spiritual warfare in Ephesians 6

Two exhortations stand side by side. The first is general: *Be strong in the Lord, and in the strength of his might* (verse 10). The second is more specific: *Put on the whole armour of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil* (verse 11). Both commands are conspicuous examples of the balanced teaching of Scripture. Some Christians are so self-confident that they think they can manage by themselves without the Lord’s strength and armour. Others are so self-distrustful that they imagine they have nothing to contribute to their victory in spiritual warfare. Both are mistaken. Paul expresses the proper combination of divine enabling and human co-operation. The power is indeed the Lord’s, and without *the strength of his might* we shall falter and fall, but still we need to *be strong* in him and in it, or more accurately to ‘be strengthened’. For the verb is a passive present which could almost be rendered “Strengthen yourselves in the Lord’ or (NEB) ‘Find your strength in the Lord’. It is the same construction as in 2 Timothy 2:1 where Paul exhorts Timothy to ‘take strength from the grace of God which is ours in Christ Jesus’ (NEB). Similarly, the armour is God’s and without it we shall be fatally unprotected and exposed, but still we need to take it up and put it on. --John Stott

Stott paragraph on Christian view of Authority & Social Structures

From Sunday February 4 sermon

Big Picture

On Sunday we plan to look at a huge hunk of Ephesians together. In studying Ephesians 3,4,and 5 this week I have been blown away with the genius of this book God-breathed through Paul. How practical. How mind-stretching, heart-warming, comforting and challenging.

Their theme is the integration of Christian experience (what we are), Christian theology (what we believe) and Christian ethics (how we behave). They emphasize that being, thought and action belong together and must never be separated. For what we are governs how we think, and how we think determines how we act. We are God’s new society, a people who have put off the old life and put on the new; that is what he has made us. So we need to recall this by the daily renewal of our minds, remembering how we ‘learned Christ... as the truth is in Jesus’, and thinking Christianly about ourselves and our new status.

Here is a link to an extended quote where John Stott summarizes Ephesians Four & Five.

How Grammar Can Save Your Life

tons o' people... except me of course, struggle to remember what God goes to great lengths to teach us... we don't obey God in order to garner His love & acceptance.... RATHER, His love & acceptance superabounds to us b/c of Jesus Christ... and from that strong & secure position, we obey.

Covenant Seminary Prof has a great detailed explanation of how this works in Ephesians you can read here

Christ's purpose for Spiritual gifts He gives

It is the exalted Christ who bestows gifts on his church, that his gifts are very diverse in character, that the teaching gifts are primary, and that their purpose is to equip God’s people for their ministries and so build up Christ’s body. --John Stott, commenting on Ephesians 4

A Prayer

I bow my knees before God and pray that, according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.
--The Apostle Paul
Perhaps you pray this today? For yourself, spouse, children, Christ Community, et al ???

Sermons on Ephesians

To start off the new year we are going (DV) to spend 5-6 weeks sprinting through the new testament book of Ephesians. Two encouragements:
1.) Seek to read Ephesians 1:1-2:10 prior to our gathering Sunday January 14
2.) Pray Paul's prayers for the Ephesian church for Christ Community Church. Hint: they are found in ch.1 and ch.3.

Paul’s readers (the Ephesian Church) are *in Christ Jesus*. This key expression of the letter thus occurs in its very first verse. To be ‘in Christ’ is to be personally and vitally united to Christ, as branches are to he vine and members to the body, and thereby also to Christ’s people. For it is impossible to be part of the Body without being related to both the Head and the members. Much of what the epistle later develops is already here in bud. According to the New Testament - and especially Paul - to be a Christian is in essence to be ‘in Christ’, one with him and with his people. --John Stott