Waters of Life

Biblical Studies in Multiple Languages

Search in "English":

Home -- English -- Ephesians -- 019 (The spiritual appraisal of natural man)

This page in: -- Arabic -- ENGLISH -- German -- Indonesian -- Turkish

Previous Lesson -- Next Lesson

EPHESIANS - Be Filled With The Spirit
Meditations, Reflections, Prayer and Questions over the Epistel to the Ephesians
Part 2 - A doctrinal theology of the Apostle Paul so that Semitic and Greco-Roman church members might live together in peace (Ephesians 2:1 – 3:21)

The spiritual appraisal of natural man (Ephesians 2:1-3)


Ephesians 2:1-2
Indications of Satan´s power

The Apostle Paul was an experienced spiritual counsellor. Through his emotional discussions with individuals in Ephesus he had gained manifold insight. He recognized the fact that many residents of this provincial capital nourished contact with evil spirits, wore amulets, or studied in occultic books to discover how they might work together with the powers of the other world. In this battle of Jesus Christ against the dominion of darkness, it came to an obvious victory and overcoming of the power of unclean spirits in the church members. The result was a public burning of works of magic and instructions, intended only to further contact with evil powers of the other world: “Also, many of those who had practiced magic brought their books together and burned them in the sight of all. And they counted up the value of them, and it totalled fifty thousand pieces of silver” (Acts 19:19). In addition, numerous unclean spirits were driven out in the name of Jesus (Eph. 19:12c).

Because of his own battle of faith, Paul had obtained the insight that in Ephesus and environs a mighty spirit and his subordinates had led the majority of the population astray. In some of populace they had begotten a spirit of disobedience. The rebellion of the silversmith (Acts 19:23-40) to the honor of the fertility goddess Artemis (Diana in the Latin) had openly shown the power of demons in this Roman administrative district.

In the year 391 A.D. the worship of the goddess Artemis in Ephesus was officially prohibited by the government, when the Christian faith was introduced as the state religion. At a Christian Council in Ephesus in 431 A.D., however, Mary, the mother of Jesus, was proclaimed to be the one who gave birth to God. Since then she has been honoured as the Mother of God in Catholic and Orthodox churches. The population of Ephesus celebrated this decision with great applause. Whoever later testified that the spirits of Ephesus had, with this council decision, transformed their Artemis religion into a worldwide antichristian adoration and worship of Mary, was excommunicated from his church. In his visit to Turkey in 2006, Pope Benedict XVI kneeled down before the small chapel known as the “Virgin Mary´s House” in Ephesus, in order to demonstrate the deep reverence and worship for the “Mother of God” in his church. She is often more honoured by Orthodox and Catholic Christians than even God the Father and the Son – a practice never to be found in the New Testament.

We should not, in our modern day and age, underestimate the influence or the mendacious power of demons. We need to avoid and oppose all contact with them. Jesus described Satan as the father of lies (John 8:44). In Africa pastors and spiritual leaders maintain: The devil is cleverer than all of us, for he is older than we are. He knows all the tricks, as well as all the possibilities for deception and confusion. He whispers to men that they are “good”, and that they can, by their own power and capability, fulfil their own laws and cultural ordinances. He suggests to man that our world came into being without a Creator. He proclaims communism, capitalism, feminism, Buddhism, Hinduism and Islam to all be powers bringing salvation, even though none of these world views can offer their adherents true forgiveness of guilt and sin, let alone a valid resurrection from the dead. The seduction of the growing world population is increasing rapidly in our day. Whoever does not know and confess Jesus as Lord and Savior will quickly become a plaything for antichristian powers – and not even be aware of it!

Prayer: Father in heaven, we thank You that Jesus Christ has become the measure of our lives. In view to His love and holiness, we have come to grasp our sin and great deficiency. Forgive us our guilt and transgression and give us the courage to testify to our friends and families that You and Your Son Jesus alone are the one and only truth. Amen.

Questions:

  1. How can we protect ourselves from Satan´s cunning and lies?
  2. How did Jesus deliver us from the dominion of evil?

www.Waters-of-Life.net

Page last modified on February 03, 2018, at 04:38 PM | powered by PmWiki (pmwiki-2.3.3)