Eph-80-81 - 38 Pt 1 Review - Summary and Appreciation
Review - Summary and Appreciation letters concerning one year of teaching Ephesians. August 5, 1981 Tonight, the closing night of the teaching of the great Book of Ephesians. As I finished my work on it this morning, a little before six o'clock, I had never looked at the back of the folder in which I keep all the notes and everything that is sent to me by the Research Department. But as I picked it up today to look at it and begin working the final details for tonight, I noticed that way at the end, after all the work on the sixth chapter had been completed, there was this summary and appreciation of Ephesians. And this is what it said: Throughout this year, the Research Team has gained a great appreciation for the intricately woven, divinely designed purpose and structure of Ephesians. Each of us has summarized in a small way, the meaningfulness of this study and our appreciation to you for it. And the first summary and appreciation of Ephesians that I read was by our own Rev. Walter J. Cummins, who is the head of our Research Department and coordinates all the research for The Way International. And through the years, you've heard me talk and say from time to time, how grateful I am for the Research Department of The Way International and how much they've helped me to put the word of Ephesians together to bless our people. I would like to read to you tonight what Rev. Walter J. Cummins wrote at the conclusion of the Research Department ' s work in the summary and appreciation of Ephesians. In addition to the minute and detailed meanings of words and phrases, I'm overwhelmed by the geometrical symmetry of the Book. It presents a structural balance between doctrine and practice with seven sections on each side, besides the opening and closing and a prayer in the exact middle. I see in this structure a perfect guideline for balanced Christian living: the doctrine and practice of the believer' s lifestyle in its completeness. It is living dynamically as God intended m
From this work
continues the imagery of the Body of Christ. The literal according to usage of this verse is as follows: Wherefore put away the lie... and I believe in my heart, before I go on with the literal that until man is born again, it's all a lie anyways. And that' s why I believe that this translation will fit in the light of that knowledge. Because when a man is not born again, his whole life is just a lie. Now you're born again, and that ' s why I think the text states it ' wherefore put away the lie,' the life you' ve been living , the screwed up life you have lived outside of God. It' s been just a life of a lie. It' s not truth. It' s just the opposite of truth and that's my reason for translating it this way... Wherefore put away the lie. You've got to go with that translation. You have no other text to go by both from Aramaic and Greek it's 'lie.' Not 'lying.' If the Research Department