James 1:9-11 - We Are Like A Flower

9 Those Christians who are poor must be glad when God lifts them up,
10 and the rich Christians must be glad when God brings them down. For the rich will pass away like the flower of a wild plant.
11 The sun rises with its blazing heat and burns the plant; its flower falls off, and its beauty is destroyed. In the same way the rich will be destroyed while they go about their business.

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Vs. 9 - Those Christians who are poor must be glad when God lifts them up, -

“Christians who are poor” - Some translations, or versions, use the word "Brother", meaning a fellow believer. Trials a make all believers equally dependent on God. Humble circumstances, or ‘low position’ is James’ way of making the point that it doesn’t make any difference if you are rich or poor to God. We humans put great emphasis on how much money or possessions we accumulate. But we who live in humble means can look to our future with God. Sometimes it seems that is our only resource.

“lifts them up” - you are a child of God, an "exalted postion". (See NASB translation.) This is not referring to earthly riches or positions of authority and power, but now you are a child of God. John, in his first letter: “See what great love the Father has given us in naming us the children of God; and such we are. For this reason the world does not see who we are, because it did not see who he was. My loved ones, now we are children of God, and at present it is not clear what we are to be. We are certain that at his revelation we will be like him; for we will see him as he is.” (1 John 3:1-2)

We honor children of rich or important people. Notice how the children of the Presidents of the United States are granted positions and honors and jobs. Notice how the children of movie stars or TV personalities get preferred treatment. It has always been this way. But in this case, it does not matter what your earthly circumstances may be. If you are a child of God, a believer in our Lord Jesus Christ, you have been elevated by His grace to amazing heights. If you are not a child of God, there is no hope for you. Stop what you are doing and surrender your life to Jesus Christ.

A child of God! There is no better position. See: “But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people of his own, so that you may proclaim the virtues of the one who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. You once were not a people, but now you are God's people. You were shown no mercy, but now you have received mercy.” (1 Pet 2:9-10)

But remember, you did not attain that ‘high position’ by your work or wealth, and so need to have a realistic understanding of how you got where you are and avoid self-love, too high a assessment of yourself; avoid pride.

Trials make all believers equally dependent on God. Wealth is an illusion. Some studies indicate that James is aiming his anger at non-Christians. (I don't think that makes a lot of sense, since the letter is written to believers). Perhaps the anger is to warn believers to not fall in to the trap that non-believers are in (erroneously thinking they have some control).

In fact, I think we make a mistake accusing James of being ‘angry’. Being firm in conviction, and warning us from trouble does not make a person angry. We may perceive his direct comments as anger because he is not ‘sugar-coating’ his statements. He is not explaining to children why they should not be naughty. He is speaking to adults.

James is not referring to troubles that are a result of our sinful actions (i.e., consequences), but those circumstances not opted for. At the cross there are no advantages either way.

Persecution as a result of living for Christ may fall into the ‘trial’ category. Martyrs definitely receive honor and ‘high position’ in God’s eyes.

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Vs. 10 - and the rich Christians must be glad when God brings them down. For the rich will pass away like the flower of a wild plant. - James leans heavily on the rich. (See Note 1) Trouble pays no attention to social or financial standing. In Jewish culture (and in ours) wealth was a sure sign of God's favor! What are the perils of riches? Trusting in wealth in lieu of God. Wealth does not protect you from cancer, nor does it keep you from lust or greed. Wealth does not prevent you from dying, peacefully or otherwise. You have the same chance of living forever as does a weed or flower growing in the wild.

“the rich … must be glad” - The rich person expects glory and is proud of what he has accomplished.  If a rich person is to be proud, let it be because he has admitted his need for Jesus Christ, and accepted Him as Lord and Savior. Lack of humility can be a road block. It is too easy when you have all the clothes you need, food to eat, homes to live in, and cars to drive to forget or ignore your absolute need for salvation. Is admitting that you need Jesus humiliating? Perhaps. It is difficult for someone who has ‘pulled himself up by his own bootstraps’, who has worked hard to establish a business, support a family, etc., to release oneself to a higher power. Accepting Jesus involves just that - admitting that your plight is hopeless, that you need to be saved. It is liberating, knowing that Jesus has taken care of all; it is tough to reconcile that you can’t ‘do it all’. Paul is saying your pride can stand between you and eternal life. Don’t let that happen.
Let's go back to the prophet Jeremiah, who advises us to focus on the correct things. "Thus says the LORD, 'Let not a wise man boast of his wisdom, and let not the mighty man boast of his might, let not a rich man boast of his riches; but let him who boasts boast of this, that he understands and knows Me, that I am the LORD who exercises lovingkindness, justice and righteousness on earth; for I delight in these things,' declares the LORD." (Jer 9:23-24)

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Vs. 11 - “The sun rises with its blazing heat and burns the plant; its flower falls off, and its beauty is destroyed. In the same way the rich will be destroyed while they go about their business. - The wilted flower is an image brought forward from the OT. (Isa 40:6; Psa 102:11, 103:15; Job 14:2; ). Think of the prettiest rose blossom you may have in your yard. How long does it last? A few days at most. This is the perfect picture of ‘ephemeral’.
We also see similar comments in Psalms - “Have no fear when wealth comes to a man, and the glory of his house is increased; For at his death, he will take nothing away; his glory will not go down after him. Though he might have pride in his soul in his life-time, and men will give you praise if you do well for yourself, He will go to the generation of his fathers; he will not see the light again. Man, like the animals, does not go on for ever; he comes to an end like the beasts.” (Psa 49:16-20) In other words, don’t be envious of the rich and their wealth, because we all die and take nothing with us. 

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Note 1: James deals with rich people and riches in four sections of this letter; 1:10-11, 2:3-6, 4:13-17, and 5:1-6. ***

James 1:5-8 - Ask for Wisdom

5 But if any of you lack wisdom, you should pray to God, who will give it to you; because God gives generously and graciously to all.
6 But when you pray, you must believe and not doubt at all. Whoever doubts is like a wave in the sea that is driven and blown about by the wind.
7-8 If you are like that, unable to make up your mind and undecided in all you do, you must not think that you will receive anything from the Lord. (GNB)

God Will Give You Wisdom

Vs. 5 – "But if any of you lack wisdom, you should pray to God, who will give it to you; because God gives generously and graciously to all." - We can almost treat this letter by James as we would the Proverbs, for example, as with this an abrupt change of subject. Ask for wisdom, not cash or stuff. Perhaps the most famous example of this is king Solomon. See 2 Chron 1:7-12. When Solomon assumes the throne, God told Solomon to ask for whatever he wished. Solomon was grateful to God for his blessing and mercy for David. Solomon asked for wisdom to be able to rule the kingdom correctly. God was impressed with Solomon's request and gave him wisdom, as well as other stuff, too. How's that for generously and graciously?

Let’s stop for a bit and ask ourselves, “How would we define/describe 'wisdom'?” We can see wisdom as moral discernment, spiritual insight, right understanding, or responsible words and worthy deeds. We can see how wisdom plays a part in our response to trials and trouble. Look to Proverbs: “Trust in the LORD with all your heart And do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He will make your paths straight. Do not be wise in your own eyes; Fear the LORD and turn away from evil.” (Pro 3:5-7) As we grow in our trust in the Lord we see our commitment to Him increase; we learn to be vigilant so as to avoid situations that may lead us to into trouble. Which brings us to look to God and avoid dependence on self. Autonomy will almost always end in disaster for us.
While reading this morning I came across these verses: "The LORD is good and upright; therefore he shows sinners the way. He leads the humble in what is right and teaches them his way. All the LORD’s ways show faithful love and truth to those who keep his covenant and decrees." (Psa 25:8-10) This is telling us that wisdom comes from listening and obeying the Lord's "ways" which He has revealed in Scripture.

Christ is our example in reliance on God. See: “Fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. For consider Him who has endured such hostility by sinners against Himself, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.” (Heb 12:2-3) We can rejoice that God loves us and has a wonderful plan for our lives. “Rejoice always; pray without ceasing; in everything give thanks; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” (1 Thes 5:16-18) Is this amazing? We are to rejoice in all things - even in persecution! We can trust the one whom we ask! He has held nothing back from us!

This tells us that wisdom is a special provision from God. You can keep on doing what you are doing, and gain nothing but frustration and bitterness. Or you can pray to God. Ask Him as commanded. Ask Him because in this way we will come to a greater dependence on Him - which is the only way to a fulfilling life in Christ. And His wisdom will help us see that we are free in Christ, free from sin by His blood shed. We can receive the Holy Spirit (see Eph. 1:7) - non-believers cannot receive the Holy Spirit of God. We can experience the extraordinary greatness of His grace (Eph 2:7). We have access to the unimaginable wealth and riches that Christ has for us (Eph 3:8).
Wisdom does not just 'happen' - it must be fought for, you must make a decision. The result of that decision may be good or bad. And if you learn from that decision, either to "not do that" again or that it is "good to do that", you have gained wisdom.

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Vs. 6 – "But he must ask in faith without any doubting, for the one who doubts is like the surf of the sea, driven and tossed by the wind." - Don't doubt that God can answer. We may not know what His answer will be. Especially if we don't ask correctly. We have no right to make demands on God. Is this a matter of attitude? Partially, but also a matter of asking for that which God wants for us - being in His will. We can ask Him to reveal His will for us. See 1 John 5:14-15 - “And this is the confidence that we have before him: that whenever we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. And if we know that he hears us in regard to whatever we ask, then we know that we have the requests that we have asked from him.”

“Doubts” - a believer who doubts his relationship w/God exposes an unstable faith; not merely indecision, but a loss of trust in God. Who or what are you doubting? Pray with a confident trust in a sovereign God. Picture a rudderless ship - that is prayer without belief.

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Vs. 7,8 – "For that man ought not to expect that he will receive anything from the Lord, being a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways." .

“double-minded” - To pursue good and evil at the same time is hypocrisy! Divided between faith and the world - a carnal man- (Whoever does not have the spirit... 1 Cor 2:14) The psalmist knew the frustration of dealing with those who were double-minded. They were uncertain and uncommitted in their lives. In contrast, the law of God is sure and certain.

The following are some quotes from Bible Study authors: “When we love the law it becomes a law of love, and we cling to it with our whole heart.” (Spurgeon)
“ ‘Double-minded’ is akin to the word in Elijah’s taunt at those who hobbled ‘first on one leg and then on the other’ (1 Kings 18:21, Jerusalem Bible).” (Kidner)
“Double-minded people are people who know about God but are not fully determined to worship and serve him only. They are those who want both God and the world. They want the benefits of true religion, but they want their sin too.... The Psalmist hates this double-mindedness; he also hates it in himself.” (Boice)

What should we be asking for? During a trial, ask for an understanding of the purpose behind the divine permission of the difficulty. If we are rebellious during trials, it will bring us to no good.

James 1:2-4 - Facing Trials

2 My friends, consider yourselves fortunate when all kinds of trials come your way,
3 for you know that when your faith succeeds in facing such trials, the result is the ability to endure.
4 Make sure that your endurance carries you all the way without failing, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing. (GNB)

Faith Built Through Trials

Vs. 2 – “My friends, consider yourselves fortunate when all kinds of trials come your way,”

“My friends, consider yourselves fortunate”, (or from the NASB, “Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials,”). I like the GNB translation better – fortunate vs joy. But I am willing to admit that I may be wrong on this one. There too many statements in the NT regarding this. Most of these verses relate to persecutions (trials) because of commitment to Jesus Christ as Lord, not just trouble because we are alive in a world damaged by sin (Mt 5:10-12, Acts 5:21, Rm 8:17-18, 1 Pt 1:6-8, 4:1, 13-16).

I think that James is talking not only about the kind of trouble we face day to day – sickness, accidents, crime, ‘acts of God’, but about living our lives so that people notice that we are His. The margin note in my NASB indicates that ‘trials’ could also be temptations. This makes a lot of sense in the perseverance and endurance thought-line. Endurance, not in the sense of making you a tougher believer, but better able to live the Christian life, a purer and holier life. The pictures that ‘encounter various trials’ (or, 'fall into trials') bring to mind is this ‘encounter’, may be an accident, not by choice. Or the ‘come your way’ is the result of your own actions. Both are possible, but probably not at the same time.

Vs 3 – “for you know that when your faith succeeds in facing such trials, the result is the ability to endure.”

"the result is the ability to endure." - Does suffering in this world, sickness, accidents, crime, ‘acts of God’, etc., test our faith? Of course it does. Does being persecuted for Christ test our faith? Most probably. To me the difference is that one seems to be unexplainable – being struck by illness, losing a child, other tragedies. (The old, “Why me? Why now?”) The other, persecution, should be obvious – you live for Christ, therefore, people hate you. Christ said this would happen (Jn 18:18, Lk 6:22).

How does testing produce endurance? Does it automatically produce endurance? See: “Therefore, since Christ has suffered in the flesh, arm yourselves also with the same purpose, because he who has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin.” (1 Pet 4:1) We can make sense in this way. Our faith grows when we are reduced to utter dependence on God; when we turn to him rather than shaking our fist at Him or blaming Him. God has not promised relief, or avoidance from trouble and trials. He has promised solace, care, love, and growth. These are not automatic, but come to us as we live each moment depending on Him. We grow most when we depend on Him when in trouble. We can grow when we depend on Him in abundance. I don’t know which is harder, living in dependence on God in abundance, or dependence on Him under trial. Abundance tends to dull our sense of need for dependence on the Lord. Trouble seems to drive us to, “Why are you picking on me, Lord?”, or “What did I do to deserve this?”, and becoming embittered.

If the reference of ‘trials’ is about resisting temptations then the ‘endurance’ part follows the ‘keep yourself pure’ train of thought. See Ps 119:9; 1 Pt 2:11; Col 1:10, 2:18; 1 Thess 2:12, 4:7, etc.) See the comments in verse 2 above.

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Vs. 4 – “Make sure that your endurance carries you all the way without failing, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing.” - The acquired endurance will work on you, to help you grow and mature. Heb. 5:12-14 applies here. You need to grow in your faith, to go from baby steps to adult – go from not knowing the difference between right and wrong, to being able to recognize evil.

Don't think the 'perfect' refers to 'without defect', but more about bringing to completion.

Perhaps maturity is a good synonym. What is the growth process shown here? Going through testing can develop perseverance, which develops maturity. This assumes you don’t throw up your hands in defeat, become a blubbering sad-sack or embittered, blaming God or others for all your problems.

James is not writing about perfection, but becoming 'mature, complete', a spiritual maturity. Perfection only comes when Christ returns and we are taken up to be with Him forever. James is urging us to not surrender to trouble. James is trying help us look at trials from God's point of view. The trial is not a JOY, but the resulting stamina promotes joy. A person's genuine mature faith will prove itself in times of trouble.

God intends trials to drive believers to greater dependence on Him. None of us is excused from trials. What makes it hard to be joyful in the midst of difficulty? It might be that we tend to focus on “Why is this happening to me?!” As we mature in our faith, several spiritual truths begin to emerge. This is not an easy-going philosophy. We need to rely on the Holy Spirit to see the deeper reasons.

We can contemplate the Beatitude in Matt 5:10,11 - “Blessed are those who have been persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when people insult you and persecute you...” But this is hard! Then we need to remember God will supply all our needs. (Phil 4:19) Surrender yourselves is the key. It is voluntary! We are not forced in any way. We can reject the trial, and learn nothing. Or we can submit to the Lord as His bond-slave. (See: Rom 6:19)

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James 1:1 - Hello, It’s Me, James.

1 - From James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ: Greetings to all God's people scattered over the whole world. (GNB - See Note 1)

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Vs. 1 – "James" - Letters written in our time, almost always come with the following format: Hello. Subject. Goodbye from me. Letters in 60 AD combined the hello and the goodby-from-me at the first. This is sort of like  a business letter, with the letterhead, office address and such. We still don’t usually put our name on the letter until the end. The letter is ‘from James’ (no last name - “Last name” is a fairly modern phenomenon). There are several James that could be the likely author - see the discussion on the “Intro to James” page.

‘A servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ,’ – James is proudly claiming to be a slave. Other translations (see Note 2, below) use the word ‘bond-slave’, which is the nuts and bolts of the words ‘servant’ seen here. See the following definition: a bond-slave is “metaphysically, one who gives himself up to another's will, those whose service is used by Christ in extending and advancing his cause among men”. In simpler terms: a slave.

The term ‘bond-slave’ comes from the OT. Normally, a person became a slave to another in order to pay off a debt. This situation was not a permanent position for Jews. After the debt was paid, the ‘slave’ was freed. If the debt could not be paid off, the Israelite would be set free in a Jubilee year (see Lev 25).

However, the slave could voluntarily become permanently bonded to the master. See: “It shall come about if he says to you, ‘I will not go out from you,’ because he loves you and your household, since he fares well with you; then you shall take an awl and pierce it through his ear into the door, and he shall be your servant forever. Also you shall do likewise to your maidservant.” (Deut. 15:16-17)

James is stating the simple truth that when we accept Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior we do so voluntarily. We are not forced to believe Him or love Him. But when we do, we are completely and permanently His.

James bonds himself to God, and to Jesus. The significance of this: Jesus is not “less” than God. Not that I see that as a possibility, but there are others who question that Jesus indeed may be God Himself. In God’s theology, the trinity is the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, three-in-one. Jesus claimed ‘one-ship’ with the Father. Denying that Jesus is Lord places the declarer in jeopardy.

“Greetings to all God's people scattered over the whole world.” - So the letter is going out to Christians, wherever they may be in the empire. It probably was meant for Jewish Christian believers because other translations say, “to the twelve tribes”. This may place this letter about 48-50 AD. Also, the emperor Claudius ejected Jews from Rome about this period. Jewish Christians would have been kicked out along with non-Christian Jews. They moved to far-flung places in the Roman kingdom to escape persecution. It is significant that it was not just devout Jews that were displaced.

About 51 AD Paul and Barnabas made the presentation to the elders (leaders) in Jerusalem. James (who wrote this letter) says that Gentiles do not need to become Jewish before becoming Christian.

This is important because Christianity now becomes its own entity, not just another Jewish sect. (See Acts 15:1-30.) Just as there is various denominations in the Christian churches, there were factions of the Jewish faith (e.g., Pharisees vs Sadducees.) If the trend had continued, if James and the leaders of the Jerusalem church would have come to a different decision, the members of the church would have first had to convert to Judaism. But God announced in Isaiah that Gentiles would come to Him, on their own (Isa 49:10-11, 56:7b). Until Paul and Barnabas got confirmation from the other apostles, Gentile Christians were kind of an afterthought. Note: Paul and Barnabas made the defense of the Gentiles about 57 AD. (Acts 15:12,13) - James, and the other elders, understood that the Gospel was for all, not just some. Forgiveness was purchased for all men (people).

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A more poetic statement of Jam 1:1 is found in 1 Pet 2:9-10: “But you are A CHOSEN RACE, A royal PRIESTHOOD, A HOLY NATION, A PEOPLE FOR God’s OWN POSSESSION, so that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; for you once were NOT A PEOPLE, but now you are THE PEOPLE OF GOD; you had NOT RECEIVED MERCY, but now you have RECEIVED MERCY.” (NASB-1995)(see Note 2, below)

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Note 1: GNB = Good News Bible - Today’s English Version; American Bible Society; 1992. The ‘Good News for Modern Man’ was the Bible I had when I committed my life to Jesus Christ at Explo ‘72. And I started reading it. The books that affected me most were Colossians and James. At one point (later) I had most of Colossians memorized, and some of James. Unfortunately, I no longer have them completely committed to memory - old age has diminished my ability to memorize or to quickly call up that which I still retain. However, I still love to read Colossians and James in the GNB translation, even though it may not be the most accurate. When I come to a verse that is made more clear by a different translation, I will refer to it.
Note 2: For example, New American Standard Bible (NASB-1995), or Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB-2010), are a couple of the other versions I have used.

James - Introduction

Who wrote it:

Probably James, the half-brother of Jesus.
There were only three James in the N.T. writings.

• James, brother of John, son of Zebedee, one of the first called by Jesus Mt 4:21). This James was martyred very early in the life of the church, about 44 B.C., killed by Herod. (about 10-11 years after Pentecost) (Acts 12:2)
• James, son of Alpheus - one of the original twelve disciples; one time called ‘James the Less’, (Mk 15:40). James, called the Less (either younger, or physically diminutive, or not as ‘important’ as James, John’s brother.) Note: this James probably may have been Jesus' cousin, (Sister of Jesus’s mother Mary). There are no known writings from James the Less. Note: James the son of Alpheas may have become a leader in the Jerusalem church.
• James, Jesus’ half-brother, was a late comer to faith in the Messiah. He obviously grew in stature in the church rapidly. (<Acts 1:13,14) He originally is hostile about Jesus being the Messiah. (John 7:5) He also rose to prominence and leadership in the Jerusalem church. Paul notes the post-resurrection appearance to Jesus' brother. (1 Cor 15:7) 

So, most scholars believe, or assign the authorship to James, the half-brother of Jesus.

When was it written:

In the middle of the first century, between 44 and 62 A.D. If Jesus’ brother wrote it, then it most likely was written before 62 AD. This was probably one of the first letters written to the churches, some think perhaps the first letter (preceding Paul’s letters), maybe as early as 45 AD. That means it may have been written right after James, son of Zebedee, was murdered by Herod

To whom was it written:

Christians, especially those scattered from Israel proper, including the churches started by Paul, Barnabas, and other evangelists. I don’t think the ‘scattered’ reference has anything to do with the Jewish Diaspora caused by the Roman persecution. Note: Jerusalem was destroyed by the Romans about 72-77 AD. From the time of the Assyrians plundering the Northern Kingdom (~ 750 BC), and the Babylonians the Southern kingdom (~500 BC) the Jews had experienced 'Diaspora', but nothing as wrenching as the Romans. They did not return to any great extent until 1948 AD, after WWII.

The letter may have been written to encourage Jewish Christians since the early church was mostly converted Jews. Paul and Barnabas were the first real attempt to reach out to Gentiles. Until Paul & Barnabas got confirmation from the other apostles, Gentiles were kind of an afterthought. Note: Paul and Barnabas made the defense of the Gentiles about 57 AD. (Acts 15:12,13)

Some call James’ letter a ‘general epistle’ because it was not written to any single church or group of churches.

The main message:

Ain’t no such thing as a passive faith.

Theme verses:

James 1:22 - But be doers of the word, and not only hearers of it, blinding yourselves with false ideas.
James 2:26 – For just as the body without the spirit is dead, so also faith without works is dead.
James 4:17 – So then, the person who does not do the good he knows he should do is guilty of sin.

The following idea needs to be fleshed out, to prove or disprove the premise: This letter is seen by many as a NT equivalent of ‘Proverbs’. Unlike most of the epistles which have a ‘theology’ section and a ‘application’ section, James seems to assume the reader is a believer and so there is no explicit gospel message.

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OUTLINE

Chapter 1

1:1 – Greeting
1:2-4 – Trials
1:5-8 – Ask for Wisdom
1:9-11 – Rich and Poor
1:12-16 – Temptations and Sin
1:17-18 – Good from Heaven
1:19-20 – Anger
1:21-25 – (True Religion) Be Doers of the Word
1:26-27 – Pure Religion

Chapter 2

2:1-8 – Avoid Favoritism, Partiality
2:9-14 - Breaking the Law/
2:14-20 – Faith in Action (with Works)
2:21-26 - Works Prove Faith

Chapter 3

3:1-12 – Self-Control - Danger of the tongue
3:13-18 – Wisdom (Jealousy destroys peace)

Chapter 4

4:1-5 – Sources of quarrels
4:6-10 – Draw near to God (Resist the Devil)
4:11-12 – Judging
4:13-17 – Planning the future

Chapter 5

5:1-6 – Rich vs. Poor
5:7-8 - Poor vs. Rich
5:9-11 – Be patient
5:12 - No Oaths
5:13-15 - Pray for the sick
5:16-18 – Pray for one another

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Examples of Faith Operating as per James

Faith in Testings - James 1:1
     Principles Involved
Faith at Work - Jam 1:19
     Practices for the present
Faith and the Future - Jam 4:13
     Prizes in the Future
Faith and Our Prayers and Actions - 5:13
     Constructive Conclusion

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Note 1: GNB = Good News Bible - Today’s English Version; American Bible Society; 1992. When I committed buy life to Jesus Christ at Explo ‘72, the ‘Good News for Modern Man’ was the Bible I had. And I started reading it. The books that affected me most were Colossians and James. At one point I had most of Colossians memorized, and some of James. Unfortunately, I no longer have them completely committed - old age has diminished my ability to memorize or to quickly call up that which I still retain. However, I still love to read Colossians and James in the GNB translation, even though it may not be the most accurate. When I come to a verse that is made more clear by a different translation, I will refer to it.

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Note 2: Oswald Chambers; “My Utmost for His Highest”; Oswald Chambers Publications Association, Ltd.; 1992.

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Eph 6:21-24 - Closing Thoughts

21 But that you also may know about my circumstances, how I am doing, Tychicus, the beloved brother and faithful minister in the Lord, will make everything known to you.
22 I have sent him to you for this very purpose, so that you may know about us, and that he may comfort your hearts.
23 Peace be to the brethren, and love with faith, from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
24 Grace be with all those who love our Lord Jesus Christ with incorruptible love.

Peace, Love, and Faith to All

The letter closes with the next four verses. Paul usually adds final notes to people in the churches to whom he is writing, and mentioning the workers with him, lauding them to the recipients. He does not do that here. (See Note 1.)

Paul has made a case for seeing Christians from all over the world, both Jews and Gentiles, to come together into one body - the church - through the work of one person - Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior. No one said this would be easy (thank you Bill Schonley, I borrowed your phrase). Jesus told us we would be in a spiritual battle. Paul just finished urging us to buckle up, armor up, get ready to face the enemy. We will overcome through Christ, because He overcame by the power of God the Father and the Holy Spirit.

Vs. 21 - “But that you also may know about my circumstances, how I am doing, Tychicus, the beloved brother and faithful minister in the Lord, will make everything known to you. “

“Tychicus...will make everything known to you.” - Paul is sending a faithful co-worker, who seems to be Paul’s letter delivery man. He is mentioned four times in Paul’s letters. Each time he is being sent to a city. He is bringing this letter to Ephesus, plus any other news not included in the letter.

Vs. 22 - “I have sent him to you for this very purpose, so that you may know about us, and that he may comfort your hearts. “

“for this very purpose” - Paul trusts Tychicus to give the churches the straight scoop on the goings-on in the ministry, the evangelism to which he has been called. Included will information that will calm their worries about him. The churches know that Paul is in a Roman prison, and are rightly concerned.

Vs. 23 - “Peace be to the brethren, and love with faith, from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.“

“Peace... love... faith” - Peace with God, and the peace of God (See: Phi 4:7-9). The God of love, who loves us and died for us even though we are sinners. (Rom 5:8) And with faith we believe and are saved. See: “But what does it say? ‘The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart’ (that is, the word of faith that we preach), because if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and thus has righteousness and with the mouth one confesses and thus has salvation.” (Rom 10:8-10)

Vs. 24 - “Grace be with all those who love our Lord Jesus Christ with incorruptible love”.

“Grace be with all those who love our Lord Jesus Christ” - Grace and mercy are the reasons we have salvation through Jesus.

“Incorruptible love” - We love because Jesus first loved us. Our love for Jesus, for God, is in response to His love. Observing the world around us does not give a clear picture of His love. We have a fairly good idea of His power and grandeur - the majesty of the universe alone is awe inspiring. His love is revealed through Jesus Christ. We understand love because we can love our wives, children, and friends. We can begin to understand the depth and expanse of God’s love for us, because we know how hard it is to love people who do not love us. God demonstrates He loves us, in that even though we are enemies He has sacrificed for us to draw us to Him.

We are not bribed to love Him. He offers. We can choose to respond to Him in love. We are not forced to love Him. How wonderful! How marvelous!

“When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, The moon and the stars, which You have ordained;
What is man that You take thought of him, And the son of man that You care for him?
Yet You have made him a little lower than God, And You crown him with glory and majesty!
You make him to rule over the works of Your hands; You have put all things under his feet,
All sheep and oxen, And also the beasts of the field,
The birds of the heavens and the fish of the sea, Whatever passes through the paths of the seas.
O LORD, our Lord, How majestic is Your name in all the earth!” (Psa 8:3-9)

***

Note 1: See the closing verses in Paul’s letters: There are about 27 verses in Romans; 14 in 1 Cor; 5 in 2 Cor; 7 in Gal; 4 in Phi; 11 in Col; 2 in 1 Thes; 3 in 2 Thes; 2 in 1 Tim; 12 in 2 Tim; 5 in Tit; and 3 in Philemon.

End of Chapter
Published: 4Nov24
***

RESPONSIBILITIES AND PRIVILEGES OF CITIZENS

As followers of Jesus Christ, we have dual citizenship. While we may be citizens of the country in which we live, we are also citizens of heaven (Phil. 3:20. Along with citizenship goes responsibilities.

As citizens of heaven, we are to live in submission to the authority of God and His Word. Scripture, not the culture in which we live, needs to be our final authority for faith and practice. We are to keep His commandments (Jn. 14:21), seek first His kingdom (Mt. 6:33) and give Him first place in everything (Col. 1:18). We serve as Christ's "ambassadors" (II Cor. 5:20), acting as His representatives on earth, helping others to be reconciled to God (II Cor. 5:18,19). As citizens of heaven we also have the amazing privilege of access to our Heavenly Father at any time in any place through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ who became our High Priest through His death and resurrection and continues to be our intercessor and advocate (Heb. 7:25; I Jn. 2:1). Through faith in Jesus Christ, we become children of God (Jn. 1:11; I Jn. 3:1,2), have all the privileges of sonship and are "heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ" (Ro. 8:16,17). We have been set free from bondage to the old, sinful flesh and have a whole new life in Jesus Christ (Ro. 6-8; II Cor. 5:17). We are made free by the truth (Jn. 8:32,36) and can experience the "abundant life" that Christ came to provide (Jn. 10:10). We have been "blessed with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ" (Eph. 1:3). We are "blessed by the Best!" We are so privileged, but also have the corresponding responsibility to live for Him, not for self. "He died for all, that they who live should no longer live for themselves, but for Him who died and rose again on their behalf" (II Cor. 5:15).

As citizens of a nation, we are also to submit to those in authority over us, for they are established by God (Ro. 13:1-7; I Pet. 2:13-17). We are to obey the "laws of the land" unless they conflict with a command from God or truth from His Word. For example, when Peter and John were told not to speak anymore about Jesus (Acts 4:18), they said, "Whether it is right in the sight of God to give heed to you rather than to God, you be the judge; for we cannot stop speaking what we have seen and heard" (v. 19). Peter and John continued to preach about Jesus and were brought before the Council where the High priest said: "We gave you strict orders not to continue teaching in this name..." (Acts 5:28). "But Peter and the Apostles answered and said, 'We must obey God rather than men' " (v. 29). When we are saved, we are not taken out of the world (Jn. 17:15,16), but are left as His "ambassadors" (II Cor. 5:20) to be God's representatives to the inhabitants of the nation where He places us. We are not to isolate ourselves but insulate ourselves with the "armor of God" (Eph. 6:10-18) to be "salt and light" (Mt. 5:13-16). We are to be a godly influence as good citizens both of heaven and on earth.

For those of us who live in a free country, we have many privileges but with them, many responsibilities to use those privileges to be Christ's ambassadors to help others be reconciled to God. One way in which we can be "engaged" citizens and influence others for good is to exercise our privilege to run for political office and to vote. It demonstrates that we care about the condition of our nation and its people. We are seeing a great spiritual battle taking place between good and evil, between an anti-Christian worldview and a biblical worldview. It is not just a matchup of personalities from which to choose, but of moral policies and issues. If Christians are not involved in the politics of their nation, decisions will be made by people who think that Christianity is no longer relevant and that absolute truth does not exist. As Edmund Burke once said, "All that is required for evil to prevail is for good men to do nothing." Not voting is a form of voting, as it will influence the outcome. We are not only responsible for our actions, but also for our lack of action. James 1:17 says, "Therefore to the one who knows the right thing to do, and does not do it, to him it is sin." Voting is part of our stewardship to use all the resources we have been given to be an influence for God.

A poll released this month by the "Cultural Resource Center" at Arizona Christian University reported that 51% of those who identify as "people of faith" do not plan to vote. That's 105 million people, 41 million of which are professing Christians! How sobering is that! Granted, politics is not the most important thing, but that doesn't mean that politics isn't part of the larger arena by which God can orchestrate things for His glory. Politics matters because politics creates policies that impact people made in the image of God. Our elected leaders make decisions that will have an incredible impact on us and on our children and our grandchildren.

Rather than argue about the personalities, strengths and weaknesses of those running for office, focus on issues and policies. Check out their party platform and what they stand for and believe:

• Where do they stand on the sanctity of life versus abortion? 
• Do they uphold the law and those who enforce it? 
•  Do they support the Constitution and applying it, or advocate interpreting or changing it to adapt to our culture? 
•  What is their view of open borders and illegal immigration? 
•  What do they propose to do about rising crime rates, sex trafficking and the massive use and selling of drugs? 
•  What is their view of the dangerous teaching of the "Critical Race Theory," about sexual identity, and about the transgender mutilation of children? 
•  What is their view about homosexuality and marriage? 
• Are they advocates of "free speech" or do they squelch the speech of those who disagree with their worldview? 
•  Are they advocates of big government and high taxes or less government involvement and lower taxes?

These are not just differing political views, but crucial issues, matters between good and evil, that greatly impact each one of us, our culture, our nation, and affect the continuation of the Christian freedoms we have been so blessed with in this great nation.

So, please, please, as Christ's ambassador, Pray for our nation and leaders and the upcoming election (I Tim. 2:1-4), Vote, and then put your Hope in God! It is our great privilege and responsibility.

Forever His,
Pastor Dave

Eph 6:18-20 - Keep Alert and Pray

18 With all prayer and petition pray at all times in the Spirit, and with this in view, be on the alert with all perseverance and petition for all the saints,
19 and pray on my behalf, that utterance may be given to me in the opening of my mouth, to make known with boldness the mystery of the gospel,
20 for which I am an ambassador in chains; that in proclaiming it I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak.

***

Pray That I May Be Bold

Vs. 18 - “With all prayer and petition pray at all times in the Spirit, and with this in view, be on the alert with all perseverance and petition for all the saints,”

“Pray at all times in the Spirit” - This sentence could easily be considered part of the “whole armor” passage (and often is). For indeed, we need to pray to the Lord for strength to be able to be strong in this spiritual battle.

“Be on the alert” - Always being ready to support other believers and Christian workers by prayer. I read somewhere (I wish I could remember the source) that an idiom for “be on the alert” was “sleep in the open” - do not seek a hiding space, but be ready to move and fight. In the open, you can see them coming. On the alert, you cannot be overcome by a surprise attack. Always be aware that Satan wants to defeat any effort a Christian will make. Satan wants you to stumble, to falter, to abandon your plans. Perseverance is required. “Don’t give up. Don’t ever give up.” (Coach Jim Valvano - He was fighting a terminal illness.)

Vs. 19 - “and pray on my behalf, that utterance may be given to me in the opening of my mouth, to make known with boldness the mystery of the gospel, “

“Pray on my behalf” - Paul was on the front lines in the battle for the faith. Scholars think he was in prison when he wrote this letter. He had been beaten, shipwrecked, threatened with death (and was sneaked out of town late at night), threatened with execution, and more. (See: 2 Cor 11:25)

“utterance may be given to me” - See: “‘WHOEVER WILL CALL ON THE NAME OF THE LORD WILL BE SAVED.’ How then will they call on Him in whom they have not believed? How will they believe in Him whom they have not heard? And how will they hear without a preacher?” (Rom 10:13-14) Every where he went he spoke of Jesus Christ and salvation through Him. He spoke in every town, in every synagogue, in every town square. He debated with the Greeks in Athens (See: Acts 17:16-31 - he was in the big leagues of debating there). Even so, Paul the trained scholar, did not rely on his own power and knowledge but on the power of the Holy Spirit.

“Mystery of the gospel” - Note: he does not mean the Gospel is a mystery, a hidden or secret knowledge that only a chosen few can know. The mystery was that it was not revealed to the people of the Old Testament times just how God was going to provide salvation to us. The saints of old knew and believed the Lord was going to provide salvation to believers.

That He would do this through the death and resurrection of His Son, Jesus Christ was not revealed until Jesus Christ came to earth. We can go back to the Old Testament and pick verses or passages and proclaim them as ‘Messianic” - and indeed they do point to the Christ. But we are now blessed with 20-20 hindsight! People could know and believe it was coming, but not know and understand the particulars.
“Now I make known to you, brethren, the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received, in which also you stand, by which also you are saved, if you hold fast the word which I preached to you, unless you believed in vain. For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures.” (1 Cor 15:1-4)
Also see: “It is a trustworthy statement, deserving full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, among whom I am foremost of all. Yet for this reason I found mercy, so that in me as the foremost, Jesus Christ might demonstrate His perfect patience as an example for those who would believe in Him for eternal life.” (1 Tim 1:15-16)
And: “By common confession, great is the mystery of godliness: He who was revealed in the flesh, Was vindicated in the Spirit, Seen by angels, Proclaimed among the nations, Believed on in the world, Taken up in glory.” (1 Tim 3:16)

Vs. 20 - “for which I am an ambassador in chains; that in proclaiming it I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak.”

“For which I am an ambassador in chains”. - He is in prison because he did not stop speaking of salvation through Christ. That is the gospel, the good news.

“that in proclaiming it I may speak boldly” - That is my prayer. All too often I am timid, afraid to speak out. I do not hold fast to the truth that He has not given me a “spirit of timidity, but of power, love and discipline.” (2 Tim 1:5) O Lord, forgive me for my failures. Have mercy on me!

***

May you live in interesting times

That purportedly is an ancient Chinese curse; (most think it was spoken by a member of the British Parliament). Yet we understand the feeling and meaning of the saying.

In this political season, the rancor runs so deep and is so pernicious it is hard to not class these as ‘interesting times’. Most of us want to live in peace, in our homes, in our towns or cities, in our state and nation.

As Christians we must be careful to not place politics above our faith and hope in Christ. The political ads are so vile! Whichever candidate is advertising, the opponent will be ‘the end of the world as we know it’. We are deluged with hate - every commercial break! It is too easy to get sucked into the echo chamber.

Whoever wins - whether it’s your candidate or not - will be a challenge for Christians. The recent series of messages from our pastor, titled “American Idols”, remind us that whoever is elected - Republican or Democrat - the ultimate authority for our lives is Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior. The challenge for believers is that we do not fix our hopes on either, or any, candidate to make the world right. All of our leaders are merely human, and susceptible to human foibles and sin.

If ‘your’ candidate wins the presidency, you may be elated and believe that all will be well. Do not get too excited if your favorite wins the election. We cannot let ourselves get complacent because ‘We won!’ There are millions of people out there who have not heard the Good News. They do not know that Jesus came to save them and remove their sin. If your candidate wins, it is time to renew your efforts to bring others to Jesus Christ so they can know His peace, and receive His forgiveness. See: “Peace I leave with you; My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you.” (John 14:27) Peace and quiet in the land means that we must be more willing to share the Good News, because people will not necessarily see the need for salvation. They have everything they want - so, who needs Jesus? Who needs forgiveness?

We all need Jesus - everyone, everywhere needs Jesus. (See: John 14:6) And the promise for peace is for the here and now. It is yours if you would believe and accept Jesus Christ.

If ‘your’ candidate did not win, do not fear - there is no reason for gloom and despair!. Now is the time for you to turn to the Lord, seek His guidance and strength. You will be able to demonstrate that it is the Lord who is in control of your life, not the national government. Do not let your heart be troubled, nor let it be fearful. Be ready to face persecution - because you believe in Jesus! Paul stated, “Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I do my share on behalf of His body, which is the church, in filling up what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions.” (Col 1:24) He knew from experience that if he was living for the Lord Jesus Christ there would be people angry and out to get him. He had done that very thing before he believed and accepted Christ as Savior! It is Christ, living in you, who is the hope of glory. Not your glory, but His and His alone! That is the Good News - God in your heart and mind, right now, not in the distant future.

Eph 6:13-17 - Whole Armor

13 Therefore, take up the full armor of God, so that you will be able to resist in the evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm.
14 Stand firm therefore, HAVING GIRDED YOUR LOINS WITH TRUTH, and HAVING PUT ON THE BREASTPLATE OF RIGHTEOUSNESS,
15 and having shod YOUR FEET WITH THE PREPARATION OF THE GOSPEL OF PEACE;
16 in addition to all, taking up the shield of faith with which you will be able to extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one.
17 And take THE HELMET OF SALVATION, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.

***

Armor up. We are at War!

Vs. 13 - “Therefore, take up the full armor of God, so that you will be able to resist in the evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm. “

“Therefore...” - Look back at verse 12. We are in a struggle, a spiritual struggle - with Satan and the ‘forces of darkness’- his forces. These forces are arrayed against the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Knowing that, prepare yourselves for battle, spiritual battle.

This Sunday morning, our pastor’s message touched on this subject (tangentially). We read: “They went into Capernaum; and immediately on the Sabbath He entered the synagogue and began to teach. They were amazed at His teaching; for He was teaching them as one having authority, and not as the scribes. Just then there was a man in their synagogue with an unclean spirit; and he cried out, saying, "What business do we have with each other, Jesus of Nazareth? Have You come to destroy us? I know who You are--the Holy One of God!" And Jesus rebuked him, saying, "Be quiet, and come out of him!" Throwing him into convulsions, the unclean spirit cried out with a loud voice and came out of him. They were all amazed, so that they debated among themselves, saying, "What is this? A new teaching with authority! He commands even the unclean spirits, and they obey Him." (Mark 1:21-27)

Jesus was teaching in a synagogue, and a man possessed by an evil spirit challenges Jesus. He was demanding to know what business Jesus had there, because it was his (the demon’s) town and his people. The demon was forcing a fight with Jesus - he got up into Jesus’ face, he wanted a little one-on-one face-off. The fight was over almost before it began. Jesus’ words, “Shut up. Leave him” ended the confrontation. The demon brought a sword to a gun fight. That is the battle we are engaged in.

“Take up the full armor of God” - Ephesus was not a military town as was Philippi. However, every citizen in Ephesus, and all around the Roman Empire would know and understand the imagery Paul is using. Rome, like most empires of that period of time was held together by brute force. The Roman legions and armies conquered nations. The Roman legions protected the empire from insurrection. The average citizen of that day would have seen the Roman soldiers move through the streets of their cities, and march across their countryside.

“so that you will be able to resist in the evil day” - Satan and his demons are working to destroy the church and Christians. They are working to destroy the influence of Christianity on the world. Satan and demons are far more powerful than you or I. They are not more powerful than Jesus Christ. We must be prepared with all the tools and power that Jesus supplies to us.

Our Spiritual Protection and Armament

Vs. 14 - “Stand firm therefore, HAVING GIRDED YOUR LOINS WITH TRUTH, and HAVING PUT ON THE BREASTPLATE OF RIGHTEOUSNESS, “

“having girded your loins” - (Referenced to: Isa 11:5) An expression to prepare yourself for service or an activity. The “loins” are the area of the body between the waist line and the knees. This is the location of the strongest muscles of our body - thighs and buttox. This is the center of the human procreation - but that is not the emphasis here: “Get ready for battle!”

I remember playing football in high school. The coaches would remind us, “Don’t forget your jock strap and cup! Don’t forget the knee, thigh, and hip pads in the pants!” All of these were for our protection in this contact sport. Soldiers buckle on their ammo belts - which holds the items they will need in battle. Soldiers in Paul’s time would strap on the belt holding their swords or knives.

In scripture: The Hebrews were instructed to get ready to leave Egypt. The Passover meal was to be eaten while ready to leave in a moment. “Now you shall eat it in this manner: with your loins girded, your sandals on your feet, and your staff in your hand; and you shall eat it in haste--it is the LORD’S Passover.” (Exo 12:11) Other calls to action: 1 Ki 18:46; 2 Ki 4:29.

God told Job, “Man up! You instruct Me!” (Job 38:3 - Job wisely declined the invitation.) Christians are told to ‘gird your minds for action’, and to ‘always be ready to make a defense to everyone who asks you to give an account for the hope that is in you.” (1 Pet 3:16)

“with truth” - Jesus said, "If you continue in My word, then you are truly disciples of Mine; and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free." (John 8:31-32) Paul tells us the world “exchanges the truth for a lie.” (Rom 1:22-25)

And Paul says this: “It is a trustworthy statement, deserving full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, among whom I am foremost of all. Yet for this reason I found mercy, so that in me as the foremost, Jesus Christ might demonstrate His perfect patience as an example for those who would believe in Him for eternal life.” (1 Tim 1:15-16)

The truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth! “God loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life.” (Note 1) “And there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men by which we must be saved." (Acts 4:12)

“having put on the breastplate of righteousness” - (Quoted from: Isa 59:17) Armor to protect the heart and lungs. (An ancient version of the modern ‘bulletproof’ Kevlar vest with ceramic plates.) The picture is God’s righteousness that protects your life in Him. It is not your personal righteousness, but the Lord’s which envelopes and protects you. “‘Let him who boasts boast of this, that he understands and knows Me, that I am the LORD who exercises lovingkindness, justice and righteousness on earth; for I delight in these things,’ declares the LORD.” (Jer 9:24)
We are reminded, “He saved us, not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness, but according to His mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit,” (Titus 3:5)

Vs. 15 - “and having shod YOUR FEET WITH THE PREPARATION OF THE GOSPEL OF PEACE; “

“Having shod your feet with preparation of the gospel of peace“ - (Quoted from: Isa 52:7) There is no one in the world that would look at my feet and exclaim how beautiful they are. The image here is even the feet of the person who brings the “gospel of peace” are beautiful.

We are not going out into the world empty handed, but offering peace with God and the peace of God. (See: Phi 4:6-9) God brings a way of peace. (See: Isa 59:8) Jesus came to bring peace with God (See: John 14:27, 16:33, 20:21; Acts 10:36; 1 Cor 14:33)

An interesting side note: The nation of Israel travelled through the desert about 40 years during the exodus from Egypt - their sandals never wore out! God provided for them the whole time, even though they were a rebellious and stubborn people. He kept His promise to them. He will provide for us, as we go into the world to spread the Gospel of Peace.

Vs. 16 - “in addition to all, taking up the shield of faith with which you will be able to extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. “

“taking up the shield of faith” - (See: 1 Thess 5:8) The shield is an additional piece of defensive gear that keeps the offensive objects away from the body. Breastplates, leg and arm pads protect at the skin surface. But the points of arrows, darts, spears can penetrate the breastplate and wound, if not kill, the soldier. Today, shields are not much of a defense against bullets, but are very effective against thrown objects. Look at the riots going on in American cities (ref. “George Floyd - Black Lives Matter” riots in May-June 2020) - the police are holding large shields against the bricks, bottles and rocks being thrown at them. Molotov cocktails or flaming arrows will set their clothes on fire - the shields keep these objects away from them.

God’s righteousness protects us, not our own. Faith in Christ will provide additional protection - not faith in ourselves. In the midst of the spiritual battle, when the slings and arrows are launched against us, tell the Lord, “My faith is in You, Lord!”

Vs. 17 - “And take THE HELMET OF SALVATION, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. “

“Take the helmet of salvation” - (See: Isa 59:17; 1 Thes 5:8) - Protection for the head and mind. Like the breastplate, the helmet is protection in battle. Salvation is not an emotional lunge, a mindless leap. See Rom 10:9-10: “If you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation.” See also: Acts 15:11, 16:31). Even Jesus’ enemies demanded physical proof. (See: Luk 8:12) Throughout the Old Testament the people are admonished to follow God’s precepts, hold on to His testimonies, obey His commandments. See: “Your word I have treasured in my heart, That I may not sin against You.” (Psa 119:11)

“Sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God” - (See: Eph 5:26, Heb 6:5) This is the only weapon mentioned here. Our offensive weapon is not our intellect, nor our education. We must fight back using only scripture. “‘Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit,’ says the LORD of hosts.” (Zech 4:6) Jesus Himself used this method when refuting Satan when tempted in the desert. (See: Matt 4:1-11; Luke 4:1-13)

***

Note 1: “Four Spiritual Laws”, Campus Crusade for Christ.

***

Eph 6:10-12 - Stand Firm

10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might.
11 Put on the full armor of God, so that you will be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil.
12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places.

The Full Armor of God!

Vs. 10 - “Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might. “

“Finally,” - Paul has been writing about the church community living together from the beginning of chapter 4 to this point. Most of his instructions are for person-to-person living. To review some of the teachings to this point:

Chap. 4 - Unity; walking worthy because we are one in Christ; building up each other; growing in Christ in our new selves; living and working with other believers.

Chap. 5 - Imitate Christ; no sexual immorality because you are in the light; be careful how you live; husbands.n and wives.

Chap. 6 - Parents and children; masters and slaves.

The next verses, 6:10-20, Paul expands his teaching from the personal interaction with other believers to the interaction with the spiritual world, especially with the forces arrayed against the Lord. He concludes the instruction part of the letter.

“Be strong in the Lord” - Place yourself in His strength. Jesus said, “I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing.” (John 15:5) We get strong physically by exercise, practice and repetition, but our spiritual strength comes from the Lord. It is His might that fills and empowers us, and not our own. (See: 1 Pet 4:11). 

However, this does not mean that magically you become a Christian who makes the decisions Jesus wants you to make; that you are obedient to His call and direction. Just as physical conditioning is required to develop your muscles, spiritual condtioning is required. You do not miraculously go to God in prayer; it may be a miracle that the Lord God Almighty would want to be with you, but He is the Lord and you are not. Deciding to Pray and Worship Jesus must be made by you.
Your salvation happens the moment you accept Jesus and turn your life to Him - you are saved to be with Him for eternity. You develop your 'spiritual muscles' by discipline - spending time in prayer and worship. You seek Jesus in your prayer life. You call on the Holy Spirit to fill and empower you. God prepares you to meet situations, even crises, when you have been with Him. A 'working relationship' with the Lord is built by prayer and time spent with Him. if you neglect prayer and worship it is highly likely you will fall short if a crisis happens.

V 11 - “Put on the full armor of God, so that you will be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil.”

“Put on the full armor of God” - The devil is at war with the Lord. It has been so since Satan rebelled. (See: Isa 14:12-20; Eze 28:12-19; Rev 12:7-9) Satan was also at the fall of Adam and Eve. (Gen 3:1-5) Satan has been plotting a coup to replace God with himself.

Side note: I have heard it said the reason the “earth was formless and void, and darkness was over the surface of the deep” (Gen 1:2) was because of the destruction caused by the rebellion and battle that threw Satan from heaven (Rev 12:7-9). I am not sure about that line of reasoning.

We are in a spiritual battle. Satan is the enemy. He continually seeks those he can destroy. (1 Pet 5:8) Armies typically are not sent into battle without the proper equipment - armor and weapons.

“Stand firm” - Be strong and courageous. (See: Deut 31:6, 23; Josh 1:6-9, this admonition appears 10X in the OT.) Don’t panic. Don’t retreat, or run and hide. The Lord was sending the people of Israel into battle with established nations who appeared to be stronger and well defended. A nation of apparent nomads, with little battle experience. No wonder they needed encouragement. David exhorted Solomon with these words, plus adding “Show yourself to be a man.” (See note 1, below.)

The church is told to “Stand firm.” The battle is the Lord’s. We are to be strong in our faith, to be ready to repel attacks from Satan, for they will come to us. There was a similar situation during Jehoshaphat's reign in the OT when Judah was attacked by three armies. God told them the battle was not theirs to fight. "The battle is not yours to fight, but God's." (see 2 Chr 20:1-18)

“Schemes of the devil” - We do not need to defeat Satan, for we cannot, but we need to make ourselves available to the Lord, so He may work through us to thwart Satan. The ultimate victory is Christ’s. We will be involved in skirmishes along the way. Satan is always looking for ways to overcome us, in essence to defeat Christ by proxy. “Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.” (1 Pet 5:8)

Vs. 12 - “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places.”

“Our struggle is not against flesh and blood” - We see the enmity of government, the news media, the entertainment industry toward the church. How do we fight them? How do we resist?
Focusing on the people is mis-direction

“Rulers... powers... force of this darkness... spiritual forces of wickedness” - These make up the power behind the push to eliminate Christ in the world today. (Also, the force behind the opposition to God and the Gospel. ) This power is centered around and from Satan. The angels and demons who followed Lucifer in the rebellion against the Lord (see: Rev 12:7ff) operate in the world around us. He is called the “ruler of this world” (John 12:31, 14:30, 16:11). Humans, and Christians especially, are harassed and tempted by Satan to rebel also. (1 Pet 5:8).

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Note 1: The statement, “Be strong”, is said 28 times in the OT. "Do not fear" is often used as a command, or encouragement - about 24 times. A few of the verses are a warning because the people who 'do not fear' the Lord.

Eph 6:5-9 - Slaves, Masters

5 Slaves, be obedient to those who are your masters according to the flesh, with fear and trembling, in the sincerity of your heart, as to Christ;
6 not by way of eye service, as men-pleasers, but as slaves of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart.
7 With good will render service, as to the Lord, and not to men,
8 knowing that whatever good thing each one does, this he will receive back from the Lord, whether slave or free.
9 And masters, do the same things to them, and give up threatening, knowing that both their Master and yours is in heaven, and there is no partiality with Him.

Slaves, Service and Masters

Guidelines for Christian relationships and living continue in the following verses. (They start in 4:25 and go through 6:20.) There are some major subjects in these verses. They all flow from the fact that you are in Jesus.

Vs. 5 - Slaves, be obedient to those who are your masters according to the flesh, with fear and trembling, in the sincerity of your heart, as to Christ;

“According to the flesh” - Interestingly (to me at least), the Bible is relatively silent regarding slavery. Hebrews could not own another Hebrew as a slave. They might be slaves to non-Jews; they might even have non-Hebrew slaves. The Bible does not condone or promote slavery, nor does it condemn slavery.

This world is the domain of Satan. God ‘takes’ us where we are. He doesn’t make us change to some ideal behavior before we are acceptable to Him. We will never be acceptable, except in the blood and sacrifice of Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior. He calls us from where we are. Our hearts and lives are changed by the mercy of Jesus, and only by Jesus. God has been merciful to us to set us free is throughout the New Testament account.

Christ said while quoting Isaiah, “The scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him, and unrolling the scroll, he found the place where it was written: The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set free the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor. He then rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant, and sat down. And the eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fixed on him. He began by saying to them, ‘Today as you listen, this Scripture has been fulfilled.’” (Luke 4:17-21)

He also said, “You will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” (John 8:32),
and, “So if the Son sets you free, you really will be free.” (John 8:36).
Paul wrote in other letters: “For when you were slaves of sin, you were free with regard to righteousness.” (Rom 6:20)
And, “For freedom, Christ set us free. Stand firm then and don’t submit again to a yoke of slavery.” (Gal 5:1).

We know that Christ has come to free us from sin and death. To a slave of that era, or maybe any era, the message of freedom would have more than one meaning. Paul could well be warning the Christian slaves (slaves who were owned by another person) to not get ahead of themselves. They may be free from sin, but they were still slaves to their owners. In no way could they say, “You can take this job and shove it.” This is especially true if their masters were not believers. Paul is telling them to serve their earthly masters as if they were serving God Himself.
The primary message from the Lord and the apostles was that you and I can be free from the slavery to sin! And we can be sure that as long as we do not have the Lord in our lives as Savior, we are tied to sin. It is our master. Sin owns our soul. Only when we give ourselves to Jesus Christ - believe in Him, give ourselves to Him, can we be free from the dominance of sin.
By the way: We are called 'slaves of Jesus Christ' in the New Testament. (Eph 6:6; 1 Cor 7:22) Whatever our physical condition - slave or free - we have been set free from slavery to sin. We are free indeed. (Gal 3:28; Col 3:11)  Being a slave of Christ is not onerous. He bought us; He has paid the ultimate price for us and our souls - He was crucified, and was resurrected in order that we might be with Him and the Father - forever!

From a commentary by David Guzik, "The Gospel found slavery in the world; and in many regions, particularly the Roman and the Greek, it was a very bad form of slavery. The Gospel began at once to undermine it, with its mighty principles of the equality of all souls in the mystery and dignity of manhood, and of the equal work of redeeming love wrought for all souls by the supreme Master. But its plan was — not to batter, but to undermine… So while the Gospel in one respect left slavery alone, it doomed it in another.”

Vs. 6 - “not by way of eye service, as men-pleasers, but as slaves of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart.”

“not by way of eye service” - This admonition applies to us all, not just slaves. Don’t do it for “show”. You know exactly what this means. You have seen, or worked with people who perform their ‘best’ when they think someone is watching. The rest of the time, they act as if they don’t care at all.

“doing the will of God from the heart.” - Work for your master (or your boss) just as you would work for Christ. Your boss is a ‘stand-in’ for Christ with respect to work or jobs. Disrespecting laws or rules is not just flouting the rule of law, it is rebelling against God, against Jesus. God said over and over in the Old Testament, “You have sinned against Me!”.

Paul called himself a ‘bond-slave of Christ’. (See: Rom 1:1; Gal 1:10; Col. 1:1, 4:7; 1 Tim 4:6; 2 Tim 2:24)
Peter, James, Titus and Jude did the same. (See: Titus 1:1; Jam 1:1; 2 Pet 1:1; Jud 1:1)
Moses - a bond-servant of God (Rev 15:3).
Jesus, our Lord and Savior - a Holy Servant (Acts 4:27).

As Paul refers to himself as a bond-servant, we see (according to some of the commentaries and Bible dictionaries) there is a difference between a bond-servant and a slave. The Jew, under the Mosaic covenant, was never a slave as we know slavery, such as experienced in America’s South and other places. An Israelite could not own another Jew. The slave under the Mosaic Law was mostly paying off a debt, occurred legally or not.And a Jew could not forced to be a slave for more than six years. After six years as a servant (slave) the man or woman was freed and the debt forgiven. Technically, a Jew was not a slave, but a ‘hired hand’ working to pay off a debt. See: Exo. 21:2-6

A Jew, having served to pay the debt, could decide to stay with the ‘master’ - voluntary servitude. They went through a ceremony in which a hole was punched in the servant’s ear, after which the servant served for life. The term ‘bond-servant’ may refer to this voluntary service. This was a HUGE commitment - not at all like taking a job which you can leave for a better job or in a different location.

What a good picture of our relationship to the Lord Jesus. We are not forced to be saved. Jesus, through the Holy Spirit, calls us to believe and be saved. When we believe in our heart Jesus was raised from the dead, and confess Him as Lord and Savior, we will be saved. See: Rom. 10:9-10. Now, we are His. His friends. His servants. His bride. His glory. Our life is not our own, for we were bought for a price. (1 Cor. 6:20, 7:23) That price - a perfect sacrifice, is the Lamb who was slain.

The image of a bond-slave is a good picture of our Christian life. The servant, after the debt is paid, volunteers to serve the master. We acknowledge that Christ paid our debt - one we can never pay in full. We must confess that we believe He is our Lord and Savior. This confession is not forced from us. We do it by our free will.

Remember, the former slave has no more obligation to the master, the debt has been paid. The former slave publicly announces the desire to serve the master permanently, for life. Our confession of faith is made before other people. The ceremony for the bond-servant is public. All people now know the person is permanently connected to the master. Our ceremony - baptism in conjunction with confession of faith - is a public announcement we are Christ’s possession for life, both physical and spiritual, both here now and for eternity.
The following chart may help to see the similarities:

The Christian as Bond Servant
Bond-Servant	Christian
Slave pays his debt by working it off.	Jesus Christ pays our sin-debt by His crucifixion and resurrection.
Former slave volunteers to serve his master.	Sinner decides to believe and accept Christ as Lord and Savior.
Former slave publicly has a hole punched in the ear to show he is now a bond-servant.	Sinner pubiicly acknowledges Christ and is baptized to show he is a Christian.
Bond-servant is bound to the master for life.	Believer, a Christian, is Christ's personal possession for life and eternity.

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Vs. 7-8 - “With good will render service, as to the Lord, and not to men, knowing that whatever good thing each one does, this he will receive back from the Lord, whether slave or free. “

“render service, as to the Lord” - Too often we do not look beyond our physical circumstances. We see our boss, and naturally assume that is who we answer to. Forgetting that God has placed that person there in the path of your life, we cannot see our service as serving God, not just the person before us. Your boss or master may not be a believer. They are where they are at God’s good pleasure. Being obstinate or belligerent in your job is not a good witness of your faith in the Lord and Savior. “God loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life” (see note 1) is not heard in rebellion and stubbornness.

Vs. 9 - “And masters, do the same things to them, and give up threatening, knowing that both their Master and yours is in heaven, and there is no partiality with Him. “

“And masters, do the same things to them” - Care and concern for proper and appropriate behavior does not run just one way. Slaves are urged to see themselves as serving Jesus Christ, not just their human masters. Masters are instructed to treat their slaves as they themselves want to be treated - with compassion and love. The image of the slave serving Christ applies to the master as well. The people you are ordering around have been placed in your home or business by the Lord. They are loved by Jesus. Cruel treatment is therefore not just on the human level, but reaches into heaven.

“ knowing that both their Master and yours is in heaven”- The master has a Master in heaven who knows the heart of each person. Being rich or master of others has no advantage in the Lord’s judgment. “Your true life does not consist of the things you may own, no matter how rich you may be.” (Luk 12:15)

Jesus the Lord judges every person, and judges fairly. “And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are open and laid bare to the eyes of Him with whom we have to do.” (Heb 4:13)

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Note 1: From “Four Spiritual Laws” by Campus Crusade for Christ.

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Eph 6:1-4 - Children, Parents

Chapter 6
1-4: - Children & Fathers
5-9: - Slaves & Masters
10-18: - Whole armor of God
19-24: - Closing words.
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Guidelines for Christian living continue in the following verses. (They start in 4:25 and go through 6:20.) There are some major subjects in these verses.

They all flow from the fact that you are in Jesus.

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1 Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right.
2 HONOR YOUR FATHER AND MOTHER (which is the first commandment with a promise),
3 SO THAT IT MAY BE WELL WITH YOU, AND THAT YOU MAY LIVE LONG ON THE EARTH.
4 Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.

Moms, Dads, and Children

Vs. 1 - “Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right.”

“Children, obey your parents in the Lord” - The word “obey” has the implication of listening or hearing and following or doing what you've heard. It is not ‘eavesdropping’ or ‘over-hearing’ a conversation and then acting on the information. Decide to “place yourself under the authority of” that person or people. (See also: Pro 1:8, 6:20; Col 3:20)
The concept of obedience is not limited to children. As believers we are to obey our Lord Jesus Christ. One of my wife's daily devotions started with the following, "Maybe you want the Suggestion Box Jesus, whose law is more advice than command. He will be nothing less that the sovereign Savior King... God's law is not a curse; it is a grace. God's law is not a burden; it is a gift of his love." (See note 1, below.)

Vs. 2-3 - “HONOR YOUR FATHER AND MOTHER (which is the first commandment with a promise), SO THAT IT MAY BE WELL WITH YOU, AND THAT YOU MAY LIVE LONG ON THE EARTH.”

Quoted from Exo 20:3-17; Deut 5:7-21 - (The Ten Commandments - given to Moses, engraved in stone tablets).

Vs. 4 - Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.

“Do not provoke your children to anger” - Do not be so strict and authoritarian that their only response will be anger and rebellion. I think that cannot be avoided - as children transition from child to young adult and beyond there is a certain amount of stress because of rebellion against the authority figure - you.

“Bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord” - In the song “Teach Your Children”, by Crosby, Stills & Nash, we are admonished to teach our children our dreams and the codes we live by. (See note 2, below)

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As they grow, children will determine for themselves how they will live. They will make a choice. Teach them about God and how to follow His rules or laws. (See also: Pro 22:17, 19, 22:16; Lev 10:11; Exo 18:20; Deut 4:10, 11:19; Psa 86:11)

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Note 1: Paul David Tripp; "New Morning Mercies: A Daily Gospel Devotional"; Crossway; 2014.

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Note 2: “You, who are on the road, Must have a code, That you can live by ...
Teach your children well, Your father's hell did slowly go by,
And feed them on your dreams, The one they pick, is the one you'll know by”
(I wrote these as I heard them, not from copies of lyrics - so I apologize if they aren't quite correct.)

Eph. 5:25-33 - Husbands, Wives, Church

25 Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her, 
26 so that He might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word,
27 that He might present to Himself the church in all her glory, having no spot or wrinkle or any such thing; but that she would be holy and blameless. 
28 So husbands ought also to love their own wives as their own bodies. He who loves his own wife loves himself; 
29 for no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ also does the church, 
30 because we are members of His body. 
31 FOR THIS REASON A MAN SHALL LEAVE HIS FATHER AND MOTHER AND SHALL BE JOINED TO HIS WIFE, AND THaE TWO SHALL BECOME ONE FLESH. 
32 This mystery is great; but I am speaking with reference to Christ and the church.
33 Nevertheless, each individual among you also is to love his own wife even as himself, and the wife must see to it that she respects her husband.

Husbands - Love Your Wives

Vs. 25 - “Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her, “

“Husbands, love your wives” - This doesn’t seem like a big stretch as a command. I suppose it is possible that man might not love his wife, even in a Christian home. Love between married couples is shown throughout the Bible (Abraham and Sarah, Isaac and Rebekah, Jocob and Rachel). These two commands - wives submit to your husbands, and husbands are tied together both here (5:23-24) and in Col 3:18-19.
Why do husbands need to be reminded to love their wives? I suspect it is because men tend to think in terms of power and position and control. We need to be reminded that it the self-sacrificing love, like Jesus showed us when he gave Himself up for us, that is to be lived out in our marriage to our wives. God has not given us “a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of self-control.” (2 Tim 1:7)

Emotional affection, love, for your wife is not the point here. The point being made is in the next phrase...

“Just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her” - We might ponder how He could love the church before the church began? But, then, we are thinking in finite temporal situations. God is not limited by time, Jesus is infinite, outside of time. Of course He knew of the church, those who believe and worship Him, ‘before’ His death and resurrection. But, again, that’s not the important point. 

He loved us and voluntarily died in our place. This is not romantic love, a movie love story, not boy-friend-girl-friend love. This is “Medal of Honor” type sacrifice, where a life is given to protect and save others. We do not deserve nor have we earned this sacrifice.
“God demonstrates His love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” (Rom. 5:8)
“God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” (2 Cor 5:21)
“This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters.” (1 John 3:16 ).
“This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.” (1 John 4:9-10)
See also: (Rom. 8:34; 2 Cor. 5:15; 1 Pet 3:18)

Vs. 26 - “so that He might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, “

“so that He might sanctify her” - The “so that” in this verse refers to the “Christ loved the church and gave Himself up for her” above in verse 25. The reason Christ died on the cross and was resurrected was to provide salvation (sanctification) to the world. The offer is made to all. Unfortunately not all will believe. Fortunately, grace abounds to all who do believe and accept Jesus as Savior. Jesus takes sinful imperfect people and by His shed blood cleanses us of sin - i.e., sanctifies us. 

The Unger Bible Dictionary has the following regarding ‘sanctification’ - The dominant idea of sanctification is separation from the secular and sinful, and setting apart for a sacred purpose. In the OT, things, places, times, people were sanctified, i.e., consecrated to holy purposes - usually only in a ceremonial and legal sense, to remind the Jews of the need for spiritual cleansing and the grace of God. In the NT, people are called to consecrate themselves to God, that is the inward cleansing work of God and Holy Spirit.

The church is set apart and cleansed by Christ’s sacrifice, and the work of God and the Holy Spirit. This is an important concept - cleansing is made available to all, but not all will derive any benefit. We are sinful creatures, and totally unsuitable to be in God’s holy presence. Christ’s death makes us acceptable and holy. 

The image of the church as a bride is powerful. Look back to Genesis 2:18-24 in which man and woman are designed for each other. Eve is ‘presented’ to Adam (who had been alone) and Adam is blown away. The song (Gen 3:23) is Adam saying, “Wow!” God confirms that we are designed for each other in verse 24. The idea of the wife being pure and virginal at the time of marriage is found throughout the OT. However, just as about everything else, we have cheapened and demeaned the idea of marriage. God has not changed His view of marriage, we have changed our attitudes. God shows marriage is of adoration and love in “The Song of Songs”. The bride is bathed and pure, cleansed and waiting eagerly, is sequestered waiting for the arrival of her husband-to-be. They meet and are filled with joy.

“Having cleansed her” - Sanctification is spiritual cleansing, spiritual separation from the secular and sinful. Christ sanctifies the believers - we are cleansed by His shed blood. “But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.” (1 John 1:7) His blood purifies us. As normal human beings we are by nature impure, inherited from Adam - it is our spiritual DNA, it is built in from conception. There is no vaccine we can create that will change our sin nature. Unless we are perfect, as He is perfect, we have no place in His kingdom. Money, fame, glory - none of these things will make us perfect. Only Jesus blood and His righteousness can do that. 

Vs. 27 - “that He might present to Himself the church in all her glory, having no spot or wrinkle or any such thing; but that she would be holy and blameless. “

“That He might present to Himself the church” - This is another “So that”, linking the cleansing and sanctification to this act - The church and the Savior come together as bride and bridegroom to be joined together in marriage. Again, the images from The Song of Songs show the bride waiting expectantly, eagerly and the groom filled with anticipation. They meet and are overwhelmed with love for each other! This is not about a Justice-of-the-Peace over-the-counter marriage. This is even more than wedding in a garden, or a church. (We have seen several English royal weddings - they are nothing compared to this!) 

The God of the Universe has given Himself to save and purify His believers. He is now waiting patiently for us. The perfect groom will be presented to the perfected bride. We are His, and acceptable to Him because what He has done! The Day is coming when the Savior and the Believers will be together. We who are many will be One with Him. We will see Him as He is, because we will be just like Him! 

“in all her glory” - There are times when I do not feel all that glorious. I believe that God’s word is true, and it says that the church will be ‘glorious’, therefore I will also be glorious. I know that I do not have to generate that. Christ has done it for me - Praise to His Glory! 

“But that she should be holy and blameless.” - The Bride will be holy and blameless - the basic definition of sanctified. Me - holy and blameless! “For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your ancestors, but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect.” (1 Pet 1:18-19) You - holy and blameless! (See: Jude 24,25; 1 Thess 3:13; Col 1:22; 2 Cor 5:21). 

Vs. 28 - “So husbands ought also to love their own wives as their own bodies. He who loves his own wife loves himself; “

“Love their own wives as their own bodies” - This is not about possessing the wife as your own. Very few of us do not love and respect our own bodies - that is, to protect our physical selves from danger, harm, and death. We will feed it, clean it, care for its wounds, do what it takes to get healed. We know this is the only body we can have here on earth. If we don’t take care of it, we die. 

Husbands, take care of your wife with the same care as you take care of yourself. Protect her from physical harm. Protect her from emotional harm. Do nothing that will lead her into spiritual harm. She is as important to you as is your own body. God brought Adam and Eve together (Gen 2:15-25). God knows men and women need each other - “It is not good for the man to be alone”. 

Vs. 29-30 - “for no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ also does the church, because we are members of His body.”

“Nourishes and cherishes” - God planned for man and woman to be together and live as one entity - “They shall become one flesh.” Treating your wife with any less respect than you treat yourself means you are going against the blueprint that God the Father has laid out.

“just as Christ also does the church” - Wow! Husbands, treat your wife like Christ treats the church! Christ voluntarily came from heaven to live as a human. He gave His life on the cross as the perfect sacrifice for the sin of the world. That is all of the sin of all of the world for all of time. The price to redeem every human who has ever lived has been paid. 

Now, the sad (or bad) news. Not everyone will be saved. (See: 1 Tim 1:16)

“we are members of His body” - There are several images in the New Testament about the relationship of the believers and Christ: church, body, bride, temple. Each of these words are used many times (most of them in a normal non-metaphorical sense) in the NT. For example “church” is used about 77 times; seven of which refer to Christ. 

For example: we the church are a holy people (1 Cor 1:2); Jesus is the head over everything of the church (Eph 1:22); He is the head of the body, the church (Col 1:18, 24); the church is God’s household (1 Tim 3:16). The church is seen as the Bride of Christ (See: John 3:29, Rev 19:2, Rev 21:2, 9, 22:17). 

The church is said to be the body of Christ - about 16 times in NT - (See: Rom 12:4-5; 1 Cor 12:12-17; Eph 1:23; Col 1:18; Heb 3:13, etc.) 

We are the temple for Christ (See: 1 Cor 3:15-17, 1 Cor 6:19, 2 Cor 6:16, Eph 2:12). Interestingly, in heaven there will be not temple structure, because God Himself will be the temple - we will worship Him because we will be in Him and He will be in us! (Rev 21:22).
“you also, as living stones, are being built up as a spiritual house for a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.” (1 Pet 2:5 )

Vs. 31 - “FOR THIS REASON A MAN SHALL LEAVE HIS FATHER AND MOTHER AND SHALL BE JOINED TO HIS WIFE, AND THE TWO SHALL BECOME ONE FLESH. “ (Quoted from Gen 2:25.)

The church is the Bride of Christ (See: John 3:29; Rev 19:2, 21:2, 9, 22:17). The church, the body of believers, will be ‘presented’ to the bridegroom - in your mind picture a royal wedding - the bride in a gorgeous white gown, signifying purity (holiness), being presented to the groom, the Holy One who died for her salvation, before the presence of God, to be joined together as one, and never, ever separated for eternity! The bride and groom are presented to each other, God the Father in all His glory handing us to Jesus Christ in all His glory. We have been made holy because of what He has done. We are His own. He is our own. (See also: John 14:20; 15:4; 17:9, 21, 23). 

Vs. 32 - “This mystery is great; but I am speaking with reference to Christ and the church. “

“This mystery is great” - This message is a mystery in this sense: Moses or the prophets did not speak or write about the ‘church’. There are no references to the church in the OT. The body of believers is identified as the church after Peter’s “Great Confession” (Matt 16:13-20). How does one become a ‘member’ of Christ’s church? By believing and confessing that “Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the Living God.” Who do you say that Jesus is? If you read or hear the testimony, the evidence of what He did. If you hear and believe in Him as Lord and Savior, He will acknowledge you as His own. He will give you the Holy Spirit as earnest guarantee He will return for you that you may be with Him in eternity. 

It is not a mystery “Who Done It” novel. But it has been revealed at the proper time, for our benefit. The prophets did not predict this. They knew and believed that God would prevail and Israel would be saved. But just HOW it was to happen was not understood until after His resurrection, after He appeared to the disciples, after the Holy Spirit came upon them at Pentecost. If we look back at the Old Testament scripture we can see hints and allegations - but we have the benefit of hindsight. The Pharisees and Sadducees did not have Jesus crucified, sentenced to this humiliating death because they were anxious to see Jesus resurrected! They had Him killed to get rid of Him. 

Vs. 33 - “Nevertheless, each individual among you also is to love his own wife even as himself, and the wife must see to it that she respects her husband.”

“Nevertheless” - Paul is not saying “In spite of everything I just said...” The example of Christ loving His body the church is intensely spiritual, and applies to us all. But to get down to practicalities: So, to sum up: Husbands - love your wife with the same intensity as you love yourself. Simple, huh?

“wife must see to it that she respects her husband” - The other side of the man/wife relationship. 

“I am speaking with reference to Christ and the church” - If the resurrection of Jesus and His ascension into heaven was a great mystery, only revealed as it happened, then the believers being empowered by the Holy Spirit was equally amazing!

How do we apply the principles stated above?

Men love the idea that they are to be respected! That’s how they want the marriage to operate.
Women love the idea the husbands are love the wife unconditionally. That’s how they want the marriage to function.
We are plotting with these attitudes how the partners should behave and react, not on how we should conduct our own lives and behavior. We are very concerned that our partner is doing what God instructed them to do for us, but take a 'side-eye' at what He requires in our Christian life. Remember, Jesus rebuked Peter; telling him not to be concerned the 'other guy', but to follow Him. Don't be concerned about your wife or your husband. Be aware that Jesus has commanded you, and you are to obey Him. You will not be judged on someone else's behavior, only on your own!

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