Unity is a triple-braided cord. One friend plus another plus Christ make the cord not easily broken. Our commitment to Christ binds us irrevocably to each other. We find our oneness in Him (John 17:21-23). We begin to think, feel, hope and work with unity of purpose and direction. When Christ is the source and center of a friendship, negative forces cannot pull us apart. There is a buffer of Christ's grace when we fail or disappoint each other. We belong to Him and to each other in spite of what happens around us. Christ longs for us to know the same oneness with one another that He has with the Father (v.11). To implement the answer to His own prayer for us, He engenders in us love, forgiveness, and patience for one another. When Christ is the unbreakable strand in the triple-braided cord, it cannot be severed. Praise Him for truly great friendships in which He is the strength of the relationship. (NSFLB)
Paul was deeply stirred by an expanding revelation about the church. Now seeing the church as Christ’s body and as God’s instrument to confound and overthrow evil powers, he writes an elaboration of these themes.
The Throbbing Message of Ephesians Is “to the praise of His [God’s] glory” (1:6, 12, 14). The word “glory” occurs eight times and refers to the exceeding excellence of God’s love, His wisdom, and His power. The magnificent goal is in Jesus’ announced commitment to build a glorious, mature, and ministering church, “not having spot or wrinkle” (5:27).
Ephesians Unveils the “mystery” of the church as no other epistle. God’s “secret” intention is revealed: 1) to form a body to express Christ’s fullness on Earth (1:15–23); 2) to do this by uniting one people—both Jew and Gentile, among whom God Himself dwells (2:11—3:7); and 3) to equip, empower, and mature this people to the end that they extend Christ’s victory over evil (3:10–20; 6:12–20).
With Sweeping Strokes, this foundational series of statements moves to a bold, new assertion, declared in Paul’s first of two prayers in this letter. He prays that each Christian may perceive God’s grand purpose in raising Christ to triumph—that now the church may know Christ’s victorious fullness as we resist evil and face life’s trials (1:15—2:10). Chapter 2 describes how God’s grace has formed a united people among whom He can dwell in His fullness and glory. Through this people His high purpose is to be unveiled.
Ephesians Unfolds the process by which God is bringing the church to its destined purpose in Christ. Basic maturing steps are taken toward the church’s appointed engagement in battle with dark powers: 1) before the church is called to war, she is taught to walk; and 2) before being called to walk, the church is taught where she stands.
The epistle divides into two sections: 1) the Believer’s Position, chapters 1—3, and 2) the Believer’s Practice, chapters 4—6. In chapter 1, the recurrent term “in Christ” sums up the Christian’s position, as having been given “every spiritual blessing.” Several of these blessings are enumerated: chosen, blameless (1:4), adopted, accepted (1:5, 6), forgiven, predestined, and sealed (1:7, 11, 13).
The Great Call to “walk worthy of the calling” introduces this letter’s second section (chs. 4—6). Systematically, Paul presents the ethical and moral implications of Spirit-filled living (4:1—6:9). The maturing process of the believer’s “equipping” (4:11–16) and the appeal to help each other forward (“speaking the truth in love”) will bring growth in the disciplines essential to the triumphant spiritual warrior’s life (6:10–20).
In short, Ephesians discloses awesome blessings of grace (“accepted in the Beloved,” 1:6) and awesome dimensions of spiritual authority over evil (“according to the power that works in us,” 3:20). But this awaits the believer’s first accepting the disciplines of unity (4:1–16), purity (4:17–31), forgiveness (4:32), and walking in the fullness of the Holy Spirit (5:1–21). With this, relationships at every point must be in order (5:22—6:9), the idea being firmly established that true spiritual power flows from true obedience to the divine order in relationships and personal conduct.
Grasping the message of Ephesians requires understanding two words from chapter 3—“dispensation” and “mystery” (vv. 2, 3). The apostle declared that God’s “secret” in planning the church is hidden no longer (3:3, 4—now the “mystery” is known). He has designed the church to administer (“to dispense”) Christ’s fullness everywhere (3:2, 9), ministering as a living body, spreading over the Earth and penetrating “the Heavenlies.” God’s “manifold wisdom” now demonstrates His glory in the church (3:10, 11), a manifestation that eventually will issue in the believer’s strengthening (3:14–20), maturing (4:15), confrontation, and victory (6:10–20). However, the church cannot approach this without a practical understanding of how this present glory of God’s grace and presence is to affect everyday living.
As with Christ, the Holy Spirit is revealed into widely varied ministry to and through the believer. In 1:13 He is the Sealer, authorizing the believer to represent Christ; in 1:17 and 3:5 He is the Revealer, enlightening the heart to perceive God’s purpose; in 3:16 He is the Empowerer whom Christ gives to strengthen within; in 4:3, 4 He is the Spirit of Unity desiring to sustain the bond of peace in the body of Christ; in 4:30 He is the Spirit of Holiness who may be grieved by insistence on carnal pursuits; in 5:18 He is the Fountain, from which all are to be continuously filled; in 6:17, 18 He is the Giver of the Word as a sword for battle and the Heavenly Assistant given to aid us in prayer and intercession until victory is won. ~NSFLB
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