![]() ![]() His only concerns are his immediate needs, whether he is hungry or needs to go to the potty, or if his sibling is playing with his toy and he wants it back. He has been bouncing a ball this whole time, excited about the trip, but completely in the dark as to how they will get there or what is needed for the journey. She wants to make sure the journey is made as enjoyable as possible. Mom has focused on the comforts of the journey, taking plenty of clothing, snacks in the car, pillows, sunglasses, etc. ![]() He has a road map with him and he has listened to the advice from his buddies at work on which route to take. The father has checked out the car to make sure he can get there as fast and as safely as possible. Just as the pastor has been to Bible school in order to learn how to guide a church, so has the father learned much about how to drive the car and how to read the road map. The father is like the pastor of our church, whom God has ordained as our leader. Now as God has created and designed a plan for our lives and for the Church as a whole, so did someone design the car, the highway, all of the signs, the hotels and eating places along the journey and even the route and destination for this journey. There is the mother and father and three or four children. Imagine that a family is taking a long journey together on a family vacation. Let me illustrate the theme of Ephesians in modern terms. The third, imperative theme of Ephesians is the believer’s outward evidence of his sanctification demonstrated in walking a worthy walk and engaging in spiritual warfare to fulfill God’s plan of Redemption. The secondary theme of the epistle of Ephesians offers the testimony of the office and ministry of the God the Father in the believer’s sanctification, namely His divine foreknowledge regarding His plan of redemption for mankind. ![]() Each of these epistles addresses one aspect of this doctrinal foundation as their secondary theme, so that collectively, they deliver the complete doctrinal creed of the church. The Three-Fold Thematic Scheme of the Epistle of Ephesians - The primary theme of the nine church epistles is the establishment of the doctrines of the New Testament church. In the end, I’m hopeful the interpretation of Ephesians 6:10-20 presented in this academic paper might function as a helpful resource for church leaders as they take seriously their responsibility to encourage and equip their parishioners to put on (and keep on) the full armor of God. Along the way, the reader will, I trust, intuit some of the pastoral implications of a Spirit-sensitive understanding of this famous but often neglected biblical passage. The ultimate goal is more church members actually actualizing Paul's "armor of God" discussion in their everyday lives! After identifying some of the key earmarks of what I consider to be an exegetically-responsible handling of this passage, I provide a necessarily brief but substantial survey of what a less mystical, more practical, still Pentecostal (Spirit-sensitive) interpretation of, and approach to, putting on the whole armor of God might look like. The immediate aim of this paper is a treatment of Ephesians 6:10-20 that's both exegetically responsible and existentially impactful.
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