Category: Bible Theology

Ephesians 2:8

Posted on by Elissa Anne

I just read a discussion about Ephesians 2:8, one of my favourite verses:

“For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith.”

The verb here εστε σεσωσμενοι is called a periphrastic verb and means not only that we have been saved, but that we are also being saved.

That makes sense to me because we are already saved from death in that we will resurrect, but we are still being saved from sin because it still causes a variety of breakdowns in relationships, it results in disease and abuse here on earth. Salvation is a process and we are still being saved from sin’s affects.

On top of that, this is a passive verb which means that you cannot save yourself, but rather that God is the one responsible for and powerful enough to save you.

As a Universalist-Christian this verse is really exciting because it shows us that God is the one who has initiated salvation and will bring it to completion. So my concern for friends who don’t yet experientially know Jesus, is something I have confidence that He will remedy. Just as He has saved and is saving me, He has saved and is saving the whole of creation

❤ ❤ ❤

 

Our Good Shepherd

Posted on by Elissa Anne

The Sovereign Lord says “I will search for my sheep and look after them. As a good shepherd looks after his scattered flock when he is with them, so will I look after my sheep. I will rescue them from all the places where they were scattered on a day of clouds and darkness. I will bring them out from the nations and gather them from the countries and I will bring them into their own land.

I will pasture them on the mountains of Israel, in the ravines and in all the settlements in the land … There they will lie down in good grazing land and there they will feed in a rick pasture on the mountains of Israel.

I myself will tend my sheep and have them lie down … I will search for the lost and bring back the strays. I will bind up the injured and strengthen the weak …

I will make a covenant of peace with them and rid the land of savage beasts so that they may live in the wilderness and sleep in forests in safety … I will send down showers in season; showers of blessing. The trees will yield their fruit and the ground will yield its crops; the people will be secure in the land.

They will know that I am the Lord when I break the bars of their yoke and rescue them from the hands of those who enslaved them … They will live in safety and no one will make them afraid …

You are my sheep, the sheep of my pasture and I am your God.”

Ezekiel 34

“I am the gate for the sheep … Whoever enters through me will be saved. They will come in and go out and find pasture.

The thief comes only to steal and to kill and to destroy. I have come that they may have life and have it to the full.

I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep … I know my sheep and my sheep know me – just as the father knows me and I know the father.

I have other sheep that are not of this sheep pen. I MUST BRING THEM ALSO. They too will listen to my voice and there will be one flock and one shepherd …

My sheep listen to my voice ; I know them and they follow me. I give them eternal life and they shall never perish; NO ONE WILL SNATCH THEM OUT OF MY HAND. My father who has given them to me is greater than all; NO ON CAN SNATCH THEM OUT OF HIS HAND! I and the father are one.”

John 10

“Suppose one of you has 100 sheep and loses one of them. Doesn’t he leave the 99 in the open country and go after the lost sheep UNTIL HE FINDS IT? And when he finds it he joyfully puts it on his shoulders and TAKES IT HOME!”

Luke 15

Jesus Will Bring All to Faith

Posted on by Elissa Anne

I read something in my Greek textbook today about how Jesus is the “αρχηγός” and perfecter of our faith (Hebrews 12:2). This word αρχηγός/archegos can be translated: path-breaker, pioneer, author, guide, hero, captain etc.

And I had this realisation that faith begins and ends with Jesus.

Faith is a gift: “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith–and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God–not by works, so that no one can boast!” Ephesians 2:8-9.

God promises to perfect our faith:

“Being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion, until the day of Christ Jesus,” Philippians 1:6.

As Christians we tend to put so much emphasis on our need for faith to be saved. I agree that the Bible is clear that faith is a necessity: “I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God that brings salvation to all who believes: first to the Jew, then to the Gentile,” Romans 1:18.

So faith is necessary but it’s also a gift given and pioneered by Jesus in our lives. If we don’t yet believe in God and his salvation, it would seem that God has not yet opened our eyes to the gift of faith.

But this verse in Romans which mentions Jews and Gentiles is part of a letter in which Jews and Gentiles are mentioned repeatedly and the author illustrates that they all come to faith:

“Israel has experienced a hardening in part until the FULL NUMBER of the Gentiles has come in, and in this way ALL Israel will be SAVED … For God has bound everyone over to disobedience that he may have mercy on them all!” Romans 11:25-26 & 32.

God gives us all a portion of faith and he can be trusted to activate that faith within us. What he begins in us he will not faith to bring to completion. Everyone will come to faith, because it is his responsibility and promise. He is the αρχηγός/archegos of our faith! The Captain, Hero, Alpha and Omega of our belief in Him and His saving acts!

Thank you Jesus, Amen

❤️❤️❤️

 

Does God get what God wants?

Posted on by Elissa Anne

“As surely as I live,” declares the Sovereign Lord, “I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather than they turn from their ways and live. “

Ezekiel 33:11

The Lord is not slack concerning his promise as some understand slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.

2 Peter 3:9

God our saviour wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth.

1 Timothy 2:4

Does God get what God wants?

So is my word that goes out from my mouth. It will not return to me empty but accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.

Isaiah 55:11

And I, when I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.

John 12:32

Every knee will bow in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the father.

Philippians 2:10-11

Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.

Acts 2:21

The whole world will be consumed by fire. Then I will purify the lips of the peoples that all of them may call on the name of the Lord and serve him shoulder to shoulder.

Zephaniah 3:8-9

God is Love + Love never fails =

GOD NEVER FAILS

1 John 4:8, 16 & 1 Corinthians 13:8