Moving Past Habit: From Religious Outsiders to Citizens in Christ
As we continue to read through Paul’s letter to the church in Ephesus, I often wonder how the very first readers received it. You might be wondering why it’s taking us six weeks to get through just half of this letter! What was the mindset of those early believers listening to Paul’s words being read aloud in their gathering? Did they instantly understand it? Did they have a six-week study to break it all down? The truth is, we don't know. But we do know one thing: those believers didn't have a personal copy of the scriptures. They were fortunate if their local church possessed a copy of the Old Testament. When Paul arrived in Ephesus, he didn’t bring boxes of Bibles to hand out. Instead, he went to the local synagogues, where Old Testament scrolls were kept. Today, we have the entire, preserved Word of God right in our hands. Yet, the question remains: Do we actually read it? Do we want to know what it says, or do we just want someone to tell us what to believe? The Danger of ...