Robert McLaughlin Bible Ministries |
Paul which means little becomes great through the grace of God.
Thursday, May 20, 2010
The whole objective of the epistle is to demonstrate how God pursues the super-grace believer with grace.
The Pauline epistles fall into four general categories:
a) The second missionary journey; During the second missionary journey Paul wrote 1 Thess from Corinth in 52 AD. He wrote 2 Thess from Corinth in 53 AD.
b) The third missionary journey; Paul wrote four epistles: Galatians, written from Ephesus in 55 AD; 1 Co, written from Ephesus in 55 AD; 2 Co, written from Philippi in 57 AD; Romans, written from Corinth just before Paul left for Jerusalem in 58 AD.
From 58 AD we have a silence from Paul for four years. He went into reversionism by going to Jerusalem.
c) The first Roman imprisonment; Ephesians in 62 AD, Philippians in 63 AD, Colossians in 62 AD, Philemon in 62 AD.
d) After the first Roman imprisonment: we have Paul’s release, a fourth missionary journey where he wrote 1Tim from Macedonia in 65 AD; Titus from Macedonia in 66 AD and a second imprisonment where he wrote 2 Tim from Rome in 67 AD.
Ephesians is a circular letter to the churches in the Roman province of Asia, the seven churches of Revelation 2 & 3.
Ephesians was designed to correct reversionism in the Roman province of Asia and to erect edification complexes and to ultimately move the believers into the super-grace life.
Paulos - a proper noun meaning “little.” His original name was Saul of Tarsus (Jewish) as well as Paul (Roman), but this was his adopted name under grace orientation.
Little (pun intended) did Saul of Tarsus know that his Roman citizenship and his Roman name would be prophetic concerning his being elected as the apostle to the Gentiles.
Paul is responsible for SPQR (The Senate and the People of Rome) becoming the first Gentile client nation to God, and for its perpetuation up through 500 years.
As Saul of Tarsus, he became the #1 man in the Sanhedrin. In fact, he held all the offices of the Jews except that of high priest, for which his tribe of Benjamin was not qualified.
God was showing Paul that his imprisonments would make him something that had never occurred before.
It took Paul four years of imprisonment to finally discover that his ministry was not to the Jews, as he had attempted to prove in his diversion to Jerusalem.
While Paul was a great speaker, it would really become his pen, under the ministry and guidance of the Spirit, that would be his greatest impact.
Paul, after mistakes and reversionism finally oriented to the entire plan of God for his life. He finally oriented to the times of the Gentiles.
Greatness in invisible heroes has two characteristics for the believer: +H and personal sense of destiny.
Sharing the happiness of God and having a strong PSD means fantastic protection against arrogance and therefore a life of great tranquillity on this earth!