Category Archives: Ephesians

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Get It Together

Reflect:
Ephesians 4:3

“Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace.”

What is unity? I’m not so sure I know what it is, but I sure know when it ain’t! Biblical unity is oneness of purpose. It’s simply putting my own agenda—preferences, opinions, demands, expectations—on the back burner to allow God’s purpose for his family, the church, to be my first and consuming passion.

That doesn’t mean you and I won’t have different opinions, desires or preferred ways of doing things; it just means those differences are not going to become issues that divide and distract us.

Unity is not uniformity. In fact, in Ephesians 4:7-12 Paul talks about the variety of spiritual gifts given to us as individuals. That means there is great variety and diversity in the body of Christ—by Divine design. But in the diversity of those gifts, as well as diversity of personalities and passions, God gave leadership gifts to certain people (Ephesians 4:11) to coach and coax that diversity into singleness of ministry (Ephesians 4:12). Why? So we can reach,

“Complete unity…and the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.” (Ephesians 4:13)

Now how do we get to that kind of unity? In Ephesians 4:2-3 we are asked to cultivate six virtues: Humility, gentleness, patience, forbearance in love, effort and peace.

If spiritual oneness is going to be a reality in your fellowship and mine, it will have to be a place where I make it my job descriptions to live out those six virtues so compellingly and attractively that I become the primary source of a unity pandemic.

Now make no mistake: That will not be easy. That is why Paul said that we must exert to “make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit…” Unity doesn’t come easily. The drift is always toward division—it is easy to float into that eddy. It takes effort and endurance to go against the current to stay in harmony with one another.

The word effort means to be diligent, to be zealous, to make haste to do something, in this case, being eager and fully dedicated to maintain the unity of the Spirit. It refers to a holy zeal to guard our Christian unity. Why do we need holy zeal? Because Satan’s number one goal is to divide you and me. That’s why each of us needs to take the responsibility for the spiritual unity of our church.

Without these six virtues, it really does no good to talk about unity. But, as we see in Ephesians 4:16, when these virtues of unity—humility, gentleness, patience, forbearance in love, effort, and peace—are lived out in our fellowship, “The body will build itself up in love as each part does its work.“

And other than the salvation of a lost soul, I would argue there is nothing more precious to God than seeing his family completely, indestructibly united in love. That is why Jesus spent a goodly part of his last hours praying desperately for it (John 17:20-23). He knew that without unity, we would fall apart. But if we could get it together, Jesus knew that nothing could stop us. Vance Havner once said,

“Snowflakes are frail, but if enough of them get together they can stop traffic.”

If we get together in unity in our church, we’ll stop traffic in our community. And that’s God’s desire for us.

“Believers all belong to the same Lord, and are thus one with each other. Therefore anything that denies our oneness with each other denies our oneness with Him.” ~John MacArthur

Reflect & Apply: What part is the Holy Spirit prompting you to take on in efforting unity in your fellowship? Read and reflect on Romans 12:17-19, then go do what you must do!

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What If Jesus Were Your Boss?

Read Ephesians 6

“Serve wholeheartedly, as if you were serving the Lord,
not men, because you know that the Lord will reward everyone
for whatever good he does, whether he is slave or free.”
(Ephesians 6:7-8)

Thoughts… What is your attitude toward work? What does your attitude tell your co-workers, your supervisor, or if you are a boss, your employees about you? Do you go about your job as if Jesus were your boss?

If who we are as God’s chosen people is to show up in our work—and it should—then there are some important qualities that ought to characterize how we go about our jobs. Paul speaks to four of these qualities:

The very first thing that must characterize you is that you’ve got to consistently demonstrate right actions. Verse 5 says, “Slaves, obey your earthly masters…”

The operative word here in this verse is obey. Grammatically, it’s in the present tense, indicating uninterrupted action. What’s the point? Obedience isn’t only to occur when the desire is there or when an employer is fair, generous and reasonable. Believers are to obey their earthly masters in everything and at all times, except when they’re told to do something that would violate God’s higher law.

When Paul wrote these words, one-third of the Roman Empire was enslaved. It was a social and economic way of life. There were doctors, lawyers, teachers and musicians who were slaves. But most were menial laborers who were nothing more than human tools. They had no standing or rights. As the Gospel reached many of these slaves, they began to question if they needed to be subject to a cruel, unfair earthly master now that they had been freed by Christ and were submitted to God. Paul’s answer was that through the message of grace being lived out through these slaves, the pure love of God would begin to transform Roman society…and it ultimately did. Authentic Christianity killed slavery with love, respect, honor and dignity. In the upside-down logic of God’s kingdom, obedience always rules the day!

So whether the boss is kind or cruel, believer or pagan, we are to be obedient because it is God’s will. When you submit to your boss’ authority, it’s a literal and powerful witness of your submission to a higher authority and it releases God’s power to work on your behalf.

Second, you’ve got to display a right attitude. Verse 5 continues by challenging us to do our work, “…with respect and fear, and sincerity of heart…”

It’s one thing to grit our teeth and obey. God wants it to come from the heart. The idea of fear is not of cowering fright and intimidation, but the honor for the position, if not the person you work for. The attitude of sincerity refers to genuineness and thoroughness. Attitude shows up in reverence, authenticity and diligence.

Third, you are work with the right motives. The last part of verse 5 says, “Just as you would obey Christ.” Verses 7-8 go on to say, “Serve wholeheartedly, as if you were serving the Lord, not men, because you know that the Lord will reward everyone for whatever good he does, whether he is slave or free.”

What should motivate your work? In truth, you are serving the Lord. You don’t work for Intel or Boeing or McDonalds. You work for Jesus. That in itself should be motivation to make you the best employee around.

What motivates you? Pay? Recognition? Position? Rita Mae Brown rightly states, “I believe you are your work. Don’t trade the stuff of your life, time, for nothing more than dollars. That’s a rotten bargain.” As a Christian, it should be love, gratitude and obedience to Christ!

Fourth, you are to display right character in your work. Verse 6 tells us, “Obey them not only to win their favor when their eye is on you, but like slaves of Christ, doing the will of God from your heart.”

Someone has said character is who you are in the dark. It is who you are when no one’s looking.

Howard A. Stein wrote in Reader’s Digest of a retired friend who became interested in the construction of an addition to a shopping mall. Everyday he’d watch its progress, and he was especially impressed by the conscientiousness of a heavy equipment operator. One day he had a chance to tell this worker how much he’d enjoyed watching his scrupulous and skilled work. The worker was astonished and said, “You’re mean you’re not the supervisor?”

Character—especially Christian character—is who you are when no one’s watching. Yet Someone is always watching! And He is depending on you to represent Him well. In a companion passage, Paul wrote in Colossians 3:22-24,

“Obey your earthly masters in everything; and do it, not only when their eye is on you and to win their favor, but with sincerity of heart and reverence for the Lord. Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.”

In truth, Jesus is your boss! And He is watching. And He cares. And someday, He will reward you for the kind of work you are doing today. So what difference is that going to make in your work from here on out?

Prayer… Lord, I pray that the people I work with will see the Lord I work for in the way that I work today…and every day for the rest of my life.

One More Thing… “There is always the danger that we may just do the work for the sake of the work. This is where the respect and the love and the devotion come in—that we do it to God, to Christ, and that’s why we try to do it as beautifully as possible.” —Mother Teresa

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Yield!

Read Ephesians 5

“Don’t be drunk with wine, because that will ruin your life.
Instead, let the Holy Spirit fill and control you.”
(Ephesians 5:18, NLT)

Thoughts… If you are a believer, the Spirit-filled life is not an option, it’s a divine expectation. Spirit-filled living is a Christian essential.

In the New International Version of the Bible, when Paul says, “Don’t get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery (meaningless, valueless, even self-destructive living), instead be filled with the Spirit,” he was speaking to believers who’d come out of the pagan culture of Ephesus.

In their pagan worship and ritual, one of their idols was Baccus, the god of wine and drunken orgies. And they believed that to commune with their god and be led by him they had to get drunk. In their drunken stupor, they believed they could know his will and how best to serve him. And often, the sick bi-product of their out-of-control intoxication was to engage in sexual immorality with temple prostitutes.

Just as depending on wine was a destructive counterfeit to Spirit-filled living in Paul’s day, so we need to be careful in our culture today where alcohol is the drink of choice to help people relax, feel confident, or take away the pain of whatever ails them, and make them feel good, that we don’t buy into that deceptive line. I am not preaching against drinking, because I don’t believe the Scriptures explicitly forbid it. But unfortunately, there are a lot of Christians today whose drinking habits are no different from unbelievers.

It is still God’s desire that we depend on being filled with his Spirit to make us confident, competent and joyful rather than a drink, or a relationship or position or a possession, for that matter. In truth, nothing compares to the Spirit-filled life to satisfy every longing of your heart and enable you to experience the good life. The greatest and longest lasting “high” in this world comes from Spirit-filled living.

Now in this passage, Paul is not referring to that instantaneous infilling of the Spirit like we read about in Acts 2, but rather the ongoing submission of our will to God’s work through an active yielding of one’s life to the Spirit’s control. Spirit filling in the book of Acts was an event, while this filling in Ephesians is an ongoing process. In Acts, it was evidenced by extraordinary, miraculous happenings while in Ephesians, it was evidenced by ordinary, everyday choices that submitted them to the Spirit. In Acts, the Spirit was received by asking in faith, while in Ephesians the Spirit is responded to by yielding in obedience. Both kinds of Spirit infilling are valid, and needed.

Being filled with the Spirit is not just a matter of eliminating sinful or unproductive behavior in your life and then passively waiting for God to supernaturally fill you. Rather, Paul is saying it is about eliminating those things that grieve the Spirit and then replacing them with passions that please him. Living the Spirit-filled life is about the daily choices you make to yield control to him—choices to imitate God and eliminate immoral or questionable practices; choices to find out what pleases God; choices to find out and then do what God’s will is; choices that give the Holy Spirit more of you.

The great evangelist D. L. Moody went to England for an evangelistic crusade, but was met with some professional jealousy. One pastor protested, “Why do we need this ‘Mr. Moody’? He’s uneducated and inexperienced. Who does he think he is anyway? Does he think he has a monopoly on the Holy Spirit?” One wise pastor pointed out, “Moody doesn’t have more of the Holy Spirit than we do, but the Holy Spirit has more of Mr. Moody.”

Make a decision today to allow the Holy Spirit to have more of you! In every area of your life, yield control to him—that’s what it means to be Spirit-filled.

Prayer… Holy Spirit, take control of all of me—mind, tongue, hands, eyes—all my thoughts, words and actions. Have more of me, I pray.

One More Thing… “O Holy Spirit, descend plentifully into my heart. Enlighten the dark corners of this neglected dwelling and scatter there Thy cheerful beams.” —Augustine

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I’m Just Inspecting The Fruit

Read Ephesians 4

“Throw off your old sinful nature and your former way of life, which is corrupted by lust and deception. Instead, let the Spirit renew your thoughts and attitudes.
(Ephesians 4:22-23, NLT)

Thoughts… There really ought to be a noticeable difference now that you know Christ as your Savior and Lord. The change in your heart should have made its way outward to your behavior by now. If not, you need to go back and check the authenticity of your salvation experience! If you are still drinking, carousing, gambling your money away, going places you shouldn’t go and doing things you shouldn’t do, hanging with people you shouldn’t hang with, then you’d better take a second look at your walk with Christ.

I am not judging your salvation, I’m simply inspecting your fruit!

Christianity in our day has, by and large, ceased to focus on the never-ending list of “don’ts” that seemed to be the dominate subject matter of sermons when I was growing up. By the time I had reached junior high school, I was well versed in what Christians don’t do: They don’t drink, dance, chew snuff, smoke, play cards, roller skate (that was dancing on wheels, after all), wear jewelry (that one was for the women), go to movies, and on and on that list went.

To say the least, the list was overbearing, it sucked the life out of the relationship with Jesus, and it gave the false impression that righteousness was something determined by outward behavior. It missed the point of faith.

I am afraid, however, that when we got rid of that list, we threw the baby out with the bathwater. We now live in a time when just about anything goes in terms of acceptable Christian behavior. Using grace as their excuse, the behavior of many believers today is, sadly, not all that unlike their non-Christian counterparts.

But there are a few things that we “don’t” do as Christians, or at least we shouldn’t be doing. And Paul talks about a few of these:

We shouldn’t be dominated by lustful thinking: “Live no longer like the Gentiles do…they have no sense of shame. They live for lustful pleasure and eagerly practice every kind of impurity.” (vv. 17-18) In the narrow sense, that means we shouldn’t be controlled by sexually impure desires. In the broader sense, “lust” refers to any strong desire other than the desire to please God that controls your thinking and behavior.

Not only must lust go, but deception should not be practiced by a Christ-follower: “Throw off the old sinful nature … which is corrupted by lust and deception.” In other words, there is no room for lying and cheating; no cutting corners on your taxes, no cooking the books at work, no saying “yes” when you really plan on doing “no”. Being a Christian means being a person of honor, a person of your word, and a man or woman of complete and thorough integrity.

Furthermore, greed has got to go: “If you are a thief, quit stealing.” (v. 25) Worshiping at the altar of power, wealth and fame has no place in the Christian’s life. Rather, contentment, hard word and generosity should be our distinguishing characteristics.

Anger has to go too: “Don’t sin by letting anger control you.” (v. 26) There are no excuses for an out-of-control temper. It is a poor reflection of the Christ who lives within you and it is an open door for Satan to work in your life. An angry Christian is an oxymoron—or maybe just a moron.

And, finally, making it on the list of “don’ts” is foul language: “Don’t use foul or abusive language.” (v. 29). If your language hasn’t changed, if four-letter words are still a part of your vocabulary, if you are dropping the F-bomb here and using the B-word there, then you are clearly not being controlled by the Holy Spirit (v. 30). Following Christ means cleaning up your language.

Paul is not promoting living by a list of “don’ts”. If your life is governed by all that you can’t do, then you will miss the whole point of salvation by grace through faith. You will miss out on the pure joy of walking in an intimate relationship with Jesus Christ. You will be so focused on the don’ts that you never enjoy all the good stuff you get to do.

All Paul is trying to do is to get us to live with a constant consciousness that the Holy Spirit has indwelt us, and because of that powerful reality, there are some things that we just won’t do anymore, and there are a whole bunch of things we will do.

So what is a believer to do? Simply this: The Holy Spirit is living within you, so yield your entire life to him. In all that you do, live to please him, and everything else will fall into place.

Prayer… Holy Spirit, empower me to live my life today, even in the smallest details, in such a way that I bring joy rather than grief to you.

One More Thing… “A baptism of holiness, a demonstration of godly living is the crying need of our day.” —Duncan Campbell

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From The Head To The Heart

Read Ephesians 3

I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.
(Ephesians 3:16-21)

Thoughts… The problem many believers have is a disconnect between the head and the heart. That’s why Paul prays this eloquent and moving prayer for the release of divine power that will move us beyond an experience of intellectual Christianity to an experience of Jesus in our hearts.

Perhaps that’s the thing you need most today—to experience the marriage of Biblical knowledge to passionate love for Jesus Christ. In other words, you need a supernatural connection between your head and your heart.

That’s Paul’s prayer for you. It’s not that you will have more self-discipline, not that you will think more positively, not that you will have a better attitude. He’s not asking for physical, intellectual or emotional power. He is praying that you will receive spiritual power—the power of the Holy Spirit to get done in your Christian life what needs to be done, namely, a deeper faith that allows Jesus to settle in and feel at home in your heart—to take up residence there.

That’s a great prayer! And when that prayer gets answered, you will experience an altogether greater dimension of love where you are “rooted and established in love…” and you “grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ…a love that surpasses knowledge…” and you are filled with “the measure of all the fullness of God” (Verses 17-19)

Now that’s a pretty tall order, obviously, and you may be wondering how this will happen, if, truthfully, it can happen at all this side of heaven. Here’s the good news: Verses 20-21 tells us that it is God himself who will make this happen: “To him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us…”

Paul is saying that if you simply and humbly open your heart, ask for and align yourself with a release of God’s transforming power, then you will get an experience of God beyond your most sincere requests and wildest dreams.

Do you need that kind of experience today? The love of God that goes way beyond an intellectual understanding and consumes your whole being, mind, body and spirit? That is certainly within the realm of possibilities today, because God wants it for you.

So why not ask for it?

Prayer… Father, create in my heart a burning desire to love you more than life itself. And lead me to an experience of divine love that surpasses knowledge and fills me with your fullness. And Lord, do it today.

One More Thing… “Our prayers lay the track down on which God’s power can come. Like a mighty locomotive, his power is irresistible, but it cannot reach us without rails.” —Watchman Nee

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The Coat-Tail Effect

Read Ephesians 2

“For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this
not from yourselves, it is the gift of God — not by works, so
that no one can boast. For we are God’s workmanship,
created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which
God prepared in advance for us to do.”
(Ephesians 2:8-10)

Thoughts… These are perhaps three of the most revolutionary verses in the entire Bible, dramatically revealing how our salvation really came about. Basically, Paul is telling us that we are saved totally by the love, grace, mercy, will and power of God. We had very little to do with it—except to simply, humbly and gratefully receive this marvelous gift. And even then, God helped us with that. This is the coat-tail effect: God did all the work, now we get a free ride on his efforts.

So what does this mean for me? Plenty! Among the countless numbers of ramifications, one of the most enjoyable is that I can sit back and simply rest in this wonderful gift of salvation provided in Christ Jesus.

Let me spell out 4 things from these verses using the word REST that you can try as a response of worship for your salvation:

Reflect: First of all, this week, reflect on God’s grace. Verse 8 says “it is by grace you are saved…” Verses 4-5 say, “Because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead…” You did nothing to save yourself and make you acceptable to God. You were dead! Do you know what a dead person can do to be un-dead?  Nothing—except lay there and be dead! It was all up to God—so just spend some time thinking about that…and it will lead to this…

Express: Express your gratitude to God for the gift of salvation. Express prayer of thanksgiving every day up to and including Thanksgiving Day specifically for the gift of eternal life he has given you. Do you realize how marvelous this gift is? Verse 8 goes on to say that every aspect of your salvation “is the gift of God.” Even the faith to believe was God’s gift, according to the grammar of that verse. God has even provided you the ability to believe—how awesome is that?

Stop: Stop working for what you already have—approval! Verse 10 says “you are God’s workmanship…” God does not accept or approve of you based on your efforts—he does so based on Christ’s work. You were “created in Christ Jesus.” You are his masterpiece! So whenever you feel the need to perform for your worth—quit! You’re already worthy. Just take delight in God and what he’s done for you through Jesus. Delighting in God is a very spiritual matter—and it’s appropriate! So stop working for approval and enjoy God this week!

Trade: Trade your ‘to do’ list for God’s. Verse 10 says you were created, “to do good works which God prepared in advance for you to do.” Once you’re freed from the need to work for approval and acceptance, you can do the works that arise out of grace—those are the “good works prepared in advance for you to do.” What are those good works? I don’t know, but as Augustine once said, “just love God and do as you please,” and I have a feeling you’ll be just fine!

A flea was riding on an elephant’s ear when they came to an old wooden bridge. And as they crossed the bridge wobbled badly and almost collapsed. When they got the other side the flea said to the elephant, “Boy, we shook that bridge, didn’t we?”

Friend, you’ve crossed over the bridge of faith ridding on someone else’s efforts. So quit trying to add to it—it’s already done. Quit trying to get there—you’re already there. Just rest and enjoy the ride. Enjoy who you are in Christ based on what he’s done for you on the cross.

Prayer… Father, I am your workmanship. I am your masterpiece. How marvelous the thought! Enable me to live up to that and honor your design in everything I think, say and do.

One More Thing… “Delighting in God is the work of our lives. God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in him.” —John Piper

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Allow Me To Introduce The True You

Read Ephesians 1

“Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
who has blessed us in the heavenly realms
with every spiritual blessing in Christ.”
(Ephesians 1:3)

Thoughts… What amazing spiritual wealth we possess! Paul says that since we have come to know Christ, we have been blessed with every spiritual blessing that heaven has to offer—right now! Not someday; not when we get to heaven; but right here and now.

What are those blessings? Paul enumerates them here in the first chapter of Ephesians:

  1. I am a saint
  2. I am in Christ
  3. I am faithful
  4. I have every spiritual blessing
  5. I have been chosen by God
  6. I am holy and without blame
  7. I have been adopted by God
  8. I am accepted by God
  9. I am been redeemed and forgiven
  10. I abound in God’s grace
  11. I have knowledge of God’s will
  12. I have an eternal inheritance
  13. I have been sealed with the Holy Spirit
  14. I am guaranteed my eternal inheritance

Do you see yourself that way? Do you see yourself as a saint or as a sinner? Do you see yourself as holy and blameless or unclean and guilty? Do you see yourself as God’s chosen, adopted and accepted child or as a spiritual outsider? Do you see yourself as faithful or are you uncertain about your spiritual standing? Are you experiencing all of those spiritual blessings in your life right now or settling for so much less?

I think most of us, in truth, settle for so much less than what God has already made available to us in Christ. C. S. Lewis said it this way:

“We are half-hearted creatures, fooling around with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at sea. We are far too easily pleased.”

Fortunately, we can change the way we think and how we perceive ourselves and begin to act according to our new identity. How? By learning to see ourselves as God sees us.

According to these verses in chapter one, this list of 14—what I’d call spiritual birthmarks—is how God identifies you, and how you must begin to see yourself.

I want to give you an assignment. Copy the list of 14 to a 3×5 card and tape it to your mirror, your dashboard or computer terminal and read it aloud to yourself, at least once a day, for 21 days.

When you look into a mirror, you see yourself as you see you. When you look into your mirror and see yourself along with these 14 identifying characteristics, you will see yourself as God sees you. And I think you will like what you begin to see—God certainly does.

But you say, “I don’t really feel like any of those!” So what! Who said it was based on how you feel? You say, “But I don’t deserve any of those things!” You’re absolutely right! You don’t deserve a one of them. All those wonderful things GOD declares to be true of you are the result of GOD’S doing, not yours. You are a saint by HIS will. HE chose, adopted and accepted you. It was because of HIS good pleasure and purpose and by HIS power. It was HIS calling, inheritance, love. HE predestined, redeemed and forgave you.

If you were to take a sneak peak at chapter 2, you would see that all this was done by HIS grace, because you are HIS workmanship. In chapter 3, you will find it is GOD who is able to do more than you ask or imagine according to HIS power working in you.

Do you see the pattern? All of these spiritual blessings are up to God, not you.

So the question now is, will you begin to believe what God has declared to be true of you?

I hope you will, because if you will, it will change your life for the better!

Prayer… Thank you God, for the spiritual blessings that are now mine in Jesus Christ. These are my new spiritual birthmarks. You identify me by them, and when you look at me, they are what you see. Now, Lord, give me the vision to see myself as you see me.

One More Thing… “If we could see ourselves as God does, we would be tempted to fall down and worship ourselves.”