Author: Jim Cantelon

Key Verse: Ephesians 6:11 “Put on the whole armour of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.” Jesus didn’t come to make people nice: He came to make them new. Mind you, people who are new in Christ also tend to be nice, but niceness is no antidote for the galloping disease of sin. Only new life will do. Why? Because we are in a “struggle…agains the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms” (v.12 NIV). We are in a fight “against the...

Key Verse: Ephesians 5:5 “For of this you can be sure: No immoral, impure, or greedy person — such a man is an idolater — has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God.” (NIV) An idolater is a worshipper of idols. He is someone who by his action denies the great foundation statement of faith from Israel, “Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is One.” The Bible, especially the Old Testament, was written in a world that worshipped a multitude of gods — its message was radical and offensive: there is one God alone, and only Him shall you...

Key Verse: Ephesians 4: 11-13 “And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, till we all come to the unity of the faith and the knowledge of the Son fo God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the statures of the fullness of Christ…” Jesus takes the Church seriously. He has given the Church all it needs to reach maturity. First of all, He has given Himself to the Church. But then, He has given various ministering gifts...

Key Verse: Ephesians 3:12 “In Him and through faith in Him we may approach God with freedom and confidence .” (NIV) What is the difference between “in Him” and “through faith in Him”? “In Him” means there is a highway to God — whether we accept its reality or not makes no difference: there is access to God. “Through faith in Him” means that God can be approached by one means only — the access route is that highway. You’ve got to get on the road, and you’ve got to trust that it leads to God. And there is something...

Key Verse: Ephesians 2:10 “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.” Redemption means not only that we have been bought back, set free, and made new — it also means that we belong to the Redeemer. He paid the price, so we’re His. We are the product of God’s plan, His workmanship. And the means of “working” us into shape was the atonement provided by Christ on Calvary. We’re new creations with a new purpose: “good works.” What’s more, the process...

Key Verse: Ephesians 1:7 “In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sing, according to the riches of His grace…” The Concise Oxford Dictionary defines the word “redeem” this way: 1. Buy back, recover by expenditure or effort or by stipulated payment 2. Perform (promise) 3. Purchase the freedom of (another, oneself), save (one’s life) by ransom 4. Save, rescue, reclaim (of God or Christ), deliver from sin and damnation. 5. Make amends for, compensate, counterbalance, save from a defect (“the eyes redeem the face from ugliness”). Key...

Key Verse: Galatians 6:9 “And let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart”. Freedom and unfreedom ultimately betray themselves by their fruit. If, in the name of freedom, we “indulge the sinful nature” (5:13), the product will eventually manifest itself: “sexual immorality, impurity, and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealously, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissections, factions, and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like” (5:19-21). On the other hand, if we “love our neighbours...

Key Verse: Galatians 5:6 “For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision avails anything, but faith working through love.” Free means free — without qualifications. That’s why Paul says, in this discussion of freedom (vv.1-18), that “indulging the sinful nature” (v.13) is an option available to the truly liberated. But there is a strong caution here. And it relates to the “libertines” (Gnostics) I mentioned in the introduction. The Gnostics separated the world of matter from the world of spirit. They believed that all things material...