Digging Deeper Days
Finding the original intent of Scripture and making good application to our everyday lives as we become equipped to correctly handle the Word of Truth!
Yesterday’s Journey Study connects with today’s!
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The Questions
1) To whom was this passage written?
2) How were the recipients of this letter encouraged to forgive one another?
3) What is the goal of the author?
Ephesians 4:31-5:2
31 Let all bitterness, anger and wrath, shouting and slander be removed from you, along with all malice. 32 And be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving one another, just as God also forgave you in Christ. Therefore, be imitators of God, as dearly loved children, 2 and walk in love, as Christ also loved us and gave himself for us, a sacrificial and fragrant offering to God.
Original Intent
1) To whom was this passage written?
Paul the apostle wrote the book of Ephesians to encourage the church at Ephesus. This passage is part of a section of his letter which details what it means to be part of the body of Christ. Ephesus was a highly immoral city in Greece, with thievery and prostitution rampant. The Christians in this church may well have been saved from this activity, or from the very heart-issues listed in verse 31. Paul urged the believers to learn from Jesus (Matthew 11:29) and practice kindness, forgive one another, and live out love.
2) How were the recipients of this letter encouraged to forgive one another?
The Ephesians were instructed in verse 32 to forgive “just as God also forgave you in Christ” (see also Colossians 3:13). What does this mean? God forgives completely and doesn’t regurgitate your offenses to you, bringing them back up again (Psalm 103:12). God forgives as often as is genuinely asked of Him (Psalm 130:3-5) with a truly repentant heart. And He forgives without attempting to exact any sort of retribution from us. (There is no way we could pay the price, that’s why Christ died on our behalf.)
3) What is the goal of the author?
Paul’s goal was to remind the believers at Ephesus that they should strive for unity with one another. One way to maintain unity is to forgive others for their offenses. The only way the Ephesians would be able to do that would be to turn away from pagan practices – to leave behind the old life and live in the new life given to them through Christ. They would have to choose to live by the Holy Spirit’s leading. Colossians 3:14 states, “Above all, put on love, which is the perfect bond of unity.” The love of Christ is that perfect bond.
Everyday Application
1) To whom was this passage written?
While this letter was written to a specific body of believers, it is applicable to all believers of all generations in all nations. We should all, as a corporate Church, behave toward one another as God-like, since the goal of Christianity is to become more like Christ (John 13:13-17; John 13:34). That can be difficult sometimes, when personalities clash or when tempers flare. We’re human, and our selfishness rears its ugly head – if you’re like me, a lot more than you would hope it to. Paul reminded the Roman believers to think sensibly (Romans 12:3)…good, sound advice in the first century and still today.
2) How were the recipients of this letter encouraged to forgive one another?
It has been said that to forgive is to set yourself free from bondage, not the offender. This is so true! Many times, the offender either doesn’t realize they have offended, or they don’t care. By forgiving, we give the matter over to God and give up the need for revenge. This allows us to remain free of anger which, when allowed to fester, causes bitterness. With any of this in our lives it would be impossible to grow in Christlikeness.
Sometimes forgiveness is immediate, and sometimes it is a process. If the hurt is deep and far-reaching, it will take time to process. This is hard to do if the offender is a relative or close friend. We expect that those who love us will never hurt us. But the truth is that every person is a sinner and has the capacity to strike at our very hearts.
For those of us who know and love Jesus, we understand that His is the only love which heals instead of hurts. When we are hurt by others, we have to tap into that love, the same love that forgave our sins against Him, and forgive the sin against ourselves. This forgiveness may not restore the relationship – and if the offender is unrepentant, it would be unwise to expect it. But it will bring peace to our own hearts. Then we must pray for the other person to experience the love and forgiveness of Jesus in their own life.3) What is the goal of the author?
We who have trusted Christ for salvation have been rescued from the sin that is overtaking the world. Once we were sharing in the revelry with no regard to spiritual things, and now we know that there is a war going on for our souls. Because we know Jesus, we are protected and sure of our eternal destiny.
But we are creatures of habit, sinful at our core, and if we are not consistently in tune with Jesus and His ways, we can easily revert to our old selves…the way we behaved and thought about things prior to our faith in Jesus that led to salvation. We need to keep our eyes on Jesus (Hebrews 12:2). We need to remember the goal of Christ-likeness and glory to God and strive to live daily for Him (Colossians 3:12-17).
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Digging Deeper is for Everyone!
1) Take this passage (or any other passage).
2) Read it, and the verses around it,
several times
3) Write down your questions
as you think of them.
4) Ask specific culture related questions and be ready to dig around for your answers. Google them, use www.studylight.org, or look them up in a study Bible and read the footnotes (click on the little letters next to a word and it will show you
other related verses!). (www.esvbible.org)
5) Check your applications with other trusted Christians that you are in community with and embrace the fullness of God
in your everyday!
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Why Dig Deeper?
Finding the original meaning is a huge deal when we study Scripture and can make all the difference in our understanding as we apply God’s truths to our everyday lives.
In our modern-day relationships, we want people to understand our original intention as we communicate; how much more so between God and humanity?!
Here’s a little bit more on why we take Digging Deeper so seriously.
Study Tools
We love getting help while we study and www.studylight.org is one of many excellent resources, providing the original Hebrew (Old Testament) or Greek (New Testament) with an English translation.
Want to know more about a specific word in a verse? Click on “Strong’s Interlinear Bible” then click the word you’d like to study. Discover “origin”, “definition” and hear the original pronunciation – That Is Awesome!
Want more background? Click “Study Tools”, then pick a few commentaries to read their scholarly approach, keeping in mind that just because a commentary says it, doesn’t mean it’s true. (just like the internet :-))
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