Paul Bayne's commentary on Ephesians- part difficult to understand

[Henoch]

Has anyone read this commentary on Ephesians by Paul Baynes and would you recommend it?
I just started reading it and I really like the way he explains certain doctrines like common/special grace but I can't quite grasp what exactly he intends to say in some sections, e.g. this is from his commentary on Eph 1:2("from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ")
"It is necessary to conceive in mind the true God, in Christ, though not distinctly to consider the three persons. The reason is , because every act of religion doth require that we some way apprehend the object of it; and as there can be no sight without some matter visible propounded, so no act of religious worship, without this object, in some wise conceived"( Does anyone get what he's saying here?)
And also if you come across a difficult section such as this in an old puritan writing do you just skip it and continue reading the rest of the work or do you do something else specifically?

 

[Ryan&Amber2013]

It sounds like he is saying because we as humans make images in our thinking, when we think of God, we should behold Christ, because we somewhat have a conception of who God is in Christ. I definitely could be wrong though in this interpretation. But I've actually heard a pastor justify images of Christ, it seems in a similar manner. He would say that because God is now flesh, it is appropriate to have an image, because we know what he looks like (human).

I used to really get hung up on things like that, but not really anymore. I don't mind skipping over stuff that I need to. But then again, maybe you will learn something really good and new by pondering those tough things.

 

[py3ak]

Has anyone read this commentary on Ephesians by Paul Baynes and would you recommend it?
I just started reading it and I really like the way he explains certain doctrines like common/special grace but I can't quite grasp what exactly he intends to say in some sections, e.g. this is from his commentary on Eph 1:2("from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ")
"It is necessary to conceive in mind the true God, in Christ, though not distinctly to consider the three persons. The reason is , because every act of religion doth require that we some way apprehend the object of it; and as there can be no sight without some matter visible propounded, so no act of religious worship, without this object, in some wise conceived"( Does anyone get what he's saying here?)
And also if you come across a difficult section such as this in an old puritan writing do you just skip it and continue reading the rest of the work or do you do something else specifically?

I have really liked what I've read of Paul Baynes so far, but that's admittedly not much.

He's saying that in order to have true worship, you have to have some conception of the true God in Christ. That is not a visual representation of any kind, but just a mental perception of the truth. Because God is made known to us, becomes religiously available, so to speak, in Christ, you can't have a conception of the true God that is adequate for worship if it doesn't include Christ. It doesn't mean you have to be perfectly clear on every detail of the doctrine of the Trinity in order to worship at all.

If you skip the difficult sections every time, you'll never get the hang of them. It's much better to stop and try to parse them, before skipping. After you do that several times, fewer sections will seem difficult.

 

[Henoch]

I have really liked what I've read of Paul Baynes so far, but that's admittedly not much.

He's saying that in order to have true worship, you have to have some conception of the true God in Christ. That is not a visual representation of any kind, but just a mental perception of the truth. Because God is made known to us, becomes religiously available, so to speak, in Christ, you can't have a conception of the true God that is adequate for worship if it doesn't include Christ. It doesn't mean you have to be perfectly clear on every detail of the doctrine of the Trinity in order to worship at all.

If you skip the difficult sections every time, you'll never get the hang of them. It's much better to stop and try to parse them, before skipping. After you do that several times, fewer sections will seem difficult.

Great answer, thanks for responding brother!