The Church Together
Ephesians 2:11-18
The Church Together
Ephesians 2:19-22
Main Idea: The church has been brought together as citizens and family and built together as God’s new temple.
I. Citizens in God’s Kingdom (2:19a)
The Gentiles, who were ‘strangers’ and ‘aliens’ in Christ are now fellow citizens and saints. Citizenship in the Roman Empire was a big deal, as only citizens experienced full protection, right, and privileges.
We do not live on a passport in the Kingdom of God but on a birth certificate (Martyn Lloyd-Jones); we have a born-again birth certificate with all the rights & privileges that come with it. There are no “second-class” citizens in this Kingdom, and it is the only one Kingdom that has no end (Luke 1:33) and whose citizenship is eternal (Phil. 3:20).
Implication: Our highest allegiance in the church of Jesus Christ must be to King Jesus & the Kingdom of God. We are to live as ambassadors of our King, with local churches being embassies and outposts of this Kingdom.
II. Members in God’s Family (2:19b)
The church is primarily described in the New Testament as the family of God or the “household of faith” (Gal. 6:10; 1 Tim. 3:15). Christians are called ‘brothers and sisters’ more than any other designation. This familial relationship between Jews and Gentiles in the church was simultaneously challenging and revolutionary.
Both Jews and Gentiles have been welcomed into the life of the Trinitarian God in the church; they have both been adopted by God the Father (1:5), both are brothers with Jesus (Heb. 2:11), and both have access to God through the indwelling Spirit (2:18). The church is a family not bonded by the blood of biology but by the blood of the cross.
“By their simple and repeated use of the term brothers and sisters, the writers of the Epistles underscore that the people in the pews around us are in, in fact, our family. Like the members of our biological family, we haven’t chosen them for ourselves, but they have been chosen for us, and we are therefore inseparably bound to them. Because we are allied with Christ, we are allied with his family.” ~ Megan Hill
Implication: We are called to live together as a true family, opening up our lives and our homes to one another. We are to bear one another’s burdens (Gal. 6:2) and seek to know and to be known in the household of faith.
III. Stones in God’s Temple (2:20-22)
Each picture Paul uses builds in intimacy & intensity both vertically with God and horizontally with one another.
Vertically: Jesus is our King (citizens), God is our Father (family members), and the Holy Spirit indwells within us as God’s temple.
Horizontally:
“You are united to other citizens through a social contract. You’re united to other brothers and sisters in a family even more tightly than you are to your neighbor or your fellow citizen, because genetics and shared historical [and] lived experience attach you to your brothers and sisters. But when it comes to the idea of the building, if Christians are like the blocks in a building, they’re cemented together. I don’t know how much closer you could get than that.” ~ Tim Keller
This ‘new temple’ is described in great detail in these verses:
The Foundation (2:20a): The ‘apostles and prophets’ are shorthand for Scripture; their authoritative teaching and writing is the basis for the Word of God.
The Cornerstone (2:20b): Christ himself is the ‘cornerstone.’ This was the most important ‘stone’ in the building, as it dictates the shape of the entire structure. The rest of the foundation and walls are oriented to the cornerstone, not the other way around.
“Our community with one another consists solely in what Christ has done to both of us... I have community with others and I shall continue to have it only through Jesus Christ. The more genuine and the deeper our community becomes, the more will everything else between us recede, the more clearly and purely will Jesus Christ and his work become the one and only thing that is vital between us. We have one another only through Christ, but through Christ we do have one another, wholly, for eternity.” ~ Dietrich Bonhoeffer
The Building (2:21-22): We are individual stones in this building, being built together and formed to the cornerstone. We are to be a ‘holy temple’ as we are sanctified by Christ.
1 Peter 2:4–5: As you come to him, a living stone rejected by men but in the sight of God chosen and precious, you yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.
Implication: The church is to be the meeting place between God and man, being built up in love and holiness.
“It would be hard to exaggerate the grandeur of this vision. The new society God has brought into being is nothing short of a new creation, a new human race, whose characteristic is no longer alienation but reconciliation, no longer division and hostility but unity and peace. This new society God rules and loves and lives in.” ~ John Stott
Jesus Our Peace
Ephesians 2:11-18
Jesus Our Peace
Ephesians 2:11-18
Main Idea: Jesus has made peace in the church through the cross, reconciling us to God and to one another.
I. A Hopeless Past (2:11-12)
The “once… but now” pattern of 2:1-10 is mirrored in this section, moving from individual salvation to the corporate nature of the church. Paul reminds the Gentile believers of their spiritual biography, begining with their life before Christ, and the deep division that existed between Jews & Gentiles.
The Gentiles had 5 spiritual disadvantages compared to Jewish believers (2:12):
Separated from Christ (and the expectations of a ‘Messiah’)
Alienated from Israel
Strangers to the Covenants
Romans 9:4-5: They are Israelites, and to them belong the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the worship, and the promises. To them belong the patriarchs, and from their race, according to the flesh, is the Christ, who is God over all, blessed forever.
Hopeless
Godless (cf. Eph. 4:18)
Paul is drawing a connection between our worship and our hope; though the Gentiles worshiped many gods and placed their hope in many things, they did not know the true God, which ultimately left them hopeless.
“Why does Paul tell us twice to “remember?” There can be only one answer: we too easily forget. Either because we do not want to face the pain of what we were, or because our pride tempts us to erase the shame of what we were, or because we do not want to confess that we are no better than those we judge… We forget the grace that God designed to bind our hearts to his truths and to the hearts of others also claimed by his grace. It is too easy to forget, too easy to be proud of our differences, too easy to embrace our prejudices, too easy to nurse our offenses — and so the apostle says, ‘Remember.’” ~ Bryan Chapell
II. A Reconciled Present (2:13-18)
“But now” Christ has brought near the Gentiles who were “far off” through the shedding of his own blood. Jesus himself is our peace (2:14), who is reconciling & setting all things right, beginning in the church. This peace is only accomplished through the violent and hostile act of crucifixion (cf. Col. 1:20).
Paul explains how Jesus himself is our peace and how he has accomplished reconciliation in 4 ways. Christ has:
1. Broke down the dividing wall of hostility (2:14b)
There was a literal wall in the temple in Jerusalem at the “Court of the Gentiles” that barred them access to the inner areas. There was a sign posted threatening death for any Gentiles who dared cross this wall. Because of the crucifixion of Christ, the dividing wall is broken down and stripped of its power.
2. Abolished the law of commandments (2:15a)
“Jesus abolished both the regulations of the ceremonial law and the condemnation of the moral law. Both were divisive. Both were put aside by the cross.” ~ John Stott
3. Created in himself one new humanity (2:15b)
In the body of Christ, God is creating a new humanity (Gentiles are not becoming Jews, nor are Jews becoming Gentiles). This “oneness” in the church is precisely what Jesus prayed for (John 17:22-23) and is not “sameness” (cf. Gal. 3:28, Col. 3:11).
4. Reconciled both Jews & Gentiles to God (2:16-18)
The ground is level at the foot of the cross between Jews (those “who were near”) & Gentiles (those “who were far off”), who both need reconciliation with God. The “double reconciliation” that takes place at the cross of Christ kills the hostility, gives us access to the life of God, and brings us peace.
“Our community with one another consists solely in what Christ has done to both of us... I have community with others and I shall continue to have it only through Jesus Christ. The more genuine and the deeper our community becomes, the more will everything else between us recede, the more clearly and purely will Jesus Christ and his work become the one and only thing that is vital between us. We have one another only through Christ, but through Christ we do have one another, wholly, for eternity.” ~ Dietrich Bonhoeffer
Implications of this reconciliation we have in Christ for the church:
We should lament when division, exclusion, and walls remain in place in the church.
We should listen and pursue meaningful conversations.
We should declare and display the gospel of peace to a broken and hostile world.
Ephesians 3:10: “… that through the church the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places.”
Prayer of Lament
(Prayer from Isaac Adams in the book "Weep With Me")
Pastor: Father it often seems like we’re far from that Revelation vision where every tribe is united around your throne. Instead, it feels like we’re at Babel: we’re together, but we’re fighting; we’re talking, but we’re speaking different languages past one another. O Lord, with the frustration among us, it seems your churches are under your judgment still.
Congregation: But Lord, we now look away from the division behind us and in front of us. We turn to you with our grief by your grace. O God, would you give us grace to cherish Christ more deeply, and to remember how your judgment has fallen on him instead of us!
Pastor: Help us to sincerely live as what you’ve made us in Christ: one new man – a chosen race- that the world may believe you sent your Son.
Congregation: Until Babel is completely undone, we beg for your help in Jesus’ name. Amen.
Made Alive
Ephesians 2:1-10
Made Alive
Ephesians 2:1-10
Main Idea: By grace, God makes dead sinners alive through faith in Christ for His glory.
I. Dead in Sin (2:1-3)
Ephesians 2:1–3: “And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind”
3 enemies or causes of this deadness of soul:
The World
The Devil (Prince of Power of the Air)
The Flesh
“Consider the overall impact of these three verses. Paul is not speaking of sin the way we often do: “I messed up,” “I made a mistake,” “I’m struggling with … “; Paul identifies sin as the comprehensive, enveloping, inexorable flow of our lives. Our sins are less like an otherwise healthy man occasionally tripping up and more like a man who is disease ridden head to foot–or, if we take the language of Ephesians 2 seriously, dead.”
~ Dane Ortland, Gently & Lowly (pg. 175)
II. Alive in Christ (2:4-7)
Ephesians 2:4–7: “But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus”
Who He Is - “mercy, love, grace, and kindness”
“Because mercy is who he is. If mercy was something he simply had, while his deepest nature was something different, there would be a limit on how much mercy he could dole out. But if he is essentially merciful, then for him to pour out mercy is for him to act in accord with who he is. It is simply for him to be God. When God shows mercy, he is acting in a way that is true to himself. Once again, this does not mean that he is only merciful. He is also perfectly just and holy. He is rightly wrathful against sin and sinners. Following Scripture’s lead in how it talks about God, however, these attributes of moral standard do not reflect his deepest heart.”
~Dane Ortland, Gentle and Lowly (pg. 173)
What He Has Done - “made us alive, saved us from death, raised us up, seated us with Him”
2 Corinthians 5:17: “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation”
Romans 2:4: “Or do you presume on the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that God’s kindness is meant to lead you to repentance?”
III. All For His Glory (2:8-10)
Ephesians 2:8–10: “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.”
John 6:28-29: “This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent.”
“The work we are called to do is to rest from our own work to make ourselves right with God and believe in the work of Jesus on our behalf. We are saved by faith in Jesus’s work, not our own. We all live by faith in someone or something. And everything that we are and do is a result of what we believe. Our behaviors are the tangible expression of our beliefs.”
~ Jeff Vanderstelt (Gospel Fluency, pg. 78)
“Good works are indispensable to salvation–not as its ground or means, however, but as its consequence and evidence... Thus the paragraph ends as it began, with our human ‘walk’, a Hebrew idiom for our manner of life. Formerly we walked in trespasses and sins in which the devil has trapped us; now we walk in good works which God has eternally planned for us to do.”
~ John Stott
Romans 7:15–16: “For I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate.
“Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound
That saved a wretch like me
I once was lost, but now am found
Was blind but now I see
Was Grace that taught my heart to fear
And Grace, my fears relieved
How precious did that Grace appear
The hour I first believed
Through many dangers, toils and snares
We have already come
T'was Grace that brought us safe thus far
And Grace will lead us home
And Grace will lead us home”
Praying With Paul
Ephesians 1:15-23
Praying With Paul
Ephesians 1:15-23
Main Idea: We should pray for divine illumination to know more of God and Christ’s power at work in his church.
I. Praying in Thanksgiving (1:15-16)
Paul begins his prayer with thanksgiving, recognizing that the Ephesians “bear a telltale cross-shaped birthmark of God’s true children” (Richard Coekin).
Faith in the Lord Jesus (vertical dimension)
Ephesus was a major city of influence in the Roman Empire and it was steeped in idolatry. The city participated in worship of the Roman emperor cult and famously was the headquarters for the worship of the Roman goddess, Diana (Greek: Artemis). When the gospel began to take root in Ephesus, it caused a riot because the silversmiths were losing customers buying idolatrous statues (Acts 19).
Love toward all the saints (horizontal dimension)
The glorious gospel doctrine of Eph. 1:3-14 embraced by their faith in Jesus produced in them a gospel culture held together by the ethic of love.
John 13:35: By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.
II. Praying for Illumination (1:17-19)
Paul’s prayer is not for additional blessings from God or a circumstantial change, but rather that the church in Ephesus would know God better. This “knowing” is not merely intellectual knowledge but an experience of increasingly realizing “every spiritual blessing” (1:3) already belongs to them in Christ.
The only way to gain this “knowledge” is by the power of the Holy Spirit “enlightening the eyes of our hearts” (cf. Lk. 24:45, Acts 16:14), illuminating to us what had been “darkened” in our understanding (4:18).
2 Corinthians 4:6: For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.
“The Spirit makes the heart of Christ real to us: not just heard, but seen; not just seen, but felt; not just felt, but enjoyed. The Spirit takes what we read in the Bible and believe on paper about Jesus’ heart and moves it from theory to reality, from doctrine to experience.”
~ Dane Ortlund
As Paul prays for the Spirit’s illumination that we might know the Triune God more fully, he prays for specific knowledge of:
The hope of our calling (1:18b). God’s calling is “effective;” all who God has called will be justified and glorified (Rom. 8:29-30), which gives us an unshakeable hope.
The riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints (1:18c). God has claimed us (the church) as his glorious possession and inheritance. “To the degree you understand this phrase, you will receive strength not to sin.” ~ D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones
The immeasurable greatness of his power toward us (1:19).
III. Praying for Power (1:20-23)
The church in Ephesus would have likely felt “powerless” in the culture they inhabited. Paul prays they would realize the power (lit. dynamic) that is at “work” (lit. energy) in them, given to the church because of Christ. The work of Christ is the most definitive and dramatic display of true power the world has ever seen.
Paul draws attention to three powerful realities about Jesus:
Christ’s Resurrection (1:20a): It was “not possible” for Christ to be held by death (Acts 2:24), and the same spirit that powerfully raised Jesus now dwells in us (Rom. 8:11)
Christ’s Ascension (1:20b): Christ is now seated at the right hand of the Father, the place of authority and honor as he rules and reigns as King.
Christ’s Exaltation (1:21-23): ‘All things’ have been put under his feet; there is no power, realm, or authority that rivals Jesus. Christ is the head of the cosmos in an ultimate sense, and the head of the church in an intimate sense.
“Jesus is changing the world for the good of the church by means of the church… He who is head over all things and gives the universe its full purpose also fills the church that gathers in his name. The church, the body of Christ, is the present instrument of his filling the universe with his purpose. The eternal, universe-conforming power of God is present in the world through the church, and this power is working in the world for the church.”
~ Bryan Chapell
The Spirit Seals
Ephesians 1:11-14
The Spirit Seals
Ephesians 1:11-14
Main Idea: In Christ, we are given the Spirit of God as the seal and guarantee of our present and future hope.
I. The Problem and the Promise (V13)
A) The Problem
(Ephesians 1:13) - “In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him,”
We need set apart hearts. (Deuteronomy 30:6)
We need new hearts. (Jeremiah 31:31-34)
We need clean hearts. (Psalm 51:10)
B) The Promise (v13)
(John 3:5–7)- “Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’”
(Ezekiel 36:25–27) - “I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean from all your uncleannesses, and from all your idols I will cleanse you. And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules.”
II. The Seal and the Guarantee
A) The Spirit Seals (V13b)
(Ephesians 1:13) - “In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit,”
(John 16:6–7) - “Nevertheless, I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you.”
1. Ongoing Conviction of Sin
(John 16:8–9) - And when he comes, he will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment: concerning sin, because they do not believe in me;
(Romans 7:14–15) - For I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate.
2. Greater Worship of Christ
(John 15:26) - “But when the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father, he will bear witness about me.
3. Dependance on the Father
(Galatians 4:6) “And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into are hearts, crying “Abba! Father!””
4. Fruit of the Spirit
(Galatians 5:22–23) - “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things, there is no law.”
“Blessed assurance, Jesus is mine
Oh, what a foretaste of glory divine!
Heir of salvation, purchase of God
Born of His Spirit, washed in His blood
This is my story, this is my song
Praising my Savior all the day long.”
B. The Spirit Guarantees (V14)
(Ephesians 1:14) - “who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory.”
The Son Saves
Ephesians 1:7-10
The Son Saves
Ephesians 1:7-10
Main Idea: Christ reveals to us the mystery of God’s plan to redeem sinners and reconcile all things.
I. The Son Redeems (1:7-8)
Paul continues his list of “every spiritual blessing” we have by focusing on the work of the Son. In Christ, we have “redemption,” which is the idea of liberating those enslaved or in bondage. Biblically, the backdrop for “redemption” comes in the Israelite’s exodus from Egypt where they were “redeemed” by the mighty hand of God.
John 8:31–34: So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed him, “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” They answered him, “We are offspring of Abraham and have never been enslaved to anyone. How is it that you say, ‘You will become free’?” Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who practices sin is a slave to sin.
This redemption has three realities:
Redemption is through the blood of Christ. The blood of the lamb in the Exodus story that saves guilty sinners foreshadows the blood of the cross shed by the “Lamb of God” (Jn. 1:29)
1 Peter 1:18–19: “… you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot.”Redemption is for the forgiveness of our sins.
Redemption is according to the riches of his grace, which he lavished upon us.“In matters of God’s grace, hyperboles are understatements.” ~ Eugene Peterson
In Christ, we have true freedom from guilt, bondage, and condemnation. He has “paid our bill” in full, we owe him nothing, and we have been welcomed in. John 8:35-36: The slave does not remain in the house forever; the son remains forever. So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.
II. The Son Reveals (1:9)
Through Christ, God has made known the ‘mystery’ of God’s will. ‘Mystery’ is not the idea of intrigue or secretive information but rather something previously hidden but now revealed. Christ’s coming, person, and work are the “hinge” point of history & redemption.
Luke 24:25–27: And he said to them, “O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken! Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and enter into his glory?” And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself.
The way the mystery is revealed to us is not through cryptic religious practices (like many religious cults of Paul’s day) or to the religious elite, but to “us” in the church who have humbly placed our faith in Jesus Christ. He opens our eyes to see what has been there all along, but we were blinded to because of our sin.
III. The Son Reconciles (1:10)
The cosmic plan of God the Father centered on Jesus Christ does not just involve the salvation of individual sinners; one day “all things” will be “united in him” (lit. ‘under one head’). Jesus will “sum up” all things (spiritual & physical) in himself, reconciling what had been fractured under his rule & reign.
“In the fullness of time, God’s two creations, his whole universe, and his whole church, will be unified under the cosmic Christ who is the supreme head of both.”
~ John Stott
Though this world is marked by death, sin, suffering, sickness, and the mundane, we can live with hope because of the plan and the promise that one day Jesus will set right all that has gone wrong. We can live with an infectious hope that Jesus is ruling right now as King and history itself will culminate with his rightful exaltation.
Acts 17:6b–7: “These men who have turned the world upside down have come here also… saying that there is another king, Jesus.”
The Father Blesses
Ephesians 1:1-6
The Father Blesses
Ephesians 1:1-6
Main Idea: In Christ, we have been blessed, chosen, and adopted by the Father to the praise of his glory.
I. Blessed by The Father (1:3)
Paul begins Ephesians with an explosion of blessing directed toward “the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.” Before we think of God as a Creator, Ruler, or Law-Giver, we must begin with the Trinitarian reality of God as Father.
“Since God is, before all things, a Father, and not primarily a Creator or Ruler, all his ways are beautifully fatherly. It is not that this God ‘does’ being Father as his day job, only to kick back in the evenings as plain old ‘God.’ It is not that he has a nice blob of fatherly icing on top. He is Father. All the way down. Thus, all that he does, he does as Father. That is who he is.” ~ Michael Reeves
As an eternal Father, God’s love for the Son overflows into all of creation and to his children. For those of us “in Christ” (used 40x in Ephesians), we have received “every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places.” As we live simultaneously “in Ephesus” and “in Christ” (1:1), God the Father is not holding back anything from us, which is an invitation to bless him.
II. Chosen by the Father (1:4)
Though the doctrine of ‘election’ is the source of many debates and questions, it is presented as a praiseworthy reality by Paul. Election is not cold and impersonal; it shows us the glorious reality of God’s divine initiative from before the foundation of the world to save through Jesus Christ.
There is divine mystery in election (Deut. 29:29), but it is meant to warm our hearts toward our Heavenly Father, who is not improvising, but planned from eternity past to save us in Christ by his grace. “Election sets the soul on fire with enthusiastic delight in God.” ~ Charles Spurgeon
The doctrine of election ought to produce in us:
Humility (Deut. 7:6-8, 1 Cor. 1:27-29)
Holiness (1:4b, Rom. 8:29)
Security
“Nothing about the biblical doctrine of election is meant to cast doubt on whether you’re welcome in God’s household. God is not some metaphorical airport security screener, waving through the secretly preapproved and sending the rest into a holding tank for questioning. God isn’t treating us like puppets made of meat, forcing us along by his capricious whim. Instead, the doctrine of election tells us that all of us who have come to know Christ are here on purpose.” ~ Russell Moore
III. Adopted by the Father (1:5-6)
Adoption is the primary picture of our salvation throughout the NT. This passage points us to 4 realities of our adoption:
Planned
Personal
Permanent
Praiseworthy
“What is a Christian? The question can be answered in many ways, but the richest answer I know is that a Christian is one who has God as Father… If you want to judge how well a person understands Christianity, find out how much he makes of the thought of being God’s child, and having God as his Father. If this is not the thought that prompts and controls his worship and prayers and his whole outlook on life, it means that he does not understand Christianity very well at all” ~ J.I. Packer