GRINDIT podcast

In this episode, we dig into how the church at Philippi got started from Acts 16 and we give some great incite to Paul's letter to the church.

Paul says in vs10 to "Be strong in the Lord." Why does he say this? From the very beginning of the letter, Paul has reminded the church at Ephesus that all our blessings, everything we have, the right standing we have with God the Father, all comes through Jesus. He has been talking about the unity we have and how we should throw off the desires of the flesh and continue to strive for maturity in Christ and unity. He breaks down the family unit describing how to keep unity because it creates strength. When we get our eyes off Jesus and onto our situations, onto ourselves, and we try to handle things ourselves, we'll discover quickly that we cannot and we really do need one another. Why? Because we encourage one another to stay focused on Jesus...where we ALL get our strength from.

Like it or not, slavery has existed for a long time and it existed when Jesus was walking on the earth. When Paul was traveling around on his missionary journeys, he met many slaves and masters. He includes them in his letter to the church at Ephesus and he encourages them to work towards unity by being obedient. The key for God to be glorified in our lives, whether slave or free, is unity. From husbands and wives, their children, to slaves and their masters, we all have to get rid of all selfishness, fleshly desires, put others first, listen to one another, be obedient to instruction, and remember who we serve, God.

What does it mean to “obey”? Paul uses a word in the Greek that implies a child hears instruction from their parents and they immediately do what they are instructed to do. If this isn’t the case, the child is sinning because they are not obeying...they are being disobedient; they are disrupting unity. Funny thing is, we generally think about our own children or grandchildren but we, ourselves, are children...we are children of God! He instructs us by giving us commands, we hear them, but do we obey them? If we want God’s blessings, we better!

I have heard this passage in Ephesians 5 about husbands and wives, marriages, taught for over thirty years and not once, that I can remember, did anyone talk about the context. All I have heard I have heard is these verses used to tell wives on how to submit to her husband and how the husband is to treat his wife by loving her. I don’t believe that’s Paul’s intent in this section of scripture. It’s part of it, but he is telling the married couple to do these things because of a specific reason—unity in the body of Christ. It goes back to chapter 4 when he is talking about unity and unity being the will of God.

Paul’s letter to the church at Ephesus is a plea to do what pleases God. Why? Because of everything God has done for us in Christ Jesus! It’s a theme throughout the letter, “Throw off the old life!”...“Don’t give into the desires of the flesh!”...”Don’t give a foothold to the devil!” Paul is begging them, and us, to give up our own desires, passions, our will and live for Jesus, to allow the Holy Spirit to lead us so that God will be glorified, the gospel will spread, and the kingdom of God will grow! But in order to do what please God, we not only have to know what pleases God, we have to DO what God wants us to do! We HAVE to be obedient to Him and do what He says meaning we have to SUBMIT to Him and His authority!

You have been crucified with Christ so don’t let your old self come back to life! This is Paul’s message to the church at Ephesus and to us today! He knows the inner struggle of walking by the Spirit and walking according to the flesh. He knows we have been given a new life in Christ but he also knows there is an enemy trying to destroy us so he warns them, “Don’t live like the Gentiles. Live Different.” He explains what he means by talking about the sins they were struggling with and he says, “Throw that old man off and allow the Holy Spirit to work in you!” We have a choice to make: We are either choosing to allow God work or in us or Satan. What choice are you making? If you say Jesus, would others agree? Can we see Jesus in you?

We left Paul in chapter 4 listing a bunch of sins that need to stop happening in a believer’s life. He will continue this list in chapter 5 but sandwiched in between these lists is a command to “Imitate God.” In the Greek this means to mimic, to impersonate. How do we impersonate someone? We watch them, the mannerisms, how they talk and act, we study their lives and then we start to act like them. We may not be them but we act just like them and when people hear us and see us, they hear and see the person we are impersonating. But how can we impersonate a God we cannot see? We look at Jesus, Emmanuel, God with us. We study the life of Jesus and do what he did!

You have been crucified with Christ so don’t let your old self come back to life! This is Paul’s message to the church at Ephesus and to us today! He knows the inner struggle of walking by the Spirit and walking according to the flesh. He knows we have been given a new life in Christ but he also knows there is an enemy trying to destroy us so he warns them, “Don’t live like the Gentiles. Live Different.” He explains what he means by talking about the sins they were struggling with and he says, “Throw that old man off and allow the Holy Spirit to work in you!” We have a choice to make: We are either choosing to allow God work or in us or Satan. What choice are you making? If you say Jesus, would others agree? Can we see Jesus in you?

Paul says in verse 17, “With the Lord’s authority I say this...” Does this mean everything he said previously is without the Lord’s authority? Of course not. He is making a transition here from telling the church at Ephesus to live a life worthy of their calling to how NOT to live. And to show how serious the matter is, Paul is saying, “The Lord has my back on what I am about to say,” and he goes into how they have been called out from the world and have been given a new life in Christ...therefore...live like it! It’s a great message for us 2,000 years later...We have been called out from the world, we are new creations in Christ, filled with the Holy Spirit and we should act like it on a daily basis!