New Testament Lesson # 39: Ephesians
“For the Perfecting of the
Saints”
Ponderize
Scripture: Ephesians 4:13; Perfecting
the Saints
“Till we all come in the unity of the faith,
and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of
the stature of the fulness of Christ.”
As I was on my Sunday morning walk today—a bit
earlier because of the time change—I realized that this was the 1st
November and pretty soon I would not be subjected to houses and yards decorated
with ghoulies and ghosties and long legged beasties and things that go bump in
the night. However light we attempt to make this so-called holiday, it
nevertheless celebrates the frightening—a medieval view of the battle between
good and evil. Now, though, we can pull ourselves figuratively from the world’s
view of death and look up with thanksgiving to the celebrations to come for the
rest of this year. Thanksgiving for family, for the basic necessities of life,
but ultimately for the gift of the Atonement of Jesus Christ. This lesson is
about perfecting the Saints and the way we dress up for that, is to put on the
whole armor of God.
Introduction
“Ephesians is an epistle for all the
world, for Jew and Gentile, for husband and wife, for parent and child, for
master and servant. It was the mind and will of God in Paul’s day; it is the
voice of inspiration in our day; it is an epistle of universal appeal and
application. … It contains some of Paul’s best writing, and is a document
that deals with fundamentals, with the gospel of God in all its saving glory”
(Bruce R. McConkie, Doctrinal New
Testament Commentary, 3 vols. [1965–73], 2:489). “Paul stated that he
was a prisoner at the time he wrote the Epistle to the Ephesians (see Ephesians 3:1; 4:1; 6:20), so
Ephesians may have been written during Paul’s first imprisonment in Rome,
around A.D. 61 to 63, and perhaps at the same time he wrote the Epistle to
Philemon and the Epistle to the Colossians (which bear many similarities to
Ephesians). During this time Paul was being held under house arrest, but he had
the freedom to receive visitors and teach the gospel (see Acts
28:16–31).[1]
Although it is addressed to the “saints which are at Ephesus,” “the earliest
manuscripts of Ephesians do not contain the words ‘which are at Ephesus.’ This
means that Paul may not have written the epistle specifically to the Ephesians
but to several congregations of Saints, including those in Ephesus. Ephesus
served as Paul’s headquarters during his third missionary journey (see Acts 19:9–10;
20:31),
and he had great affection for these people (see Acts
20:17, 34–38).[2]
Ephesus was Paul’s headquarters for three years on his third missionary
journey. The converts there were mostly Gentile, in contrast to Hebrews. It is
interesting that “Following Peter’s death, John the Revelator became the
President of the Church, and when John moved from Jerusalem to Ephesus, the
headquarters of the Church also moved to Ephesus. According to Christian tradition,
Mary, the mother of Jesus, spent the remaining years of her life at Ephesus
under John’s care (see John 19:27).
Ephesus was the first of the seven cities that John wrote to in the book of
Revelation (see Revelation
2:1–7).”[3]
Ephesians is rich in scriptures and concepts we know well, like the whole armor
of God, Christ as the cornerstone, foreordination, officers of the Church, how
spouses should treat each other and their children, to name just a few.
Ephesians 1:9–10.
Paul teaches that the purpose of the dispensation of the fulness of times is to
“gather together in one all things in Christ.”
[Side note: The word translated as
“predestinated” in verse 5 is proorizo
which is better translated as “foreordained.” The importance of this is that predestination does not allow for
agency, while foreordination does. Bruce
R. McConkie: “Predestination is the false doctrine that from all eternity God
has ordered whatever comes to pass, having especial and particular reference to
the salvation or damnation of souls. Some souls, according to this false
concept, are irrevocably chosen for salvation, others for damnation; and there
is said to be nothing any individual can do to escape his predestined
inheritance in heaven or hell as the case may be” (Mormon Doctrine, 2nd ed. [1966], 588).]
From the Bible Dictionary: “A dispensation
of the gospel is a period of time in which the Lord has at least one authorized
servant on the earth who bears the holy priesthood and the keys, and who has a
divine commission to dispense the gospel to the inhabitants of the earth. When
this occurs, the gospel is revealed anew so that people of that dispensation do
not have to depend basically on past dispensations for knowledge of the plan of
salvation. There have been many gospel dispensations since the beginning. The
Bible suggests at least one dispensation identified with Adam, another with
Enoch, another with Noah, and so on with Abraham, Moses,
and Jesus with His Apostles in the meridian of time. Joseph Smith: “It is
necessary in the ushering in of the dispensation of the fulness of times, which
dispensation is now beginning to usher in, that a whole and complete and
perfect union, and welding together of dispensations, and keys, and powers, and
glories should take place, and be revealed from the days of Adam even to the
present time. And not only this, but those things which never have been
revealed from the foundation of the world, but have been kept hid from the wise
and prudent, shall be revealed unto babes and sucklings in this, the dispensation
of the fulness of times” (D&C 128:18). Question:
What is now revealed and what does that mean to you and your family? President
Gordon B. Hinckley: “You and I are experiencing the profound and wonderful
blessings of the dispensation of the fulness of times. In this day and time
there have been restored to the earth all of the principles, powers, blessings,
and keys of all previous dispensations” (Ensign,
May 1992, 70).
Ephesians
2:12–22; 4:1–16.
Paul teaches that Jesus
Christ is our cornerstone. He teaches that the Lord gave us apostles and
prophets to help us become perfected and come to a “unity of the faith.”
Surrounding the ancient temple was a
stone balustrade with inscriptions posted in Greek and Latin warning Gentiles
not to pass beyond into exclusively Jewish space. Jesus Christ had now
symbolically broken down or taken away that barrier between the uncircumcised and the circumcised—Gentiles and Jews.[4]
Neil L. Andersen: “The Apostle Paul
said, ‘Ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellowcitizens with the
saints, and of the household of God.’ It is within the sanctuary of the Church
that we protect our faith. Meeting together with others who believe, we pray
and find answers to our prayers; we worship through music, share testimony of
the Savior, serve one another, and feel the Spirit of the Lord. We partake of
the sacrament,
receive the blessings of the priesthood, and attend the temple.”[5]
“The Savior referred to Himself as the
stone which the builders had rejected, which had become the ‘head of the
corner’ (Matthew
21:42), or in the words of Paul, the ‘chief corner stone.’ A cornerstone is
a massive stone that is laid at the corner of a foundation to give strength and
stability to the entire structure. A cornerstone can also be used to connect
two adjoining walls to form a corner. Paul used this imagery to explain that
Jesus Christ provides strength and stability to the whole Church and that
through Jesus Christ, Jewish and Gentile members of the Church are bound
together (see Jacob
4:15–16; Psalm
118:22; Isaiah
28:16). All members become united, ‘fitly framed together [growing] unto an
holy temple in the Lord.’ All of this is made possible through the Atonement of
Jesus Christ, who is the ‘chief corner stone’” (Ephesians
2:20–21).[6]
Why do we need Apostles and Prophets?
Elder Holland: “Thus the apostolic and prophetic
foundation of the Church was to bless in all times, but especially in
times of adversity or danger, times when we might feel like children, confused
or disoriented, perhaps a little fearful, times in which the devious hand of
men or the maliciousness of the devil would attempt to unsettle or mislead.
Against such times as come in our modern day, the First Presidency and Quorum
of the Twelve are commissioned by God and sustained by you as prophets, seers,
and revelators, with the President of the Church sustained as the
prophet, seer, and revelator, the senior Apostle, and as such the only
man authorized to exercise all of the revelatory and administrative keys for
the Church. In New Testament times, in Book of Mormon times, and in modern
times these officers form the foundation stones of the true Church, positioned
around and gaining their strength from the chief cornerstone, ‘the rock of our
Redeemer, who is [Jesus] Christ, the Son of God.”[7]
Joseph Smith: “An evangelist is a
Patriarch. … Wherever the Church of Christ is established in the earth, there
should be a Patriarch for the benefit of the posterity of the Saints, as it was
with Jacob in giving his patriarchal blessing unto his sons” (Teachings of Presidents of the Church:
Joseph Smith [2007], 140). A pastor is a shepherd or one who leads a
flock—a fitting description of modern-day bishops, branch presidents, and stake
and district presidents (see 1 Peter
5:2–4).[8]
Ephesians
5:22–29; 6:1–4.
Paul teaches the need for unity between husband and wife and between parents
and children.
In “The Family: A Proclamation to the
World,” the First Presidency and Quorum of the Twelve Apostles taught that
“happiness in family life is most likely to be achieved when founded upon the
teachings of the Lord Jesus Christ. Successful marriages and families are
established and maintained on principles of faith, prayer, repentance, forgiveness,
respect, love, compassion, work, and wholesome recreational activities” (Ensign, Nov. 1995, 102).
Pres. Kimball, “Christ loved the
Church and its people so much that he voluntarily endured persecution for them,
suffered humiliating indignities for them, stoically withstood pain and
physical abuse for them, and finally gave his precious life for them. When the
husband is ready to treat his household in that manner, not only the wife, but
all the family will respond to his leadership. Certainly if fathers are to be
respected, they must merit respect. If they are to be loved, they must be
consistent, lovable, understanding, and kind and must honor their priesthood”
(Spencer W. Kimball, in Stockholm Sweden Area Conference Report 1974,
46–47).
Elder Nelson: “My dear sisters,
whatever your calling, whatever your circumstances, we need your impressions,
your insights, and your inspiration. We need you to speak up and speak out in
ward and stake councils. We need each married sister to speak as “a
contributing and full partner” as you unite with your husband in governing
your family. Married or single, you sisters possess distinctive capabilities
and special intuition you have received as gifts from God. We brethren cannot
duplicate your unique influence. We know that the culminating act of all
creation was the creation of woman! We need your strength!”[9]
Regarding children, Pres. McKay said,
“To parents is assigned the first responsibility for the training of children.
The Lord through the prophet says: ‘And again, inasmuch as parents have
children in Zion, or in any of her stakes which are organized, that teach them
not to understand the doctrine of repentance, faith in Christ the Son of the
Living God, and of baptism and the gift of the Holy Ghost by the laying on of
the hands, when eight years old, the sin be upon the heads of the parents.’ Direct
responsibility could not be assigned more emphatically and clearly than it is
assigned in that paragraph. Parents, there is the word of the Lord to us
regarding the proper training of children. Education commences at the mother's
knee, and every word spoken in the hearing of little children tends towards the
formation of character. Let parents always bear this in mind.”[10] . .
. “To change men and nations, we must change and direct their way of thinking.
Training a child in the way he should go. That is the problem. The home is the
most potential influence in this training. Sunday Schools, Mutuals, Primaries,
Relief Societies are only additions. No social, educational or service group
could effectively supplant the home as an effective force in making men out of
boys and women out of girls.”[11]
Ephesians
4:21–32; 6:10–18.
Paul teaches that we should “put on the new man” and “put on the whole armour
of God” to protect us from the wickedness of the world.
Regarding “Let not the sun go down
upon your wrath” (Ephesians 4:26),
Lynn G. Robbins said, “A cunning part of [Satan’s] strategy is to dissociate
anger from agency, making us believe that we are victims of an emotion that we
cannot control. We hear, ‘I lost my temper.’ Losing one’s temper is an interesting
choice of words that has become a widely used idiom. To ‘lose something’
implies ‘not meaning to,’ ‘accidental,’ ‘involuntary,’ ‘not
responsible’—careless perhaps but ‘not responsible.’
“‘He made me mad.’ This is another
phrase we hear, also implying lack of control or agency. This is a myth that
must be debunked. No one makes us mad. Others don’t make us angry. There is no
force involved. Becoming angry is a conscious choice, a decision; therefore, we
can make the choice not to become angry. We choose!” (“Agency
and Anger,” Ensign, May 1998,
80).
Whole Armor of God
This Meridian Magazine article assembles many sources for specific
teachings on the various parts of the armor of God: http://ldsmag.com/article-1-13478/
In addition, here are a couple of
quotes that might be looking at it in a different way:
Elder Cornish, “Thus, in our prayers
we may begin the protective process of putting on the whole armor of God (see Ephesians 6:11;
D&C
27:15) by looking forward to the day ahead and asking for help with the sometimes
frightening things we may face. Please, my friends, do not forget to ask the
Lord to protect and be with you.”[12]
Elder Hales, “Brethren, if we are
faithful in the priesthood, this armor will be given to us as a gift from God.
We need this armor! Young men, your fathers and grandfathers never faced the
temptations that you face on a regular basis. You are living in the last days.
If your father wanted to get in trouble, he had to go searching for it. Not
anymore! Today temptation finds you! Please remember that! Satan desires to
have you, and ‘sin lieth at the door.’ How will you resist his aggressive
tactics? Put on the whole armor of God.”[13]
LDS Media Library Videos
Whole Armor of God
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