So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord.

Ephesians 2:11-22 

So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord.  Ephesians 2:19-21

I continue my study of Paul's prison epistles - Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, and Philemon.  Today I focus on Ephesians 2:11-22 where Paul emphasizes how Christ removed the "wall of hostility" between Jews and Gentiles and not only reconciled both to Christ, but to each other - bringing peace and unity.  Here are my observations using the Sword Bible Study Method.  

• What do we learn from the text about God?: Vv14-16: Christ is our peace - He died for Jews and Gentiles from all nations who believe, and reconciled not only both to Christ, but to each other - bringing peace and unity through the creation of the church.  He also abolished the Old Testament rituals - the ceremonial law.  Vv20-22: Christ is the cornerstone of the church, and the Holy Spirit knits the church together by living in each member of the church.   
• What do we learn from the text about people?: V12: Building on vv1-10 (see post yesterday on how we were all spiritually dead), Paul seeks for believers to understand that pre-salvation, we were "separated from Christ", alienated from the commonwealth of Israel," "strangers to the covenants of promise," and "having no hope and without God in the world." V13: God brought us near to Him - again not through our own efforts but through His death on the cross. Vv18-19: All who believe are united as one body with the same access to Him, and are "no longer strangers and aliens," "but are fellow citizens with the saints," "and members of the household of God[.]"  V22: God knits us together as a church and unites us through the Holy Spirit that lives in each of us.     
• Is there anything from the text God wants us to obey (SPEC: Sins to avoid, Promises to claim, Examples to follow, Commands to obey?): Avoid having no hope by remaining separated from God. Claim the promise that God brings all near who believe in Him, and unites us as a church.  We must remember our pre-salvation state and praise God for how He saved us and brought us near to Him.   

Comment and discuss this post

My Prayer: Father God, You are an awesome God who through Your death on the cross, saved us, brought us near to You, and united us together with the in-dwelling of the Holy Spirit.  Thank You for my salvation and for the blessings You pour out every day for me.  I know my faith is not of my own doing and I am not deserving of how You love and save.  My sin is great and it continues...daily.  Please forgive me Jesus and help me overcome and turn from my sin towards You.  Help me love You with all of my heart, soul, and mind and love others as You love me.  Help me grow in my faith.  Give Lisa and myself wisdom and strength.  Please continue to heal Lisa of her cancer and from the side effects of chemo.  Help us lead Zach and Dustin to You Jesus and for them to choose You as their Lord and Savior.  Please provide Godly friends and spouses to Zach and Dustin.  Help me serve You, my family, my church, and others. Help me understand, be obedient to, and apply Your message for me today and every day.

And when Jesus had stepped out of the boat, immediately there met him out of the tombs a man with an unclean spirit. He lived among the tombs. And no one could bind him anymore, not even with a chain, for he had often been bound with shackles and chains, but he wrenched the chains apart, and he broke the shackles in pieces. No one had the strength to subdue him. Night and day among the tombs and on the mountains he was always crying out and cutting himself with stones.

Mark 5:1-20

And when Jesus had stepped out of the boat, immediately there met him out of the tombs a man with an unclean spirit. He lived among the tombs. And no one could bind him anymore, not even with a chain, for he had often been bound with shackles and chains, but he wrenched the chains apart, and he broke the shackles in pieces. No one had the strength to subdue him. Night and day among the tombs and on the mountains he was always crying out and cutting himself with stones. Mark  5:2-5

I continue my study of Mark, leaning on the Christ-Centered Exposition commentary series volume for Mark.  Today, my focus is a commentary-assisted review of Mark 5:1-20, which is the text for the next chapter of the commentary - which offers three divisions for this text. Excerpts from the commentary's introduction to this chapter and the first (of three) division (vv1-5): 

• The commentary's title for this chapter is division is "Can the Demonized Be Delivered?"
  and for the first division is "Jesus Confronts the Demonic."
• The main idea for the chapter is "Jesus is the Servant King who liberates those enslaved in a fallen world by wielding absolute authority, even over demons." 
• "Jesus believed Jesus believed demons were real, and that should settle for all of us the question of their existence. Yet beyond this fact, we see in our Lord’s encounter with the Gerasene demoniac the power, mercy, and authority of the Son of God, who commands the demon with merely a word."  
• In the last chapter, v41, after witnessing Jesus rebuke and calm the winds and the sea, the disciples wonder who Jesus is and here the commentary emphasizes how chapter 5 reveals for the disciples Jesus' true identity, although it is the demon who does this not Jesus.  
• Old Testament ritual law stated that touching of a dead body meant that you were unclean and here in the text we see a demon-possessed man living among the dead so he would have been deemed defiled and unclean - Satan "conquered and captured." 
• We are referred to John 10:10 and 1 Peter 5:8 where the text shares how Satan seeks steal, kill, destroy and devour. The commentary indicates that this was Satan's attempt with the demonic man in the text - that he sought to drive this poor soul to death and eternal damnation. 
• Yet even in death, as we see in death bed confessions, God is at work looking to save as many as possible as we shall see in vv6-13 (the next division). 

I don't know know anyone who reads this text and sees himself as the demonic man - while this may be, we should see how all believers are unclean and condemned for eternity without Jesus.  See Ephesians 2:1-3.  Some of us may believe that we are so unclean and not worthy of salvation - but God came to seek and save the lost - Luke 19:10.

Comment and discuss this post.

My Prayer: Father God, You are an awesome God and I am beyond grateful for my salvation - I was deeply lost in my sin and spiritually dead and condemned without You.  Yet You reached down into the pit and saved me.  Thank You Jesus!  I am not deserving of my salvation nor any of the blessings You pour out for me...daily.  My sin is great and it continues...daily.  Please forgive me Jesus and help me overcome and turn from my sin towards You.  Help me love You with all of my heart, soul, and mind and love others as You love me.  Help me grow in my faith.  Give Lisa and myself wisdom and strength.  Please continue to heal Lisa of her cancer and from the side effects of chemo.  Help us lead Zach and Dustin to You Jesus and for them to choose You as their Lord and Savior.  Please provide Godly friends and spouses to Zach and Dustin.  Help me serve You, my family, my church, and others.  Help me understand, be obedient to, and apply Your message for me today and every day. 

And a leper came to him, imploring him, and kneeling said to him, “If you will, you can make me clean.” Moved with pity, he stretched out his hand and touched him and said to him, “I will; be clean.” And immediately the leprosy left him, and he was made clean.

Mark 1:35-45

And a leper came to him, imploring him, and kneeling said to him, “If you will, you can make me clean.” Moved with pity, he stretched out his hand and touched him and said to him, “I will; be clean.” And immediately the leprosy left him, and he was made clean.  Mark 1:40-42

I continue my study of Mark, leaning on the Christ-Centered Exposition commentary series volume for Mark.  Today, I focus on a commentary-assisted review of Mark 1:35-45, which is the text for the next chapter of the commentary.  Excerpts from the third (of three) division of the commentary, which covers 1:40-45:

• "The person with the disease was mocked and shunned. The leper had to wear torn clothes, leave his hair unkempt, cover his face, and cry out “Unclean!” He was forced to live in isolation."
• "Leviticus 13–14 discusses the disease. It was usually regarded as an evidence of divine punishment. As such, the cure could only come from the Lord. Other illnesses could be healed, but leprosy had to be both healed and cleansed. Needless to say, no one in the Bible healed a leper by touch other than Jesus."
• Warren Wiersbe's Be Diligent shares: "When you read the ‘tests’ for leprosy in Leviticus 13, you can see how the disease is a picture of sin. Like sin, leprosy is deeper than the skin (v3); it spreads (vv5-8); it defiles and isolates (vv44-46); and it renders things fit only for the fire (vv47-59). Anyone who has never trusted the Savior is spiritually in worse shape than this man was physically."
• "[The leper] was desperate, and he believed only Jesus could heal him and make him clean. He came, knelt, and begged, “If You are willing, You can make me clean.” Wow! His faith is astounding! The issue is not whether Jesus could heal him, but would He? This man comes to Jesus with great courage, great humility, and great faith—the same way we, as sin-sick sinners, must come to Him. He came believing in the only One who could change his life and make him whole."
• "As the Suffering Servant of Isaiah 53:4, [Jesus] takes on Himself the infirmities of this man, cleanses him, and makes him whole!"
• "Jesus sternly charged the cleansed leper to see the priest to be pronounced clean so that he could return to his community and not to tell anyone. Jesus "wants followers who seek Him! People are always tempted by the sensational. Jesus desires followers who long for truth and want to know Him. He does not want people to come to Him to get what they want."  God is not a vending machine!
• "Ironically, Jesus and the leper have traded places. The leper is now on the inside with family and friends. Jesus is on the outside in a lonely and desolate place. This picture of substitution is the heart of the gospel. It is why Jesus came. He will take on Himself our sin, our sorrow, and our shame. In return He gives us His forgiveness, His holiness, and His righteousness—praise the Lord! What an exchange!"   

Jesus' healing of the leper is of course key to this third and last division (vv40-45) of the text - Mark 1:35 to 1:45. The commentary refers to this division as The Kingdom Advances Through Healing.  The first and second divisions...Through Prayer, and Through Preaching.  We must all recognize that we are all spiritually dead and broken until Jesus saves us - we all need a Savior and the One Who Heals and Binds Our Wounds and Sins.  He does this by taking our sin upon Himself and the punishment we deserve.

Also, in my commentary-assisted study of this division, I once again revisit the "Messianic Secret" which I first explored a few days ago here.  God reveals Himself in the Word through the Holy Spirit.  Yet until glorification, we don't fully comprehend God's Word or even God Himself.  We rely on sanctification to bring about a progressively greater understanding of God.  This post from John Piper on DesiringGod.com explores this topic further as Piper describes the mystery of God, sharing: "[s]o I'm not sure I know why God would hold his insights, and give them at certain points, and then crash us with wonderful insights for a season and then withhold them for others. God knows what he is doing, and we need to profit from it by acknowledging that we are finite and fallible and sinful."

Comment and discuss this post.

My Prayer: Father God, You are an awesome God who loves me and who is full of incredible grace and compassion for me - saving me while I was still hostile and an enemy to You.  You also continue to pour out rich mercies that never cease and I experience every morning.  Thank You Jesus!  I am not deserving of such blessings.  My sin is great and it continues...daily.  Please forgive me Jesus and help me overcome and turn from my sin towards You.  Help me love You with all of my heart, soul, and mind and love others as You love me.  Help me grow in my faith.  Give Lisa and myself wisdom and strength.  Please continue to heal Lisa of her cancer and from the side effects of chemo.  Help us lead Zach and Dustin to You Jesus and for them to choose You as their Lord and Savior.  Please provide Godly friends and spouses to Zach and Dustin.  Help me serve You, my family, my church, and others.  Help me understand, be obedient to, and apply Your message for me today and every day.