Christ reigns as head of his body by helping us grow up into him. This growth process begins with God’s blessings. God blessed all saints with every spiritual blessing in heavenly places in Christ (Eph 1:1-3). God exerted His power, which He wrought in Christ in our behalf and gave Him to be head over … [Read more…]
God’s blessings are what He has done for us, what He is doing in and through us and what He will do. God has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in Messiah Jesus in the heavenly realm (Eph 1:3). God has poured His love into our hearts by His Spirit (Ro 5:1-5). God is enlightening … [Read more…]
Let us come boldly to God’s throne of grace. “Now that we have a great High Priest who has gone through the heavens, Jesus, God’s Son, let us cling to what we confess. We have a High Priest who can sympathize with our weaknesses. He was tempted in every way just as we are, only … [Read more…]
Thou therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. 2 Timothy 2:1 KJV It’s Christmas time. The time we celebrate the birth of Jesus with gifts, festivity and worship. It is the time we thank God for sending His only begotten Son to this earth and thank Jesus for coming. … [Read more…]
Good character is motivated by our desire to please God our Father. Christ is our example of proven character and our leader. God’s grace helps us grow up in all ways into Christ. The Holy Spirit helps us walk in the way of our Lord. The community of His people is conducive to character development. … [Read more…]
Jesus was and is full of grace and truth. Out of His fullness, we received grace in place of grace already given. The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth. … [Read more…]
Growing up to work in the body of Christ is God’s calling for our way of life and spiritual work. Our goal being to attain mature adulthood and the full standard of development in Christ. In the first 3 chapters of Ephesians, Paul tells what God has planned, did and is doing for His saints … [Read more…]
Paul addresses Ephesians to God’s holy ones/saints and blesses with grace and peace. As saints, they believed in Christ Jesus as the Redeemer that had atoned for all their sins, and by this faith they were consecrated and sanctified to God. Grace and peace are blessings which come from God our Father and our Lord … [Read more…]
From Martin Luther’s Bible Commentary—Romans Translated by Bro. Andrew Thornton, OSB Translator’s Note: The material between square brackets is explanatory in nature and is not part of Luther’s preface. The terms “just, justice, justify”in this piece are synonymous with the terms “righteous, righteousness, make righteous.” Both sets of English words are common translations of German … [Read more…]