There is a phrase in Ephesians that doesn't occur anywhere else in the Bible.  Ephesians 2:1-2 "God quickened (made alive) those of you who were dead in trespasses and sins.  You used to walk according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, (that's the phrase) the same spirit that now works in the children of disobedience."

There are two spiritual forces at work in humans.  Good, and evil.  Paul calls this evil force (Satan) a prince of the air.  It is all around us, and within us.  Think of it this way:  If you have children, you know for a fact that you never had to teach them to do wrong.  You spent their entire childhood trying to teach them to do good.  We are, by nature, (born) inclined to do wrong.  It must be fought.

Don't bite.  Don't spit.  Don't steal.  Don't lie.  And on and on.  It takes constant instruction to teach a child to "Do unto others as you would that they should do unto you."  Which is basically one of the two natural laws of God.  "Love the Lord with all your heart, and love your neighbor as yourself."  Left to themselves, children grow up into self centered brats.  Every elementary school teacher will attest to the fact that learning "goodness" begins in the home.  It's almost impossible to straighten a child out that has been raised in a home of "badness."

This "Prince of the Power of the air," that Paul talks about is what the Bible calls the natural inclination of man--a force, Satan, that has great power to destroy us.  It also indicates that we should, "Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about as a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour.  (1Peter 5:8)  Paul says it one way; Peter says it another.

But we--Christians--have been "quickened."  We have been made alive.  We have been given the power of God within ourselves--His Holiness, His life.  "Christ in you, the hope of glory," which Paul said is a mystery that has now been made clear.  We have power to conquer evil.  We have the power to be what God wants us to be.  Without Jesus, you can't do it.  He is your holiness.  We become a Christ--ians when we repent and ask him to take control of our nature.

Every action movie uses these concepts.  Good versus evil.  Star Wars, Cinderella and the Seven Dwarves, etc.  We want the good to win.  We are on God's side.

There's no way I can do every verse in Ephesians, but I will comment on parts of it.

In 1:13-14, Paul says, "...when you trusted in Christ...after hearing the word of truth...after you believed...you were sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise, which is the earnest of our inheritance..."  Earnest is a word that means down payment.  We get His Holy Spirit as a down payment now.   We get the rest in heaven.  We are heirs.  "Now if we are children (of God), then we are heirs--heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ." Romans 8:17                                     

Finishing the first chapter, Paul tells them that he prays for them--prays that God would give them the spirit of wisdom and knowledge of Him, and that their eyes might be opened.

That's what we all want.  The ability to use knowledge--which is wisdom.

Someone asked me the other day if I was biased in any way.  I answered, "Yes.  I am.  I don't tolerate ignorance very well.  Stupid, I can tolerate.  Stupid can't help itself.  But ignorance drives me nuts."

There is another thing that I don't deal with very well in people, and that is when they have absolutely no knowledge as to what they are talking about, but proceed to expound upon their "opinion" anyway.  And trying to  have a conversation with them just makes it worse.  No point in trying.
 
When I know a little bit about a subject, rather than offer an opinion, I sometimes say, "Humm...That's an interesting thought."  Best to keep my mouth shut when I encounter "ignorant."  That kind of person doesn't want to listen, or they already would have done it.

But if someone wants to listen, I know something about God's word--especially Paul's letters.  I take the verse seriously that says, "Be ready to give an answer to anyone that asks a reason of the hope that is within you..."  I try to be "ready" in those cases.  Note the words "that asks."

That's what studying the Word of God is all about.  Being ready when someone asks.  Hitting someone over the head with your opinion--on something Biblical--doesn't work very well.

Once we are His children, "...we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to his grace." Eph. 1:7  Grace.  A free gift from God, purchased by the blood of Jesus.

My Sunday class has been studying the book of Leviticus.  I can't wait for it to be over.  It is such a difficult book.  It explains all the laws concerning sacrifices.  Law, after law, after law.  Details in minutiae.  Hundreds of items placed in the Tabernacle to receive Sin offerings, grain offerings, meat offerings, peace offerings, wave offerings, etc., etc.  It is mind boggling.  It makes me tired.

But in Christ, all that was done away with.  One sacrifice, for all time, for all men and women.  He is our sacrifice.  Paul said this, (in the letter to the Romans) "...by the deeds of the law no flesh shall be justified in His sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin."  In other words, we couldn't keep all the Old Testament laws if we tried.  Thank God for doing away with them.

King David recognized that all the laws weren't what God was wanting anyway!!  God wanted our hearts.  In Psalms 51:16-17, David says, "You don't want sacrifice--else I would give it.  You delight not in burnt offerings...the sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, a broken and contrite heart..."  Even though David didn't know God's plan to sent Jesus, David knew that God wanted him to repent.

So after Paul introduces himself in his letter to the Ephesians and tells them of God's grace in doing away with all those burdensome laws, he introduces a word that he uses over and over again in his letters.  (1:9)  The word is "mystery."  Paul says that, "...he (God) has made known to us...the mystery of his will."  I had to read all of Paul's letters to find out exactly what this "mystery" was that he was talking about.   I found the answer in Colossians 1:25-27.  "Even the mystery that has been hidden from the ages...which is Christ in you, the hope of glory."

God's plan was to put Christ in our hearts.   Instead of imposing laws from the "outside," we would choose to do what was good--from the "inside" out.   God changes our "want-to."

Just think, if Paul hadn't been converted to Christ, we wouldn't have over half of the books in the New Testament.  But because he found Christ, and was saved by the grace of God, Paul had a story to tell.  And he did it superbly.  He was a scholar of the Jewish Torah.  He studied at the feet of Gamaliel--who was the top scholar of the day.  Paul was brilliant.

He was the consummate person of the intelligentsia to connect prophecy concerning the coming Messiah with the person of Jesus Christ.  No one writes like Paul does.  The other disciples were common men.  Fishermen, etc.  Not Paul.  Today we would say that he graduated from Harvard, got his Masters at Yale and his Doctorate at Oxford.  Paul was smart.  Knowledgeable.  A virtual sponge of the history and writings of the Jews.  Abraham, Isaac, Moses, David.  Paul knew everything about them.  He knew all of the prophetic writings of the elders of the Jews.  He knew Jewish history.

So when Paul wrote a letter to someone, it was full of connections to the Old Testament.  He pulled everything together and explained why Jesus was the Christ.  I said I was going to write about his letter to the Ephesians, but it is important that you first understand the man who wrote the letter.

Eph. 1:4-7 "Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself...in whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins..." is a passage that, by interpretation, separates one group of Christians from the rest of us.  They are called Calvinists.  They believe that not everyone can come to God--that God has already decided who gets redeemed and who doesn't.  Who has their sin forgiven, and who doesn't.  But that's just not Biblically possible.

You can't take one or two verses out of the Bible without trashing the meaning of the rest of it.  We all remember John 3:16, "For God so loved the world...that whosoever believes in Him shall not perish."  The New Testament is replete with verses that bid, "Whosoever..." to come to Christ.

God predestinated all of us to be adopted into His family.   The opportunity to become a child of God is for everyone.  But some people say, "No."  The choice is up to you, and me, and every individual.  Are you a believer?   Have you said,  "I give Christ my life.  I will live it for Him.  I repent of my sins."  If you are sincere, Yea!! You've been adopted.  'Welcome to the family.  The family of God.

"To believe something with absolute certainty, one must start with doubting."  (A quote of the king of Poland in 1766.)  The Apostle Paul, and Lee Stroble--the atheist who wrote, "The Case for Christ" both are highly qualified doubters of the resurrection of Jesus.  Both changed their minds with explosive results in their lives.  They made a 180 degree turn.  (So did the Apostle Thomas.)

Paul was killing Christians with a vengeance.  He was traveling from city to city stoning them to death.  Those who believed in the resurrection of Christ were his targets.  Paul thought he was doing God's work by killing heretics who threatened the Jewish religion.  Acts 8:3 "As for Saul (Paul), he made havoc of the church, entering into every house, identifying men and women, and committing them to prison."  Rather like the caliphate in the middle East today--which says if you aren't Muslim, then they will kill you.  Death by religion.

Paul, "...yet breathing out threatenings and slaughter against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest...", for a letter to give him authority to travel to other cities and arrest people. Acts 9:1.  But on the way to Damascus, Paul met Christ.  And was forever changed.  Now he had to convince the disciples that he was a different, new, born again disciple of Christ.  The Apostle to the Gentiles.

Peter, James and John didn't trust Paul when said he was a Christian--much less an Apostle.  And they were certainly justified.  Acts 9:26 "And when Saul was come to Jerusalem...to join himself to the disciples...they were all afraid of him and didn't believe that he was a disciple."  But Barnabas, a loving Christian man, vouched for Paul.  Then, Paul explained that God had called him to witness to the Gentiles--which was strange to the disciples.  They believed Jesus was a Jewish Messiah and they had no concept of God including Gentiles into the mix.  Who did this man, Paul, think he was!!

Paul had everyone against him at this point.  But he did not let it deter him.  He began to preach God's message to the Gentile peoples, and write prolifically to encourage them to stand fast and not be discouraged.  And we have those letters.  An eye witness account as to what happened in Paul's life.  So when he writes to the Ephesians and says,"..he has chosen us in him before the foundation of the world that we should be holy...having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ," Eph. 1: 4-5, Paul was telling everyone that God wanted us.  He chose us.  Jews and Gentiles.

The letter to the Ephesians starts this way  1:1, "Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God..."

When someone wrote a letter back then, they reversed the order that we use today.  Instead of starting with the name of the people you were writing to, you stated who you were.  (Today, we would give our name at the end of the letter.)  However, the letter to the Ephesians starts with, "Paul."

Not only did Paul want them to know his name, but also his standing.  He was an Apostle of Jesus Christ.  There had been 12 Apostles.  But Judas was dead.  So Matthias had been chosen by the other eleven to fill his place.  Problem is, Matthias was chosen by "lot," (kind of like tossing a coin for heads or tails).  Matthias wasn't "called."  Christ didn't tell them to replace Judas.  If Jesus had wanted Judas replaced, He had plenty of time after the resurrection to do that.  So what happened?

Jesus had appeared to the disciples before he left them--to be taken up into heaven.  Jesus told all of them to 1. Go to Jerusalem and 2. Wait for the Holy Spirit.  Which they got "half" right.  They left the Mount of Olives and returned to Jerusalem.  But Peter, who was never much good at waiting, decided they needed to have an election--while they were sitting around waiting on the Holy Spirit.  Oops.

He told the group that since Judas was dead, they needed to replace him.  And the replacement needed to be someone who had accompanied them during:  "...the time that Jesus went in and out among us...beginning from the baptism of John unto that day he was taken up from us...a witness with us of his resurrection." Acts 1:15-26  Any number of men fit Peter's description.  

Peter's heart was in the right place.  He made a list of qualifications for the job of Apostle.  He was ready to get started doing the work of the Lord.  But like you and me, sometimes we ask God to bless what we have already done--without asking Him if He wanted us to do that thing in the first place.

They chose two men, Justus and Matthias, cast lots, and Matthias was chosen.  He was a good man I am sure.  But you never hear of him again.  So when Paul wrote to the Ephesians, he wanted them to be sure and know his standing.  It was by, "...the will of God."  Nobody cast lots to elect Paul as an Apostle.  Paul was God's man for the job.  Called.  (Paul would not have qualified for Peter's list.)

It is amazing how dependent I have become on my Mac.  I have been 7 days without it since I broke the screen.  It felt like I had lost my right arm.  Funny, 20 years ago I wouldn't have even know how to use it--or what to do with it if I did know how to use it.

I have gone though my regular routine every morning, but when I got to the part where I edited and posted, I found myself reading the funny papers instead.  I realized that I have read a zillion comic strips in my time, and none of them comes close to "Peanuts."  The characters are so true to themselves.  Year after year.  And now that they are being repeated, it shows that they are timeless.  So heart-warming and funny.

In the Sunday paper, there are a lot of "trial" strips.  Mostly stupid.  Inane.  Rude.  Ignorant.  I wonder who can stand to read them.  Or why they would want to?  Every now and then, I read one or two of the new ones just to see if I have changed my mind.  I haven't.  Unfunny.  Just dumb.  Whatever happened to "Popeye?"  If Charles Schultz can die (in 2000), and Peanuts is just as funny as ever, why couldn't those other old strips be repeated?  They were certainly better than what is currently being written.

It's like wishing for Bob Hope, Jackie Gleason, Fibber Magee and Mollie, or Jack Benny.   Or Red Skelton.  They were just funny.  No dirt, no bad words.  Just comedy.  Maybe I am over the hill, but when you depend on four letter words to make a joke, something is wrong.  This generation of writers and comedians don't seem to understand irony.  Or dramatic pauses.

Enough.  I'll try to get back to something worth discussing on Monday.  Get back in the groove.  After 7 days not typing, my fingers aren't connected to my brain.

God bless you for staying with me.  My friend Sally (lives in Hattisburg, Miss.) and I are going to study Ephesians on the phone starting next week.  That's probably what I'll be writing about.