Nepaug Bible Church - http://www.nepaugchurch.org - Pastor's Evening Sermon Notes - http://www.nepaugchurch.org/ev/ev20130414.htm

THE PRISON EPISTLES: NURTURE FOR OPPRESSED BELIEVERS
I. Ephesians: Nurture In Living Focused On God's Eternal Purpose For Christians
B. Nurture In Focusing On The Believer's Spiritual Prosition For Earthly Life And Ministry
2. Nurture In Focusing On God's Placing All Believers In One Body For Edification
(Ephesians 2:11-22)
  1. Introduction
    1. When Paul wrote the "Prison Epistles" of Ephesians, Colossians, Philippians and Philemon in his Roman imprisonment, his status as a prisoner troubled believers, cf. Philippians 1:12-13; Colossians 2:1-2; 4:7-8 and Philemon 22; Ryrie Study Bible, KJV, 1978, p. 1672, "Intro. to the Letter of Paul to the Ephesians."
    2. One such concern might be that Paul's incarceration would leave local churches with no unifying cause to exist if the Apostle Paul who had discipled them was no longer present as a force to keep them existing.
    3. This concern is addressed by Paul's Ephesians 2:11-22 focus with great application for us (as follows):
  2. Nurture In Focusing On God's Placing All Believers In One Body For Edification, Eph. 2:11-22.
    1. To show the blessing of God's formation of the spiritual Body of Christ, the universal Church, Paul began to describe the totally helpless, godless position of Gentiles prior to their salvation, Eph. 2:11-12:
      1. Before salvation, Gentiles were termed "uncircumcised" by the "circumcised" Hebrews, which status was a "great social and spiritual boundary" between them, Eph. 2:11; Bible Know. Com., N. T., p. 625.
      2. The lost Gentile's alienation from Israel's community left him lacking five great privileges, Eph. 2:12:
        1. First, lost Gentiles were separate from Israel's Messiah, having no national hope, Ibid.
        2. Second, lost Gentiles had no citizenship in Israel, being alienated from the nation under God, Ibid.
        3. Third, lost Gentiles were without God's covenants to Israel's forefathers, without the Abrahamic (Gen. 12:1-3), the Palestinian (Deut. 28-30), the Davidic (2 Sam. 7:16) and the New Covenant (Jer. 31:31-34) that promised "national existence, a land, a King and spiritual blessings," Ibid.
        4. Fourth, lost Gentiles had no hope, "no expectation of a personal Messiah-Deliverer," Ibid.
        5. Fifth, lost Gentiles were without God in the world, atheoi, "apart from God," Ibid.
    2. However, at salvation, Gentiles are put in spiritual union with all other believers via the cross, Eph. 2:13.
    3. This new position provides great spiritual blessings described in Ephesians 2:14-18 as follows:
      1. In Christ, every believer enjoys spiritual peace with all other believers, Jew or Gentile, for Christ has made them all one group in destroying the spiritual enmity between them, Eph. 2:14; Ibid., p. 626.
      2. This unity was achieved by Christ's death that abolished this enmity in making the Law "inoperative" (katargesas, Ibid.) as to its commands and ordinances, thus making peace, Ephesians 2:15.
      3. Christ's objectives in destroying this enmity made by the Law was to reconcile Jew and Gentile in one body (Ephesians 2:15-16), so thus to proclaim and create peace, Ephesians 2:17.
      4. Indeed, both Jewish and Gentile believers have access to the Father through the Holy Spirit, Eph. 2:18.
      5. Accordingly, the believer has ongoing spiritual identity and blessing in Christ's Body, Eph. 2:19-22:
        1. In Christ's Body, the universal Church, every believer is now no longer a foreigner or a stranger, but a fellowcitizen with all of the rest of God's people and the members of His household, Eph. 2:19.
        2. The basis of this mutual spiritual citizenship and household membership is the new spiritual structure of the Body of Christ described in Ephesians 2:20-22: (1) every believer is spiritually built on the foundational teaching of the New Testament apostles and prophets, Eph. 2:20a; Ibid., p. 627. (2) Christ Himself is the Chief Cornerstone of that foundation, the One Who revealed the truth about Himself that constitutes the basis of faith for everyone in the Church, Ephesians 2:20b with Matthew 16:16-18. (3) In Christ, then, every believer is positionally joined to every other believer in a spiritual building that rises to become a holy temple of the Lord, Ephesians 2:21 NIV. (4) That temple is now being built together by God to be a dwelling where the Lord lives in each believer by way of the indwelling Spirit of God, Eph. 2:22; Ibid., Bible Know. Com., N. T., p. 627-628.
Lesson: At salvation, every believer is spiritually positioned by God into Christ's universal Body that is built by God on the foundation of New Testament prophets' and apostles' writings, Christ being the Chief Cornerstone, and every believer is positionally being built up by God's indwelling Holy Spirit.

Application: May we trust God's work to create and build Christ's Body so as to relax about its welfare.