August 2, 2018
“Ephesians 4”
Chapter 4 is the beginning of the second part of Ephesians. Part one explains the great deeds of grace that God has done for us. Part two goes into some detail about how we should live in response to God’s great gifts to us. Ephesians 2: 8-10 explains this in brief form: God saved us by grace and not by our works and God created us to do good works. That may sound confusing but it all makes good sense. God wants us to be more concerned about helping others and not be bothered with the worry of our own standing before God.
So now…Paul will be going into detail about certain aspects of our lives and our relationships. There are a couple important things to remember as we enter into this next portion of the epistle. One: Paul was writing to people who lived in a different time and place than ours. Paul did not write this letter to 21st century believers in Grantsburg, Wisconsin, USA, North America. Two: Paul generally wrote to specific situations and we cannot discern general, over-arching laws from his letters. With those two things in mind, let us begin…
What is this chapter about? Chapter 4 heading in my NIV Study Bible is “Unity in the Body of Christ”. The final verse of chapter 4 is…”Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.” Our ‘learning’ is somewhere in between those two thoughts: we find our unity/peace by loving each other as Jesus loves us.
Pastor Mike
“Ephesians 4”
Chapter 4 is the beginning of the second part of Ephesians. Part one explains the great deeds of grace that God has done for us. Part two goes into some detail about how we should live in response to God’s great gifts to us. Ephesians 2: 8-10 explains this in brief form: God saved us by grace and not by our works and God created us to do good works. That may sound confusing but it all makes good sense. God wants us to be more concerned about helping others and not be bothered with the worry of our own standing before God.
So now…Paul will be going into detail about certain aspects of our lives and our relationships. There are a couple important things to remember as we enter into this next portion of the epistle. One: Paul was writing to people who lived in a different time and place than ours. Paul did not write this letter to 21st century believers in Grantsburg, Wisconsin, USA, North America. Two: Paul generally wrote to specific situations and we cannot discern general, over-arching laws from his letters. With those two things in mind, let us begin…
What is this chapter about? Chapter 4 heading in my NIV Study Bible is “Unity in the Body of Christ”. The final verse of chapter 4 is…”Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.” Our ‘learning’ is somewhere in between those two thoughts: we find our unity/peace by loving each other as Jesus loves us.
Pastor Mike