The Passion Translation

As we continue on in the “walk” portion of Ephesians, we are learning the truth that love is much more than a feeling or a sentiment. It is more than an ideology or lip-service. It is a command and it must be obeyed through actions; it must be ​demonstrated. What does love look like? This is the question that we can answer by looking at the life of our Lord Jesus. He said and lived His love like this, “For the greatest love of all is a love that sacrifices all. And this great love is demonstrated when a person sacrifices his life for his friends”

How wonderfully Holy Spirit, through Paul’s writing, has built us up and given us clear vision. Before we can “walk” we have to “sit” in the rest of all that we have in Christ. From the perspective of being seated in the heavenly realm in Christ, secure and sealed by the Spirit, we are ready to walk out a life of sincere love. Knowing our identity and resting in that identity enables us to walk ​worthily. It also helps us receive Paul’s strong words of instruction in godly living that keep us on the path of righteousness!

The “five-fold ministry gifts” are the five Grace gifts of: apostle, prophet, evangelist, pastor, and teacher. These are commonly thought of as “platform” ministries, but we should have a fuller view of their workings within Christ’s Body. Let’s “stir up” the gifts within our hearts as Paul admonished Timothy; perhaps within you is a pastoral or prophetic gifting that needs to be activated by faith and cultivated by practice. All five grace gifts are at work in the church today in order to equip the saints. Apostles and prophets did not “pass away”; in fact we need them now more than ever. If we limit these giftings, we hinder the function of Holy Spirit in our lives and in our churches. God is such a gracious giver! Beloved, let’s be joyful ​receivers!

In previous chapters Paul laid out the amazing “catalogue” of blessings we have in Christ, showing us all that we already possess simply because we are in Him. From the position of unearned grace, we have so much as members of God’s household. We can’t get more blessed and we can’t get any higher! We are ​seated in the heavenly realm in Christ. Now, knowing how to sit in the fullness of being in Christ… ​we walk! There is no victim mentality displayed here by Paul. No, he doesn’t see himself as a prisoner of Rome or of any man, but rather he sees himself as a prisoner of the Lord. He knows he is guided and directed by God and therefore he is in the center of God’s will, whether freely preaching or bound in chains. Real freedom is being a “prisoner of the Lord”!

There is no way we can understand divine mystery unless God reveals it to us. God is the only one who can reveal God. The doorway to revelation is not the intellect. If it were, the smartest humans would have greater access to the divine, and that is certainly not the case! He has chosen to reveal mysteries to us, those who love Him with childlike faith and simplicity: “Then Jesus, overflowing with the Holy Spirit’s anointing of joy, exclaimed, “Father, thank you, for you are Lord  Supreme over heaven and earth! You have hidden the great revelation of this authority from those who are proud,  those wise in their own eyes, and you have shared it with these who humbled themselves. Yes, Father. This is what  pleases your heart and the very way you’ve chosen to  extend your kingdom: to give to those who become like  trusting children.”

God’s riches at Christ’s expense! Oh, how blessed we are to be born again, born from above, into God’s holy family. Cherished and dearly loved, we have been lifted up to what we could never, ever attain by human will or effort—​we are seated at His side! We can’t get any higher than His embrace, so all that is left for us to do is give thankful, humble, worship and service to our King! Grace is what brought us here, and...only grace keeps us here.

We learned in Ephesians chapter 1 that we can’t get any more blessed, and in this lesson we will see that we can’t get any ​higher! Even when we were “dead and doomed” (2:5), He united us into the very life of Jesus Christ, His Son. Now, He sees us fully and completely ​wrapped in Jesus. He doesn’t see our sins; He sees His Son!​ He blessed us as His children, chose us before the world began, and bestowed upon us ​every blessing, blessing us as much as it is possible for any human to be blessed. The Apostle Paul takes a moment here in Ephesians chapter two in order to share with us one of the greatest revelations in all of the Bible: we are raised, seated and joined with Christ!

We will never encounter a problem, a sickness, a foe, or a fight that is bigger than our King! Every time we trust Him in the face of contrary circumstances we are enthroning Him as He is worthy. He is the worthy one, highly exalted “not only in this age but in the age that is coming”, forevermore!

Are you ready? Paul describes for us in these next verses the indescribable! In his effort to do so, he practically exhausts the Greek language, stretching it to the limits in an attempt to convey the awesome manifold and multifaceted power of the Most High. He uses one “power word” after another to create as it was ​stepping stones​ for us. Why such an effort? He longs for believers to ​continually experience​ the limitless power of Jesus that is AVAILABLE. It is not for “someday” or for someone else. No, it is for you and it is for right now! As you go through this lesson, climb up the stepping stones that Paul has placed for you in these verses and receive More Power in your life. An awesome price was paid at Calvary for you to have what is beyond your human power...supernatural power!

This is Paul’s epic, apostolic prayer for the believers in Ephesus. The “darlings” of God are receiving the powerful prayer of a true spiritual father. Your ministry extends as far as your love. Think about it! Where your love ends, your ministry influence and authority ends. Likewise, as far as your love extends, your power and influence extend. Let’s be challenged and inspired by the life and love of Paul displayed in His spiritual influence. As it was for Paul, so it is for each of us; our realm of influence is determined by LOVE, not titles or giftings. Let us love extravagantly!