JEAN'S BIBLE STUDY COM

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1&2 Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children; 2 and walk in love, just as Christ also loved you and gave Himself up for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God as a fragrant aroma.

Eph 5-1,2

(12d) Servant >> Father is our example through Christ

(42g) Judgment >> Satan destroyed >> Transformation >> Conform to the Love of Christ

(78n) Thy kingdom come >> Putting your heart on display >> The result of a renewed mind – There are many worldly people who don’t know God, yet they do acts of love. The difference between them and us is they don’t get paid for it. They might have a temporal motive, but those who belong to God, to the degree that we walk in love, we receive an anointing that enables us to walk in love all the more and overcome sin in mind and body. When we get to heaven, God will further reward us for our faithfulness with a better resurrection and a closer position with Christ. So we have plenty of spiritual motives for being imitators of God as beloved children, and we have many reasons to avoid sin, but that is not the case with so many people in the Church these days who call themselves Christians. Many of them don’t obey Christ or walk in love but practice sin instead. However, this could be the result of immaturity. Maybe they’re new Christians and they’re struggling to overcome their fleshly impulses. Young people have it harder; their bodies are made to reproduce, and they want to get started right away with whomever will pay attention to them, but as they mature in the faith, they are able to harness these evil forces that reign in their flesh that tempt them to pit their bodies against God and do just the opposite of His will. This takes trial and error, and sometimes we need to give them space and time to overcome their fleshly desires. Sometimes we check back in five years and they are dedicated Christians; they have finally got a handle on their flesh and are walking and living for Jesus. Other people continue giving into their temptations, and it ruins them; for others, maybe they never were Christians, but Paul is talking to those who have dedicated their lives for the express purpose of promoting the Kingdom of God, and he tells them to walk in love, just as Christ also loved them.

(81a) Thy kingdom come >> Prayer >> The priesthood >> We are a type of Jesus’ priesthood – Paul uses the symbolism of old covenant temple worship, saying that He gave Himself as an offering and sacrifice to God, a fragrant aroma. Burning flesh to God is a fragrant aroma when done according to His will. Christ offered Himself to God and Paul is telling us to do the same. Walking in love is not free; it will cost us something, and it is not cheap; it will cost our entire lives. We also must remember that we are not offering ourselves to people but to God, and that is a really big difference, though people are the beneficiaries of our sacrifice. If we offer ourselves to people, then we are in control of our offering; we can determine how much of our lives we offer, but if we offer ourselves to God, He is in control; we must do it His way, just like old covenant temple worship, which was meticulously performed according to the will of God, as it is written, “[See] that you make all things according to the pattern which was shown you on the mountain” (Exodus 25-40). Depicted in the laws of Moses, they were instructed exactly how to offer sacrifice to God on the altar that He meticulously instructed them to build. So when we offer ourselves to God, we do it on His terms, and He wants all of us, and that will require us to die to self. The offering of ourselves is translated to serving others in specific ways that God would direct us; we don’t get to choose how we serve our fellow man and our fellow brother and sister in Christ.

(91m) Thy kingdom come >> The narrow way >> Trail of good works >> The trail that Jesus walked

(125a) Thy kingdom come >> Manifestations of faith >> Love is the action of faith >> Love is the response of receiving from God – The Bible speaks of this aroma as the smell of death, “For we are a fragrance of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing; to the one an aroma from death to death, to the other an aroma from life to life” (2Cor 2-15,16). In old covenant temple worship the high priest was anointed with fragrant oil before performing the annual sacrifice and entering the Most Holy Place with the blood of a beast for these reasons. (1) It was a sweet aroma in the nostrils of God and heaven smells beautiful. (2) The procedure pertained to death and the priest sought to cover the stench of rotting flesh. (3) The sacrifice of Jesus’ body was a beautiful thing and the priest wore the fragrant anointing oil to accentuate that fact. When Israel obeyed the commandments and performed temple worship, their burnt offerings were a sweet aroma to God, but if they thought they would sacrifice these animals and expect God to be pleased with them for following a set of ordinances, meanwhile ignoring the Law and hating their neighbor and wanting what they can’t have, allowing their hearts to be filled with lust, pride and greed, God showed no interest. Isaiah 1-14 says, "I hate your new moon festivals and your appointed feasts, They have become a burden to Me; I am weary of bearing them." If we sacrifice ourselves according to the will of God for the sake of our brothers and sisters in Christ, He will receive our sacrifice.

(139h) Temple >> Building the temple (with hands) >> Edification -- These verses go with verses 18-20

(187a) Die to self (Process of substitution) >> Separation from the old man >> Die to the flesh >> The ministry of dying to self >> Die to self to minister to God >> Jesus died to self and ministered to God – God has called us to be a fragrant aroma first to those of our brothers and sisters in Christ and then to the world. We are called to love our immediate family members, then the members of God’s household, and finally to love our neighbor as our self. Notice that when Jesus said, “Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends” (Jn 15-13), He was talking to His disciples. We are to lay down our lives for one another, but we are not to sacrifice ourselves for those who would not benefit from our efforts. We should love our neighbor as we would want them to love us but not to the extent that we love the brethren, because there are many people in the world who would just laugh in our face, and we would waste ourselves on them. Instead we are to invest what God has given us in that which holds promise for a return. We are to invest our lives in the people of God who will receive us and benefit from our commitment to them. We are to be imitators of God and lay down our lives for the brethren as Jesus laid down His life for us as a fragrant aroma.

(253d) Trinity >> Relationship between Father and Son >> Jesus is equal with the Father >> Jesus has all the internal qualities of the Father >> Jesus is the exact representation of the Father – Paul commanded the Ephesians to be imitators of God, but what do we know about God, except for what we know about Jesus, who came to show us God? To imitate God by imitating Christ is confessing that Christ is equal to God, and if He is equal to God, then He is God, for how could someone be equal to God and not be God?

Eph 5-1

(33h) Gift of God >> Believers are children >> God is our Father >> Children are being molded after their heavenly Father – God uses the things that Paul said to remind us of His truth. These statements are the very building blocks that God uses as we walk in Him to edify us in our most holy faith. “God is love” (1Jn 4-8), so to walk in love is to be like God. The flipside of “love” is faith, being essentially one and the same. We are to love others as Christ has loved us by giving ourselves to God for their sake by faith, “an offering and a sacrifice as a fragrant aroma.” We are to love the brethren, not for their sake but for the Lord.

Eph 5-2

(189a) Die to self (Process of substitution) >> Separation from the old man >> Holy sacrifice >> The smell of death >> Priestly anointing perfume of sacrifice – For Christ to offer Himself as a fragrant aroma refers to old covenant temple services, where, after catching some of the animal's blood representing Jesus' body, they burned its flesh with fire, releasing a fragrant aroma to the Lord. It also refers to the perpetual incense they burned in the holy place. Putting them together, Christ offered His body on the cross as His ultimate prayer to the Father on our behalf that He would be merciful and forgive those who would repent of their unbelief and seek His favor through the sacrifice of Jesus' body on the cross. 

(210b) Salvation >> The salvation of God >> Jesus is our sacrifice >> Jesus goes to the cross willingly – There shouldn’t be any question as to what the cross of Christ represents; Jesus willingly sacrificed Himself to God in order for His Father to forgive us. He judged our sins in Jesus’ body so that He could forgive us and then raised Jesus from the dead. He used Jesus as our substitute; He died in our place, so all our sins have already been judged on the cross. We are no longer guilty in the eyes of God of past, present or future sins; they’ve all been nailed to the cross, and He did it as a fragrant aroma. The high priest would sprinkle the people with the animal's blood, and then enter the temple and present the offering to God in the Holy of Holies as an annual depiction of the sacrifice that Jesus made with His own body on the cross (Hebrews chapter 9). God raised Him on the third day, and He ascended to heaven and sat on His Father’s throne at the right-hand of His power. God glorified Himself through His cross; heaven was exalted, and by this He will bring many sons to glory.

KJV    NAS  /  Navigation Bar

3&4 But immorality or any impurity or greed must not even be named among you, as is proper among saints; 4 and there must be no filthiness and silly talk, or coarse jesting, which are not fitting, but rather giving of thanks.

Eph 5,3-14

(191i) Die to self (Process of substitution) >> Result of putting off the old man >> Set apart >> Set apart from sin – Paul wants the children of God to lives as saints and to commit every waking hour to the practice of righteousness and to all that is godly and Christ-like. He didn’t want them to deviate from it for a moment, not to waste their words or their time on fruitless discussion, but to always maintain Christ in the middle of their relationships and dialog with one another. This may seem fanatical to some people, but this is the way Paul lived. He didn’t mince his words and he didn’t waste his time. Everything he possessed he considered a resource that he used to serve God, because he knew he had only a certain amount of time and his life would be over and the opportunity to prove his love to God will have been spent. Paul demands the same high level of expectation from us. Paul does not give us leeway or an option to obey the Lord. It is easy to fall under bondage to sin, yet repentance is not an option. The true Christian, on the one hand, prefers to live in the freedom of Christ rather than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin, and eventually he will become free. On the other hand, the unbeliever who only has a religion and not a genuine faith in God does not value the freedom of Christ; he has never known it. He may have gone to church for decades and heard about the freedom of Christ, and he might concur with its teachings and doctrines, but he has never personally experienced freedom in the Spirit of Christ. His freedom is a two edged sword; it is simultaneously freedom from sin and freedom to righteousness. One establishes the other, and we can’t have one without the other.

Eph 5,3-12

(162j) Works of the devil >> Being a slave to the devil (Addictions) >> Bondage >> Being slaves of men >> Bad company >> Do not associate with people who practice sin

Eph 5,3-8

(167e) Works of the devil >> Manifestations of the devil >> Carnality/Secularism (mindset of the world) >> The carnal mind is set on the flesh >> Walking outside the realm of faith

Eph 5,3-7

(64k) Paradox >> Anomalies >> God helps Satan >> God’s judgments accomplish the devil’s will

(92l) Thy kingdom come >> The narrow way >> Our holy conduct along the narrow way – There is a freedom that is just out of sight. We often walk in this freedom when the temptations of sin seem distant, and other times our temptations creep behind us seemingly unnoticed, but there is always something in us that knows about them. Our conscience becomes cloudy and our faith overcast and it looks like rain. It’s going to be a cold and windy day, and God calls us to work through it, because nice balmy days are just ahead and we want to enjoy them. There may be two weeks of cold rain, but eventually it will give way to blue skies. Then we will wish we had stood fast and maintained a clear conscience and obeyed the will of God, so we could enjoy those beautiful days of freedom in Christ.

(172f) Works of the devil >> Manifestations of the devil >> Tares among the wheat >> Hypocrites among the just >> Talkers among the walkers

(203f) Denying Christ >> Dishonor God by dishonoring your own body

Eph 5,3-6

(78o) Thy kingdom come >> Renewing your mind >> Putting your heart on display >> Consequence of not renewing your mind – Paul is not suggesting these things to us as though it were a wise choice, but is saying that if we consistently submit to the flesh and develop the appearance of those who have no faith in Jesus, then what is the difference between us and them, mere doctrines that we claim to believe? Does the Bible really teach that if we believe in a certain set of doctrines, we will go to heaven? No! This in no way encapsulates the Bible’s definition of faith. If we can’t prove through our behavior that we belong to God, what other proof do we have? People can talk about their faith all day long, but if they consistently surrender to their fleshly passions and desires, they are only fooling themselves. For this reason faith is complicated to those who straddle the fence, but to us who have real faith and can prove it by our good behavior, it is so simple a young child can understand it. Faith gets complicated when we live contrary to what we believe. If a person’s faith is a matter of believing in a certain set of doctrines and living a good and wholesome life, God would wonder why he has rejected the indwelling Holy Spirit. Likewise, if a person has the Holy Spirit dwelling in him but lives no different from the world, God would wonder why he even wants to go to heaven or if he is just trying to avoid hell. Paul said, “Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience.” The emptiness of their words is in their lack of works. They say they love God; meanwhile, they’re going to wild parties and having sex with whomever will have them; they are corrupt in their business deals and demonstrate their love for money more than their love for God.

(86f) Thy kingdom come >> Belief >> Mental ascent (believing a set of facts) – This passage makes it sound like no one will make it to heaven, because virtually everybody is like this. There is a controversy within the Church: Faith Versus Works that questions which one saves us, faith or works. Most say that we are saved by grace through faith (Eph 2-8,9), but some say we must work our way to heaven. It is not surprising that there is such a controversy, since Paul spoke about both; therefore, both must be involved. He is the one who said we are saved by grace through faith, and he also wrote this passage, that we should force our flesh to serve the Lord, that no matter how much we believe, if we don’t act like it, we won’t go to heaven. Everybody has a proclivity for evil; everybody has a sinful nature. James, the man who coined the works-based faith is also the one who said that of all the beasts of the earth, man has tamed them all, but no one can tame the tongue; “it is a restless evil and full of deadly poison” (Jm 3-8). Nevertheless, Paul says, “there must be no filthiness and silly talk, or coarse jesting,” which James says is impossible to achieve, yet that is the standard.

Eph 5,3-5

(10c) Responsibility >> Bring order to the Church >> Dealing with immorality

(22b) Sin >> Greed tries to satisfy man’s need for security >> The idolatry of greed

(145h) Witness >> Validity of Jesus Christ >> Jesus’ works bear witness of Himself >> Demon possession >> Human state >> Filthiness >> Deeds of the flesh

(250i) Priorities >> God’s prerequisites >> List of traits that can be found in man >> List of deeds of the body

Eph 5-3,4

(85j) Thy kingdom come >> Words of your mouth >> Better not to say anything >> Shut up! -- These verses go with verse 12. Paul has taken away our freedom of speech, telling us that we don’t have a right to say whatever we want, but there are some things that are off limits. James said too in his epistle, “If anyone does not stumble in what he says, he is a perfect man, able to bridle the whole body as well” (Jm 3-2), but he also said that nobody can do this. We all sin with our mouth, because it is so easy to do. The things we say are just as much an action as the things we do, but we tend to discriminate between our actions and our words, giving the impression that what we say is not as grievous. We know there are some things we could do that are very evil, but we can sin just as harshly and more profusely with our tongue. Paul is not talking about lying or deceiving or criticizing or boasting or condemning others; instead, he is talking about some of the less sinful things we do, such as telling dirty jokes, or some of the things we say in fun. We tend to lose touch with our spiritual side and forget about our commitment to being an example of faith and good works to the brethren, and we just start saying whatever comes to mind, and much of it is evil. Silly talk, course jesting, worldly things such as who is our favorite celebrity, God wants us sober-minded and fixed on the truth. He doesn’t want us taking a break from our faith to entertain worldly people and ideas; rather, He wants us to keep our eyes on the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. That doesn’t mean we can’t have fun, but our fun should be in the Lord. All these things become more and more true as we see the day of the Lord drawing near. We are to ratchet up our faith and devotion to God as the signs of His return become more pronounced.

(89a) Thy kingdom come >> Fear of God is the beginning of wisdom >> Being sensible is always appropriate

(142h) Witness >> Validity of Jesus Christ >> Witnesses of Jesus >> Reputation exposed to slander >> Protect your reputation

Eph 5-3

(62g) Paradox >> Anomalies >> Being clever >> Maintaining a blameless reputation

(134k) Temple >> Your body is the temple of God >> Sins of the body >> Immorality >> Sexual perversion >> Basic immorality -- This verse goes with verse 5

KJV    NAS  /  Navigation Bar

5 For this you know with certainty, that no immoral or impure person or covetous man, who is an idolater, has an inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God.

Eph 5,5-8

(167j) Works of the devil >> Manifestations of the devil >> Do not conform to the world >> The world of sin -- These verses go with verses 11&12. If the man of God grows weak in faith and falls under bondage to sin and remains there, and if he denies the Holy Spirit speaking in his heart, and His voice begins to fade, eventually it will lead to a reprobate mind, and then he will not be able to repent of his unbelief. If the man has a tendency to lie to his own heart about what is really happening within him, and lies about his relationship with God, he really is putting his eternal destiny at risk. He fabricates doctrines in his mind telling him that he can live any way he wants and practice any sin he desires and still walk with God, but the man is just lying to himself. He is replacing the voice of the Holy Spirit with the doctrines of demons, and these doctrines have attached themselves to many churches these days, so on a global scale the Church believes it can live any way it wants and still believe. They refuse to acknowledge the fact that their sin is a sign of unbelief. The Bible says that faith is how we access the grace of God, but how can we access that grace if we are walking in unbelief? Bondage is one thing; almost every Christian falls under bondage to sin at some point in his life, and often more than once. The process of repentance is painful and arduous, but the man of God will suffer through it for the promise of heaven. He will put down his sin, and he will live for his Lord and Master Jesus Christ until the end, because he has his mind set on the goal of eternal life. He will make it to heaven no matter what it takes.

Eph 5,5-7

(45g) Judgment >> Believer’s sin >> God will judge us with the world if we live like them

(48a) Judgment >> God judges the world >> Eternal judgment >> Consequences for sin

(51c) Judgment >> Judging the Church with the world >> Warning of Wrath >> God warns the Church

(156k) Witness >> Validity of the believer >> Evidence of being hell-bound >> Living an ungodly lifestyle >> Practicing sin – That sounds pretty harsh. Is Paul really saying that immorality and impurity and greed will condemn us to hell? That is exactly what he said. We are living in an era of licentiousness where people give themselves a license to sin. They figure that since Jesus died for sins, therefore they can sin because God will forgive them, but what Paul is saying is anybody who practices sin is a sign that they are not children of God. Anyone who lives in sin as a lifestyle does not belong to God, because sin defines a person. For example, anyone who takes the name of God in vain is not a blasphemer, but one is a blasphemer who does so as a lifestyle. Again, anyone who has committed fornication is not a fornicator, but one is a fornicator who does so as a lifestyle. Repentance is not an option for the Christian. To believe in the sacrifice of Jesus Christ is the only way we will get to heaven, not by abusing that grace. There is nothing we can do on our own to be forgiven, except to rely completely on the sacrifice of Christ. Our righteousness does not save us, but is a symbol of our salvation. Therefore, if the symbol isn’t there, it gives cause to wonder.

Eph 5-5,6

(182e) Works of the devil >> The origin of lawlessness >> Deception >> Three causes of interpreting Scripture falsely >> Because they have no regard for God’s word

Eph 5-5

(36i) Gift of God >> Inheritance >> Our inheritance can be withheld

(122d) Thy kingdom come >> Manifestations of faith >> Confidence in God to keep you – Knowing with certainty is an excellent definition of faith. Then there is Jesus’ definition of faith: a God-given ability to believe in Him through the Holy Spirit. Through this God-given ability we believe the truth that living an ungodly lifestyle is not what someone does who is hoping for eternal life. A person who lives in sin does not have the faith to understand that his eternal destiny is at risk, not that sin will sever him from his inheritance, but that sin is a sign he doesn’t believe in the first place. When a person gets tempted and falls into sin, he does it from doubt and unbelief on some level, but he may also believe in Jesus, so he repents. Then there is the person who gets tempted, falls into sin, allows his weakness to dominate him and never repents. Of course the person doesn’t want to give up his faith, and so continues believing in God, even though he is living in sin. A person can do this for a while, but eventually God will call him to repentance. The man will hear His voice speaking to him; if he listens and repents, fine; but if he doesn’t repent, the voice of God will begin to fade, and the man will further retreat from God, just like Adam and Eve who ran from His presence. The man who lives in sin will begin to avoid the things of God and deny the Spirit’s voice in his heart. Eventually, he will command the Holy Spirit to stop speaking to him, which is blasphemous.

(134k) Temple >> Your body is the temple of God >> Sins of the body >> Immorality >> Sexual perversion >> Basic immorality -- This verse goes with verse 3

(195g) Denying Christ >> Man exercises his will against God >> Idolatry >> Worshipping men >> Worshipping the idol of pleasure

(221j) Kingdom of God >> The elusive Kingdom of Heaven >> Kingdom hidden behind the veil from the world >> God hides from sin >> He hides behind disobedience – This list of traits of the unbeliever are sins that he commits that bars him from heaven and blinds his eyes and deafens his ears, so he cannot hear or see the creation in front of him proclaiming the glory of God in Christ Jesus. He refuses to know anything about God that puts Him in a positive light or gives him reason to believe in Him. These are the very things God uses to hide from the unbeliever. Just as Adam hid from God when he sinned, so God hides behind unbelief and disobedience, while the unbeliever proclaims there is no God. All his haughtiness and arrogance defies the living God, pointing into the world’s darkness and says, ‘Where is He?’ They don’t realize that He is always behind them, behind their sin, behind their unbelief. The devil is behind every idol, hiding behind man’s sin, while the man turns to look for God, and cannot see Him lurking behind the devil. God has the attitude that if people don’t want to know Him, then He will give them reason not to know Him, and if people don’t want to believe in Him, He will give them reason not to believe, but to those of His children who do believe in Him, He gives them reason to believe in Him. God makes himself available to those who seek Him and makes Himself scarce to those who don’t. The universe declares the glory of God, and we see the beauty all around us; living things are from the hand of God, and if man refuses to believe, He will send them to a place where life is impossible; not even they will be alive, yet they will be fully conscious and able to move their physical bodies. It will be a place where God is completely absent, though He is keenly aware of everything that is happening there. Then they will know that God was in fact visible in the life they once had on earth with living things all around them declaring the glory of God. Sunlight, a glass of cold water, food for the stomach, energy, health and a sense of well-being, all these things are from the Lord, but the unbeliever takes them for granted. All these things exist, and they stand in the midst of it as witnesses for a fleeting moment, as a mere blip on a radar, until their time expires, and they disappear into the void. The universe continues without them, not realizing that God is in the midst of it all. He is responsible for everything that exists, for everything that is good, right, holy and beautiful, but He is not responsible for the disobedience and unbelief of the sinner.

KJV    NAS  /  Navigation Bar

6-10 Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience. 7 Therefore do not be partakers with them; 8 for you were formerly darkness, but now you are Light in the Lord; walk as children of Light 9 (for the fruit of the Light consists in all goodness and righteousness and truth ), 10 trying to learn what is pleasing to the Lord.

Eph 5,6-14

(184a) Works of the devil >> The origin of lawlessness >> Darkness >> Hiding behind your own imagination >> Hiding behind a false partition

Eph 5-6

(177f) Works of the devil >> The religion of witchcraft >> False doctrine >> Beware of false doctrine

Eph 5-6,7

(230g) Kingdom of God >> God’s kingdom is a living organism >> Partaking >> Partaking of God’s judgment – It sounds as though we have traveled full circle to seeking salvation through our works, for Paul was warning the Ephesians not to walk in the flesh, but there is a difference between trying to please God by our works and being condemned by them. If we walk contrary to the teachings of Christ and of the apostles as a way of life, we will not be going to heaven. It is verses like this that make the gospel complicated, or so it would seem complicated to people who would like to believe in Jesus for eternal life but live in sin with the world, who have Eph 2-8,9 as their favorite verse, “By grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast,” and think our works play no part in salvation, but the Bible teaches that if we do not have good works, we will not see heaven (Mat 5-20). How much less likely will we see heaven if we walk in the evil works of the flesh? So it seems that we have returned to seeking salvation through the Law, for what good work does the Law not cover, and what evil work does the Law not cover? How then do we find balance and make sense of the gospel? In Hebrews it says that the new covenant is a better way, meaning that the goal of fulfilling the requirements of the Law has not changed, and so the Law was never abolished, though it has become obsolete. The law is still here, set aside, still true; we still should not commit murder; we still should not commit adultery; we still should not seal or lie. The point of the gospel is that God has given us of His Spirit, who gives us a desire to do His will, and in this way He has written His law in our hearts so we instinctively know right from wrong. We don’t have to live by the Law anymore; all we have to do is walk by the Spirit and we inadvertently fulfill the requirements of the Law. In other words, the new covenant is all about the first two commandments, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the great and foremost commandment. The second is like it, ‘you shall love your neighbor as yourself’” (Mat 22,37-39; taken from Deuteronomy 6-5 & Leviticus 19-18). So the new covenant focuses on love in order to achieve the Law, and if we love one another, then we won’t violate the Law in any way. The worst sin of all we will also avoid, which is idolatry; we will put no other gods before Him.

Eph 5,7-12

(193f) Die to self (Process of substitution) >> Turn from sin to God >> Repent >> Bring forth fruit in keeping with repentance >> Instruction to the Church

Eph 5,8-14

(92b) Thy kingdom come >> The narrow way >> Trail of good works >> Ray of light leading to the face of Christ – Christ will shine on the trail of good works that He has prepared specifically for us, and in the process of shining on our good works He will shine on us. The light is in reference to the truth. Suddenly the word of God will come alive, and we will understand the truth by the Spirit because we are doing the works of God, but before we can know the will of God, we must become students of the Word and disciples of prayer and live by our convictions, until Christ reveals His will to us. When we live by His plan and purpose, which transcends our conscience and convictions, the anointing will cover us and all men see the glory of God through the works that He has prepared for us from all eternity.

(112f) Thy kingdom come >> Faith >> Light >> Obeying the truth in broad daylight >> Church’s deeds in the light -- These verses go with verse 27. Everything that partakes of the light participates as a light source. When Christ shines on us, He fills our lamps with the oil of His light, so that we may become light. The children of God have an inner glow as part of the light, who emanates to represent Christ in the world, and this is how we expose the darkness. We are not merely reflectors of Christ. An example of a reflector of light is Lucifer who is now Satan, who in Rev 12-1 is represented by the moon, which merely reflects the light of the sun.

Eph 5-8

(33a) Gift of God >> God is our Father >> Believers are children >> Children of the light

Eph 5-9,10

(43b) Judgment >> Satan destroyed >> Conform to the character of Christ >> Conform to His nature – Some words in the New Testament are interchangeable; for example, we hear about the “fruit of the Spirit”, but now Paul is talking about the fruit of the light, suggesting that light and “Spirit” are the same in some ways. That is, the Holy Spirit is all about enlightening us to the word of God. On the one hand, “the Fruit of the Spirit” is: “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control” (Gal 5-22,23), and on the other hand the fruit of the light is in reference to the truth. Paul is saying that the truth and these nine fruits of the Spirit are the same in that we emulate the character of Christ through the knowledge of the Spirit as we walk in Him. There are many examples in Scripture of terms interrelating with other terms, because all these things mean essentially the same. We learn about the truth through the Spirit, and John commanded us to walk in truth, which is the same as walking in the light and walking in the Spirit, and by this we learn what is pleasing to the Lord. God is all about faith, love, truth and light; faith is love and light is truth. If we learn to love all that is good and right, we learn about God, and if we do what is good and right we will prove to be the children of God.

(86h) Thy kingdom come >> Obedience >> Be doers of the word >> Clothe yourself with the word of God >> Obey the truth

(95h) Thy kingdom come >> Attitude >> Having an obedient attitude >> Ready to do God’s will

(107m) Thy kingdom come >> Faith >> Hearing from God >> The Bible will lead you to truth >> True light

(127f) Thy kingdom come >> Manifestations of faith >> Goodness >> Rewards for doing good >> Sow the seeds of goodness >> Goodness bears the fruit of the Spirit – Goodness is one of the fruits of the Spirit. People often confuse goodness with being nice, but God has not called us to be nice; He has called us to be good. The simple difference between them has to do with who gets the glory. Every nice person is seeking glory for himself, and every good person is seeking the glory of God.

(128l) Thy kingdom come >> Manifestations of faith >> Bearing fruit >> Living a fruitful life >> It is a way of thriving

Eph 5-10

(78j) Thy kingdom come >> Renewing your mind by the word of God >> Study the Bible -- This verse goes with verses 15-17

(81b) Thy kingdom come >> Prayer >> The priesthood >> Striving to please Christ

(247i) Priorities >> God’s priorities >> God’s interests >> Things that please God – What is pleasing to the Lord is written in the Bible; all we have to do is read it. We know that the Law says to love God and love our fellow man, but these things are generalities that apply to every person, encompassing all of life. It is very easy to fall into idolatry, so we must learn how to avoid it, and we must learn how to love God. It takes more than just reading the Law and doing what it says to love God; it takes more than reading the New Testament. God has a specific interest in each person, and God guarantees that He will be pleased with us in every respect if we find our trail of good works that He has prepared for us and walk on it, but discovering it is not easy, but it is necessary.

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11 Do not participate in the unfruitful deeds of darkness, but instead even expose them; 

Eph 5,11-14

(112h) Thy kingdom come >> Faith >> Light >> Light exposes sin >> Light reveals hidden deeds – Flip on the wall switch and the whole room is exposed, but use a flashlight and it exposes only that which is in its path. We’ve all seen it on TV, someone erratically aiming a flashlight until it falls upon the culprit raiding the cash register, and suddenly his crime is exposed. However, Paul is not talking about exposing someone else’s sin but our own. It is easy to expose someone else’s sin, just point your finger and demand repentance. Sometimes that is necessary, but what is more often necessary is our own repentance.

(197e) Denying Christ >> Man exercises his will against God >> Man withers when he is in control >> Fruitlessness >> A fruitless life offends God

Eph 5-11,12

(10a) Responsibility >> Bring order to the Church >> Dealing with problems in the Church – A Christian can live in bondage for a season, and eventually he will rise above his evil passions and desires through the power of God. However, Paul is not talking about the sin of Christians in this passage but unbelievers, things people do so evil that it is not appropriate to mention them in secret but to expose them. It says we should expose the sin and not necessarily the person by speaking privately to him, warning him that his behavior can lead to worse sins and even hellfire. If he will not listen, then we are to take another person or two along as witness to the conference, and if he still won’t listen, then we are to expose the person by name to the congregation, warning the congregation that he is spiritually dangerous and should be avoided (see Mat 18,15-17). The Church after that is to treat him as an unbeliever, assume that he doesn’t know God, and preach the gospel of salvation to him. Every step of this process incurs further exposure of the person himself, which is meant to be a warning to curtail his evil behavior.

(153e) Witness >> Validity of the Father >> God bears witness against the world >> Shame >> Hiding under a cloud of guilt >> Preferring darkness over the light

(167j) Works of the devil >> Manifestations of the devil >> Do not conform to the world >> The world of sin -- These verses go with verses 5-8

(194f) Die to self (Process of substitution) >> Turn from sin to God >> Hate evil >> Condemning sin >> Judging evil – Gossiping about sin is not the same as exposing it, since gossip itself is considered sin. We cannot judge sin with sin; we can only judge sin by being innocent of it. Being that we are living in sinful flesh, meaning that we really don’t have any choice but to sin, except that Jesus has forgiven us and empowered us to rise above our slavery to sin, not that we are perfect and not that we won’t sin again, the practice of sin now has a solution. People throughout the ages have developed sinful habits that have corrupted their lives and their minds and people and society, making the world evil, and Jesus came to deliver us from these things. We can’t help but sin, and when we do, we confess our sin to the Lord, and He is faithful and righteous to forgive us and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness (1Jn 1-9), but practicing sin does not happen in the believer for long.

Eph 5-11

(69k) Authority >> Righteous judgment (outcome of discernment) >> Executing God’s judgment by His authority – Instead of participating in the unfruitful deeds of darkness, we are to expose them, but before we can expose them we must first be aware of them, and we stay abreast of wickedness in the Church through a spirit of discernment, and through that Spirit we are to pass judgment on those who will not repent. God sanctions this, not the way we have seen others pass judgment in the flesh, but we do it in the Spirit (1Cor 5-3). We have two modes of judgment: according to our own sin or according to the indwelling Holy Spirit, who seeks reconciliation. We know that those who judge according to the flesh are guilty of the same things and are motivated by demons, and all they hope to accomplish is to start factions and skirmishes and become just as guilty as the people they are judging. We are to expose the darkness through the light, in hope that the darkness becomes light, in order that people might repent. When Paul said not to participate in wickedness but instead expose it, he was not talking about confronting the person in the way that Jesus taught: individually, then taking along a witness or two, then telling it to the elders of the Church and finally shunning the person from fellowship (Mat 18,15-17). This person has become toxic and dangerous and we cannot afford to allow a person’s sin to wreak havoc among the people of God. What did Paul say? “Remove the wicked man from among yourselves (1Cor 5-13).” This is the process of guiding the sinning Christian into repentance or else removing him from the Church, as Paul said in Gal 6-1 with a gentle spirit, lest we too be tempted.

(122m) Thy kingdom come >> Manifestations of faith >> Boldness to rebuke the world for unbelief – The very next verse says, “It is disgraceful even to speak of the things which are done by them in secret” (v12). If it is disgraceful to speak of these things, then how are we supposed to expose them? We don’t expose them by telling other people what they do; that’s gossip; instead, we expose them by telling them what they have done in the presence of witnesses. Gossip is denounced as politics, where the goal is mere publicity; meanwhile, the gossiper’s own plate is full of sin. The only way to expose deep-throated sinners is to tell them to their faces about the sins they commit and the level of wickedness they entertain that hold consequences they will bring upon themselves. For them to learn that their sins are leaking into public ears is mostly immaterial to them, because that will give them time to design a defense and a rebuttal instead of repenting. We don’t deal with spiritual matters like politically minded people; instead, if someone is sinning, we tell them to their faces; that is what Jesus did to the Pharisees. He didn’t gossip about them; if He had something negative to say about someone; He personally told them in the presence of many witnesses, and it was a massive rebuke, more effective than anything else He could have done. When He warned people about the Pharisees, they were present hearing it.

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12-14 for it is disgraceful even to speak of the things which are done by them in secret. 13 But all things become visible when they are exposed by the light, for everything that becomes visible is light. 14 For this reason it says, "Awake, sleeper, And arise from the dead, And Christ will shine on you."

Eph 5,12-14

(212h) Sovereignty >> God is infinite >> God is all knowing >> Nothing hidden >> God exposes things hidden in darkness

Eph 5-12

(85j) Thy kingdom come >> Words of your mouth >> Better not to say anything >> Shut up! -- This verse goes with verses 3&4

Eph 5-13,14

(25l) Sin >> Consequences of sin >> You’re walking in death if you’re not walking in Jesus – When Paul said, “Awake, sleeper, and arise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you,” he was talking about Christians. The book of Ephesians is a letter to the church in Ephesus; he wasn’t writing to unbelievers. Christians should be alive if they actually belong to Christ; they are just not letting it show. Mat 5-14,15 says, “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden; nor does anyone light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house.” They are walking in dead works whose lives do not shine with the glory of God (Heb 9-13,14). Dead works is a phrase that is just about as complicated as “deeds of light.” Dead works are largely in reference to sins that we commit, but we can also define dead works as works God has not called us to do. Although some things we do can be helpful to others, by comparison to doing the will of God they are a waste of time. In other words, not all dead works are sin according to the Law of Moses; we may not be committing adultery or bearing false witness or any of the other commandments designed to legislate behavior, but neither are we seeking to fulfill God’s purpose and calling in our lives when we engage in dead works. We are not walking on the trail of good works that God has prepared for us; we are doing what we want, reducing Christ to a mere idea rather than the person who is supposedly dwelling in us. If we want our faith to be alive, we must live our faith.

(38c) Judgment >> Jesus defeated death (Satan) >> Resurrection overcomes death

(106a) Thy Kingdom Come >> Faith >> Hearing from God >> Attaining the hearing ear >> Knowing the sound of His voice >> God speaks in the darkness to shine the light

(117k) Thy kingdom come >> Faith >> Eyes of your spirit >> Seeing through the eyes of your spirit >> Light illumines your spirit – Paul talks about the unfruitful deeds of darkness, which suggests there are also deeds of light. The person who is struggling in his faith often doesn’t understand what’s wrong; they try but can’t get themselves to believe in God. They want their faith to feel natural rather than forced, because then it doesn’t seem that they actually believe. If we must try to believe, it opens the door to the possibility that maybe we don’t believe. Since the deeds of darkness are keeping us from believing the way we want, we can employ deeds of light to counteract the darkness of doubt and unbelief. This will solve our spiritual problems, but what are the deeds of light? They are more than just acts of righteousness, behaving properly and living by our conscience, though these things we should do. The deeds of light are works that God has prepared for us, referring to Eph 2-10, “We are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.” If we step on this trail of good works and walk in the light, our faith will enlighten everyone in the room.

Eph 5-13 

(194j) Die to self (Process of substitution) >> Turn from sin to God >> Yielding >> Confessing your sin to God

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15-17 Therefore be careful how you walk, not as unwise men but as wise, 16 making the most of your time, because the days are evil. 17 So then do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is.

Eph 5,15-17

(62l) Paradox >> Anomalies >> Being clever >> Grow up

(78j) Thy kingdom come >> Renewing your mind by the word of God >> Study the Bible -- These verses go with verse 10. In the books of First and Second Timothy Paul breaks away from his spiritual vision of the Church and writes on a more practical level how we should lead a godly life. He doesn’t use the vernacular of a visionary in Titus and Philemon either, rather one of a devoted Christian. So to use our time wisely is to dedicate our lives to our faith in whatever capacity God has called us. He said not to be foolish but to “understand what the will of the Lord is.” Isn’t that what every Christian wants? What does God want us to do? That is a really big question, and Paul said it in such a benign manner as though we all knew, or maybe he assumed we all knew the will of God. If we did know His will, would we do it? We know His general will (read the Bible, pray and go to church), but most of us are not doing that very faithfully. If every Christian could answer this question and was fully engaged, we would have a church that was totally on fire for God. This might be the reason people are not zealous, because they don’t know the will of the Lord; after all, how can they be zealous if they don’t know what to do? Of course the reason many don’t know God’s will is that most never bothered to ask. So there are reasons for our ignorance and lack of understanding. It is called apathy, and when most members of the Church are apathetic, it is called apostasy.

(89f) Thy kingdom come >> Fear of God is the beginning of wisdom >> Deeds of wisdom – Paul approaches Christianity on a very sensible level, appealing to us to live out our days in a simple manner, using wisdom and moderation to guide us, telling us to make the most of our time, “because the days are evil.” Some say that America is just like the Romans; people today are entertainment oriented and tend to watch too much TV. Our demand to be entertained seems to be escalating like an addiction. Many people still love the old movies from the forties and fifties; they were the entertainment of the time and they were great, yet in our day the story line seems to creep in slow motion, because we are so used to events flashing past our eyes at a blinding pace. We exit the theater with our head spinning, and we think that’s great. This is our world today. If people back then tried to live in our day, they would have such a sensory overload, migraines would be the norm. How do we use our time wisely? Since this is the Bible and Paul was such a committed man to the gospel of Christ, and Jesus also was committed, the testimony of the Old Testament spoke for Him, “For zeal for Your house has consumed me” (Psalm 69-9). Christians should be zealous too, suggesting we should devote more time to our faith in whatever capacity God has called us.

(93e) Thy kingdom come >> The narrow way >> Walk carefully with wisdom – We don’t care enough to ask God what we should be doing, and we wonder why there are so many problems with the Church and in the world. God has charged the Church with being the salt of the earth and preservative of the world. If the Church were doing its job, we would buffer the world’s disobedience, but the world has grown cold and callus because the Church has failed on virtually every level to do the will of God. They go through the motions of church and then go home and continue with their lives unaffected. There is usually not even a discussion about the sermon, though there is often nothing to discuss since the sermon was so dry and dead. Pastors are in a state of apostasy too. The Church is a total mess, and Paul explains why: we are foolishly wasting our time in a state of complete ignorance about God’s will. We are supposed to be sensible; we are supposed to live in moderation in regard to the world but zealous for the things of God. 1Cor 7-31 says, “those who use the world, as though they did not make full use of it; for the form of this world is passing away.”

(7i) Use time wisely (Key verse)

(7m) Responsibility >> Use time wisely >> Get ready >> Live right during these times – This appears to be the theme of this chapter, making the most of our time because the days are evil. This is why we shouldn’t waste our time with filthy and silly talk and course jesting, as stated in the beginning of this chapter. These things do not profit or edify, and they are not fitting for a person of faith, rather giving of thanks. (I'm preaching to myself here.) Having a grateful heart is edifying. It builds up the body of Christ. We are supposed to be showing each other the way and encouraging each other to walk in the Lord, and we do it by being an example of good works. We must make the most of our time, because there is great opposition. There are all kinds of examples in the world that oppose the things that God is trying to do in us. He is trying to establish His kingdom, while the world is trying to establish its kingdom with the construction site in our hearts. So, we don’t have time to dilly-dally. Paul says we should mean business about this; we should be serious about our faith and try with all our hearts to be an encouragement and have things to share with each other.

(247j) The Will Of God (Key verse)

(248a) Priorities >> God’s priorities >> The will of God >> We play our part in the will of God >> Knowing the will of God

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18 And do not get drunk with wine, for that is dissipation, but be filled with the Spirit,

Eph 5,18-21

(13f) Servant >> Serve the body >> Promoting its health >> Servant is anointed

Eph 5,18-20

(6i) Responsibility >> Ministering to people by being in the Spirit

(96d) Thy kingdom come >> Attitude >> Positive attitude toward God >> Having a thankful attitude

(113j) Thy kingdom come >> Faith >> The anointing >> Filled with the Holy Spirit – When you compare this idea with the general attitude of this chapter, it becomes clear that Paul doesn’t want us doing anything that does not pertain to the building up of the body of Christ. Paul also said in 1Cor 14-26, “Let all things be done for edification.” Since we accomplish this by the Holy Spirit and not by alcohol, which is of a different spirit, the drinking of alcohol is out, except using it for our frequent ailments, meaning we should reserve it as a medicine instead of a drug. When Paul says, “Do not get drunk with wine, but be filled with the Spirit,” he is referring to a substitutionary process, suggesting that this is a simple recipe for overcoming alcoholism, trading spirit for Spirit. This is actually the Bible’s remedy for everything. God is not interested in taking anything away from us without replacing our problems and our vices and our addictions with Himself, who can fill us to overflowing with the knowledge of Jesus Christ. He is able to fill any void in our lives and turn our dark holes into light sources and springs of water, where people can gather and imbibe the life-giving virtue that God has given us in place of our bondage.

(139h) Temple >> Building the temple (with hands) >> Edification -- These verses go with verses 1&2

Eph 5-18

(132h) Temple >> Your body is the temple of God >> Holy Spirit is in God’s people >> Filled with the Spirit >> Filled to overflowing – The outcome of being filled with the Spirit should be speaking the oracle of God to one another “in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody with your heart to the Lord,” not the entire congregation speaking in tongues at the same time with no interpretation. This is an infraction of Church rules. Rather, the outcome of “speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs” should be edification, which was Paul’s goal that he reminded us throughout all of His epistles. Everything should be for the purpose of edification, the building up of one another. If what we are doing edifies no one, then we should stop doing it, because the lack of edification proves that it is not of God. If we leave the church encouraged in the faith week-by-week, it is an indication of many people serving the Lord from the top down; but if we are not edified, it is an indication of mass disobedience from the top down.

(159h) Drunkenness (Key verse)

(159j) Works of the devil >> Essential characteristics >> Counterfeit God >> Counterfeit anointing >> Drunkenness >> The alcoholic – Paul does not strictly forbid the drinking of alcohol; rather, he strictly forbids drunkenness. Remember, Paul said in Rom 14-14, “nothing is unclean in itself,” meaning that there is no physical substance on earth that is evil, for evil inhabits the heart of man. That is, alcohol is not evil, man is evil for abusing it, until he can no longer hear the voice of God over the demons that speak to the drunkard through the alcohol regarding all things contrary to God’s will. There is no place in a Christian’s life for drunkenness. 

(162e) Works of the devil >> Being a slave to the devil (Addictions) >> Bondage >> A slave to unbelief >> Bondage to an inability to believe – Paul is saying that we are to be filled with the Spirit in place of getting drunk, suggesting that there are similarities between these two. In contrast, recall the laughter movement in the 1990’s, when people would laugh hysterically in church at nothing, claiming to be filled with the Spirit, quoting this verse with Act 2,12-18. That laughter movement was a deception from Satan, but what Paul was saying was true; being filled with the Spirit is intoxicating, only it is not expressed as laughing hysterically, but as the Spirit of Truth revealing God’s word to us. One of the results is hope, and hope brings joy. However, with this laughter movement there was no truth. The laughter movement edified no one, God was not glorified and the truth was not exalted. Had it been a movement of God, it would have enhanced the truth, launching the people into deeper spiritual maturity, but the fact is the churches that participated in the laughter movement are less mature than ever.

(199c) Denying Christ >> Man exercises his will against God >> Frustrating the grace of God >> Frustrating Jesus >> Frustrating the Holy Spirit

(203k) Denying Christ >> Man chooses his own destiny apart from God >> Back-slider >> Practicing sin >> Living in sin

(208h) Salvation >> The salvation of God >> Personal relationship >> Being the friend of God >> Relationship with God by the Spirit

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19-21 speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody with your heart to the Lord; 20 always giving thanks for all things in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to God, even the Father; 21 and be subject to one another in the fear of Christ.

Eph 5-19,20

(81k) Thy kingdom come >> Pray without ceasing >> For the Church >> Giving thanks

(85h) Thy kingdom come >> Words that are spoken in faith >> Verbalize your faith – Here is another process of substitution; we are to substitute course jesting, filthiness and silly talk in verses 3-5 with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, making melody in our hearts to the Lord. All that is edifying, all that is a blessing, all that brings glory to God should exit our mouth, and to otherwise keep our trap shut.

(252f) Trinity >> You shall put no other gods before Me >> Worship God >> Worship God who is Spirit >> Worship God in the Spirit

Eph 5-19

(74b) Thy kingdom come >> The heart >> God wants a relationship with your heart

(151a) Witness >> Validity of Jesus Christ >> Works of the Church bear witness of Jesus >> Speak the word >> Speak the logos – We are to read the Bible to each other and sing hymns written by inspired writers that elucidate the Scriptures. Many of the psalms of the Bible have been put to music, and there are other inspired hymns that encapsulate the Scriptures, and we are to sing them to edify our faith. It is mentioned on a number of occasions in the Scriptures that the saints did this, such as in jail when they sang songs until the walls gave way to freedom (Act 16,25-31). Also, Jesus sang hymns with His disciples just before His crucifixion (Mk 14-26). Biblical music encourages us and keeps our minds busy with the Scriptures, enlightening and inspiring one another to serve the Lord. Music is part of the Christian life, and if music has a place in this life, then it also has a place in the life to come. Heaven is full of music and making melody to the Lord. One of the fruits of the Spirit that we experience through song is joy, and when one of the fruits of the Spirit are present, it encourages other fruits to present themselves.

Eph 5-20

(67k) Authority >> Jesus delegates authority >> Praying in Jesus’ name

(250e) Priorities >> God’s prerequisites >> Sequence of priorities >> In all things ... >> Give thanks for all things – When Paul said “all things”, he meant the good and the bad. We are not to give thanks just for the good and be angry and bitter against God for the bad things. We are to give thanks, not just because God intends to work His will into our lives through our hardships, but also for the hardships themselves. Good things are the fruits that we enjoy of our labors from the past, and bad things are opportunities to bear fruit for the future that we might enjoy later. Without hardship, the testing of our faith, we wouldn’t know if we believed in God at all. He doesn’t test us to learn of our faith, but He tests us that we might learn of our faith. He tests us for our sake and for the sake of others that we might know the true condition of our faith. Bearing up under trial is crucial in our relationship with God and our fellowship with others, in that it helps people trust us. If our character does not sway with the circumstances, we will encourage others to do the same, and they will want what we have. The goal is consistency in our walk, and we look for consistency in others as examples of faith, and the first step in becoming consistent is giving thanks for all things. Gratitude in itself has the power to change our lives; a person who is truly grateful will give thanks, and a person who never gives thanks is not grateful. We give thanks to God for the good that is in our lives, and we give Him thanks for our difficulties that we might endure them in hope of receiving a full reward both in this life and in the life to come.

Eph 5-21

(88k) Thy kingdom come >> Fear of God is the beginning of wisdom >> Revering God – Most people in the Church these days don’t believe they need to fear Christ or His Father. They think unsaved people should fear Him because they are on their way to hell, but Paul is talking to the Church, mature Christians, the Ephesians. They were a righteous and a holy people, and they were obedient and faithful to God, and Paul was telling them that they had reason to fear Christ, and how do we fear Him? We do it by subjecting ourselves to one another and being servant of all. We don’t dare consider ourselves greater than others, for to do so is to have no fear of God or knowledge of Him, and the one who has no knowledge of God doesn’t know enough to fear Him. Faithful Christians who know and love their Master, who seem to have less reason to fear God, fear Him the most.

(235f) Kingdom of God >> Pursuing the kingdom >> Invest in the kingdom >> Giving (your inner self) >> Giving preference to one another – Being subject to one another is like giving preference to one another, as Paul said in Rom 12-10. Paul is telling us to be subordinate to one another, meaning we are to submit to all people in the faith and for them to submit to us. This reflects what Jesus said, “The one who is least among all of you, this is the one who is great” (Lk 9-48). The servant is subordinate to his master and is subject to him, and whatever he asks the servant must do. That is the place of a servant, and that is our place in the body of Christ. The servant greater than ourselves in the body of Christ deserves a better place in the ministry, and it should be given to him instead of withholding it through jealousy. Those who love God and serve Him and seek to incorporate the word of God into their lives to become servant of all are often never recognized in the Church as great men and women of God, because the people who should be recognizing them are so immature they don’t know the Scriptures well enough to understand how the Kingdom of God actually works. If one is truly great, he will continue to serve even if unacknowledged.

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22 Wives, be subject to your own husbands, as to the Lord. 

Eph 5,22-33

(3e) Responsibility >> To the Family >> Pattern your marriage after Christ and the Church – Paul compares the relationship of the husband and wife with Christ and the Church saying, “Wives, be subject to your own husbands as to the Lord,” suggesting that the Church should be subject to Christ. The husband should be head of the wife as Christ is head of the Church. Paul is telling the wives to respect their husbands because wives tend to have a problem doing so, or perhaps better stated, people tend to have a problem respecting authority. Rebellion is sown into the human genome, thanks to Adam’s contribution. Paul charged the wife to respect her husband before he charged the man to love his wife. That doesn't mean the man isn't obligated to love his wife if she doesn't respect him, but that it works better if the wife respects her husband first, and then the man responds to her respect by demonstrating his love for her. It's just like Christ and the Church; Jesus loves the Church, but He can't always demonstrate it, because the Church doesn't respect him. The Church is so rebellious He can't demonstrate His love for her. It is the same way with a husband and a wife; if she rebels against his authority in the marriage, there is nothing the man can do to show his love for her.

(11o) Servant >> Example of God’s people >> The Church – We don’t abuse our wives any more than we abuse our own bodies; instead, we cherish our spouse, and for this reason we leave our father and mother and are joined to our wife, and the two shall become one flesh. Christ cherishes us, and we reciprocate to Him. We love the Lord, but the Lord loves us far more than we love Him, not just because He is bigger, but because He is more capable of love. In this life all we can do is eek-out a couple good works, trying to show our faith and love in obedience, and trying to keep our sin from getting in the way. What we don’t understand, though, is that these little tokens of faithfulness mean more to Christ than we will ever know, simply because we are serving Him encased in sinful flesh, which offers an alternative that is staring us in the face, and we are choosing Him instead. The fact that we are choosing Him over sin is elating to Him, because He can use us to prove to the devil that righteousness is a better option than rebellion. He will never forget our love we showed Him. The things we do for Him in this life will become the seed of faith and love and relationship that will spill onto everybody in heaven. The more faithful we are in this life, the better quality of life we will have in heaven.

(13l) Servant >> Serve God though small in stature >> Least is the greatest

(95g) Thy kingdom come >> Attitude >> Having a cooperative attitude >> An attitude that fosters unity – If every believer had a close relationship with Christ, we would have unity, and with it we could change the world. Christ dwells in our unity. In fact, the relationship between Christ and the Church is spiritually consummated in unity. If we are not united, He cannot consummate the Church. Unity is a matter of each person recognizing the fact that he has a marriage relationship with Christ, and submitting to His authority. This is also true in human relationships between a husband and wife. Some have the misconception that all Christians should be happy, but this is not the case; there are many Christians who are unhappy as Christians, and it has mostly to do with their theology. Many Christians feel stuck in their relationship with God, because they can’t do what they want. It is not the right attitude to have, but it is a fairly common one. Conversely, many married couples have a good relationship with their spouse the way God intended it. They are fruitful and multiply, and later have grandchildren, and they wouldn’t have it any other way. They couldn’t fathom living as a single person or being married to anybody else; this is the way Christians ought to feel about Christ, but it takes work and dedication and commitment. The good marriage is the one where each person takes a hard look at their spouse and examines their fruit and sees the value in each other and reciprocates in a mutual exchange where each person benefits from each other. So it is with Christ and the Church.

(224e) Kingdom of God >> Illustrating the kingdom >> Description of heaven >> The joyful kingdom >> The marriage supper of the lamb – The Marriage Supper of the Lamb is when God finally gets all His people together and consummates the marriage in the most literal sense possible. Sex symbolizes this consummation between Christ and the Church. This heavenly experience will no doubt be unimaginably pleasurable. Sex is enjoyable in this life, how much more enjoyable will it be in heaven? There will be many joys in heaven, yet our chief joy will be spiritual intercourse with Christ. It will be a pleasure that no one could ever possibly achieve in this life. Sex, when managed properly through marriage, can be our greatest joy on earth, suggesting that this consummation that Christ intends for the Church will be our greatest joy in heaven. Sex in this life bears the fruit of our offspring to perpetuate the next generation on the earth, so in heaven the marriage relationship between Christ and the Church will bear fruit of an new species of man who will be gifted with the ability to reproduce to perpetuate the next phase of God’s plan in eternity, for why would Christ’s relationship with His bride be a sterile one?

(225l) Kingdom of God >> Illustrating the kingdom >> Parables >> Parables about the body of Christ

Eph 5,22-32

(136h) Temple >> Your spirit is the temple of God >> The body of Christ >> Body of Christ consists of individual members >> We should live as Christ lived

Eph 5,22-25

(2b) Responsibility >> Avoid offending God >> Keeping your commitments >> Fulfill your vows in marriage to your spouse – As the woman respects her husband, so the man should love his wife, “just as Christ loved the Church. Paul calls men to love their wives because husbands tend to have a problem with that. This doesn’t mean husbands don’t actually love their wives, but they don’t always show it. Paul is telling them to openly demonstrate their love as Christ openly demonstrated His love for the Church on the cross. “So husbands ought also to love their own wives as their own bodies. He who loves his own wife loves himself; for no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ also does the Church…” This statement does not account for the demon-possessed man, who lived in the cemetery, who had a legion of demons living in him, who gouged himself with stones, according to Mk 5,6-11. Obviously he did not love his own flesh, or at least the demons that resided in him didn’t. How could a demon-possessed man know God? According to the analogy, a person who does not love himself, cannot love his wife, and is no different from a masochistic demon-possessed man. Therefore, it shouldn’t surprise anyone that the person who loves his wife also loves himself. To know God is to love yourself so you can love others through Christ.

Eph 5,22-24

(194i) Die to self (Process of substitution) >> Turn from sin to God >> Yielding >> Yield to God’s right to direct your way -- These verses go with verse 33

Eph 5-22,23

(73h) Authority >> Respect authority in the family >> Respect the institution of marriage -- These verses go with verse 33. Why does the man have authority over the woman? Part of it stems from that whole thing about Adam and Eve; he was first, whom God put in charge of His creation before Eve made her debut. It was with Adam that God had His conversations in the cool of the day. It doesn’t say that God visited with Eve that way. So, it was Adam who had a relationship with God, and Eve related to God through her husband. Nowhere in the book of Genesis does it say God spoke to Eve, until after the fall. However, in the new covenant, “There is neither male nor female… for all are one in Christ” (Gal 3-28), but at the same time there must be order in the Church, so someone must be in authority, and it might as well be Adam since that is that way prior to the fall.

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23-25 For the husband is the head of the wife, as Christ also is the head of the church, He Himself being the Savior of the body. 24 But as the church is subject to Christ, so also the wives ought to be to their husbands in everything. 25 Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her,

Eph 5-23

(137a) Temple >> Building the temple (with hands) >> Jesus is the foundation >> Jesus is head of the Church – Christ is head of the Church in many of the same ways that the husband is head of the family. Being that the man is head of the wife, she must submit to his authority, but there is also the fact that Jesus loved the Church and paid the ultimate price for it, saying, “the son of man did not come to be served but to serve” (Mat 20-28). Therefore, if the husband has the position of Christ in the home, then he to serve more than he is to be served. That is, the wife lives in subjection to her husband’s authority as greatest servant of the family. This corresponds with the teaching of Scripture in regard to the Kingdom of God and how it is designed, the greater the servant the more authority, but it is very easy for men to forget their place as servant in the home. Those who lord themselves over their wives don’t have the slightest clue about the word of God or about their place in the family or how to be a husband. We know that the woman’s place is to be a servant, but the man’s place is to be an even greater servant than her; and if he is not doing that, then he doesn’t understand his place in the body of Christ or his relation to God, and he certainly doesn’t live in subjection to Christ.

(210e) Salvation >> The salvation of God >> Jesus is our savior >> Especially of believers -- This verse goes with verse 25

Eph 5,24-32

(73e) Authority >> Respect Positions Of Authority >> Respect Jesus’ Authority – Our love for Christ in this life is a simulation of the life we will have in heaven. For example, in an earthly sense both husband and wife share the same nature in their flesh, and when they get married, the two become as one body. However, in a spiritual sense when Christ and the Church consummate their marriage and become as one body, we will receive the same nature as Christ and receive His prominence with the Father and be invited to sit with Him on His throne, yet we will be under His authority, just as Christ is under the authority of His Father. Paul said that the woman should respect her husband. Translating to our relationship with Christ, we should revere Him, which refers to a positive sense of fear. He epitomizes this thought saying, “This mystery is great; but I am speaking with reference to Christ and the Church.”

Eph 5,24-27

(227f) Kingdom of God >> God’s kingdom is a living organism >> God working in you >> Dependence on Jesus >> Depending on Jesus to have compassion >> Depending on Jesus to receive us

Eph 5-24

(250c) Priorities >> God’s prerequisites >> Sequence of priorities >> In all things ... >> Be a servant in all things

Eph 5,25-32

(2a) Responsibility >> Avoid offending God >> Keep your commitments >> Fulfill your vows in marriage to God – This is a beautiful analogy of our marriage relationship with Christ. Paul is quoting a verse from the Old Testament, which speaks about the marriage relationship between a man and a woman, saying that a man should leave his father and mother and cleave to his wife. This analogy elucidates the experience of salvation, where the believer who first comes to the Lord leaves behind all that is familiar to him, referring to the world, and cleaves to Christ. As an infant, his parents meant the world to him, who were the first people he knew and they remained the most influential and important people in his life, until he married his wife, who represents Christ. Hence, when a person becomes born again, he leaves the world behind and joins himself to Christ, and the two shall become one Spirit. In the natural realm the man and wife share one another’s flesh in holy matrimony in the consummation of the marriage. Sex represents the two sharing a union, and in that way they bear children. By analogy, in our marriage relationship with Christ we become one spirit with Him, so that when we join ourselves to God and the Holy Spirit resides in us, He mixes Himself with our souls, so that the two become one Spirit. This new creation that results is no longer man or God, but man and God in a holy spiritual matrimony that will remain throughout eternity. He does not merely dwell in us but has indelibly mixed His spirit with ours and has become the beginning of an eternal marriage bond. On the day of our spiritual birth He brought forth a new creation so that we are no longer the same person, but have become one with God. This is not God and man as two separate entities, but God and man who are so completely intertwined that no man has the power to separate (Mk 10-9).

(13d) Servant >> Serve the body >> Promoting its health >> Building up the body of Christ

Eph 5,25-30

(103c) Thy kingdom come >> Purifying process >> God’s cleansing power >> Cleansing power of the word

(129g) Thy kingdom come >> Manifestations of faith >> Unity >> love perfects unity >> Love is the martyr between the blocks

Eph 5,25-27

(30f) Gift of God >> God is our Father >> Favor with God through His word

(31k) Gift of God >> Gift of His grace >> Grace is the work of God

(49m) Judgment >> God judges the world >> Condition of the Church in the last days – Paul said that God washes the Church’s feet by the Holy Spirit, using the word of God as it were soap, that He might present the Church to Himself in all of her glory, having no spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she should be holy and blameless.” This is the state of the Church that Jesus will receive at His second coming. The Church today rejects many teachings and manifestations of the Holy Spirit, which God would use to cleans the body, like a belligerent child refusing to take a bath. Some of the spots and wrinkles that God intends to cleans from the Church refer to imposters hiding among the saints. God intends to cleans the Church with His Spirit and prepare her for His second coming. Any resistance will expose the spots and wrinkles, whom God will thus remove and replace with a people who desire to walk in the blessing of Christ. If God must, He will overstep the contemporary church, who call themselves by the name of God but want nothing to do with Him, and will establish a new people in His name and for His glory who will do His will.

(191a) Die to self (Process of substitution) >> Separation from the old man >> Baptism >> Immersed in His Spirit

(228k) Kingdom of God >> God’s kingdom is a living organism >> God working in you >> God works in you to clean you up – Jesus gave Himself up for the Church, that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word.” The water represents the Holy Spirit and the word is the Scriptures, so the Holy Spirit is using the Scriptures to wash the Church of its sin, as Jesus washed His disciples’ feet, saying to Peter, “He who has bathed needs only to wash his feet, but is completely clean…”

(229h) Kingdom of God >> God’s kingdom is a living organism >> Kingdom grows by itself >> Kingdom assumes the mind of Christ >> Kingdom grows into the likeness of Christ

(246hh) Kingdom of God >> Spirit realm imposed on the natural realm >> Demonstration of God’s kingdom >> God demonstrates His glory >> Materializing the inner man

(3b) Marriage (Key verse)

(210e) Salvation >> The salvation of God >> Jesus is our savior >> Especially of believers -- This verse goes with verse 23

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26 so that He might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, 

Eph 5,26-33

(2c) Responsibility >> Avoid offending God >> Keep your commitments >> Complete God’s calling in your ministry >> Christ did as our example

Eph 5-26,27

(50db) Judgment >> Last Days >> Great Endtime Revival >> Jews lead the world into revival >> Prophesied to unite the body of Christ at the end of the age – God wants His Church to stop whoring with the world and start living for Jesus like we should, and prepare to meet God. Paul prophesied that prior to the Rapture the Church will be holy and blameless. This is the kind of walk that He expects from His people in the last days. We know that the Church did not live this way throughout its 2000-year history, but God will expect from His people in the last days to live in a near state of perfection, ridding ourselves of “all defilement of flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God” (2Cor 7-1) for a 3½-year period during the trumpet judgments of the tribulation. This might seem impossible, but God will bestow an anointing on His people to accomplish this. It is highly unlikely that the Church today will ever repent of its fleshly indulgences; it is not in their hearts to serve God and nothing will ever change that. Therefore, God will choose another people who will worship Him in Spirit and truth. Many who currently believe in Jesus will not participate in the Rapture, and many who are Christians in name only will be shaken over the mouth of hell and never be seen again. God will raise up a people during the great endtime revival that is coming who will lead the true Church to worship God in Spirit and truth, who will replace those today who are Christians in name only. There will be many Christians today who will cleave to this Great Endtime Revival and be part of the five wise virgins, who will be ushered into the presence of God into the wedding ceremony and celebration of the Marriage Supper of the Lamb following the Rapture, but many others will be “rejected as regards the faith” (2Tim 3-8).

(103g) Thy kingdom come >> Purifying process >> Spirit like water >> Anointing cleanses you from the practice of sin

(131ja) Thy kingdom come >> Manifestations of faith >> Unity >> Many members but one body >> Many people but one person – The Church will know the truth in the last days better than the first century church, establishing unity. This suggests that the apostles who physically walked with Jesus in the flesh throughout his 3½-year ministry, who successfully established the Church in its infancy, the ministry of the Great Endtime Revival will be even more successful in bringing souls to the kingdom and establishing unity to the body of Christ. Jesus taught that knowing Christ in the flesh is not the advantage that most people think, compared to knowing Him in the Spirit, who is able to train His people better than Jesus did (Jn 16-7). One of the goals of the Spirit is to lead the Church into unity, so to the extent that we don’t see unity in the Church is the extent that people are disobedient to the Holy Spirit. According to the Lord’s Prayer, “Your kingdom come. Your will be done, On earth as it is in heaven” (Mat 6-10), Jesus commanded us to emulate our future home in heaven where God inhabits His people and they are one with Him and with each other. Unity is the one condition that Christ placed on His return, according to the High Priestly Prayer (John chapter 17). God commanded us to unite as a single church throughout the earth. His promise is that He will come again and receive us to Himself in a perfect state of unity. True unity occurred in the early Church, but soon afterward it fizzled throughout church history. However, when Jesus returns for His people, unity will have successfully emulated the conditions of heaven on earth, which was Jesus vision from the beginning. The first century church was the most faithful generation throughout the 2,000-year age of grace, but apparently it wasn’t faithful enough for Jesus to return, for there were schisms and divisions among them too, only not like today. The closer to a state of unity, the closer to the return of Christ, but this suggests that we are further from His return than ever, yet this cannot be true, because on a timeline basis we are closer to His return than ever. This means there is something we don’t know about His return, and that missing knowledge is a Great Endtime Revival that is coming to restore the Church to a state of unity that the Church has never known.

(191k) Die to self (Process of substitution) >> Result of putting off the old man >> Set apart >> Set apart by faith in the truth

(255a) Trinity >> Holy Spirit’s relationship between Father and Son >> God’s word is Spirit >> Spirit of the word >> Words of His Spirit are life

Eph 5-26

(111d) Thy kingdom come >> Faith >> Spirit and the word >> Water and the word

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27 that He might present to Himself the church in all her glory, having no spot or wrinkle or any such thing; but that she would be holy and blameless.

Eph 5-27

(41l) Judgment >> Satan destroyed >> Be like Jesus >> Blameless before God >> Prepare to enter His presence – When Paul talked about the Church, he was referring to the entire Church worldwide, not just the Ephesian Church, and this worldwide church will include hundreds of millions of people. That might sound like most people go to heaven, but that would contradict Jesus in the beatitudes, who said in Mat 7-13,14, “Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and there are many who enter through it. For the gate is small and the way is narrow that leads to life, and there are few who find it.” However, in the last days there will be a revival that will include millions of people, yet that will be just of trickle of the world population in those days. In the last days a huge influx of souls will fill up the Church, yet many of those who claim faith in Jesus will not be included. They will reject this revival and its doctrines, saying that it is of the devil, even though it is a work of God. This is the very definition of blasphemy against the Holy Spirit; they will know in their hearts that this revival is in fact the work of God, yet they will reject it. He initiated it and He has His people the Jews managing it, and it will go in the direction of God’s will; consequently, everyone who rejects it is rejecting God. Being a part of this revival will require repentance, and repentance is simply not in the vocabulary of many people in the Church today.

(43g) Judgment >> Satan destroyed >> Perfect (mature) >> Flawless – This verse if referring to the Father presenting the Church to Christ on His wedding day at the Marriage Supper of the Lamb, which is the celebration immediately following the Rapture and the first resurrection that occurs after the seven trumpets of the great tribulation. This is when the Church and her savior physically meet for the first time. The Church will at that time be “in all her glory, having no spot or wrinkle or any such thing; but that she should be holy and blameless.” Yes, of course in heaven, the Church will match this description, but Paul is talking about the Church in this life, and he is not speaking about it in a spiritual sense but saying that Christ will Rapture a people of this description. This is not an accurate depiction of the Church today, though; obviously the Church will undergo a major transformation between now and then. This verse is talking about the Church preparing to receive Christ in person, as it also says in Rev 19-8, “It was given to her to clothe herself in fine linen, bright and clean; for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints.” Note by this verse that the Church prepares herself, that a spiritual interpretation has not been attributed to her, rather genuine repentance. Christ doesn’t want his bride whoring around prior to their wedding day, and in many respects that is what the Church is doing today through unfaithfulness and disloyalty, living debauched lifestyles. The Church is having relations with the world through its love of money more than with Christ through the word of God and prayer, who considers it idolatry, which is a spiritual form of adultery.

(105b) Thy kingdom come >> Pure in heart >> A pure heart is an unleavened heart – It is difficult to envision the Church today resembling this description, having the glory of God with “no spot or wrinkle or any such thing; but that she would be holy and blameless.” The Church has really a long way to go; in fact, it keeps getting darker; she’s going in the wrong direction just before God is about to unveil Himself to the world in fiery judgment. How will the Church suddenly turn and head towards righteousness and holiness of the truth when it is following the path of apostasy that is leading her from these things? No doubt there are many people in the Church today who are faithful and love the Lord with all their hearts, so when God calls His people, they will respond without a hitch, but there are others who will find it extremely difficult if not impossible to repent. People’s hearts are like ocean liners when we get those turbines running on a straight and steady course in open water, but if a ship that size needs to do a 180, it takes hours for it to slowly circle miles in diameter. If it is under a time constraint, it is a major issue, and this is exactly the situation in the last days; there will be a time constraint, which is ironic, since we had 2,000 years to repent; that should be enough time to make the turn, but many in the Church will have started to turn too late.

(112f) Thy kingdom come >> Faith >> Light >> Obeying the truth in broad daylight >> Church’s deeds in the light -- This verse goes with verses 8-10

(115l) Thy kingdom come >> Faith >> Working the grace of God >> Through Good Works >> Works that God prepared for you – Christ will present to Himself the Church, meaning we will not present ourselves to Him. Although He expects us to prepare ourselves, yet in the end it is really Him making all the preparations. We present ourselves in the sense that it says in Rev 19-8, “It was given to her to clothe herself in fine linen, bright and clean; for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints” yet when we stand back and look at the entire scene, it is really Him preparing us, because without Him we can do nothing (Jn 15-5). Yes, we put on the fine linen, but we didn’t have to go to the store and buy them; they were given us to wear. Even the act of putting on the good works of our wedding clothes is drenched in Christ’s ability. We understand grace in terms of going to heaven, but what about the things we do for Him on earth? We were born of sinful flesh; what do we know about righteousness? God integrates His grace into our works through His word and by His Spirit, and by this we work His grace into our lives. This is how we put on our wedding clothes; we couldn’t do it without Him. So yes, Christ has indeed presented to Himself the Church in all her glory.

(133f) Temple >> Your body is the temple of God >> Holiness >> The body of Christ is holy >> God has made His people holy – This verse is really a prophecy of endtimes. When we look at the Church throughout history, it has never resembled this description. Many theorize this verse to mean that God looks at His church through the eyes of Christ and this is what He sees, but understanding this verse on a more practical level, we understand that God intends to clean up His Church in the last days. We know this verse is talking about endtimes simply because historically the Church has been nothing but rebellious throughout the entire age of grace, and there is no sign that She will repent anytime soon. God has patiently waited 2,000 years for the Church to cleanse herself of her idols and straighten out her ways, but she has refused to serve the Lord, no different from Israel of the Old Testament. The Church is supposed to be the salt of the earth, yet during the age of grace man has been involved in more wars that were more violent and bloody than any other time in history. The only logical conclusion we can derive from these facts is that cleaning up the Church will never happen until God makes it happen, which He fully intends to do in the last days.

(234a) Kingdom of God >> Pursuing the kingdom >> Seeking the glory of God >> God chooses us as we seek His glory >> As we submit to Him

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28-33 So husbands ought also to love their own wives as their own bodies. He who loves his own wife loves himself; 29 for no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ also does the church, 30 because we are members of His body. 31 FOR THIS REASON A MAN SHALL LEAVE HIS FATHER AND MOTHER AND SHALL BE JOINED TO HIS WIFE, AND THE TWO SHALL BECOME ONE FLESH. 32 This mystery is great; but I am speaking with reference to Christ and the church. 33 Nevertheless, each individual among you also is to love his own wife even as himself, and the wife must see to it that she respects her husband.

Eph 5,28-30 

(134d) Temple >> Your body is the temple of God >> Composition of our bodies is from the earth >> We are physically subject to this natural realm – Paul said that husbands should love their wives as their own bodies; he is clearly speaking on physical terms with the marriage. We talk about soul mates, husbands and wives melding together in personality and character, but the Bible says that the two shall become on flesh (Mat 19-5,6). It is actually their bodies that meld together, indicating that sex is an important part of marriage, which is clear by the statement that Paul made. Referring to the consummation of the marriage that happened on their wedding night, some women think the only reason they should physically be joined to their husbands is for procreation purposes; i.e. if the parents have three children we know they had sex at least three times. The Bible says that we cannot develop a bona fide marriage relationship that way. A platonic marriage is no marriage at all; it’s a friendship perhaps for roommates, but anybody who has this arrangement in mind for her/his significant other should not get married. Some women think sex is disgusting, and (without advocating prostitution) some men think having sex with prostitutes is better than their marriage in that the prostitute may not like having sex with him any better than the wife, but at least the prostitutes puts-out. The prostitute knows she must or the business venture is doomed, and this is what the wife doesn’t know, that even if her marriage doesn’t end in divorce, if she doesn’t occasionally putout, it’s doomed from the standpoint of the two becoming spiritually and emotionally disconnected. The prostitute in this case acts more like a wife than the wife, for Paul said in 1Cor 7,3-5, “The husband must fulfill his duty to his wife, and likewise also the wife to her husband… Stop depriving one another….”

Eph 5-28,29

(9c) Responsibility >> Prevent disunity within the body of Christ >> Prevent discord within the Church

(190d) Die to self (Process of substitution) >> Separation from the old man >> Masochism (Self-made martyr) >> Self-afflictions that are against the will of God – We are to love our wives as our own bodies just as Christ loves the Church, because we are members of His body, so to love our wives is to be like Christ. Therefore, anybody who doesn’t love his wife is cousin to a masochist. There is a new term these days “cutting”; it refers to people intentionally cutting themselves, so do these cutters prove Paul wrong when he said, “no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it”? No, Paul was talking about people of sound mind, whereas masochists are mentally ill, if they are not demon possessed. Someone might say, ‘The person I know isn't demon possessed.’ What really do we know about demon possession in our society? The Bible depicted Jesus’ day as littered with demon possession. People these days seem to be flirting with the devil more than ever; what chance do we have of being demon-free? Are we willing to admit demon possession in the cases that are most apparent? The true body of Christ is anything but demon possessed. It wouldn’t be surprising to know there are demon-possessed people who frequent our local churches, but these are not members of the True Church.

(206f) Salvation >> God makes promises on His terms >> Conditions to promises >> Conditions to the love of God >> Conditions to loving Jesus

Eph 5-29,30

(213f) Sovereignty >> God is infinite >> Jesus owns you >> We are his instruments >> We are tools in the hand of God >> We are extensions of His body

Eph 5-31,32

(36l) Gift of God >> Adopted >> We are adopted by the Spirit

(61a) Paradox >> Two implied meanings >> Church shall leave—The law (her tutor) / The world (her tyrant)

(90d) Thy kingdom come >> Keeping the law >> Law is our tutor >> It takes Jesus’ place until He arrives

(118m) Thy kingdom come >> Manifestations of faith >> Freedom >> Law of the spirit >> Newness of the spirit transcends oldness of the letter

(141b) Witness >> Validity of Jesus Christ >> Old Testament bears witness to the new >> It bears witness to Jesus >> Prophesy about Jesus’ ministry >> Jesus as head of the Church

(205h) Salvation >> Salvation is based on God’s promises >> New covenant >> The old one is obsolete

(208ja) Salvation >> The salvation of God >> Personal relationship >> Being married to God >> Knowing God >> Church knows Christ as a woman knows a man

(230k) Kingdom of God >> God’s kingdom is a living organism >> Mystery of godliness >> Solving the mystery of godliness >> The love of Christ is the mystery of godliness – Scripture doesn’t speak of the woman in this way, but of the man, that he should leave his mother and father and be joined to his wife. So the man is the one who has a hard time cutting the apron strings and joining himself with his wife to start a new family of his own, where he is head of it. This is not an issue with her, but with him, if he should have a deleterious relationship with his mother; he finds it difficult being the head of his own household. Paul says this mystery is great between a man and a woman, but steers us in a different direction, that of an even greater mystery with reference to Christ and the Church. It says the two shall become one, not one flesh but one spirit. Just as the man and wife become one flesh at the consummation of marriage, so Christ and the Church become one spirit in the consummations of faith. The consummation of marriage is obviously with sex, whereas the consummation of faith is with the Holy Spirit. This relationship is essentially spiritual intercourse. It is intimate and involved; they share things with one another in the deepest part of their souls, where no one else could possibly reach. No one can touch the human soul like God can, implying that it is comparable to the sexual union between a man and his wife.

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Eph 5-33

(2b) Responsible to avoid offending God >> Keeping your commitments >> Fulfill your vows in marriage to your spouse

(73h) Authority >> Respect authority in the family >> Respect the institution of marriage -- This verse goes with verses 22&23. Men and women have their respective problems: men with loving their wives and wives with respecting their husbands. These are trends (the most common occurrence in husband/wife relationships), but the wife has moments when she also doesn’t love her husband, and the husband has moments when he too doesn’t respect his wife. However, Paul is pointing out their most common weaknesses.

(90h) Thy kingdom come >> Keeping the law >> Righteousness of the law >> We must keep the law because it is righteous

(194i) Die to self (Process of substitution) >> Turn from sin to God >> Yielding >> Yield to God’s right to direct your way -- This verse goes with verses 22-24

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