Perhaps living in the most important city in the province of Asia had caused the believers in Ephesus to be too busy to devout their time to Christ; perhaps the culture of the wealthy city had caused them to be worldly, perhaps….
Continue reading →Anger, when accumulated, can result in bitterness, so it is not surprising to see Paul talking about handling anger just before talking about bitterness.
Continue reading →Bitterness, however, has something to do with long term hurt/anger and accumulation of resentment against a person or a situation. We are angry with someone….
Continue reading →Greetings in the Lord! I haven’t been posting for a while because of a teaching trip in another country. It was a fruitful and blessed one. As people from different places gathered and studied the gospels, it was especially meaningful and moving to us as we recited the saying of our Lord, “I will build my church, and the gates of death … Continue reading →
Scripture: Ephesians 4:20-27 It takes some efforts for the word of God to have effects in our lives. In addition to meditating on it and memorizing at least some part of it so that our lives can be transformed by renewed minds, we sometimes need to deeply search our souls in order to recognize our spiritual problems and to … Continue reading →
Scripture: Ephesians 4:20-25 As believers in Christ, we have new lives, but from time to time all of us need to be reminded to live up to the new lives. To put off the old self, to be made new in the attitude of minds, and to put on the new man, are reminders that Paul gave to believers in Ephesians (4:22-24). … Continue reading →
Scripture: Ephesians 4:17-24 As people who have received spiritual blessings from God (1:3-14), we are called to live our lives worthy of his calling (4:1). As members of the Church, we learn to maintain unity so all believers may be rooted in the truth, speak truth in love, and continue to grow toward Christ (4:1-16). As individual believers, we learn to … Continue reading →
Scripture: Ephesians 4:1-16 A lot have been said about the maturity of believers and of the church. In 4:12 we have the threefold purposes of the church: to equip the saints, to do the work of ministry, and to build up to body of Christ1 Then v. 23 describes the three goals of the church: to reach unity in the faith and … Continue reading →
Scripture: Ephesians 4:1-16 Different people seem to have different images of Christian maturity, so it is important to look at what the Bible says about it. It is also important to realize that this particular passage is talking about corporate identity, the church, rather than about individual believers.1 Earlier Paul has mentioned that that all should maintain unity and work … Continue reading →
So we have the unity of the Spirit; we make every effort to keep the unity through the bond of peace; we understand the spiritual basis of unity; and realizing the gift of Christ, we all serve with diverse roles and positions. But what do we actually do? What are we trying to achieve? What is the ultimate goal of … Continue reading →
