Introduction to Ephesians

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  Outline of Ephesians

              Greeting (1:1-2)

I.      God’s eternal plan of salvation (1:3-3:21)

A.        A plan devised by God from eternity

B.        God’s eternal plan was carried out in time

C.        God’s eternal plan of salvation was preached to the Gentiles by Paul

II.     The blessed effects of God’s saving grace (4:1-6:20)

A.  A life of holiness

B.  Courage to contend against evil

Final greetings (6:21-24)   

Ephesians 1:1-2

The Greeting

v. 1)                 Paul refers to himself as an apostle of Christ Jesus.  He also adds that this is by the will of God.  Why does Paul identify himself this way? – Is he being arrogant?

v. 2)                 Paul begins many of his letters with the words “grace and peace to you”.  Paul does this for two reasons.  Can you explain why?  

Ephesians 1:3-14

Spiritual Blessings in Christ

v. 3)             Paul states that we have been blessed with every spiritual blessing in Christ.  What are some of those spiritual blessings?

  vv. 4-7)            List the four ways in which Paul refers to how we have become Christians.

v. 9)                 What is Paul referring to when he speaks of the “mystery” of God’s will?

v. 14)           Explain what Paul means when he says that the Holy Spirit is a deposit guaranteeing our salvation.

                       How do you see all three persons of the Trinity active in this plan of salvation?

                       What role does each person play?

          Paul addresses the doctrine of predestination, or election, in these verses.  In doing so, he answers five questions concerning our election.  Let’s see if we can answer them.

·        When –

·        Why –

·        Purpose –

·        How –

·        Result –

Ephesians 1:15-23

Thanksgiving and Prayer

vv. 15-16)       What do you learn about the Ephesians from these verses?

                       What do you learn about Paul in these verses?

                       What application can you make to your own life?

vv. 17-19)       What specifically does Paul pray for as he gives thanks to God?

v. 20)              What is the ultimate display of God’s power?

vv. 21-23)       What did that display of power do for Christ?

                       This is Christ’s State of Exaltation.

Ephesians 2:1-10

Made Alive in Christ

v. 1)  In what state were we spiritually prior to our being brought to faith in Christ?

                       What does that mean for those people who do not believe in Christ?

                       Dead people can’t “do” anything. They can’t walk around. They can’t decide what to have for lunch. They can’t even eat lunch. They are dead. With that in mind, what would you say to someone who says to you, “I have made my decision for Christ”? (Or another way to say that is “I have chosen Christ as my personal Savior from sin.”)

                       And yet, we don’t want to take the picture of being dead too far. What things can spiritually dead people still do?

v. 2)  Looking at the context of the verse, who is the “ruler of the kingdom of the air”?

vv. 4-5)  Who made us alive?

                       Why did he do that for you?

v. 7)  How does God express his kindness and love for us?

vv. 8-10)  Paul could not be more clear in telling us how we are saved.  These verses are a beautiful portion of God’s Word. If you haven’t put them to memory, I encourage you to do that. Why would you want to memorize these verses?

                       What does God’s Word absolutely rule out as a way of getting to heaven?

                       Agree/Disagree: It is correct Bible teaching to say, “God has earned for us and given to us our eternal salvation. All we have to do is submit to his will, invite him to be the Lord of our lives and believe.”

Ephesians 2:11-22

One in Christ

vv. 11-12)  What separated the Gentiles from God according to this verse?  Was it simply because they were not circumcised?

v. 13)  Explain how we who were far away from God have now been brought close to him.

vv. 14-15)  Who are the two groups that Christ made into one?

                       How did he do that?

                       If Christ abolished the law, why do we still learn and keep the commandments?

                       What other purposes does the law have?

vv. 15-18)  What does it mean for you that you have access to the Father?

                       List some times when you might make use of that privilege?

vv. 19-22)  Who are the members of God’s household?

                         What common bond do they have?

                       What are the benefits of being a part of God’s family?

                       Paul compares the people of God to a building that is being built into a holy temple and a dwelling for the Holy Spirit.  How are you a part of that building?

                       What does your own brick add to this building?

  Ephesians 3:1-13

Paul the Preacher to the Gentiles

v. 1)                       Why was Paul in prison?

Paul began this verse with the words, “For this reason . . .” We need to hold that thought for just a bit. Paul will come back to that point in verse 14 and complete his original thoughts. In the following verses (2-13), however, Paul breaks his own train of thought to explain the “mystery” about which he is talking.

v. 6)  What is the “mystery” that Paul is revealing? (cf. 2:15)

                       What does he mean by the word “mystery”?

v. 5)  How can Paul say that the mystery was not made known in other generations?  What does he mean by that?

                       How is that fact true? 

                       How could that statement be understood incorrectly?

v. 8)  What attitude is Paul displaying in this verse?

                       Is Paul being fake?

v. 10)  Why would God wait until now (Paul’s time) to reveal this mystery?

v. 12)  What barriers have now been removed?

vv. 12-13)  What do these two verses say to you and how do they apply to your life?

vv. 1-13)  What is Paul’s main point in this section?

Ephesians 3:14-21

A Prayer for the Ephesians

vv. 16-19)  Paul prays to God for these believers.  List several things that Paul asked God to do for them?

                       Those requests are all separate petitions but they also are very closely related.  How are these requests all tied together?

                       Using Paul’s prayer as an example of prayer, what things might we imitate as we pray to God?

                       What causes a Christian to grow in faith and therefore to grow spiritually?

                       What does that say to you?

                       What are some ways that we can go about doing that?

vv. 20-21)  Why can we pray to God confidently, especially in as we ask him to help us grow in faith and knowledge of his will?

                       Can we ever ask too much of God?

Ephesians 4:1-16

Unity in the Body of Christ

                       Up to this point in the letter, Paul has been telling the Ephesians, and us, that God brought Jew and Gentile into a new relationship to each other in the Church and that he called the Church to display his wisdom.  Paul now shows

                       how God made it possible for those in the church to live and to work together in unity and to grow together into maturity.

v. 1)  Paul encourages the Ephesians to “live a life worthy of the calling [they] have received”.  Put that in your own words.

                         What then is he encouraging them to do?

                       Why will they do this?

v. 3)  What “unity” is Paul speaking about?

                       Do you recall how that unity was brought about?

v. 4)  What is your hope? 

                       In what sense is that not really “hope”?

vv. 1-6)  How many different religions are there in the world?

                       Why is that the case?

                       If that is true, why are there so many different denominations in the world?

                       How do you know yours is “the right one”?

  v. 7)  What do we normally think of when we hear that we have received God’s “grace”?  (Think of chapter 2:8-9.)

                       What do you think Paul means here by the word “grace”?

                       Take a moment to think about what “grace” God has given you and how you might use that grace for the good of God’s Church.

vv. 11-13)  Where do you fit in with these verses? – There may be more than one.

                       What does God want for each one of his children?

                       What plans does God have for some of those children?

                       What steps can you take if you (or your children or your grandchildren) are interested in serving in the public ministry?

v. 14)  Do you see any need for regular study of God’s Word?

v. 15)  Why is “speaking the truth in love” sometimes hard for us to do?

                       What can we do to make that “easier” – humanly speaking?

v. 16)  Put this verse in your own words.  What is Paul saying in this verse?

                       When this is done, how are you affected?

Ephesians 4:17-32

Living as Children of Light

v. 18)  What is ignorance and to what does it refer here?

                       Why are unbelievers separated from God?

  v. 19)  Unbelievers are referred to as those who walk in darkness. How do these people live their lives?

                       Why do they live this way?

  vv. 20)  How did you come to know Christ?

                       Do you recall where Paul stressed the fact that we played no role in coming to know Christ?

vv. 22-24)  What battle takes place within every Christian?

                       What does it mean to grow up spiritually?

  vv. 25-32)  Paul list several ways in which the New Self in each Christian can live.  Identify and make a list of them.

                       It’s not too difficult to think of a time when we were guilty of committing these same sins. But now think of a time when Jesus was tempted to commit one of those sins but did not.

                       Remember: Jesus was perfect that we may be perfect! Remember – as Paul said in v. 32 – Christ forgave us! 

Ephesians 5:1-21

Living as Children of Light

vv. 1-2)  Paul tells us to be imitators of God.  How can we do that?

                       How do we know Paul is not talking about work-righteousness in these verses?

                       What is the only motivation for living our new life in Christ? (v. 32)

How do we know that Christ loves us?

vv. 3-6)  When we think of the sixth commandment, we quickly realize that it is wrong to have sex outside of marriage or when we think of the seventh commandment, we easily understand that we are not to take something that doesn’t belong to us.  Paul says that obedience to the commandments includes far more than that.  What does Paul include as he teaches us about keeping God’s commandments?

                       Explain how Paul can say what he does in verse 5 if all people are sinful by nature.

                       How will people try to deceive you with empty words about keeping God’s commandments?

v. 7)  What is guilt by association?

                       How does it apply here?

vv. 8-12)  Will the Christian merely want to avoid the deeds of darkness?  Explain.

                       What are fruits of faith?

                       How are we able to perform them?

vv. 12-14)  What will the light of God’s Word and the light that you let shine in the world do?

vv. 15-21)  Rather than deeds of darkness, what will the life of one who is filled with the Spirit include?

                       Paul tells us to be filled with the Spirit. What is the only way that happens?

                       Evaluate the following statement. The world doesn’t want to grow up.

  Ephesians 5:22-33

Wives and Husbands

vv. 22-23)  To what does Paul compare the relationship of a husband and a wife?

                       What does that mean for the Christian married couple?

                         What is one fruit of faith that Christian wives produce?

                       How does growing in faith affect that fruit?

vv. 25-28)  What is one fruit of faith that Christian husbands produce?

                       How does growing in faith affect that fruit?

                       What has Christ done for you, one of the members of his Church?

vv. 22-33)  The desire of Christ is to spend eternity in glory with his bride the Church. The desire of a Christian husband and wife is that they live together for the rest of their lives on this earth. What is the difference, however, between those two relationships?

Ephesians 6:1-4

Children and Parents

vv. 1-3)  Who are your “parents”?

                       What encouragement does Paul have for children?

                       How do we begin to obey our parents?

                       How does that fit in with what we talked about in 5:3-6?

                         React:  If someone dies at age 12, he must not have been an obedient child.

                       If someone dies at age 99, he must have been the most obedient child on earth.

      Evaluate:          Joe’s parents give him good food and clothing, but they obviously don’t love him because they don’t want him around, and, when he is around, they holler at him or even are mean to him. Mike’s parents love him and take care of him the best they can, but often they are not able to give him enough food or clothing because they are so poor. Joe and Mike don’t think they need to honor their parents because their parents are not always doing the things that God wants parents to do.

      Evaluate:          Jane’s mother told her she had to do the dishes and her homework before she could watch TV. Jane obeyed but she grumbled all the while she did the dishes and her homework.

      Agree/Disagree: A Christian child will be glad when he is disciplined.

                       To what extent are we to obey our parents?

v. 4)  What is the primary responsibility for parents?

                       How can they go about doing this?

                       How do parents “grow up” in their role before the Lord?

                       How do children “grow up” in their role before the Lord?

                       What is correct about this statement: “As time goes on, the roles of parents and children reverse.”

Ephesians 6:5-9

Slaves and Masters

vv. 5-9)  Slavery was abolished in this country after the Civil War.  How do these verses apply to us today?

                       To what extent do we obey them?

                       Why do we obey them?

Ephesians 6:10-20

The Armor of God

v. 11)  We’ll talk about what the full armor of God is in just a minute. But, why would we even want to put on this armor in the first place?

v. 12)  Against whom or what do we struggle?

vv.13-18)  What is the full armor of God?

                       How then is the only way we can fight this battle?

                       Who are the “saints” Paul refers to in verse 18?

                       What are we to do for them?

vv. 19-20)  Paul asked the Ephesians to pray for him. What did he ask them to pray for?

                       How would that type of prayer apply to you? 

Ephesians 6:21-24

The Armor of God

  vv. 23-24)  Paul returns to his familiar message of grace and peace. Do you recall, from when we considered Paul’s greeting at that opening letter, what the connection between grace and peace is?

How have you been comforted by that peace as you’ve studied this letter?

How have you been assured of that grace as you’ve studied this letter?

  If you could share one thing from this letter with a friend, what would it be? Why?