It is normal for Paul to follow his initial greeting with a prayer of thanksgiving for the recipient church. Here he gives thanks, not just for the Romans’ faith but because it is widely known. When Paul talks about the world, he means the known world of the day or Roman Empire (v8). Paul himself… Continue reading Romans 1:8-15 (notes)
Tag: Paul
Romans Notes
Coming up in a series this year are my notes on the text of Romans. They are exegetical, based on the Greek text (SBLT). Often at any one time I will be seeking to read a book of the Bible in depth. This may or may not be a book that we are about to… Continue reading Romans Notes
Household baptisms, paedobaptism and the Onesimus problem
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
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
