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Category Archive: Bible - NT - Ephesians

Exhortation - November 11, 2007
Paul urges us to rejoice in the midst of tribulations and sufferings, not because sufferings and tribulations are good in themselves, but because of the fruit they produce. Tribulation, he says, produces perseverance, proven character, and a hope that does...

All is light - September 15, 2007
Strangely, Paul says in Ephesians 5:13 that "everything that becomes visible is light." Whatever could that mean? Hamann thought he knew: "Imagery comprises the entire realm of human knowledge and happiness. The first explosion of creation, and the first impression...

Gnosticism and judaizing - May 21, 2007
During the period of the old covenant, God hid things. He hid some things inside the Most Holy Place, where no one could go. He also hid His plans from his people. He had a secret, which was disclosed, and...

Justification and glorification - May 21, 2007
Extending James Jordan's observations, posted here earlier today: When Paul talks about the "mystery" revealed in the gospel in Ephesians, he does not confine it to the redemption of sinners from sin. The secret/mystery that had been hidden is about...

Great Mystery - May 21, 2007
What is the "great mystery" Paul identifies in Ephesians 5:32? Is it the relation of Christ and His church? The connection between Christ-church and man-wife? In context, one particular dimension of Paul's teaching is perhaps especially in view. Verse 31...

Jesus' flesh - March 28, 2007
Ephesians 5 of course draws an analogy between marriage and Christ's relation to His church: Husband:wife::Christ:Church Verse 29, though, puts it differently. With Genesis 2's phrase "one flesh" in view, Paul says that "no one ever hated his own flesh,...

Sermon Notes, Second Sunday of Lent - February 26, 2007
INTRODUCTION This week, we start a brief topical series on the family. This being Lent, we want to look at family life from the perspective of the cross. THE TEXT "Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord....

Sermon Outline, Second Sunday of Lent - February 26, 2007
INTRODUCTION This week, we start a brief topical series on the family. This being Lent, we want to look at family life from the perspective of the cross. THE TEXT "Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord....

Song of the Bride - January 24, 2007
Markus Barth describes Ephesians 5:22-33 as a lover's song, but distinguishes the love expressed there, the love of Jesus for His bride, from all other loves: "The vision of love described by Paul is sui generis. Though Christ's love includes...

Christ and Church - January 24, 2007
Markus Barth gives a thrilling summary of Paul's description of Christ and the church in Ephesians (I've left out the texts Barth refers to): "Christ was called the beloved Son; the church, the chosen people, God's children. He, the administrator;...

Poet or poem revisited - November 09, 2006
A reader, Dan Glover, sent the following response to my hints about the Christian as "poem." "Christ, the eternal Word, indwells his people and his people corporate. He is the Word which controls us with his words ('go, make disciples....

Sermon Outline - August 14, 2006
INTRODUCTION What is God up to in the world? We saw last week that God is at work to perfect His people, to bring them to maturity, and to glorify us and the world. But the Bible also describes God's...

Devil's opportuity - May 01, 2006
"Do not leg the sun go down on your anger, and do not give the devil an opportunity." It sounds spooky and bizarre: Are we in danger of being haunted by some anger-demon? Once we remember that "diabolos" means "slanderer,"...

Sermon Outline, October 2 - September 26, 2005
INTRODUCTION We are attempting to form Christian culture among the churches of Moscow, and to see Christian culture shape the wider Moscow community. The Christian culture of the church enters a world with its own stories, rituals, and norms of...

Exhortation, September 25 - September 25, 2005
The sermon today is about marriage and family, but I don't want the unmarried men and women here to hit the mute button. The sermon text may not apply directly to you, but you should be preparing now for the...

Sermon Outline, September 25 - September 20, 2005
INTRODUCTION One of the great evils of American Christianity is the idolization of the family. American Christians believe that blood is thicker than baptismal water, and that the family is a redemptive institution. But the primary family for Christians is...

Exhortation, September 11 - September 11, 2005
Laughter is a gift of God, a sign that we are made in God's image. The Lord enjoys slapstick humor and pratfalls, laughing at the folly of the raging nations that conspire against Christ (Ps 2) because He knows that...

Sermon outline - September 06, 2005
INTRODUCTION Ephesians is about the formation of Christian culture, or, in Paul’s terminology, a corporate Christian "walk." Once, we walked, zombie-like, in death and sin (2:1), but God raised us in Christ to walk in good works (2:10). We are...

Exhortation, August 28 - August 28, 2005
Hope is one of the traditional "theological virtues" – faith, hope and love. Hebrews 11 defines faith as hope, and for Paul "hope," like Victor and Faith, is another name for Jesus (1 Timothy 1:1). In our sermon text, Paul...

Mystery of Christ - August 27, 2005
Is the "mystery of Christ" in Ephesians 3:4 a mystery about Christ or is Christ Himself the mystery? Let's take the latter option - Christ Himself is the mystery (cf. Colossians 1:27). How does that connect with the way Paul...

Gifts of men - August 27, 2005
NT Wright points out that the ascent and descent language in Ephesians 4:7-10 is reminiscent of Moses ascending Mount Sinai and then descending with the tablets of the Ten Commandments. Jesus ascends to heaven, and when He returns He does...

Sermon Outline, August 28 - August 23, 2005
INTRODUCTION In the first chapters of Ephesians, Paul describes God’s eternal plan for the human race and for the world. He has chosen us in Christ before the foundation of the world, and He has now intervened in the history...

Proving grace - August 21, 2005
Markus Barth highlights the judicial cast of Paul's statement in Ephesians 2:7 that we "show the surpassing riches of His grace." The verb "show" or "prove" is a lawcourt term, pointing to the presentation of evidence or a judicial demonstration....

Exhortation, August 21 - August 21, 2005
According to Paul, the church is being built into a holy dwelling, a temple in which the Spirit dwells. This has many implications, but let me highlight one. According to the Old Testament, temples were holy places whose holiness had...

Sermon Outline, August 21 - August 16, 2005
INTRODUCTION According to Ephesians, the gospel is about God’s formation of a new humanity. This is true in two senses: First, in Jesus, the Last Adam, believers are made new Adams and Eves; and, second, in Jesus the divided human...

Sermon outline, August 14 - August 09, 2005
INTRODUCTION What are we up to in Moscow? The simple answer is that we are embarked on an experiment in Christian culture. Ephesians teaches us how we are to do this. THE TEXT “Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by...

You, We, and Us in Ephesians 2 - November 12, 2003
"You," "we" and "us" are interesting in Eph 2: Let's try "you" = Gentiles and "we" = Jews. This becomes explicit at least by verse 11, and I suggest that we read vv 1-10 in the same way: "You Gentiles...

Chiasm in Ephesians 2:8 - September 19, 2003
In the Greek text of Ephesians 2:8, the statement "and this not of ourselves, it is the gift of God" is chiastically structured. A wooden translation is: "and this not out of ourselves, of God the gift," with the EX...

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