doctrinal and theological foundation of our identity in Christ (1:3 – 3:21); the second dealing with our walk and behavior as new creatures and a new community in Christ (4:1 - 6:20). The order of this discussion is important: the indicative of who we are in Christ through the grace of God precedes the imperatives of how we are to walk and live. We find the undergirding truth of both the indicative and the imperative in Ephesians in this three-fold expression of praise. We are elected, adopted, redeemed, forgiven and recipients of every spiritual blessing by the glorious grace of God. We are to be thankful, obedient imitators of God for the “praise of his glorious grace.” Verses 6, 12, and 14 present us with the theme of Ephesians, the theme of Paul’s theology, indeed the very heart of biblical theology: God is the source of all grace, every good gift, and all glory in the universe; by his gracious will we have been made recipients and agents of his grace and goodness in the universe.

As we consider these things, how can we not lift our voices in harmony with our Apostle? How can we not burst forth with thanksgiving? How can we not live a life of joyful hope and blessed contentment? How is it that we so readily give way to anxieties and fears? How can we despise trials and tribulations that become to us, by God’s sovereign hand, a source of transformation and grace? How can we weep at worldly lack when we have every eternal, spiritual blessing through our Savior?

Calvin and Spurgeon say it best, so I’ll leave the conclusion to them:

“Paul tells us that the benefits which are bought us by our Lord Jesus Christ and of which we are made partakers by means of his gospel are so excellent that we must surely be extremely unthankful if we scurry to and fro like people who are never at rest or contented. And then he shows us also what we have in Christ in order that we should so cleave to him as not to presume to seek help anywhere else, but assure ourselves that he has procured everything for us.” John Calvin, Sermons on Ephesians

“O unbelief, how strange a marvel thou art! We know not which most to wonder at, the faithfulness of God or the unbelief of His people. He keeps his promise a thousand times, and yet the next trial makes us doubt Him. He never faileth; He is never a dry well; he is never as a setting sun, a passing meteor, or a melting vapour; and yet we are as continually vexed with anxieties, molested with suspicions, and disturbed with fears, as if our God were the mirage of the desert… ‘I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands’ (Isaiah 49:16). See the fullness of this! I have graven thy person, thine image, thy case, thy circumstances, thy sins, thy temptations, thy weaknesses, thy wants, thy works; I have graven thee, everything about thee, all that concerns thee; I have put thee altogether there. Wilt thou ever say again that thy God hath forsaken thee when He has graven thee upon His own palms?”
C.H. Spurgeon, Morning and Evening (on Isaiah 49:16)

Truth and How To Live It

"Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, to the saints who are in Ephesus, and are faithful in Christ Jesus: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ." Ephesians 1:1-2

While I was in college I began to realize that I really loved two things: theology and the church. I was growing in my faith, a young man out on my own, and I began to realize there was an especially strong desire within me to understand and also to teach and describe theological and biblical truths. During this time I began to serve God in the local church in a variety of ways, from teaching fourth grade Sunday school on Sunday mornings, to serving as a ‘ranger’ in Boys Brigade (a Christian version of Boy Scouts) on Sunday nights, as well as working with our college ministry through the week. Through my growing understanding of God’s Word and my growing love for God’s people, God called me to ‘full-time’ service of the local church. As a pastor I get to do the two things I love: think deeply about God and His Word and help God’s people believe and live out all these wonderful truths.

In Paul’s salutation to his Christian brothers in Ephesus he describes them in two ways: they are “saints who are in Ephesus” and they are “faithful in Christ Jesus.” Paul is introducing the two great themes of his letter in these two clauses. Ephesians is about what it means to be a ‘saint,’ one who has been blessed “with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places.” (1:3) It is also about what it means to be “faithful,” one who lives according to these blessings. Ephesians is immensely theological and immensely practical. John Stott makes this helpful summary statement about Ephesians, “the letter focuses on what God did through the historical work of Jesus Christ and does through his Spirit today in order to build his new society in the midst of the old.”

Paul was addressing people who lived in a specific place and at a specific time: they are in Ephesus. They lived in Ephesus just as you and I live in Tallahassee. Living in the world brings a host of struggles, opportunities, challenges, and even crises and trials. Amidst all of this we must remember we have been set apart by the work of God. Though we are in the world, we are not to be of it. Likewise, though we are not of the world, we are called to live in it. Paul spends the first three chapters of Ephesians describing and encouraging believers with the glorious truths of who we are and what God has done through Christ for us. He lays out at length the deep theological realities that are to anchor our lives as Christians.

Paul commends the Christians in Ephesus in verse one by calling them “faithful in Christ Jesus.” What does it mean to be a faithful Christian? Paul commits the second half of his letter describing what this faithfulness looks like. In 4:1 he says, “Walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called.” We have a wonderful calling; we have wonderful blessings in Christ; we are anchored in such deep rich truths of God’s Word. Now, how are we to live ‘worthy’ of such things? How are these truths to shine forth in our language, in our behavior, in our relationships, in our priorities, and in every corner of our lives? We are called to be faithful in all of these things, because we are saints of God. And as we pursue faithfulness, we must remember that we are faithful only in Christ Jesus- by His work, and through his power, according to his grace.

Many people make a false dichotomy between the theological and the practical. I hear people say things like, “I am not a very theological person; I just want simple, practical truths.” I also know many who live in the world of theological minutia, yet seem to have a very little grasp on the application of these truths in everyday life. The Apostle Paul calls us to be people who think and believe deeply about God, about who he is and what he has done for us in Christ. Paul calls us as well to be people who act on these truths each day. The heavenly blessings of Christ are to shine out in every part of our lives. For us as Christians, what is theologically profound becomes practically true as we walk in a manner worthy of our calling. One of the great parts of my job as a pastor is to help Christians to be theologians, and remind theologians that they are to be Christians! As we walk through his letter to the Ephesians, the Apostle Paul will hopefully make better theologians and Christians out of us all.

Church Planting In Ephesus

Acts 19

I’d like us to spend a season in Paul’s letter to the Ephesian church with our weekly ‘Holding Fast’ devotions. The New Testament Scriptures provide us with a wonderful portrait of ‘body life’ in a local church through the first century Ephesian church. We probably have more information about this group of believers over a larger span of time than any other fellowship we encounter throughout the New Testament. First, there is the extended narrative in Acts 19 describing the Apostle Paul’s labors there during his third missionary journey. There is the very personal and tearful sermon delivered by Paul to the elders of the Ephesian church at the shore of Miletus, recorded by Luke in Acts 20:17-38. And of course we have Paul’s prison epistle to the Ephesians, written (depending upon whom you rely) between 58-63 AD. We also have the ‘Pastoral Epistles’ which were written at the end of Paul’s life to Timothy (1 and 2 Timothy), his young protégé whom he had left to shepherd the church in Ephesus, and to Titus, who pastored the church in Crete). Finally, there is a letter to the Ephesian church from the Lord himself, by the hand of John, in Revelation 2, part of the Lord’s letters to the seven churches of Asia Minor.

As I was preparing for our time in Paul’s letter to the Ephesians for our college retreat and for this weekly exposition, I was fascinated by the way in which Jesus planted churches through the Apostles. In the book of Acts we find a intriguingcombination of the Apostles exercising wisdom and strategy with a faithfulness to God’s Word and reliance upon supernatural intervention. We can learn a great deal from the birth of the Ephesian church in the book of Acts, as well as Paul’s exhortations to the church in his letter some years later. I pulled some of the rather interesting methods that the Lord used in starting this fellowship in Ephesus from Acts 19. We might do well to consider them.

1. Start with a ‘launch team’ of 12 men filled with the Holy Spirit and speaking in tongues and prophesying (Acts 19:7).

2. Find a venue where you might have some influence (for Paul it was the synagogue) to boldly proclaim the gospel and reason with people daily about the kingdom of God. Do this every day for at least three months, or until people are thoroughly sick of you and begin persecuting you (Acts 19:8-9).

3. After you are kicked out of this venue, find a place to rent out and continue this business of preaching, teaching, reasoning and persuading daily. Do this for about three years (Acts 19:9-10).

4. Pray for wacky and miraculous things to happen. Cast out evil spirits and such (Acts 19:11-16).

5. Pray and preach in such a way that people are filled with fear and Jesus is praised (Acts 19:17).

6. Hold a prayer meeting that includes an extended time of public confession (Acts 19:18).

7. After your time of public confession, have a big bonfire party and burn a bunch of books (Acts 19:19).

8. After your time of public confession and book burning, collect massive amounts of money from the people for the mission of the gospel (Acts 19:19).

9. Hire a pastor who refuses to let you pay him, has absolutely ridiculous strategies and goals for his ministry and the mission of the church, and leaves young and inexperienced men to take over the ministries he begins (Acts 20:34; 19:21-23).

10. Stir up a city wide riot by preaching against idolatry and pagan worship (Acts 19:23-41).

11. Don’t be surprised by, and actually anticipate, encouraging and uplifting promises from God like, “Bonds and afflictions await you in every city!” (Acts 20:23)

12. Have another prayer meeting, encourage the folks, and leave (Acts 20:1).

It is interesting that there is nothing in Acts 19-20 about what kind of praise band you should have, how much parking should be available, whether or not you should serve Starbucks at coffee break (and spend more $ on that than you do on global missions), how casual your hip and cool pastor should dress, or getting up to speed on the latest philosophical trend. Rather, there is a strong emphasis upon the proclamation of the gospel (even above the ‘contextualization’ of the gospel, not that these need to be mutually exclusive); the need for repentance and transformation; a radical obedience amidst moral chaos; bold and courageous leadership; the confrontation of worldliness and satanic schemes with the truth and grace of God; and a clear,Christ-like love for the lost and a desire for their salvation at all costs.

We find in this narrative something of how God births a church and how he intends a church to be maintained and sustained. Do such things mark our efforts in planting and sustaining healthy churches today? Are your expectations for ‘church life’ in line with God’s Word, which plainly calls the mission of the church a cosmic struggle against “principalities, powers and rulers of the darkness of this world” (Eph. 6:12)? Perhaps you are more inclined toward the idols of American comfort, convenience and consumption? Let’s meet the challenge of Acts 19 and Paul’s letter to the Ephesians as we seek to honor his commission and calling upon our lives as his children and as the family of God.