Pondering with Purpose Podcast

Zack Gross
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  • Philosophy

I am a Seminary student in my twenties attempting to think deeply, holistically and consistently about Scripture and all of its implications. zackgross.substack.com

  1. 5d ago

    The Reality of Dependence in Prayer

    The following is an adapted version of my teaching at Patmos Reality Discipleship July 2026 through the letter to the Ephesians. This is the final installation in an eight part series through Ephesians. In this entry I continue to discuss this spiritual evil that we face and how to face it. In the previous entry, I talked about the armor of the Lord has given us. Introduction Have you ever had the experience where you were trying to use a piece of equipment, something that requires power, like maybe a mixer in the kitchen, a TV, a vacuum, or any other tool, and it just wouldn’t work for you? You tried turning it off and on, you tried opening it up and looking at the pieces and it just would not work. And as you try to figure out why it is not working, you realize it’s not plugged in. here’s no power. How could it possibly work? It’s unplugged. With no power source, things that require power will not work. It can be the most powerful vacuum in the world but if it’s not plugged into a power source, it’s useless. It can’t pick anything up. It has no way to do its job. Paul ends this letter, this letter that was meant to be read out loud, kind of like a sermon with a surprising invitation. It kind of feels like some beginner stuff. He talks about prayer. And I think he would say to us that you can’t really be strong in the Lord without prayer. You can’t stand without prayer. You can’t put on the armor of God without prayer. You will not last in this fight without prayer. Without prayer, you will lose your first love. You will not remain in love with Jesus. So take a moment to read Ephesians 6:18-24 and consider what it reveals to us about the reality of dependence and prayer through these four points. Constant Prayer, Prayer for Boldness, Praying Community, and the Peace of God. Throughout this series, we’ve been talking a little bit about this city of Ephesus. We have named some elements of Paul’s relationship with them, how he stayed there for years and planted this church and now he’s writing this letter. There’s actually another letter to the Ephesians in Scripture and it is found in Revelation 2:1-5. “To the angel of the church of Ephesus write, ‘These things says He who holds the seven stars in His right hand, who walks in the midst of the seven golden lampstands: 2 “I know your works, your labor, your patience, and that you cannot bear those who are evil. And you have tested those who say they are apostles and are not, and have found them liars; 3 and you have persevered and have patience, and have labored for My name’s sake and have not become weary. 4 Nevertheless I have this against you, that you have left your first love. 5 Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent and do the first works, or else I will come to you quickly and remove your lampstand from its place—unless you repent. Jesus talks about how they’ve lost their first love. They do a lot of good things, they’re obedient, they don’t like sin, they’re servants. But he says, “You’ve lost your first love”, and the way that he says they can return to their first love is to remember the things they did at first. Do the first works. And prayer has been and always will be the first work. Prayer is the first work of relationship with the Lord. So Paul ends this letter with a call to prayer. Maybe that’s not an accident. Maybe prayer is the first work. Jesus was always praying. Prayer is how all of these things happen. Prayer is everything in the Christian life. Prayer is a way of being with God. It’s not just the way, it is the destination. Prayer is not just a way to get to God. It’s actually the destination to be with God in prayer (Christian Dawson). Paul, as we’ve seen in this letter, keeps getting distracted by prayer. He’s talking, and then all of a sudden he interrupts himsefl to pray. Prayer is his reflex. Prayer is this effective tool. And it’s important to know that because we were all going to experience and have experienced spiritual warfare, the way we battle our enemy is through continual prayer, diverse prayer for others, and sensitivity in prayer. The way we would do this battle naturally is not the best way to go about it. We need to do things in a way that doesn’t make sense to us, this is the way that 2 Chronicles 20:15-22 talks about prayer. There it says that the people’s role in the fight is just worship. That doesn’t make any sense at all. How do you fight a spiritual battle through prayer? It doesn’t make sense, but we need to be driven to prayer and by prayer. Constant Prayer in this Reality v. 18 Verse 18 says, praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints There’s this connection back to the armor of God when he uses this phrase of being watchful to the end. We’re still talking about warfare. We’re still talking about battle and being watchful and on the alert. We have to be alert and vigilant. How do we do that? Paul thinks that’s through prayer. Paul says “all”, three different times in here. He says, all prayer, all perseverance, for all the saints. All, all, all. There needs to be a lot of prayer, all kinds of communication with God. We need all kinds of requests, constantly praying, whether that be planned or spontaneous. It seems like we might respond to this concluding that we will pray at scheduled times, before meals, on a whim, in response to a thought and on and on. And it seems that we would not just pray for ourselves, but for all saints, which is to say for all people. Paul ends his letter by inviting the church into a life of prayer. And maybe that’s on purpose. Have you guys ever been with someone who just instinctually does things? They don’t even think about it. It just happens. I have this friend, he is really funny, maybe one of the funniest people I know. And he’s funny because I know that he’s not trying to be funny. Like someone says something and the first before they can’t even finish saying it, he says something that’s funny. He didn’t have time to think about it. He didn’t think, “How could I be clever right now? Oh, do a word play.” He just says something ridiculous, and everybody laughs because it’s his reflex. It’s his instinct to have this sense of humor that’s just weird and wild and crazy. And I think that that is what Paul wants for us with prayer. He is hoping that it would just come out of us. It would be something that we think about and instinctually and immediately do it, all the time, that it would be our first instinct in every situation. But how do we pray? Like, how do we do this constant prayer that Paul is talking about? The people who followed Jesus were all very impressed by Jesus’s prayer life. And in Luke 11:1, they came to him. They’d seen him pray in the middle of the night. They’d see him pray early in the morning. They’d seen him pray all over the place, and in verse, 1 of chapter 11 of the Gospel of Luke, says, “Now it came to pass, as he [Jesus] was praying, in a certain place. When he ceased that one of his disciples said to him, Lord, teach us to pray, as John also taught his disciples”. Then he goes on to teach them the Lord’s prayer. But his disciples had asked him to teach them how to pray not what to pray. For us, we look at the way that Jesus prayed and the way that Paul prayed in Ephesians, and they give us an idea of how to engage in this battle. They don’t have to give us all the words. It’s not something we have to memorize and pray word for word, but they give us a form and a trajectory, a direction to pray into. Jesus taught us to pray, lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one, and he would not have taught us that if it didn’t matter. They’re not just words. He wouldn’t just teach us to do something that had no meaning or impact. The reason he taught us to pray that way is because our prayer matters because God listens to our prayer and responds. You, like me, might have heard a lot, this idea of constant prayer or prayer without ceasing. For a lot of my life, I’ve heard that and thought, “That’s impossible. I can’t do anything without ceasing”. But I have a professor at school who has talked to us about the idea that I pretty much think without ceasing. When I’m awake, I’m thinking. There’s almost never nothing happening in my brain. And he’s encouraged this with the idea that all we need to do, if we’re already thinking all the time, is to simply just pivot those thoughts to be open to God. He encourages us to just say, “God, I open to you in these thoughts. I’m going to keep thinking them, but I want to be aware of and know that you are with me, you’re hearing these thoughts. You know my thoughts, you care about my thoughts. And I kind of want to process them with you, not just alone, not that it would be me talking to myself, but I’d be talking with you.” And it doesn’t land on us alone either, that even as we try to turn those thoughts to prayer, we’re not going to be able to do it perfectly. The cool thing is that the New Testament talks to us about some prayer partners that we have. Romans 8:34. “Who is he who condemns? It is Christ who died. And furthermore is risen, who is even at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us. According to Romans 8:34, Jesus prays for us. Jesus is praying for you. He’s praying for you by name, specifically knowing exactly what you need. There’s a similar sentiment in Hebrews 7:25, Therefore he is also able to save the utmost, those who come to God, since he always to make intercession for them. And actually, the team gets bigger. It’s not just us and Jesus. Romans 8:26-27, says “Likewise the spirit, also helps us in our weakness, for we do not know what we should pray for as

    41 min

  2. May 5

    The Reality of Our Preparation

    The following is an adapted version of my teaching at Patmos Reality Discipleship July 2026 through the letter to the Ephesians. Introduction As we look at this section of Ephesians, it is helpful again to have the whole picture in mind. This overview post of Ephesians by the Bible Project puts each part in perspective. The whole first half of Ephesians is about the Gospel story. The second half is about our story. We are in this last section now. In the last teaching through Ephesians, I mentioned how equipment really matters. What you wear, what you choose to put on really matters. If you are going to work at a construction site, you would wear something very different than if you were to be working as a lawyer, right? If the construction workers shows up on the job in this suit, it would not go well. If the lawyer showed up in the courtroom in work boots and coveralls, that would not go well either. What we wear matters. And some people take a lot of time in the morning or at night to think about what they’re wearing. Who we are and what we think we’re doing is going to affect what we wear. It often reveals, what we think of ourselves. This section is about things that Paul tells us to wear, not necessarily physically or literally wear them, but like he’s been talking about this analogy of putting on and putting off. To wear it so that it becomes true of us, so that it’s in and through us. So as we’re reading this passenge of scripture, looking at “The Reality of our Preparations”, I want you to think about it through these four things: truth and righteousness, peace, faith, and salvation and Word. Go ahead and take a moment to read Ephesians 6:14-17. The Reality of our Preparation We just saw in the previous section that we have a real enemy, and this is a real battle. God has won the battle, and he’s given us His weapons to fight with. We don’t fight alone, though, we fight together. You know, you’re really in battle, when you are driven to prayer to seek the Lord in these things. The context of our warfare for Paul, as we’ve just talked about in chapter 4 and in chapter 5, is very ordinary life. Paul envisions that there’s warfare happening in the family. The way that you raise your kids, the way you respond to your parents, the way that you treat your spouse, the way that you interact at work, those are places where warfare is happening. He talked about how fathers can make their children angry, and if someone’s angry, that can let the devil and that can let the enemy in. So he’s talking about this warfare as very ordinary life. It happens in household, work, etc. “This battle isn’t fought by swinging swords—it’s fought through humility and submission, through truth and love, through faith and endurance. That’s how we resist.” That is the way that we stand and withstand. And in this battle, “We’re not putting on new strategies—we’re putting on the character of Christ.” One point that I thought was really interesting as I was preparing for this teaching is that it’s very easy to read about the armor of God and think about me individually. I put on a helmet, I put on this stuff, and think this is a set of instructions to individual believers, but that is not the way the text reads. Rather, the command to take up the armor of God is an invitation to the whole community. We are meant to do this together. It’s a communal practice, because like we said, every time the word “you” is used in Ephesians, it’s plural. So we could read Paul as saying, “You guys do this together. You guys all put this on. Let this be true of all of you together.” This section is not primarily about what I do by myself, but what we do together. According to the New Testament the Church is one body. So we need to have armor on as a body. Jesus has created one unified humanity, where we come together with Jesus as our head, and we become one humanity. We’re one body, so we need to have armor on as a body, because we are engaged in a battle to the death of this group that Paul calls the supernatural forces. Reality of Truth & Righteousness v. 14 Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness, In verse 14 Paul begins listing out each part of the armor of God. He starts by saying, “girding your loins with truth”. That’s when you put on a belt. The phrase “girding your loins” was to tuck in your robe, to gather it up and put it in your belt. In the Roman army, the belt held together the entire uniform, the entirety of it all. And Jesus consistently called the devil a liar. That was one of his favorite things to call him. He said that he’s a liar and he’s been a liar from the beginning. And so half-truths have been one of the devil’s primary strategies since the beginning. Think bac to the garden with Eve? When the serpent wanted to tempt Eve, he didn’t say a full lie. He asked her a question, and he said a partial truth. Did God really say, “If you touch the fruit, you will die?” God had not said that. God had said, “If you eat of it, you will die.” So the snake twisted a little bit, and he presented a half-truth. And he got her to doubt. He used lies and manipulation to do that. The enemy’s main weapon is lies, and he will pick lies that are as close to the truth as possible. Why? A lie that’s obviously a lie, is not going to go anywhere. No one is going to believe an obvious lie. But maybe if I tell someone who already feels like they’re kind of a short person, “Oh, you are tiny”. They might say, “Oh, I think I am tiny. I’m really insecure about that”. The closer to the truth, the more powerful the lie is. So it makes sense that the first piece of equipment given is a belt of truth. Think about Jesus and his temptation, when the enemy tempted him in the wilderness at the beginning of his ministry, it was partial truths. It was, “If you throw yourself down, God will catch you”. Yes, that was technically a true statement in Scripture, but it wasn’t an invitation to put God to the test. It wasn’t a promise to be flaunted over God. He used things that were kind of true, but out of context and not fully true. And Jesus would always go, “Here’s the full truth there. I know the truth”. So this is the belt, the belt that holds everything together, the truth of God keeps everything else together in our lives. The belt keeps your pants on. It holds things in place, and so truth is what keeps us, secure so that things don’t start falling apart. If we know the truth, then things are in order and we have clarity. We know the truth. But if things are unclear and it’s very hazy and smoky and we don’t know what’s true, then things start to fall apart. You don’t know where you’re supposed to be, or what you’re supposed to be doing, or who you even are, if you don’t know the truth. After introducing this belt of truth, then he talks about the breastplate of righteousness. The breastplate of righteousness. A breastplate is an element of armor in the Roman military, which is Paul’s context. A lot of this imagery, he’s taken what God said about His armor, that we looked at it in Isaiah, and Paul has thought about it through his immediate context. He’s in a Roman jail cell, he gets to see Roman guards all the time, and the armor that they’re wearing, and he’s thought about this stuff and how these truths about Jesus can be visually explained. So he talked about this breastplate. The breastplate guarded everything. Roman armor went from shoulders to mid-waist, covering all the vital organs, including your heart. It was very important. You get stabbed in the stomach and you’re done. As a remon legionnaire, you don’t have three lives, like in a video game. So the idea is to be protected. There’s a passage in Proverbs 4:23, “Keep your heart with all diligence, for out of its spring the issues of life”. The breastplate protected the heart, and Proverbs says that the heart is really important to protect because it’s where everything comes out of. Your thoughts, your feelings, your emotions. It’s part of the core of who you are, everything that you decide to do, your affections. Righteousness language is actually rare in Ephesians. In the other two uses, it is used to describe living righteously, meaning to live with integrity and rightness. We have to stop allowing our feelings to determine the things we do. Our feelings can control us and we cannot afford to let that happen. If our feelings dictate how we go about our day then we are in for a roller coaster.. Righteousness in the New Testament is not just justification but it is also activity. Biblically, There is no such thing as human righteousness. Scripture says, “There is no one good not even one”. So what kind of righteousness are we supposed to wear and have? There are two kinds that theologians talk about. First is imputed righteousness which is what Jesus did applied to us. Second is imparted righteousness, which is what Jesus is doing in and through us. These are incredibly important truths. As I thought about a way of illustrating this, I was reminded of a job that I find very fascinating. There is a whole job around recognizing counterfeit money. People train to recognize fake money. And for a long time I have found it very interesting that they say that the best way to train for this to be able to recognize is not what you would think. It is not by studying all of the fakes out there and knowing what they look like. The best way to prepare is by looking at, studying, and knowing the real deal. What does the real money look like? You are better able to recognize an imposter if you know the real deal first. This is true for us as Christians too. We are better able to recognize lies when we know the truth We can recognize lies about God like, “God is a harsh God. God just wants

    34 min

  3. Apr 14

    Praying the Hours

    This is an adapted version of a presentation I gave in class on April 13, 2026 Thanks for reading Pondering with Purpose! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work. I want you to imagine yourself in a world, a Roman world run by the forum bells, your day, your time, highly structured and organized. The bells signal the time for work to start. The bells signal the time for lunch. The bells signal the return to work at the end of the day loud and clear and these secular and ordinary rhythms come to serve as sacred markers. It’s at these times that you choose to pray. Regardless of where you are, you engage in a regular fixed practice of prayer. For the first few centuries of Christianity, this concept was not a thought experiment but reality. See, the practice of fixed-hour prayer actually originates all the way back in early Judaism with the recitation of the Shema every morning and evening according to Deuteronomy 6:4-7. The Psalmist even says that he prayed seven times a day (Psalm 119:164), and this practice was inherited and adopted by early Christians. In Acts, Peter and James heal a man on their way to the temple for fixed hour prayer (Acts 3:1). Peter is on the rooftop for fixed hour prayer when he sees the vision of the sheet (Acts 10:9). This practice of fixed-hour prayer was seen by the early church fathers as a way to obey Paul’s command to pray without ceasing (1 Thessalonians 5:17). Over the centuries, it has been known by many names. “Praying the hours”, “the daily office”, “the divine office”, “the divine hours” etc That language of “office” comes from Benedict, who described prayer as the “opus dei” which is translated “divine office” in the old English sense of “work”. Prayer is the work of God. For the sake of this project and presentation, I have used the term “fixed-hour” prayer as a way of catching all of these. But all of these names get back to one core idea, which is, that this is a practice of fixed-hour prayer throughout the day, which is structured around recurring times of worship, Scripture, and “psalmody”. It is a way of ordering our lives in such a way that we have regular interruptions that draw attention back to the reality that is the triune God and integrate that awareness into our life experience. What I hope to show you is that Fixed-hour prayer is a historically continuous yet consistently adaptable Christian tradition that works to theologically structure time, transform attention through repeated liturgy, and aid spiritual directors and directees by externalizing prayer beyond subjective experience. Bells Sound* Oh, wait, there’s the bells. I guess before I tell you anymore about it, we’ll have to stop what we’re in the middle of and practice this because that’s how this works. When the bell sounds or the time comes, we pause whatever we’re doing and pray So we’re gonna use a modern adaptation of fixed-hour prayer from Phyllis Tickle. This is actually how I was initially exposed to fixed-hour prayer, as my retreat partner incorporated this into my retreat and I have been using it ever since. Before each retreat, I will pull up the book for that season and find the morning, midday and evening prayers for the days of my retreat load in those days into my plan. We are going to pray together the morning prayer for the Monday closest to April 13th, which is to be prayed on the hour or half hour between 6-9am. So let’s walk through this together. We are going to read each part together out loud. This is the specific prayer for the morning, but each of these aspects or titles is present for the midday and evening hours with different psalms. This practice was generally something that was done verbally, whether corporately or alone. Current research, like that published in the journal Psychological Science, says, “A growing body of research has revealed that labeling an emotion, or putting one’s feelings into words, can help to downregulate that affect”, and that is exactly what fixed-hour prayer and the reading of the Psalms can do for its participants. As we read this out loud, we have the opportunity to be helped as our emotions might be named for us as we verbalize it together. In practice, you would definitely slow this way down and leave room for silence, reflection, and meditation, but we’re mostly going to move through it for the sake of time. But let’s breathe for a second and enter a posture of prayer…. How was that for you? Any reflections? Now that we have experienced it together, let me keep telling you about this sweet practice. As the practice of fixed-hour prayer developed in early Christianity, it took on diverse forms. After the legalization of Christianity under Constantine, this practice exploded into the public arena with great diversity and with little conformity to standardization in terms of the content and format of the prayers themselves. Then, with the rise of monasticism, this practice became a little more standardized (and by a little, I mean a little). Even with the significant role of St. Benedict and his rule upon western monasticism, there remained a great diversity and adaptability of this practice. There was diversity in which hours were practiced, what elements were incorporated, and so on. This diversity remained a consistent aspect in my study of fixed-hour prayer. There was chapter after chapter laying out which elements were in each preserved version we have from every church father. And there were whole chapters dedicated to describing the differences between Eastern and Western fixed-hour prayer and between monastic and cathedral, which is to say for the lay person. In the monastery, the hours were independent of time and were intended to cultivate uninterrupted prayer, whereas the cathedral hours were developed in direct connection with the rising of the sun and the lighting of the evening lamps. Our contemporary experience of fixed-hour prayer has been revitalized largely due to the Breviary of the Roman church in 1971 and through the Book of Common Prayer, which reformed fixed-hour prayer in the sixteenth century. The two most ancient hours of prayer are the morning and evening prayers, whose origin, as has already been noted, can be traced back to the reciting of the Shema. The morning hour, which we just experienced together, is oriented around praise and the consecration of the day. Ours had a call to prayer, a request for presence, and of course the refrain, etc., oriented around those themes. The evening hour sees the close of the day through a lens of thanksgiving and repentance and accordingly thanks God for the day’s graces, asks for forgiveness for failures, and protection for the night and instead of a reading, Tickle and others will include a hymn. So even though it is very diverse in whatever form you encounter it the point is that it is highly structured, scripted, and repetitive. Thanks for reading Pondering with Purpose! This post is public so feel free to share it. In addition to these two, there rose up at most six more hours of prayer which resulted in eight total times of prayer in Benedict’s time. There were seven during the day in accordance with Psalm 119:164 and one more at night according to Psalm 116:62. These daytime prayers were interruptions in the workday to pray through your work. There are a few underlying assumptions or foundational concepts that are helpful to name in understanding this practice. Time as a theological category Fixed-hour prayer in whatever form it is practiced, imposes meaning onto time. What this practice does is to provide us with a sort of “Sanctification of time” or “liturgy of time.” Taft describes it this way, “In the liturgical mystery, time becomes transformed into an event, an epiphany of the kingdom of God.” Ultimately, fixed-hour prayer transforms time from a neutral medium into a theological reality. As Reed and Osmer described it this week this helps to foster the conviction that God is present in all of life (p. 18). Scripture-centered prayer Post-reformation, there is a general aversion to pre-written prayers and a tendency to more spontaneous prayer. There is an admirable impulse there to have every word be meant but as Guiver points out, “It does, however, have its own pitfalls (excess individualism, piousness and dependence on feelings, leading, in their absence, to their fabrication) and [so it] needs the strong counterweight of formal, onward-moving liturgy…” This is what we see in the praying of the Shema, the praying of the Psalms by the New Testament believers, and even by Jesus throughout the gospels. The Psalms have always been the prayer book of God’s people and the Psalms have been and continue to be the “living core of the daily offices”. In fixed-hour prayer, the individual does not generate the content of prayer but instead submits to the scriptural framework which shapes their language and their perception of time. Liturgy and Ritual Fixed-hour prayer operates within the logic of liturgy in which repeated ritual actions make theological realities both present and formative. Taft says, “Liturgy is not just our response; it is also the eternally repeated call. It is both God’s unending saving activity and our prayerful response to it in faith and commitment throughout the ages.” (Taft, 341). Liturgy is a joining of our work and God’s work. We respond to His call and engage in remembrance that shapes our experience of the present. So maybe you are thinking this sounds great but why should I think about this for directeees: Fixed-hour prayer stabilizes our perception of our relationship with God and mitigates our fluctuating experience. Guiver says, “Daily disciplines of prayer, and especially the daily office, are important for us - contact is made with God and is seen to be made. They are ways of marking, incarnating, what

    23 min

  4. Mar 31

    The Reality of the Battle

    Thanks for reading Pondering with Purpose! This post is public so feel free to share it. Introduction: My dad has some friends that he likes to go on trips with. They will go to a cabin or go camping and they have a lot of fun. He often comes back from those trips and tells me what they did. He came back from a trip recently and he was telling me all that he did and he said, “We raked, we chopped down firewood, we cleaned this, we did that”. And so I asked him if they did anything fun. And he responded back, “We cleaned the grill…”. And I looked at him confused and asked, “So this was a work trip?” And he was confused. And I said, “It sounds like it was a work trip.” And he hadn’t even realized that he had actually been on a work trip. He thought he had been on vacation. And this silly example reminded me of different commitments we get into whether it be college, a discipleship program, a volunteer opportunity, etc. Sometimes we think we are signing up for a vacation and really we are signing up to work. . It is really important that we know what we are doing and who we are. If we do not know what we are doing, we will not prepare and we will not act rightly. As you read this passage of Scripture, I want you to think about this section and what it reveals about the “Reality of the Battle” around these four points: His strength, our standing, our enemies, his armor. Go ahead and take a moment to read Ephesians 6:10-6:13. Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. 11 Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. 12 For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. 13 Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. The Reality of the Battle This whole section is the grand finale of the letter. It is this rousing call to arms. This is the culmination of everything Paul has been saying in Ephesians, which means, we need to consider these things in light of the rest of this letter. We shoul not pick out Ephesians 6:10-24 as an isolated treatment of “Spiritual Warfare”. This is not an independent section. Throughout this last chapter there is repetition of a lot of the language from previous sections such as “power”, “powers”, etc. The Reality of His Strength (v. 10) Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. Verse 10 functions as a header for the whole section. Paul says, “Finally”. He is wrapping up the whole letter. “Be strong in the Lord and in the power of his might”. This is the power language from previously in the letter. Paul is explaining how we are strong in the Lord. This is the main point of the armor of God in this section. Paul is making clear that Jesus has defeated the powers. We are just supposed to not lose ground. Here in this context, we are supposed to stand strong in the “power” that Paul wanted us to understand earlier in the letter. It is interesting to note that Paul does not start by focusing on the fight or the enemy. We have a tendency to get caught up in “the fight”. When we do that, our focus is on the enemy but Paul wants our focus to remain on the Lord. If you focus on the enemy, you’ve already lost. We want to focus on the victor, Jesus. All of the rest is peripheral. He has spent this whole letter focusing our eyes on the victory of Christ and he does not want us to take them off of him now. Jesus is the strong one. Jesus is the victorious one. We don’t do this on our own, in our own strength now, but in His. Practically, you don’t go into a fight without training. And when you think about warfare, you usually want a good position in order to be successful. Obi Wan famously went for the high ground. You need preparation to stand firm and part of this preparation is receiving the strength from the Lord, to be made strong. That’s the language here. Ephesians 6:10 says, “Be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might.” Sit But Paul has not started this letter with this instruction to stand. In terms of spacial imagery used for the believer it starts Ephesians 1:20b-21 where Paul describes what God has done in Christ saying, “when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places, 21 far above all principality and power and might and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in that which is to come. So Jesus seated above all power and principality and according to Ephesians 2:6, we are seated with Christ. Jesus the one who is seated over all power and principalities. As a king in a battle, you sit down when it’s over, when you’ve won, and there is a chance to rest. This means that your position is of rest with Christ. Walk But Paul has not only described our seated nature with Christ. In Ephesians 4:1, he has called his readers to “Walk worthy of the calling”. Yes, positionally, we are seated with Christ but practically we are called to walk that out. We live a certain way that reflects our sure and settled identity with Christ. Which leads us to Ephesians 5 where Paul says to “walk in love” (5:2), to “walk as children of light” (5:8), and to “Walk circumspectly” (5:15). The way we go about our life, the way we walk from place to place, through our life, from our work to our school, with our family, it’s supposed to be worthy. W already sitting positionally. That is done. We are seated with Christ and now in the present, we want to walk worthyly. So we go from sitting to walking. Stand All of that before we are ever called to stand. We are told of where we sit, and we are called to walk, before as Paul ends he tells us that our role is stand. But how we walk will determine how well we can stand. Chapter 5 was all about getting the garbage out of our lives (5:3-7). Darkness invites the enemy. This is all relevant because, you don’t have the power within yourself to fight that battle. As an illustration, Have you ever helped your dad with a task? Or used a very powerful piece of machinery? When you work with your dad and your “helping” him lift something it would be silly and untrue to say you did the lifting. You were there and participating but he did all the heavy lifting. Or in the case of the machinery you didn’t lift all the dirt, the digger did. You just pulled some levers. That is the dynamic going on here. We have access to his strength. He wants us to participate but we are not expected to do any heavy lifting. It’s his strength. Not ours. So the call here is to “Be strong in the Lord”. Be this way because you already are this way. Just don’t step out of this. Don’t step out and try to do it in your own strength. Why would you go and lift without your dad? Why would you try to move the dirt without the machine? Let him be strong. If we think about Paul’s understanding of true strength, we can turn to 2 Corinthians 12:9-10 where he recounts his back and forth with the Lord, saying, “And He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. 10 Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ’s sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong.” Jesus is the strong one. He is the perfect example of strength. He knew we were weak and incapable on our own so He came. He came to identify with us and give us his strength. Then he died, rose again, and ascended, sending us His Spirit to give us strength. It his Spirit who empowers us for the task of joining him. The Reality in which We Stand (v. 11) “Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.” Here in Ephesians, we use the armor of God to hold our ground. The messiah has already won the victory. We just need to hold our ground. Verse 13 is really clear that we are not taking ground. We are just maintaining ground. In Paul’s mind, spiritual warfare is not an event; it is a lifestyle. If this is a lifestyle then it needs to be sustainable and that’s why it is so important that this passage remains grounded in the context of the whole letter. First, we sit. We are securely at rest in Christ. Second, we walk. We follow Jesus in a manner of holiness. And lastly, we stand. This is so that we are able to stand against the enemy. So what does this look like? There are some really practical and important things. Jude 9:1 says, “Yet Michael the archangel, in contending with the devil, when he disputed about the body of Moses, dared not bring against him a reviling accusation, but said, “The Lord rebuke you!” This is the archangel of God and when faced with a conflict with the enemy, he did not attack the enemy, he did not try and come up with things to say, or to intimidate him. Instead he looked to the Lord, in the power of his strength and said, “The Lord rebuke you”. When we face the enemy, when we feel the lies of the enemy come, temptation, discouragement, we are tempted to fight back and step up in our wisdom, but the example here is to rest in the authority that we have in Jesus to send the dark spiritual forces back to the one who defeated them. We are not going on the offensive. In verses 10 and 13 Paul uses the words “stand” and “withstand”. We are just protecting what has alread been won. James 4:7 will say that we should, “Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.” Resistance is not the same as fighting. The implication is that the ground has already been won. When we think of spiritual warfare as offensive we step

    45 min

  5. Mar 3

    Mirroring this Reality

    Thanks for reading Pondering with Purpose! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work. Mirroring this Reality Think back to the game you would play growing up where you would mirror what someone else was doing. They would raise their right hand and you would raise your left. They would wink and you would wink. Do you remember? So my point is that when I ask someone to mirror me, to imitate me, you can do a pretty good job. And in our lives, we actually do this a lot with people that we love. We imitate our really good friends. Maybe we make the same jokes they do. Maybe we talk like they do. Our families, or if we’re in a relationship, you start talking like them. We do this with the people that we love. And our whole section right now in Ephesians is all about imitating God. Not because God walks up to us and says, “Copy me,” right, like it’s some silly exercise. No. Because we love Him, and He’s our Father. And so we want to be like Him. Because we see that the things about Him that are good and beautiful, and we want to do those things too. So this whole section is about mirroring this reality. Just to remind us where we are in the book of Ephesians: we finished all of the first half o the book - those first three chapters - and then we started looking at the implications. We did chapter four, and now we’re in this section here, chapter 5 through the end of Ephesians 6:9. As your Ephesians 5:3-6:9, I want you to think about this idea of “mirroring this reality” around these four points: * Walking in Light * Walking in Wisdom * Imitating Christ * Submitting to the Lord We’ve sat with three chapters of this beautiful reality of who God is, Father, Son, and Spirit, what the gospel is, and what God has done in and for us. And now, as we continue looking at the implications of this reality (this reality that is actually real, that is the truest thing in the universe) we’re asking: What does that mean for me? What does that mean for you? What does that mean for today, and tomorrow? Why does it actually matter? And one of the implications of this reality is that we begin to mirror it. If we see it to be true, and we see it to be good, then we start taking it on as well. We begin to imitate like a child. We watch, and then we do. This reality is the truest thing in the universe, and so it begins to reshape our minds and our imaginations. We look out at the world and we say, “Oh, they’re doing it that way but I know a different way.” And that is because I belong to a different family. I’m under a different King. I believe in a different reality. Not everything they say is true. And so as we move forward, what we’re going to see is what it looks like when this reality actually starts shaping the way we live. Walking In the Reality of Light v. 3-14 V. 8 For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light So Paul starts here by basically saying: you are light in the Lord, so live like it. If you are light, then live like light. There are some more things in this section that need to be laid aside because they are not in keeping with God’s new family and the culture of that family. It’s kind of like when you start hanging out with a new group of people and you realize that some of your previous habits and behaviors are out place, “Oh we don’t do that here. We don’t do that here.” That’s what Paul is saying. He’s saying, “We don’t do that here”. V. 3 But fornication and all uncleanness or covetousness, let it not even be named among you, as is fitting for saints; So in verse 3 he starts another list. He says fornication, “porneia” in Greek, which is a word that applies to any inappropriate sexual activity. Then he says “uncleanness”, which is just dirtiness, anything that feels morally dirty. Then “covetousness”, which is greed and desiring more and more. And he says these things should not even be named among you, as is fitting for saints. Saints: meaning God’s people who are holy people set apart to God. These things are so not part of who we are that why would we even talk about them? Why would we even give them mental space? V. 4 neither filthiness, nor foolish talking, nor coarse jesting, which are not fitting, but rather giving of thanks. Then he goes on in verse 4 and keeps the list going: neither “filthiness”, which is obscenities, shameful talking, having a dirty mind and dirty talk nor “foolish talking”, which is silly, meaningless talk, nor coarse jesting, jokes that are rude or harsh or dirty. And then he gives a contrast. Instead of all these things practice thanksgiving. Rather, giving of thanks. Our minds should be filled with things that are beautiful, right, and good, and thanksgiving to God for them. That’s the contrast. Not this, not this, not this but instead, thanksgiving. And if we’re focused on who God is and what He has done, it should naturally bring about thanksgiving. Like Paul in some of his prayers, you can tell he just starts thinking about God and then he can’t stop himself from thanking Him. V. 5 For this you know, that no fornicator, unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater, has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God Then in verse 5 he says, “For this you know,” that no fornicator, unclean person, or covetous man, who is an idolater, has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God. These people have a different culture. They do not fit in with what God is doing and what God has begun to do and will continue to do. V. 6 Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience. In verse 6 he says, “Let no one deceive you with empty words.” Anyone who says otherwise, who says, “Oh no, no, it’s fine, you can keep doing that, it’s all good”, they are deceiving you. They might be deceived themselves, but they are telling you a lie. These things are not part of the kingdom of God. These things draw the wrath of God. And the wrath of God is something that some Christians are really scared of, because we know what human wrath looks like. Maybe we’ve had a wrathful parent, or someone who explodes in anger. That is not what Scripture means by the wrath of God. The wrath of God is this handing over - the releasing of someone to the results of their own actions. We see this really clearly in Romans 1:18–27. Paul says that as people continue to push against God, God says, “Okay. If that’s what you want, I’m going to release you to that.” And it’s not going to be good for you. But God is gracious. He’s not forcing Himself on anyone. So when Paul talks about the wrath of God here, he’s talking about the effects of those actions without God holding them back - without God protecting us from chaos and darkness and evil. God saying, “If you want to keep walking this direction and rejecting me over and over again, I release you.” V. 7 Therefore do not be partakers with them. Then in verse 7 he says, “Therefore, do not be partakers with them.” We’ve moved into a new culture. We used to live that way, but no longer. It wouldn’t make sense to keep living that way now that we belong to something new. V. 8 For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light Verse 8 gives this stark contrast: “For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord.” You didn’t used to be in darkness, rather you were darkness. You weren’t just surrounded by darkness; you were a source of it. And now you are light”. Not just in the light but the light has so transformed you that you actually are light. We are light people, and so we should live as light people. There was a recent movie that came out called Elemental. It’s about different elements that are people: fire people, water people, wind people. And the movie shows how you cannot live as a different element than you are. A fire person cannot live in a water pool. It puts them out. That’s what Paul is saying. You are light. It does not work for you to live as darkness anymore. You are light whether you believe it or not in Christ, and so you bring that light wherever you go. Paul isn’t making this up either. Jesus calls His followers the light of the world in the Sermon on the Mount. But Jesus also says that He is the light of the world. So there’s this idea that we are light only insofar as we reflect His light. Jesus is the sun, and we are the moon. We really are light but not independent of our light source. V. 9 (for the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness, righteousness, and truth), Then in verse 9 Paul explains what this light looks like, what it entails. The fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness, righteousness, and truth. Goodness is benevolence—being kindhearted, helpful, doing good deeds. Righteousness is right-relatedness—doing what is right based on the relationship you’re in. And truth is being a truthful, honest kind of person—with yourself and with others. V. 10 finding out what is acceptable to the Lord. In verse 10 he says, “finding out what is acceptable to the Lord.” In Greek this is the idea of testing and approving what is pleasing to God. It’s discernment. We don’t always have a clear statement for every situation, so we test and approve by bringing our plans to the Lord and seeing where there is peace, where there is clarity, where Scripture and wise counsel line up. V. 11 And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather expose them. Verse 11 says to have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness. We don’t participate anymore. And by living as people of light, we shine light into the world, and that exposes darkness. This doesn’t mean that every time someone does something wrong, we walk up to them and tell them they’re wrong. Paul didn’t do that. Jesus didn’t

    48 min

  6. Feb 3

    Living into this Reality

    Thanks for reading Pondering with Purpose! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work. This post is adapted from my teaching at Patmos Reality Discipleship on Ephesians 4:1-5:2, Summer 2025. Introduction: Before reading, take a minute to watch this helpful treatment of the literary structure of Ephesians by the Bible Project So we are moving into the second half of the letter of Ephesians. Paul has spent the first three chapters laying a foundation. He has been asking and answering the question: What is reality? What is the true story of the world? What is actually going on in the universe? How do we make sense of our lives? The second half of the letter becomes very practical. Paul turns and says, “Okay, if this is what is real, then here is how life should look.” These things matter because reality matters. A helpful way to think about it is this: the first three chapters are like being taught about gravity. You learn that gravity exists. You learn that what goes up must come down. You learn that if you drop something, it will fall. You learn a fundamental rule of the universe. Then the second half of the letter is like saying, “Okay, now that you know gravity exists, don’t walk off cliffs. Don’t jump out of planes without a parachute.” It is extremely practical, but not because someone is making rules up. It is practical because there is a fundamental belief about how reality actually works. Paul is not just giving moral advice. He is saying, “Because this is the way the world is, this is how you live wisely within it.” As we read this passage of Scripture, pay attention to what it reveals about living into what Paul has been describing, especially as it relates to four things: unity, diverse maturity, putting off and putting on, and spiritual reality. Reading of Scripture: Ephesians 4:1–5:2 Living into this Reality We have reached a major transition point in the letter. Paul has laid out a grand vision of reality in the first three chapters. He has grounded everything in the reality of the triune God. He has grounded it in the reality of who we once were and who we now are in Christ. He has grounded it in the reality of the mystery of God’s inclusion of all people into the new humanity He is creating. With all of that said, Paul now transitions to talk about what this means on a daily basis. He begins to address the implications. If this is the true story of the world, then how do we actually live within it? Maintaining the Reality of Unity v. 1–6 God’s one new humanity is really diverse. I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you to walk worthy of the calling with which you were called, Verse 1 begins with “therefore.” Based on everything Paul has said in this letter so far and based on all that Christ has done and what He has made available, this is how believers are called to live. Paul identifies himself at this transition point as a prisoner. We are fairly confident this was written from prison, but he does not say he is a prisoner of Rome or a prisoner of the emperor. He says he is a prisoner of Christ. The only reason he is where he is, is because of his captive heart to King Jesus. Every “you” in this section is plural. This is not addressed to individuals in isolation. This is a communal invitation. The church is not an option for the Christian. You will not fully know Jesus without living fully for one another. There are aspects of Jesus’ character, heart, patience, and wisdom that cannot be experienced apart from life together with others. And this is not something believers initiate. It is something that began in God and is responded to. Paul says to walk worthy of the calling to which you were called. The calling already happened. God initiated it. The response is simply to answer it. That calling includes all the status Paul explained in the previous three chapters. with all lowliness and gentleness, with longsuffering, bearing with one another in love, Verse 2 explains how this life together is lived: with character traits that reflect Jesus and are born in believers through His Spirit. Lowly: having a humble posture.Gentle: relating to others with softness rather than harshness.Long-suffering: patience that lasts.Bearing with one another: realistically putting up with each other. Paul is not naive. He knows that people living together in the family of God will annoy each other, frustrate each other, and misunderstand each other. Bearing with one another means choosing to carry those irritations rather than cutting off relationship. It means saying, “You are worth this inconvenience.” endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. Verse 3 says to make every effort to maintain unity. Paul does not say to create unity. Unity is already Christ’s work. The call is to preserve what He has done. Notice that Paul does not give a structure or a system. He gives virtues. The unity does not come from technique but from Christlike character. There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called in one hope of your calling; 5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism; 6 one God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all. Verses 4–6 list seven “ones.” Seven is the biblical number of completion. That is a lot of things to have in common and they are arguably the most important things to have in common. One body.One Spirit.One hope.One Lord.One faith.One baptism.One God and Father of all. These are the baseline realities God’s people share. This is the first call to action in the second half of the book. Preserve unity. Living worthy of the calling means working hard to maintain unity. This does not happen accidentally. The church, historically and presently, could do a lot better at this. There are denominations, church splits, divisions within churches, and relational fractures everywhere. Unity requires forgiveness, grace, and humility. That is why it is often avoided or ignored. But this is how believers live in light of reality. When believers do not live this way, they communicate to the world and to the spiritual powers that they do not live according to a different story. Paul has just spent three chapters explaining reality. Ignoring unity is like sitting through three chapters on gravity and then walking out of a third-story window. It makes no sense. Believers do not live according to the same story as the world. To the outside world, the church should look like it lives in a fairy-tale world because it lives under a different King. When the world looks at the church, it should see Jesus. Not a fractured Jesus, but one unified Jesus. Jesus came for all people to make them one in Him, to be their head. He is sufficient for that task. His Spirit is powerful enough to enable this kind of life together if believers will open themselves to what He has already done and what He is continuing to do. Grow Into the Reality of Diverse Maturity v. 7–16 After talking about unity, Paul now turns to diversity. Verses 7–10 show that Christ and His victory are the source of our roles, our work, and our responsibilities as Christians. Verse 7 says, But to each one of us grace was given according to the measure of Christ’s gift. Our unity is the foundation from which diversity emerges. In the Greek, the idea of “one” continues the same unity Paul has just been describing. This is not a new topic disconnected from unity, it is the next movement within it. Diversity does not come before unity. Diversity is discovered through unity. When people actually come together and live together, they begin to realize that they are different. These differences are not discovered in isolation. Unity is not uniformity. Uniformity would mean everyone looking the same, acting the same, thinking the same. That is not what Paul is describing. Unity is served by diversity. Unity is not absorption into an indistinct oneness but the formation of a diverse family. Therefore He says: “When He ascended on high,He led captivity captive,And gave gifts to men.” 9 (Now this, “He ascended”—what does it mean but that He also [d]first descended into the lower parts of the earth? 10 He who descended is also the One who ascended far above all the heavens, that He might fill all things.) Verses 8–10 quote Psalm 68, a psalm about God’s great victory, and apply it to Jesus. Through His death, burial, resurrection, and ascension, Jesus has won the victory. As a direct result of that victory, He has given gifts to His people by filling all things with Himself through His Spirit. The imagery is that of plunder. In victory, the spoils of war are shared. Jesus has conquered and now distributes the results of that victory to His people. Each person has a role to play in this reality. And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, 12 for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, 13 till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ; Verses 11–13 explain how these roles function. Paul lists apostles, prophets, evangelists, and pastors and teachers. This is not meant to be an exhaustive list, but a starting point. Apostles can refer broadly to messengers, more narrowly to the twelve, or to those commissioned by the church. In this context, it most naturally refers to the twelve plus Paul, who are those uniquely commissioned and entrusted with foundational witness. Prophets are spokespersons for God. They speak inspired words and bring God’s perspective on reality, often calling attention to injustice or calling people back to faithfulness. Evangelists proclaim the good news of Jesus, often in traveling or itinerant roles. Pastors and teachers refer to overseers and elders leaders within the church who

    51 min

  7. Jan 6

    Comprehending the Mystery of This Reality

    This post is adapted from my teaching at Patmos Reality Discipleship on Ephesians 3:1–21, Summer 2025. Thanks for reading Pondering with Purpose! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work. Introduction: I love a good mystery. Whether it’s a detective novel or a film like Interstellar, there’s something compelling about a story where something hidden slowly comes into view. You start with questions. You sense that something bigger is going on. And then, piece by piece, the mystery is comprehended, revealed, realized until finally, the outcome becomes clear. That’s exactly how Paul is thinking in Ephesians 3. This chapter is about a mystery which is not something that remains unknowable, but something that was once hidden and has now been revealed. As we read this passage, four movements help us track Paul’s thinking: Comprehending, Revealing, Realizing, and Outcome. Reading of Scripture: Ephesians 3:1–21 Paul’s desire in Ephesians 3 is simple but profound:that the church would truly know the love of God. Not just know facts about God, but know Him personally, experientially, deeply. Paul wants the people of God to grasp this love so fully that they are filled with all the fullness of God, growing into spiritual maturity and completeness. And Paul knows something important:it’s not enough to just talk about this reality. So in this chapter, Paul does two things: * He explains the mystery. * Then he falls to his knees and prays toward that end. Perspective is easy to lose. Mission is easy to forget. Paul wants the church to comprehend, realize, and pray into the mystery that has now been revealed: God’s eternal purpose is to unite all people in Christ and fill them with His fullness. This is no longer a secret.The puzzle box has been turned over.The picture is clear. The Reality of the Mystery Revealed (vv. 1–7) Paul opens chapter 3 with a familiar phrase: “For this reason…” (v. 1) This phrase gathers up everything Paul has already said in chapters 1 and 2.The work of the Triune God.From death to life.From separation to unity. All of it is for this reason. Paul begins as if he’s about to pray but then he interrupts himself. “For this reason I, Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus for you Gentiles…” And then he stops.The prayer doesn’t come until verse 14. Instead, Paul launches into a long aside, explaining his role in this mystery and how it has been revealed. A Prisoner of Christ (v. 1) Paul does not describe himself as a prisoner of Rome or the emperor though he is literally sitting in a Roman prison. He calls himself: “a prisoner of Christ Jesus.” Rome may think it holds him, but Paul knows who truly governs his life.He surrendered himself to Christ on the road to Damascus, and everything since including this imprisonment flows from that surrender. And this imprisonment has a specific reason: “for you Gentiles.” Paul is in chains because he refused to limit the gospel to one ethnic group.He crossed boundaries that made people uncomfortable.He proclaimed Jesus to everyone. A Steward of Grace (vv. 2–3) Paul describes his ministry as a stewardship: “the stewardship of God’s grace that was given to me for you.” A steward manages something that doesn’t belong to him.Paul didn’t create the gospel.He doesn’t own grace.He’s been entrusted with it. And that trust was not earned. God revealed this mystery to Paul by grace; making clear that He intended to welcome all people, including Gentiles, fully into His family. What the Mystery Is (vv. 5–6) Paul clarifies: “The mystery… has now been revealed by the Spirit to His holy apostles and prophets.” And what is the mystery? “That the Gentiles are fellow heirs, members of the same body, and partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel.” This is the key:God always intended to bless the nations.What wasn’t clear until now was the extent of that blessing. Not observers.Not outsiders.Not second-class citizens. Equals. Paul stacks the language to make the point unmistakable: * fellow heirs * same body * fellow partakers One new humanity.Shared life.Shared inheritance. A Mystery Revealed, Not Invented (v. 7) When Paul talks about “mystery,” he does not mean something that remains unknowable. He means something that was once hidden and is now clear. Like starting a week without knowing what it will hold the challenges, the schedule, the growth and then looking back and realizing what it was all about. That’s what Paul is saying has happened in Christ. The mystery has come into focus. And it is good news: God desires a multiethnic, multicultural, blood-bought people for Himself. This was not obvious before.Now it is unmistakable. The Mystery Is Clear This reality has been revealed. God wants one people: diverse, different, unified in Christ. To ignore that clarity is to ignore the very purpose for which Christ came. Jesus Makes It Possible Jesus modeled reconciliation across boundaries.He died to destroy dividing walls.And He gives one Spirit, not different Spirits for different cultures, but the same Spirit to all believers. This is not unclear.It has been revealed. And at this point, Paul can’t help himself he moves from explanation toward awe. Thanks for reading Pondering with Purpose! This post is public so feel free to share it. Realizing the Purpose of the Mystery (vv. 8–13) Paul now turns from what the mystery is to why it exists. He begins with a striking self-description: “To me, though I am less than the least of all the saints, this grace was given…” (v. 8) Paul actually invents a word here. He takes the superlative “least” and intensifies it.It’s as if he’s saying, “If you line everyone up from most qualified to least qualified, go to the bottom, then take one more step down. That’s where you’ll find me.” This isn’t false humility.It’s memory. Paul remembers who he was: a blasphemer, a persecutor, violent toward the church. “Though formerly I was a blasphemer, persecutor, and insolent opponent… the grace of our Lord overflowed for me.” (1 Tim. 1:12–14) And now this same Paul has been entrusted with something staggering: “…to preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ.” Unsearchable Riches (v. 8) The riches of Christ are unfathomable and untrackable.So deep and so wide that no one ever reaches the end of them. You never “figure out” Jesus.You never exhaust Him.You never arrive at the bottom. Paul’s calling is to announce this inexhaustible wealth to people who were once told they didn’t belong. Bringing the Mystery to Light (v. 9) Paul continues: “…to bring to light for everyone what is the plan of the mystery hidden for ages in God…” God always knew what He was doing even when humanity didn’t. This one-family-in-the-Messiah plan was never an afterthought.It was hidden in plain sight, waiting for the right moment to be revealed. The Church as God’s Display (v. 10) Here is the heart of Paul’s point: “…so that through the church the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places.” The church is not a social club.Not a religious add-on.Not a backup plan. It is the display case of God’s wisdom. The word “manifold” means multi-faceted, like light refracting through a prism.Different cultures, backgrounds, stories, and gifts coming together into one body. And Paul says this display isn’t just for the world. It is a declaration to the hostile spiritual powers. Every time the people of God gather in unity, they proclaim something to the unseen realm: God is wise enough to bring enemies together.God is powerful enough to form one family. God’s Eternal Purpose (v. 11) Paul grounds this again in eternity: “This was according to the eternal purpose that He has realized in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Even though it feels new, this has always been the plan. A New Status: Boldness and Access (v. 12) Because of this mystery revealed, Paul says: “In whom we have boldness and access with confidence through our faith in Him.” Access that was once restricted is now wide open. No ritual barriers.No ethnic boundaries.No hierarchy of closeness. Believers are welcomed directly into the presence of the Father. Why Paul Says All This (v. 13) Paul closes this section with clarity: “So I ask you not to lose heart over what I am suffering for you, which is your glory.” The entire digression exists for this reason. It would be easy to see Paul in prison and assume the mission had failed.Paul insists the opposite. This suffering is not a setback.It is part of God’s wise, eternal plan. Unity Displays God’s Wisdom When the church lives in unity, it tells the truth about God. When it fractures, bickers, and divides, it lies. “The church is not a museum for saints; it is a hospital for sinners” (Augustine).And when broken people learn to live together in Christ, God’s wisdom is put on display. Seeing What Paul Sees Paul isn’t inventing this vision.He is adopting Jesus’ perspective on reality. And he invites the church to do the same: to see unity not as optional, but as essential to the gospel itself. Appreciating the Reality of the Mystery (vv. 14–19) After explaining the mystery and its purpose, Paul finally returns to what he started back in verse 1. “For this reason…” (v. 14) Now the prayer comes. Paul says: “For this reason I bow my knees before the Father…” This posture matters.In Jewish prayer, standing was common. Kneeling signaled urgency, reverence, and deep dependence. Paul is not offering a casual prayer.He is overwhelmed by what he has just described. The Father from Whom Every Family Is Named (v. 15) Paul prays: “…from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named.” The God who formed families, nations, and peoples now draws them together into one family. Identity flows from God, not

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  8. 12/16/2025

    Contrasting Realities

    Thanks for reading Pondering with Purpose! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work. This post is adapted from my teaching at Patmos on Ephesians 2:1–22. Introduction Clarity often comes through contrast. A light bulb shines brighter in a dark room.Food tastes better when you’re truly hungry.Rest feels deeper when you’re exhausted. Ephesians 2 works the same way. Paul shows the brightness of God’s grace by placing it against the dark backdrop of our former condition. As we read this passage, four movements rise to the surface: The Problem, the Solution, the Status, and the Resolution. Reading of Scripture: Ephesians 2:1–22 In chapter 1, Paul unveiled the work of the Triune God: Father, Son, and Spirit creating a whole new reality.Now, in chapter 2, Paul tells the story of how we actually enter that reality: through radical contrast and stunning grace. This entire chapter centers on one of Ephesians’ key themes: unity; both unity with God and unity with one another. Paul highlights: * the problem of separation from God that left humanity spiritually dead, * the solution of God’s intervening grace, * the contrast of statuses between groups, * and the resolution God accomplishes to bring Jews and Gentiles, and all people, together under Christ. For Paul, multiethnic unity wasn’t a side note; it was central to the gospel. He even confronted Peter publicly when he acted out of step with this truth: “When Cephas came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face, because he stood condemned… their conduct was not in step with the truth of the gospel.” (Gal. 2:11–14) Paul didn’t call their behavior unfortunate or unkind. He called it a gospel issue. Because the unification of people is tied directly to the unification of humanity to God in Christ. Understanding that demands contrast.The darker the dark, the brighter the light. Tim Keller captured this contrast beautifully: “We are more sinful and flawed in ourselves than we ever dared believe, yet at the very same time we are more loved and accepted in Jesus Christ than we ever dared hope.” This is the heartbeat of Ephesians 2. The Reality of the Problem (vv. 1–3) Paul begins with unfiltered honesty. He writes: “And you were dead in trespasses and sins…” (v. 1) “You” refers to Gentiles and in verse 3, Paul includes himself and the Jewish people:“we too.” Both groups shared the same condition. Paul isn’t saying we were struggling or limping along spiritually but dead.Externally alive, internally hollow. Walking in trespasses and sins means that the entire pattern of life was shaped by rebellion and separation from God. Paul explains what this former way of life looked like: * “according to the course of this world” * “according to the prince of the power of the air” * “according to the spirit now at work in the sons of disobedience” The “prince of the power of the air” is a unique phrase, almost certainly referring to Satan.In Ephesus, many believed the spiritual realm existed in the very air around them — unseen but real.Paul affirms that reality but reframes it:these dark powers are real, but they no longer rule those who are in Christ. C. S. Lewis famously warned of two opposite errors: “One is to disbelieve in their existence. The other is to believe and to feel an excessive and unhealthy interest in them… they hail a materialist or a magician with the same delight.” Paul steers us clear of both mistakes. The powers of darkness exist but they do not have authority over those united to Jesus. Paul continues: “We all once lived in the passions of our flesh… and were by nature children of wrath.” Jew and Gentile alike, the whole world, lived according to disordered desires, indulgence of every appetite, and self-defined morality.We didn’t drift slightly off course; we were entirely cut off from life. Some kinds of death are obvious.Others look deceptively alive. A tall, sturdy-looking tree can stand for years with its leaves full and its trunk strong while inside it is hollowing out from rot.When it finally falls, everyone realizes the truth:it was dead long before it hit the ground. Paul says spiritual death works the same way.People can look vibrant, productive, impressive and yet be completely severed from the life of God. If you don’t realize you’re dead, you won’t reach for life. Without Jesus, we are dead.Any assessment softer than that fails to diagnose reality. And if the diagnosis is wrong, the cure will never be sought. Jesus is shockingly honest about the human condition. “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick.” (Luke 5:31–32) And again: “What comes out of a person is what defiles him… all these evil things come from within.” (Mark 7:20–23) Jesus names the problem and then becomes the cure.He gives not halfway life, but the Spirit of life, the same Spirit who hovered over the waters in Genesis 1. From death → to life. The Reality of the Solution (vv. 4–10) After describing the depth of our spiritual death, Paul introduces two of the most hope-filled words in all of Scripture: “But God…” (v. 4) Everything turns here.Not because humanity suddenly improved, but because God intervened. God is not stingy with mercy. He is rich in it; overflowing and abundant.And His love is not small or distant. It is great, expansive, relentless. When we were dead. Not when we were improving, not when we were aware, not when we were seeking Him: He loved us. Paul reduces the human story to two categories: * Those who are dead, and * Those who have been made alive with Christ. There is no third option. Even when we were dead, God “made us alive together with Christ.”Paul quickly clarifies: “By grace you have been saved.” This salvation is not earned, not deserved, not generated from within.It is a gift. Paul continues: “He raised us up with Him and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus.” Again, the language of union: What is true of Christ becomes true of you. If Christ is alive → you are alive.If Christ is righteous → you are counted righteous.If Christ is seated in the heavenly realms → you share His status, His security, His future. This is not “someday” language.This is now. Believers have new life now, purpose now, calling now. Paul reveals the purpose behind all of this: “…that in the coming ages He might show the immeasurable riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.” God intends His people to be the showcase of His kindness. Humanity was dead and God brings life where there was none.He points to us as Exhibit A of His grace. Paul presses the point: “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.” Salvation is: * accomplished by grace, * received through faith, * and entirely a gift. Nothing about salvation originates from human effort.And nothing about it gives room for pride. Paul closes this section with a stunning identity statement: “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.” The word “workmanship” can be translated as poem. In other words: a creative masterpiece, a work of art. We are not the product of our own labor;we are the product of His. Salvation is not by our works but it results in our works. Good works become a response as the natural overflow of being made alive. The good news only becomes good when the bad news is taken seriously. A life preserver is meaningless to someone who refuses to believe they are drowning.But once the reality of the danger sets in, the rescue becomes breathtakingly beautiful. Understanding the depths of sin makes the gift of life shine. Hebrews 1:1–3 reminds us: “In these last days He has spoken to us by His Son… the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of His nature.” Whatever distortions we’ve believed about God whether harsh, distant, or angry, Jesus corrects.He reveals a God who loves enough to intervene, rescue, and restore. A God who brings life where there was death. Thanks for reading Pondering with Purpose! This post is public so feel free to share it. The Reality of Contrasting Status (vv. 11–12, 19–22) Paul begins this section with a “therefore,” which signals a logical connection to everything he just said: Because God has made you alive, something has fundamentally changed about who you are. He wants believers to remember both their old status and their new status so they can see the contrast clearly. Paul writes: “Therefore, remember that at one time you Gentiles in the flesh… were at that time without Christ.” The separation between Jews and Gentiles was massive and painfully visible. Circumcision served as a clear, embodied boundary marker.It was the physical sign that separated those inside the covenant from those outside it. But this physical distinction only mattered because of a spiritual distinction:Israel was the one people group following the true God while everyone else remained outside God’s covenant promises. Paul describes the Gentile past in stark terms: “Separate from Christ… alienated from the commonwealth of Israel… strangers to the covenants of promise… having no hope and without God in the world.” Physically outside, spiritually cut off, alienated, and hopeless. In the Jerusalem temple, a real stone wall blocked Gentiles from entering further. Archaeologists have found inscriptions reading: “Any foreigner who goes beyond this point will be responsible for his own death.” Paul says: In Jesus, that wall is rubble. When you were dead (v. 1), you were also separate (v. 12).The physical distinctions mirrored a deeper spiritual reality:life and death, near and far, belonging and alienation. Then Paul gives the stunning contrast:

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I am a Seminary student in my twenties attempting to think deeply, holistically and consistently about Scripture and all of its implications. zackgross.substack.com

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