Finally, Christians often isolate themselves from the world because they do not believe their lives could make any difference. This problem often arises when people take Biblical truths, such as predestination, out of context. In Ephesian 1:4-5a, it reads, “According as he hath chosen us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be hold and without blame before Him in love: Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to Himself…” People take this to mean that God has chosen His people, so the rest of humanity can give up on the currently unsaved because if God wants them, He will call them. However, this problem arises because humans do not always view themselves as God’s tools as well as children.…
Paul’s Letter to the Galatians plays a pivotal role in shaping theological understanding as we know it. It has provoked us to rethink about our relationship with God, and to reconsider who really is this God we serve? In this case, Galatians holds such great reverence among Christians in answering these overarching questions, because of Paul’s skillful ability to challenge authority and condemn the Galatians for following under “the desires of the flesh,” rather than living by “the Spirit” (5.16). In order for us to understand the significance of Galatians and its role in shaping our interpretation of these questions, we must first cultivate a deeper understanding of the context behind Paul’s letter within the interest of the contemporary reader.…
However, there are sound reasons that affirm that Paul wrote Ephesians. First, the letter specifically claims to be Paul’s. Unless there is overwhelming contrary evidence, this should heavily weigh in on the debate. The early church, which rejected fake letters, unanimously accepted this letter as being written by Paul, and this was a city that had a reputation of having discernment regarding false apostolic claims (Rev. 2:2).…
Today 's passage is from the Book of Ephesians 2:1-10. The main idea is "God 's gift in the restoration of humanity from the fall. " It has a three-part outline. In the beginning, the spiritually dead and hopeless (v1-3) are lifted up, by grace, and made alive in the gift, workmanship, and journey of Jesus until the end times. First, however, are the historical and literary outlines.…
In developing his account of the sacramentum tantum, res et sacramentum and res tantum of marriage, Ouellet pulls many concepts and ideas from John Paul’s works such as consent as a sign of marriage or how the grace of the nuptial bond is a representation of the love of Christ and the Church and reminds the Church of her identity. Both John Paul and Ouellet’s texts are profound works on the sacrament of marriage and have helped to solidify the Church’s official position and teachings on…
The historical background of the Book of Ephesians plays an important reality of what the author is intending in the writings. The Book of Ephesians is about the letters of Paul and how he overcame hardship by being faithful to God and following His commands. The author’s circumstances he went through, his relationship with God, the audience, and what his letters represented are the main elements that make up why these letters were so impactful. Paul went through a lot of pain and agony but God had is hand upon him the entire time. Most scholars agree that the Apostle Paul wrote the book of Ephesians, Colossians, Philemon, and Philippians in the majority of the time he was in prison.…
Although I was raised in a Christian home, I don’t believe I thoroughly understood the faith until junior high when I accepted Christ as my savior. As we were worshiping, my youth pastor went up on stage and encouraged us that if we wanted to, we could pray alongside him and accept Jesus Christ as our lord and savior. I felt his presence immensely that night, and Since then I’ve been striving to grow increasingly closer and improve my understanding of him. As Christians I believe that we’re incapable of staying still in our faith. We’re either growing intentionally nearer or through indifference moving further away from God.…
Both tradition and the internal evidence of 1 Peter agree upon the authorship of this epistle. 1 Peter 1:1 claims Simon Peter the apostle as the author of this letter. One of the original twelve disciples, this Peter is the only one mentioned in the New Testament. In 1 Peter 5:1, the author claims to be a “witness of the sufferings of Christ”.…
In his Letters to Herodotus, Epicurus’ material outlook assumes that all things are made out of atoms, an argument that he extends to the soul. He raises the point that the soul is material and capable of sensation, and these sensations build out thoughts; however, this assumption tends to categorize human thoughts and limit originality and creativity. In the text, Epicurus explains that the soul is a structure that is material and primarily used for sensation; these sensations become responsible for our thoughts and reason. The soul’s relationship to the body is important in this respect.…
Bruce Milne in his Dynamic Diversity believes that the notion of “New Humanity” as depicted in Ephesians 2 calls for a change in the local church model which is fitting with the realization that believers, whatever their ethnic or cultural background or origin are, might join in what he called “New Humanity” local churches which is a foretaste of the Universal Church . But are there sufficient evidences of this model from the early churches? From Luke’s account, it is inconclusive whether early house church (Act 2:46, 5:42, 12:12) which is the basic ecclesiastical unit for both preaching and teaching, is homogenous or mixed, even though they did exhibit unity as they “had everything in common” (Act 2:44) and “one heart and mind” (Act 4:32). The incident of Hellenistic Jews complaint against Hebraic Jews that their widows were overlooked in the daily distribution of food (Act 6:1) following which seven men were chosen from this group (Acts 6:2-6) may however indicate the non-homogeneous nature of the early Jerusalem church. Congregations subsequently emerged in Palestine toward end of the first century also showed cultural diversity, comprising of Hellenist Jews, Samaritan and other Gentiles.…
The book of Ephesians is one of the most popular and important books of the New Testament. It includes topics such as unity within the body of Christ, relationship of believers to God, the Church as a whole. It is the purpose of the writing to discuss briefly the context and theological importance of this book. The book of Ephesians was written most likely in Rome and likely between 60 or 61 A.D. It has been historically accepted that Paul wrote this letter perhaps as a circulatory letter to the churches of Asia Minor. Paul likely wrote the letter from prison in Rome.…
Exegetical on Ephesians 6:10-20 There are many key verses in the bible that give insight into Christian life; one such verse is Ephesians 6:10-20. This passage s a battle cry from Paul written to the Church of Ephesus. Paul call Christians to suit up in the ‘Armor’ of God in order to stand strong against our enemies. In this paper I will look at the book of Ephesians with an exegetical focus on Paul’s message in Ephesians 6:10-12.…
Chapter six of Practicing Christian Doctrine, by Beth Felker Jones, chiefly discusses Christology and the various heresies that have surrounded it over the years. Christology, which is the study of Christ, helps one to learn more about Jesus and his identity and how to live a good Christian life by forming a relationship with the Lord. In order for Christology to work, the person of Jesus must be known and a major idea discussed in this novel is homoousios, Jesus is full and truly God. Two other important characteristics of God found in this chapter are immutability¬¬ and impassibility. Immutability means that God is unchanging and impassibility states that He is never overwhelmed by emotion.…
Sermon Notes Ephesians 4:1-6 (part 2) “I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, 2 with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, 3 eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. 4 There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call— 5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism, 6 one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.” Recap: - Urged to walk in a manner worthy of our calling o Calling is discussed in chapter 1-3 of Eph Then Paul talks about how to walk worthy • Humility (Lowliness) • Gentleness (meekness) • Patience (endurance) • Forbearance…
All across the world, Christians of differing denominations have been interpreting Scripture in order to more clearly understand and learn about who God is. Likewise, I personally interpret Scripture in order to more deeply grow in my relationship with Christ. As exemplified through the interpretation of Ephesians 5:22-24 and Matthew 5:27-30, my personal analysis of Scripture is to know more about who God is and what He has to say. In essence, my original interpretation of Ephesians 5:22-24 is fundamentally about wives being in submission to their husbands so as to replicate the church being in submission to Christ.…