Information Related to "Peace and Unity in Christ"
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"Through the gospel the Gentiles are heirs together with Israel, members together of one body, and sharers together in the promise in Christ Jesus" (Ephesians 3:6, NIV).
Paul's letter to the Ephesians is about God's marvelous plan to bring peace, unity and salvation to all peoples-Jews and gentiles alike. To achieve that goal, God has "made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in Christ, to be put into effect when the times will have reached their fulfillment-to bring all things in heaven and on earth together under one head, even Christ" (Ephesians 1:9-10, NIV).
His message to those in Colosse contains similar language: "For it pleased the Father that in Him all the fullness should dwell, and by Him to reconcile all things to Himself, by Him, whether things on earth or things in heaven, having made peace through the blood of His cross" (Colossians 1:19-20).
Therefore, Paul appeals to Christians, "As shoes for your feet put on whatever will make you ready to proclaim the gospel of peace"(Ephesians 6:15, NRSV). To achieve that goal, both one's thinking and way of life must be rooted firmly in the teachings of God's Word.
Paul speaks plainly to the non-Jewish Christians whose former conduct had not been based on the Word of God. "So I tell you this, and insist on it in the Lord, that you must no longer live as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their thinking" (Ephesians 4:17, NIV). They must cease living according to the "course of this world," which is controlled by the "wiles of the devil"(Ephesians 2:2; 6:11).
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