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Romans 14:22 – In His Presence

Posted on December 11, 2018 by Will

The faith that you have, have it to yourself before God. Blessed is the person who does not condemn himself in what he approves.

Truth to Learn

Living in God’s presence affects our decisions and choices.

Behind the Words

The word translated “faith” is pistis, which means “that about which we have been persuaded” or “that which we believe.”

“Before” is translated from enōpion. This is made up of en, meaning “in” and a form of ops, which literally refers to the eyes but figuratively refers to the face. Hence, enōpion means “in the face of, in the presence of, or before.”

The word “blessed” is translated from the Greek word makarios. Some translations us the word “happy.” The problem with this translation is that happy (from the root hap meaning “luck as a favorable circumstance”) actually refers to the joy that comes from good fortune. Makarios, on the other hand, refers to a state of blessedness in which peace and satisfaction come from God, not favorable circumstances.

Meaning Explained

Now Paul tells us how to discern whether or not we should do something. This is of extreme importance as it applies to all those things which are not specifically identified as wrong in the New Testament. This would include such things as: Should I accept an offer for a new job? Should I buy a particular house or a new car at this time? Is it okay if I drink a glass of wine? None of these things are strictly forbidden and we are not likely to hear the voice of God giving us direct revelation regarding these things.

Since Paul is talking to believers, he knows that they have faith. But how that faith is demonstrated is important. He says, “Have it to yourself before God.” That is, since you are saved and have a relationship with God, make it a personal relationship. Believe what you believe because God has convicted you and converse with God about everything you do, especially those things about which specific direction is not given in the Bible. Live your life in His presence. That is, live your life with the awareness that God is present with you at all times.

Finally, Paul tells us that we are blessed, that is, at peace with God, when we do not condemn ourselves for those things which we approve. There are many decisions that we make daily. When we follow through with a personal decision we are “approving” the decision and acting on it. Blessing, or peace with God, comes when we are not judging our own actions to be wrong in the presence of God. As the Apostle John said:

Beloved, if our heart does not condemn us, we have confidence before God. (I John 3:21)

We Christians should live our lives recognizing that we are always in God’s presence. As His servants we are to obey him. As His children we should want to please Him, so we should make our decisions in a manner that will please Him. If what we are about to do is wrong, He will let us know because our conscience will be troubled. Paul will finish these thoughts in the next verse.

Application

Are you living your life in the presence of God? Doing so will have an impact on how you live your life. Remember, ignoring God doesn’t mean you aren’t in His presence!

Romans 11:20 – Faith and Fear

Posted on August 29, 2018 by Will

Well said. In unbelief they were broken off, and you stand by faith. Do not be high-minded, but fear.

Truth to Learn

Salvation should not produce pride, but reverential fear.

Behind the Words

“Well said” is translated from the Greek word kalōs, meaning “well, justly, or aptly.” It is as if Paul is agreeing with this objection. We could paraphrase this as “Very well then.”

The words translated “unbelief” and “faith” in this verse are closely related. The word translated “unbelief” is apistia, which is a compound word made up of a, meaning “not or without” and a form of pistis, meaning “faith or belief.” It is based on the verb peithō, meaning “to persuade or to win over.” Hence, pistis is the condition of having been convinced of a truth so that the person now believes the truth. The word translated “faith” is pistis. So you see Paul is making a contrast between the apistia (lack of faith) and pistis (having faith).

“Stand” is from histēmi, meaning “to stand upright, to stand in place, or to stand firm.” It is expressed here in the perfect tense, which indicates a past completed action with an ongoing effect, but the emphasis is on the ongoing effect. In other words, in the past we stood because of faith and, as a result, we are in an ongoing condition of standing because of faith.

The word translated “high-minded” is the Greek word, hupsēlophronō, which is a compound word made up of hupselos, meaning “high, in place or character” and a form of phroneō, meaning “to think” or “to be of a certain mind.” In today’s English it means “haughty, arrogant, or puffed up.”

Meaning Explained

Paul starts off this verse with “Well said.” It is as if Paul is agreeing with the objection expressed in the previous verse. He goes on to state the part that he does agree with, and then he will give a word of caution about this type of thinking.

Paul agrees that the Jews were rejected for not believing and that we stand because we believe. But he then gives this warning, “Do not be high-minded, but fear.” His warning is that we should not become arrogant, thinking that we are something special because God chose to graft us into the olive tree; instead, we should be filled with reverential fear. Paul will explain why in the next verse.

Because we believe that we are sinners and that Jesus Christ gave his perfect, sinless life on our behalf, God has declared us to be as righteous as Christ. Through this righteousness we are seen by God as sinless, He has adopted us as His sons and daughters, and we are guaranteed eternal life instead of eternal damnation in hell, which is what we deserve because of our sinfulness. We would not have believed these truths and we would not be partakers of His holiness had the Jews accepted Jesus as the Messiah when He offered Himself to them.

Because of our sin nature, we are prone to believe ourselves something special because of God’s free gift of salvation. And, because others rejected God’s truth, we are prone to believe that they are less than we are.

Application

Let us once again take stock of our own unworthiness and the blessing of God’s grace. Let our gratefulness be shown in giving all we have to and for Him. Let us humble ourselves before our Lord and Master, for He is worthy!

In God's service, for His glory,

Romans 10:6 – Righteousness Speaks

Posted on July 5, 2018 by Will

But the righteousness of faith says this, "Do not say in your heart, who will go up into heaven?" (that is, to bring Christ down)

Truth to Learn

Even the greatest of works does not produce righteousness.

Behind the Words

“The righteousness of faith” is from hē ek pisteōs dikaiosunē, which literally means “the out of faith righteousness.” It refers to the true righteousness, that which can only come by faith, and Paul uses a personification of that faith here to let it speak for itself.

The expression “say in your heart” is a Hebraism (a Hebrew expression) which means “to think or say to oneself.”

Meaning Explained

In the previous verses Paul talked about the Jews who have a zeal for God but who try to obtain the righteousness of God by keeping the Law. He then quoted a passage from Leviticus 18:5 which says, You shall keep My statutes and My judgments, which if a man does, he will live by them: I am the LORD.

Now, since Paul is contrasting the righteousness which comes from obeying the Law with the righteousness which is a result of faith, he makes a statement about the righteousness of faith. This is roughly taken from the book of Deuteronomy.

For this command which I am commanding you today is not too wonderful for you, nor is it far off. It is not in the heavens, that you should say, “Who will go up into heaven for us and bring it to us, and cause us to hear it that we may do it?” And is it not beyond the sea, that you should say, “Who will go over the sea for us and bring it to us, and cause us to hear it, that we may do it?” For the word is very near to you, in your mouth and in your heart, that you may do it. (Deuteronomy 30:11-14)

In this passage from Deuteronomy, Moses has just warned the Israelites what will happen to them if they turn from Jehovah and serve other gods. He then tells them that if they turn back to Jehovah, even while they are in the land of their captivity, He will once again bless them. The message Moses is giving is not one of “obedience produces life and disobedience produces death,” it is a message of “faithfulness produces life, leading to works of obedience and unfaithfulness produces death (spiritual), leading to works of disobedience.” As Moses continues in Deuteronomy 30:15, he says: See, I have set before you today life and good, death and evil. He does not say “goodness and life” because goodness does not produce life, he says “life and good” because only spiritual life produces good.

The Israelites were confused. They thought that obedience could produce righteousness. Moses, on the other hand taught that faith produces righteousness. In today’s verse, what the righteousness of faith is telling us is that works, even works as great as ascending into heaven to bring Christ’s righteousness down to us, don’t produce righteousness.

Application

The Apostle Paul tends to hammer on a subject from every possible angle until there is absolutely no wiggle room for the critics to argue against him. That’s what he has been doing with regard to righteousness. We cannot earn it; we can only receive it by faith.

In God's service, for His glory,

Romans 3:22 – Through Faith

Posted on October 9, 2017 by Will

and the righteousness of God is through faith in Jesus Christ, toward all and on all who believe. For there is no difference;

Truth to Learn

You can’t earn righteousness, but you can receive it.

Behind the Words

The word translated “faith” is the Greek word pistis. This is derived from the verb peithō, which means “to persuade” or “to win over.” Therefore, pistis describes the result of having been won over or persuaded. In other words, it means “faith, conviction, or belief in a truth.”

The expression “of God” is a translation of the word Theou, which can mean either “of God” or “from God.” Hence, we can say that the righteousness that comes by faith belongs to God and He gives it to those who believe.

“Difference” is from the Greek word diastolē, which is derived from the verb diastellō, meaning “to separate” or “to set apart.” Diastolē represents the state after the action, in other words, “a distinct difference.” In 1Corinthians 14:7 this word is used to describe distinctly different sounds of a musical instrument.

Meaning Explained

The righteousness needed to stand guiltless before the Judge of the entire world cannot be obtained by obeying a set of rules, no matter how perfect those rules are and no matter how sincere we are or how hard we try. The Old Testament has declared that all of us are sinners. None of us is righteous, no not even one of us; not me, not you, not your pastor, not even the Apostle Paul. I like the way the prophet Isaiah said it:

All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like a filthy rag; we all fade like a leaf, and like the wind our sins take us away. (Isaiah 64:6)

In yesterday’s verse Paul introduced a new concept, one that isn’t really new, for it was written about in the Old Testament. Namely, it is possible to obtain the righteousness of God, but it is obtained totally apart from the Law. We can’t become righteous by obeying all the rules or by doing good deeds.

This new doctrine of “justification by faith” is now plainly declared by Paul. There is righteousness apart from the Law, “the righteousness of God,” but this righteousness comes “through faith in Jesus Christ.” That is to say, we can’t earn the righteousness necessary to meet God’s standard of behavior, but we can receive it from God by believing in Jesus Christ.

Paul also tells us that this righteousness by faith is granted to everyone who believes. You don’t have to be born into the right family. You don’t have to be a member of a church. You don’t have to take religion classes. You don’t have to be wealthy. All you have to do is believe.

We will talk about the last phrase of this verse when we talk about the next verse, with which it rightly belongs.

Application

Do you want to stand before the Judge of the earth with the same righteousness as Jesus Christ? You can! And, you don’t have to earn it. You certainly don’t deserve it. Nonetheless, you can have that righteousness, through faith in Jesus Christ.

In God's service, for His glory,

Romans 1:17 – Confident Faith

Posted on July 7, 2017 by Will

For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; even as it has been written, "The just shall live by faith."

Truth to Learn

From salvation to service, we reveal God’s righteousness.

Behind the Words

The phrase “from faith to faith” has been hotly debated for centuries. The Greek is ek pisteos eis pistin. As I have said before, Greek is a very descriptive language. It is an inflected language, meaning that the “case” of nouns and adjectives tells us how the nouns or adjectives are used. The two nouns in this phrase, pisteos and pistin, are both inflected forms of the noun pistis which means “faith.” The first of these, pisteos is in the Genitive case, which means “of faith” or “from faith” and the second, pistin, is in the Accusative case, which means that it is the direct object of the verb.

Now, since the case of a noun does not always give a precise indication of its meaning, prepositions were added to the Greek language to make the meaning clearer. In this example, ek pisteos uses the proposition ek, which means “out of” or “from” implying “the result of” (that is, the outcome of faith), and eis pistin uses the preposition eis which means “into” or “unto,” implying that it leads, or continues, into faith (you could say it results in faith).

Meaning Explained

I give you my apology up front for the technicality of today’s discussion. I hope you didn’t get lost in the Greek grammar lesson here. Technical as it is, it is important for a complete understanding of this verse.

What Paul is saying in this verse is that the righteousness of God is revealed in the gospel first of all as the result of faith. That is, we are declared righteous when we believe the gospel message, just as Abraham was declared righteous when he believed God regarding the promise of many descendants (see Genesis 15:6). We see from this that righteousness is revealed from (as the result of) faith. Paul is then saying that this righteousness, which God has now given us, is also revealed when we live by faith after we have been saved. That is, righteousness is revealed unto (resulting in) faith. One way of putting it is to say that the righteousness of God is revealed from saving faith which results in a daily living faith.

By way of firmly reinforcing what he means (that the righteousness that God gives us results in daily living faith), Paul then says, “as it has been written, ‘The just shall live by faith.’” This is a quote taken from Habakkuk 2:4. Both the Septuagint translation of this passage in Habakkuk and the original Hebrew carry the meaning, “the righteous person shall live by his confidence in God.”

Application

This gospel message that we are to proclaim to the world contains the most powerful truth ever declared. Belief in this truth results in God’s righteousness being applied to us, and it results in us having the faith to serve with humility and to continue on with confidence. Through this confident faith in God, we can face anything that happens to us in this life knowing that God truly loves us and will care for us.

Does your life of faith reveal the righteousness of God?

In God's service, for His glory,

1 Thessalonians 3:7 – Focusing On Others

Posted on May 4, 2016 by Will

because of this, brothers, in all our affliction and distress we were comforted concerning you by your faith.

Truth to Learn

Paul was concerned about how his own persecution was affecting the faith of others.

Behind the Words

“Because of this” is from the Greek words dia touto. The word dia denotes the channel of action, that is, “on account of” or “by means of.” Touto means “this.” Therefore, dia touto literally translates as “on account of this” or “because of this.”

“Brothers” is the translation of adelphos, which is made up of a, indicating unity and delphus, which refers to the womb. Therefore, literally this word means “someone having the same birth origin.” Since all Christians are “born of the Spirit,” we are all brothers and sisters in the Lord.

The word “affliction” is translated from thlipsis, which we saw back in verse three. It means “pressure, stress, trouble, or affliction.”

The word translated “distress” is anagkē, which can refer to “necessity” or to “an oppositional compelling force.”

“We were comforted” is from the Greek verb parakaleō, which we saw back in verse two where it was translated as “encourage.” It is a picture of someone being called alongside to challenge and encourage. In this verse it could be translated as “comforted” or “encouraged.”

Pistis is the Greek word translated “faith.” It is based on the verb peithō, meaning “to persuade” or “to win over by persuasive discussion.” Pistis refers to the state of having been firmly convinced of a truth.

Meaning Explained

As we have mentioned before, word order is very important in Greek. The thought or idea expressed first is the most important. In today’s verse, the Greek word order says, “because of this, we were comforted, brothers, concerning you …” You may recall from verses one and five that Paul wanted to know about how the Thessalonians were doing, but he had not heard any word from them. He knew that he and his co-workers had only spent a brief time with these young Christians and he was concerned that the persecution that they were facing might have weakened their faith. So, Paul had sent Timothy to Thessalonica to strengthen and encourage them and to see how strong their faith was.

But it was not just the persecution of the Thessalonians that Paul was uncomfortable about. Paul was concerned that the persecution and affliction that he and his companions were suffering might be affecting the faith of his brothers and sisters in Thessalonica. This may be only a subtle distinction, but it demonstrates something significant about the Apostle. He was not focusing on himself and his own circumstances, but on how his circumstances might be affecting others.

Application

Part of human nature is to look-out for ourselves, to do all we can to ensure that we are safe and comfortable. Pure and undefiled faith in God, however, means trusting God and being concerned about the safety and wellbeing of others. What are you putting your trust in and whose wellbeing are you most concerned about?

In God's service, for His glory,

Ephesians 6:23 – Peace, Love, and Faith

Posted on March 10, 2016 by Will

Peace to the brothers, and love with faith, from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Truth to Learn

You can experience peace and the love of God through faith.

Behind the Words

The word translated “peace” is eirēnē. It can refer to an absence of war and dissention, that is, harmony among individuals. However, it can also refer to peace of mind and mental tranquility. This seems to be Paul’s intent here.

The word “love” in this verse is our old friend agapē, referring to a self-sacrificing love demonstrated by our actions.

“Faith” is translated from the Greek word pistis. It is derived from the verb peithō, meaning “to persuade” or “to win over.” Therefore, faith refers to “a firm persuasion, conviction, or belief in a truth.”

Meaning Explained

Having finished his teaching and having informed his readers that Tychicus would relay to them all that has been transpiring with Paul and his associates; the Apostle now makes his final closing benediction. A benediction (from the Latin bene, meaning “well” and dicere, meaning “to speak”) was a common form of closing a letter like this. The practice may have been derived from the ritual benediction that the Jewish High Priest proclaimed:

"The LORD bless you and keep you; The LORD cause His face to shine on you, and be gracious to you; The LORD lift up His face to you, and give you peace." (Numbers 6:24-26)

This particular benediction is still recited today at the end of many protestant church services. Paul’s use of the benediction, however, is not simply a ritualistic blessing. If you look carefully at this verse you will see that there are three things that Paul offers for his readers: peace, love, and faith. These are actually three themes that occur throughout this letter.

Peace (Ephesians 1:2; 2:14, 15; 2:17; 4:3; and 6:15) comes from God the Father. It is delivered in the person of Jesus Christ, who established peace between Old Testament believers and New Testament believers. Our peace with God was purchased by the blood of Jesus Christ and it is the bond that unites all Christians. Finally, as part of our battle armor, peace with God is that which allows us to stand firm against all the attacks of our enemy.

Love (Ephesians 1:15; 4:2, 4:15-16; 5:25, 5:28, and 5:33) is the central characteristic of the Christian faith. It is what allows us to bear one another’s burdens and to gently encourage each other so that we can work together to build up the body of Christ. It is that which a husband demonstrates to his wife, portraying a picture of God’s love for us.

Faith (Ephesians 6:16; 1:15; 2:8; 3:12, 3:17; 4:5, and 4:13) is the essence of Christianity. Without it we cannot please God. Through faith we can quench the fiery arrows slung against us by our spiritual enemy. It gives us boldness as we approach our Almighty God in prayer. And, because of this faith, Christ lives in our hearts and unites us as His body and His bride-to-be.

Application

You, too, can experience the love of God and know the peace that exceeds all understanding. However, these only come through faith in the blood of Christ. You can’t earn them, you can only accept them as part of God’s gift of salvation.

In God's service, for His glory,

Ephesians 4:5 – More Oneness

Posted on October 23, 2015 by Will

one Lord, one faith, one baptism;

Truth to Learn

There are several aspects of oneness in the church.

Behind the Words

“Lord” is translated from the Greek noun kurios. This word is derived from kuros, meaning “authority” or “supremacy.” The basic meaning of kurios is “owner, master, or lord.” It refers to the person who has absolute ownership rights or full and final authority over another. It is also used as a sign of respect very much like our English “sir” or “mister.”

The word “faith” is translated from pistis. It is derived from the verb peithō, meaning “to win over, to persuade, or to convince.” Pistis refers to a firmly held conviction. Subjectively it refers to belief or faith in something. Objectively it refers to that which is believed.

“Baptism” is not a translation but a transliteration (a word of one language spelled with the letters of another language) from the Greek word baptisma. This Greek word is based on the verb baptō, meaning “to dip, to dunk, or to place into.” The ma ending indicates the result of the action.

Meaning Explained

The Apostle Paul has been challenging us to work hard at promoting unity within the church. He is now giving us a number of examples of the existence of the unity which characterize the church. Previously, he said there is only one body of Christ, there is only one Holy Spirit empowering the church, and there is a single hope (eternal bliss in God’s presence) that all Christians expect at the end of this life.

Now he gives us three more unifying characteristics of the church. The first of these is that we all have the same Lord. All members of the church have the same owner and supreme authority governing their lives. And there is only one God. When asked by one of the scribes what the first commandment is, Jesus responded:

… "The first of all the commandments is: 'Hear, O Israel, the Lord is our God, the Lord is one. (Mark 12:29)

Since we all have the same master, and He is not divided, but one, we are all members of the same household.

The second thing we are told here is that there is only one faith. Not only did we all have to exercise the same faith in order to be saved, we all have the same object of our faith, the sacrificial death of Jesus as payment for our sins.

The third thing mentioned in today’s verse is one baptism. The baptism referred to here could be the water baptism that we submitted ourselves to as a testimony of our saving faith in Jesus Christ. However, it is more likely that Paul is referring to the baptism of the Holy Spirit. This is not referring to the supernatural enabling with special gifts, for that is not the meaning of the word “baptism.” Paul explains this Holy Spirit baptism to the Corinthians this way:

For also we were all baptized by one Spirit into one body… (1 Corinthians 12:13a)

At the moment we believed, each one of us was “placed into” (baptized into) the body of Christ by the Holy Spirit. That’s Spirit baptism.

Application

Since all Christians have the same owner, have the same saving faith, and were all placed into the same body by the same Holy Spirit, we should all strive for unity of purpose and peace.

In God's service, for His glory,

Ephesians 2:8 – God’s Gracious Gift

Posted on August 25, 2015 by Will

For by grace you are saved through faith, and this not of yourselves; it is the gift of God,

Truth to Learn

Salvation by grace, through faith, is God’s gift.

Behind the Words

“Saved” is translated from the Greek verb sōdzō, meaning “to save, deliver, protect, or preserve from danger.” It is expressed here in the perfect tense which indicates past, completed action with an ongoing effect, where the emphasis is on the ongoing effect. Therefore this word means “in the past you were saved and as a result you are now saved.”

The word “through” is from the Greek preposition dia. This word indicates either “motion through” or “through the instrumentality of something.”

“Faith” is translated from pistis, meaning “faith or belief.” It is based on the verb peithō, which means “to persuade or to win over.” Hence, pistis is the condition of having been convinced of a truth so that the person now believes that truth.

The word translated “gift” is doron, which is derived from the verb didōmi, meaning “to give.” Thus, doron refers to “a gift,” specifically “a sacrificial gift.”

Meaning Explained

This is a very important verse with regard to our salvation, but there are some details that we need to investigate completely. Biblical scholars and commentators make a strong statement about the pronoun “this.” Some make the assertion that it is a direct reference to “faith.” Others claim that it is a direct reference to “saved.” Still others say that it is a direct reference to “grace.” Here’s the problem with all those claims. In Greek, any word modifying or referencing another word must agree in number and gender with the word it modifies or references.

The word translated “this” is from the Greek word touto, which is a neuter form of houtos. The nouns translated “grace” and “faith” are both feminine nouns, and the word translated “have been saved” is a participle (a verbal adjective) which is masculine. Therefore, by standard rules of Greek grammar, the word “this” cannot specifically reference any of these three words. It must, therefore, be a reference to all three. In other words, Paul is saying “that which I have just described is not of yourselves, it is the gift of God.” This seems to corroborate what our Lord said in John’s Gospel:

And He said, "Therefore I have said to you that no one can come to Me unless it has been granted to him by My Father." (John 6:65)

And, he told his twelve disciples:

You did not choose Me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit, (John 15:16)

This is in keeping with how Paul started out this letter:

just as He [the Father] chose us in Him [Christ] before the foundation of the world (Ephesians 1:3)

This is a very touchy, and often contentious, concept among Christians today. In fact, it has been this way since the first Century. For if we believe in election, then what of:

For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that everyone believing in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life. (John 3:16)

And it shall be that everyone who shall call on the name of the Lord will be saved. (Acts 2:21 – see also Joel 2:28-32)

To this One all the Prophets witness, so that through His name everyone believing into Him will receive remission of sins. (Acts 10:43)

For everyone, whoever might call on the name of the Lord will be saved. (Romans 10:13 – see also Joel 2:32 which is quoted in this verse in Romans)

Whole chapters of theological treatises have been written to prove one or the other of these positions and it would be inappropriate for me to try to explain it in one short daily devotional study. Let me suffice it to say that we cannot fully understand the mind of God who is not bound by either space or time, except to say that both salvation by election and salvation by free will appear to conform with Biblical teaching.

Application

Now, having said all that, let me simply point out that this precious salvation is not something that we have earned. We did not do anything in and of ourselves to obtain it. According to Paul in today’s passage, salvation and the faith that procured it are a gift of God’s grace. They are a gift which He freely gave to us, simply because He decided to give it. Thank you, God, for our salvation through faith by your grace!

In God's service, for His glory,

Ephesians 1:15 – Noteworthy Faith

Posted on August 3, 2015 by Will

Because of this, I also, having heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and love toward all the saints,

Truth to Learn

Some people show their faith in everything they do.

Behind the Words

The words “having heard” are translated from the verb akouō, meaning “to hear.”

The expression “of your faith” is translated from tēn kath humas pistin. The word tēn is the definite article (the). The word kath (from kata), meaning “down” or “among.” Humas is the second person plural pronoun (you-plural). And pistin is from pistis, meaning “faith” or “moral conviction.” So, literally this phrase reads “the among you faith.”

“Saints” is from the Greek word hagios, which is derived from hagos, meaning “something which inspires awe.” Hagios refers to something which has been set apart from common usage to be used for God’s glory. It is often translated as “holy, sanctified, or consecrated.” Here it refers to someone who has become a Christian. As a result of our salvation, we are set-apart by God and are, therefore, referred to as saints. Therefore, all Christians are saints, not just those who have been declared so by a church organization.

The word “love” does not appear in some of the best Greek texts and probably should be omitted.

Meaning Explained

This verse has been used by some to try to prove that Paul did not write this letter specifically to the Christians in Ephesus. As we discussed in verse one of this chapter, the words “who are in Ephesus” are omitted from verse one in two key Greek manuscripts. Some scholars try to use that fact and Paul’s comments in this verse to prove that this letter was written as a general epistle for a number of different churches, not specifically for the Ephesians. Their contention is, since Paul spent three years in Ephesus, he certainly knew of their faith in the Lord and would not have said, “having heard of your faith in the Lord” if this letter was written specifically to Ephesus.

On the other side of the argument, however, there is overwhelming manuscript evidence that the words “who are in Ephesus” were originally included in the opening verse of this letter. Therefore, there must be a different reason why Paul says that he “heard of” the faith of the Ephesians. As we saw in “Behind the Words,” a literal translation of this expression is “the among you faith.” In other words, Paul has heard of the faith among the people in the Ephesian church. Now that shouldn’t be too surprising since this letter was written about five years after he left Ephesus and there had been many others come to faith in the church during that period of time. And, since the word “love” does not appear to be part of this verse as Paul originally wrote it, it probably should read

Because of this, I also, having heard of the faith of those among you in the Lord Jesus, which you show toward all the saints,

It’s because of that faith, demonstrated by the Ephesian Christians and visible to others, that Paul is thankful.

Application

Do you know Christians like that? People whose faith is so strong and obvious in everything they do. Have you thanked God for them? Have you thanked them for their example?

In God's service, for His glory,