Why does Onesimus cause a problem for paedobaptists? Well a lot has been made in their argument of the descriptions of converts being baptised with their whole households. The argument is that it would run contrary to the culture for people to be only baptized if they repented themselves. Rather, we would expect them to… Continue reading Household baptisms, paedobaptism and the Onesimus problem
Tag: Paul
TL:DR Jesus loves his church … so let him
I recently suggested that the TL:DR (quick summary for those who because something was too long, didn’t read it) of Ephesians 5:22-32 is “husbands are to love their wives and wives are to let them.” The basis for my argument was that we may struggle with authority(headship) and submission language but authority is to do… Continue reading TL:DR Jesus loves his church … so let him
Ephesians and the prosperity Gospel
There’s been a lie going around for so many years, often referred to as “The Prosperity Gospel.” This is the belief that if we have enough faith and use the right words, then we can claim whatever we like from God and he will give it to us. This is sometimes known as “Health, wealth… Continue reading Ephesians and the prosperity Gospel
Ephesians and Church leadership
We want our church leadership to be Biblical. Usually by this, we mean that we want to appoint people to the offices we find in Scripture and mirror the structures we find there. The problem is that there is often a lot of disagreement here because in fact the New Testament doesn’t really have that… Continue reading Ephesians and Church leadership
Ephesians and the family
The closing passages of Ephesians offer instructions on how families, or households should function. These seem to be follow in structure the household codes of the day, although with differences and as much rooted in Judaism/The Old Testament Scriptures as in Greek culture. They are sandwiched between the command to “be filled with the Spirit”… Continue reading Ephesians and the family
Strengthened in love (A sermon on Ephesians 3:14-21 for Pentecost)
What is love? Famously, a set of cartoons back in the 1980s offered the answer “love is…” with lots of examples. Perhaps, given he was not too sure himself at the time and what was to follow, they were unwise in one suggestion “Love is Charlie and Di” We might suggest that love is our… Continue reading Strengthened in love (A sermon on Ephesians 3:14-21 for Pentecost)
The Church United
If Ephesians is about God’s purpose for his people, then this means that a central focus is on the church. In fact one of the ways that we might express Paul’s overall theme is that God’s people should be united together in love to Christ first and then to one another as his beautiful body.… Continue reading The Church United
The Gospel in Ephesians
At the heart of all of Paul’s letters is the Gospel. It was clearly his belief that a restating of how and why we are saved is what we need if we are to live godly lives. This is true in Ephesians as well. Whilst some of his themes, most notably justification are not mentioned… Continue reading The Gospel in Ephesians
The Spirit in Ephesians
A central theme in Ephesians is the work of the Holy Spirit. If this is a letter about God’s purpose for his church, about how to be united in love as his alternative society and about standing firm in spiritual warfare, then the Holy Spirit is crucial to all of that. But before Ephesians is… Continue reading The Spirit in Ephesians
The Gospel does not depend on our ropey apologetics
I was reading this article the other day which touches on how Paul appears to use a creedal form in 1 Corinthians 15:3-7 3 For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance[a]: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, 4 that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, 5 and… Continue reading The Gospel does not depend on our ropey apologetics
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