Wednesday, December 2, 2020

Ephesians Chapter 1-3

 

Book of Ephesians

Outline

  • Greetings (1:1-2)
  • The Divine Purpose: The Glory and Headship of Christ (1:3-14)
  • Prayer That Christians May Realize God's Purpose and Power (1:15-23)
  • Steps Toward the Fulfillment of God's Purpose (chs. 2-3)
    • Salvation of Individuals by Grace (2:1-10)
    • Reconciliation of Jew and Gentile through the Cross (2:11-18)
    • Uniting of Jew and Gentile in One Household (2:19-22)
    • Revelation of God's Wisdom through the Church (3:1-13)
    • Prayer for Deeper Experience of God's Fullness (3:14-21)
  • Practical Ways to Fulfill God's Purpose in the Church (4:1;6:20)
  • Conclusion, Final Greetings and Benediction (6:21-24)

Ephesians 1 NLT

1 This letter is from Paul, chosen by the will of God to be an apostle of Christ Jesus. I am writing to God’s holy people in Ephesus, who are faithful followers of Christ Jesus. 

2 May God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ give you grace and peace. 

3 All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms because we are united with Christ. 

4Even before he made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in his eyes. 

5 God decided in advance to adopt us into his own family by bringing us to himself through Jesus Christ. This is what he wanted to do, and it gave him great pleasure. 

6 So we praise God for the glorious grace he has poured out on us who belong to his dear Son. 

7 He is so rich in kindness and grace that he purchased our freedom with the blood of his Son and forgave our sins. 

8 He has showered his kindness on us, along with all wisdom and understanding. 

9 God has now revealed to us his mysterious plan regarding Christ, a plan to fulfill his own good pleasure. 

10 And this is the plan: At the right time he will bring everything together under the authority of Christ—everything in heaven and on earth. 

11Furthermore, because we are united with Christ, we have received an inheritance from God, for he chose us in advance, and he makes everything work out according to his plan. 

12 God’s purpose was that we Jews who were the first to trust in Christ would bring praise and glory to God. 

13And now you Gentiles have also heard the truth, the Good News that God saves you. And when you believed in Christ, he identified you as his own by giving you the Holy Spirit, whom he promised long ago. 

14 The Spirit is God’s guarantee that he will give us the inheritance he promised and that he has purchased us to be his own people. He did this so we would praise and glorify him. 

15 Ever since I first heard of your strong faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for God’s people everywhere, 

16 I have not stopped thanking God for you. I pray for you constantly, 

17 asking God, the glorious Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, to give you spiritual wisdom and insight so that you might grow in your knowledge of God. 

18 I pray that your hearts will be flooded with light so that you can understand the confident hope he has given to those he called—his holy people who are his rich and glorious inheritance. 

19 I also pray that you will understand the incredible greatness of God’s power for us who believe him. This is the same mighty power 

20 that raised Christ from the dead and seated him in the place of honor at God’s right hand in the heavenly realms. 

21 Now he is far above any ruler or authority or power or leader or anything else—not only in this world but also in the world to come. 

22 God has put all things under the authority of Christ and has made him head over all things for the benefit of the church. 

23 And the church is his body; it is made full and complete by Christ, who fills all things everywhere with himself.


 

Ephesians 2 NLT

1 Once you were dead because of your disobedience and your many sins. 

2 You used to live in sin, just like the rest of the world, obeying the devil—the commander of the powers in the unseen world. He is the spirit at work in the hearts of those who refuse to obey God. 

3 All of us used to live that way, following the passionate desires and inclinations of our sinful nature. By our very nature we were subject to God’s anger, just like everyone else. 

4 But God is so rich in mercy, and he loved us so much, 

5 that even though we were dead because of our sins, he gave us life when he raised Christ from the dead. (It is only by God’s grace that you have been saved!) 

6 For he raised us from the dead along with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms because we are united with Christ Jesus. 

7 So God can point to us in all future ages as examples of the incredible wealth of his grace and kindness toward us, as shown in all he has done for us who are united with Christ Jesus. 

8 God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God. 

9 Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it. 

10For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago. 

11 Don’t forget that you Gentiles used to be outsiders. You were called “uncircumcised heathens” by the Jews, who were proud of their circumcision, even though it affected only their bodies and not their hearts. 

12 In those days you were living apart from Christ. You were excluded from citizenship among the people of Israel, and you did not know the covenant promises God had made to them. You lived in this world without God and without hope. 

13 But now you have been united with Christ Jesus. Once you were far away from God, but now you have been brought near to him through the blood of Christ. 

14 For Christ himself has brought peace to us. He united Jews and Gentiles into one people when, in his own body on the cross, he broke down the wall of hostility that separated us. 

15 He did this by ending the system of law with its commandments and regulations. He made peace between Jews and Gentiles by creating in himself one new people from the two groups. 

16Together as one body, Christ reconciled both groups to God by means of his death on the cross, and our hostility toward each other was put to death. 

17 He brought this Good News of peace to you Gentiles who were far away from him, and peace to the Jews who were near. 

18 Now all of us can come to the Father through the same Holy Spirit because of what Christ has done for us. 

19 So now you Gentiles are no longer strangers and foreigners. You are citizens along with all of God’s holy people. You are members of God’s family.

20 Together, we are his house, built on the foundation of the apostles and the prophets. And the cornerstone is Christ Jesus himself. 

21 We are carefully joined together in him, becoming a holy temple for the Lord. 

22 Through him you Gentiles are also being made part of this dwelling where God lives by his Spirit.


 

Ephesians 3 NLT

1 When I think of all this, I, Paul, a prisoner of Christ Jesus for the benefit of you Gentiles.

2 assuming, by the way, that you know God gave me the special responsibility of extending his grace to you Gentiles. 

3 As I briefly wrote earlier, God himself revealed his mysterious plan to me. 

4As you read what I have written, you will understand my insight into this plan regarding Christ. 

5 God did not reveal it to previous generations, but now by his Spirit he has revealed it to his holy apostles and prophets. 

6 And this is God’s plan: Both Gentiles and Jews who believe the Good News share equally in the riches inherited by God’s children. Both are part of the same body, and both enjoy the promise of blessings because they belong to Christ Jesus. 

7 By God’s grace and mighty power, I have been given the privilege of serving him by spreading this Good News. 

8Though I am the least deserving of all God’s people, he graciously gave me the privilege of telling the Gentiles about the endless treasures available to them in Christ. 

9 I was chosen to explain to everyone this mysterious plan that God, the Creator of all things, had kept secret from the beginning.

10 God’s purpose in all this was to use the church to display his wisdom in its rich variety to all the unseen rulers and authorities in the heavenly places. 

11 This was his eternal plan, which he carried out through Christ Jesus our Lord. 

12Because of Christ and our faith in him, we can now come boldly and confidently into God’s presence. 

13 So please don’t lose heart because of my trials here. I am suffering for you, so you should feel honored. 

14 When I think of all this, I fall to my knees and pray to the Father, 

15 the Creator of everything in heaven and on earth. 

16 I pray that from his glorious, unlimited resources he will empower you with inner strength through his Spirit. 

17 Then Christ will make his home in your hearts as you trust in him. Your roots will grow down into God’s love and keep you strong. 

18 And may you have the power to understand, as all God’s people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love is. 

19May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully. Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God. 

20 Now all glory to God, who is able, through his mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think. 

21 Glory to him in the church and in Christ Jesus through all generations forever and ever! Amen.

Summary of the Book of Ephesians

 

Book of Ephesians

Chapters

Summary

Summary of the Book of Ephesians

This summary of the book of Ephesians provides information about the title, author(s), date of writing, chronology, theme, theology, outline, a brief overview, and the chapters of the Book of Ephesians.

Author, Date and Place of Writing

The author identifies himself as Paul (1:13:1; cf. 3:7,134:16:19-20). Some have taken the absence of the usual personal greetings and the verbal similarity of many parts to Colossians, among other reasons, as grounds for doubting authorship by the apostle Paul. However, this was probably a circular letter, intended for other churches in addition to the one in Ephesus (see notes on 1:1,156:21-23). Paul may have written it about the same time as Colossians, c. a.d. 60, while he was in prison at Rome (see 3:14:16:20; see also chart, p. 2261).

The City of Ephesus

Ephesus was the most important city in western Asia Minor (now Turkey). It had a harbor that at that time opened into the Cayster River (see map, p. 2429), which in turn emptied into the Aegean Sea (see map, p. 2599). Because it was also at an intersection of major trade routes, Ephesus became a commercial center. It boasted a pagan temple dedicated to the Roman goddess Diana (Greek Artemis); cf. Ac 19:23-31. Paul made Ephesus a center for evangelism for about three years (see note on Ac 19:10), and the church there apparently flourished for some time, but later needed the warning of Rev 2:1-7.

Theological Message

Unlike several of the other letters Paul wrote, Ephesians does not address any particular error or heresy. Paul wrote to expand the horizons of his readers, so that they might understand better the dimensions of God's eternal purpose and grace and come to appreciate the high goals God has for the church.

The letter opens with a sequence of statements about God's blessings, which are interspersed with a remarkable variety of expressions drawing attention to God's wisdom, forethought and purpose. Paul emphasizes that we have been saved, not only for our personal benefit, but also to bring praise and glory to God. The climax of God's purpose, "when the times will have reached their fulfillment," is to bring all things in the universe together under Christ (1:10). It is crucially important that Christians realize this, so in 1:15-23 Paul prays for their understanding (a second prayer occurs in 3:14-21).

Having explained God's great goals for the church, Paul proceeds to show the steps toward their fulfillment. First, God has reconciled individuals to himself as an act of grace (2:1-10). Second, God has reconciled these saved individuals to each other, Christ having broken down the barriers through his own death (2:11-22). But God has done something even beyond this: He has united these reconciled individuals in one body, the church. This is a "mystery" not fully known until it was revealed to Paul (3:1-6). Now Paul is able to state even more clearly what God has intended for the church, namely, that it be the means by which he displays his "manifold wisdom" to the "rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms" (3:7-13). It is clear through the repetition of "heavenly realms" (1:3,202:63:106:12) that Christian existence is not merely on an earthly plane. It receives its meaning and significance from heaven, where Christ is exalted at the right hand of God (1:20).

Nevertheless, that life is lived out on earth, where the practical daily life of the believer continues to work out the purposes of God. The ascended Lord gave "gifts" to the members of his church to enable them to minister to one another and so promote unity and maturity (4:1-16). The unity of the church under the headship of Christ foreshadows the uniting of "all things in heaven and on earth" under Christ (1:10). The new life of purity and mutual deference stands in contrast to the old way of life without Christ (4:17 -- 6:9). Those who are "strong in the Lord" have victory over the evil one in the great spiritual conflict, especially through the power of prayer (6:10-20; see note on 1:3).

Outline

  • Greetings (1:1-2)
  • The Divine Purpose: The Glory and Headship of Christ (1:3-14)
  • Prayer That Christians May Realize God's Purpose and Power (1:15-23)
  • Steps Toward the Fulfillment of God's Purpose (chs. 2-3)
    • Salvation of Individuals by Grace (2:1-10)
    • Reconciliation of Jew and Gentile through the Cross (2:11-18)
    • Uniting of Jew and Gentile in One Household (2:19-22)
    • Revelation of God's Wisdom through the Church (3:1-13)
    • Prayer for Deeper Experience of God's Fullness (3:14-21)
  • Practical Ways to Fulfill God's Purpose in the Church (4:1;6:20)
  • Conclusion, Final Greetings and Benediction (6:21-24)

From the NIV Study Bible, Introductions to the Books of the Bible, Ephesians
Copyright 2002 © Zondervan. All rights reserved. Used with permission.