THE BOOK OF EPHESIANS: The Final Chapter

For the past few weeks, we have been examining the wonderful message of hope, service and faith found in the Apostle Paul's letter to the Ephesians. We discussed and learned the roles that predestination and free-will play in the Salvation plan of God for Mankind. We learned that we have been saved by the grace of God, through faith in His only Begotten Son, Yahshua Ha Mashiah/Jesus the Christ. We were taught, through studying the Book of Ephesians, that all believers are united in one Body... that being the body the endured 351 lashes from the lictor who carried out the torturous act of scourging and the six hours of unimaginable pain and shame that He suffered on the Cross at Mt. Calvary.. that body being, the Body of Christ. By His supreme sacrifice we have become reconciled to God the Father, having put to death the emnity between the Father and mankind.. enmity that began in the Garden of Eden with our first parents, Adam and Eve. Through the Christ, we have access to both the Father and the Holy Spirit. We also discoverd that the reunited relationship between man and his Triune God, is longer limited to the Jews, but to everyone who confesses Christ as Lord and believes that He rose from the dead. Paul reminds us that " there is one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all who is over all and through all and in all. We discussed, at great length, the gifts of the Holy Spirit, which we refer to as the five-fold ministry; the gifts of, apostle, prophet, evangelist, pastor and teacher. In this letter, we are admonished to  lay aside lying and stand on the truth; do not let the sun go down on your anger, and to let all bitterness, wrath, malice and slander not be named among us. Be imitators of Christ, as beloved children and do not participate in deeds of darkness, but instead, expose them. We were instructed to be filled with the Holy Spirit.