A Prayer That You Would Understand Who God Is For You, And What He's Done For You In Christ (Ephesians 1:15-23) Series

Last week, we studied Ephesians 1:1-14. There, we learned that God is making a single, holy family, and he is calling all people to join his family through Jesus. If we really understand what God has done for us in Christ, we can't help but praise God. God has been incredibly good to us. God has loved us when we did nothing to deserve it. And for God to forgive our sins, and make us part of his family---? It's great. It's truly good news.

I'm thrilled to be part of God's family. And I'm thrilled that you are part of God's family. And that God's family continues to grow around the world. I see what God is doing--I see God's plan coming together-- and it makes me happy. It makes me praise God.

This brings us to today's passage. Paul understands what God is doing in the world. God has this vision, this goal, to make one single family for himself. Paul sees God's plan, and he sees it starting to come to fruition. God's family is growing across the world, and Paul praises God for this.

In today's passage, in verse 15, Paul turns from this bird's eye perspective, to praising God specifically for what God is doing in the Ephesian church. Paul is thankful for them.

So, verse 15:

For this reason I also, hearing about your allegiance to the Lord Jesus and your love for all the holy ones, do not stop giving thanks for you,

remembrance making in my prayers,

There are two things in particular about the church that make Paul give thanks. The first is their allegiance to the Lord Jesus. The second is their love for all the holy ones. What I'd like to do now is help you think about these two things.

Your English Bibles are going to all translate the first thing differently than I did. They read, "hearing about your faith in the Lord Jesus." But what does it mean to have faith?

There is a family of related Greek words for faith. Pistis is the noun. Our English Bibles usually translate this as "faith" or "belief." Pisteuo is the verb. Our English Bibles usually translate that as "I believe."

There are times when the Greek does mean something like "believe." But the idea usually is much bigger than this. And since "faith" and "belief" are such a core part of who we are as God's people, and how we live, I want to take a little time to explain this.

Let's turn first to Romans 3:1-3.

3 Then what advantage has the Jew? Or what is the value of circumcision? 2 Much in every way. To begin with, the Jews were entrusted with the oracles of God. 3 What if some were unfaithful? Does their faithlessness nullify the faithfulness of God?

God has faith. Did you know that? That word at the end there, that our English Bibles will all translate as faithfulness, is the same Greek word that is (nearly) always translated as "faith" or "belief" when it relates to us.

Does it make sense to say that God has faith? Does God believe Jesus died on the cross for his sins? Does God believe Jesus is Messiah? In Romans 3:3, when Paul says God has "faith," this can't be what he means. The idea here is that God has made promises to Israel, and God has kept those promises. God is faithful. Our English Bibles all translate "faith" here correctly as "faithfulness."

What I would argue is that this is one of the very few places where our English Bibles get it right. Many Jews were "unfaithful." This is the same Greek word, with a little prefix to make it the opposite. The problem with the Jews wasn't that they believed the wrong things. Their problem was that they were unfaithful to God. They were faithless. But God is faithful. God has faithfulness.

This is really what faith means. "Faith" is not mainly about believing certain things to be true about Jesus. Faith is mostly about faithfulness.

God has faithfulness toward us. God has given us promises, and he is faithful to keep those promises. He is faithful. He keeps "faith" with us. And we have faithfulness toward God, and toward his son Jesus. So, in Ephesians 1, when Paul thanks God upon hearing about the Ephesians' faith, what he is saying is that he's heard about their continued faithfulness to Jesus. He's not thanking God because they continue to have great theology. He's thanking God because they continue to live faithfully toward Jesus as Lord, and as King. Faith is faithfulness. This is a much better translation.

Another verse that can help us think about the meaning of "faith" is in 1 Timothy 5:11. The first century was very much a man's world. And what I mean by that, is that it was difficult for women to survive independently, and provide for themselves. This was especially true for widows, who may or may not have children. In the early church, the church took very seriously its responsibility to look after widows. If you were a widow, you could sign up on this list, and the church would take care of your material needs. In these verses, Paul talks about which widows should, and shouldn't, be put on the list. The point he's making is that younger women shouldn't be on the list; the church shouldn't be helping them financially.