Ephesians by Dennis McCallum (2004)

Paul's letter to the Ephesians begins with an emphasis on the new identity given to those who put their faith in Christ. This is a central message across Paul's letters and deeply impacts how we relate to God and others. Understanding and living out of our new identity is the key to real, lasting change in our lives. As Christians, we can rest in our adoption into God's family, the redemption we have through Jesus Christ, and the forgiveness Jesus provided at the cross.

When we place our faith in Christ, God's Spirit permanently indwells us, assuring us of our spot in eternity with Him. The security that comes from knowing Christ allows for high levels of commitment to Christ and vulnerability, and is the power source behind our service to God. Our new identity also provides us with objective and subjective revelation into God's truth. When Christians grow in their understanding of their identity, it allows for deeper closeness with God, stability amidst trials, and security as we await eternity with God.

All humans are born alienated from God because of their imperfections and live in rebellion against His loving leadership. However, God's love was demonstrated through sending Jesus Christ to pay for the sins of humanity. Through faith, all people can enter a free relationship with God through Christ on the basis of His grace, apart from anything we have to do.

The central importance of Christian community is how to achieve and cultivate God-given unity. This is possible for all believers, who have each been indwelt by the same Holy Spirit. Preserving relational unity within Christian community requires humility, love, and forbearance. As we make efforts to grow the unity we have in Christ, God's church is able to flourish in its witness to those who don't know God.

Jesus Christ's death on the cross abolished the division between Jew and Gentile, who now were able to be equals in Christ. This "mystical union" was made possible through the Holy Spirit permanently indwelling all believers in Christ. As a result, Christians are able to have a deep unity with one another, regardless of race, ethnicity, or other cultural barriers because of Christ's work on the cross.

The purpose for the Body of Christ is to have individual members working together to grow in love in order to bring glory to God. When this happens, Christians are able to see spiritual growth in their lives, allowing them to discern truth versus false doctrine. As a result of the growing maturity and depth within the Body of Christ, sharing Christ's love becomes more and more crucial and new people are able to experience God's love.

God's eternal plan was fully revealed by Jesus' work on the cross. This new revelation after the cross included God using the corporate church of believers to spread the Good News of Jesus before Christ's second return. Christ's first and second comings were both predicted in the Old Testament, but God's full plan wasn't seen until the cross made it clear. Christians in the present time have great access and assurance before God as they get the privilege to participate in His work, demonstrating His immense wisdom, grace and righteousness throughout the ages past and into eternity present.

All people without God are motivated to go their own way and actively rebel from God as their thinking becomes more and more darkened. As a result, they are left to indulge in different experiences to make up for the lack of purpose apart from God. As Christians, we have the ability to believe God's promises and live out of the identity He's given us as He transforms our thinking. Living out of the new identity we have in Christ is the basis for real character transformation.

Once we place our faith in Christ, we have a completely new identity as God sees us as He sees Jesus. Our role is to believe and live in line with who God says we are. As God transforms our thinking, we can develop a great appreciation to be others-centered in Christian community and have the basis for radical forgiveness based on what Christ forgave us. God is capable of creating deep character transformation as we conform our lives to align with our new identity.

Our new identity in Christ allows us to see real character change. As we move away from the old way of life we used to live before knowing God, we can see transformation in the ways we consider areas such as work ethic, speech, and resolving conflict. When we encounter real peace with God through Christ, we are able to see that God's Will includes being at peace with others as we live out of our new identity.

One aspect of being at peace with God is being at peace with all people through conflict resolution. Godly conflict resolution brings glory to Him and allows for His power and wisdom to be demonstrated. As we go before God, He is able to show us ways we're at fault amidst conflict and ways in which He is able to be glorified through conflict resolution.

One of the keys to biblical conflict resolution is Christ-like forgiveness towards those who have offended us. Biblical forgiveness isn't an emotion, or excusing the wrongdoing, or forgetting what happened. However, it frees up the offender from the moral wrong committed against us, as we forgive in the way Christ forgave us. As we approach people, God is able to allow us to bring up the offense with humility, look to God's Word for wisdom, and appropriately respond to their response. Reproving someone for the sake of conflict resolution is able to glorify God.

Within conflict resolution, there are two ways to negotiate: competitive or cooperative. We must prepare beforehand what we want to say concerning the conflict we're in, affirm the importance of the relationship with the other person, understand the interests of the others, and look for solutions for the conflict. In the case of continued disagreement, we can humbly re-assess the situation to continue to preserve the unity we have in Christ. Developing skills within conflict resolution is good for continued unity and glorifying God.

The forgiveness we've received through Christ motivates us to lives of sacrificial love. Understanding God's grace compels us to live our lives free from damaging patterns including sexual immorality, poor use of speech, and greed. Instead, we can understand how to live as God designed us and demonstrate His truth in our lives and in our relationships. This allows for gradual movement from self-centered living to others-centered living.

Understanding God's Will for our lives requires wisdom and discernment. Elements to be considered when thinking about God's Will include: 1) scripture; 2) spiritual expediency; 3) correlated leading; 4) mature counsel; 5) direct divine revelation; 6) providential circumstances; 7) inner spiritual promptings; 8) spiritual gifting; 9) spiritual fruit; and 10) personal desires. God desires to make His will known to those are committed to following His leading and eager to ask for His insight.

Within Christian community, we should enjoy fellowship through the Holy Spirit and refrain from drunkenness. We should also cultivate an attitude of thanksgiving, which allows us to appreciate God and what He's doing in our lives or the lives of others. Real living comes from Christ-centered relationships, seeing God move in people's lives, and refreshing times of fellowship.

Throughout various religions and church history, there have been misrepresentations of marriage roles between men and women. Instead, God's design for roles within relationships is servant love, a commitment to the betterment of the other person. Growing Christians realize that trying to have control and power within relationships, in particular within marriage, isn't the key. Instead, developing love and humility to radically serve the other partner is the key. Biblical submissiveness for wives is a willingness to be served and led towards God by their husband as they ultimately submit to Christ's leadership.

Following Christ means encountering spiritual warfare and fighting against Satan and his schemes. Satan is against God and his people and is intent on keeping people away from God and fulfilling His plans. Within spiritual warfare, we must adopt a wartime mentality, be sober and alert, and be ready to fight with God's truth and power.

Within spiritual warfare, we must be prepared to face and defend against Satan's attacks. Satan will often distort, question, deny, and replace God's Word in the lives of Christians. We must learn to memorize and stand behind God's Word to distinguish Satan's lies. Christians must also learn to understand the power and intellect of Satan.

In spiritual warfare, Satan's forces and tactics are relentless, stealthy, and well-disciplined. This causes problems for Christians that are often unaware of his schemes. Satan's tactics are aimed at preventing people from knowing God personally through Christ and rendering Christians ineffective in God's work. However, we are on the offensive, looking to infiltrate the world, liberate those who don't know Christ, and make disciples of Christ. Being offensive in spiritual warfare has the opportunity to expand God's kingdom.

One of Satan's primary tactics is to accuse and tempt Christians. Satan attempts to accuse Christians in four primary ways: 1) towards God; 2) towards others; 3) causing division between people; and 4) accusing to our selves. These accusations and temptations center around harmful habits of ongoing sin, resulting in feelings of alienation from God and discrediting His message. We need to respond to these lies and accusations with God's truth and take a firm stance in our identity in Christ and the promises which God says are true.

Satan's main corporate tactics include: 1) infiltration; 2) division; 3) opposition; 4) corporate deception; and 5) persecution. Many of these tactics lead to feelings of alienation towards God and other believers, causing damage within God's church and preventing focused attention towards His purposes. Our response as believers is to stand our ground based on God's Word to combat Satan's tactics.

Within spiritual warfare, we are able to withstand Satan's tactics by resting in God's power. We must learn to stand firm in God's truth to defend ourselves from Satan's accusations, affirming our position in Christ in faith as we remain intent on accomplishing God's mission. As we remain persistent in prayer, rooted in God's Word, and confident of the security we have through Christ, we are able to effectively fight against Satan's schemes.