Paul the
apostle declared and “testified in the Lord” that he did
not want the Ephesian church members to “walk as other Gentiles
walk, in the vanity of their mind”. In chapter four and verse
eighteen of his letter, Paul continued his charge to the Ephesians as
he described these pagan “Gentiles” as having their
“understanding darkened” because they are “alienated
from the life of God” where we read:
Having the
understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God through
the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their
heart:
The
verse begins, “Having the understanding darkened, being
alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in
them,...” Paul began with the
words, “Having the understanding”
which means “the mind as a faculty of understanding, feeling and
desiring” “darkened” or
“to cover with darkness and depravation of light”, “being
alienated” which means
“estranged, shut out from one's fellowship and intimacy” “from
the life” or “state of one
who is possessed of vitality or is animate” “of God”
which refers to “the Godhead bodily and trinity which is comprised
of God the Father, Christ the Son and the Holy Spirit” “through
the ignorance” or “by way of
and on account of a lack of knowledge with moral blindness” “that
is in them” which refers to
“the pagan Gentiles”. Those who are unbelievers are filled with
“ignorance” when it comes to the ways of God.
The
verse continues, “...because of the blindness of their
heart:” Paul added, “because”
or “through, by means of, by
reason of, on account of and for this reason” “of the
blindness” which means “the
covering with a callus, obtrusiveness of mental discernment and
dulled perception, stubbornness and obduracy” “of their
heart” or “the center of all
physical and spiritual life and vigor”. These pagan Gentiles had a
“dulled perception” within their “spirits”, and therefore did
not know God.
When we think through
these words of Paul, we begin to understand why some people do not
know the “ways of God”. Their hearts and minds are “darkened”
so they cannot see, and therefore the “life of God” is
foreign to them. When the Holy Spirit opens the eyes, mind and heart
of a person, they realize the sacrifice Jesus Christ made for their
sin, they come to Him in repentance, and know the “life
of God” like they never knew
before. Until then, they remain as Jesus said, “If you
were blind, you should have no sin: but now you say, We see;
therefore your sin remains”.
Next
time Paul shares about those
who are “past feeling”,
so read ahead, and we shall join together then.
Until tomorrow…there is more…
Look for the daily devotional book “Equipped for Battle – From Generation to Generation”, the marriage book “So, You Want to Be Married”, and the new devotional “One Year in the Sermon on the Mount” in all major bookstore sites, http://www.amazon.com ; http://www.barnesandnobles.com ; download to e-books, and find it locally at www.mrzlc.com/bookstore.
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