Day 267: Ephesians 3:1-21

“...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.” - Ephesians 3:17-19 ESV

Agape is the Greek word Paul uses here for love. More than any other gift that comes from the hand of God, this is the one that makes us either rise or fall. This is because we are constantly in need of its refilling. When we run dry on love, we start treating others as objects to be used. When we lack love, we start looking to God as a cosmic vending machine. If people, or God, don't give us what we want, we land in disappointment and bitterness.

Yet when we are rooted and grounded in love, we see people as image-bearers of God. We also start to see God as a loving Father, One who wants what's best for us.

Everything God does is purposeful and is ultimately for our good. We may not understand it or even be able to explain it, but we know that God's love is time-tested and will take us to places unattainable by our own effort.

Paul is right. Jesus' love surpasses knowledge!

"That is what Paul’s goal is in this prayer and, in many ways, in this letter: That God’s love and wisdom and strength might so permeate them that they become mature as a people." - Darrell Bock

Day 266: Ephesians 2:1-22

“Even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ— by grace you have been saved— and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus.” - Ephesians 2:5-6 ESV

How much grace does God have available to pour out on us? Is there a threshold that He won't cross? Will He ever withhold it because of scarcity or His impatience with us?

In this letter to the church in Ephesus, Paul continues to use some variations of the Greek word plousios to describe God's great grace. We see it in our translations as rich. Another translation of this word can be in abundance.

God's grace is opulent, and His storehouse that contains it is always full.

God's grace is the secure foundation that allows us to respond in faith. When we respond with that trust in Jesus, God does His best work, His resurrecting work.

There are so many people walking around today that are animated, but they are dead in their sin. God is waiting with His grace to set them free.

“He is not only merciful, showing his pity to those who are totally unworthy and undeserving; he is rich in mercy (see on 1:7). That mercy proceeds from love, the great love with which he loved us. There is longing in the heart of God for humanity.” - Francis Foulkes

Day 265: Ephesians 1:1-23

“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.” - Ephesians 1:5 ESV

How long has God had you on His mind? When did He know that you would come to faith in His Son, Jesus? According to this verse, before God said, "Let there be light," He knew you would be saved toward a new life. That should make you feel loved today.

Ephesians 1 could be re-read 100x in one sitting and still have more to give us as food for the depths of our souls.

The exciting thing to think about, coming out of this passage, is that there are still more who God knows who will turn to Him in faith for salvation from their sin. The troubling thing is that we don't know who will say "yes" to Jesus. God does. We don't. We don't have foreknowledge as God does (He exists outside of time). This should give some serious urgency to our call as followers of Jesus to "go and make disciples of all nations." (see Matthew 28:18-20)

The pre-Christians are out there. Let's go find them and then tell them they are invited to experience eternal life as well.

Markus Barth (AB) puts it, “The happiness that accompanies a radiant good will is implied. Those singing God’s praise … respond to God’s pleasure in doing good.” - Foulkes, F. (1989). Ephesians  (Vol. 10, p. 57)

Day 264: Galatians 6:1-18

“Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.” - Galatians 6:2 ESV

“For each will have to bear his own load.” - Galatians 6:5 ESV

These two verses have been pointed to as an apparent contradiction by many skeptics, but we know better than for Paul (by way of the Holy Spirit) to make such a mistake just three verses apart.

The question he is working to answer in regards to someone being caught in a sin is this: "Should we allow others to help us along the way, or should we go solo and hope for the best?"

The word for burdens in Greek is baros and describes the excess burden or burdens that are so heavy they weigh us down. These burdens are like boulders. The word for load is pholtion and describes the heavy cargo of a ship or the burden of daily toil. These loads are like knapsacks. (For more on this, check out the “What Do Boundaries Look Like?" section of the book Boundaries by Cloud and Townsend)

Every day we should look for opportunities to help someone along the way with their boulders (see verse 10), but we should note that we all have a personal responsibility as well to carry our own knapsacks. We will not be able to carry someone else into heaven, especially if they've chosen a lifestyle of sin over walking by the Spirit (see yesterday's post).

Each of us has our own daily heavy cargo, and we cannot look to others to do the work for us (i.e. you have to take your own Organic Chemistry test). In this instance, we have to look to Jesus, the only one who can make us safe (justification) and sound (sanctification).

“See to it, brothers and sisters, that none of you has a sinful, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God. But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called ‘Today,’ so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness. We have come to share in Christ, if indeed we hold our original conviction firmly to the very end.”  - Hebrews 3:12-14 NIV

Day 263: Galatians 5:13-26

“If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit.” - Galatians 5:25 ESV

Many of us have asked the question, "Who is it that is going to make it to heaven?" or "How can we know that we ourselves are headed there?"

In our passage today, Paul writes that there are some major indicators in our lives that will help us answer these two questions. In reality, we have two options as we live this life:

• Walk by the flesh (sinful nature--there's that Greek word sarx again)

• Walk by the Spirit

I counted 17 different descriptions that Paul gives of those who are walking according to the flesh in verses 19-21. The list of 17 is interesting, because all of them aren't illegal in the United States today. No one will go to prison for envy or drunkenness or idolatry. Yet the list is profound due to the evil that springs out of these evils. Darkness always seems to compound into sin that gets way beyond our control.

Today's goal? Allow the Holy Spirit to produce fruit with the nine eternal, life-giving facets:

Love

Joy

Peace

Patience

Kindness

Goodness

Faithfulness

Gentleness

Self-control

This fruit isn't the kind we can manufacture, and we can only fake them for so long. Only God Himself produces this kind of authentic Jesus-living. Walk, keep in step with the Spirit of the God who loves you so much that He sent His Son to die for you.

Day 262: Galatians 5:1-12

“For through the Spirit we eagerly await by faith the righteousness for which we hope. For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision has any value. The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love.” - Galatians‬ ‭5:5-6‬ ‭NIV‬‬

False teachers are notorious for making Christianity about rule-keeping as a means for salvation. I mean, it is easy to see why they use such tactics. It takes all the mystery out of following Jesus and makes it about what we can do. We love when the focus is on us and our accomplishments.

Yet, in its purest form, Christianity is about trusting Jesus to such an extent that love is the outcome. The Greek word Paul uses for expressing is energeō and can also be translated as work or to be in action.  This means that faith is to come first, then love is to follow. This way, we keep everything in its proper perspective.

Obeying the Law of Moses wasn’t going to justify these first-century Christians, and neither will our own efforts set us free.

Jesus is the only one who offers true freedom, and from there, He creates in us a new heart that will accomplish more than we could have ever done by our own initiative.

“For it is the love of Christ which moves our hearts to respond to him; so in that sense it is true to say that our faith is ‘inspired by love.’” - Cole, R. A. (1989). Galatians (Vol. 9, p. 195)

Day 261: Galatians 3:23-29; 4:1-31

“for in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith. For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.” - Galatians 3:26-28 ESV

There is probably not another verse in the Bible that speaks to the revolutionary nature of the New Testament as in verse 28 of this passage. For the first time in human history, everyone was given an equal voice and standing in a movement of people (ultimately of God). This was the setup for every civil rights movement that would follow. Yet it was more than that.

The main message of Jesus was to say that everyone had value, regardless of their gender, status, or race. It is heartbreaking to see many today who still refuse to submit to this truth.

When we are baptized as a response to our faith in Jesus, we are declaring that we are one more sinner in need of grace. Putting on Jesus also means doing away with rank.

This doesn't mean that our race, gender, or status no longer matter. We celebrate the diversity of those that are a part of Jesus' Church. Yet, in our diversity, there should always be equality.

The following quote from Kenneth Boles' Galatians commentary is a great way to end our time for today:

"The Galatian believers, although Gentile in their ancestry, are united with Jewish believers in Christ. In the world, mankind will always be divided into warring camps over issues of race, nationality, creed, sex, and social status, but in the body of Christ all are equal. All have put on Christ; all look like Christ; all belong to Christ."

Day 260: Galatians 3:10-22

“But the Scripture imprisoned everything under sin, so that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe.” - Galatians 3:22 ESV

Have you ever been reading through the Old Testament (especially the first five books -- the Torah) and wondered why so much detail was recorded when it came to the Law of Moses?

Why do we need to have our eyes on all of these 613 commandments that the Jewish people were instructed to keep?

Paul shows us that the purpose of these Hebrew Scriptures was (and is) to reveal the sin we have in our lives. The Law of Moses is the great revealer of our inadequacy to save our own souls.

So when we fix our eyes on Jesus (Hebrews 12:1-3), the Author and Finisher of faith. His sacrifice on the cross will always be the only true cure for the sin we have embedded so deep within us. We can continue to try other avenues for help with our darkness, but nothing else will do.

Simple trust in Jesus is the only way.

The old hymn by Jessie Brown Pounds (1906) says it perfectly:

I must needs go home by the way of the cross,

There's no other way but this;

I shall ne'er get sight of the gates of light,

If the way of the cross I miss.

The way of the cross leads home.

Day 259: Galatians 2:17-21; 3:1-9

“I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.” - Galatians 2:20 ESV

C.H. Spurgeon, commenting on this verse, wrote, "I do not know a better epitome of Christian experience than this. This is the daily walk of a true child of God; if he lives after any other sort, then he does not live a Christian's life at all."

When we decided to follow Jesus -- when we believed, confessed His name, changed our minds, and were baptized -- here we see that we ourselves became a resting place for God's presence. We gave him complete control of our will and our bodies.

The Greek word Paul uses for flesh (sarx) here is elsewhere in his letters translated as sinful nature. Though we are in these bodies that are prone to sin, we need to know and believe it is possible also to live a life of faith. We are not doomed to fail; we are equipped to succeed.

How?

Jesus' love (pursuing us).

Jesus' sacrifice (saving us).

Jesus' presence (within us).

Day 258: Galatians 2:1-16

“Yet we know that a person is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ, so we also have believed in Christ Jesus, in order to be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the law, because by works of the law no one will be justified.” - Galatians 2:16

Justified is one of Paul's favorite words to use as he wrote to churches and friends. He used it to describe what God does when he saves us by the blood of Jesus. It definitely is not a word he used in reference to what we've earned.

The Greek word is dikaioo and is a legal term that was used in reference to the guilty being acquitted.

This is a beautiful picture of what happens when we come to Jesus in faith. He declares us not guilty and sets us free. There are no conditions or debts we have to repay. God only asks us to trust Him, to really believe that His way is the best way to live. Jesus paid it all with his death on the cross.

Being good enough on our own? We've actually tried that many times.

It doesn't end in freedom; it ends in frustration.

This was so important to Paul that he was even willing to confront Christianity's original spokesman, Peter, to ensure that Christianity didn't devolve into a belief that we can make things right all by ourselves, by our performance.