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4 But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, 5 even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— 6 and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, 7 so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. 8 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, 9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast. 10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.

Paul can speak of the reality of heaven because we are already there. We don’t have to wait to “go to heaven” we are seated there in Christ now! That’s how rock solid our promises from God are. It is only by grace that completely helpless people are saved when they cry out to God in faith. We don’t bring anything to the table except our sin and baggage, and he saves us, that’s how amazing God’s great love by which He is loving us. He is the one doing the work, and it’s amazing. He is molding and shaping us so that we can be of good for the kingdom. You have a job to do, you’ve been created for it, God has set them up for you, now get after it. Share the gospel, partner in this ministry with all the Saints in Christ Jesus, display the immeasurable riches of His kindness towards us!

7 In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace

It would be amazing if God were to look through the portal of time and see all those who would ever be His people and then give us enough forgiveness to cover all of our sins. But that’s not what the Bible says God did. No. We have been bought back (redeemed) from our sin, we are forgiven, not according to the amount of our sins, but according to the riches of his grace. God’s riches are far greater than all the sin there has ever been. I’m reminded of the time when I worked in a sno cone stand. It was in the 1990’s in the North Dallas area and a convertible Mercedes pulled up. Two guys hopped out, and I immediately recognized one of them as Michael Irvin. That’s a pretty big deal for a kid who grew-up watching America’s Team. He asked me “what’s good?” I said “I like Tiger’s Blood” so he responded “that sounds good, give me two mediums.” I made them quickly (and with super high quality as always, shaved-ice is an art, and I was a master) and I handed them over. He tried one and nodded his head “that is good!” then he nodded at his “guy” and said “take care of him” and the other guy handed me $20 and said “here you go, keep the change.” The bill was $5. I wasn’t paid according to the cost of the sno cone, I was paid according to the riches of the superstar who wanted a cold treat on a beautiful North Texas summer day. When Jesus paid for our sins with his blood, it was if he was saying a great cosmic “keep the change.” There was far more value paid by God than was needed to wipe-out every sin ever committed… but that’s who God is. How much forgiveness can you have? All of it. All of your sin. Yesterday, today, tomorrow, forever… paid in full, and then some. There is always more grace, receive it with gratefulness.

13 I would have been glad to keep him with me, in order that he might serve me on your behalf during my imprisonment for the gospel, 14 but I preferred to do nothing without your consent in order that your goodness might not be by compulsion but of your own accord. 15 For this perhaps is why he was parted from you for a while, that you might have him back forever, 16 no longer as a bondservant but more than a bondservant, as a beloved brother—especially to me, but how much more to you, both in the flesh and in the Lord.

This little letter is from the Paul to Philemon (a slave owner) on behalf of Onesimus (a slave owned by said owner) whereby the Apostle practically lives out the New Testament teaching on slavery. When we hear the word “slave” we think of the kind of slavery in the Western World from about 200 years ago. The kind of slavery that was present in Biblical times (and for most of the world for most of history) is generally a bit different. Nevertheless, there are parallels. The New Testament teaching on slavery really depends greatly on who’s receiving it. For slaves, the Bible says “do your best to work hard for your master as though they are Jesus, that’s how best to make the gospel look good.” The teaching for slave owners is “treat your slaves well and don’t be harsh with them, that’s how best to make the gospel look good… and if they’re Christians, treat them as a brother, not a slave.” So, here is Paul. One would think, from our context “surely the Bible condemns slavery!” But it doesn’t. But neither does it endorse slavery. Paul’s actions give us a practical example of how we live… an individual’s status is not the primary concern of the Christian life, it’s all about the advancement of the gospel. “But wait, slavery is evil and there’s nothing more important than stomping out slavery/racism/bigotry!” Right? Well, at least according to the Bible, there is something more important, as evil as those things may be, and that’s telling people about Jesus. In other words, if a Christian is more concerned about “social justice” than getting out the message of Jesus, they’re not lining up with the Bible too well. So, Paul doesn’t say slavery is an abomination, or that there should be laws against it, and he doesn’t feel compelled to hide Onesimus because slavery is unjust and thus he had an obligation to fight it. In fact, Paul sends the slave back to his owner and reasons with Philemon to do what’s right on the basis of the gospel. Of course Paul is opposing slavery, but he does so in a way that shows there is something more important than our “pet projects,” the gospel. No, social justice isn’t the gospel, telling people of the death, burial, resurrection etc. of Jesus, that’s the gospel. If we can effect positive change in other areas, that’s wonderful, and we should, but not at the expense of every single Christian telling people about Jesus. That’s hard to understand, even harder to do, yet we should.

2 Continue steadfastly in prayer, being watchful in it with thanksgiving. 3 At the same time, pray also for us, that God may open to us a door for the word, to declare the mystery of Christ, on account of which I am in prison— 4 that I may make it clear, which is how I ought to speak.

The Christian life should be filled with prayer and preaching. Every one of us needs to continue steadfastly in prayer. Every day. All the time. Praying. When we pray with faith, that means we believe God will be answering our prayers (not simply giving us what we want), which is to be thankful. Not “thank you God for giving me what I’ve asked for…” but “thank you God for hearing my prayer, and for giving me your best.” We need, also, to pray that the gospel would go out. Preaching isn’t just for preachers, we are all preachers. Every one of us needs to be telling people the gospel, as clearly as we can. Who do you talk to? Talk to them about Jesus.

18 Wives, submit to your husbands, as is fitting in the Lord. 19 Husbands, love your wives, and do not be harsh with them. 20 Children, obey your parents in everything, for this pleases the Lord. 21 Fathers, do not provoke your children, lest they become discouraged.

If every home did this, we would have far fewer problems. 😉 This is not in any way a blanket statement as to the worth of women in general, simply a description of the function of how the home is intended to run. Even then, it’s not a universal statement that wives are to do everything they are commanded by their husbands, far from it. I think there is probably too much emotional baggage tied up verse 18 for most people to simply read it for what it’s actually saying, without reading anything into it that’s not really there. Wives are told to follow their husband’s godly leadership “as is fitting in the Lord.” That God’y leadership will be to love and not be harsh. The wife is not commanded to obey her husband like a child, the instruction for children is quite different “obey your parents in everything.” The father is still given peramaters of how to lead well, not provoking their children. This is the model for a biblical home.