There's A War Going On

About this book

In August of 2006, we began an in-depth study of the Epistle to the Ephesians and it took nearly a year to complete it. It was in that context that much of the research for the following chapters was done and while it required much work, the labor was both pleasant and rewarding. Particularly with respect to the portion of Ephesians that receives the focus of this little book, a rather large helping of surprise was added to the pleasure. I had taught this text a number of times and in various settings, so I expected to merely tweak the application a little for our congregation and be good to go. Such was not to be the case; instead, I expended more energy studying and digging and verifying my perspective against what I believed to be the theme of Ephesians than on any previous text.Although the concepts presented in the following pages will be new to many, they are by no means innovative or previously unknown. After consulting more than thirty commentaries and works on Ephesians written over the last four plus centuries, I concluded that among my limited resources no one had treated this text from an entirely consistent perspective. That is an observation and not a criticism since most authors I consulted have far more formal training than I possess. But I believe it is vital especially in our day of severely diminished regard for the church that we reconsider Paul's teaching from the vantage point of a proper and consistent theme. This book considers how Christ loves his Church and has equipped her for service.