The first verse in the Apostle Paul’s letter to the church at Ephesus is directly tied to Christ’s warning in Matthew 24:4,5. When asked what would be the sign of His imminent return to earth, Jesus issued a stern warning: “Beware lest any man deceive you, for many will come in My name, proclaiming that I (Jesus) am the Christ, and will deceive many.” The first sign that His people had to beware of would be those who would come proclaiming that He, Jesus of Nazareth, was indeed the promised Messiah. Then, having gained their trust, Satan’s false prophets would deceive them into following another god–Satan himself. As this website has proven beyond any reasonable doubt, this is exactly what happened. Today some 2.5 billion people, having been deceived by his false prophets, are worshiping and serving the Serpent of Eden just as did his first victims in the Garden of Eden. Little has changed over the ensuing centuries.
Also found in the first verse of Ephesians 1 is the primary source of the false gospel Jesus warned about. Paul notes that he (Paul) was “an apostle of Jesus Christ by the WILL OF GOD.” Unlike the overwhelming majority of pastors, evangelists, missionaries, etc., Paul was CALLED BY GOD TO HIS MINISTRY. It is obvious to honest Bible students that only a minute number of today’s ministers were called by the Biblical God to carry out His work. It is equally obvious that the vast majority of ministers today were called by the “angel of (false) light” to be his “ministers of (false) righteousness” (2 Cor. 11:13-15). Those called by the devil to serve him in ministry are “hirelings” employed specifically to tell people what they want to hear (Jn. 10:12,13). Though called by God, Isaiah faced the same problem from his parishioners who told him not to tell them what God said, but to “lie” to them, to prophesy “deceits” and to tell them “smooth things” (Isa. 30:10). A never fail rule is this: if a preacher is a catholic or protestant, he or she was not called by the Biblical God. I know this because those who claim to be in “the church” will not allow a man of God to occupy their pulpit. Why? Jesus explains why in John 3:19-21: “… light (God’s Word) has come into the world, but (religious) men love darkness (church doctrine) rather than light because their deeds are evil. Every one that does evil hates the light and will not come to the light, lest their sinful deeds be exposed. But he who obeys the Truth (Word–Jn. 17:17) comes to the light (God’s Word) so that all can see that his deeds reflect the will (Word) of God” (Jn. 3:19-21). Recall that Jesus called Himself the “light of the world.” He then called His disciples “the light of the world.” What made Jesus, His disciples/apostles then and His true ministers today God’s light was then, and continues to be today, HIS WORD–the LAW, the HOLY SCRIPTURES by which everyone ever born will be judged (Jn. 12:44-50). The Book of Life (Genesis to Revelation) He will open on Judgment Day in order to compare what is written within it to what is recorded in each individual’s record (the “books”).
In verse 1 Paul called the people in the Church of God at Ephesus “saints,” meaning “holy ones.” Contrary to universal church people, their sins are not viewed as holy by God because they believe Christ’s death covers their sins as quickly as they can repent of them. Holy people do not “crucify Christ afresh” by repeatedly sinning (Heb. 6:6). Holy people do not “treasure up” (accumulate) their sins “against the day of judgment” at which time they will answer for them (Rom. 2:5). Contrary to universal church opinion, so-called “sinners saved by grace” are not in good favor with the Lord because they obey church doctrine which, as I have shown repeatedly, is heathen to its core. To the contrary, Paul describes saints as those who are “faithful in Christ Jesus.”
Two interlocking characteristics are highlighted in the final four words of verse 1: “faithful in Christ Jesus.” The focal words are “faithful” and “in.” “Faithful” denotes one who not only has faith in the Word of God, but actually does what God said in His Word. Biblically, faith is simply taking God at His Word, not man’s word about His Word, or man’s interpretation of His Word. In the spiritual sense, the word “in” when referring to being “in Christ” means to be surrounded by and filled with Him to the point that one is identified by that entity. For example, the word “Christian” literally refers to one who manifests Christ in one’s “walk”–his thoughts, words and actions–the totality of his existence. The best illustration I can think of is the relationship between a hand and a form-fitting glove. In this sense, the hand is the Lord, while the glove is the believer. The glove manifests/expresses only the movement of the hand. Hand movement is manifested by glove movement. “They who are led by the Holy Spirit (God’s “hand”) are true sons of God (His “gloves”). Jesus perfectly exemplified this relationship when He proclaimed that anyone who saw Him was seeing the Father (Jn. 14:9). This hand-glove relationship describes every true saint in whom God lives and walks in the form of His Holy Spirit. L.J.
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