My thoughts on Ephesians 1:15-23

Paul prays for us and gives thanks for us because we have faith in Jesus and love to the brothers in Christ. 

He prays:

God of Jesus

Father of Glory

Gives

The Spirit of Wisdom

The Spirit of Revelation 

Knowledge of Him

Eyes of heart enlightened 

To Know the Hope

Called to know the hope: 

Riches of glorious inheritance which is:

Immeasurable Power to us who believe 

According to resurrection power

Christ is seated above all rule and authority power and dominion and above every name forever under his feet. Head over the church the fullness of himself the body of which we are now in. 

Ephesians 1:15-23

For this reason, because I have heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love toward all the saints, I do not cease to give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers, that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him, having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to the working of his great might that he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come. And he put all things under his feet and gave him as head over all things to the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all.

My thoughts on Galatians:

Don’t try to please man-tradition

Please almighty God

Received Gospel not from man or taught from man-received from God through revelation of JESUS 

Set me apart before born 

Called by grace

Pleased to reveal his Son

Jesus gave himself for me - Christ cursed so I am free

Not justified by works of law

Justified by FAITH in Jesus 

Received Spirit by hearing with FAITH

Righteous live by FAITH

Promise by FAITH in Jesus given to those who BELIEVE 

Redeemed and Adopted

A son with His Spirit inside me

FAITH working through LOVE

Through Love serve one another 

Love your neighbor as yourself 

(Love self and others by willing the good of soul)

Let the Spirit lead not your flesh

Fruit of Spirit: Love joy peace patience kindness goodness faithfulness gentleness self control 

The new creation is what counts 

Grace peace and mercy of our Lord JESUS be with your spirit 

Worship is a sacrifice:

The only sacrifice I can give, is a broken Spirit and contrite heart to God, and Faith in the Sacrifice of Christ for me, that God was pleased to reveal, and I received by grace. 

Justified: made righteous in the sight of God. 

Faith: Complete trust or confidence in God. 

Love: affectionately willing the good of soul. 

Redeem: regain possession of. 

I cannot do anything without Christ, I can only allow Him to pick me up and carry me through life by grace in trust. Abandonment of myself. It’s all His work. He is orchestrating. I am his broken clay pot that He wants to live on earth through. Fruit is accomplished by letting Him have his own way. 

My Thoughts:

The Father is glorified when I bear his fruit. 

When I have fruit I prove I am a disciple of Christ. 

Jesus loves me as much as the Father loves Him. 

Abide in Christs Love by keeping His commandments. 

I am to keep Jesus’ commandments as Jesus kept the Fathers commandments. (Abandoned completely to His Perfect Will in loving obedience for His glory)

His commandment is to love others as He has loved me, which is as much as the Father has loved Him. 

I have fullness of Jesus’ Joy in me because I know this. 

John 15:8-12

By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples. As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Abide in my love. If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father's commandments and abide in his love. These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full.

“This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.

The highest act of faith

Is to believe in God’s love

The highest act of Love 

Is to dedicate our life to returning His Love

We cannot love God if we do not believe in him

And we cannot believe efficaciously in God unless our faith blossoms from love and in love

You can know God and his mysteries 

deeper through love 

than that of studies

To love God is not a feeling it is an act of the will

It is to wish well to God

It is to wish God’s glory 

in the fulfillment of his perfect will. 

My Thoughts: 

Jesus please give me the grace to not reject the purpose you have for me. Amen

Luke 7:30 (ESV) 

but the Pharisees and the lawyers 

rejected the purpose of God for themselves, 

not having been baptized by him. 

My Thoughts about the

Consuming Fire of God

All will be resurrected. 

Jesus is the new Adam that merited Eternal Life for All Men. 

How we experience God:

Like a lightbulb does not change tone of light when turned on it is experienced differently depending on the darkness of the room. 

1. Heaven: fire of Love burning in our hearts for love of God and Worship Praise and Glory to Him. 

2. Purgatory: Love of God not quite purified - will be changed in an instant when He Comes again. 

3. Hell: Reject God as Lover of our Soul that has made a way to Himself. 

False Church

If the church was wrong before Luther and Calvin that means there was no visible church on earth. 

That was the only church. 

If it was right, they are false teachers that went astray and broke it into factions. Which are still never ending. 

God said the gates of Hell would not prevail against it. The Catholic Church is still going no matter the challenges it faces with its sinners. All are sinners. The sheep and goats will be sifted at the end. It is always in need of reforming not obliteration. Prune not Destroy!

The Faith of the church is to be RECEIVED not interpreted for yourself. 

Some will preach in the last days and may even deceive the elect. RECEIVE TRUTH! 

COME HOME. 

Act of Faith

O my God, I firmly believe 

that you are one God in three divine Persons,

Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. 

I believe that your divine Son became man 

and died for our sins and that he will come 

to judge the living and the dead. 

I believe these and all the truths 

which the Holy Catholic Church teaches

because you have revealed them 

who are eternal truth and wisdom, 

who can neither deceive nor be deceived. 

In this faith I intend to live and die. 

Amen.

Matthew 7:21

"Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord,' shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven.

Only by Cooperating with His Grace can we Receive, Know, Believe, Trust, and Obey His Will for His Glory!

100% Relentless Grace yes, but must not be resisted (not irresistible)

NOTE: The Holy Spirit will bring us to the point where we can believe, but never to a point where we must believe. So, if we do believe, it is all credited to God’s grace, working through the Spirit. If we refuse, however, it’s our own fault.

~~~~~~~~~~~

I firmly believe that salvation is completely by grace, not works. And I believe the Bible teaches that humans would never choose God on their own, apart from the Holy Spirit. Left on our own, we are “dead” toward spiritual things (Eph 2:1, 5), and corpses can’t do much of anything last I checked. To come to Christ, the Father must draw us (Jn 6:44).

If it was true that humans had enough life, goodness, or intelligence to choose God on their own, and if the reason that some were saved and some not was because some chose God on their own and some didn’t, then I see no way one could avoid the conclusion that the reason some are saved and some not is because some are better or smarter than others! So saved people, give yourself a nice pat on the back!

At the same time, it seems just as clear that God does not pick and choose who will be saved. He doesn’t want anyone to perish but wants all to enter into eternal life (2 Pet 3:9; 2 Tim. 2:4-6). Jesus died for the sins of every person (1 Jn 2:2). So, any line of reasoning that leads to a portrait of God as less-than-universal in his love and less-than-universal in his desire to save people must have something wrong with it.

As I see it, the mistake in the line of reasoning that leads to the Reformed doctrine of election is the assumption that God’s grace must be irresistible. (This is the “I” of the famous Calvinistic Acronym “TULIP”). It’s one thing to say that humans won’t believe in Christ without the Holy Spirit and quite another thing to claim that with the Holy Spirit humans must believe.

As I put aspects of the biblical narrative together, I am led to the conclusion that God wants everyone saved and the Holy Spirit is working in every person’s heart to bring them into salvation. (The issue of whether people need to be brought to the point where they consciously choose Christ to be saved is a separate matter). But the Holy Spirit will not work coercively, for coerced love is not genuine love. So it is that through the Bible we have warnings to not resist the Holy Spirit (e.g. Acts 7:51; Eph 4:30; Heb 3:7-8). The Holy Spirit will bring us to the point where we can believe, but never to a point where we must believe. So, if we do believe, it is all credited to God’s grace, working through the Spirit. If we refuse, however, it’s our own fault.

His relentless love wears some of us out.

If salvation depends on our free choice, how are we saved totally by grace? - Greg Boyd - ReKnew

 

 

Only by 

Cooperating with His Grace 

(absolute Surrender and self denial)

can we 

Receive, 

Know, 

Believe, 

Trust, and 

Obey His Will 

for His Glory!