faith for faith

I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit–just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call–one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all. But grace was given to each one of us according to the measure of Christ’s gift (Eph. 4:1-7).

When we think upon the writings of Paul compared to our own context, it is interesting to think about those whom he is addressing. He is not writing to the First Baptist Church of Ephesus or to the Ephesus Presbyterian Church or to the Reformed Church of Ephesus, but he is writing to the church at Ephesus. And what exactly does the apostle mean when he says that he is writing to the church at Ephesus? He explains this at the beginning of his letter: “To the saints who are in Ephesus, and are faithful in Christ Jesus” (v. 1:1). Therefore, his letter (shockingly) is intended for all who are in Christ in Ephesus–who have been bought with his blood and who share in the Blessing of his Spirit.

Read more…

Let love be genuine. Abhor what is evil; hold fast to what is good. Love one another with brotherly affection (Rm. 12:9, 10a).

The apostle Paul, in the twelfth chapter of his letter to the Romans, continues in the paragraph that begins in verse nine with the practical exhortations that are built upon his theological discourse that precedes this present section in chapters one through eleven. Having solidified the Roman church’s knowledge of God in Christ, he continues to demonstrate how that knowledge is to transform one into the image of Christ and to destroy his conformity to the world (cf. v. 12:2).

In verse nine, the true knowledge of God in the face of Christ by faith exhibits itself in genuine love toward those in the church. What is interesting in this verse, and yet so wonderfully applicable, is the first instruction given by the apostle to exhibit genuine love, namely, “Abhor what is evil; hold fast to what is good.” In other words, the first and primary step to loving the church genuinely is to despise evil and to love good. For if love toward Christ’s church is to be practiced truly and rightly, it must always be done in the context of holiness. For any love that attempts to demonstrate itself apart from God’s decrees and demands for holiness in his Bride is not love at all, but it is hatred. For true love is always concerned first with the glory of God and second with the state of a person’s soul, and to attempt to love a person without regard God’s glory or without regard to their soul, despite sentiment, demonstrates a cold callousness that is concerned more with ease and feigned peace than it is with pressing a soul unto godliness.

Read more…