Your wealth will influence your walk. If you seek after worldly wealth, the way you live will reflect the values of the flesh. But if you pursue spiritual wealth, you will walk like a child of God.
The epistle to the Ephesians demonstrates this truth because the Ephesian Christians were poor in worldly wealth, but they were rich in spiritual blessings. Because of the importance of the source of their true wealth, Paul spends the first three chapters of the epistle reminding them of their position in Christ. This position comes with several possessions:
There are no imperatives in the first three chapters of Ephesians; Paul describes the work God has done in them through His sovereignty. Their spiritual wealth comes only from God and not from themselves, and it is for this reason their position before God is secure.
The second three chapters of Ephesians, on the other hand, contain 35 imperatives. Our identity in Christ comes first, and out of that we learn how to live. God calls us to progressively become in our practice who we are in our position. When we do so, we live “to the praise of the glory of His grace” (Ephesians 1:6 NASB).
[divider style=”solid” color=”#cccccc” opacity=”1″ icon_color=”#666666″ icon_size=”15″ placement=”equal”]
Watch other videos from Ken’s Monday night study.
Purchase the Talk Thru the Bible New Testament Overview DVDs or the Ephesians presentation.
These are the last recorded statements of Jesus Christ before His death on the cross. Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing. (Luke 23:34) When they came to the place called the Skull, there they crucified Him and the criminals, one on the right and
Mortality and the purpose of life are prominent themes in Thomas Cole’s paintings. Through his paintings, he vividly brings out the human dilemma of mortality, a dilemma we ourselves must wrestle with. Given the inevitability of death, what are we to do with our days? We can try to stave
In the article below, Dr. Boa synthesizes material from several teaching sessions from his series Biblical Principles for Marriage and from portions of his spiritual formation text Conformed to His Image (primarily from chapter 18, “Holistic Spirituality”). Dr. Boa focuses on agape love as one of the five forms of loves (based on the different Greek words). After reviewing all forms, he gives reasons for why agape is the greatest.
Receive the Latest from Reflections & Ken Boa