02 July 2011

Where Ephesians 1-3 Takes Us

Taking a breath after three exultant chapters reminding his readers of what God in Christ has done, Paul turns in Ephesians 4 to remind them what this means for their personal conduct.

'I exhort you, therefore, as a prisoner in the Lord, to walk worthily of the calling with which you were called, with all ____________________.' (Eph 4:1)

What would you expect there?

Paul, suffering as a prisoner in the Lord, turns his attention now to the Ephesians; he is not so much looking at Christ in light of the Ephesians but looking directly at the Ephesians in light of Christ.

I would expect something like:

'. . . with all sacrifice'; '. . . with all zeal'; '. . . with all untempered courage.'

Paul says: '. . . with all gentleness and humility.'

That is where the first three chapters of Ephesians, lofty chapters which refuse to be exhausted by the unending proliferation of academic scrutiny, take us.

Ephesians 1 to 3 may call some of us to great sacrifice ten years from now in a Muslim land. First, though, Ephesians 1 to 3 calls all of us to great sacrifice this weekend in our living room.

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