Ephesians chapter one, verse by verse . . .

[kwikphilly]

24 minutes ago, Selah7 said:

Respectfully, I disagree, @kwikphilly I believe it is much better to study/teach the Bible book by book, chapter by chapter, and verse by verse, rightly dividing the “Word of God.” In this way the context will be clear.

Selah
 

Perfect example of the point I was hoping to bring attention to

" Rightfully Dividing the Word of God" is the very best single verse of Scripture to examine - but I won't get into much because this is precisely what Paul was saying NOT to do- which is getting into useless debate over trivialities & unimportant matters to avoid false teaching- they are distractions

Rightfully Dividing the Word of God( KJV) ,not many others- is widely misapplied.The notion that separating Scripture is not " in context'

Now here's the thing also- when Paul said this the only Scripture available & what he was referencing was what we know as " the Old Testament - the Epistles  &the Gospels  did not yet exist as a complete body of work.

We must interpret/ translate " orthotomeo"- if orthotomeo was meant to separate them we should hope to find & compare it elsewhere in Scripture

Well,not to get into Ancient Koine Greek & do exactly the opposite of what Paul was teaching here I'll just say that it's a much better translation or transliteration to say what it meant for Timothy " To make straight the Way of the Lord"- that would sum it up" in context"

You must examine what word was used for " divide" and how it was applied,comparitive throughout Scripture..... Paul  certainly did not want us picking apart what he said verse by verse when in fact he was teaching against these very things- they bickered over nonsense,that was his point....

You can disagree if you like- I'm not here to debate how you choose to read God's Word or how you choose to study or even if you choose to...... Peace be with you

 

[Selah7]

Pressing on. 

Ephesians 1:12:  That we should be to the praise of His glory, who first trusted in Christ.

Here is what I've learned through my studies.  

Paul is speaking about the predestinated ones—those who were chosen before the creation of the world and who were justified—whose inheritance is being discussed in this verse.  

Selah

[com7fy8]

22 hours ago, Selah7 said:

Respectfully, I disagree, @kwikphilly I believe it is much better to study/teach the Bible book by book, chapter by chapter, and verse by verse, rightly dividing the “Word of God.” In this way the context will be clear.

Selah
 

I agree that we need to not miss any verse. Plus . . . as I understand Kwik Philly means . . . we need the overall meaning of God's word, to help us understand each verse. And each verse can help us with our overall understanding.

We could have said "word by word", since Jesus says we need to live by every word that proceeds from God's mouth. And I know I have had a way of not noticing certain verses that I found to not have theological meaning that I might hope to use to impress people. But now I have learned that any part of scripture can be used by God to help us find out how to love in sharing with Him.

So, thank you all for stopping by.

[com7fy8]

@kwikphilly > well, let's see > "rightly dividing" > in my Strong's Greek dictionary this comes from word number 3718, which comes from 3717 and 5114 > straight up and down, or level . . . cutting with a single stroke.

He seems to say it means to correctly "dissect" or cut straight.

But, of course, God's word is alive, not something to be dissected that is dead.

But we can mean to be straight . . . honest . . . not trying to use God's word for our own gain.

Dissecting can be taken the wrong way, to be a bad image, since dissecting can mean of what is dead; but we can understand it correctly.

Like this, ones might not like to say Jesus is like "a thief in the night" or a rock. We just need to get the right meaning.

When you dissect, you open something and reveal what is inside. Perhaps it can help to say we want to look inside . . . deeper than the words and see God's heart where the words come from. I have been saying there is the "love meaning" of each part of scripture 

[com7fy8]

"In Him also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestined according to the purpose of Him who works all things according to the counsel of His will," (Ephesians 1:11)

So, yes we have our inheritance in Jesus. Jesus is "the way" to our Heavenly Father > John 14:6.

And "the purpose" of predestination is for us "to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren." (in Romans 8:29)

And in Ephesians 1:11 we have that God "works all things according to the counsel of His will".

So, God is all-knowing and all-working.

And He does things according to His own counsel. A simple thing to note here is that God does not allow this world's evil and stupidity to counsel Him or control His attention. And He does not let our worries and wishes get Him off track from the good He is doing.

And this is our example to follow 

Trust God to manage our attention, then, so we are sharing in what He is doing.

22 hours ago, Selah7 said:

Pressing on. 

Ephesians 1:12:  That we should be to the praise of His glory, who first trusted in Christ.

Here is what I've learned through my studies.  

Paul is speaking about the predestinated ones—those who were chosen before the creation of the world and who were justified—whose inheritance is being discussed in this verse.  

Selah

In this verse, Ephesians 1:12, I note how Paul says that we in Jesus "first trusted in Christ". Getting saved, born again, includes trusting in Jesus.

I would say that trusting someone can be very personal, with getting to know someone, personally communicating, and sharing even intimately.

I think of how great it is to come to trust someone who is really good for you in a relationship. Trust should not be blind, but the person worthy of trust proves himself or herself to you, I have learned.

And yes God has proven Himself to us, through Jesus.

And our trusting Jesus includes taking His"yoke" upon us > Matthew 11:29 > so we are in union . . . connection . . . with Him and are submissive to how he shares with us, obeying how He takes care of us, submitting to how He leads and guides us.

If you watch a movie, you can be submitting to how that movie takes you along. You can be trusting the producer of the movie; and you can discover how the producer has the movie effect your emotions and how you see things, even.

How much more it is good to trust Jesus and discover how He produces our lives with Him and one another, including how He has us see things, how we react emotionally, and how He has us learning to relate in His love.

[kwikphilly]

3 hours ago, com7fy8 said:

@kwikphilly > well, let's see > "rightly dividing" > in my Strong's Greek dictionary this comes from word number 3718, which comes from 3717 and 5114 > straight up and down, or level . . . cutting with a single stroke.

He seems to say it means to correctly "dissect" or cut straight.

But, of course, God's word is alive, not something to be dissected that is dead.

But we can mean to be straight . . . honest . . . not trying to use God's word for our own gain.

Dissecting can be taken the wrong way, to be a bad image, since dissecting can mean of what is dead; but we can understand it correctly.

Like this, ones might not like to say Jesus is like "a thief in the night" or a rock. We just need to get the right meaning.

When you dissect, you open something and reveal what is inside. Perhaps it can help to say we want to look inside . . . deeper than the words and see God's heart where the words come from. I have been saying there is the "love meaning" of each part of scripture 

Blessings Comfy

A Strong's dictionary is handy to have around.Its good to find word definitions but this  leads back to
precisely what I was trying to explain - not to ":dissect"-

This is not what Paul was expounding upon....I can appreciate the efforts to find word definitions but when we are " rightly dividing the Word of God" that does not mean to separate verses from their context in the same way separating a word from it's sentence does not give you the meaning of the sentrnce--- Along with a dictionary you would need a lexicon and a syntax as well

I'm not going to stray way off your Topic here and if I start to get into translating language thats exactly what will happen

What is important is the meaning of words combined to form sentences & phrases

Now of course with the New Testament we have to carefully establish the grammatical usage in that day because it is an ancient language (Koine Greek)nd the usage then was not the same as it is today- so then we must study the system of regularities( throughout the writings).In studying the regularities of the word Paul used we find it is inconsistent with how he used this word when clearly he was  referring to something being separated,apart,cut away etc...

Maybe I"lol start a Topic on this later on? Right now I'm going up to Port St Lucie to visit my Cousin and I've run out of time .So,have a Blessed day....

In His Love,Kwik

[Alive]

Amen! And rightly dividing also means we use scripture to explain scripture…looking at everything scripture has to say about a topic or idea. This practice helps prevent proof texting.

[com7fy8]

Ephesians 1:13-14 >

"In Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, to the praise of His glory." (Ephesians 1:13-14)

So, included in being saved is that we trusted in Jesus; God has used preaching to bring us to trust in Christ . . . not only to believe a report, but to trust and therefore obey Jesus; and submitting to Jesus, among other things, has us discovering how we live in His love's "rest for your souls" >

"'Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.'" (Matthew 11:29)

And we have been sealed by the Holy Spirit, so we are guaranteed to spend eternity with Jesus and one another. 

And I think of this > Romans 5:5 says, 

"Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us." (Romans 5:5)

So, the Holy Spirit is the Spirit of God's own love, and I offer that only God can be the Spirit of His love. So, God has given us His own Holy Spirit, not some second-best blessing or being, but His own self as the Holy Spirit. And the Holy Spirit "in our hearts" shares God's own love with us; and God is loving us with His "rest for your souls" . . . if and while we obey Jesus in this rest.

We trust Jesus to take us along in His rest. And Jesus proves Himself to us in this rest. This rest has almighty power of God to defend us against nasty and cruel spiritual and emotional stuff, plus we have our Father's personal guiding in His rest in us, in His love.

So, this is included in being sealed by the Holy Spirit, I would say. The Holy Spirit has us with God our Father, sharing intimately with Him in His own love; so this has us already being blessed with the good we will have after we leave this life.

We are sampling this now, and then we will reap this, so much more when we are resurrected to be with Jesus. This is with God and with one another.

Edited October 27, 2022 by com7fy8

[com7fy8]

Here we are at Ephesians 1:15-21, which in my New King James translation is one sentence. So, I think we will keep these verses in company with each other 

"Therefore I also, after I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints, do not cease to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers: that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him, the eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, and what is the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe, according to the working of His mighty power which He worked in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places, far above all principality and power and might and dominion, and very name that is named, not only in this age but also in that which is to come." (Ephesians 1:15-21)

"my prayers" > here we are going to see what Paul has prayed for us. Is this where our attention is, when we are praying?

"the eyes of your understanding being enlightened" > I think of how light shows us more than any amount of words can tell. So, it can be that Paul is not going to try to explain everything, but we need how God's light has us seeing, understanding His word which can have meaning deeper than words.

"the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints" > I see this can mean God's inheritance in us . . . not only our inheritance . . . but in us we have more and more of God's inheritance in us. In us, then, we grow in all which is prosperity to God Himself! I think Romans 8:29 can help us to understand what is God's inheritance in us >

"For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren." (Romans 8:29)

As we become more like Jesus who is so pleasing to our Father and intimate with Him, Jesus growing in us is included in our Heavenly Father's inheritance in us; Jesus in us is included in God's own best of everything, His own prosperity growing in us. And this includes having His love's beauty in us > 

"rather let it be the hidden person of the heart, with the incorruptible beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is very precious in the sight of God." (1 Peter 3:4)

We have what is "very precious in the sight of God" in us, what is prosperity for Him, His own "inheritance in the saints" > including "Christ in you, the hope of glory", Paul says in Colossians 1:27.

Again, I note that Paul says he prays this for us. So, God has already provided prayer for us for this . . . for all God knows He means, so better than we now might be able to understand . . . and experience > 

Paul says this comes "in the knowledge of Him" > I see this is not only talking about intellectual knowledge, but knowing by experiencing sharing with God . . . having "the spirit of wisdom and revelation" > which we have in personal sharing with God Himself > He can have us experiencing the things He is telling us about.

Paul says they speak with words of the Holy Spirit, "comparing spiritual things with spiritual", in 1 Corinthians 2:13. His words, then, are not only for putting together doctrines and beliefs. But words of the Holy Spirit can be talking about actual realities of God in us sharing with us, demonstrating what He means by all He is doing and sharing with us.

"the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe" > this is God's own power which is in us, now already doing His will in us. This is the power by which Jesus was raised from the dead and placed on Heaven's throne. So, this is power which is very good for us, changing our character to be like Jesus so we please our Father like Jesus does, plus love like Jesus.

This is revealed here in this scripture and claimed by Paul's prayer for us. So, thank You, O God our Father ! ! !

And I note how this power raised Jesus from the dead, plus did Him the good of placing Him at the right hand of our Father; so this power in us does us very great good. And this is in the grace and peace which Paul ministers to us at the beginning of this letter to the Ephesians, in Ephesians 1:2. So, we have the meaning of this, by experiencing and submitting to this grace and peace of God.

Edited October 27, 2022 by com7fy8

[com7fy8]

"And He put all things under His feet, and gave Him to be head over all things to the church, which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all." (Ephesians 1:22-23)

"And He put all things under His feet" > So, God has put all things under the feet of Jesus. Jesus is the Lord of all, then. Amen! The glory is to God.

But Jesus wants us. Even though He is so great above all, He wants us. And this is our example, how Jesus wants us to want and dearly love one another.

But ones can feel they are so great so they can pick and choose who they want and consider worth loving. But Jesus says > "if you love those who love you, what reward have you?" in Matthew 5:46.

So, Jesus is in such His high position in order to establish us in love and blessing as His family.