Top 10 Quotes from Ephesians For You

1. So often, we’re tempted to think that God means well, and wants the best, but can’t really change things. So we feel reluctant to pray with confidence. But God is willing and able to do immeasurably more for us and in us than anyone could ever imagine, because he loves his ordinary churches with an immeasurably gigantic love.
2. We’re approved of by God for our godliness rather than our giftedness.
3. United by faith with Jesus, every Christian is a temple, and every church is a temple of the Holy Spirit—a magnificent wonder of the modern world. We may meet in a crumby school hall, a medieval stone building, or a leaky corrugated-iron hut. But every gathered assembly of God’s people is God’s temple, his dwelling-place among us; his palace, where he governs us; and his temple, where we celebrate the finished sacrifice of Jesus.
4. When people say that Western culture is becoming more spiritually hungry, it may be true that people are becoming more self-reflective, or becoming more religious, but it cannot mean that people are really moving towards God—because they’re spiritually dead. Corpses don’t get hungry and they can’t move.
5. To know I am saved by grace liberates me from the pride of imagining I can save myself, and the terror of realising that I can’t.
6. Before we came to Christ, we were enslaved and captive to sin, hostages of Satan awaiting our death sentence under God’s law. It’s as if we were imprisoned in a stinking cell, and even though we sometimes gazed through the bars and wondered what life would be like outside, we couldn’t leave. We lived in the darkness and dirt of the cell, unaware of how filthy we had become. But on the cross, Christ paid the ransom price to open the door of our cell when he redeemed us with his precious blood (Ephesians 1 v 7). He has brought us out into the bright sunshine, blinking with amazement, as we began to realise in the light of the sun just how filthy we had become, and how beautiful life in the light can be.
7. When the Spirit of Christ makes himself at home, he constantly renovates our hearts to make us a more appropriate dwelling for the Lord Jesus, because the Lord Jesus is not merely dropping in briefly. He is staying for ever. When someone comes for a short visit, they usually just leave their stuff in their travel bags and try not to disturb the room. But when someone moves into a new home permanently, they change the wallpaper, paint the ceiling, replace the carpet and chuck out the old furniture. When the Spirit of Christ moves in, he gradually redecorates everywhere.
8. We need to realise that spending our lives knowing Christ will prove far more enriching than amassing a vast property portfolio and spectacular holiday snaps. Many of our church staff are pitied by their friends and family for giving up highly paid careers in the City of London. But they are richer than ever before! Your local church is full of billionaires—spiritual ones, who are infinitely wealthy in “the boundless riches of Christ”!
9. God has done resurrection before, so we know he can do it again.
10. Being a Christian is not about trusting a formula, but trusting a friend.

Being a Christian is not about trusting a formula, but trusting a friend.

These are extracted quotes from Ephesians For You by Richard Coekin. Out now in the UK and available for pre-order in North America.

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