GodThots

Tag: ABF

  • Ephesians: Amazing Grace

    What’s So Amazing About Grace?

    8 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— 9 not by works, so that no one can boast. 10 For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.

    Ephesians 2:8-10 (NIV)

    This passage is part of a letter that was circulated and read aloud in several churches in Asia Minor. The churches were mainly comprised of Gentiles, who would have been considered by the Jews as sinners, excluded from the family of God. Paul is telling them that because God loves them, they are to be fully accepted into the people of God. They knew they had been living according to the the world’s standards and culture; they were not Jews after all. But Paul says the Jews had been living the same way in spite of their claim to be God’s people. They had all been raised up together by God. This would have been an amazing message! There was no need to become Jews first, then somehow work toward becoming full family members.

    Most people in our world don’t have this same worry. We have grown up as part of a culture that is at least nominally Christian. We consider ourselves already “in the family”. Even when we encounter the gospel, we have a tendency to see ourselves as basically good, or at least better than a lot of people. In a sense we feel like we’ve already earned salvation.

    The theological principle at work in this passage is that God’s act of grace has saved his wayward people; they did not and could not save themselves. Grace means getting something that is undeserved. None of us deserves to be saved; not because of who we are; not because of what we’ve done. This principle is echoed throughout the Bible. Paul writes elsewhere that all of us have sinned, failed to do what we were supposed to do. No one has been declared righteous by following the rules. Yet God has declared us just simply by his grace.

    Paul’s original readers would have known they were not God’s people because they were not Jews. In this passage is the clear message that this simply doesn’t matter because it’s God’s grace that’s important, not their “Jewishness.” Today we may think that God couldn’t possible accept someone who has done the things we’ve done. This passage gives us the same assurance…it simply doesn’t matter what nasty things we’ve done because it’s God’s grace that’s important. Those who have tried to do enough to earn their acceptance hear that there is no need to worry…it simply doesn’t matter if they’ve done enough good things because it’s God’s grace that’s important.

    Grace is simply amazing. It’s all that really maters.

  • Ephesians: Riches

    Are You Rich in Jesus?

    15 For this reason, ever since I heard about your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all God’s people, 16 I have not stopped giving thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers. 17 I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better. 18 I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people, 19 and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is the same as the mighty strength 20 he exerted when he raised Christ from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, 21 far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every name that is invoked, not only in the present age but also in the one to come. 22 And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church, 23 which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way.

    Ephesians 1:15-23 (NIV1)

    Paul’s words in this letter were read aloud in the church at Ephesus. They heard Paul talking about them in affirming and encouraging words and praying for them. He prayed they would be granted understanding to know God better; that they would know the rich inheritance God promises, the power God wields, and the hope they are called to hold. Paul told them that God’s power was far beyond anything they knew in Ephesus, Rome, or beyond. God had placed Christ in authority over everything.

    We are accustomed to living in a mostly-Christian culture. It is only recently that we have started to call our society “post-Christian” and worry that we might not be in the mainstream of society any longer. We also don’t get personal messages delivered to us like this, either in content or style.

    The message of God’s great gift to his people is one that spans both our cultures. As we come to understand God better, we are able to see his desire to bless his people. He has gone to great lengths to guarantee this and is well able to do so. The idea that God desires and is able to give gifts to his people is a common thread through the Bible. From the creation in Eden to the exodus from Egypt and Babylon, we read of God’s desire for his people.

    We don’t all face the challenge of a hostile state, but we are prone to forget God’s promise as we deal with our routine challenges. We complain, at least to ourselves, about our problems. We might be helped by recalling that God has promised us a “glorious inheritance” and has called us to be people of hope. We know he is able to fulfill his promise to us, nothing in this present age or in the one to come can stop him

    1. Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide. ↩︎

  • Ephesians : Chosen

    Signed, Sealed, and Delivered.

    3 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. 4 For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love 5 he predestined us for adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will— 6 to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves. 7 In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace 8 that he lavished on us. With all wisdom and understanding, 9 he made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in Christ, 10 to be put into effect when the times reach their fulfillment—to bring unity to all things in heaven and on earth under Christ.

    11 In him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will, 12 in order that we, who were the first to put our hope in Christ, might be for the praise of his glory.

    Ephesians 1:3-12 (NIV1)

    The first few verses of Ephesians begin a letter written by Paul, likely intended to be circulated to several churches in Asia Minor. Some of the earliest manuscripts either do not mention Ephesus in verse 1, or name a different church. The letter would have been intended to substitute for a personal visit. It was written to address a specific circumstance or situation rather than to be an exhaustive statement of Christian theology.

    Ephesus was the Roman capital of Asia Minor, and a center for both commerce and religious life. There was a large temple of Artemis in Ephesus, so there would have been considerable opposition to Christianity. The church at Ephesus may have included both Jews and Gentiles who would all have included themselves in the family of God. They would have felt the pressure from the surrounding culture to accept the worship of Artemis as normal and appropriate. Paul spent several years at Ephesus, but probably didn’t establish the church.

    Paul begins the letter by praising God because he blesses his people, having chosen them before the foundation of the world. They are to be adopted, redeemed, and forgiven through Christ when the times are fulfilled. All this to bring unity to all things. Paul’s hearers would have understood this to include both Jew and Gentile, all who had now put their hope in Christ. They would have heard the challenge this represented to the normal worship of the gods and the required worship of the emperor.

    In Ephesus, the average person would have been presumed to worship Artemis, perhaps after offering worship to Rome. Atheism was considered dangerous to the peace. In contrast, the modern world has become a place where many consider it best to be free of religion, to be tolerant as would be appropriate for any other personal opinion. Religion is the domain of fanatics who cause problems. Today’s struggle is not so much about a challenge to the stability of the state as it is about a challenge to be something more than one opinion among many.

    Paul’s message is clear; God chose to bring unity to all things. All are included, regardless of who we are or what we have done. All who place their hope in Christ will be adopted into God’s family. We find this same principle throughout the Bible. God loves his creation and plans to make all things right through Christ.

    This is the Good News! God’s plan includes each of us. It’s a simple fact. As we encounter others in our world today we must remember that they too are included in God’s plan. Whether they believe it or not, God desires to adopt them into his family. We can extend the same grace God has extended to us. There is no need to argue; to force them to change their opinion In fact, it’s not a matter of opinion at all; it’s a matter of trusting God.

    1. THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide. ↩︎

  • The Adventure Begins

    Welcome to GodThots – A Beginner’s Adventure in Exegesis.

    I perhaps should change that, as most normal people will not be inclined to see this as any kind of an adventure. For me, it fits. This is a bit of an adventure, so much so that I’ll likely keep it a bit of a secret until I know what it’s going to become. If you’re reading this then perhaps I changed my mind, or perhaps I’ve underestimated the reach of the Internet search AIs.

    A little while ago I took a short course on Biblical Interpretation. I’ve been reading then “interpreting” the Bible for most of my adult life, so I didn’t really expect life-altering results. A few good pointers perhaps. Boy, was I wrong! As with many things in life, I had no idea of the depth of my ignorance. It was like a light had been turned on in a dark room.

    After the course I was left with the sense that I really should do something with what I had learned. To be sure, there is much ignorance remaining! Yet, I need to begin to apply these skills if they are to improve and not drift into oblivion.

    This site is my answer to that question. I’m going to try to apply The Interpretive Journey to as many Bible passages as I can, and document the results here. As I’ve written in About This Site, I’m planning to take some short passages and some long passages to see what I can learn.

    Now, I’ll say it here so as to not repeat it in every other post I do… I am not a theologian; I am not an academic; I have no credentials that would suggest competence in this endeavor. As a result, you, the reader, should feel quite justified in categorizing these posts as complete drivel. Adjust your expectations down… way down. If you do, we’ll get along fine.