(Adapted from Ray Stedman’s sermons on raystedman.org)
A Story to Begin
A man renovating an old house once discovered a small wooden chest hidden beneath the floorboards. Inside were letters-some encouraging, some corrective, some full of hope. At first, they seemed unrelated, but as he read them, a family story emerged. The letters made sense only when he understood the larger story they belonged to.
The New Testament epistles are like that. They are not isolated notes. They are the living correspondence of a new family God has created in Christ. And like those old letters, they only reveal their full meaning when we see the story they come from.
The Whole Bible as One Story
The Bible is a single, unfolding story with a single aim: that people might grow up into Christ. God is not forming passive spectators who sit, settle, and stagnate. His purpose is always movement, growth, maturity, and transformation. Scripture is designed to keep us walking with Him, not drifting into spiritual inertia.
The Old Testament prepares us for this truth. It reveals God’s character, His promises, and the patterns that point forward to Christ. The New Testament brings that truth into full reality. The Gospels and Acts present Jesus Himself, his life, his work, and His Spirit, forming a new people. Then come the letters: first the thirteen letters from Paul, then Hebrews, James, Peter, John, and Jude. These epistles explain Jesus. They unfold the meaning of His work and answer the questions that shape Christian faith and practice.
In our study of Romans through Galatians, we saw the theme “Christ in you, the hope of glory.” These letters reveal the lost secret of humanity: that we were made to be vessels of God’s own life. Our bodies, minds, and spirits were designed to express Him. This is the only foundation for true fulfillment; every other basis for living eventually collapses.
Now the story turns to the complementary truth.
You in Christ
Jesus said in John 14:20 (NIV), "….. you are in me, and I am in you." Romans to Galatians explored the second half of that promise, Christ living within the believer, the inner transformation God works within the believer. But the next group of epistles unfolds the first half: you in Christ. These letters reveal what it means for you to be in Christ, to share in His life as part of His body.
To speak of Christ in us is to speak of personal renewal. To speak of us in Christ is to speak of corporate belonging, the shared life of the body.
These letters teach that the Christian life is never merely individual. We are joined to Christ and, therefore, to one another. Our lives are woven into the life of the whole body. We belong to each other as surely as we belong to Him. And while there may be seasons when believers are isolated - because of work, distance, or circumstance - long-term separation weakens us. We were not designed to grow alone. We can never reach maturity in Christ without sharing life with His people.
This is the heartbeat of these epistles. They show how the life of Christ flows through His body, how believers grow together, serve together, hope together, and love together. They reveal the beauty and necessity of the church as a living organism.
This group includes Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, 1-2 Thessalonians, 1-2 Timothy, Titus, and Philemon.
Ephesians to Philemon: The Shared Life of the Body
Ephesians - What the Body Is
Ephesians is like the one book in a doctor’s library that anyone can understand. Most medical volumes are dense and intimidating, but the physiology textbook, the study of how the body is put together, opens the mystery of life in a way anyone can grasp. Ephesians serves that role for the church. It is the “physiology” of the body of Christ, revealing how the church is designed, how it functions, and what it truly is.
Someone once said that two things are essential for living: light to understand life, and life to actually live it. Ephesians gives both. It shines light on the mystery of God’s plan and pours life into the believer through the Spirit. These themes, light and life, run through the entire letter.
At its heart is the vision of a new humanity built together in Christ: Paul says believers are “no longer foreigners and strangers” (Eph. 2:19, NIV), and he goes on to describe them as members of God’s household, joined together on Christ the cornerstone and formed into a living temple where God dwells by His Spirit.
This is the life of the body: a people founded on Christ, joined together by the Spirit, growing into a living temple where God dwells. Everything in Ephesians gathers around this theme: the nature, unity, and purpose of the body of Christ.
Philippians - How the Body Is Healed
Philippians is where Paul rolls up his sleeves and deals with the problems and diseases that threaten the health of the body of Christ. These struggles are not ancient relics; they show up in churches today just as clearly as they did in Philippi.
- Discouraging circumstances that drain spiritual strength
- Divisive personalities that fracture fellowship
- Deceitful teachers who distort the gospel
- Destructive ambitions that elevate self over Christ
- Distressing pressures that make us question Christ’s sufficiency
Philippians answers each of these with the shared mind and life of Christ:
- His joy strengthens us
- His mind humbles us
- His truth protects us
- His example redirects us
- His strength sustains us
He urges them to imitate the humility of Jesus, who “made himself nothing” (Phil. 2:7, NIV), and to let His mindset heal their relationships, redirect their ambitions, and strengthen their endurance.
This is the heartbeat of Philippians: the body is healed as believers share the mind, joy, humility, and strength of Christ.
Colossians - How the Body Is Directed
Colossians reveals the power and control centre of the body of Christ. It answers the questions every church eventually asks: What motivates the body? What holds it together? Who keeps all the parts aligned?
Colossians gives the reassuring answer: the body of Christ is not headless. Christ Himself is the Head, directing, energizing, unifying, and governing every member with sovereign wisdom.
Paul reminds them that “your life is now hidden with Christ in God” (Col. 3:3, NIV), and he expands this truth by showing that Christ holds all things together, rules over every power, and supplies the life that flows through His body.
To be “in Christ” is to be under His direction, sustained by His life, and held together by His power. Colossians shows that the church is not sustained by human control but by the living Head who rules and nourishes His people.
1 & 2 Thessalonians - Where the Body Is Going
In the Thessalonian letters, we are given the hope of the body of Christ, a clear look into the future that steadies the present. These believers were troubled and confused. Some feared that their loved ones who had died might miss Christ’s return. Others wondered whether the coming of Christ had already happened. Into this anxiety, Paul writes to anchor them in certainty.
Paul writes to anchor them in certainty: when Christ returns, “the dead in Christ will rise first” (Col. 3:3, NIV), and the entire church, living and dead, will be gathered together. None will be missing.
The second letter clarifies the timing and circumstances surrounding His coming, not to encourage speculation, but to steady their hearts.
At the centre of both letters is this assurance: God Himself will sanctify His people completely and keep them blameless until Christ returns, because “the one who calls you is faithful” (1 Thess. 5:24, NIV)
“You in Christ” means you share a common future-a hope that purifies, strengthens, and unites the body.
1 & 2 Timothy - How the Body Is Led
In Paul’s letters to Timothy, we see the ministry of the body of Christ. If Ephesians is the physiology of the body and Colossians its control centre, then Timothy is the neurology, the study of how messages from the Head reach the members.
God gifts certain people to act as spiritual nerve pathways, carrying direction, encouragement, correction, and truth from Christ the Head to the rest of the body. Timothy is one of these gifted servants.
Paul urges him to guard the good deposit, reminding him that “the Spirit God gave us does not make us timid” (2 Tim. 1:7, NIV), and he expands this by calling Timothy to courage, endurance, and faithful teaching.
The first letter provides broad guidance for everyday ministry. The second letter addresses the ministry in a time of decline, calling Timothy to stand firm when others drift.
Together, these letters demonstrate that “you in Christ” signifies that you are part of a body, where Christ actively leads through faithful servants who carry His life-giving message.
Titus - What the Body Does
Titus focuses on the visible life of the body, what the church is meant to do in the world. If Timothy highlights the nervous system, Titus highlights the muscles and movement of the body.
Paul says that “the grace of God has appeared that offers salvation to all people” (Titus 2:11, NIV), and he goes on to explain that this grace trains believers to renounce ungodliness, resist worldly passions, and live upright, godly lives in the world as they wait for Christ’s appearing.
“You in Christ” means the world sees Christ through the shared life of His people.
Philemon - How the Body Loves
Philemon, one of the shortest books in the Bible, offers a vivid and beautiful picture of the unity of the body of Christ. The letter was prompted by a runaway slave named Onesimus who had fled from his master, Philemon, and eventually crossed paths with Paul in Rome. Through Paul’s ministry, Onesimus came to faith in Christ and became deeply helpful to the apostle, serving him in many practical ways.
Yet, Paul sent him back. He did so because Onesimus had a responsibility to his master, and because Philemon himself was a believer. Paul wrote this letter to accompany Onesimus home, urging Philemon to receive him not as a returning slave but as a beloved brother in Christ.
The heart of the letter is captured in Paul’s words: “no longer as a slave, but better than a slave, as a dear brother” (Philem. 1:16, NIV), Here, more clearly than in any other New Testament letter, we see that the ground is level at the foot of the cross. In Christ, all distinctions, status, background, education, ethnicity, lose their power to divide. We are one family. As Jesus said, “You are all brothers.”
Philemon shows that “you in Christ” means relationships are transformed, unity is restored, and love becomes the defining mark of the body.
So What?
Why does this matter? Because the story of Scripture is not just ancient history. It is the story you were born into.
These letters describe the life God intends for His people today, a life of unity, hope, courage, transformation, and love shaped by Christ Himself.
The question is not simply, “Do you understand these letters?” The question is, “Do you know the life they describe?”
A Story for Those Who Haven’t Read These Books
A young woman once walked into a church for the first time. She didn’t know the Bible. She didn’t know the songs. She didn’t know the people. She only knew she felt empty.
After the service, an older woman approached her and said, “You’re family now.” The young woman laughed awkwardly-“I don’t even know what that means.”
But she kept coming. And slowly, she discovered what the epistles describe:
- People who prayed for her
- People who carried her burdens
- People who forgave her
- People who taught her
- People who loved her without asking anything in return
Months later, she said, “I still don’t understand everything in the Bible. But I know this: I’ve found a new life. I’ve found a new family. I’ve found Christ.”
That is the world Ephesians to Philemon invite us into.
Resources:
For more references, please see the following:
- You in Christ
- The Gospel Coalition - Introduction to the Epistles and Revelation
- Bible Project Guides - New Testament
