Philosophy Class at the Ball Park – Part 3
Therefore I, the prisoner of the Lord, implore you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have been called [Ephesians 4:1].
The first half of Paul’s letter to the Ephesian Christians follows the Gentile approach. The second half moves out of the classroom and off to the ball park, presenting the Hebrew approach. In the first half Paul taught abstractions like “grace”, “faith”, “salvation”, “covenant”—abstractions in that the concepts are really from eternity and not from time and space. The Book of Hebrews sheds light on this issue.
But then suddenly at chapter 4 and verse 1, Paul came back down to earth and put wear and tear on his sandals. Paul’s message in the second half (chapters 4-6) goes something like this:
You guys are Christians. You didn’t use to be Christians, but now you are. We Jews were the people of God and you weren’t. Now some of us are Christians and some of you Gentiles are too. We’re in the same boat, you see. It’s called the Church, the Body of Christ. I explained all about this in chapters 1-3, remember?
Now that we understand who we are, let me tell you how it translates into daily living. Because we are children of God, this is how we are to live…
Paul then wrote chapters 4-6 to teach various specifics of practical Christianity, Christian living while on this earth.
In terms of James and the practical Hebrew approach, chapters 4-6 are right up the same alley. In terms of the theoretical Gentile approach, chapters 1-3 hit the nail on the head. Paul, you see, employed both approaches in his letter to the Ephesian Christians. Yea, he followed this form in pretty much all his letters.
Notice the phrase in the quoted text which began this study: “Walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have been called.” Two concepts are involved in those words,
1. the calling with which you have been called
2. walk in a manner worthy
Ephesians 1-3 are all about Point #1. Ephesians 4-6 are about Point #2. Having expatiated on the Christian’s calling from God—a call to come out of the darkness and into the kingdom of light—Paul proceeded to explain how this calling looked in shoe leather.
We would do well to grow in our knowledge of the Lord Jesus and in our understanding of salvation. But if we keep it in our heads, we will rightly receive James’ rebuke: faith without works is dead. James employed the word “faith” to depict intellectual knowledge, as contrasted with truth which enters the head and transforms the heart into a new creation.
Do we enjoy being rebuked? We needn’t find out. Let’s learn Ephesians 1-3, and then let us put it into practice as per Ephesians 4-6. Works for me. How about for you?
To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Numbers: Volume 4 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. To purchase my books please go to:
http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B005PJ761C
https://sites.google.com/site/heavenl...
The first half of Paul’s letter to the Ephesian Christians follows the Gentile approach. The second half moves out of the classroom and off to the ball park, presenting the Hebrew approach. In the first half Paul taught abstractions like “grace”, “faith”, “salvation”, “covenant”—abstractions in that the concepts are really from eternity and not from time and space. The Book of Hebrews sheds light on this issue.
But then suddenly at chapter 4 and verse 1, Paul came back down to earth and put wear and tear on his sandals. Paul’s message in the second half (chapters 4-6) goes something like this:
You guys are Christians. You didn’t use to be Christians, but now you are. We Jews were the people of God and you weren’t. Now some of us are Christians and some of you Gentiles are too. We’re in the same boat, you see. It’s called the Church, the Body of Christ. I explained all about this in chapters 1-3, remember?
Now that we understand who we are, let me tell you how it translates into daily living. Because we are children of God, this is how we are to live…
Paul then wrote chapters 4-6 to teach various specifics of practical Christianity, Christian living while on this earth.
In terms of James and the practical Hebrew approach, chapters 4-6 are right up the same alley. In terms of the theoretical Gentile approach, chapters 1-3 hit the nail on the head. Paul, you see, employed both approaches in his letter to the Ephesian Christians. Yea, he followed this form in pretty much all his letters.
Notice the phrase in the quoted text which began this study: “Walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have been called.” Two concepts are involved in those words,
1. the calling with which you have been called
2. walk in a manner worthy
Ephesians 1-3 are all about Point #1. Ephesians 4-6 are about Point #2. Having expatiated on the Christian’s calling from God—a call to come out of the darkness and into the kingdom of light—Paul proceeded to explain how this calling looked in shoe leather.
We would do well to grow in our knowledge of the Lord Jesus and in our understanding of salvation. But if we keep it in our heads, we will rightly receive James’ rebuke: faith without works is dead. James employed the word “faith” to depict intellectual knowledge, as contrasted with truth which enters the head and transforms the heart into a new creation.
Do we enjoy being rebuked? We needn’t find out. Let’s learn Ephesians 1-3, and then let us put it into practice as per Ephesians 4-6. Works for me. How about for you?
To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Numbers: Volume 4 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. To purchase my books please go to:
http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B005PJ761C
https://sites.google.com/site/heavenl...
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