People may sometimes shout at their dogs or otherwise treat their dogs poorly. Dogs keep no record of the wrongs they have suffered. People may occasionally forget to feed their dogs or neglect them in other ways. Dogs endure it all and continue believing the best about their people.

No one was ever saved by obedience to the Law. That's because upholding the covenant of the Law is impossible. Those like King David, who realized this, gave up on the idea that they could keep the covenant, and instead simply trusted God to do what He promised--even when they couldn't see how it would happen.

Judging is not to become a weapon. Far too many religious institutions have made it into one. “Church discipline” has been misused, abused, and recklessly taught. Many of God's children have been deeply wounded by it.

I think part of the problem we can have with this is that the Scriptures say that Abraham's faith was "credited to him as righteousness." Since Christ had not yet come, from our human/temporal perspective he had not been "made righteous." Holy Spirit did not dwell in him. In our experience, he had not been justified.

When we are in extreme pain and emotional turmoil, we feel and know that we are at the end of ourselves. In those moments all we can do is place everything we're facing into the hands of the One who is Love and depend on His faithfulness to bring us through the valley.

If the Old Testament makes anything clear, it makes it clear that God does not dwell in unclean unholy places. It also makes clear (as does the Revelation) that God dwells among His people. If we are not ACTUALLY righteous, holy, blameless, then He CANNOT live in us.

My hammer is very well suited for each of those things, but when my project requires cutting a board, I do it with another tool. I am the one who decides what I will do with my hammer. My hammer participates, it’s involved, but I determine its specific role in the context of my larger project.

We currently live in a “famine” bringing uncertainty, insecurity, and unrest. We live in a seemingly desolate land filled with tribulation. Things look pretty bad for us here in the valley of the shadow of death.

Removing the filthy rags of self-effort that we previously wore and replacing them with the gleaming white garments of righteousness changes our appearance. Far from looking like destitute and homeless vagrants, we are now clothed with bespoke, stylish, designer clothes. Our new look is described in the reminder of chapter four.

“Be ye angry, and sin not: let not the sun go down upon your wrath” has been used as marital advice indicating that all conflict should be resolved before retiring for the evening. Such teaching may be rejected without concern. Marriage is not in view here at all. Looking at verse 25 we see “We are members one of another.” Clearly it is believers in the Church who are Paul’s audience.

We can learn something when we take note of the name chosen in reference to the Lord Jesus. He can be referred to in a number of ways because He is the son of man, a human man who walked the earth. He is the Messiah, the Christ, the anointed One, the Savior of the world. He is also Lord; indeed, He is King of kings and Lord of Lords. He is the Lamb of God. He is the Son of God. He is God.

Lust, fleshly desire, is very deceiving. At first glance it can seem appealing. If we don’t look too closely, it can appear to be what we want. It can momentarily feel fulfilling, but it’s all a sham. Like a Hollywood movie set, behind the beautiful facade is nothing but empty space and rough braces to keep the fake beauty from falling flat.

In this part of Ephesians, the focus is on our walk, our manner of living. No doubt you will recall that at the beginning of chapter four, Paul urged that we walk, or live, in a manner worthy of our calling. Now the script is flipped, and we are cautioned against living in the manner of the unsaved, referred to here as “the [other] Gentiles.”

He is the Message and the Messenger of God

We are free from fear for our eternal lives. Our inheritance is guaranteed.

We are in Christ in much the same way that we are in our earthly family. By human birth, we are inexorably made children of our parents for life. We are members of their family. We are in their family.

If the dough rises, however, you can be sure there is living yeast in it. Risen dough is evidence that there is life in the yeast. James said something similar; “You see that a person is justified by works and not by faith alone.” (James 2:24, NASB 2020)

The idea of speaking the truth in love has been taken out of context by many and used as a pretext for a punitive approach to “helping” those who have stumbled. Under the guise of “tough love” many have been harmed and deeply hurt by Christians who misread this verse to be saying that we are to do whatever it takes to correct the faults of others, no matter the cost.

Unity of the faith is a strategic goal of God for His children. More than a goal, it is accomplished in the heavenly realm. Here in this temporal terrarium however, we live under the shadow of death. We live under “the law of the fall.” Consequently, unity requires the Holy Spirit energizing gifted members of the body to function together as they are designed to do.

“For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ.”

This is such a wonderful verse. It is one of the verses that inspired the stated purpose of my teaching ministry—Edify, Encourage, Equip (E3).