Ephesians: How the Revolution Began

Listen in as we look at Ephesians 6:5-9 and see the story of scripture, history of the text, theology behind the text and how it practically shapes our lives today.

 

Sermon Quotes:

Ephesians 6:5-9

“Coram Deo captures the essence of the Christian life. This phrase literally refers to something that takes place in the presence of, or before the face of, God. To live coram Deo is to live one’s entire life in the presence of God, under the authority of God, to the glory of God.” - RC Sproul

“We have the slaves submitting to their master and we have the master loving their slave, and so what Paul has created is an environment between the slave and master where slavery could only wither and die. As soon as the Christian church was established and the New Testament was written, slavery had an expiration date, because its roots died in the church. It was only a matter of time.” - Anthony Garcia

2 Corinthians 5:17-21

“Of all the world’s religions, including the three great monotheisms, only in Christianity did the idea develop that slavery was sinful and must be abolished. Although it has been fashionable to deny it, antislavery doctrines began to appear in Christian theology soon after the decline of Rome and were accompanied by the eventual disappearance of slavery in all but the fringes of Christian Europe. When Europeans subsequently instituted slavery in the New World, they did so over strenuous papal opposition, a fact that was conveniently ‘lost’ from history until recently. Finally, the abolition of New World slavery was initiated and achieved by Christian activists” - Rodney Stark

“The cursed blast of slavery has, like a pestilence, withered almost every moral bloom. I know not how any person can feel a union with such a monster, such a child of hell. I feel a burning hatred against it and look upon it as one of the most odious monsters that ever disgraced the earth.” - William Knibb (Missionary to Jamaica)

“We must develop and maintain the capacity to forgive. He who is devoid of the power to forgive is devoid of the power to love. There is some good in the worst of us and some evil in the best of us. When we discover this, we are less prone to hate our enemies.” - Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.