Ephesians 1
Thoughts:
The book of Ephesians is not a "deep" book in that Paul used it to
teach doctrine like Romans, Galatians, and others. Rather, it is a
"sweet" book, a book in which Paul wanted to encourage and build up
the church. If there is such a thing as a "shouting" epistle,
Ephesians would be it! As Paul used phrase after phrase to describe
our riches and blessedness, one just wants to shout with joy.
But even while the book’s primary purpose was not to teach doctrine
but to encourage, deep doctrine is referenced throughout this small
book! Paul will mention but not dwell on many of the great Bible
truths. The fact that he did not dwell on them indicates to me that
Paul expected the saints to already have attained an understanding
of such doctrine. Indeed, if we stumble at them , this epistle might
also as a rebuke to our lazy attitude in studying God’s Word.
Background:
1. Written by the Apostle Paul \\#1\\.
2. Paul was in prison when he wrote the epistle:
a. Verses:
Eph 3:1 For this cause I Paul, the prisoner of
Jesus Christ for you Gentiles,
Eph 4:1 I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord,
beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation
wherewith ye are called,
Eph 6:20 For which I am an ambassador in bonds:
that therein I may speak boldly, as I ought to
speak.
b. The numerous references make a strong case for Paul being
in a Roman prison not a city jail.
3. Approximate dates:
a. Caesarea \\#Acts 24:27\\ (AD 57-59)
b. Rome \\#Acts 28:30\\ (AD 60-63)
4. There are four books considered Prisoned Epistles: Ephesians,
Philippians, Colossians, and Philemon.
5. It is obvious that Paul wrote the epistle to the church at
Ephesus \\#1\\ although it may have been passed around to
other churches as well.
6. Outline: Paul follows a general theme in this letter as he
does in others. He starts with praise to God, then offers
prayer, then preaches doctrine, and last preaches practical
living. However, for a more specific, we will work off this
one.
Outline from Nelson’s Complete
I. \\#1:1-3:21\\ The Position of the Christian
A. \\#1:1-14\\ Praise for Redemption
1. \\#1:1, 2\\ Salutation from Paul
2. \\#1:3-6\\ Chosen by the Father
3. \\#1:7-12\\ Redeemed by the Son
4. \\#1:13, 14\\ Sealed by the Spirit
B. \\#1:15-23\\ Prayer for the Ephesians
C. \\#2:1-2:22\\ Position of the Christian
1. \\#2:1-10\\ The Christian’s Position Individually
2. \\#2:11-2:22\\ The Christian’s Position Corporately
D. \\#3:1-13\\ Paul’s Ministry in God’s Work
E. \\#3:14-21\\ Paul’s Prayer and Desire for the Ephesians
II. \\#4:1-6:24\\ The Practice of the Christian
A. \\#4:1-6\\ Unity in the Church
1.\\#4:1-3\\ Exhortation to Unity
2.\\#4:4-6\\ Explanation of Unity
3. \\#4:7-11\\ Means for Unity: The Gifts
4. \\#4:12-16\\ Purpose of the Gifts
B. \\#4:17-5:21\\ Holiness in Life
1. \\#4:17-22\\ Put Off the Old Man
2. \\#4:23-29\\ Put On the New Man
3. \\#4:30-5:12\\ Grieve Not the Holy Spirit
4. \\#5:13-17\\ Walk as Children of Light
5. \\#5:18-21\\ Be Filled with the Spirit
C. \\#5:22-6:9\\ Responsibilities in the Home and at Work
1. \\#5:22-24\\ Wives: Submit to Your Husbands
2. \\#5:25-33\\ Husbands: Love Your Wives
3. \\#6:1-4\\ Children: Obey Your Parents
4. \\#6:5-9\\ Service on the Job
D. \\#6:10-24\\ Conduct in the Conflict
1. \\#6:10-17\\ Put On the Armor of God
2. \\#6:18-20\\ Pray for Boldness
3. \\#6:21-24\\ Conclusion
Thomas Nelson Publishers. (1996). Nelson’s Complete Book of Bible
Maps &Charts: Old and New Testaments (Rev. and updated ed.).
Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson.
I. \\#1:1-3:21\\ The Position of the Christian
A. \\#1:1-14\\ Praise for Redemption
1. \\#1:1, 2\\ Salutation from Paul - Notice Paul’s common
marker, "Grace …and peace."
2. \\#1:3-6\\ Chosen by the Father
a. \\#3\\ We are blessed with all spiritual blessings.
"Spiritual" not carnal. We may be lacking some in the
world of physical blessings, but God’s people have no
lack of any spiritual blessings.
(1) These blessings are "in heavenly places," meaning
that even if we cannot see all of the spiritual
blessings, they are ours and God can.
(2) These blessings are "in Christ," meaning that to
receive them, you must be a Christian.
(a) This phrase is important because Paul makes
the point up front that God’s blessings go
only to those who are "in Christ."
(b) It is also repeated for emphasis.
\\#Eph 1:1\\ "in Christ Jesus"
\\#Eph 1:3\\ "in Christ"
\\#Eph 1:6\\ "in the beloved"
\\#Eph 1:7\\ "in whom"
\\#Eph 1:9\\ "in himself"
\\#Eph 1:10\\ "in Christ," "in him"
\\#Eph 1:11\\ "In whom"
\\#Eph 1:12\\ "in Christ"
\\#Eph 1:13\\ "In whom," "in whom"
\\#Eph 1:15\\ "in the Lord Jesus"
\\#Eph 1:20\\ "in Christ"
b. \\#4\\ "According as he hath chosen us in him"
(1) The Bible does not teach Calvinism, the belief
that God has selected some for heaven and others
for hell. It does however teach God’s
sovereignty and predestination.
(2) Notice that God, in His sovereignty, has made
some choices.
(a) He has chosen "us in him."
(b) Which "us" has God chosen? The ones "in
him."
(c) In whom? In Christ.
(d) Suppose you are not in Him? Then God has
not chosen you.
(e) So who did God chose, the people going to
heaven or the Person to would die to take
us there? He chose the Person.
(3) When did God make this choice? "Before the
foundation of the world." How could God make
the choice of how men would be saved before the
world began? He could because He is sovereign
and does not need anyone else’s permission or
opinion.
(4) What else did God decide before the world began?
(a) "that we should be holy and without blame
before him in love." God decided not only
to what salvation would look like at the
beginning but what it would look like at
the end. We will be holy like God and
blameless because of God’s forgiveness.
(b) All of this is "in love."
i. This begins to discuss the reason God
made this choice. It was out of His
love, supposedly for us.
ii. How could anyone say God predetermine
some to hell and see it as a measure
of God’s love?
c. \\#5\\ "Having predestinated us"
(1) If we are to believe the Bible, we must believe
in God’s sovereignty and in predestination.
(2) \\#5\\ Notice what God has predestinated to
happen.
"us to the adoption of children"
(a) Which us? The "us" that are "in him."
(b) To what? "To himself." God decided to
adopt us into God’s family before the world
began.
Joh 1:12 But as many as received him, to them
gave he power to become the sons of God, even
to them that believe on his name:
Ro 8:15 For ye have not received the spirit of
bondage again to fear; but ye have received the
Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father.
(3) Note - There is nothing in this text about some
being chosen for heaven or hell.
(a) Never in the Bible is predestination
associated with some going to heaven or to
hell. It is always associated with what
happens after salvation.
i. \\#Romans 8:29\\ The predestinated
will be conformed to Jesus’ image.
ii. \\#Romans 8:30\\ The predestinated
will be called.
iii. \\#Eph 1:5\\ The predestinated will be
adopted.
iv. \\#Eph 1:11\\ The predestinated will
receive an inheritance.
(b) The ONLY way Calvinism can be found in the
Scripture is for words and thoughts to be
added to the Bible.
d. \\#6\\ Why did God make these choices? There are two
reasons:
(1) \\#4\\ "in love" - The first was already
mentioned. It was His love for us, people.
(2) \\#6\\ "To the praise of the glory of his grace"
(a) Grace is God’s work.
(b) God did it so that He and His grace could
be praised for all eternity.
(c) "wherein" - This word is used here in and
\\#8\\. It is a word that show a
relationship to what it in front of it like
"to the end" or "so that."
i. God made this choice so that we might
be accepted in the beloved.
ii. I believe the beloved means into His
Son, the One who is Beloved.
3. \\#1:7-12\\ Redeemed by the Son - While still thinking
of the praise due to the Father, Paul’s thought turns
slightly to speak of the sacrifice of the Son.
a. \\#7\\ "In whom"
(1) Jesus was brought into the picture in \\#5, 6\\.
(2) Because of Him, we have…
(a) "redemption through his blood"
(b) "forgiveness of our sins"
(3) These are all because of God’s riches of grace!
b. \\#8\\ And this grace has "abounded toward us." Yet,
God’s working in us was not hap-hazard. It was based
on…
(1) "all wisdom" - Not just some wisdom but ALL
wisdom. God did not overlook ANYTHING
when He created man and gave him salvation.
Everything was thought through and planned.
(2) "and prudence" - Prudence means caution and
carefulness.
c. \\#9\\ And by the wisdom, God has made known to us the
"mystery of his will."
(1) A mystery means something that we could have
never figured out on our own.
(2) We would have never figured out God’s will.
(3) But it was "God’s good pleasure that he
"purposed" or decided to do Himself.
d. \\#10\\ Why did Jesus die and God reveal this all
before the foundation of the world?
(1) That in the "dispensations" or stages of the
future, God might gather us who are "in him" in
Christ, those in heaven and those on earth.
(2) The emphasis is still on those "in Christ and "in
him."
(3) It will be the rapture that will join us all
together.
e. \\#11\\ And what have we received because Jesus died?
"an inheritance."
(1) The inheritance is not described here.
(2) How it was determined is - "It was
predestinated," meaning God decided what it
would be and to whom it would go.
(3) What criterial did He use? - It was "according
to God’s purpose" that works everything after
His will.
(4) God’s sovereignty cannot be questioned. God has
purpose and He gives out rewards and place based
on that purpose being accomplished.
f. \\#12\\ To what end? That we should cause praise and
glory to be given to God.
(1) Who is the us?
(2) Those "who first trusted in Christ," trusted,
not selected by God.
4. \\#1:13, 14\\ Sealed by the Spirit
a. \\#13\\ "In whom" - The emphasis is again on Christ.
b. "ye trusted"
(1) Again, salvation comes by trusting in Christ.
(2) As the first one Christians had done, as the
Ephesians had done, so we must do.
c. When did you trust?
(1) "after that ye heard the word of truth" - Not
after God picked you but after you heard. No one
is born saved. They must first hear and then
make a choice to trust Jesus.
(2) It was "the gospel of your salvation"
(a) The word "gospel" means "good news."
(b) Without knowing the truth of Jesus’ death,
one cannot be saved.
d. And what happened then? "after that ye believed, ye
were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise" - The
Holy Spirit did not seal until "after" we believe.
(1) \\#14\\ The Holy Spirit is but our earnest or
down payment. The aforementioned "inheritance"
must be truly unbelievable if He is but the
down payment!
(2) Of all the spiritual blessings mentioned \\#3\\,
God has mainly given us the Holy Spirit for this
time period, but after the "redemption" is
complete, we shall have all blessings.
B. \\#1:15-23\\ Prayer for the Ephesians
1. \\#15-16\\ Paul prayed for the Ephesians constantly.
a. "after I heard of your faith" - Paul spoke as if he
received the news of these people’s salvation
through a third party. This might give some
credence to the thought that this letter was to be
distributed to all the churches.
b. "and love unto all the saints" - Yet what Paul heard
was not just of their salvation. It was also of
their growth in Christ. One of the things Paul the
missionary did not get to see very often was the
growth that Jesus brings to the saved sinner for he
was always moving to the next location.
2. \\#17-23\\ To what end?
a. \\#17\\ That God might give them the spirit of wisdom.
(That would be the Holy Ghost and His wisdom, a never
ending supply.)
b. And revelation in the knowledge of Jesus. More truth
about Jesus.
c. \\#18\\ That your understanding might be enlightened.
That you might have the light necessary to
understand more.
d. And know the hope of His calling. That is, to know
what God’s longing was by giving you the calling He
gave.
(1) Hope is longing.
(2) God longs that we would accomplish the things He
has called us to accomplish.
e. \\#19\\ And know the exceeding greatness of his power
to us who believe. We have no idea just how much
power God has invested and is willing to invest in
us.
(1) \\#20\\ This is the power that "raised Jesus from
the dead."
(2) And set him on God’s own right hand in heavenly
places.
(a) It bothers some that God "set" or placed
Jesus in a position, thinking that makes
Jesus somehow inferior to the Father.
(b) But remember that Jesus surrendered every
heavenly position to be made into the form
of a man.
(c) One Jesus’ earthly task was complete, God
gave back to Jesus that which Jesus gave
up.
(3) \\#21\\ Far above…
(a) principality - It means the beginning, the
corner, place, rank. It would seem to mean
the powers that God set up at the
beginning, probably the fallen angels.
(b) power - authority, power, jurisdiction. The
first word describes the powers that were
first set up. This word describes the
authority that set them up.
(c) might - ability, deed, strength, work - God
placed Jesus above every work that has ever
been done or will be done which would
include any degree already given or that
might be given.
(d) dominion - government, collection of rulers-
Jesus has been placed above any group or
counsel that will ever or has ever sat.
(e) name - And over every name that might ever
be used as a source of authority or power.
(4) \\#22\\ And more - God has put all things "under
His feet" so that Jesus is over everything—
including the church itself.
(a) \\#23\\ Which is Jesus body.
(b) Which will be the fullness of all things.
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