Sunday, we dived into Eph. 2:1-10. There, Paul takes us from the lowest of low of creation—fallen humanity caught in the quicksand of sin and death, controlled by the courses of this world and Satan, energized by the power of darkness, enslaved to the covetous (= idolatry—Col. 3:5) uncontrollable lusts of their selfish flesh and destined for Hell (Eph. 2:1‑3)—to its highest of heights—believers were made alive together with Christ, raised up together with Christ and seated together with Christ in the heavenlies far above all powers (Eph. 2:4‑7) as His Own group of redeemed humanity, freed from everything that was against them, a new creation in Christ, the Body of Christ, united to God the Father through God the Son and indwelt and empowered by God the Holy Spirit! If you are saved, you have already gone on the longest journey possible in all creation! Any other journey is just small potatoes. And it is all by grace through faith (Eph. 2:5, 8), which means: It is not by our power (work) through the flesh but by GOD'S POWER THROUGH CHRIST AND HIS CROSS (Eph. 2:8‑10)!

Sunday, we began our study of Eph. 2:1-3, which basically summarizes the first 3 chapters of Romans. This week we focused on being dead in sins (Eph. 2:1) by looking at Rom. 1:18-32 where Paul describes the Devolution of fallen humanity.

What Can Dead People “Do”?

Eph. 2:1 tells us that before we were saved by grace through faith we were dead in the sphere or realm of trespasses and sins. Dead in the Bible doesn't mean annihilation, nor does it mean we can't do anything. Death in the Bible occurs when some aspect of creation is separated from its created purpose. A classic example of this is found in Rom. 4.

There, Paul tells us that Abraham and Sarah were dead (Rom. 4:19) yet they were walking around doing all kinds of things. So, in what sense were they dead? They were dead because their reproductive system was unable to produce a child. It was separated from its created purpose of producing a child. They were dead reproductively, and they couldn't do anything about it.

But Paul also says that God had given them a promise. He promised to give life to their dead reproductive system. While Abraham and Sarah couldn't do anything THEMSELVES to remedy their dead situation, they could believe God's promise to them and rely on Him to remedy the situation. And that is exactly what God did, resulting in the promised child, Isaac.

Similarly, we are all born into the world dead SPIRITUALLY. Humans were created to operate relationally through human personhood made up of spirit (God-connectedness), soul (self-connectedness) and body (world-connectedness) (1 Thess. 5:23). Human flourishing comes from the human spirit being filled with God and enlightened with His Truth, which in turn directs the soulish life of our inner person, which in turn directs our interaction with the world.

But we have been separated from that created purpose. We are all born into the dire predicament of being alive physically but dead spiritually. While this predicament is dire, it is not hopeless because like Abraham, God has given us a promise as well. He has promised us that He will give life to our dead spirit by grace through faith (Eph. 2:5, 8). He has promised that He will give life to the dead spirit of All who believe (faith) in the Person and Work of His Son on the Cross for sinners (grace). So, while we are completely powerless to remedy our dire problem of being dead spiritually OURSELVES, we can believe God's promise to us and rely on Him to make our dead spirit alive through Christ.

Temporary physical life is God's gift to humanity. It gifts them with the opportunity to enter a right relationship with Him through Christ by faith that re-connects their human spirit to God's Spirit, making them alive spiritually with everlasting life, thereby fulfilling its created purpose. This is what should be recited in every nursery rhyme. This is what every child's first words should be. This is what ought to be taught in the earliest grades. The most important thing we need to know and understand is that physical life isn't primarily our opportunity to become great in our careers or education or athletics or anything else. Those things are all distant seconds when compared to our opportunity to be connected to God and made alive spiritually unto righteousness and everlasting life—BY GRACE THROUGH FAITH.

Sunday, we continued our study of Eph. 2:1‑3 by looking at what is, exactly, the Course of the World. How does it operate, and what is its goal. We also used this as an opportunity to begin a Family Living Series that we will add to throughout the Book of Ephesians.

Family Living #1: That Little Bundle of Joy

Over the years, people have asked me to do a Family Living Series. Of course, I could be sassy and answer their question by saying everything I have ever taught is really one long Family Living Series because every word of Scripture is applicable to the family! But if I instead join in the spirit of their request, this is what I would wonder: If I were to do a Family Living Series, what would I include in it?

Where to begin?

The Book of Ephesians certainly gives us many opportunities to develop a Family Living Series, and Eph. 2:1-3, might be a good place to start, albeit not a happy one. For there God and Paul present our most fundamental problem as people born into Adam's fallen humanity. The sad news is that we are all born into the world dead in the quicksand of sins, (the) sons (NKJV) of (the) disobedience and by nature the children of (the) wrath (Eph. 2:1‑3). As the sons of (the) disobedience, we are born into the world as sinners in Adam whereby everything that belonged to Adam belongs to them, namely, sin and death. And as sinners, we of necessity commit sins.

Contrary to human teaching, we don't become sinners when we commit sins. That puts the cart before the horse! We commit sins because we were born into the world as sinners. When Adam sinned, he was all the humanity there was, or stated in theological terms: All humanity was seminally present in Adam's loins. Therefore, when Adam sinned, we sinned. When Adam died, we died (Rom. 5:12-23). Paul puts it this way: For all have sinned (in Adam--Sin) and (are now continually) coming short of the glory of God (committing sins) (Rom. 3:23).

God's Invitation to Born Sinners!

When Adam fell, he died SPIRITUALLY (separation from God) immediately, but he didn't die PHYSICALLY (separation from soul/spirit) for another 800 or so years. Because of Adam's (humanity's) rebellion against God and rejection of His Word, God could have called it quits with humanity. He could have let it die spiritually and physically immediately and written it off as a bad investment and moved on to something else.

But He didn't because He loved His creation. He wanted to redeem it and longed to bring it back to Himself. So, He mercifully and graciously gifted Adam (and the rest of fallen humanity in him ever since) with temporary physical life to give them the opportunity to receive by faith His invitation to enter a right relationship with Him that imparts permanent everlasting life (Gen. 3:15; Gen. 5).

Family Living Principle: That Little Bundle of Joy

This biblical doctrine should have a tremendous impact on our parenting. That little baby we bring into the world may not have been born with a physical birth defect, but he or she was born with a spiritual birth defect. As part of Adam's old fallen humanity, we are all born into the world physically alive but spiritually dead.

This should reset all our priorities. In a sense, being born with a spiritual birth defect is infinitely worse than being born with a physical defect. While a physical defect affects the child for their relatively short physical life, their spiritual birth defect will affect them for all eternity. I knew a couple whose child was born with a heart defect. They stopped the world and did whatever they could do to correct the problem. They panicked and despaired. They travelled far and wide to check with all the medical experts, getting 2, 3, 4 opinions. They cashed in all their money accounts and remortgaged the house so they could pay whatever was required. They focused on nothing else because nothing else really mattered in comparison.

Well, when it comes to our children's spiritual birth defect, that response should be increased a trillion-fold!! A parent's biggest responsibility is to make sure their children know they were born with a spiritual birth defect. They were born with a broken spirit that is not operating in accord with its created purpose of being connected to God. Our children will look for a purpose in life. The world will offer them many. But what they need to know is the ultimate most-important purpose for their being here on earth is to receive God's invitation to be re-connected to Him by grace through faith, so they can receive His eternal life through the Person and Word of the Lord Jesus Christ on the Cross for them (Rom. 6:23). If we would stop the world to deal with our child's physical birth defect, then we ought to stop the universe to deal with his or her spiritual birth defect.

This should be the first thing our children hear in the nursery. This message should be woven into their nursery rhymes and children's songs. These are the first words that should come out of our toddler's mouth rather than mama and dada (sorry Moms and Dads). The most important thing parents can give their children is what they need to solve the biggest problem they have: Spiritual separation from the one true God, who created them. In the long run, nothing else really matters. Apart from God, everything is vanity, Vanity of Vanity (Eccl. 1:2).

Too often parents follow the guidance of Satan's Course of the Word and think that their most important job is preparing their children for college or a career, or for athletics of academics, or for having fun and entertainment. While all these things can have their place, they are far seconds to the most important thing of all--a relationship with God. The parents most important job is to prepare their children to use their gift of temporary physical life as an opportunity to accept God's invitation to be re-connected to Him spiritually so they can receive everlasting life and participate in His super-natural Glory.

So, parents, when you look down with a twinkle in your eye at your beautiful little bundles of joy cooing in their cribs ... keep it real. Don't forget they were born with a spiritual birth defect. Above all else they NEED you to give them what they need—whatever it takes—even if you have to stop the flow of Niagara Falls or reverse the rotation of the earth or re-organize the planets in their orbits. They need you to do whatever it takes to correct their most important problem of all—separation from God and His Truth.

God's Course of the World
Eph. 2:2

The present evil Course of the World (Gal. 1:4) is Satan's vehicle to peddle his wares, propagate his lie and accomplish his goal of getting the world to suppress God's truth in unrighteousness and rule Him out of its thinking (Rom. 1:18-32). Satan deceives us into thinking that his system is coming to something when, in fact, God's Word says it is all vanity and isn't coming to anything except shame (1 Cor. 2:6; 3:18‑20). God will destroy Satan's world system and replace it with God's own world system, centered in His Son, unto His Glory (Eph. 1:10, 21; 2:7).

Let's look at God's original Course for the World in accord with His Prophetic Program:

Genesis 1-2:
God's Purpose for His Human Creation

God created humanity to be His image-bearers, promoting Him and advancing His things unto His Glory (Gen. 1:26). To accomplish this, He created them male and female (Gen. 1:27; 5:2) and gave them the institution of marriage whereby 1 man (adult male) and 1 woman (adult female) are joined together to form 1 flesh (Gen. 2:24) in a productive relationship that is capable of passing physical life onto the next generation of children thereby becoming fruitful and multiplying, spreading out over the earth in communities of nuclear families (Gen. 1:27a). God's purpose for them was, on the one hand, to replenish the earth by filling it with Him and His things, and on the other hand to subdue it by pushing out everything that was not in accord with God and His things (Gen. 1:27b). In this way, humanity would participate in the establishment of God's Dominion, God's Kingdom, on earth (Gen. 1:27c).

Gen. 3:
The Fall and Those Who Accept God's Provision by Believing

Of course, we know things didn't work out that way. Instead of pushing Satan and his lie out of the Garden of Eden, Adam let him and his lie in, introduced him to his wife, listened to his perversion of God's Word and then obeyed him instead of God. Through the opened door Satan entered, sin and death rushed in to rule over the now fallen humanity. When Adam and Eve rebelled against God, they were all the humanity there was. Therefore, when Adam fell, we all fell. What belongs to Adam, now also belongs to us, namely, sin and death (Rom. 5:12ff).

While at that moment humanity separated from God and immediately died spiritually, they continued to be alive physically for many years. God allowed for this because He is a gracious and merciful God. He gave them the gift of ongoing physical life, and He gave them Good News to believe (Gen. 3:15) so that they might have an opportunity to be saved by believing. For God promised to count their faith for righteousness—for justification before God unto eternal life. Adam and Eve's son Seth represented the line of fallen humanity who believed in God, for it was at that time that men began to call upon the Name of the LORD (Gen. 4:25‑26) in two senses: 1. By relying and depending on Him in faith; 2. And by proclaiming Him to others.

Gen. 4:
The Fall and Those Who Reject God's Provision in Unbelief

But what about those who didn't believe? Those who continued in their rebellion against God and rejection of His Word was represented by the line of Cain, a line that led fallen humanity further and further away from God. Let's look at the slippery slope of unbelief.

God told Cain to bring a lamb as an offering. So, what does Cain do? He rejects God's Word and brings the fruit of his crops (Gen. 4:2‑7). When God rejected that, Cain grew angry and murdered his brother Able, shattering God's operating unit of the nuclear family. God punished Cain by sentencing him to a life as a fugitive and vagabond, wandering over the earth (Gen. 4:14). So, what does Cain do? He goes a little east of Eden and settles down in the Land of Nod (Gen. 4:16)! And there he continued in his rebelliousness by building a city not unto God's Glory, but unto his own glory (which is really just shame), naming it after his son, Enoch (Gen. 4:17).

Then Enoch had Irad, who had Mehujael, who had Methusael, who had Lamech, and by then things were really bad. Lamech introduced polygamy and had two wives, rejecting God's instructions for marriage and the nuclear family, the pillar of God's community. He continued his rebelliousness through his three sons. Jabal was the father of those who dwell in tents and are farmers. Jubal was the father music and entertainment. And Tubal-Cain, named after his rebellious great-great-grandpa Cain, was the father of metallurgy.

While none of these things are evil in themselves, they become evil when they are used in rebellion against God. While farming is not evil in itself, it becomes evil when it is used to support Cain's city that was built apart from God and His Glory. While music is not evil in itself, it becomes evil when it is used to provide ways for fallen humanity to disregard God's witness and remove Him from their thinking. And while metallurgy is not evil in itself, it becomes evil when it is used to produce things contrary to God and His plan, like idols and machines of war.

The overwhelming destruction of all enemies becomes the theme of Lamech's poem, the first poem of fallen humanity, filled with violence and death. Lamech, like Satan in the Garden of Eden, took God's words to Cain and perverted them into his own evil words. God had mercifully let Cain live after he murdered his brother Able even though Able was one of God's Own people. No doubt, God did this to give Cain the time to be saved by believing in Him. To make sure no one put Cain to death prematurely, God protected him with a sign and a promise of 7-fold avengement to anyone did put him to death (Gen. 4:15).

Lamech took God's words to Cain and twisted them into his own unmerciful promise that he would murder a man just for wounding him and a boy merely for hurting him, establishing an unmerciful 77-fold avengement! Such is the product of fallen humanity apart from God, summed up with these words: The LORD said, My Spirit shall not always strive with man, for that he also is flesh ... And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually (Gen. 6:3, 5). No wonder Paul describes fallen humanity with its vain imaginations and foolish darkened hearts (Rom. 1:18-32).

But it is not all bad news because God has always provided Good News. When sinners believe His Good News to them He counts their faith for righteousness, brings them into a right-relationship with Himself through Christ and gives them everlasting life.

Sunday, we continued our study of Eph. 2:2 and were instructed in the mystery of Christian Living through the pattern of Paul, whom God instructed in the divine secret that is the key to victorious Christian living. When you have God, you have EVERYTHING, even if you don't have the things of the world. And the corollary is that you can have all the things of the world, but without God you really have NOTHING (1 Cor. 2:6; 3:20)!

The Secret of Victorious Christian Living

Paul tells us in Phil. 4:12 that God instructed him in a mystery, a secret that is the key to victorious Christian living. He had learned to be content in whatever state he was in. He learned, on the one hand, that he could have everything the world offered yet without God, have nothing (Phil. 3:4‑9; 1 Cor. 2:6). He learned that apart from God, Vanity of vanities; all is vanity (Eccl. 1:2, 14; 2:17; 3:19; 12:8). On the other hand, however, he also learned that with God he had EVERYTHING even when he had none of the world's things.

If Paul wrote to the Philippians during his first imprisonment in Rome (as most think), it was probably after the 2-year period Luke describes in Acts 28 where he says: Paul dwelled by himself with a soldier who guarded him (Acts 28:16), bound with this chain (Acts 28:20) in his own hired house, and received all that came in unto him (Acts 28:30‑31). When Paul wrote to the Philippians, however, his situation had deteriorated significantly, suggesting that he had been moved from his own hired house to a cell in the Roman prison system where conditions would be harsher with greater deprivations, perhaps while he awaited a final legal judgment. Therefore, support from family and friends would become even more important to him (Phil. 1:13-25). Reading between the lines of his later epistles, it appears that Paul was released from this first imprisonment in Rome for a brief time but was imprisoned once again, returned to a cell and from there put to death, deserted by most everybody (2 Timothy 4).

With this little bit of background, we can better appreciate the magnitude of the secret Paul learned in Phil. 4:12.

But I rejoiced in the Lord greatly, that now at the last your care of me hath flourished again; wherein ye were also careful, but ye lacked opportunity. 11 Not that I speak in respect of want: for I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content (Phil. 4:10-11).

Paul rejoiced over the Philippians care package and was grateful for it, later describing it as an odor of a sweet smell, a sacrifice acceptable, well-pleasing to God (Phil. 4:18). But Paul goes on to explain that he received their gift not because of his lack or true need but because of their fruit in response to him and his ministry to them (Phil. 4:17). Paul had learned that the true contentment of existing fully satisfied no matter what the state didn't come from the world and its physical things but from God and His spiritual things (Phil. 4:19; Eph. 1:3).

He knew both how to be abased, and I know how to abound: every where and in all things I am instructed both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need (Phil. 2:12). Paul knew how to be content, fully satisfied, fulfilled and overflowing even without the things of this world for God had instructed him in a mystery (Gk. myeo). He revealed to him a secret, the secret to victorious Christian living regardless of his circumstances.

Paul discovered that he can do all things through Christ who strengthens me (Phil. 4:13) for it is God who works in you both to will and to do of His good pleasure (Phil. 2:13). He learned that if he had God, he had EVERYTHING he truly needed even when he had none of the world's things (2 Cor. 8:9 comp. 2 Cor. 11:23-32). The key to the Christian life is to appreciate that God has met all our most fundamental needs through Christ, freeing us from everything that was against us—things like sin and death, Satan and the world, self and the flesh) and eternally securing us to God and everything that is for us (things like righteousness and life, God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit). Indeed, Paul exclaims: If God be for us (and He is!), who can be against us (Rom. 8:31).

The divine secret that Paul needed to be instructed in was that you can have everything the world offers yet apart from God you have NOTHING—the celebrities and powers that be teach us that every day, but we don't listen. But with God you have EVERYTHING even when you have none of the world's things!! Worldly wisdom says spend your lifetime striving for the things of the world while ruling God out of your thinking but by God's wisdom this is foolishness for the present evil world with all its wisdom and rulers is coming to nothing—Vanity of Vanities, all is Vanity (1 Cor. 2:6; 3:20).

Using the idiom of the “icing on the cake,” for Paul, the cake that meets all our true NEEDS is God and His things, while the acceptable things of the world are just the icing. They are put into perspective. They are small details that perhaps can enhance an already good situation. They are desires, even acceptable desires, but they are not NEEDS. Having all his true NEEDS met by God in Christ (the cake), Paul could freely enjoy the icing or not. Sure, it could bring some pleasure into his otherwise unpleasurable experience in jail. But with or without the “icing” he was content to live with the “cake,” empowered and strengthened by God through the Lord Jesus Christ.

This is the secret key to victorious Christian living that God wanted Paul, the Philippians and every believer since to know and believe:

But my God shall supply all your NEED according to the riches in Glory by Christ Jesus (Phil. 4:19). Notice it is according to the riches in Glory by Christ Jesus, not according to the falsely so-called riches of the world that come to shame because they are coming to nothing (1 Cor. 2:6). They come according to the riches of grace: For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, that ye through His poverty might become rich (2 Cor. 8:9). If you have received the riches of the grace of God made available freely to you through the Person and Work of Christ on the Cross for sinners by faith, you have received the RICHES OF GOD IN CHRIST ... now all God wants you to do is access and possess, enjoy and make use of them in your daily life, resulting in VICTORIOUS CHRISTIAN LIVING!

God's Way/Satan's Way

In Eph. 2:1‑2 Paul explains that before we were saved by grace through faith (Eph. 2:5, 8), we existed in the sphere, in the quicksand, of sin and death. There we were pushed around by the currents of Satan's course of the world. Like the Serpent in the Garden of Eden, Satan's world system slithers into every aspect of life striving to push God and His things out by suppressing His Truth while bringing in Satan and his things by peddling his lie. This is the exact opposite of God's purpose for humanity. God created humanity to replenish the earth (by bringing in God and His things) and subdue it (by pushing out Satan and his things) unto God's Glory (Gen. 1:28).

Satan's course of the world slithers in, perverting God's Word and deceiving us into thinking that either God didn't say what He said, or that He didn't mean what He said. We see this working in society at large. God said humanity was made up of 2 genders, male and female (Gen. 1:27). Satan's world system says how archaic! There are many genders. God created marriage to be between one man and one woman for life, and that sexual relations are confined within the marriage bond. Satan says: No, marriage isn't strictly between one man and one woman. How old fashioned! Marriage can be whatever you want it to be. Why, it can be with multiple spouses (polygamy or today, serial polygamy), or it can even be between two men or two women. Or best of all, just throw away marriage all together and live together.

God said it was the fruit of the marriage relationship, the nuclear family, was to be the very basis of human community. Satan enters and says: No, the nuclear family isn't important because government experts can raise your children better than you. God said humanity was to use His creation unto His Glory. Satan enters and convinces humanity to use creation unto their own glory, which is really a shame because it will come to nothing (1 Cor. 2:6).

Satan's course of the world has also slithered into historical Christianity. God says Paul's apostleship is distinct from that of Peter and the 12 (Rom. 1:1; Eph. 3:1-9). God says He gave today's Dispensation of Grace to Paul not to Peter (Eph. 3:2). So, Satan's world system slithers into Christianity's vain religious and theological systems, deceiving them into thinking that Paul's apostleship isn't distinct and unique. He should have been one of the 12 or perhaps the 13th. He is just carrying on their ministry.

God says the Bible reveals two divine Programs, Peoples and Purposes centered on God and His Glory. 1. His Prophetic Program with the Nation of Israel to re-establish His Glory on earth, which had been spoken about since the world began (Lk. 1:70: Acts 3:21) as revealed in the non-Pauline Scriptures. 2. His Mystery Program with the Body of Christ to re-establish His Glory in the heavenlies, which had been kept secret since the world began (Rom. 16:25; Eph. 3:1-9) as now revealed in the Pauline Scriptures. So, Satan's world system slithers in and deceives us into thinking that the Bible contains only one divine program that is centered on man and his redemption.

Satan is desperate to do away with God's truth about Paul's distinct apostleship, because if he can, he will be able to do away with Paul's Gospel as well. And if he does that, the unsaved will remain unsaved, lost in Satan's quicksand of sin and death. And for those who get saved by believing Paul's Gospel, Satan's next tactic will be to get them to throw away the rest of Paul's Mystery Truth by throwing away the key of rightly-dividing the Scriptures (Rom. 15:1-20; 2 Tim. 2:15). This will bring so much confusion into the lives of believers that they won't know what God is really doing today, and they won't know, therefore, their role in it. Instead of being ambassadors of Christ and workmen who need not to be ashamed, they will be fruitless workmen worthy of the shame that comes from not rightly-dividing the Scriptures (2 Tim. 2:15).

They will waste their Christian lives trying to re-create Pentecost or the earthly ministry of Christ rather than be built up by the Mystery Revelation of the Risen Lord from Heaven made known to and through the Apostle Paul. They will rule their lives by the Old Testament Prophets thinking their prophecies are about them and are being fulfilled today instead of recognizing that God has temporarily set aside His Prophetic Program with Israel and is now accomplishing His Mystery Program with the Body of Christ as revealed in Pauline Grace Mystery Truth. They will spend their prayer lives praying the prayers of David, which call on God to come and destroy their enemies and save their friends, which directly contradicts God's purpose today of SAVING HIS ENEMIES BECAUSE HE HAS NO FRIENDS (Rom. 3-5). And they will be led astray and enter into law systems according to the flesh that tear down the church (just think of Paul's Letter to the Galatians) rather remaining in the Spirit/Grace system of Pauline Grace Mystery Truth that builds up believers and their churches today (Rom. 16:25).

Paul summarizes how all this works in Rom. 8:5-10:

Satan works through the present evil course of the world ... which operates through fallen humanity in Adam, giving them the mind of the flesh ... which is based on Satan's lie ... which results in sin and death.

God the Holy Spirit, however, works through God's Course of the World ... which operates through His redeemed humanity in Christ, giving them the Mind of the Spirit and Christ ... which is based on God's Truth for today: Pauline Grace Mystery Truth ... which results in Righteousness and Life.

Sunday, we continued our study of Eph. 2:2 by looking at the prince of the power of the air. What is the “air” and what or who is the “spirit” that works in Adam's fallen humanity.

The “spirit” In Eph. 2:2

In Eph. 2:2 to what, exactly, does the word “spirit” refer? On the one hand, it could look back to the prince of the power of the air, Satan. If so, it might be paraphrased something like this: The prince of the power of the air is the spirit that now works in sinful fallen humanity in Adam, identifying them as the sons of (the—Adam's) disobedience and the children of (the—God's) wrath (Eph. 2b, 3b; with Rom. 5:12ff and Rom. 1:18ff).

On the other hand, it could look ahead and refer to the (dead) human spirit that is now working in fallen humanity. If so, it might be paraphrased something like this: The prince of the power of the air is the one who now rules over the (dead) spirit that works in the sinful fallen humanity in Adam; identifying them as the sons of (the) disobedience and the children of (the) wrath.

So, which is it? Does the “spirit” refer to the spirit Satan? Or to the (dead) human spirit of fallen humanity. Commentators argue over this, but do we really need to pick one? Or, can the answer be BOTH? If we remember that we ran into the same ambiguity a few verses before in Eph. 1:17, it will help us solve the problem here. While in Eph. 2:2‑3 Paul is referring to unbelieving fallen humanity—the sons/children of the (Adam's) disobedience/ (God's) wrath--in Eph. 1:17‑18 he was referring to God and His new redeemed humanity of believers in Christ--the sons/children of God and Christ's obedience on the Cross (Rom. 5:12ff; 8:5-17).

Let's look at Eph. 1:16‑17 more closely. There Paul prayed that God would enlighten believers by giving them the “spirit” of wisdom and revelation. Some commentators insist that this cannot refer to the Holy Spirit because God already gave believers the Holy Spirit the moment they believed. Others insist that it must refer to the Holy Spirit, because the two descriptors don't really fit the human spirit. For instance, humans might in some sense have the human spirit of wisdom (a wise human spirit?), in what sense can it be said that they have the human spirit of revelation (a revelatory human spirit?)? Therefore, while both descriptors do not fit the human spirit well, they do fit God the Spirit perfectly, for He is the very source of God's wisdom and the revealer of His Revelation of Mystery (Eph. 3:1‑5).

So, which is it? The Holy Spirit? Or, the human spirit? Or, can the answer be BOTH? If so, then Eph. 1:17‑18a might be paraphrased something like this: God give the (enlivened—Rom. 8:10-11) spirit of believers (as God's new redeemed humanity in Christ—the sons/children of God) wisdom that comes from the (indwelling) Holy Spirit's Revelation of the Mystery (Eph. 1:8-9) that brings them into the full-knowledge of God and what He is doing today, thereby enlightening the eyes of their understanding, i.e., enlightening their already enlivened spirit.

Additional support for this solution comes from Rom. 8:16 where Paul is more explicit. There he says: The Spirit (God the Holy Spirit) Himself bears witness with our (the believer's) spirit (the made alive human spirit of God's redeemed humanity in Christ) that we are the sons/children of God (Rom. 8:15‑16).

Therefore, applying what we have observed in Eph. 1:17 and Rom. 8:16, perhaps we could, paraphrase Eph. 2:2‑3 something like this: The prince of the power of the air, Satan, is the spirit who is now working in the (dead) spirit of fallen humanity in Adam, thereby identifying them as the sons/children of the disobedience (Adam's)/wrath (God's).

Sunday, we continued our study of Eph. 2:2 by looking at what Paul means by the children/sons of the disobedience. Whose sons? And what disobedience?

One of the Hardest Things to Understand

Fallen Humanity's Sinful Predicament

One of the hardest things for sinners to understand as members of fallen humanity in Adam is that they cannot do anything that is acceptable to God. They can do things that may be acceptable to the world and to their relatives and friends, but not to God. Of course, I would rather live next door to a moral person than an immoral person, or work next to someone hooked on sports rather than drugs, but none of these things affect the sinner's standing before God.

Paul puts it this way in Rom. 8:8: They that are in the flesh (all unsaved people) cannot please God. And goes even further later when he says: Whatsoever is not of faith is sin (Rom. 14:23)! We are all born into the world existing in the sphere of sin and death as members of fallen humanity in Adam (Eph. 2:1‑3; Rom. 5:12-21). I use the homely analogy of quicksand. We are all born into the world existing in the quicksand of sin and death, and there is nothing we can do about it. In fact, because of the very nature of quicksand, if we try to do anything, we just sink faster and deeper! All you can do if you are in quicksand is rely on someone else who is on solid ground to throw a rope around your shoulders, pull you out and place you on solid ground.

That is the horror of man-made religious and man-centered theological systems. They come up to you in the quicksand and tell you to do more things: try harder, work to get closer to the shore, join our church, go through our rite and our ritual, do more good works. Work as hard as you can to save yourself then maybe, just maybe, if you get close enough, maybe God will finish and pull you out. But this is futile, resulting only in the sinner sinking faster and deeper, moving farther and farther away from salvation. It is doubly futile because while you are trying to get yourself out of the quicksand, you miss out on receiving the one true way of salvation: The rope from the person on solid ground calling out to you with the Good News of salvation (Rom. 10:1‑3)!

God's Way of Judging

The hard truth for sinners is that doing more supposed good works or fewer bad works in whatever degree, doesn't bring a sinner nearer to God for a very simple reason. When God judges the works of men, He doesn't judge by looking at the works. He judges by looking at where the works came from! If the works were produced in hearts of faith (believers), motivated by the Love of God at the Cross of Christ for sinners, running on the power of the Holy Spirit: God accepts them outright and automatically designates them unto eternal life. If, however, they were produced in hearts of unbelief, in rebellion against God and rejection of His Son, motivated out of selfish interest, running on the power of Satan and Sin, and contaminated with death (Eph. 2:1‑3): God rejects them outright and automatically designates them unto destruction.

In other words, THE ONLY WORKS GOD ACCEPTS ARE THE WORKS HE PRODUCES IN AND THROUGH BELIEVERS!

Perhaps another homely analogy will help. Years ago, a large brand recalled some of its ice cream because of an outbreak of listeria in one of its factories. When the government and corporate authorities announced the recall, they didn't look at the tubs of ice cream. The ice cream looked good, tasted good and many even ate it and didn't get sick or die. But none of that mattered because the regulators didn't judge what was acceptable and unacceptable by looking at the “work,” the containers of ice cream. They judged by looking at where the tub of ice cream was produced, and if it came out of the factory contaminated with listeria, the ice cream was automatically disqualified and designated for destruction.

Well, something similar is true of human works as a means of approach to God. When we go before God, pulling our little red wagon of supposed good works, God doesn't judge them by looking at the individual works. He judges them by looking at where they came from. If they came from a factory contaminated with sin and death in hearts of unbelief in rejection of God and His Son on the Cross (unbelievers), then they are automatically rejected and designated unto destruction. If, however, they came from a factory purified by the blood of Christ and running on the power of the Holy Spirit in hearts of faith (believers), then they are automatically accepted by God and designated unto eternal life (Rom. 2:4-10).

Back to the Quicksand

As sinners born into the world as members of fallen humanity in Adam, existing in the quicksand of sin and death, fulfilling the desires of our sinful flesh, we can do nothing to remedy our hopeless predicament. But if Someone comes along on solid ground and calls out to us with the Good News that will save us from our dire predicament, offering to transfer us out of the quicksand of sin and death and secure us on the solid ground of righteousness and life simply by believing, holding still and relying on Him ... well, that is the one thing we can “do” without “doing” anything. It is the setting aside of our own “doing” so that we can rely on the “doing” of Someone else.

And that Someone else is the Lord Jesus Christ, who graciously threw a rope around the shoulders of every sinner, every person, born into the world and is now calling out to them the Good News of Christ's death and resurrection for enemy sinners via Paul's Gospel. God has provided the salvation, and now the only question is will we receive it by faith unto righteousness and life? Or, will we reject it in unbelief unto sin and death? Ultimately, how we answer that question is all that really matters.

The Two “Adams”

Fallen humanity has a 2-pronged sin problem that Paul summarizes in Rom. 3:23: For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. Paul explains that all humanity sinned at a specific point in the past. All humanity sinned when Adam sinned because all humanity was (to use theological terminology) “seminally present in the loins of Adam” at that time. This is known as original sin, and it explains that we are born into the world as SINNERS, therefore, we commit sins.

This is important to understand because human wisdom as codified in man-made religious, man-centered theological and humanistic self-help systems say the exact opposite. They say we are born into the world righteous and become sinners when we commit sins, especially the big sins. Therefore, the key to becoming right before God is committing fewer sins, making ourself less a sinner, a better person, even a friend of God by joining a church, giving money, going through their rites and rituals--then maybe, just maybe, in the end God will save you. This usually manifests itself in relative righteousness whereby we reckon that we are not as bad as the man on the news or the woman down the street, so we must be good enough for God.

But this is all wrong backwards. God's explanation is the very opposite. We are born into the world as SINNERS, therefore, we commit sins. If you have a duck egg and a chick hatches out, you don't have to wait 6-8 weeks until its first quack to be certain it's a duck. That chick was born into the world a duck; therefore, it does what ducks do—quack. So too with all of us. As members of fallen humanity, we are born into the world as sinners; therefore, we do what sinners do—commit acts of sins.

Some people find this concept hard to understand. They wonder how it can be that they are under the rule of sin and death because of something Adam did thousands of years before. But it is really very easy to understand. First, it is a simple, common-sense, every day concept. For example, some one hundred and fifty years ago my Great-Great-Great-Great (?) Grandfather came to the United States from Germany. When he left the land of Germany and came to the land of the United States, he brought me with him for I was “seminally present in his loins.” I was in the United States IN GRANDPA even though I wouldn't be born for another hundred years. And because of what my Grandfather did years before I am now born under the rule of America not the rule of Germany.

Second, it is a biblical concept. The Book of Hebrews uses an incident in the life of Abraham to explain the superiority of the Priesthood of the Lord Jesus Christ over that of the Levitical Priesthood. He does this by explaining that when the Priest-King Melchisedec blessed Abraham, and Abraham gave Melchisedec tithes of all (Gen. 14:17‑20), Abraham's Great-Granson Levi, who wasn't even born at the time, also gave tithes to Melchisedec. In other words, Levi (and Levi's descendants who became the Levitical Priesthood) gave tithes to Melchisedec when Abraham gave tithes to Melchisedec IN ABRAHAM even though they weren't born yet (Heb. 7:9‑10).

So too, with original sin. When Adam sinned, all humanity was “seminally present in Adam's loins,” and all humanity sinned at that time IN ADAM. Just as when Abraham gave tithes to Melchisedec and was subjected to Melchisedec's Priesthood, his descendant Levi (and the whole Levitical Priesthood that came from him) gave tithes to Melchisedec IN ABRAHAM and was likewise subjected to Melchisedec's Priesthood. So too, when Adam sinned and was subjected to death, his descendants (the whole human race) sinned and were subjected to death IN ADAM.

Just as when my Great-Great-Great-Great (?) Grandfather left the land of Germany and came to the land of the United States, all his descendants were “seminally present in his loins,” and he brought them with him. Therefore, now they all live under the laws of the United States not the laws of Germany. So too, when Adam left the land of God under His laws of righteousness and life and went to the land of Satan under his laws of sin and death, he brought all his descendants (all humanity) with him. Therefore, all humanity IN ADAM now live under the co-regency of sin and death not the co-regency of righteousness and life.

Why does God view things in this way? Why has God gathered all the old fallen humanity IN ADAM—Jews and Gentiles alike—under sin in unbelief (Rom. 3:9‑10; 11:32a)? So that He might have mercy upon all (11:32)! For by gathering all the old, fallen humanity IN ADAM, the first Adam, where they inherit what belonged to Adam, namely sin and death; He can likewise gather His new, redeemed humanity IN CHRIST, the second and Last Adam, where they inherit what belongs to Christ, namely, righteousness and life (Rom. 5:12-21).

The Two “Adams”

We looked at the MUCH MORE salvation of God through Christ. By gathering the old fallen humanity under the federal headship of Adam in sin, death and unbelief, God can likewise gather together all believers, His new redeemed humanity, under the federal headship of Christ in righteousness and life.

By operating according to this principle, God doesn't just return believers to a pre-fall probationary relationship with God that Adam had in the Garden of Eden. Rather, He freely gives believers by superabounding grace an infinitely greater eternally secure salvation that unites us permanently to God through Christ in the Heavenlies not based on who we are and what we do, but based on who our federal head is and what he did: WHO CHRIST IS AND WHAT HE DID FOR US ON THE CROSS.

Whereas the 1st Adam failed, the 2nd and last Adam, the Lord Jesus Christ, will never fail.

Sunday, we continued our study of Eph. 2:2 by looking at Rom. 5:12-21. In mercifully gathering all the old fallen humanity in unbelief under sin (Rom. 3:9; 11:32) IN ADAM whereby what belonged to Adam belonged to them, namely sin and death, God could likewise gather together all His new redeemed humanity of believers IN CHRIST whereby what belongs to Christ belongs to them, namely righteousness and life. In operating in this way, God not only provides an eternally secure salvation because it is not based on who we are and what we do but who our federal head is and what he (Adam) or He (Christ) did; He also provides a much more salvation that gains infinitely more IN CHRIST than what was lost IN ADAM at the Fall (Rom. 5:12-21).

Ephesians tells us that before we became believers created anew in Christ Jesus, we operated by fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind (Eph. 2:3), walking in the vanity of our mind, having the understanding darkened (Eph. 4:17‑18; Rom. 1:21). As ones who were unwilling to receive the valuable things of God in unbelief--His Word and His Life--our mind was filled with the worthless things of the flesh, the world and Satan. But now as believers, we have another option. Now as ones who are willing to receive the things of God, the worthless things of the world can be pushed out by pumping in the valuable things of God. We are ones who have learned Christ, hearing and being taught by Him, especially through Pauline Grace Mystery Truth (PGMT—Phil. 4:7‑9), therby renewed in the spirit of our mind, filled with the fullness of Christ and the whole Triune God (Eph. 4:20‑23; 1:23; 3:19).

Let's go through this process step-by-step:

1. Before as unbelievers, we conducted our lives fulfilling the lusts of our selfish flesh in the vanity of our mind, which was empty of God's valuable things and filled with Satan's worthless things (Eph. 2:3; 4:17‑18; Rom. 1:21‑22, 28).
2. But now as believers, we have what we need to conduct our lives serving God by serving others selflessly in love with a mind filled with God and His valuable things through the Holy Spirit. In Eph. 1:17‑18 Paul prayed that the Holy Spirit, who had enlivened our dead human spirit the moment we were saved (Eph. 1:13‑14), would now enlighten our (enlivened) spirit in the full-knowledge of God that comes through the Revelation of the Mystery. As members of God's new creation in Christ, we can now operate in accord with minds renewed by the Holy Spirit on the inside, which in turn will direct the activities of the body on the outside.
3. Rom. 12:2‑3 explains that believers are not to be conformed to the world. But how do we do that? By being transformed by the renewing of the mind. But what transforms our mind? It occurs through the grace given to Paul, the measure of faith distributed to all believers, i.e., Pauline Grace Mystery Truth (PGMT).
1. Eph. 4:1-7 explains that this measure of faith given to every believer is the measure of the gift of Christ given to every believer as revealed in PGMT.
2. 2 Cor. 10:12-18 explains that this measure of faith is PGMT. Paul confined himself to this measure of the rule of faith and refused to go beyond it in his apostolic ministry (see also Rom. 15:20). Others were going beyond this, mixing up God's two Programs, but Paul didn't because PGMT is God's truth for today. What God is doing today in His Mystery Program for the Body of Christ as taught by the Apostle Paul must not be confused and intermixed with the measure of the rule of faith active in God's Prophetic Program with the Nation of Israel as taught by Peter and the 12. What is this measure of rule of faith? It is the preaching of the Gospel of Christ (2 Cor. 10:14, 16), which Paul calls my Gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ according to the Revelation of the Mystery in Rom. 16:25). Paul hopes that they will realize this, increase in the knowledge of it, and joyfully accept his apostolic authority over them (2 Cor. 10:15; Rom. 16:25). And by doing that, they will glory in the Lord (2 Cor. 10:18)!
4. In fact, PGMT is what gives us the very Mind of Christ.
1. 1 Cor. 2:16: Paul makes the astounding claim that those who receive Pauline Grace Mystery Truth (PGMT) in faith through the teaching and revealing ministry of the Holy Spirit (1 Cor. 2:6-15), HAVE THE MIND OF CHRIST (1 Cor. 2:16)!
2. Phil. 2:3‑5 explains that the Mind of Christ most fundamentally is Agape Love, thinking as Christ thought when even though He is absolute God with all its associated privileges and advantages, He didn't use them for His Own advancement but to advance the things of others unto their edification. The Lord Jesus Christ descended by making Himself of no reputation; descended by taking upon Himself the form of a servant; descended by entering the likeness of man; descended by humbling Himself; descended by obedience unto death; descended even unto death on the Cross (Phil. 2:6‑8).

And now we have come full circle. As unbelievers we operated in the vanity of our mind. As believers we can operate in the fullness of the Mind of Christ. As unbelievers we self-centeredly considered ourselves better than others, and considered our things more important than the things of others. Now as believers we can selflessly, Christ-centeredly, consider others better than ourselves, and consider their things more important than our own things (Phil. 2:3‑5). In short, we can now serve God by serving others selflessly in love unto their edification in His things.

Sunday, we continued our study of Ephesians by looking at God's solution to the sinful predicament of fallen humanity. What is that answer? But God, who is rich in mercy, for His great love wherewith He loved us, even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ (by grace you are saved) (Eph. 2:4)! Adam did the easy thing—put humanity to death. The 2nd Adam, the Last Adam, the Lord Jesus Christ did the infinitely hard thing—made alive dead humanity. And He did it quickly, easily, without hindrance. It was no problem for God!

FREED AT LAST!

When Jesus Christ died on the Cross for us, He took everything that was against us—namely, sin and death; Satan, the world, the flesh; guilt and shame—removed it once-and-for-all and brought us into everything that is for us forevermore. Paul puts it this way in Rom. 8: If God be for us, who can be against us ... and we are more than conquerors through Him that loved us ... and nothing can separate us from the Love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord (Rom. 8:31, 37, 39).

Let's look at some examples:

1. God freed us from sin and death and brought us into righteousness and life (Eph. 2:1 cp. Rom. 3:23‑24; 6:11‑14, 17‑18; 2 Cor. 5:21).
2. God freed us from the course of this evil world (Gal. 1:4) and brought us into His good course, plan and will (Rom. 12:1‑3; Eph. 1:9).
3. God freed us from the Kingdom of darkness and brought us into the Kingdom of Light (Col. 1:10‑14).
4. God freed us from Satan, the spirit, who works in fallen humanity's dead spirit, and gave us the Holy Spirit, who works in redeemed humanity's enlivened spirit (Rom. 5:5; 8:8‑11; Eph. 1:13, 17; 4:26‑27; 6:11).
5. God freed us from being IN ADAM where his disobedience became our disobedience and created us anew IN CHRIST where His obedience becomes our obedience. Therefore, our salvation is eternally secure because it is not based on who we are and what we do, but on who Christ is and what He did FOR US (Rom. 1:5; 5:12‑21; 6:17).
6. God freed us from destructive lives that selfishly tear down others and brought us into the restorative lives that selflessly serve God by serving others in Love unto their edification (building up) in God's things (Rom. 1:18-32 cp. Eph. 1:17‑18; Rom. 6:17-23; 12:1-10; Phil. 2:3‑4).

This short list is just the tip of the iceberg, so to speak. See if you can add more as you make your own journey through the Scriptures rightly-divided.

1. God's EXCEEDING GREAT POWER in raising and seating Christ in the Heavenlies (Eph. 1:19‑20).
2. All creation, including the hostile powers, is subjected to Christ (Eph. 1:21‑23).
3. Fallen humanity is subject to the hostile powers (Eph. 2:1‑3).
4. God rescued us from the hostile powers by making us alive, raising us up and seating us together with Christ in the Heavenlies --His new redeemed IN CHRIST humanity, displaying His
EXCEEDING GREAT GRACE in (Eph. 2:4‑7).

Recently someone said I was obsessed with the Mystery. He obviously meant it negatively, but I took it positively! If I'm obsessed with the Revelation of the Mystery, I am in the good company of God and Paul. He tried to justify his statement by saying we should be obsessed with Christ not the Mystery. But he is missing the fact that today to be obsessed with Christ is to be obsessed with the Mystery. In fact, Paul calls it the preaching of Jesus Christ according to the Revelation of the Mystery (Rom. 16:25)! Let's look at just one example of how God is obsessed with the Mystery in Paul's Letter to the Colossians.

THE MYSTERY AND VICTORIOUS CHRISTIAN LIVING

In Col. 1:9, Paul prays that the Colossians (and all believers since!) be filled with the (full)-knowledge (epignosis) of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding. Ephesians says something similar: He has abounded toward us in all wisdom and prudence, having made known unto us the Mystery of His will (Eph. 1:8‑9). So, what is it that gives us God's wisdom, prudence and spiritual understanding that brings us into the full-knowledge of God and what He is doing today? Well, what do you know: THE MYSTERY! There I go again, obsessing over the Mystery.

It is this divine wisdom that flows out of the Mystery that equips believers to walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing ... being fruitful in every good work ... bringing us into the full-knowledge of God ... which strengthens us with all might in the inner person to be longsuffering, patient, joyful in any situation ... thankful unto God, who made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of light (Col. 1:10‑12)! In short, the MYSTERY is the very source of victorious Christian living! That sounds like a great reason to be obsessed with the MYSTERY to me!!

Of course the very important corollary of this is that if we diminish, or worse throw away, the MYSTERY (as most of historic Christianity has done!), we WILL NOT be equipped to walk well-pleasing to the Lord, fruitful in every good work, increasing in the knowledge of God, strengthened in the inner person, continually giving thanks unto the Father!

THE MYSTERY AND THE PLAN AND PURPOSE OF GOD

Colossians 1-2 gives us other important truths about the MYSTERY. For instance:

1. God completed His Word with the Revelation of the MYSTERY given to the Apostle Paul (Col. 1:25).
2. The Revelation of the MYSTERY was hid in God from eternity past (NOT in the Scriptures as most of historic Christianity claims!) (Eph. 3:8‑9). But it is now made known through the distinct and unique apostleship of Paul in his prophetic scriptures (Rom. 16:25‑26).
3. God wants all believers to know the RICHES of the glory of this MYSTERY that God is now dispensing to the world, especially the Gentiles (Col. 1:27a).
4. While the Gentiles before had no direct hope of their own (Eph. 2:11‑13), the MYSTERY now gives them their own hope. They could now receive God's blessings not indirectly with Israel and through her RISE, but directly through Christ apart from Israel and through her FALL (Col. 1:27b; Rom. 11; 15:15‑16).
5. It was Paul's preaching of Christ according to the Revelation of the MYSTERY that would warn and teach every believer so that they might be presented complete in Christ (Col. 1:29).
6. God mightily worked in Paul, empowering him to labor, strive and work without ceasing (sounds like obsession to me!) as he proclaimed the Revelation of the MYSTERY (Col. 1:29).
7. In fact, the unified functioning of the whole Body of Christ with hearts comforted and glued together in love, comes from the full-assurance of understanding that comes from the acknowledgement (epignosis--full-knowledge) of guess what: THE MYSTERY of God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit (Col. 2:2)!
8. In short, today, the whole Triune Godhead is working through the Revelation of the MYSTERY (Col. 2:2; Rom. 15:15‑16).

And there you have it. That is why I am obsessed with the Mystery, and I am never alone because I am in the good company of: The whole Triune Godhead, the Apostle Paul and other faithful believers!

Rom. 15:1-16 is one of the most important passages in Romans, no in the whole Bible. It explains how God can now bless hopeless sinners with super-abounding hope APART FROM ISRAEL AND THROUGH HER FALL. Let's take a look at it.

Rom. 14:
Background Information

First, we need a little background refresher because Rom. 15 flows out of Rom. 14. In Rom. 14, Paul identifies two groups of believers: weak believers and strong believers. Weak believers are those with a strong Jewish background who know the Old Testament Scriptures and lived under the Law. Then one day, Paul's co-workers (Rom. 16) came to town and they were saved by believing the Mystery aspect of the Cross of Christ, Paul's Gospel—the Good News of the Death and Resurrection of Christ for sinners. While their salvation was instantaneous and eternally secure, their understanding of God's change in programs was progressive.

They weren't yet fully appreciating that God had set aside His Prophetic Program with the Nation of Israel and her Law, and began a new program, His Mystery Program with the Body of Christ under pure Pauline Grace. They didn't yet fully appreciate that Paul's apostleship was distinct from that of Peter and the 12. Therefore, they thought that by adding things from the Law, like observing holy days and food regulations, they could improve their status before God beyond what Paul's Gospel provided.

But Paul had just spent the previous 13 chapters explaining that they are not under a law system, not even the Mosaic Law System. They are under a grace system, the Pauline Grace System (Rom. 6:14). Therefore, if they persisted in their ignorance of God's change in programs and the distinct apostleship of Paul after receiving Paul's Letter to them, their ignorance would no longer be innocent excusable ignorance but inexcusable, willful rebellious ignorance that would deserve Paul's rebuke of the Galatians: O foolish Galatians, who has bewitched you? Are you so foolish? Having begun in the Spirit, are you now made perfect by the flesh (Gal. 3:3)?

And that is where the strong believers come in. These were mostly Gentiles who were saved out of idolatry, and they would know little or nothing about the Old Testament or Moses' Law. Paul rebukes them in the present because while they understood God's change in programs and appreciated Paul's distinct apostleship, knowing that things from Moses' Law must not be added to Paul's Grace, they went wrong in how they chose to bring the weak believers into this knowledge. They tried to force them through the flesh by ridiculing, despising and separating from them. But Paul would have none of it and rebuked them strongly. Rather than forcing them into correct thinking and behavior, they should have been welcoming and receiving them, helping them to be persuaded of the Lord, just as Paul was (Rom. 14:14).

Rom. 15:1-3:
The Spiritual Response the Strong Believers Should Have

Strong believers, having the Mind of Christ (Phil. 2:5‑8), were to bring them under their arm in love so they could teach them how to rightly-divide the Scriptures (Rom. 15:4-16).

Rom. 15:4:
What Was Written Before

What was written before, before Paul wrote this Letter to the Romans, was written for our learning to give comfort and hope. Because Jesus just quoted from Ps. 69 in the previous verse, the Scriptures include the Old Testament. There were many other new Scriptures written at that time and were available by the time Paul wrote Romans, such as, some if not all the Gospel Accounts (Acts 6:2; 1 Cor. 15:3‑4), some of the non-Pauline Letters like James and Hebrews, and some of Paul's letters--1 and 2 Thessalonians, Galatians and 1 Corinthians. In fact, by the end of Peter's life, he recognized Paul's Letters as Scripture (2 Pet. 3:15‑16).

So, what were they to do with this influx of new Scriptures written and distributed throughout the world at this time, and how were they related to the Old Testament? How were they to handle this great hodgepodge of Scriptures?

Rom. 15:5-7:
The Importance of Rightly-Dividing The Scriptures!

In these verses, Paul leads us through a logic chain of connected thought that explains why it is so important to rightly-divide the Scriptures:

• If we are to enjoy the patience and comfort and hope of the Scriptures ...
• We must be likeminded toward one another so that we can ...
• Glorify God with one mind and one mouth together ...
• Receiving one another as Christ received us (graciously).
• And how are we going to be enabled to do that? By rightly-dividing the Scriptures.

Rom. 15:8-12:
Two Fundamental Things to Understand

The first thing Paul says we need to know and appreciate is that the Scriptures regarding the earthly ministry of Christ (and the ministry of Peter and the 12 that flowed out of it) have to do with confirming the promises God gave to the fathers of the Nation of Israel. In other words, the Gospel Accounts (Matthew-John), the ministry of Peter and the 12 and those associated with them (Acts, Hebrews-Revelation) have to do with God's Prophetic Program with the Nation of Israel, which had been spoken about since the world began (Lk. 1:70; Acts 3:21). Therefore, they do NOT have to do with God's Mystery Program for the Body of Christ which had been kept secret since the world began until it was revealed to and through the Apostle Paul (Rom. 16:25).

The second thing Paul says that we need to know and appreciate is that in God's Prophetic Program with the Nation of Israel, the Gentiles are blessed WITH ISRAEL AND THROUGH HER RISE. Paul shows this by leading us through a chain of Old Testament Scriptures.

Rom. 15:9/ Ps. 18:49—The pre-script of Psalm 18 explains that AFTER David is saved and delivered from all his enemies, then he will then give thanks to the LORD and sing God's praises among the Gentiles. David represents believing Israel going through the Tribulation Period. At Christ's 2nd Coming they will be delivered from all their enemies, ushered into Israel's earthly kingdom, planted in the Promised Land and raised up as God's Own great and holy nation. Then saved Israel will take God's blessings and praises to the Gentiles. In other words, in God's Prophetic Program, the Gentiles worship and praise the one true God WITH ISRAEL AND THROUGH HER RISE!

Rom. 15:10/Deut. 32:43—Paul takes another step: In God's Prophetic Program, the Gentile nations rejoice WITH HIS PEOPLE, the Nation of Israel, after all His enemies have been destroyed and Israel restored to the Promised Land and made into His Own great and holy nation. In other words, in God's Prophetic Program, the Gentiles worship and praise the one true God WITH ISRAEL AND THROUGH HER RISE!

Rom. 15:11/Ps. 117—Paul reiterates that in God's Prophetic Program, the Gentiles praise the Lord with His people, the restored Nation of Israel (Ps. 116:13-19). In other words, in God's Prophetic Program, the Gentiles worship and praise the one true God WITH ISRAEL AND THROUGH HER RISE!

Rom. 15:12/Is. 11:10—Finally, Paul advances to the 2nd Coming of Christ when God's Prophetic Program is fulfilled, and Israel's earthly Kingdom is established under their King, the Lord Jesus Christ. Then the Gentiles will come to Israel saying: Please LORD, rule over us! In other word, in God's Prophetic Program, the Gentiles worship and praise the one true God WITH ISRAEL AND THROUGH HER RISE!

But this introduces a huge, HUGE, HUGE problem for the world, especially the Gentiles, because Paul just explained in Rom. 11 that Israel stumbled and FELL, and that God had cast her away (temporarily). This is a HUGE problem because while the Gentiles didn't have a hope of their own (Eph. 2:11‑13), they could participate in Israel's hope by proselytizing to Judaism or as God-fearers through Israel's Abrahamic Covenant. But when Israel fell, so did Israel's hope! If God didn't do something the world, especially the Gentiles, would be completely and utterly hopelessly hopeless!!

Rom. 15:13-16
The God of Hope Kicked Into Action

BUT NOW thanks be to God! At that very moment the God of Hope went to work and opened a new a way that dispensed overflowing joy and peace in superabounding HOPE. How? God raised up the Apostle Paul, gave him a new and distinct apostleship of grace through which He would send His blessings to the world, especially the Gentiles APART FROM ISRAEL AND THROUGH HER FALL in accord with His previously kept secret (Rom. 16:25; Eph. 3:1-10) Mystery Program with the Body of Christ. And it is there that the whole Triune Godhead is working today (Rom. 15:16): Jesus Christ (God the Son), God (God the Father) and the Holy Spirit (God the Holy Spirit)!!

Today, God is dispensing not just His blessings, but the RICHS OF HIS BLESSINGS, and He is doing it through the preaching of Jesus Christ according to the Revelation of the Mystery, which was kept secret since the world began (Rom. 16:25). In His Prophetic Program with the Nation of Israel in time past, God had dispensed His mercy, grace, goodness, kindness, etc., and some of them even abundantly (Ex. 34:6). In His Mystery Program with the Body of Christ, however, He is dispensing the riches of His mercy, grace, goodness, kindness, etc., and them super-abundantly!

God's Riches and the Mystery

Now if the fall of them (Israel) be the riches of the world, and the diminishing of them the riches of the Gentiles; how much more their fulness (Rom. 11:12).

This claim of Paul's would have shocked the world, especially the Jewish world, because God never before—not in the Old Testament, not in Christ's earthly ministry and not in the ministry of Peter and the 12—spoke about His blessings going to the Gentiles in the context of Israel stumbling, falling and being (temporarily) cast away in unbelief (Rom. 11:12, 15, 32). In God's Prophetic Program with Israel, His blessings were to go to the Gentile nations with the saved and restored Nation of Israel and through her RISE in faith (Gen. 12:2; Ex. 19:6; Deut. 28:13; Is. 60)!

But now, Paul comes along and says the exact opposite. Paul explains that God had now opened a previously secret way of blessing the world, especially the Gentiles, that is apart from the Nation of Israel and through her FALL. And He is blessing them not with His abundant blessings to His friends but with the super-abundant, exceedingly great RICHES of His blessings to His enemies! And this was made known through the Revelation of the Mystery, which was kept secret since the world began (Rom. 16:25); which was made known by a direct revelation from the Risen Lord Jesus Christ to the Apostle Paul; and which everyone else learns of by reading Paul's (prophetic) Scriptures—Romans through Philemon--in faith through the teaching and revealing ministry of the Holy Spirit (Eph. 3:1-10; Rom. 16:26).

Now, God and Paul's overriding desire is that we would not be ignorant of this Mystery because it is the very basis for how He is dealing with the world today (Rom. 11:25; Eph. 3:9). No wonder Satan puts all his effort into deceiving us into throwing away Paul's distinct apostleship and with it the Revelation of the Mystery. Most of historic Christianity has done just that, making them wise in their own conceits, developing man-made and man-centered religious and theological systems based on God unfaithfully breaking His promises to the Nation of Israel and transferring them to us unrighteously: This is the great error of replacement theology in all its countless and sundry forms.

The Riches of God's Blessings That Flow Out Of The Mystery

1. The riches of His mercy (Eph. 2:4; Rom. 11:30‑32)—In accord with His Mystery Program with the Body of Christ, God has now concluded all—Jews and Gentiles alike—under sin (Rom. 3:9) in unbelief so that He might dispense the riches of His mercy to all (Rom. 11:32).
2. The Riches of His Wisdom, Prudence, Spiritual Understanding and Knowledge (Rom. 11:33), which all come from and flow out of the Revelation of the Mystery (Eph. 1:8‑9; 3:9‑10; Col. 1:9‑14, 25‑29; 2:1‑3).
3. The Riches of His Goodness, forbearance and longsuffering (Rom. 2:4; 9:23; 11:33)--Now to a world of enemy sinners, God is richly dispensing these things through His Mystery Program with the Body of Christ.
4. The Riches of the Glory of the Mystery, especially among the utterly hopeless Gentiles, whereby they obtain the hope of participating in the Glory of God directly through the Risen Lord Jesus Christ, who dwells in them: Christ in you, the hope of glory (Col. 1:26‑29).

In short, it is the Mystery aspect of Christ and His Cross, the Good News (Gospel) of His Death and Resurrection for us--enemy sinners—Paul's Gospel--that reveals the infinite dimensions of the Riches of God's Love (Eph. 3:18‑19) whereby the Lord Jesus Christ, who was rich as absolute God, become poor and died for His ENEMIES so that through His poverty they might be RICH (2 Cor. 8:9; Phil. 2:6‑8).

The Definition of (Agape) Love

God took the little used noun form of the Greek word “agape” and filled it with His own meaning, revealed it to the Apostle Paul, who then proclaimed it to the world (Eph. 3:8‑9). In God's Prophetic Program with the Nation of Israel, God so loved the world that He Sent His Son to die for His friends (Jn. 15:13; Rom. 5:7). In His Mystery Program with the Body of Christ, however, God so loved the world that He sent His Son to die for His enemies. This is the greatest display of God's love, and it is the love that the Holy Spirit pours into believer's heart, motivating and empowering them to serve God by serving others in love unto their edification (Rom. 5:5‑6, 8‑10).

The Way (Agape) Love Works:

It operates according to the mind that Christ had when even though He was absolute God and had all the divine advantages and prerogatives associated with that, He didn't use His things for His own advancement but for the advancement of others. He descended, descended, descended, entering the form of a servant, entered into the likeness of men and was obedient unto death, even the death of the Cross so that He could save and give life to a fallen, dead, sinful humanity.

Likewise, believers who have been made alive, raised up and seated together with Christ in the Heavenlies (Eph. 2:4‑7), are to likewise have this mind of Christ, not using our own things for our own advancement, but using them for the advancement of others as God's ambassadors on earth. What does this look like, exactly, in our daily walk? Let's listen to Paul:

Love seeketh not her own things but the things of others (1 Cor. 10:23, 32; 13:5).

Love operates in lowliness of mind, esteeming the other better than themselves (Phil. 2:3), looking not on his own things but on the things of others (Phil. 2:4).

We then that are strong ought to bear the infirmities of the weak, and not to please ourselves. Let every one of us please his neighbor for his good unto edification in what God is doing today through the Word rightly-divided (Rom. 1:1‑2), which is nothing less than faith working by Love (Gal. 5:6).

Sunday, we continued our study of Ephesians by looking at the importance of the phrase “by grace you are saved through faith.” To do this we took a short detour into Titus 2:11-14 where we also took a minute to evaluate the error of KJVO.

A Grace Church Vision ... But Can It Be Done?

Can a Grace Church survive proclaiming Pauline Grace Mystery Truth (PGMT) ONLY—in all its glory and purity; without admixture or being polluted with something else—could it survive, even thrive? While human wisdom doesn't think so and, therefore, adds all kinds of fleshly things to PGMT trying to “help” God out: God thinks it can. In fact, God commands that nothing be added to PGMT. NOTHING—no, not even that pet thing we are sure will really help God out!! PGMT is enough, it is more than enough. In fact, Paul's Gospel, the preaching of Jesus Christ according to the Revelation of the Mystery—is all there really is!

I know this from experience. My first Grace Church thought they would help God out through the flesh by adding professional music, a multitude programs, “Christian” psychology and counseling to draw people in. And it worked. 1500+ people there on Sundays, wow! But before long, there were so many other things that there was no room left for PGMT. The Pastor was squeezed out of the church, and grace doctrine went with him. Next, in my second Grace Church, they thought they would help God with His supposed “holy war” by adding fleshly things like politics, conspiracy theories and gun control commentary. But once again, before long, there was no room left for PGMT, and the church broke apart.

Finally, my third Grace Church thought they would help God out by adding KJVO (King James Version Only) with its man-made pet theories of preservation that not only divided families, long-time friendships, and churches but the whole Grace Movement, weakening it from the inside. Such is my depressing experience with Grace Churches today. Unfortunately for me, it wasn't “three times is the charm,” but three strikes and I'm out. At least until I found my fourth Grace Church, GBCRM.

I think Paul felt much the same way. The Grace Churches he founded didn't fair much better. The Galatian and Corinthian churches began leaving Paul by adding fleshly things to his teachings (PGMT) almost before he left town. And by the end of his life, Paul had to report to Timothy that all (the churches) in Asia had turned away from him and the purity of His Gospel, the preaching of Jesus Christ according to the Revelation of the Mystery, which had been kept secret since the world began—ie., PGMT (Rom. 16:25).

Sadly, from the days of Paul to today (some 2,000 years) historical Christianity has been characterized by adding fleshly things to God's truth, always diminishing it and ultimately ruining it. They had been deceived by Satan's math that said: Adding things to PGMT adds to PGMT and advances God's plan. But God's math works this say: Adding something—ANYTHING--to PGMT always—EVERY SINGLE TIME—NO EXCEPTIONS--actually subtracts from PGMT and hinders God's plan.

So, back to my opening question: Can a Grace Church survive proclaiming PGMT in all its glory and purity ONLY? Perhaps, even thrive? God thinks so even if we all too often don't. What if we stopped measuring success by the standards of the world--the numbers of people and finances—and measured by God's standard of faithfulness to His Word? What if our only concern was boldly proclaiming PGMT regardless of anything else? What if our only goal was to teach the spiritual truth of God's Mystery of the Gospel in absolute purity, unpolluted with the fleshly ideas of man and his traditions?

Well, after my long history with Grace Churches that add things to PGMT, I think we need to remain a Grace Church that does its very best to add nothing to PGMT. I think others are long overdue to give it a try. Therefore, I challenge and beseech the whole Grace Movement (and every church everywhere) to follow Paul's example, who proclaimed with every fiber of his being and every ounce of his energy: What is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory: whom we preach, warning every man, and teaching every man in all wisdom; that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus: whereunto I also LABOR, STRIVING according to His (God's) WORKING, which WORKS in me MIGHTILY (Col. 1:26-29. Caps. mine).

Sunday, we continued our study of Ephesians by looking at the importance of the phrase “by grace you are saved through faith.” To do this we followed the verbs.

Following The Verbs In Eph. 2:5-8

In describing our salvation, God and Paul use a variety of verb tenses. It all begins with God, who is (present tense—ongoingly or continuously) rich in mercy and great in love. This God loved us (aorist tense—a completed certain action in the past) at the Cross of Christ. Based on that, He enlivened believers (aorist—completed action in the past), raised them up (aorist—completed action in the past) and seated them (aorist—completed action in the past) together with Christ in the heavenlies in Christ (Eph. 2:5‑6).

Paul gathers all these past actions together to explain our salvation in the present and future: For by grace are ye saved through faith (Eph. 2:8). While short in words, this verse is long in meaning. Our salvation is:

1. By grace—it is based NOT on who we are and what we do. It is based on who Christ is, and what He did and does for us!
• Grace is all that God is free to do for you and me
• Because of what His Son did on the Cross of Calvary.
2. Through faith—we receive the gift of salvation by faith, by believing. Faith is the only thing a spiritually dead and physically dying person can “do,” which is really not doing anything. It is the setting aside of our own doing so that we can rely on, believe in and trust upon the doing of Another--the Lord Jesus Christ.
3. Ye are—“are” is a state-of-being verb in the present tense (ongoing or continuous), which brings to the forefront the present reality of the believer belonging to a new sphere of existence in Christ, characterized by a new state of salvation.
4. Saved—“saved” is a verb participle in the perfect tense (completed action in the past with ongoing results in the present and through the future). This participle modifies the state-of-being verb “are.” Having been saved we ongoingly and continuously exist in a state of being saved now and forevermore.

In this short statement, Paul gathers God's past completed actions on behalf of sinners who believe—He made them alive, raised them up and seated them with Christ in the heavenlies—creating them anew in Christ and bringing them into a new existential reality in the present that propels them through all future time and eternity!

In other words, our salvation is eternally secure! Believers have been delivered (saved) out of Adam's sphere of existence under the rule of Sin and Death where everything is against us, and delivered (saved) to Christ's sphere of existence under the rule of Righteousness and Life where everything is for us (Rom. 8:31).

We have seen that there are four aspects of FAITH: 1. Our Faith in the sense of believing. And what do we believe? 2. The Faith—God's truth for today, Pauline Grace Mystery Truth (PGMT), which contains the revelation of 3. The Faith of Christ—Jesus Christ's faithful work on the Cross for sinners—which when taken together equips us to be Faithful—4. Our Faith in the sense of obedience. And when that happens, it is called the victorious Christian Living.

Various passages bring various aspects of faith to the forefront. For example, in Rom. 3:22 Paul brings forward faith in the senses of #1 and #3: Even the righteousness of God which is by FAITH OF JESUS CHRIST (#3--the faithful work of Christ on the Cross for sinners) unto all and upon all them that BELIEVE (#1--our faith in the Christ and His Work on the Cross for us). In Rom. 14:1, he brings forward faith in the sense of #2: Him that is weak in THE FAITH (God's body of truth for today, PGMT). And in Rom. 16:26 Paul presents PGMT as the commandment of God that is now being made known (in Paul's Epistles) to all nations for the obedience of FAITH (#4—our faithfulness).

While in these examples Paul brings one of these aspect of FAITH explicitly into the foreground, the other aspects are always implicitly in the background. If we make use of this concept in Rom. 3:22 in the full context of Paul's Epistles, it is OUR FAITH (believing--#1) in the FAITH OF CHRIST (#3) that is revealed in THE FAITH (#2—PGMT), which makes us FAITH-FULL (#4).

And we can expand Rom. 14:1. There, Paul is speaking about believers who are weak in THE FAITH. As believers, they had FAITH in the sense of believing (#1) in the FAITH OF CHRIST (#3), but they were weak, incapacitated, limited in THE FAITH (#2). They didn't have a firm understanding of the fact that God had set aside His Prophetic Program with the Nation of Israel and began a new Mystery Program with the Body of Christ through the distinct apostleship of Paul as revealed in his Scriptures (THE FAITH—PGMT--#2). Because of this, their FAITHFULNESS (#4) was hindered. This is the very opposite of being strong in THE FAITH (1 Cor. 16:13; Rom. 14:14; 15:1). Of course, we learn in Rom. 15 that they were weak in THE FAITH because they didn't know how to rightly-divide the Scriptures, and it was those who were strong in THE FAITH'S responsibility to lovingly teach them how to do it. So, in the greater full context of Romans and the rest of Paul's Epistles, we could think of Rom. 14:1 in this way: Those who BELIEVE (#1) in the FAITH OF CHRIST (#3) yet are weak in their understanding of the rest of God's Mystery truth as revealed in the Apostle Paul's Scriptures, will be hindered in their FAITHFULNESS (#4).

Let's look at one more example, Rom. 16:25‑26. Paul declares that those who BELIEVE (#1) in the FAITH OF CHRIST (#3) as revealed in THE FAITH (#2—Paul's Gospel, the preaching of Jesus Christ according to the Revelation of the Mystery (PGMT)) will know God's commandment for the obedience of FAITH (FAITHFULNESS #4).

The problem in Thessalonica is the same problem that has plagued most of historic Christianity for the past 2,000 years, and that is confusing God's two Programs, Peoples and Purposes. Confusion and despair reigns when we mix up and mash together God's Prophetic Program with the Nation of Israel to re-establish His glory in the earthly realm (which had been spoken about since the world began) with His Mystery Program with the Body of Christ to re-establish His glory in the heavenly realm (which had been kept secret since the world began—Rom. 16:25; Eph. 3:1-10). In the case of the Thessalonians, false teachers were telling them that their severe suffering under persecutions and tribulations was because the Day of the Lord's Wrath had already begun, creating confusion and despair.

Paul wrote this letter to answer these false teachers by reminding the Thessalonians that this cannot be because the Day of the Lord was part of God's Prophetic Program with the Nation of Israel, but they were in His Mystery Program with the Body of Christ! Therefore, they won't be going through the coming wrath. They will be saved from it (1 Thess. 1:10) by being caught up (raptured) in the pre-wrath coming of the Lord Jesus Christ (1 Thess. 4:15‑18). Put another way, God will cease dispensing His grace and peace to the enemy world by recalling His ambassadors to their heavenly seating (Eph. 1:6‑7) before He begins dispensing His wrath and judgment to the enemy world by beginning the Day of the Lord.

Let's look at the way Paul drives this point home:

1. 2 Thess. 1:1‑2: Paul's very salutation states that it is impossible that the Day of the Lord has begun because in that day God will dispense His wrath and judgment on the enemy. BUT NOW He is dispensing His grace and peace on the enemy world! And the Thessalonians received them in faith. They had been idol-worshipping Gentiles, ungodly sinners on enemy status before God (1 Thess. 1:9; Rom. 5:6‑10), BUT NOW they were in God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
2. 2 Thess. 1:3: Paul goes on to explain that their sufferings aren't due to God's wrath and judgment but because they believed in Christ and were the servants of God. Growing in faith and abounding in love while suffering under tribulations proved this.
3. 2 Thess. 1:4: Their sufferings in Christ weren't a source of discouragement and despair. They were a source of edification to all Paul's churches, especially those undergoing similar sufferings like them. Paul was thankful because while they could have faltered under tribulations, they instead patiently endured them. In short, they were suffering the normal trials that result in the Dispensation of Grace because they were believers in Christ and serving the one true God as His ambassadors on the God-rejecting, sin-cursed, enemy world.
4. 2 Thess. 1:5‑7a: In addition, their sufferings in Christ weren't a manifest token of God's displeasure that indicated they were unworthy of His heavenly kingdom (2 Tim. 4:18). Rather, their growing faith and abounding love while patiently enduring tribulations was the manifest (visible) token (proof) that they were worthy of God's Kingdom, knowing that in the future the tables will be turned in accord with God's righteous judgment of God. In that day, God will restart His Prophetic Program with the Nation of Israel, beginning the Day of the Lord by dispensing His wrath and judgment on the enemy world. In short, now they are troubled by the “troublers,” but in that day, the “troublers” will be troubled by God.
5. 2 Thess. 1:7b‑9: Unlike the Thessalonians who believed, the “troublers,” don't know God because they rejected the Gospel of Christ, Paul's Gospel, in unbelief. They spurned God's merciful Day of Salvation during which He dispensed His grace and peace to His enemies (the Dispensation of Grace). Therefore, they will enter the Day of the Lord during which He will dispense His wrath and judgment to His enemies. This will culminate in Christ being fully revealed in power and glory, with His angels, in a flaming fire of vengeance, dispensing wrath and judgment, destroying all enemies because they rejected Him in unbelief (Rom. 1:16; 2:16).
   
   They will be punished with everlasting destruction by being banished from the presence of the Lord and excluded from participating in the powerful restoration of creation unto God's glory, centered in His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, through two groups of IN CHRIST redeemed humanities—the Nation of Israel on earth and the Body of Christ in the heavenlies.
6. 2 Thess. 1:10: But for those who obeyed God, embracing His merciful Day of Salvation by believing, Christ will be glorified in them. They will be brought into the Lord's presence as active participants in the full radiance of His glory. In short, they will bask in the glory of God--Christ glorified in them, and they in Him—for all time and eternity.
7. 2 Thess. 1:11‑12: Paul's prayer: Believers don't have to wait until the Revelation of Christ to be counted worthy of participating in His glory! They can be counted worthy right now. How? When they are growing in faith, abounding in love and re-established in their gloriously HOPEFUL future, patiently enduring tribulations, God will powerfully work in and through them to fulfill (accomplish) all the good of His goodness for them and fulfill (accomplish) every work that comes from faith! When that happens, they are right now, today, THIS VERY MOMENT—glorifying the name (displaying what is true) of the Lord Jesus Christ: Christ-In-Us and Us-In-Christ!!

Sunday, we sprang off from our work in 2 Thess. 1:10‑12 and the fullness of our salvation in all its goodness, power and hope, which landed us back in Ephesians 2 where we looked at what “IT” refers to in Eph. 2:8.

Multifaceted HOPE

Just as FAITH is multifaceted—Our Faith in The Faith of Christ as revealed in The Faith (Pauline Grace Mystery Truth), which together equips us with Faith/Faithfulness. So too, HOPE is multifaceted. If we are going to walk in a way that is well-pleasing to the Lord, in accord with the HOPE of His calling, we have to know and appreciate that today in the Dispensation of Grace God didn't call us to participate in His Prophetic Program to re-establish His Glory on earth as members of His Own Nation of Isael as revealed in the non-Pauline Scriptures. He called us to participate in His Mystery Program to re-establish His Glory in the heavenlies as members of the Body of Christ as revealed in the Pauline Scriptures.

We normally use the word hope to mean something that may or may not come true. Like, I hope the Cubs win today, meaning maybe they will win or maybe they won't. Or, I hope I win the lottery, meaning maybe I will or (and more likely) maybe I won't. But that is not the way the word HOPE is used in the Bible. There it is the confident expectation of something that we can rely on with 100% certainty because GOD SAID IT! Therefore, it is guaranteed to come true.

The Source of our HOPE Today is the Revelation of the Mystery:

Even the mystery which hath been hid from ages and from generations, but now is made manifest to his saints: 27 to whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory (Col. 1:26-27).

God states categorically and with absolute certainty that believers today are participants in His Glory—the HOPE of His Glory (Rom. 5:2; Col. 1:27). When the Nation of Israel stumbled and fell in early Acts, the whole world was plunged into enemy darkness because of unbelief. But God didn't leave the world utterly HOPELESS. Through the distinct apostleship of Paul, He began a new Mystery Program with a new group of redeemed humanity called the Body of Christ, that provided the world, especially the Gentiles (who previously had no direct HOPE of their own--Eph. 2:12), a new and direct HOPE in Christ and Christ in them (Rom. 15:13‑16).

Some Facets of our HOPE:

1. We have the HOPE—the confident expectation with absolute certainty--that God has made us participants in righteousness by faith (Gal. 5:5).
2. We have the HOPE-- the confident expectation with absolute certainty—that God has made us participants in eternal life (Titus 3:7).
3. We have the HOPE-- the confident expectation with absolute certainty—that God has saved us from the coming Day of the Lord's wrath and judgment. Christ will appear before the outbreak of wrath (Parousia) to recall His ambassadors, the Body of Christ, and we will be caught up together with Him in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air; and so shall we ever be with the Lord. Wherefore, comfort one another with these words (1 Thess. 1:10; 4:13‑18).
4. We have the HOPE-- the confident expectation with absolute certainty—that God has made us participants in the Revelation of the Lord Jesus Christ at His 2nd Coming. Then the saints will be glorified in Him, and He will be glorified in the saints (2 Thess. 1:10, 12)!

As members of the Body of Christ we have an amazing HOPE that comes from the Revelation of the Mystery. Therefore, to throw away the Mystery (as most of historic Christianity has done, even most of believing Christianity!) is to throw away our HOPE. Leaving us in despair and confusion

Sunday, we looked at what “IT” refers to in Eph. 2:8. Calvinism says it refers back to “faith.” But what do the Scriptures say?

What is a GOOD Work? Pt. 1

One of the hardest things for sinful flesh to accept is the biblical teaching that the flesh cannot do anything that pleases God. This truth is the antithesis of the lie of man-made religious systems and man-centered theological systems. They tell sinners to do things—clean yourself up, make yourself into a friend of God, go through rituals and rites, attend church regularly and give financially, try hard, be good, etc.—and then, maybe, just maybe, God will save them when they die.

But God will have none of this. He insists that everything done by the flesh where sin and death reside is automatically rejected by Him and consigned to destruction (Rom. 8:8).

The Basic Principle: Rom. 2:6-11

The first thing we must notice in Rom. 2:6‑11 is that Paul moves from the plural noun works in verse 6 (deeds/works—Gk. ergon) to the singular noun “in well doing” (in work—Gk. ergon) in verses 7. With this shift, Paul explains that God renders to every person according to their works/deeds--plural (Rom. 2:6) not by looking at those individual works—plural, but by looking at the work process—the well doing—singular, the factory, that produced them. Whereas verses 7 and10 refer to those who work in God's GOOD work process--His GOOD factory--verses 8 and 9 refer to those who don't.

Rom. 2:7, 10: Those who have obeyed God by believing Paul's Gospel (Rom. 1:7; 2:4, 16; 6:17; 16:25‑26) are created anew in Christ Jesus, fully equipped to operate with patient continuance in God's GOOD factory of “well-doing” (Eph. 2:10). This factory has been cleansed with the blood of Christ, empowered by the Holy Spirit and runs 24/7 in complete accord with the Father's GOOD will (Rom. 12:2). Therefore, everyone and everything produced in God's GOOD factory is automatically accepted by God and consigned unto everlasting preservation.

Believers are created anew in Christ Jesus in God's GOOD factory, and God's GOOD will (Rom. 12:2) for them is that they patiently continue working in that factory by living every moment unto His GOOD pleasure (Eph. 1:5, 9). By very definition, believers are those who have the Holy Spirit (Rom. 8:9), and it is He who powerfully works in and through them, overflowing their hearts with Agape Love--the Love of God at the Cross of Christ--which motivates, constrains, pushes them on (Eph. 1:13‑14; Rom. 5:5; 2 Cor. 5:14), causing them to seek God's GOOD pleasure without dissimulation (Rom. 12:9), and empowering them to do His GOOD works of serving Him by serving others selflessly unto their edification in God and His things (Phil. 2:13).

At God's judgment, believers are sure to be rewarded with what their hearts (overflowing with Agape Love—Rom. 5:5) seek (through the Holy Spirit) in Christ by faith, namely: God's glory—all that is true of God (Rom. 5:2; 2 Thess. 1:10,12; Eph. 1-2; Col. 1:27); God's honor—all that is valuable to God (2 Thess. 1:12); and God's immortality—God's life where nothing decays or dies (1 Cor. 15:42; 2 Tim. 1:10). In short, eternal life.

Stated more bluntly: The only works God accepts as GOOD are those He does in and through us!

In Rom. 2:8‑9: This is true because, Paul goes on to explain, those who have not obeyed God by believing Paul's Gospel don't work in God's GOOD factory. They work in another factory that is not of God, and any other factory is contaminated with sin and death, empowered by the sinful flesh and runs 24/7 in accord with some other will—i.e., man's, sin's, Satan's--which in comparison to God's GOOD will is evil (Rom. 3-5; Eph. 2:1‑3). By very definition, unbelievers are those who have rejected the Love of God at the Cross of Christ, therefore, haven't been created anew in Christ and don't have the Holy Spirit working in and through them (Rom. 8:9).

Unbelievers operate in Sin's EVIL factory, which is contaminated with sin and death from hearts of selfish interest, motivated and empowered to seek after their own sinful lusts (desires) in accord with the will of the flesh, following the course of the present evil world (Gal. 1:4) under the rule of Satan (Eph. 2:1‑2; Rom. 1:18-32). They are assured that in the day when God shall judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ according to my (Paul's) Gospel (Rom. 2:16), they will be rewarded with what their hearts seek having rejected the Judge, Jesus Christ—indignation and wrath, tribulation and anguish (Rom. 1:18-32; 2:16; 2 Thess. 1:8‑9). Therefore, every one and every thing produced in Sin's (unrighteousness's) factory is temporary, decaying, dying, and is automatically rejected by God and consigned unto destruction.

Next time we will look at some practical, every-day examples of this.

Sunday, we finished looking at what “IT” refers to in Eph. 2:8. Calvinism says it refers back to “faith.” But what do the Scriptures say?

What is a GOOD Work? Pt. 2

When God judges the supposed “good” works of men, He doesn't look at the external, He looks at the internal secrets of the person's heart-of-hearts—its true desires and motivation (Rom. 2:16). Put in other words, if you think you can approach God based on your “good” works, you have to know that He doesn't judge your supposed “good” works by looking at the works but by looking at where the works came from.

Anyone working in Sin's factory—which is contaminated with death, runs on the power of the sinful flesh and is always 24/7 in accord with the will of Satan, produces works that are automatically designated unto everlasting destruction. But anyone working in God's factory--which has been cleansed with the blood of Christ, runs on the power of the Holy Spirit and is always 24/7 in accord with the will of the Father—produces works that are automatically designated unto everlasting life (Rom. 2:6‑11).

The Good and The Evil (Rom. 2:9, 10)

One of the hardest things for the flesh to accept is that the only GOOD in God's sight is the GOOD that is in accord with His GOOD will as now revealed in Pauline Grace Mystery Truth (PGMT--Rom. 2:7, 10; 12:2‑3). Of course, the corollary of this is that anything not in accord with God's GOOD will as revealed in PGMT is in His sight EVIL (He is, after all, God!!--Rom. 2:8‑9; 12:2). Our deeds may be “good” in our sight or the sight of the world or our friends and neighbors and co-workers, but they are only GOOD in God's sight when they are in accord with His GOOD will for today as revealed in PGMT (Rom. 12:2; 16:25; Eph. 1:8‑9).

What Makes a Good Work a GOOD Work?

Let's do a thought experiment. A believer and an unbeliever can do the same works, and they might be “good” in the world's sight, but only believers can do GOOD works in God's sight unto glory, honor and immortality. The key is to appreciate that God isn't fooled by the externals of sinners. Rather, He reads the inner heart/s and will judge according to Paul's Gospel (Rom. 2:16). For instance, believers and unbelievers can volunteer at a food pantry or build houses for the poor or say a nice word to the cashier, etc.—certainly “good” works in the world's sight. But God doesn't judge by looking at the works. He judges by looking at the heart, looking at where the works came from; what factory produced them.

Believers by very definition are those who have by faith embraced and received the Love of God at the Cross of Christ, which the Holy Spirit pours into their hearts, cleansing and sealing them unto the end (Eph. 1:13-14), motivating and empowering them to serve God by serving others unto their edification in God's things selflessly (Rom. 5:5). The believer's heart has been equipped to at least potentially work in God's factory of righteousness and life where everything produced is automatically accepted by God and designated unto everlasting preservation.

Unbelievers, however, by very definition are those who have rejected the Love of God at the Cross of Christ in unbelief (Rom. 8:9). Therefore, the Holy Spirit has not poured out God's Love into their hearts, re-creating them; therefore, their hearts have not been cleansed and sealed, and they are not motivated and empowered to serve God selflessly. They are only equipped to work in Satan's factory of sin, which is contaminated with death and runs continuously on the power of selfish flesh (Eph. 2:1‑3), flesh that is at war with God and unable to do anything that pleases Him (Rom. 8:7‑8). Everything produced in this factory is automatically rejected by God and designated unto everlasting destruction.

Sadly, we must acknowledge that even though all believers have been freed from Satan's factory of sin and death and have been given access into God's factory of righteousness and life, too many choose to return to the factory of sin and death and work there, wasting their Christian lives as God's ambassadors, selfishly seeking the things of the world rather than selflessly seeking the things of God in love. Paul calls such believers carnal (1 Cor. 3:1).

Some Practical Examples

Let's give some practical examples of this:

A woman boasted that she would NEVER commit adultery. That's certainly “good,” but God goes deeper and looks at the heart, the why? What was her motive for not committing adultery? She said it was because doing so would ruin her social standing. This might be “good” in the sight of the world and her friends, but in God's all-penetrating sight, her “good” work is contaminated with the deadly sin of selfish pride. Therefore, it is automatically rejected by God and designated unto destruction. In fact, one could be excused for wondering which is worse? Committing the sin of adultery? Or, being so full of the sin of pride that you would never commit adultery!? Either way, they are both rejected by God.

A man boasted about loaning his mower to a neighbor in need. Perhaps “good” by the world's standards, but God's all-penetrating sight goes deeper, penetrating into the heart, the why? The man said he loaned the mower to his neighbor to put him in his debt so that the next time he needed something the neighbor would be obligated to give it to him. Again, his “good” work was contaminated with the sin and death of selfish interest and is, automatically rejected by God and designated unto destruction.

Many years ago, an ice cream company had a factory that was contaminated with deadly listeria bacteria. The company and government authorities went into action and declared a nationwide recall. In the recall, they didn't instruct the public to carefully open their ice cream tub, smell and look at it closely, and then, if it looked and smelled “good”, they should go ahead and eat it. Nor did they tell the public to send in their tubs of ice cream for laboratory analysis, and if it passed, they would send it back to the customer and he should feel free to eat it.

No, when it came to judging, the officials didn't really care about the “works” produced, the individual tubs of ice cream. All that was important was where the tubs came from. The public was not to look at the ice cream but to look at what factory the ice cream came from. If it came from the factory contaminated with death, listeria, it was AUTOMATICALLY designated for destruction. No second thoughts or further evaluations to determine its “goodness” and acceptability were needed ... just immediate, complete and certain destruction.

To State It Bluntly

To state it as bluntly as possible: The only “good” works God accepts are the GOOD works that are produced in hearts motivated by the Love of God at the Cross of Christ and empowered by the indwelling Holy Spirit.

To state it even more bluntly: THE ONLY WORKS GOD ACCEPTS ARE THE WORKS HE DOES IN AND THROUGH US (Phil. 2:13).

Sunday, we broke down Eph. 2:10. So simple on the surface, but of infinite dimensions underneath.

Short But DEEP (Eph. 2:10)

Many Bible verses seem to say everything in just a few words. Take the first part of Eph. 2:8, for example. For by grace are ye saved through faith. While being only 8 simple one syllable words in English, it plunges to the depths of true Christianity. Let's unpack it:

FOR {because of God's work of making dead sinners alive, raising them and seating them together with and in Christ in the heavenlies},

BY GRACE {through Christ and His work on the Cross for sinners},

YE ARE {present tense, state of being verb—we presently reside in a whole new sphere of existence in Christ, one of righteousness and life},

SAVED {perfect tense verb—accomplished act in the past (when the sinner believed), which has ongoing results through the present and on into the everlasting future (eternal security)},

THROUGH FAITH {when we believe (OUR FAITH) in the faithfulness of Christ on the Cross for us (THE FAITH OF CHRIST) as revealed in Pauline Grace Mystery Truth (PGMT--THE FAITH)}.

What God and Paul packed into 8 short words, took about 110 words to just begin to unpack. Eph. 2:10 does something similar. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them. Let's just unpack a little of it:

We Are His Workmanship: The same workmanship that created the old creation (Acts 4:24; Rom. 1:20); produces and provides for salvation/redemption (Lk. 1:68); that fulfills all the merciful and gracious promises God gave to the Nation of Israel (Lk. 1:72); that brings the saints unto their ultimate goal of being the displayers of His glory (Heb. 13:21); that makes Himself known to men so that they might seek after Him (Acts 15:17); that accomplishes His eternal purpose (Eph. 3:11 with 1:10); THAT SAME WORKMANSHIP CREATED US-IN-CHRIST, His new creation (Eph. 2:10; 2 Cor. 5:17).

Created In Christ Jesus: In Christ we are U.P.I.I--United to Christ; Participating in Christ; Identified with Christ (Rom. 5:12-6:11); and Incorporated into Christ as members of His Body joined to the Head, the Lord Jesus Christ, and bound together one-to-another with love (Rom. 12:5, 9‑11; Eph. 2:22-23; 4:15‑16; Col. 2:1‑3).

Unto Good Works God Ordained Beforehand That We Should Walk In Them: These aren't just any old works we or others think are good. These are good works God came up with in eternity past that need to be carried out to fulfill His Mystery Program with the Body of Christ to re-establish His glory in the heavenlies. These “plural” works flow out of the fundamental “singular” work of boldly proclaiming the Mystery of the Gospel, PGMT. For today, that is what saves the lost and edifies the saved, whereby we can already participate in the reclamation of humanity unto the glory of God (Col. 1:27) while at the same time making known to the rulers in the heavenly realm, especially the hostile rulers, the manifold wisdom of God (Eph. 3:10‑11) that secures their certain doom.

Sunday, we looked at what it means to be created IN CHRIST JESUS. We also answered the question: What, exactly, is the Mystery?

In Christ: U.P.I.I.

Created in the sphere of Christ: U.P.I.I. (up/e/i, like denarii—den/ar/e/i), summarized best in Rom. 5:15-6:6:

    U: Believers are UNITED with Christ ... (6:5)

    P: Believers PARITICIPATE in all Christ did for them (5:15 -19; 6:1-6).

    I: Believers are IDENTIFIED them so closely to Christ that

what is true of Christ is also true of them (Rom. 6:1-4)

    I: Believers are INCORPORATED into the Church, the Body of Christ, joined to their

Head, the Lord Jesus Christ, and to one to every other believer, in a new redeemed

And righteous humanity, knit together in Love (Rom.12:4-5, 9-11; Eph. 1:22-23; 4:15-16; Col. 2:1-3).

Sunday, we began our look at how believers walk worthy of the Lord, in the good works He pre-ordained in eternity past for them, thereby bearing fruit unto God and life. As with every aspect of life, to walk worthy of our calling, we have to know what our calling is!

THE TRANSITION PERIOD AND EPHESIANS

Paul tells us in Eph. 2:10 that God created us in Christ Jesus unto good works He prepared beforehand in eternity past to fulfill His Mystery Program with the Body of Christ to restore His glory in the heavenlies (Eph. 1-3). Understanding this is what enables us to walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called by God (Eph. 4:1‑3).

In other words, to walk worthy of the Lord we must know, understand and appreciate that when God saved us, He didn't call us to be participants in His Prophetic Program with the Nation of Israel to re-establish His glory on earth in accord with what the prophets had spoken about since the world began as revealed in the non-Pauline Scriptures (Lk. 1:72; Acts 3:21)! Today, He has called us to be participants in His Mystery Program with the Body of Christ to re-establish His glory in the heavenlies in accord with what God had kept secret (i.e., was NOT spoken about) since the world began as revealed in the Pauline Scriptures (Rom. 16:25; Eph. 3:1-11).

God's transition from His Prophetic Program to His Mystery Program occurred during the Acts Period as recorded in the Book of Acts. Acts opens with God's Prophetic Program center-stage, the only show in town, under the authority of Peter and the 12 (Acts 1-3). But it closes with God's Mystery Program center-stage, the only show in town, under the authority of the Apostle Paul (Acts 28:25‑31). Over this roughly 25-year Transition Period (circa A.D. 35-60), God's diminishing Prophetic Program with the Nation of Israel overlapped with His increasing Mystery Program with the Body of Christ. Paul wrote Romans, 1 & 2 Corinthians, Galatians, and 1 & 2 Thessalonians in the final years of the Transition Period (circa 49-59 A.D.).

However, by the time we get to the Paul's later Prison Epistles (circa 60-66 A.D.)-- Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, 1 & 2 Timothy, Titus and Philemon--the Transition Period is over, His Prophetic Program with Israel has ceased, and He is now working solely in and through the distinct apostleship of Paul in accord with his Gospel, the preaching of Jesus Christ according to the Revelation of the Mystery (Rom. 16:25). Therefore, to walk worthy of our calling and well-pleasing to God, we must walk where God is working, and for the last 2,000 years that has been in His Mystery Program with the Body of Christ (Eph. 4:1‑6).

That is why rightly-dividing the Scriptures is so important. In Ephesians 1-3, Paul establishes that by that time God was working solely through His Mystery Program with the Body of Christ to re-establish His glory in the heavenlies. Then, in Ephesians 4-6 he beseeches us based on this divine truth to work worthy of THIS calling in unity of love and peace. Paul delineates the only way this divine unity can be brought about (Eph. 4:1‑3) by rightly-dividing the Scriptures (Eph. 4:4‑6). Let's look at these verses more closely:

1. The one Triune Godhead: Today in the Dispensation of Grace the whole Triune Godhead—Holy Spirit, Lord Jesus Christ and God the Father—is working in and through Paul's distinct apostleship (Eph. 4:4‑6; Rom. 15:16). Just think of the unity that would be created if all believers accepted this divine truth! Then we wouldn't be thrown off course by the schemes of the devil, who deceives us into leaving the God's Mystery Program to go to His Prophetic Program thereby wasting our Christian lives by trying to re-create Pentecost under Peter or by walking in Christ's earthly ministry, or by thinking we are participating in the fulfillment of the prophecies God gave to Israel or by going back to Israel's Law or by a million other Satanically inspired distractions that lead us away from the one place God is really working today. And that is in and through Paul's distinct, unique and separated apostleship.
2. One Body: Today, God is working through the one Body, the Body of Christ. He is NOT working through the Nation of Israel, which has now been fully (yet temporarily) cast away (Rom. 11). Just think of the unity that could be created if all believers accepted this divine truth1 It would rid us of the great error/s of Replacement Theology in all its variations. We are not Israel—not spiritual, new or true Israel; NOT Israel in any way, sense or form. Today, God is creating believers anew in Christ (Eph. 2:10) to be members of the newly created Body of Christ (2:15).
3. One Hope of OUR Calling: Today, God has called us to be participants in His Mystery Program to restore His glory in the heavenlies as members of the Body of Christ (Eph. 1-3). He has not called us to be participants in His Prophetic Program to restore His glory on earth as members of the Nation of Israel. Just think of the unity that could be created if all believers accepted this divine truth, thereby ridding the church of the great error/s of Reconstruction Theology in all its variations.
4. One Faith: God's faith system that is written specifically to and about us today as members of the Body of Christ in His Mystery Program (which was kept secret since the world began) is revealed in Paul's Scriptures (Rom. 16:25‑26; Eph. 3:1-10). While we can learn from the Prophetic Program's faith system (which had been spoken about since the world began) as recorded in the non-Pauline Scriptures (Lk. 1:72; Acts 3:21; Rom. 15:4), we can learn about the Mystery in Paul's Scriptures Just think of all the confusion this would remove from Christianity if all believers accepted this divine truth and went to the Apostle Paul for their instructions for today!
5. One Baptism: Today there is only one baptism, and that is the Holy Spirit baptizing believers into Christ, making them members of His Body in accord with God's Mystery Program (Rom. 6:3‑4; 1 Cor. 12). The two baptisms of God's Prophetic Program with the Nation of Israel—the Lord Jesus Christ baptizing Believing Israel with the Holy Spirit and water baptism (Acts 2)—have both ceased. Just think of all the unity that would be created, all the divisions alleviated if all believers accepted this divine truth!!

In summary, when we throw away Paul's distinct apostleship, we throw away the place where the whole Triune God is working today, resulting in the mostly dysfunctional, divided, distressed Christianity of history. However, when we embrace Paul's distinct apostleship, we are at the starting block for walking in the place where the whole Triune Godhead is working, bearing fruit unto righteousness and life, unto love and peace.

We continued to look at how believers walk worthy of the Lord, bearing fruit unto God and life—“working out or own salvation.”

Paul Can't Say Everything Every Time!

A Bible teacher once said it is important to know Paul's Letters inside-out and backwards because “Paul can't say everything every time.” If he had, the Bible would be a million pages long and unapproachable! So, when we read the Scriptures, we need to do it actively exercising our synapses, so that our minds light up like a 1970's pinball machine.

When we know the Scriptures well, we can make connections that add to a passage's fullness. When we read a verse, it should be like shooting the pinball into the playing field, watching as it pings the first one than connects with another bumper as we swing the flappers keeping it alive as long as we can. Reading the Bible in this way, we will make connections that will ping our hearts and light up our minds for when we look into Pauline Grace Mystery Truth, we see the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ (2 Cor. 4:6) in all its fullness.

Let's show how this works using Col. 1:9-11.

For this cause we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to desire that ye might be filled with the knowledge of his will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding; that ye might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, being fruitful in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God. Strengthened with all might, according to His glorious power, unto all patience and longsuffering with joyfulness.

Now, let's not rush through this passage. For instance, we might take note (“ping”) of the immediate context in which Paul explains that the whole Triune Godhead is working in and through his distinct apostleship (Col. 1:5-8; Rom. 15:16)—the grace of God (God the Father) in truth, a minister of Christ (God the Son), and your love in the Spirit (God the Holy Spirit). And we can connect (“ping”) to what this word of the truth of the Gospel is: Paul's Gospel, and the preaching of Jesus Christ according to the Revelation of the Mystery (Rom. 16:25--Pauline Grace Mystery Truth—PGMT). And we might remember (“ping”) that the Greek word for “knowledge” here is the intensified “epi-gnosis” (FULL-knowledge) not the usual word “gnosis” (knowledge).

And we might just remember (“ping,” “ping”) that Paul said something very similar to Col. 1:9 in Eph. 1:8‑9: God has abounded toward us in all wisdom and prudence, having made known unto us the mystery of His will (Eph. 1:7‑9). And then, we might remember (“ping”) that this is the only way to victorious Christian living because it is not the believer “working” through his own power, but God working in and through the believer, strengthening him through the power of the Holy Spirit: For it is God who works in you both to will and to do of His good pleasure (Phil. 2:13). And if we remember (“ping,” “ping”) that Phil. 2:13 flows out of Phil. 2:1-11--Paul's great LOVE (AGAPE) that reveals the infinite depths of God's Love displayed at the Cross of Christ for sinners--and connect (“ping,” ping,” “ping”) it with the Colossians love in the Spirit (Col. 1:8), we see that the walk well-pleasing to the Lord is one that serves God by serving others selflessly in Love, even and especially in the context of trials and tribulations, sufferings and persecution (Phil. 1:27‑30). Now, let's rejoice as we begin to bring out some of the riches of the fullness of this passage by stitching these few connections together:

For this cause (their love in the Spirit) we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to desire that ye might be filled with the (FULL-) knowledge of his will (that comes from the Revelation of the Mystery) in all wisdom (and prudence) and spiritual understanding; that ye might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, (serving God by serving others selflessly in Love), being fruitful in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God. (This is the only way that works because it is God working in and through them) Strengthened with all might, according to His glorious power, unto all patience and longsuffering with joyfulness.

THE LONG VIEW OF TIME PAST—Rom. 15:8‑12

It is an interesting observation that in Rom. 15 Paul explains that while the Gentiles in God's Prophetic Program with the Nation of Israel had no hope of their own, they weren't UTTERLY hopeless because they could participate indirectly in Israel's hope. To explain this, Paul takes us on a journey through the TIME PAST of God's Prophetic Program, going back through the ministry of Peter and the 12 in early Acts and the earthly ministry of the Lord Jesus Christ in the Gospel Accounts (Rom. 15:8) and back into Israel's ancient history and the primordial promises God made to her fathers--Moses, David and Isaiah (Rom. 15:9-12).

Paul explains that God created Israel and super-aboundingly blessed her not merely for her own sake but for the sake of the whole world. Israel was supposed to be the conduit of God's blessings to the Gentiles. So, in God's Prophetic Program, while Gentiles had no hope of their own, they were not UTTERLY hopeless because they could rejoice WITH ISRAEL and glorify God THROUGH ISRAEL (Rom. 15:9‑10; Ps. 18:49--David; Deut. 32:43--Moses). And they weren't UTTERLY Godless because they could praise the one true God OF ISRAEL (Rom. 15:11; Ps. 117:1). And they weren't UTTERLY Christless because they could look forward to being under the reign of ISRAEL'S King and Messiah and trusting in Him (Rom. 15:12; Is. 11:10). In short, in God's Prophetic Program the Gentiles are blessed WITH ISRAEL AND THROUGH HER RISE.

We see the classic, pattern setting example of this at the Exodus when the Gentile Midianites worshipped the one true LORD God WITH ISRAEL AND THROUGH HER RISE (Ex. 18:8‑12; 19:4).

THE SHORT VIEW OF TIME PAST—Eph. 2:11‑12

But then, when we get to Eph. 2:11‑12, Paul tells the Ephesians to remember that they were Gentiles who were at that time UTTERLY Godless, Christless and hopeless. How can this be when in Rom. 15 he said they weren't UTTERLY Godless, Christless and hopeless? The explanation is that whereas in Rom. 15 Paul was giving the long view of TIME PAST, here he is giving the short view of TIME PAST.

This is the recent past of TIME PAST that began with fall and casting away of Israel in early Acts but before Paul arrived on the scene. AT THAT TIME—and unlike the Gentiles in the long view of TIME PAST--the Ephesians belonged to a generation of Gentiles who were UTTERLY hopeless because they not only had no hope of their own, they could not even participate in Israel's hope because Israel had stumbled, fallen and been cast away in unbelief (Rom. 11:11). In short, the Gentiles of that generation were doubly HOPELESS!

THE MYSTERY—Eph. 2:13; Rom. 11:11‑15; 15:13‑18

But thanks be to God because the same passage (Rom. 11:11‑15) that explains Israel's stumble, fall and (temporary) casting away when God put His Prophetic Program (which had been spoken about since the world began— Lk. 1:72; Acts 3:21) on hold, also explains that AT THAT TIME, when the whole world, especially the Gentiles, were UTTERLY hopeless, the God of hope went into action, raised up a new and distinct apostle, the Apostle Paul, and gave Him and a new and distinct apostleship of grace in accord with a newly revealed program: His Mystery Program with the Body of Christ, which was kept secret since the world began— Rom. 16:25; Eph. 3:1-10).

This new Mystery Program is just what the world, especially the Gentiles, needed for it provides them with EXCEEDING-GREAT--SUPER-ABOUNDING hope because through it God's salvation, riches and peace (Rom. 11:11‑15) can now be accessed directly through the Risen Lord Jesus Christ APART FROM ISRAEL AND THROUGH HER FALL. And this is where the whole Triune Godhead is working today (Rom. 15:14‑18). No wonder Paul prays: NOW the God of hope fill you (Gentiles—Rom. 1:5‑6) with all joy and peace in believing, that ye may abound in hope through the power of the Holy Spirit (Rom. 15:13).

PUTTING IT ALL TOGETHER

1. Rom. 15:8‑12: Throughout the history of most of God's Prophetic Program (the LONG VIEW) the Gentiles had no direct hope of their own, but they could participate indirectly in Israel's hope (Gen. 12:2-23).
2. Rom. 11:11‑15: Then, in early Acts the Nation of Israel stumbled and fell by rebelling against God and rejecting His Son (Acts 7), and God cast her away (temporarily) and put His Prophetic Program with her on hold, effectually closing the door to Gentiles being blessed WITH ISRAEL AND THROUGH HER RISE in accord with Prophecy.
3. Eph. 2:11‑12: This left the Gentiles—of whom were the Ephesians--UTTERLY Godless, Christless and hopeless AT THAT TIME in TIME PAST (Eph. 2:11‑12).
4. But then the God of Hope went into action and introduced a new Mystery Program with the Body of Christ to and through the Apostle Paul that opened another door of blessings that came to the world, especially the Gentiles directly through the Risen Lord Jesus Christ APART FROM ISRAEL AND THROUGH HER FALL!

But now in Christ Jesus ye who once were far off are made near by the blood of Christ (Eph. 2:13).

Sunday, we saw that when God solved the problem of fallen enemy humanity, He not only displayed the depth of His redemption for man but the height of His GLORY as God.

Eph. 2:11-13 In Context

Paul's epistles in general, and this passage in particular, occur within the context of Israel's stumble, FALL and (temporary) casting away, whereby God put His Prophetic Program with her on hold and her earthly kingdom in abeyance (Rom. 11; Acts 1:6). In the long view of God's Prophetic Program, while the Gentiles had no direct hope of their own, they weren't utterly hopeless because they could participate indirectly in Israel's hope. For in God's Prophetic Program with Israel, which had been spoken about by the prophets since the world began (Lk. 1:72; Acts 3:21), the Gentiles were blessed WITH ISRAEL AND THROUGH HER RISE (Gen. 12:2‑3; Ex. 18:8‑12; 19:6; Deut. 28:43; Ps. 2; Is. 60; Zech. 14; et al.).

But in early Acts, Israel stumbled and fell. Where, exactly, did that leave the world, especially the Gentiles? Paul answers this question in Eph. 2:11‑13:

1. THE CONTEXT: Paul's ministry at Ephesus was in the context of Israel's stumble, fall and (temporary) casting away (Rom. 11). God's own nation had joined hands with the Gentiles nations in rebellion against Him, saying: We will not have your Son rule over us, and they added an exclamation point by stoning Stephen in Acts 7. At that moment, the whole world went dark on enemy status before God.
   If God had continued in His Prophetic Program, which all the prophets had spoken about since the world began (OT, Lk. 1:72; Acts 3:21), the Risen Lord Jesus Christ would have stood up and returned to destroy His enemies, beginning with Saul, the chief enemy of Christ and His People (Acts 8:1‑3), apostate Israel and especially the enemy Gentiles.
   But, of course, we know God didn't do that. Instead, the Risen Lord Jesus Christ stood up, put His Prophetic Program with the Nation of Israel on hold and began a new Mystery Program with the Body of Christ, which was kept secret since the world began (Rom. 16:25; Eph. 3:1-10), offering to SAVE His enemies, beginning with Saul, making him the Apostle Paul and sending him with God's Good News of grace and peace to the enemy world—to the unbelieving Jews first and especially to the unbelieving Gentiles (Rom. 1:16).
2. CONDITION OF THE ENEMY WORLD: Eph. 2:11--The condition of the enemy world AFTER the fall of Israel (Rom. 11:11; 2 Pet. 1:14; 3:15‑18) and BEFORE Paul arrived in town, consisted of two groups of fallen sinful humanity. On the one hand there were unbelieving Gentiles in the flesh, whom the Jews described antagonistically as the Uncircumcision, and unbelieving Jews—whom Paul described as the Circumcision in the flesh made with hands (Eph. 2:11). Before the Apostle Paul, the enemy world--Jews and Gentiles--resided in the horrible state of not only being at enmity with God but at enmity with each other as well.
3. THE CHANGE IN STATUS #1: Eph. 2:12—In the SHORT VIEW of TIME PAST in God's Prophetic Program AFTER the fall of Israel but BEFORE Paul arrived in town, the Ephesians represented a generation of Gentiles who were utterly Christless, hopeless and Godless. They weren't always that way. Before Israel fell and going all the way back to Abraham--the LONG VIEW of TIME PAST in God's Prophetic Program—while the Gentiles had no hope of their own, they weren't utterly hopeless because they could participate in Israel's hope.
   In Rom. 15:8‑12, Paul explains this long view of TIME PAST in God's Prophetic Program. There, the Gentiles were not utterly Godless because they could worship Israel's God (15:9). They weren't utterly hopeless because they could rejoice and praise God with Israel and through her RISE (15:8, 10‑11). And they weren't utterly Christless because they could look for Israel's Messiah and King to rule over them and put their trust in Him (15:12). The pattern-setting classic example of this is found in Ex. 18:8‑12 where we see the Gentile Midianites worshipping the one true God with Israel and through her RISE.
   But this changed after the FALL and CASTING AWAY of Israel. AT THAT TIME, in the SHORT VIEW of God's Prophetic Program, the world, especially the Gentiles, as represented here by the Ephesians, became utterly Godless, Christless and hopeless because not only did they not have a hope of their own, they lost the possibility of participating in Israel's hope! That doorway of indirect access to God's blessings with Israel and through her RISE slammed shut. Not being citizens of the common-wealth of Israel, they had no direct access of their own to her covenants of promise, leaving them doubly, triply, utterly hopeless.
4. THE CHANGE IN STATUS #2: Eph. 2:13—BUT NOW after Paul came to town, the God of Hope gave the world, especially the Gentiles, as represented here by the Ephesians, super-abounding, avalanching, overflowing HOPE in all joy and peace by the power of the Holy Spirit (Rom. 15:13). God had opened a new, previously unrevealed, doorway of hope and was making it known through the Apostle Paul and his distinct apostleship (Rom. 15:16; Rom. 16:25; Eph. 3:1-10). God met the most fundamental basic need of sinful, fallen enemy humanity by giving them direct access to His blessings through the Lord Jesus Christ that was APART FROM ISRAEL AND THROUGH HER FALL (Rom. 11)!!

And thanks be to God, that since the sending of the Apostle Paul—and for the last 2,000 years—the world has not been utterly Godless, Christless and hopeless because they can now access the riches of God directly through His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, as made known in Pauline Grace Mystery Truth (PGMT) and revealed by the Holy Spirit.