Mark Braune

Hye Fraternal Gathering 2005

Tuesday, July 27

Good morning brothers and sisters. I bring loving greetings from the Austin ecclesia. This morning’s study class covers the second and third chapters of the epistle of Paul to the Ephesians.

As our brother Matthew told us in the comments that he had prepared for us yesterday morning, Ephesus was the capital of the chief province of Asia, and also the location of the temple of the pagan goddess Artemis Diana. Paul spent about three years here on his third missionary journey, and, it was brought up in yesterday’s discussion that he had such a great influence on the citizens of Ephesus that the craftsmen who made the shrines for Diana incited a riot against him. It is recorded in Acts chapter 19 that Paul’s teachings influenced enough people to accept the Truth that the silversmiths were concerned that their trade would become obsolete.

However, it was during the Third Ecumenical Council held at Ephesus in 431 that the Catholic Church elevated the status of Mary from “The Mother of Jesus” to “theotokos”, or “The Mother of God”. This move was intended to make Catholicism more appealing to the pagan worshipers in the area. The council assigned many new titles to Mary that the worshipers of Diana had previously assigned to her, including: "Queen of Heaven", "Divine Virgin", and "Mother of All". So, while Paul did have great success in spreading the Truth to Ephesus, we see that over 350 years later the pagan influence was still holding strong.

Now, the epistle to the Ephesians can be broken into two sections. The first section consists of the first three chapters, and the second section, the remaining three. This first section, which we began our discussion with yesterday and will be finishing up today, describes God’s work in us and Christ’s work for us. It also describes the great privilege of those who were “dead in trespasses and sins; wherein in times past” they once walked (Eph 2:1-2), but were “quickened … together with Christ” (v 5). It is made very clear that this is not anything that is due to one’s own doing, but rather “by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God: not of works, lest any man should boast” (v8-9).

These very verses, Ephesians chapter 2 verses 8 and 9, are used by some in an attempt to prove the false doctrine commonly styled “once saved always saved”. While one cannot obtain salvation as a return merely for works done (this lesson is made clear throughout the Law of Moses), and it is true that salvation is a gift from God, we must comply with God’s conditions and follow his commands to receive it. So we see that there are two sides to salvation: grace from God and obedient faith by us, and only “he that endureth to the end shall be saved” (Matt 10:22).

So, this leads us to the question: “What is faith?” Hebrews 11 verse 1 defines faith as “the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” John Thomas, in Eureka, gives a slightly different translation, which reads “faith is the substance of things being hoped for, the evidence of things not seen”. So, faith is not the substance of things hoped for once and then forgotten, nor is it the substance of things hoped for by people in times past and given no thought today.

“Blind faith” is not a scriptural teaching; it is a philosophy contrived by man in an attempt to explain the “mysteries” found in his own dogma. In order to have faith, one must have knowledge of what is being hoped for. And, as we read in Romans 10:14, “how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard?” It is only by fervent study that the knowledge essential to build faith is obtained.

The theme of this epistle, and as brother Growcott pointed out in one of him many writings, the theme of all the epistles, is that all things are of God. All things are for God’s purpose, and “we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them” (Eph 2:10). Paul, having already attributed this conversion from “dead in sin” to “alive in Christ” to divine grace, seemingly as not to discourage good works, notes that, though our change cannot be attributed to anything of our own nature, God has designed and prepared for us good works.

One of the commands that we must follow is to “repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins” (Acts 2:38). There is no doubt that repentance and baptism are both commands we must obey in order to obtain salvation, and without obedience, there is no forgiveness of sins or hope of life everlasting. Repentance is necessary because man is naturally sinful. The Ephesians are reminded of their previous state, prior to the acceptance of Christ, in chapter 2 verses 11 and 12: “Wherefore remember, that ye being in time past Gentiles in the flesh, who are called Uncircumcision by that which is called the Circumcision in the flesh made by hands; that at that time ye were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world.” However, they were “made alive together with Christ … and raised … up with him” (Eph 2: 5-6) through the waters of baptism.

The great tragedy associated with the nation of Israel is that they rejected Christ as the Messiah. They had been disobedient throughout their history (mingled with some times of obedience), but this was their worst error. Christ foretold that they would be expelled from their own land, and this was accomplished, for the most part, by the Romans. However, some of the Jews responded to the Gospel and departed from their former worship according to the Law of Moses and followed Christ. Therefore, there were two kinds of Jews, the ones that were unchanged, and the others that were converted to Christ. Those who were converted stood with the Gentile converts as the true heirs of the promises to Abraham. The faithful men from before Christ and those who emerge from the coming of Christ will be joined in unity, as we read in chapter 2, verses 13 through 16:

This is the mystery made known to Paul by revelation that we read about in chapter 3. The mystery that “in other ages was not made known unto the sons of men” is “that the Gentiles should be fellow-heirs, and of the same body and partakers of his promise in Christ by the Gospel” (Eph 3:4, 6).

Paul explains that he had been particularly chosen for the work of preaching to the Gentiles, and had been specially given a "gift of the grace of God"(Eph 3: 7) for this purpose. We see Paul’s devotion to his assigned duty “to make all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the world hath been hid in God, who created all things” (Eph 3:9). We see this in the description of his plea that he makes in behalf of the Gentiles. He prays that they may be “strengthened with might by [God’s] spirit in the inner man,” (Eph 3:16) that they “might be filled with all the fulness of God” (Eph 3:19).

This brings us back to the root of the epistle: that all things are of God, all things are by God, and all things are for God. The motivation for Paul ministering to the Gentiles is to fulfill the will of God. God has made us into what we are, and He will make us into whatever we will be. It is here that the figure of the temple enters. From our reading this morning in Ephesians chapter 2, verses 19 through 22 we read:

Here we again see a unity, with Christ in the chief position – the corner stone. It was only after being rejected by the builders that Jesus became the chief corner stone. Only through his death and resurrection did Jesus become the foundation of this spiritual temple. Willing-hearted believers are separated from the world to become joined together in unity with other believers to form a holy temple. It is through Christ, that Gentiles, who previously had no part of the promise given to the Jews, become heirs to those promises. Through Christ’s contrite and humble spirit he subjected himself to his Father’s will and suffered the worst that men could do to him. This is a very different spirit from that of the world around us. It is this spirit that the faithful must show if they are to have a place in that holy temple to come.

Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, all these men “having obtained a good report through faith, received not the promise: God having provided some better thing for us, that they without us should not be made perfect.” (Heb 11:39-40). May we all be partakers of the hope of salvation that we all share with these faithful men of old, to be co-heirs of the promises upon the second appearing of the Son of Man in power and great glory.

Thank you for you attention.