Brian and Cathy Gray Bible study

Chew on This.

…his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law, he meditates day and night. Psalm 1

The word “meditate” in Hebrew means to chew as a cow chews its cud. Cows have four stomach chambers. Hence every bite is thoroughly chewed four times over.

Ephesians 3:1-13

As we’ve said, unity is the underlying theme in the book of Ephesians. Paul sums up the unity between Jewish and Gentile believers in the conclusion of Ephesians chapter 2. 

So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God…vs 19 In him, you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit. Vs 22 This is not just a fleeting epiphany.

We are God’s field, God’s building 1 Cor 3:9

The language is mysterious which is fitting because Paul calls it a mystery in Ephesians 3:3 and repeats it in verses 4, 6, and 9.  Ideological importance in a passage or book can often be identified by the number of times a word or phrase is repeated. Galatians 1:8-9 and Luke 13:1-5 are two examples. If you’ve ever read an in-depth commentary then you know that Bible scholars frequently count the number of times words are used when establishing authorship as well the primary theme. It is for this same reason that most online bibles will tell you the number of times a word occurs in the Old and New Testaments.

The mystery of which Paul writes is that before the foundation of the world God planned to save both Jew and Gentile in Jesus creating in himself one new man in place of the two. Eph 2:15 Paul says this mystery was revealed to Him by God.  And while he does not formally declare himself to be a prophet, this revelation exemplifies the nature of true prophecy which is the testimony of Jesus. Rev 19:10

Jesus is the Word. John 1

While not explicitly stated, the implication is that the depth of our understanding of the mystery is contingent upon our unity. This is more clearly illustrated in chapter 4.

…till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ; that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting, but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head—Christ— Eph 4:13-15

The current denominationalism a.k.a. the fragmented church, is full of winds of doctrine, craftiness, and plotting. Even so, each one has a piece of the truth puzzle.  Unfortunately, each denomination thinks it has the whole puzzle and unity will only be achieved when everyone conforms to their piece.

The Acts 17:11 Bereans Bible Study

Cathy and I open the church doors and set up the chairs each week to make space for two or more to gather together in the name of Jesus. We study and present the pieces of the mystery that we think we’ve grasped albeit with our blurred vision and partial knowledge. 1 Cor 13:12 Others come alongside us and do the same. I think I can say that when the session ends we each walk away with more insight than we could have obtained on our own. This weekly experience lends deeper context to “For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them.” Mat 18:20 This is what we mean when we say,

We all see better when we see together.

With the theological foundation for the church now laid, Paul prepares to frame the building by summarizing the church’s ultimate purpose in Eph 7-13

Of this gospel, I was made a minister according to the gift of God’s grace, which was given to me by the working of his power. To me, though I am the very least of all the saints, this grace was given, to preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ, and to bring to light for everyone what is the plan of the mystery hidden for ages in God, who created all things, so that through the church the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places. This was according to the eternal purpose that he has realized in Christ Jesus our Lord, in whom we have boldness and access with confidence through our faith in him. So I ask you not to lose heart over what I am suffering for you, which is your glory. Eph 3:7-13

It is worth noting that Paul was in prison when he wrote this letter. This was after he’d met with the Ephesian elders in Miletus Acts 20:29-30. The elders wept because Paul knew he was destined for prison and eventual execution in Rome and they would see his face no more vs 38. Paul doesn’t want them to worry and mourn for him because it was God’s will that Paul suffers for them which was their glory. While many avoid talking about it, suffering is another aspect of the mystery and unity.

What most caught my eye in this chapter was that the purpose of the church is to make the manifold wisdom of God known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places.

1 Peter lends some insight.

In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, so that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ. Though you have not seen him, you love him. Though you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory, obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls. 1 Pet 1:6-9

That as a church we would believe John 1:12-13 and stand Eph 6:13 and rejoice in our suffering Rom 5:3 and conquer by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of our testimony, and love not our lives even unto death Rev 12:11 and all this by faith rather than sight 2 Cor 5:7 apparently amazes the good rulers and authorities in the heavenly places. It stumps and defeats the evil ones. Eph 6:12

Certainly, these are some of the things into which angels long to look. 1 Pet 1:12

Also, consider that Angels can not be saved. The third of them that fell are already condemned with no hope of redemption. They have no experience of grace or regeneration. They can not be indwelt by the Holy Spirit, or delivered from sin. And yet the remaining two-thirds are our fellow servants. Rev 19:10

The more I dig into the Word of God the more mystified and awed I become. Ephesians 3:10 should produce the fear of God. After all, we have such an important mission contingent upon unity, and yet we are so divided as a global body.

How will we ever come to the unity of the faith?!

What exactly is it that keeps us so divided? Is it envy, pride, laziness, ingratitude celebrity worship, or genuine confusion?

Maybe it’s all of the above. Or maybe we just don’t fear God. Prov 9:10

My friend Tyler and I were discussing how little we actually know about the world in which we live. Yet we go about our daily lives as if the mysteries of creation have been revealed. Many will readily admit they do not know how things work, that science is a mystery.  They just trust the scientists. Those who understand the nature of science know the absurdity of that statement. For example, while theories abound we still don’t know what electricity is.

“Why it’s a flow of colliding electrons!” you say.

Ok. But what are electrons?

A middle school science lesson.

Turns out those neat little electron orbits that they showed us in middle school aren’t accurate. Based on the findings of a guy named Heisenberg scientists can not prove that electrons don’t pop in and out of existence or bounce between dimensions.

Everyone knows that water freezes at 32 degrees Fahrenheit and a cup of water freezes faster than a lake.

Amirite?

Not so fast. Scientists just learned that water can remain liquid as low as minus 47 degrees Fahrenheit. And it’s only possible in the smallest quantities.

Of course, everyone knows what gravity is.

Wrong again!

Currently, there are at least twenty different theories of gravity. Isaac Newton, the scientist who read his bible more than any other book allegedly came up with what amounts to a theory of gravitational effect when an apple fell on his head.

Speaking of gravity one of the most interesting theories known as String Theory fully supports the fact that Jesus, the Word, spoke creation into existence. Gen 1, John 1:1-3 According to String theory the subatomic particles of which the universe is composed are made of sound frequencies like individual musical notes.  Words are composed of letters that represent sounds or frequencies.

In the beginning, was the Word…

Please don’t feel pressured to leap down the aforementioned rabbit holes. My point is that we exist in a realm of mystery that we know very little about. What we do know is that any knowledge we have concerning the mysterious, manifold wisdom of God ultimately only comes by revelation.  While secular society may regard scientists as an all-seeing priesthood, many of our best inventions arose from what secularists call accidents. 

Here’s a list of 30 if you are interested.

The truth is we wouldn’t even have a thing called science were it not for God-fearing Christian men and women who saw a world governed by objective laws created by the objective lawgiver – God. They saw the complexity in the creation and knew it was designed by Him.  God veiled the glory of His design in a mystery. These men and women were compelled to search it out. Prov 25:2 Anyone who reads the life stories of men like Sir Issac Newton, Blasé Pascal, and Max Planck to name a few will clearly recognize the revelatory nature of their discoveries.

Nothing is by accident.

I suspect that the unity of the faith will only be realized when God humbles us through various means such that every member in the body of Christ realizes that all is a mystery and none of us knows anything apart from or beyond that which God gives. 1 Cor 4:7

For who makes you different from anyone else? What do you have that you did not receive? And if you did receive it, why do you boast as though you did not?

It is for this reason that Paul warned in the previous verse, do not depart from what is written. 1 Cor 4:6

Believers everywhere are and always have been crying out for revival. Others say it is upon us. However, the Biblical World View has been in steady decline for years. As of 2021, only 6% of Americans were following a Biblical Worldview. From a purely scriptural viewpoint, these stats seem more indicative of a falling away 2 Thess 2:1-3 than the cusp of a major revival. Then again repentance always precedes and accompanies true revival.

Maybe we need to repent?

If I am perfectly honest when I look at the body of Christ today I see a growing number of fractures and a lot of what I call “Harry Potter Christianity” that results when people depart from what is written. I can’t help wondering if these are the times when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables. 2 Tim 4:1-4

Perhaps we should ask ourselves. Do we depend on Holy Spirit whom Jesus promised would lead all of us into all truth? John 16:13 Do we take the words of Jesus seriously;  Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth? John 17:17 Or are we always learning and never able to arrive at a knowledge of the truth. 2 Tim 3:7 Do we believe He is there when two or more of us are gathered together? Or does he only speak to an anointed celebrity few that we must chase from conference to conference in the hope of receiving an impartation? If in fact, we know Jesus is in our midst shouldn’t we be hungry to embrace the royal privilege we’ve been given together and search out the matter of truth in  His Word that He breathed?

Please don’t misconstrue my constant emphasis on the Word of God. I am not minimizing any other aspect of our faith. Jesus said the gospel of the kingdom WILL be preached to all the World. Mat 24:14. The unity of the faith is a benchmark goal. That being said, if we believe that faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God Rom 10:17 then it follows that unity of the faith will only be realized in and through the Word of God. In our experience, a deeper comprehension of the mysterious manifold wisdom of God is always the fruit of such fellowship.

Chew on that.

Maranatha!

Brian and Cathy Gray Bible study

Abolished or Not Abolished

Having read the Bible for years, today I read with an eye for things I’ve missed, words I may have previously taken for granted. We are covering the conclusion of Ephesians 2:11-22 in our Bible study. What caught my eye this week is Eph 2:14-15

For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility by abolishing the law of commandments expressed in ordinances, that he might create in himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace…

Abolishing the law of commandments expressed in ordinances?

If that is the case then what do we do with the words of Jesus in Mathew 5:17-18. 

Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfill. For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled.

As always the law of noncontradiction applies. Scripture does not contradict scripture. Only our misunderstanding contradicts scripture. I wondered. As was the case with words like “judgment” and “power”; perhaps there were multiple Greek words for the English word “Law”.

There were not.

“Law” in Eph 2:15 is the same “Law” in Mat 5:17-18 and everywhere else it is used in the New Testament.

Law- nómos: anything established, a custom, a command, of any law whatsoever, a law or rule producing a state approved of God, a precept or injunction – the rule of action prescribed by reason – of the Mosaic law – the Christian religion: the law demanding faith, the moral instruction given by Christ, esp. the precept concerning love – the entire collection of the sacred books of the OT.

“To be (abolished) or not to be (abolished)? That is the question.”

I dug deeper.

Turns out – Eph 2:15 is a proof text for one of the worst heresies in church history.

Marcion (Markeeon) of Sinope  85 –160 AD was a nontrinitarian, gnostic theologian who preached that the God of the Old Testament was an angry vengeful God of Israel who had created the world from whom Jesus came to save us. Gnostics called this OT God the “Demiurge”. Marcion’s interpretation of Ephesians 2:15 was that “If Christ destroyed the Law by his teachings, the Law could not be good. Paul called the Law “good”, but for Marcion, the creator’s justice was only a cover for his savagery. From Marcion’s perspective, the Law revealed sin and thus enslaved people to the creator (The father). Christ came to abolish the entirety of this Law to free humanity from slavery to the creator. Since Christ came as the destroyer of the creator’s Law, he proved that the Law was evil, yet if the Law was evil, so was the divine Lawgiver.”  Destroyer of the Law – Oxford Academic

Logical, but dead wrong.

Interestingly, Marcion-esque thinking continues to impact the body of Christ today.  One recent example is Andy Stanley’s declaration that the church needs to “Unhitch from the Old Testament”. Think about it. Have you ever heard things like “That was just the Old Testament.” “The law was for the Jews” “We are not Jewish.” and “We aren’t under the law. We are under grace”? Martin Luther wrote, “love God and sin boldly…”

Maybe you were taught that the law does not apply to us today.

“We aren’t under the law. We are under grace” is true in the proper Hebrews 4:16 throne of grace context. However, a commonly mistaken implication is that the Old Testament is nothing more than a history book with a few good life application stories. The law is for Judizers and Pharisees. Errors like this are the unintended consequences of poor discipleship and a lopsided gospel that is itself rooted in a need to please people. Ouch! So often “Daddy God loves you and has a plan for your life.” supplants rather than compliments the message that apart from Christ we are “dead in our trespasses and by nature children appointed to wrath…” Eph 2:1-3

The root of Marcion’s error and ours is dualism.

Let’s face it. We are immersed in a culture of opposites, left vs right, good versus evil, this or that”. Ask most anyone “what is the opposite of light?” and they will say, “darkness”. The New Age which is just an old age conglomeration of Babylonian occultism and Gnostic dualism teaches that light and darkness, good and evil, etc., are interdependent. Like opposite sides of a coin, one can not exist without the other. Interestingly, dualism is also the root of dialectical materialism, the foundational teaching of Karl Marx. An estimated 110 million people died as a direct result of his teachings in the 20th century alone.

But I digress…

Darkness is not a thing. Darkness is the absence of light. As Roland Baker says,

“Our God is not the God of this or that. He’s the God of this and that.”

As we learned in Ephesians chapter one God’s will and plan existed before the foundations of the world. It is a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth. Eph 1:10 In the end there are but two categories in creation.

“In Christ who gives us light” and “darkness”.

Hence Jesus did not come to destroy but to fulfill…” Mathew 5:17-18 “Fulfill” is the same word Jesus repeatedly used throughout the Gospels. Plēróō- to fulfill, to cause God‘s will as made known in the law to be obeyed as it should be, and God‘s promises given through the prophets to receive fulfillment.

The abolishing of the law of commandments expressed in ordinances, that he might create in himself one new man in place of the two… has been accomplished in the sense that the war was won before it even started. However, we will only realize its complete fulfillment in the fullness of time. We will know the fullness of time has arrived when Heaven and earth pass away Mathew 5:17-18. Until then the Law is the standard by which He conforms us to the image of His Son. Rom 8:29 The law informs us that we need to come boldly to the throne of grace. Hebrews 4:16 It defines our needs and inspires our gratitude for His grace. The Law is not bad because it kills 2 Cor 3:6 The Law is good because it kills. It binds our flesh, our pride, our selfishness, and self-centeredness that “is the root of all our troubles” to the proverbial altar and slays it as a living sacrifice so that we may be transformed by the renewing of our minds Rom 12:1-2. Only then can the spirit give life.

Our God is the God of this AND that. Among other things, He is a forgiving, wrathful, patient, jealous, consuming fire Heb 12:18-29. His thoughts and ways are not like ours. They are higher than ours. Isa 55 He alone defines Love. He alone is Love. Everything He did, does, and will ever do is love, in spite of how it might offend our natural, dualistic, and yes – Marcion sensibilities.

In the meantime, we can rest in the fact that as believers we are sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory. Eph 1:13-14

Maranatha!

Brian and Cathy Gray Bible study

Our Inheritance – Maranatha

If you are anything like me you will be familiar with the temptation to fly through familiar verses in the Bible under the assumption that

“I already understand… because I’ve read it at least a hundred times…”

Others abstain from “headiness” because Holy Spirit informs their understanding. This is certainly true provided our understanding conforms to scripture. Still, we must always keep in mind that God’s word is truth John 17:17.

Our ability to hear God comes from the word of God Rom 10:17

We are to study to show ourselves approved unto God, a workman that need not be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. 2 Tim 2:15

The Study

Having determined that Ephesians 1:3-14 is one long sentence in the original Greek we considered how punctuation in different translations might impact our interpretation. 

even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love, he predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will Eph 1:4-5

Is it “…holy and blameless before him in love.”? Or “In love, he predestined us for adoption…”?

You might accuse me of more hair splitting. However, establishing literary context requires us to consider linguistic differences. At the very least it highlights our human propensity to assume.

We asked the question; who are we, us, and you? Jesus came first to fulfil God’s covenant with Israel. Mat 10:5-6 The gentiles were then grafted in Rom 11:11:36 We determined that in Eph 1 Paul is establishing the unity of Jewish and gentile believers.

…making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he outlined in Christ as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth. In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will, so that we who were the first to hope in Christ might be to the praise of his glory. In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory. Eph 1:9-14

“We” are the Jewish believers. “You” are the gentile believers.

Even more

Would it surprise you to learn that the final words of Jesus “It is finished” did not mean “everything is finished”. The promised Holy Spirit given in Acts 2 is not our full inheritance but a guarantee of what is still to come.

Guarantee (an earnest KJV) arrhabṓn: money which in purchases is given as a pledge or downpayment that the full amount will subsequently be paid.

There is an eschatological shadow of things to come in the book of Ephesians. Some people shut down when they hear that word. Others become energized and obsess over the wrath of the dragon in hope of anticipating the antichrist and his mark etc. But Jesus framed the end times in the context of childbirth. Mat 24:3-31 That birth is the reset of all creation back to its original state – the birth of His plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven, and things on earth. Eph 1:10

Like the rainbow we thought we saw in full, one day we will come full “circle” and realize the full possession of our inheritance.

For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known. 1 Cor 13:12

Maranatha!

“Jesus has come. Jesus is coming”