Tag Archives: Ephesians 4:1-16

September 25, 2015 Bible Study — Seek Unity In Truth

For today, One Year Bible Online links here.

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Proverbs 24:3-4

    When the proverb writer refers to “house” here, I do not believe he is referring to a building. Rather he is referring to a group of people who work together for the common good. In a way he is referring to a family business, except unlike what we normally think of, decisions are not made which are the “best for the business”, rather decisions are made about what is best for the “house” (that is, the people who make up the group). Such a group only comes into existence when wisdom is applied to its formation. It requires understanding and common sense for it to become established, and knowledge is necessary for it to thrive.

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Psalm 68:19-35

    Let us praise God. His enemies may seem powerful, but He will bring them down. The rulers and nations of this earth may have declared war against God, but they will be bringing gifts and tribute to Him before the war is done. Let us praise God for His power. He will not win His victory with a mighty army. No, He will win with a crucified Son.

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Ephesians 4:1-16

    We have been called to humbly work together to be unified by the Spirit into the Body of Christ. As I wrote that I realized that it seems to say more than it does. Paul instructs us to be humble and gentle, to be patient with our fellow believers, making allowance for their flaws as we work together in love. I think the first place to start in understanding what Paul is telling us is with the word “love”. If we love someone we want what is best for them and act to bring the results which lead to their greatest happiness into being. Of course, this is where being humble and gentle come into play. We need to recognize that we may be mistaken about what is best for those we love.
    In order to bring about the unity which Paul tells us we should strive for God has given the Church many gifts. In particular, He has given apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers. Actually, it is interesting that Paul divides these five into two groups. He puts apostles, prophets, and evangelists in one group and he puts pastors and teachers in another. From various things I have read, the first group represents those whose primary mission is to reach out to unbelievers, the second group has the primary mission of ministering to those who are already believers. This only represents their primary mission, not their entire purpose. All of us are called to one degree, or another, to minister both to believers and unbelievers.
    Regardless of their primary mission, all of those with these gifts have the responsibility to equip God’s people to do God’s work and to build up the Church, the Body of Christ (and when Paul says this he is not referring to the organization, he is referring to the people who make up the Body of Christ). How do we know that they have been successful? When the Church, and its members, are not blown about by every new teaching which comes down the road. Paul warns us against lies which are so cleverly told that they sound like the truth. When confronted by such teachings let us speak truth in love. Again remembering to humbly acknowledge that we may not fully comprehend the truth. It is important to remember that while I may not be correct in my understanding about what is true, those who claim that there is, therefore, no truth are certainly incorrect. Let us remember that there is such a thing as absolute truth while humbly seeking to learn what that truth is. We will never fully comprehend God’s truth while we are in this world, but if we continue to seek God and allow Him to correct our mistakes, He will gradually reveal ever more of that truth to us.

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Isaiah 45:11-48

    I was struck by this statement which God declared through Isaiah: “I am the Lord, and there is NO other.” There is someone I speak with from time to time who was raised a Christian, and who still considers themselves a Christian. However, they worship as part of an inter-faith congregation (not an inter-denominational congregation, but an inter-faith one). They worship together with Wiccans, Buddhists, Hindus, and others who consider themselves Christians. Wiccans and Hindus worship beings other than God (whether the beings they worship are real or imaginary is a discussion for another place). Those who worship with them are not Christians. Those who believe that Paul’s call for unity means that we should be unified with those who worship gods other than God have misread Paul.
    There is a couple of other statements made by God in this passage which I think we need to remember. “I publicly proclaim bold promises. I do not whisper obscurities in some dark corner.” God does not make quiet little claims that can be easily overlooked and He does not call us to do so either. Let us publicly, boldly proclaim God’s promises, not whisper them obscurely in some dark corner. There may be those who will belittle us for doing so, but better that than for them to cry, “Why didn’t you tell me?” when God’s judgment is made. This passage also tells us that God would not have told people to seek Him if He could not be found. Let us seek the Lord and encourage others to do so as well. Those who genuinely seek God WILL find Him.

September 25, 2014 Bible Study — The Lord Is God, There Is No Other

For today, One Year Bible Online links here.

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Proverbs 24:3-4

    It takes wisdom to build a place to call home. It is by carefully following our knowledge of God’s will that we fill it with the things we will treasure long into the future.

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Psalm 68:19-35

    Our God is awesome in His power. He will display His power and cause all nations to bring tributes of praise to Him. People and nations may rebel against God, but He will smash His enemies and force them to submit to His will. God will save those people who submit to His will and make them His own. He give them power and strength to carry out His will.

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Ephesians 4:1-16

    Paul calls on us to work towards unity in Christ, being bound together in peace. He does make it clear that this will not always be possible. I have noticed that when controversy stirs and divides the Church it is often those who are causing the division who cry the loudest about maintaining unity. What they forget is that there is only one body and one Spirit, one faith, one baptism, and one God and Father over us all. If we fail to be true to the will of that one God, we cannot have unity.
    Paul goes on to tell us that Christ gave the Church apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers. Their responsibility is to equip God’s people to do His work in order to build up the body of Christ. Those five categories of people are to continue their work (and God will continue to provide us with more of them) until we all come to unity in faith and knowledge of Christ. And here Paul makes the comment that should be devastating for those who cry unity while causing division. We will achieve such unity when we are no longer tossed and blown by every new teaching that comes along. True unity will arrive when the people of the Church are not fooled by lies cleverly crafted to sound like truth. Instead we will speak the truth in love and thus grow to truly become the adult body of Christ. The truth is that while God will forgive our sins and loves us despite our sins, those sins bring harm to us and our fellow man. It is not love to tell people that sin is not sin and that it is OK to continue to practice such behaviors which bring harm to themselves.

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Isaiah 45:11-48:11

    Isaiah predicted that people from all over the world would seek to serve and follow God, recognizing that He, and He alone, is God. Those who make idols and those who encourage others to worship them will be disgraced. God’s instructions to us are not hidden, He does not speak in obscurity. We do not need to listen to some Grand Master to whom God has revealed His secrets. God has made spread knowledge of Him far and wide. He is there to be found by those who seek Him. There is no path to salvation but through Him, for there is no other God.
    The day will come when all of humanity will acknowledge that God is sovereign and Lord. We can wait until we have no choice. I will choose to submit to Him now. There is nothing that compares to Him. I look at the wonders He has done in the past and the things He has promised to do in the future and it leaves me in awe of His greatness. God is prepared to set things right, not in the far future, but now. God is offering us salvation, not because we have done something worthy of salvation, far from it. God will rescue us in order to bring glory to His name, not because we deserve it. Will we be grateful for the grace He has shown us by doing His will? Or will we turn from Him once more?

September 25, 2013 Bible Study — Speak the Truth In Love

     I am using One Year Bible Online for my daily Bible study. For today, One Year Bible Online links here. I have found that by writing this daily blog of what I see when I read these scriptures, I get more out of them. I hope that by posting these ruminations others may get some benefit as well. In order to make that possible I read the passages and write my thoughts a day in advance. If you have any thoughts or comments regarding these verses or what I have written about them, please post them.

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Isaiah 45:11-48:11

     Isaiah prophesied that God would raise up Cyrus to serve His purposes. He would guide his actions. This is how God works in all of history. He raises up people to serve His purposes and guides their actions, whether they will it or not. The prophet goes on to tell us that God created this world to be lived in, not to be a place of empty chaos. There is no one else like God. He does not whisper secrets to be passed on from teacher to student, God has proclaimed His words for all to hear. In due time, every knee will bow and every tongue confess that God is Lord of all.
     The people of Babylon worshiped the gods they made with their own hands and relied on the powers and wisdom of their magicians and astrologers. They had become arrogant and cocky. They were secure in their wickedness, convinced that they were the center of all existence. But now God was proclaiming that time was running out, they could turn to the answers they had always relied upon, but they would no longer save them from the coming destruction. Because we are stubborn, God has revealed some of His future plans so that when they come to pass we will see that it was God who has done these things.

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     This world was made for people to live in it. We are to care for the environment around us, but first we are to care for the people God has put there. An ongoing temptation for humans is the desire to be on the “inside”, to know special secrets that have not been revealed to others. That is not how God works. He does not have secret knowledge that is only revealed to those who have been initiated into the inner circle. The knowledge of God’s will is there for anyone who seeks Him. When Pope Francis speaks of those who do not believe in God only needing to follow their conscience, I hear him saying that if we sincerely follow our consciences it will lead us to God and we will learn to know God. It is only those who refuse to follow their conscience when it takes them to God who will remain outside.

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Ephesians 4:1-16

     Paul wrote that we should strive to live a life worthy of the call which we have received. He calls on us to be humble and gentle, making every effort to remain united in the Spirit. If we allow, the Spirit will bind us together in peace. Through Christ and the Holy Spirit, God has given us gifts of grace. These gifts are divided up among us according to the wisdom of God. Some of us are gifted to be apostles, others prophets, evangelists, teachers, and pastors (or shepherds). It is the responsibility of those with those gifts to equip God’s people to do works of service and to build up the Church. As we become more mature in our faith, we will not be tossed about by the wind of new teaching.

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     Paul here emphasizes the importance of being humble and gentle with one another in the Church in order to maintain the unity of the Church. Yet, he also emphasizes the importance of not following every new teaching that comes along. Part of the way that we can resist the lure of clever lies which sound like the truth is by speaking the truth in love. It is not enough to speak the truth, we must do so in love. This is a difficult task to accomplish. Just as difficult is maintaining the focus on unity while staying faithful to God’s truth.

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Psalm 68:19-35

     “Our God is a God who saves.” What a powerful truth that is! God’s power is on display for all to see. In the meantime, let us tell everyone about God’s great power. The time will come when God will crush those who fight against Him by oppressing the people of this earth.

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Proverbs 24:3-4

     A united group requires wisdom to come into being. Such a group becomes strong when those who lead it exhibit good sense. Knowledge of human behavior make the group rich in those things that are truly valuable.

September 25, 2012 Bible Study

     I am using One Year Bible Online for my daily Bible study. For today, One Year Bible Online links here. I have found that by writing this daily blog of what I see when I read these scriptures, I get more out of them. I hope that by posting these ruminations others may get some benefit as well. If you have any thoughts or comments regarding these verses or what I have written about them, please post them.

Tabitha

Isaiah 45:11-48:11

     Isaiah wraps up his prophecy that says that Cyrus will overthrow Babylon and return the Jews to Jerusalem. He then goes on to say that the craftsmen who fashion idols shall be shamed and the day will come when all of humanity will be forced to acknowledge that God is the only god. Babylon will fall and be destroyed. Its gods will be shown to be powerless and its magic users to be no threat. The people of Babylon lived at ease and sought after their own pleasure with no concern for the well-being of others. They acted wickedly with no fear of judgement. Isaiah told them that the day of judgement was coming and would strike them without warning (although, since he is here warning them, he seems to mean that they had completely ignored the warnings). Any people who get caught up in their own pleasures and who believe that there will be no judgement for their wickedness will experience the calamity that Isaiah here prophesied for Babylon.

Barony Wars, Jen fences

Ephesians 4:1-16

     We should be humble, gentle and patient. Tolerating one another out of love. We should strive for unity because their is only one body of Christ and only one Holy Spirit. Despite this unity of God, He has given us each separate gifts. However, all of those gifts serve the purpose of equipping God’s people to do His work and to build up the Church. If we join in unity with our fellow believers we will not be easily susceptible to new, false teachings. We will learn to speak the truth in love as we become more like Christ and He binds us together as one Body. Paul tells us here to seek unity, but not unity at all costs. He advises us to seek unity in the Spirit and in God’s truth, so as to avoid being susceptible to false teaching.

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Psalm 68:19-35

     God is the God who saves us. He will destroy those who choose to be His enemies, those who oppress the weak and poor. We who have experienced His power should tell all the world of His might. Let us praise the Lord.

Barony Wars, time to eat

Proverbs 24:3-4

     A house is built through wisdom and furnished through knowledge. This sums up the relationship between wisdom and knowledge. Wisdom is necessary to build. Knowledge provides the furnishings and decoration that make it a place that one would like to live.