Love Fulfilled Ministry

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The Joy and Crown of Ministry

Our Joy and Glory 1 Thessalonians 2 puts ministry in perspective for us. It shows us where ministry should rest, what it should be free from, and what it is truly for. Paul is not describing a method. He is describing a way of loving people, until Christ is formed in them and they stand before Him blameless at His coming. He begins with suffering. He and those with him had already suffered and been mistreated at Philippi, yet they were bold in God to declare the gospel of God in spite of great opposition (1 Thessalonians 2:2). The gospel did not come to the Thessalonians from comfort, and it did not come to them in vain. Not to Please Men Paul says their appeal did not spring from deceit, or from impure motives, or from trickery. As men approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel, they spoke not to please man, but to please God who tests our hearts (1 Thessalonians 2:3-4). That matters for us, because Paul warns us about these same things all through his letters. He warns us a...

Favored in the Beloved

Favored in the Beloved One of the spiritual blessings, mentioned in Ephesians 1, speak of being “favored in the Beloved.” This favor is part of God's eternal purpose, gracious acceptance whereby believers are brought into His covenant family through adoption of the Spirit, redemption of transgression... It is a revealing of the Father's heart and purpose to create a holy and beloved people who share in the life, inheritance, and glory of Christ. Chosen Before the Foundation of the World God chose us in Christ before He created the world. Before the garden, before the flood, before the Law — there was a hidden purpose, a mystery, Paul calls it, kept in God: to have a people holy and blameless before Him in love. (Ephesians 1:4) This is why the heavens and the earth were made. Not as an afterthought, not as a rescue plan, but as the setting for a family. The promise to Abraham — “in you all the nations of the earth shall be blessed” — was always pointing here: not to an earth...

Blessed God

Blessed God “Blessed the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ.” (Ephesians 1:3) Paul opens his letter with blessing — and he stacks the word three times in a single verse. Bless ( eulogētos ) the God who has blessed ( eulogēsas ) us with every spiritual blessing ( eulogia ). Does blessing God, seem a strange thing? The Blessed One blessed us with blessing. You cannot miss what he is doing: everything starts with God, and everything returns to God. That is the first thing to see. God blessed us — then, seeing what He has done, we bless Him back. It is reciprocal. Like, we love Him because He first loved us (1 John 4:19). We bless Him because He first blessed us. The praise that comes out of us is the echo of the good and perfect gift that came down to us. More Than Gratefulness People hear this and call it gratefulness, or thankfulness. And they are not entirely wrong — in 1 Corinthians 14:16 Paul...

God’s Eternal Purpose: To the Praise of His Glory

God’s Eternal Purpose Existing to the Praise of His Glory ... Chapter 4: The Grammar of Being ( Einai ) — Existing as His Living Legacy "In Him also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestined according to the purpose of Him who works all things according to the counsel of His will, that we who first trusted in Christ should be to the praise of His glory." — Ephesians 1:11–12 I. Exegesis of Ephesians 1:12 In the Greek text of Ephesians 1:12, the Apostle Paul employs a distinct grammatical construction that is often flattened in modern English translations: "εἰς τὸ εἶναι ἡμᾶς εἰς ἔπαινον δόξης αὐτοῦ" (eis to einai hēmas eis epainon doxēs autou) The preposition εἰς ( eis - unto/towards) combined with the articular infinitive τὸ εἶναι ( to einai - the to-be / the state of existing) and the accusative subject ἡμᾶς ( hēmas - us) creates an intentional purpose clause of existence. Paul does not say that God redeems us merely so that we might do relig...

The Promise That Contains All Promises

A BIBLICAL-THEOLOGICAL ESSAY The Promise That Contains All Promises Divine presence as the means and the end of God's eternal purpose “Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them.” REVELATION 21:3, KJV Salvation, forgiveness, sanctiﬁcation, adoption, inheritance, and eternal life are not scattered gifts. Each opens into one greater reality: God bringing a people home to Himself and remaining with them forever . THE PROMISE THAT CONTAINS ALL PROMISES INTRODUCTION 01 / THE QUESTION BENEATH EVERY PROMISE Every heart asks, “Will you stay?” B eneath many of the questions human beings ask lies a quieter one: Will I be left alone? We ask it in childhood when a door closes, in grief when a familiar voice falls silent, in failure when shame tells us to hide, and in death when every earthly companion must ﬁnally release our hand. The fear of abandonment is not merely emotional. Scripture presents it as one of the deepest wounds of the fall. Humanity did not only lo...