Ephesians Letter
Ephesians is one of the several letters in the New Testaments written by Paul. At the time of Paul writing this letter, he was in prison in Rome. This was most likely written around 60AD- 62AD during his second missionary journey. He wrote this letter to the Gentiles (non-Jewish) followers of Christ- most likely the church in Ephesus to. Paul wrote this letter to encourage the Gentile believers. He wanted to make it clear that Jews and Gentiles have been brought together as part of the body of Christ. Throughout Paul’s writing, the letter he sends out are not just to encourage the Gentiles but other Christian. He is also writing this letter to speak into their lives by telling them how to live in a broken world and still live for Christ since
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some of them are new Christian. He also wanted to remind Christians to stay strong and to trust in the Lord throughout his letters.
He also wanted to inform the church how to be a healthy church at the same time be an Evangelistic Church. He wanted everybody to be ready for anything Satan throws there way to try to lead them off the path the Lord has already set for them. We as Christian are always at war, both physical and spiritual war against worldly aspects of life and the evil one Satan. In 2 Corinthians 2:11 Pual warns us to beware of Satan’s devices and tactics. So the question is how can we defend ourselves for his stealthy and deadly attacks? In Ephesians 6:10-20 Pual talks about this armor that will provide us with the protection and strength we need to stand up against the evil one. He also talks about prayer and the significant of pray. He talks about this armor so that when the day of evil comes, we can be ready and stand up to the evil one. Pual uses an armor as an illustration because at the period Pual is writing this letter he uses a picture of what sliders wear to what God wants us to wear. People can relate to soldiers armor and how it protects them in battle. We are technically in battle but in a battle of the spirts and the almighty …show more content…
power. God has trained His people to wear and use the armor, with Cohick (2011), asserting that God’s armor not only protects the physical aspect of the body, but also the spiritual dimension. So what does it saying about this armor and, why is pray so important?
So in Ephesians 6:10 Pual starts off saying “Finally be strong in the lord and in his mighty power.” (NIV) He states that we as Christians need to take comfort in his mighty power.
Gods mighty power is also mentioned in Ephesians 1:19; 3:16 and throughout the whole Bible. Paul writes “Be strong in the Lord” in this context to receive strength from the Lord. “Be strong” is written so that we may be made powerful by God, in the armor of God he provides all the strength and weapons we need to stand up to the evil one Satan. In just the first verse we see that God wants to provide us with the strength we need to defeat the evil one but to do that we must trust and believe in him
wholeheartedly.
God will provide both physical and spiritual strength necessary. As we read on, we see in verse eleven that we are supposed to put on the full armor of God so that we can stand against the evil schemes of Satan. Most people will ask what armor is Paul talking about because it cant be a physical one. In verse twelve it says “ for our struggle (wrestle) is not against the flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the power of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.” (NIV) For our struggle (wrestle) states that we have a problem, a “battle of life.” the question is whether it is against flesh and blood, or against any earthly power of evil. I think it is both earthly and unearthly power because if you look at it, we as human make human mistakes, and then we make spiritual mistakes too. So why can’t it be both? Now later in verse, it states “rules and authorities.” with these new terms, Ephesians has conveyed a sense that powers of evil pervade the cosmos. However, God’s power is superior to any such forces. When it said the forces of evil in the heavenly realms, meaning that this power is not of this earth it is a power of high magnitude and greatness that cannot be overcome. We sometimes think about this power as a physical power, but we as a human cannot handle such power without the help and guidance of God at our side.
Now just looking back through verses 10-12 we learn about Gods power and the presence of the evil one that without God we can not defeat the Evil one Satan. Pual starts this off by stating of stating the ultimate power of God. We learn that Gods Power is the end all power over everything. We also learn about their spiritual ruler and authority of God and the Cosmic power he provides not an earthly power but a power no human can hold without the help Of God. This is why it is so important to lean on God for support because he knows what we need before we ask, all we need to do is trust him and follow his will. This section Pual wrote it to the church saying that as a church we need the power of God.
Now versus 13-17 talk about the armor and how it applies and what we need to stand up against Satan. In v.13 “when the day of evil comes,” this can mean it can be any day. In this life, it may be now or later, or all days may be evil, except to the reprobate, none wholly evil; for out of evil “all things will work together for the Good”(Romans 8:28) . In verses 14-17 it goes into details of what armor you need and what the spiritual symbol they are to what a Roman soldier wears to battle. So, in this start of this section, he starts off saying “stand firm,” the idea of standing is not a defensive strategy nor an offensive strategy in a military context. “As Talbert puts it “a soldier who does not retain his place information as his army attacks, puts the battle in doubt. Likewise, anyone who does not stand on defense gives an opportunity to the opposition to overcome his unit by creating a gap in the line. Consequentially standing, in the sense of remaining in battle, is crucial.” So in the sense of Gods army and all present of war, we need to be standing firm so that we remain in the fight so that we have a chance to defeat the evil one Satan. So we “stand” we must stand with all of these, the belt of truth, a breastplate of righteousness, shoes of the gospel of peace, and the shield of faith, helmet of salvation. All of these we must have and be prepared so that when the day of evil comes, we will be ready. As you see her, God has already gone before us and has told us what we need to defeat the evil one Satan. With this in mind was a Christian need to strive to accomplish all of these things so that when the day comes, we are fully prepared for anything. Pual also states after you have done all of that to stand still firm, symbolizing they the job is not done. Now in verses, 18-20 Pual practically says that the job is not done yet. We must pray and be ambassadors for Gods will. In verse 18 he says to “to pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests.” Which can be translated into saying we need to pray for all thing and occasions as long as it is in line with the will of God. He goes on to say “be alert and always keeps on praying for all the Lord’s people.” In verse 19 he states to pray for himself (Paul). He gives this as an example not only pray for others and other occasions we should be praying for yourself, but not praying for our self out of selfish ambition but for the guidance of God that he might show us the way of his will. After you have prayed for others and yourself so that God can work through you, Paul goes on to say in verse 20 for us to be ambassadors for his kingdom. “Because of the gospel, he currently serves as “as Ambassador in chains, he prays that “God might give him the appropriate words so that when he opens his mouth, he might proclaim the mystery of the gospel.” He writes how we should pray and how we need to ask God to guide us so that we can speak truth to all nations and the world. He finishes verse 20 by saying “Pray that I May declare it fearlessly, as I should” As this final line he is humbling himself so that it is not his will and that God is working through him so that he can proclaim the will that God has provided. So though out this passage, we see that God is in control the whole time. We understand that God provided our need to stand up against the evil one. God wants us to stand together as followers of Christ and put on the Full Armor of Christ so that when the day of evil comes, we all can stand firm. We are also called to be ambassadors so that the army of God may be so big that the evil one (Satan) may not even want to challenge the power of God and his army. God does not want us to go through this world alone he wants to be right with you every step of the way. We are also called to pray for one another so that they might join the army of God. We also must pray for yourself so that we may speak only of Gods will, not our own or the human will.
some of them are new Christian. He also wanted to remind Christians to stay strong and to trust in the Lord throughout his letters.
He also wanted to inform the church how to be a healthy church at the same time be an Evangelistic Church. He wanted everybody to be ready for anything Satan throws there way to try to lead them off the path the Lord has already set for them. We as Christian are always at war, both physical and spiritual war against worldly aspects of life and the evil one Satan. In 2 Corinthians 2:11 Pual warns us to beware of Satan’s devices and tactics. So the question is how can we defend ourselves for his stealthy and deadly attacks? In Ephesians 6:10-20 Pual talks about this armor that will provide us with the protection and strength we need to stand up against the evil one. He also talks about prayer and the significant of pray. He talks about this armor so that when the day of evil comes, we can be ready and stand up to the evil one. Pual uses an armor as an illustration because at the period Pual is writing this letter he uses a picture of what sliders wear to what God wants us to wear. People can relate to soldiers armor and how it protects them in battle. We are technically in battle but in a battle of the spirts and the almighty …show more content…
power. God has trained His people to wear and use the armor, with Cohick (2011), asserting that God’s armor not only protects the physical aspect of the body, but also the spiritual dimension. So what does it saying about this armor and, why is pray so important?
So in Ephesians 6:10 Pual starts off saying “Finally be strong in the lord and in his mighty power.” (NIV) He states that we as Christians need to take comfort in his mighty power.
Gods mighty power is also mentioned in Ephesians 1:19; 3:16 and throughout the whole Bible. Paul writes “Be strong in the Lord” in this context to receive strength from the Lord. “Be strong” is written so that we may be made powerful by God, in the armor of God he provides all the strength and weapons we need to stand up to the evil one Satan. In just the first verse we see that God wants to provide us with the strength we need to defeat the evil one but to do that we must trust and believe in him
wholeheartedly.
God will provide both physical and spiritual strength necessary. As we read on, we see in verse eleven that we are supposed to put on the full armor of God so that we can stand against the evil schemes of Satan. Most people will ask what armor is Paul talking about because it cant be a physical one. In verse twelve it says “ for our struggle (wrestle) is not against the flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the power of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.” (NIV) For our struggle (wrestle) states that we have a problem, a “battle of life.” the question is whether it is against flesh and blood, or against any earthly power of evil. I think it is both earthly and unearthly power because if you look at it, we as human make human mistakes, and then we make spiritual mistakes too. So why can’t it be both? Now later in verse, it states “rules and authorities.” with these new terms, Ephesians has conveyed a sense that powers of evil pervade the cosmos. However, God’s power is superior to any such forces. When it said the forces of evil in the heavenly realms, meaning that this power is not of this earth it is a power of high magnitude and greatness that cannot be overcome. We sometimes think about this power as a physical power, but we as a human cannot handle such power without the help and guidance of God at our side.
Now just looking back through verses 10-12 we learn about Gods power and the presence of the evil one that without God we can not defeat the Evil one Satan. Pual starts this off by stating of stating the ultimate power of God. We learn that Gods Power is the end all power over everything. We also learn about their spiritual ruler and authority of God and the Cosmic power he provides not an earthly power but a power no human can hold without the help Of God. This is why it is so important to lean on God for support because he knows what we need before we ask, all we need to do is trust him and follow his will. This section Pual wrote it to the church saying that as a church we need the power of God.
Now versus 13-17 talk about the armor and how it applies and what we need to stand up against Satan. In v.13 “when the day of evil comes,” this can mean it can be any day. In this life, it may be now or later, or all days may be evil, except to the reprobate, none wholly evil; for out of evil “all things will work together for the Good”(Romans 8:28) . In verses 14-17 it goes into details of what armor you need and what the spiritual symbol they are to what a Roman soldier wears to battle. So, in this start of this section, he starts off saying “stand firm,” the idea of standing is not a defensive strategy nor an offensive strategy in a military context. “As Talbert puts it “a soldier who does not retain his place information as his army attacks, puts the battle in doubt. Likewise, anyone who does not stand on defense gives an opportunity to the opposition to overcome his unit by creating a gap in the line. Consequentially standing, in the sense of remaining in battle, is crucial.” So in the sense of Gods army and all present of war, we need to be standing firm so that we remain in the fight so that we have a chance to defeat the evil one Satan. So we “stand” we must stand with all of these, the belt of truth, a breastplate of righteousness, shoes of the gospel of peace, and the shield of faith, helmet of salvation. All of these we must have and be prepared so that when the day of evil comes, we will be ready. As you see her, God has already gone before us and has told us what we need to defeat the evil one Satan. With this in mind was a Christian need to strive to accomplish all of these things so that when the day comes, we are fully prepared for anything. Pual also states after you have done all of that to stand still firm, symbolizing they the job is not done. Now in verses, 18-20 Pual practically says that the job is not done yet. We must pray and be ambassadors for Gods will. In verse 18 he says to “to pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests.” Which can be translated into saying we need to pray for all thing and occasions as long as it is in line with the will of God. He goes on to say “be alert and always keeps on praying for all the Lord’s people.” In verse 19 he states to pray for himself (Paul). He gives this as an example not only pray for others and other occasions we should be praying for yourself, but not praying for our self out of selfish ambition but for the guidance of God that he might show us the way of his will. After you have prayed for others and yourself so that God can work through you, Paul goes on to say in verse 20 for us to be ambassadors for his kingdom. “Because of the gospel, he currently serves as “as Ambassador in chains, he prays that “God might give him the appropriate words so that when he opens his mouth, he might proclaim the mystery of the gospel.” He writes how we should pray and how we need to ask God to guide us so that we can speak truth to all nations and the world. He finishes verse 20 by saying “Pray that I May declare it fearlessly, as I should” As this final line he is humbling himself so that it is not his will and that God is working through him so that he can proclaim the will that God has provided. So though out this passage, we see that God is in control the whole time. We understand that God provided our need to stand up against the evil one. God wants us to stand together as followers of Christ and put on the Full Armor of Christ so that when the day of evil comes, we all can stand firm. We are also called to be ambassadors so that the army of God may be so big that the evil one (Satan) may not even want to challenge the power of God and his army. God does not want us to go through this world alone he wants to be right with you every step of the way. We are also called to pray for one another so that they might join the army of God. We also must pray for yourself so that we may speak only of Gods will, not our own or the human will.