Opened Scriptures Bible Studies

I would like to begin this post with a brief review of where we have been so that we can keep all these essential truths fresh in our minds. The worthy walk of a Christian.  Ephesians 4:1-3  I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called,  2) With all lowliness and meekness, with longsuffering, forbearing one another in love;  3) Endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.  We have studied the first twelve verses of Ephesians Chapter 4 and I think it is good to review what we have covered from time to time. This helps us keep track of the truths Paul imparted to us so we can meditate upon what God is saying to us.  Paul began this chapter by introducing the worthy walk. The worthy walk applies to any born again person who is walking with the  Spirit of God, being led by Him and who has a mind ready to hear and heed. The traits of a Christian  who is walking...

  In our last post we learned about some specific gifts God gave the church, including apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers. There are no more apostles because they all died. There are no more prophets because God gave us His complete New Testament revelation.  However, the gifts of evangelists, pastors and teachers continue to be supplied by God, until the church age draws to a close. We briefly explored how these various gifts functioned in the New Testament. Now we come to the reason that God gave us apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers.  The purposes of God for giving us Evangelists, Pastors, Teachers. Ephesians 4:11,12  And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers;  12) For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ:  God has a three fold purpose for giving the church evangelists, pastors and teachers. The w...

Paul began teaching us about the application of doctrinal truth presented in Chapters 1 through 3. He introduced the command to "walk worthy" of our high calling of God in Christ Jesus. We can praise God for clearly showing us His will for each Christian and because He has provided strong and clear examples of what a worthy walk looks like. Paul explained many of the character traits being worked into believers by the Spirit of God. These  include having a heart that is meek and lowly and an attitude marked by being longsuffering and forbearing in dealing with others. Christian character worked into us manifests itself by believers seeking to maintain unity and the bonds of peace within Christ's church.  Finally, we learned that spiritual gifts are given to all believers in proportion to their faith. Spiritual gifts from God are meant to be used for His honor and glory. They are never to be used for self promotion or self enrichment. The resurrection and ascension of Jes...

Paul continues to teach us what our responsibilities and duties toward God are, in light of the doctrinal truths that He gave us. We will enter the next section of Ephesians 4 today and I am bringing the first 7 verses before us to help keep the context fresh in our minds.  All Spiritual Gifts are for God's Glory. Ephesians 4:1-7  I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called,  2) With all lowliness and meekness, with longsuffering, forbearing one another in love;  3) Endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.  4) There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling;  5)  One Lord, one faith, one baptism,  6) One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.  7) But unto every one of us is given grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ.  Paul taught us about the worthy walk ...

  We began studying Ephesians four by noting that Paul was in prison and that he was exhorting all believers of all generations to remain faithful to the apostolic teaching that God gave to the church. Then God through Paul gave us a command to walk worthy of our high calling in Christ Jesus.  Paul taught us that if the Spirit of Christ is in us, we will have a character marked by being meek, lowly, longsuffering and forbearing of others. The Holy Spirit is in the process of building the character of Jesus Christ into each one of us.  Paul exhorted all believers to make the effort and take the necessary steps to foster unity within the body of Christ and within each local church family.  Unity explained. Ephesians 4:4-6  There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling;  5) One Lord, one faith, one baptism,  6)  One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all. We probably do not...

  We are half way through the book of Ephesians and have studied the beautiful doctrines as taught by the apostle Paul. Now we enter the "application" section in Chapters 4 through 6. The doctrinal section tells us truths about God, salvation, the Lord Jesus Christ and the ministry of God's Spirit. We now need to know what this means for how we live. God gives doctrine followed by duty and beliefs for impacting our behavior. Ephesians 4:1  I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called,  Paul begins Ephesians 4 with the same reminder that starts at the beginning of Ephesians 3. He wanted the church to remember that he was in prison for the sake of the gospel so if they were to come under persecution or political pressures that they would be encouraged to stand firmly on the apostolic truth.  With the mindset of being willing to serve Christ no matter the personal sacrifice that might be involved, Go...