Saturday, December 31, 2016
Ephesians 1 NLT
Outline
- The Divine Purpose: The Glory and Headship of Christ (1:3-14)
- Prayer That Christians May Realize God's Purpose and
Power (1:15-23)
Steps Toward the Fulfillment of God's Purpose (chs. 2-3)
Ephesians 1 NLT
1 This letter is from Paul, chosen by
the will of God to be an apostle of Christ Jesus. I am writing to God’s holy
people in Ephesus, who are faithful followers of Christ Jesus.
2 May God our Father and the Lord Jesus
Christ give you grace and peace.
3 All praise to God, the Father of our
Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the
heavenly realms because we are united with Christ.
4Even before he made the world, God loved us
and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in his eyes.
5 God decided in advance to adopt us
into his own family by bringing us to himself through Jesus Christ. This is
what he wanted to do, and it gave him great pleasure.
6 So we praise God for the glorious
grace he has poured out on us who belong to his dear Son.
7 He is so rich in kindness and grace
that he purchased our freedom with the blood of his Son and forgave our
sins.
8 He has showered his kindness on us,
along with all wisdom and understanding.
9 God has now revealed to us his
mysterious plan regarding Christ, a plan to fulfill his own good
pleasure.
10 And this is the plan: At the right
time he will bring everything together under the authority of Christ—everything
in heaven and on earth.
11Furthermore, because we are united with
Christ, we have received an inheritance from God, for he chose us in advance,
and he makes everything work out according to his plan.
12 God’s purpose was that we Jews who
were the first to trust in Christ would bring praise and glory to God.
13And now you Gentiles have also heard the
truth, the Good News that God saves you. And when you believed in Christ, he
identified you as his own by giving you the Holy Spirit, whom he promised long
ago.
14 The Spirit is God’s guarantee that he
will give us the inheritance he promised and that he has purchased us to be his
own people. He did this so we would praise and glorify him.
15 Ever since I first heard of your
strong faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for God’s people everywhere,
16 I have not stopped thanking God for
you. I pray for you constantly,
17 asking God, the glorious Father of
our Lord Jesus Christ, to give you spiritual wisdom and insight so that you
might grow in your knowledge of God.
18 I pray that your hearts will be
flooded with light so that you can understand the confident hope he has given
to those he called—his holy people who are his rich and glorious
inheritance.
19 I also pray that you will understand
the incredible greatness of God’s power for us who believe him. This is the
same mighty power
20 that raised Christ from the dead and
seated him in the place of honor at God’s right hand in the heavenly
realms.
21 Now he is far above any ruler or
authority or power or leader or anything else—not only in this world but also
in the world to come.
22 God has put all things under the
authority of Christ and has made him head over all things for the benefit of
the church.
23 And the church is
his body; it is made full and complete by Christ, who fills all things everywhere
with himself.
Friday, December 30, 2016
Summary of the Book of Ephesians
Book of Ephesians
Summary of the Book of Ephesians
This summary of the
book of Ephesians provides information about the title, author(s), date of
writing, chronology, theme, theology, outline, a brief overview, and the
chapters of the Book of Ephesians.
The author identifies
himself as Paul (1:1; 3:1; cf. 3:7,13; 4:1; 6:19-20). Some have taken the absence of the usual personal greetings
and the verbal similarity of many parts to Colossians, among other reasons, as
grounds for doubting authorship by the apostle Paul. However, this was probably
a circular letter, intended for other churches in addition to the one in
Ephesus (see notes on 1:1,15; 6:21-23). Paul may have written it about the same time as Colossians,
c. a.d. 60, while he was in prison at Rome (see 3:1; 4:1; 6:20; see also chart, p. 2261).
Ephesus was the most
important city in western Asia Minor (now Turkey). It had a harbor that at that
time opened into the Cayster River (see map, p. 2429), which in turn emptied
into the Aegean Sea (see map, p. 2599). Because it was also at an intersection
of major trade routes, Ephesus became a commercial center. It boasted a pagan
temple dedicated to the Roman goddess Diana (Greek Artemis);
cf. Ac 19:23-31. Paul made Ephesus a center for evangelism for about three
years (see note on Ac 19:10), and the church there apparently flourished for
some time, but later needed the warning of Rev 2:1-7.
Unlike several of the
other letters Paul wrote, Ephesians does not address any particular error or
heresy. Paul wrote to expand the horizons of his readers, so that they might
understand better the dimensions of God's eternal purpose and grace and come to
appreciate the high goals God has for the church.
The letter opens with
a sequence of statements about God's blessings, which are interspersed with a
remarkable variety of expressions drawing attention to God's wisdom,
forethought and purpose. Paul emphasizes that we have been saved, not only for
our personal benefit, but also to bring praise and glory to God. The climax of
God's purpose, "when the times will have reached their fulfillment,"
is to bring all things in the universe together under Christ (1:10). It is crucially important that Christians
realize this, so in 1:15-23 Paul prays for their understanding (a second prayer occurs
in 3:14-21).
Having explained God's
great goals for the church, Paul proceeds to show the steps toward their
fulfillment. First, God has reconciled individuals to himself as an act of
grace (2:1-10).
Second, God has reconciled these saved individuals to each other, Christ having
broken down the barriers through his own death (2:11-22). But God has done something even beyond this: He has united these
reconciled individuals in one body, the church. This is a "mystery"
not fully known until it was revealed to Paul (3:1-6).
Now Paul is able to state even more clearly what God has intended for the
church, namely, that it be the means by which he displays his "manifold
wisdom" to the "rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms" (3:7-13).
It is clear through the repetition of "heavenly realms" (1:3,20; 2:6; 3:10; 6:12) that Christian existence is not merely on an
earthly plane. It receives its meaning and significance from heaven, where
Christ is exalted at the right hand of God (1:20).
Nevertheless, that
life is lived out on earth, where the practical daily life of the believer
continues to work out the purposes of God. The ascended Lord gave
"gifts" to the members of his church to enable them to minister to
one another and so promote unity and maturity (4:1-16).
The unity of the church under the headship of Christ foreshadows the uniting of
"all things in heaven and on earth" under Christ (1:10). The new life of purity and mutual deference
stands in contrast to the old way of life without Christ (4:17 -- 6:9). Those who are "strong in the
Lord" have victory over the evil one in the great spiritual conflict,
especially through the power of prayer (6:10-20; see note on 1:3).
- The Divine Purpose: The Glory and Headship of Christ (1:3-14)
- Prayer That Christians May Realize God's Purpose and
Power (1:15-23)
- Steps Toward the Fulfillment of God's Purpose
(chs. 2-3)
From the NIV Study
Bible, Introductions to the Books of the Bible, Ephesians
Copyright 2002 © Zondervan. All rights reserved. Used with permission.
Copyright 2002 © Zondervan. All rights reserved. Used with permission.
Thursday, December 29, 2016
Wednesday, December 28, 2016
Galatians 5 and 6 NLT
Galatians 5 NLT
1 So Christ has truly set us free. Now
make sure that you stay free, and don’t get tied up again in slavery to the
law.
2Listen! I, Paul, tell you this: If you are
counting on circumcision to make you right with God, then Christ will be of no
benefit to you.
3 I’ll say it again. If you are trying
to find favor with God by being circumcised, you must obey every regulation in
the whole law of Moses.
4 For if you are trying to make
yourselves right with God by keeping the law, you have been cut off from
Christ! You have fallen away from God’s grace.
5 But we who live by the Spirit eagerly
wait to receive by faith the righteousness God has promised to us.
6 For when we place our faith in Christ
Jesus, there is no benefit in being circumcised or being uncircumcised. What is
important is faith expressing itself in love.
7 You were running the race so well.
Who has held you back from following the truth?
8 It certainly isn’t God, for he is the
one who called you to freedom.
9 This false teaching is like a little
yeast that spreads through the whole batch of dough!
10 I am trusting the Lord to keep you
from believing false teachings. God will judge that person, whoever he is, who
has been confusing you.
11 Dear brothers and sisters, if I were
still preaching that you must be circumcised—as some say I do—why am I still
being persecuted? If I were no longer preaching salvation through the cross of
Christ, no one would be offended.
12 I just wish that those troublemakers
who want to mutilate you by circumcision would mutilate themselves.
13 For you have been called to live in
freedom, my brothers and sisters. But don’t use your freedom to satisfy your
sinful nature. Instead, use your freedom to serve one another in love.
14 For the whole law can be summed up in
this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.”
15 But if you are always biting and
devouring one another, watch out! Beware of destroying one another.
16 So I say, let the Holy Spirit guide your
lives. Then you won’t be doing what your sinful nature craves.
17 The sinful nature wants to do evil,
which is just the opposite of what the Spirit wants. And the Spirit gives us
desires that are the opposite of what the sinful nature desires. These two
forces are constantly fighting each other, so you are not free to carry out
your good intentions.
18 But when you are directed by the
Spirit, you are not under obligation to the law of Moses.
19 When you follow the desires of your
sinful nature, the results are very clear: sexual immorality, impurity, lustful
pleasures,
20idolatry, sorcery, hostility, quarreling,
jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambition, dissension, division,
21 envy, drunkenness, wild parties, and
other sins like these. Let me tell you again, as I have before, that anyone
living that sort of life will not inherit the Kingdom of God.
22 But the Holy Spirit produces this
kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness,
faithfulness,
23 gentleness, and self-control. There
is no law against these things!
24Those who belong to Christ Jesus have
nailed the passions and desires of their sinful nature to his cross and
crucified them there.
25 Since we are living by the Spirit,
let us follow the Spirit’s leading in every part of our lives.
26 Let us not become
conceited, or provoke one another, or be jealous of one another.
Galatians 6 NLT
1 Dear brothers and sisters, if another
believer is overcome by some sin, you who are godly should gently and humbly
help that person back onto the right path. And be careful not to fall into the
same temptation yourself.
2 Share each other’s burdens, and in
this way obey the law of Christ.
3 If you think you are too important to
help someone, you are only fooling yourself. You are not that important.
4 Pay careful attention to your own
work, for then you will get the satisfaction of a job well done, and you won’t
need to compare yourself to anyone else.
5 For we are each responsible for our
own conduct.
6 Those who are taught the word of God
should provide for their teachers, sharing all good things with them.
7 Don’t be misled—you cannot mock the
justice of God. You will always harvest what you plant.
8Those who live only to satisfy their own
sinful nature will harvest decay and death from that sinful nature. But those
who live to please the Spirit will harvest everlasting life from the
Spirit.
9 So let’s not get tired of doing what
is good. At just the right time we will reap a harvest of blessing if we don’t
give up.
10 Therefore, whenever we have the
opportunity, we should do good to everyone—especially to those in the family of
faith.
11 NOTICE WHAT LARGE LETTERS I USE AS I
WRITE THESE CLOSING WORDS IN MY OWN HANDWRITING.
12 Those who are trying to force you to
be circumcised want to look good to others. They don’t want to be persecuted
for teaching that the cross of Christ alone can save.
13 And even those who advocate
circumcision don’t keep the whole law themselves. They only want you to be
circumcised so they can boast about it and claim you as their disciples.
14 As for me, may I never boast about
anything except the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. Because of that cross, my
interest in this world has been crucified, and the world’s interest in me has
also died.
15 It doesn’t matter whether we have
been circumcised or not. What counts is whether we have been transformed into a
new creation.
16 May God’s peace and mercy be upon all
who live by this principle; they are the new people of God.
17 From now on, don’t let anyone trouble
me with these things. For I bear on my body the scars that show I belong to
Jesus.
18 Dear brothers and
sisters, may the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit. Amen.
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