Paul begins Ephesians in an unusual way. After a brief greeting, he does not start by telling believers what they need to do. He begins by reminding them who they are and what God has already done for them. Before Paul gets to Christian behavior, relationships, spiritual warfare, or walking worthy of our calling, he…
Living Ready for the Return of Christ Paul ended chapter 4 with the great hope of the Christian faith: Jesus Christ will return, the dead in Christ will rise, and believers will forever be with the Lord. Chapter 5 continues that same thought, but Paul shifts the emphasis from what will happen when Christ returns…
Growing in Holiness, Loving Others, and Living With Hope Following Jesus is not only about what we believe; it changes the way we live. In 1 Thessalonians 4, Paul moves from encouragement into practical instruction. These believers were already following Christ, and Paul does not speak to them as failures. Instead, he challenges them to…
Encouraging One Another Through Trials 1 Thessalonians 3 Following Jesus does not exempt us from difficult seasons. There will be times when circumstances shake us, questions remain unanswered, and our faith is tested. In 1 Thessalonians 3, Paul is deeply concerned about believers he loves who are experiencing persecution. He cannot remove their difficulties, but…
Loving People Without Ignoring Harmful Behavior Christian community is built on grace. Every one of us needs forgiveness, patience, mercy, and room to grow. But biblical grace was never intended to become permission for repeated harmful behavior. Jesus was extraordinarily gracious toward broken people while remaining completely truthful about sin, responsibility, and change. The New…
Living the Gospel With Courage, Integrity, and Genuine Love 1 Thessalonians 2 The gospel is something we proclaim, but it is also something people should be able to see in the way we live. In 1 Thessalonians 2, Paul looks back on his ministry among the Thessalonians and reminds them that they had witnessed more…
Before Jesus explained the mysteries of His kingdom, many expected the Messiah to immediately establish an earthly kingdom by removing all evil and rewarding the righteous. Instead, Jesus revealed that God’s kingdom would grow in the midst of a fallen world. Good and evil would exist side by side until God’s appointed time for judgment.…
You’ve known men whose faith you could see without them saying much about it. Something about how they handled a bad stretch, or how they talked to their wife when nobody was listening. That’s the church Paul is writing to. He was with them about three weeks before he got run out of town, and…
Rooted in Christ: Living It Out Most of us are good at starting things. Finishing is a different animal. Finishing happens on ordinary Tuesdays when nobody is watching and the thing you committed to has stopped feeling inspiring and started feeling like work. Colossians 4 is the chapter most men skim — a few instructions,…
The book of Colossians has been progressively answering one great question. In Chapter 1, Paul establishes that Christ is enough—that Jesus is supreme over all creation and that all things were created by Him, through Him, and for Him. In Chapter 2, Paul reminds us that we are to be rooted in Christ and not…
