As we saw the other day, Ephesians 2.11-22 contains a wonderful message of unity and the breaking down of barriers between peoples: in Christ the old dividing lines between insiders and outsiders have been torn down, and we are all built up together into one community. But, he gets to that message, Paul has some … Continue reading Dividing Lines in Ephesians 2.11-13
These days, Paul is often seen to be something of a conservative, playing around with ideas of freedom and equality, but not willing to apply them in any way that would disrupt the status quo. There’s some truth to this assessment — and we will have to reckon with this aspect of Paul before this … Continue reading Christ our Peace: Ephesians 2.11-22
The focus of Ephesians 2.1-10 is on how God has lovingly included us in the salvation plan enacted through Jesus of Nazareth. But before we get to that message, the first three verses describe our ‘natural’ state of affairs ‘outside of’ Christ, which he describes as ‘death in sin’, subject to the influence of spiritual … Continue reading Bad Influences in Ephesians 2.1-3
In Ephesians 1, Paul wrote of God enacting a plan for the world’s salvation in and through Jesus of Nazareth: by raising Jesus from the dead and glorifying him, God has placed him in a position of authority over all kinds of spiritual forces. All this, Paul writes, is for the benefit and blessing of … Continue reading And You Too: Ephesians 2.1-10
In the last post, we saw how Ephesus, and Asia Minor more generally, was a place that took spiritual power of all kinds — gods and goddesses, angels and demons, blessings and curses, and all of the spells, incantations, potions, amulets and charms one could use to manipulate them — very seriously. This likely provided … Continue reading A Question of Power: Ephesians 1.15-23 (Part II)
Matthew Root 