Love Fulfilled Ministry

The Promise of Eternal Life — To Exist as the Praise of His Glory Introduction: Promise Before Time and Purpose Revealed in Christ Scripture speaks of eternal life not merely as a future possession, but as a promise established before time itself. According to Paul, this promise was not grounded in human response or historical contingency, but in the unchangeable purpose of God, who cannot lie. As Titus declares: “In hope of eternal life, which God, who cannot lie, promised before times eternal, but manifested at His own proper time in His word through the proclamation with which I was entrusted according to the command of God our Savior.” (Titus 1:2–3) Eternal life, then, is not a secondary benefit added later to salvation. It is a promise rooted in God’s own oath and truthfulness, conceived before creation and revealed in history according to His timing. In Ephesians, Paul unfolds what this eternal promise was always ordered toward. God’s saving work is framed not as reaction, but as...

The Call to Live in the New and Living Way of the Spirit God promised a new people , formed not by law but by His own life; He would put His Spirit within them , making obedience flow from new creation rather than external regulation. This reality is not old‑covenant continuity under a new name. The church exists because something genuinely new has happened , and therefore living by the Spirit is not optional—it is constitutive of new identity . Paul’s words regarding this in Romans 7 marks a decisive transition in redemptive history. He speaks of a people who have died to the law through the body of Christ , so that they might belong to Another— “to Him who was raised from the dead, in order that we might bear fruit for God” (Romans 7:4). This is a call to a new mode of life , one animated not by the letter of the code but by the life-giving Spirit. “But now we are released from the law, having died to that which held us captive, so that we serve in the new living way of the Spirit...

Discerning Unsound Doctrine: The Battle For Sound Minds Introduction When we speak of sound doctrine it is useful in discernment, to review scripture as to what is unsound doctrine or teachings. The apostle Paul treats doctrine not as an abstract system, but as a force that either stabilizes or destabilizes the mind. Sound doctrine produces maturity, coherence, and freedom in Christ; unsound doctrine produces captivity, confusion, and perpetual immaturity. For this reason, Scripture does not merely commend right teaching—it commands discernment, exposure, and rebuke of what is false. The battle for faithfulness is therefore a battle for how believers think, reason, interpret truth, and reality in Christ. I. Sound Doctrine and the Warfare of the Mind Paul does speak of spiritual warfare and even names the presence of “doctrines of demons,” yet he is careful to distinguish between the spiritual sources of deception and the human means through which they operate. The New Testament consist...

Sound Doctrine, Sound Minds, and the Word of Life The New Testament consistently links doctrine with the condition of the mind . Doctrine is never treated as a mere collection of correct statements to be affirmed, but as something formative—shaping how believers reason, how faith matures, and whether communities are built up or quietly destabilized. When doctrine is unsound—loosely grounded, selectively quoted, or driven by human agendas—it does not simply introduce error. It produces instability. Scripture describes this instability not as ignorance, but as a condition of being divided , tossed , and unsettled . The danger is not thinking too much, but thinking without a stable center . Murmuring, Confused Reasoning, and the Loss of Orientation Paul names this danger directly in Philippians: “Do all things without murmuring (γογγυσμός) and confused reasoning (διαλογισμός)… holding fast to the word of life.” — Philippians 2:14–16 The terms Paul uses are precise. The word mur...