Guilt, weakness, spiritual slavery, prejudice, arrogance, tribalism, conflict, war, victimhood, persecution, pain, suffering, futility, ignorance, lying, deceit, anger, theft, greed, pornography, sexual sin, darkness, fear, drunkenness, substance abuse, domestic abuse, workplace abuse, spiritual powers…
In Paul’s letter to the Ephesians, he says many things about the problems we face in this world. He also gives us wonderful reasons to find life, hope and healing in Jesus Christ. Along the way, he provides practical teachings about how to respond and live together.
Here are some key reflections relating to the topic of what’s wrong with the world according to Ephesians in my series Lift Your Eyes: Reflections on Ephesians – click/press to read or listen to each reflection.
- Guilt, weakness, spiritual slavery: The root of the problem (Ephesians 2:1–2)
- Prejudice, arrogance, tribalism: We too: the offenders (Ephesians 2:3)
- Conflict, war: The blood that brings us close (Ephesians 2:11–13)
- Victimhood, persecution: The prisoner lifts his eyes (Ephesians 3:1–3)
- Pain, suffering: My afflictions, your glory (Ephesians 3:12–13)
- Futility, ignorance: Turn around and walk the other way (Ephesians 4:17–19)
- Lying, deceit: Telling the truth (Ephesians 4:25)
- Anger: Grace and anger (Ephesians 4:26–27)
- Theft: The gospel for criminals (Ephesians 4:28)
- Greed: Holy talk (Ephesians 5:3–4)
- Pornography, sexual sin: What do you want to become? (Ephesians 5:5–7)
- Darkness, fear: Living light (Ephesians 5:11–14)
- Drunkenness, substance abuse: What’s wrong with drunkenness? (Ephesians 5:18)
- Domestic abuse: The gospel and marriage part 2: Husbands (Ephesians 5:25–33)
- Workplace abuse: The gospel for the boss (Ephesians 6:9)
- Spiritual powers: Stand your ground (Ephesians 6:10–13)
Want more?
This post is part of a series of 70 reflections covering every sentence in Paul’s letter to the Ephesians. It’s also available in audio podcast format. You can see all the posts in the series, and connect to the audio podcast using the platform of your choice, by following this link.
The academic details behind these reflections
In this series, I don’t go into detail justifying every statement I make about the background and meaning of Ephesians. I’ve done that elsewhere. If you’re interested in the reasons I say what I say here, and want to chase it up further with lots of ancient Greek, technical stuff, and footnotes, check out my book Reading Ephesians and Colossians After Supersessionism: Christ’s Mission through Israel to the Nations.