Ephesians Study: My Answers

Ephesians Exegesis Study

Questions:

Make a list of “every spiritual blessing we have in Christ” (1:3).

• Breath


• Forgiveness of sins


• Spouse


• Children


• Friends


• Family


• Church


• Christ


• God


• Bible


• House/Apartment


• Car/Cars


• Money


• Food


• Entertainment


• Government


• Jobs


• Prayer

Do a word search on “Peace” and “Grace”, how many times are these mentioned and why?

• Peace is used within 231 Verses in the NIV Bible.


• Grace is used within 124 Verses in the NIV Bible.


• I think they are mentioned because of importance to God. With God, a disciple has peace of mind. Sometimes the pressures of the world bog us down and we loose sight of that. Those who escaped Egypt, lost sight of it while in the desert. I think that even though it’s been thousands of years later, we still loose sight from time to time. I think that is why we have to continually focus on the race. And when we do not focus on the race, when something hinders, per se, then Grace comes into play. God wants us to understand that Grace is there for us when we fail in an attempt to do what God wants for us to do.


• Hebrews 12:1 therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.

Memorize Eph 1:13b-14.

13b. Having believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, 14 who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God's possession--to the praise of his glory.

Do a word search on “Mystery” and “Fullness” in Colossians and Ephesians, write down your findings.

• Ephesians1:7-10 In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God's grace that he lavished on us with all wisdom and understanding. And he made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in Christ, to be put into effect when the times will have reached their fulfillment - to bring all things in heaven and on earth together under one head, even Christ.


• Ephesians 3:2-12 Surely you have heard about the administration of God's grace that was given to me for you, that is, the mystery made known to me by revelation, as I have already written briefly. In reading this, then, you will be able to understand my insight into the mystery of Christ, which was not made known to men in other generations as it has now been revealed by the Spirit to God's holy apostles and prophets. This mystery is that through the gospel the Gentiles are heirs together with Israel, members together of one body, and sharers together in the promise in Christ Jesus. I became a servant of this gospel by the gift of God's grace given me through the working of his power. Although I am less than the least of all God's people, this grace was given me: to preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ, and to make plain to everyone the administration of this mystery, which for ages past was kept hidden in God, who created all things. His intent was that now, through the church, the manifold wisdom of God should be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms, according to his eternal purpose which he accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord. In him and through faith in him we may approach God with freedom and confidence.


• Ephesians 5:31-32 "For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh." This is a profound mystery - but I am talking about Christ and the church.


• Ephesians 6:19-20 Pray also for me, that whenever I open my mouth, words may be given me so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I may declare it fearlessly, as I should.


• Colossians 1:25-29 I have become its servant by the commission God gave me to present to you the word of God in its fullness - the mystery that has been kept hidden for ages and generations, but is now disclosed to the saints. To them God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. We proclaim him, admonishing and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone perfect in Christ. To this end I labor, struggling with all his energy, which so powerfully works in me.


• Colossians 2:1-5 I want you to know how much I am struggling for you and for those at Laodicea, and for all who have not met me personally. My purpose is that they may be encouraged in heart and united in love, so that they may have the full riches of complete understanding, in order that they may know the mystery of God, namely, Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. I tell you this so that no one may deceive you by fine-sounding arguments. For though I am absent from you in body, I am present with you in spirit and delight to see how orderly you are and how firm your faith in Christ is.


• Colossians 4:2-6 Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful. And pray for us, too, that God may open a door for our message, so that we may proclaim the mystery of Christ, for which I am in chains. Pray that I may proclaim it clearly, as I should. Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders; make the most of every opportunity. Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone.


• 1st Timothy 3:16 Beyond all question, the mystery of godliness is great: He appeared in a body, was vindicated by the Spirit, was seen by angels, was preached among the nations, was believed on in the world, was taken up in glory.

I guess I broke the rules, but the Timothy scripture wraps up what I was thinking. Without a doubt, Christ is a mystery. As it is my nature, I tend to want to find answers to the unknown. I think others do to, simply because of the websites dedicated to the end of the world, the supernatural, and the paranormal. Science is a subject in school devoted to figuring out how things work. Math is too. People seek to figure out things they don’t know and want to be the first to do it. Companies build on that. I bet if a question was thrown out on the internet begging the question of what is the answer to the mystery of God, someone who be as to so bold to say they know the exact answer. 1st Timothy leads to an answer, but I feel it explains the mystery in detail, explains the question. Maybe I am wrong, but I tend to be more wrong than right these days. Look at my sports blog, that will verify that…

In Ephesians 2:8-10, refute the argument that Baptism is a work!

• Ephesians 2:8-10 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith - and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God - not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.


• Acts 2:38 Peter replied, "Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.


• Acts 8:20 Peter answered: "May your money perish with you, because you thought you could buy the gift of God with money!


• Romans 5:15-17 But the gift is not like the trespass. For if the many died by the trespass of the one man, how much more did God's grace and the gift that came by the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ, overflow to the many! Again, the gift of God is not like the result of the one man's sin: The judgment followed one sin and brought condemnation, but the gift followed many trespasses and brought justification. For if, by the trespass of the one man, death reigned through that one man, how much more will those who receive God's abundant provision of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ.


• Revelation 22:17 The Spirit and the bride say, "Come!" And let him who hears say, "Come!" Whoever is thirsty, let him come; and whoever wishes, let him take the free gift of the water of life.


• Acts 19:2-5 "Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?" They answered, "No, we have not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit." So Paul asked, "Then what baptism did you receive?" "John's baptism," they replied. Paul said, "John's baptism was a baptism of repentance. He told the people to believe in the one coming after him, that is, in Jesus." On hearing this, they were baptized into the name of the Lord Jesus.


• Ephesians 4:3-6 Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit - just as you were called to one hope when you were called - one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.

Starting with Ephesians 2, it tells me that I have been saved by faith and grace which is a gift from God. Acts 2 then tells me that to receive this gift, I have to repent and be baptized to get the Holy Spirit. James tells me that faith without deeds is useless, but I bring that up to only say that baptism is something done by love, not by necessity. But the only way to be saved is by baptism. You can’t buy salvation (Acts 8), it is given to you (Revelation 22). Ephesians 4 also tells me that there is only one baptism, and if we are not baptized right, we should do it right away (Acts 19). These are my thoughts thus far.