Civil Parish

“In the divine Scriptures, there are shallows and there are deeps; shallows where the lamb may wade, and deeps where the elephant may swim.”- John Owen

 Reading through Ephesians I’ve had an awesome time studying the way Paul wrote. It’s so good to see how all of his foundation is based in the Gospel. He wrote of the gospel being the Food and water the “body” needs in order to perform the work of God. As Colossians 2:7 says “being rooted and built up in the faith as you were taught.” We are to be continuously going back to the origin of our faith and remember how great God has been to us the lowly sinner.

This is a problem I have seen more recently in some people and in the people of God all throughout scripture. We forget. We forget that we have been saved out of our depravity. I know for me when I look at my current struggles and my past sin I see how good Jesus is, I see the beauty and grace of God because I see that the blood of the son was the plan of the father. I see that grace working in me richly today.

That grace working in me today is what I have been “Saved into”. Being rooted in the Gospel im free to be built up in Jesus! Trust me it’s a constant struggle to put off the old self and put on the new. However it begins to make sense that we would strive for holiness once we’ve seen the beauty in the gospel. Its just like a Kid wanting to be like his loving father, If his dad loves him and tells him to do something it must be for the good of the son. If God knows that we were made to live like Christ then I trust that though its difficult for me to live a holy life Ill give it all I got cause my dad says its good for me.

That’s what I see in Pauls writing, He is rooted in the love that God has for him as a father, and he wants to be like his dad. That is the heart of his discipline. Discipline does not bring about love, love brings about discipline!!

“Be immatators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children and live a life of love just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.”- Eph 5:1-2

-Jon