Ephesians 3:14-21

Just for fun. :)

Ephesians 3:14-21 - 1894 Scrivener Textus Receptus

14 - τουτου χαριν καμπτω τα γονατα μου προς τον πατερα του κυριου ημων ιησου χριστου
15 - εξ ου πασα πατρια εν ουρανοις και επι γης ονομαζεται
16 - ινα δωη υμιν κατα τον πλουτον της δοξης αυτου δυναμει κραταιωθηναι δια του πνευματος αυτου εις τον εσω ανθρωπον
17 - κατοικησαι τον χριστον δια της πιστεως εν ταις καρδιαις υμων
18 - εν αγαπη ερριζωμενοι και τεθεμελιωμενοι ινα εξισχυσητε καταλαβεσθαι συν πασιν τοις αγιοις τι το πλατος και μηκος και βαθος και υψος
19 - γνωναι τε την υπερβαλλουσαν της γνωσεως αγαπην του χριστου ινα πληρωθητε εις παν το πληρωμα του θεου
20 - τω δε δυναμενω υπερ παντα ποιησαι υπερ εκ περισσου ων αιτουμεθα η νοουμεν κατα την δυναμιν την ενεργουμενην εν ημιν
21 - αυτω η δοξα εν τη εκκλησια εν χριστω ιησου εις πασας τας γενεας του αιωνος των αιωνων αμην

Ephesians 3:14-21 - Isaac Translation Beta

14 - On account of this I am bending my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,

15 - Out of whom every family in heavens and on earth is being named,

16 - That He would give to ya’ll, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with power through His Spirit in the inner man,

17 - Christ to have an abode/be at home in your hearts through faith;

18 - in order that ya’ll, in love having been rooted and having been grounded/established, may be able to grasp/understand with all the saints what the breadth and length and depth and height,

19 - And to know the love of Christ that is surpassing knowledge, in order that ya’ll may be filled into all the fullness of God.

20 - Now to Him who is able to do above over-and-above above all that we are asking for ourselves or are conceiving, according to/in proportion to the power of the one who is active in us,

21 - To Him the glory in the church in Christ Jesus into all the generations of the age of the ages. Amen.

Greek scholars, nosemopes, and others, did I miss anything?

A Biblical Theology of the Church - Book Review

I recently finished reading A Biblical Theology of the Church as an assignment for my summer internship.  The book is well done and sparked my thinking on a couple of issues.  Of course, I didn’t agree with everything and other readers are sure to disagree with even more, but it is a profitable read nonetheless.

A Biblical Theology of the Church, by editor Mal Couch, is an excellent resource examining the theological underpinnings of the church from a dispensational perspective.  Anyone who has plowed through Chafer’s Systematic Theology and been disappointed by the brief chapters on Church doctrine and polity will find that this book addresses many of the topics that need to be discussed.  The introduction states that the book’s purpose is to examine “the doctrine of the church as revealed in Scripture” and to “reexamine the doctrine of ecclesiology.”  As is the case for most of Mal Couch’s books, he is simply the editor while the content consists of articles by excellent dispensational authors such as Arnold Fruchtenbaum and Thomas Ice.

The book begins with two chapters that lay the groundwork for a dispensational understanding of the Church.  Honestly, it was these two chapters that excited me most about Couch’s book because they handled the dispensational aspects of the Church very carefully and biblically. 

After establishing the framework in which to understand the Church, following chapters discuss a wide range of topics from spiritual gifts to women in the church, from the rapture to missions.  Most chapters are simply good exegesis of fundamental passages to establish good theology.  For example, a chapter entitled “How Christ Treats the Church: Ephesians 5:22-32” begins by clarifying that the primary application of the passage is “how husbands are to love their wives” and then proceeds to dig out the doctrine about God that is revealed through the passage.

Two weaknesses that I found were a liberal stand on divorce (in the discussion of qualifications for elders) and what I consider to be too strong of a stand on elder rule.  Couch’s (or whoever was the author of this chapter) conclusion on the issue of divorced elders is that the text in 1 Timothy is disallowing polygamy and states “This interpretation would certainly open the door for restoration, no matter what issue led to a past divorce.”(pg. 176)  His stand on elder rule becomes so strong that congregations are denied the responsibility of choosing their own leaders.  I indirectly deal with this issue and give a little of my perspective  about Ecclesiology in a blog I posted in 2011 entitled “Church: It ain’t that complicated folks!”

Another little annoyance with this book (and with other books edited by Mal Couch) is the fact that the chapters are not attributed to the co-authors.  I don’t know if there was some intent in leaving their names out, but I was sometimes curious who was writing and had no way of finding out.

A Biblical Theology of the Church contains a few items where I objected, but overall presents a good, biblical look at the doctrine and conduct of Christ’s Body.

"That the Gentiles should be fellowheirs, and of the same body, and partakers of His promise in Christ by the gospel" - Ephesians 3:6

That Foolish Cross

“For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God.” – 1 Cor. 1:18 
What a blessing is Sovereign Grace!  Believers can easily recognize themselves in the later part of the verse “unto us which are saved it [the preaching of the cross] is the power of God”, but the first part is not any less important.  Every believer should see the worthlessness of their own merit in the first clause, “the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness.”
I was once one of those that was perishing and dead in sin.  The Gospel of Christ, His suffering, and victory over death was foolishness to such a one as I.  My wisdom could not fathom the beauty of such a shameful act unless God opened my eyes and SAVED me! 
Thank God that even my faith is a gift of God’s grace!  Without it I would be mocking the foolishness of the cross.  Instead, I am left to marvel at the Grace of the Almighty God.

Church: It ain’t that complicated folks!

In the absence of something brand new to post, may I present my Pastoral Epistles research paper.

The existence of Church polity is a relevant and Biblical reality. Church government exists because there is a need for it. Obviously there was a need for a certain level of human leadership in the New Testament church, and the need is still obvious in churches today. Problems often arise, however, when the “who” of church leadership is discussed. These problems are very exaggerated in the church when the Biblical principles are really quite simple. The Biblical model of the purpose and role of elders, deacons, and congregation is presented in the New Testament as a simple organization and a call back to simplicity is needful in the organized church.

Elder-ship is a divinely arranged position of leadership in the local church. Scripture indicates that multiple qualified elders were appointed to lead and teach in the early churches. Schofield summarizes the role of these elders when he states,

The elders were to “rule” or “take care of the church of God” (I Tim. 3:4, 5; 5:17); to guard the body of revealed truth from perversion and error (Titus 1:9); and to “oversee” the church as a shepherd his flock (Acts 20:28, where “feed” is literally to “tend as a shepherd”; John 21:16; Heb. 13:17; I Pet. 5:2). 

The requirements for elders that are established in I Timothy and Titus reveal a lot about the responsibilities of elders as well as the high standard that they are to retain. Their pure lifestyle is to be consistent with the message of faith that they teach and a good testimony to the church and people around them. Also, their lifestyles are a witness to their ability to “take care of the church of God” (I Tim. 3:5).

Elders, in regards to their leadership responsibilities, are to always stay within their proper bounds. Their relationship to the congregation is very crucial and Elders are never given license to exercise excessive rule over the congregation. Peter exhorts them to oversee, but “not by constraint.” (1 Peter 5:2) Furthermore, they are not to be “lords over God's heritage” but to be “ensamples to the flock.” (1 Peter 5:3).

The only office besides Elder that is recognized in the Scripture is the office of Deacon. The need for deacons first manifested itself soon after Pentecost as the Jerusalem church was experiencing massive growth. Seven godly men were chosen to take the load off the leaders by ministering to widows and serving tables. Theissen differentiates between elders and deacons by stating, “The elders were responsible for the spiritual needs of the community of the faithful and the deacons cared primarily for the physical needs.”

Deacons, in the Bible, are only ever mentioned dealing with physical matters. Their assigned role certainly seems to be quite distinct from the leadership sort of role that Elders have. Theissen states “The qualifications for those holding this office are similar to those of an elder, except that the requirements concerning the ability to teach and hospitality, though mentioned for the elder, are not required for the deacon. It is safe to say that the requirements for deacon seem particularly appropriate for those handling the material and financial needs of the organization.”

Although not an office, the congregation is the third aspect of a local churches organization. Elders and deacons are Biblical and serve a purpose, but they are not to take priority over the congregation. In fact, it is important to realize that the offices of Elder and Deacon are not necessary for a local church, in its simplest form, to be an entirely legitimate, fully-functioning body. The Biblical definition of church, as Chafer says, “is no more than the assembly of professed believers in one locality.” This can be seen in the New Testament as Paul and Barnabas established churches all over Asia Minor before returning and appointing elders in those churches. This is also consistent with the concept of the church being a body of believers rather than an extremely structured organization and with the role of elders as serving the church rather than lording over it.

Understanding the congregation as the core of the local church is complementary to understanding the place and role of leaders in the church. Leaders need to be a united part of the body. The New Testament testimony is that leaders always seem to have been appointed from within the congregation. They were members of the congregation who were willing to serve and then appointed to specific responsibilities. Deacons and elders are always a part of the congregation, not a distinct clergy class that lords their authority over the people.

The importance of the congregation in governing a church is further seen in the appointment of elders and deacons. Again, Henry Thiessen demonstrates a proper understanding of the relation of Elders and deacons to the church when he says, “Early church government is a combination of the congressional and presbyterial forms. The congregation chose their leaders, and the leaders acted in accordance with the directives and suffrage of the people.”

Too often the organization of church government is overcomplicated to the point of imposing a “new and rigid Leviticus” on the church. The principles in the New Testament contain no such doctrines. A local body of mature believers should be able to function together through like-mindedness and cooperation and appoint godly leaders to be responsible for needs in the church. The organization and government itself should never become the focus of church. Such a focus will only serve to develop animosity and resistance toward what God means the church to be. The local church is a “glorious truth of the unity and fellowship of the one Body of Christ” and should never become a mere human organization that fails to give the ultimate authority and glory to God.


BIBLIOGRAPHY
Chafer, Lewis Sperry. Systematic Theology. Grand Rapids: Kregel Publications. 1993.
Schofield, C. I. Schofield Bible Correspondence Course. Chicago: Moody Bible Institute, 1960.
Theissen, Henry C. Lectures in Systematic Theology. Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1986.