Moses, SpongeBob #art
Moses, SpongeBob #art
Time for another deep read, this time Ephesians 1:3-6. (if you are curious about my methodology, please check the bottom of this post.)
Ephesians was written by Paul, around 62AD (though this has been challenged in recent years. It still seems likely that Paul did, in fact, author this.) The Halley’s Bible Handbook (ref 1) notes that his was a circular letter to the Asian Churches, with blank spaces, so each city could insert its name. This is the reason for the lack of personal greeting. (It is, however, worth noting that the author does not give citation for this.)
I enjoy the poetic outlook that writer John Cassidy has on the letter, where he states its general point as being:
Salvation brought about through the death and resurrection of Jesus will bring about unity and harmony on a cosmic scale
(ref 2)
With this framing in place, it is the following specific verses of Ephesians which I am looking at today:
3 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ.
4 For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love,
5 he predestined us for adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will—
6 to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves.
(NIV)
After reading these verses repeatedly every day for the last week, I have come to the conclusion that they are direct and uncharacteristically simple for Paul. Not that I don’t think they are wonderful and have profound meaning, but the meaning isn’t encrypted or behind a layer of theology. They are a simple (by Pauline standards) statement about who we are and what God has planned for us. I don’t see a hidden layer behind them, as I do with so many of Paul’s writings.
In verse three, we have acknowledgement of the trinity, which I always enjoy. It also says that these blessings are ‘in Christ’ which to me says that God is praised, and accessible to us through Jesus. Without being followers of Jesus, we are not invited to praise. This is, at least, the way I interpret these words. We are also thanking him for the spiritual blessings we have received. I am not sure if I have any spiritual blessings, but I do feel blessed by Jesus, so maybe that’s the same thing.
I have never considered that God planned me before the creation of the world. This is comforting to me. It goes on to say that we will be blameless in his sight, in love. I was planned and chosen and loved, and blameless to him, even at this planning stage. Wow. There’s a thing to think about, isn’t it.
Now we see that he planned for us, and planned to make us his children, through Jesus. Again, we have this implication that accepting Jesus is the way we get the things which were planned for us.
Verses three, four, and, five speak to me about what is desired and planned for me. Reminding me that it is through Jesus which this comes, but, in verse six, we again come full literary circle and Paul praises. He is thanking God for that which he is giving us, freely. There is a condition though, isn’t there, the condition that we accept Jesus as our saviour. But, then again, I suppose it is freely given, isn’t it. Why would someone not accept Jesus once they know what he did for us, and what rewards he secured for us in doing so?
If Halley’s Bible Handbook is correct in the assertion that it was not actually written to a specific church, but to a general collection of churches, then there is something to notice. Paul doesn’t directly tailor it with deeper and relevant meanings, as his audience is wider than it usually is.
As I said in my previous scripture study post — I try to read the passage without wider influence, and, have the above opinions before moving on. In this case, though, I was literally reading Halley’s when the suggestion to study this passage came up; I couldn’t resist a peek at the section. All of the above notes were made before moving on to wider sources and commentary. The below were written after my study.
Below is a summary of things I learned through reading this. You should read it too… Or listen to it if you like, it’s a transcript after all.
Actually… I wanted to take a moment here — Chuck Smith is Awe inspiriting. If you get a chance, read his biography, it really moved me. His commentary is, I feel, one of the most insightful out there. Also, there’s a movie about him. It’s called Jesus Revolution. Chuck he is played by Kelsey Grammer.
Mr Henry is very wordy, and as such, my bullet points will be insufficient to truly capture his points.
There you go. That’s everything I could glean from this passage. As usual, I would like to remind you that there are an infinite number of commentaries at this point and there are many ways to interpreting the words of the Bible. This is a chronicle of what I read. I am sure, when I revisit this in a year or so, there will be far more to add, as I grow and learn. But for now, I do not have anything additional to say.
Thank you for reading.
I have used in reference the following sources, as well as the NIV and NKJV bible printings (via eSword.)
There was a time when I had lots of DVDs. I’m not at all nostalgic for that time, but I am nostalgic for knowing my movies won’t vanish.
Spock on a dock, with a wok in a frock. #art #startrek
Recently, a friend and I ended up having an impromptu ‘deep read’ of 1 Peter 1:1-2. We went away and did a little research and met back the following week top discuss it. While I’m sure (certain) that there are deeper dives into these verses by people far more qualified than me to do so (I’m just an enthusiastic reader), I did the study and thought I would share it, as it may be of interest, to someone else.
The first epistle of Peter has debated authorship, and may have been written as late as 81AD, I am quite comfortable, personally, with the traditionally embraced authorship of this letter. I don’t find any of the reasons for it not being Peter’s own scribed words to be compelling. Mostly because, if you are going to fake a letter, it would be more effective to attribute it to Paul, who was a prolific letter writer. All the comments or critique seem to be hinged on the idea that ‘a fisherman couldn’t write this well,’ which is at best insulting to fisherman, and at worst classist arrogance.
Regardless of the actual source of this letter, for the purpose of this study I will take the stance, as did the early church, that this is, as it introduces its self, a letter from Peter.
I have taken the passage below from the NIV translation as it is likely the most well known, however I, personally, favour the NKJV
1Pe 1:1 Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, To God’s elect, exiles scattered throughout the provinces of Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia and Bithynia,
1Pe 1:2 who have been chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through the sanctifying work of the Spirit, to be obedient to Jesus Christ and sprinkled with his blood: Grace and peace be yours in abundance—(NIV)
All numbers below are based on the KJV (all numbers and data below sourced with Strongs, not AI)
Based on the translation choices, it is clear that this implies that the person/people addressed in this verse are the chosen people. They are the selected, the identified (and favourite?) It is not a choice we make, but a choice God makes for us. Is this something done to/for us rather than something we do?
We are elected, like a leader or a politician, rather than democratically. It’s the democracy of God; he is the only voter.
This was the second word which struck me as having a deep relevance to the meaning, and I’m glad it did. The NKJV and KJV chose different translations for it, with the NKVJ using ‘pilgrims’ and the KJV using ‘strangers’ — I checked my printed version of the NKJV Open Bible and my NKJV Life application study Bible and neither have comment around this, choice. I have, however, done a little more work and found a reference to it:
Wayne Grudem, Tyndale New Testament Commentary, notes that parepidēmos means “one who is only temporarily residing in a place, a foreigner.”
The English meaning seams to have changed since 1611, where Stranger, meant foreigner, rather than outsider. An interesting case of linguistic ‘false friends,’ given how subtle the difference is.
I think the traditional concept of exiles is accurately conveyed in both versions, and the point seems to me that it is addressing the scattered. I realise at the time it was historically Jewish people who were being addressed here, but I firmly believe that every word of the Bible is for everyone, despite not being to everyone. With this in mind, are we strangers or exiles from God, in the way that we are away from him right now, in a physical sense?
This should not concern us, as the text goes on to say that through the sanctifying work of the Spirit and through obedience to Jesus, Grace, and peace will be ours. And abundantly so.
We are chosen to be here. To be away from God, in physicality. We’re not here accidentally. We are here because God elected us to be here, and now.
We are assured of grace and peace because we have the spirit with us, and we have faith in Jesus to feed us (John 6:35.) While this passage does not tell us what to do, it does say that the Spirit is working. With this in mind, we should trust in the Spirit, put our faith in Jesus and do what we know to be right, according to God, through study of scripture. To be just and good. Our reward will be Grace and Peace.
These two passages, to me, contain the literal core of the entire teaching of the New Testament. It is a microcosm of Christianity, and I never before realised how wonderfully concise and deep so few words could be. I strive for this elegance in my own writing.
Only after drawing my own opinions did I open a commentary. My usual go-to is Chuck Smith’s (C-2000), so I started there. Obviously, it is not useful for me to recount and quote directly here but reading, I gleaned the following:
Moving on now to my second most referenced commentary, the Matthew Henry commentary (it’s an older one, written between 1708-1710.)
I felt the following points here noteworthy:
Mr Henry uses many pages to cover this verse, and a lot is said, most of which are covered through my own thoughts and the additions I found in Chuck Smith’s comments. However, as always, everyone should read Matthew Henry; it’s excellent.
I checked the Cambridge Bible Study and John Wesley’s notes on the Bible, and, while all works give a delightful unpacking of the points in different ways, I think I have covered all the points which I found useful. Not to say there is no more in there, but this was enough for me to feel like I had a deeper grasp. I think this is worth revisiting, perhaps after a full study of 1Peter.
_The article is over, the rest is optional reading for people how have questions about how I study. _
I just wanted to take a moment to say that I am not presenting myself as an expert here. As I said at the start, I am just an enthusiastic reader. I did, however, want to leave some information about my study methods (this is how I approach all Bible study, not just this one.)
The science fiction dystopia we live in has some perks, as such I embrace them, and for Bible study I use the eSword software. It is available on all major platforms (including my favourite, the iPad version) and comes for free, or very low cost (a few pounds) on mobile platforms. I did pay for access to NKJV, MSG, NIV, and NLT. The software included TSK, Websters and Chuck Smith C-2000 for free, which I make great use of. I really like eSword.
I use Apple Notes to write up my study, and then Ulysses when I want to format it for sharing. My website is hosted on Micro.Blog, and I like it. I do not trap statistics regarding visits or clicks, and, I do not advertise. _(I make no money from this site) _
I do not use AI for Bible study, or writing. There is nothing wrong with using AI to find a reference or get a quick summary of something, but it’s disrespectful to repackage that when writing for an audience.
My goto Bible for study is the Life Application Study Bible (NKJV). I also use the Open Bible, (NKJV) as the version I have put each verse on a new line, making it ideal for study, though it has less commentary than the Life Application one.
I also make use of the cheapest Message paraphrase I could find, as I enjoy its framing of verses. I recommend the NLT when reading aloud in groups, as it flows better for group study.
I believe that scripture is infallible, but all translations are all flawed in one way or another, so using multiple is useful. I enjoy reading passages on my own and write my thoughts before consuming commentary, this is useful in forming my perspective and is interesting when commentary disagrees with my reading as it gives me more in-depth insight.
Thanks for reading.
Creepy lil farty spock #art #startrek
Aliens need love too #art #alien
Tapping away at my writing with a lazy van-life video on the TV, nice lighting and a desk I love. Happy times. #apple #desksetup
I just watched a video where a YouTuber said “this is where I work, and consume media.” I don’t like the term ‘consume media’ its oddly dystopian in ways I have never thought about before.
I’ve had about ten days in a row now where I’ve felt unproductive. I’ve still been at work every day, been the gym every day and worked on my qualification studies. But I’ve not found time to write, draw or read. It’s a productive kind of unproductive.