Studying Ephesians as a Church
Welcome to Ephesians
““Pound for pound Ephesians may well be the most influential document ever written.””
This Spring we are going to be jumping into the book of Ephesians as a church. Ephesians is a wonderfully beautiful book. Throughout history, the church has had trouble even describing it’s power and magnificence.
Commentator Klyne Snodgrass wrote: “Pound for pound Ephesians may well be the most influential document ever written.” Can you think of a more significant claim you can make about a book?
In the “Introduction” to his series on Ephesians, Martyn Lloyd-Jones wrote this:
“It is very difficult to speak of [Ephesians] in a controlled manner because of its greatness and because of its sublimity. Many have tried to describe it. One writer has described it as ‘the crown and climax of Pauline theology’. Another has said that it is ‘the distilled essence of the Christian religion, the most authoritative and most consummate compendium of our holy Christian faith’. What language! And it is by no means exaggerated.
. . . . the peculiar feature and characteristic of the Epistle to the Ephesians is that here the Apostle seems to be, as he puts it himself, in ‘the heavenly places’, and he is looking down at the great panorama of salvation and redemption . . . The result is that in this Epistle there is very little controversy; and that is so because his great concern here was to give to the Ephesians . . . a panoramic view of this wondrous and glorious work of God in Jesus Christ our Lord.
. . . Luther says of the Epistle to the Romans that it is ‘the most important document in the New Testament, the gospel in its purest expression’, and in many ways I agree that there is no purer, plainer statement of the gospel than in the Epistle to the Romans. Accepting that as true, I would venture to add if the Epistle to the Romans is the purest expression of the gospel, the Epistle to the Ephesians is the sublimest and the most majestic expression of it. . . .There are statements and passages in this Epistle which really baffle description. The great Apostle piles epithet upon epithet, adjective upon adjective, and still he cannot express himself adequately. There are passages in [the] first chapter, and others in the third chapter, especially towards its end, where the Apostle is carried out above and beyond himself and loses and abandons himself in a great outburst of worship and praise and thanksgiving. I repeat, therefore, that there is nothing more sublime in the whole range of Scripture than this Epistle to the Ephesians.
That’s Martin Lloyd-Jones for “Ephesians is really good.” I hope that stirs up your heart for what is ahead. Ephesians is spiritual dynamite and therefore radically transformative. So, let us embark on a journey deep into God’s word together as a church, as we seek to let it shape every facet of our lives – “to the praise of his glorious grace!”
What you need to know
Let me take you through the basics of what you need to know as you approach this letter:
Author
Ephesians was written by the Apostle Paul, as the letter itself twice claims: “Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God” (1:1), and “for this reason I, Paul, a prisoner for Christ Jesus on behalf of you Gentiles…” (3:1). Despite being a militant opponent of the early church, Paul had an amazing conversion to following Jesus. He was transformed by a personal encounter he had with the resurrected Christ while on the road to Damascus to persecute and imprison followers of Jesus! Jesus knocked Paul off his horse, blinded him, and asked Him a terrifying questions: “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?” (Acts 9:4). Paul writes the letter from prison around AD 60-62, probably in Rome where he finds himself at the end of Acts. He would never be a free man again, being executed in Rome in AD 64.
Purpose
Unlike many other New Testament letters, Ephesians doesn’t appear to have been written to address a particular question or concern in a local church, but was probably intended to be distributed to the churches in the region. This means that the letter is general in nature, and covers a wide range of topics on what it means to be “in Christ”. Ephesians takes a “cosmic” view of the gospel - God’s reconciling the world to Himself in Christ.
The city of Ephesus, located on the western edge of modern day Turkey, was the major city in the region. Economically powerful and socially diverse, the greatest feature of the city’s identity was that it was home to the great temple of Artemis. This temple was so significant it was named one of the seven wonders of the ancient world, and its honour so important to the inhabitants that Paul’s preaching of Christ caused a riot as the public defended Artemis supremacy.
Structure
The book divides neatly into two halves: chapters 1 - 3 focusing on gospel doctrine while chapters 4 - 6 apply those gospel doctrines to various areas of life and church practice. For our study of the book, we are going to be breaking the book into 5 mini-series:
Salvation (1:1-2:22)
The Church (3:1-4:16)
New Living (4:17-5:21)
Gospel-Centred Relationships (5:22-6:9)
Spiritual War (6:10-24)
Overview of our series
Part #1: Salvation
1. WE ARE Chosen (1:1-6)
2. WE ARE Redeemed (1:7-10)
3. WE ARE Sealed (1:11-14)
4. WE ARE Loved (1:15-21)
5. WE ARE Made Alive (2:1-7)
6. WE ARE Saved (2:8-10)
7. WE ARE Reconciled (2:11-22)
Part #2: The Church
8. A CHURCH That Reveals the Wisdom of God (3:1-13)
9. A CHURCH That Prays for the Fullness of God (3:14-21)
10. A CHURCH That is Unified by Christ (4:1-6)
11. A CHURCH That is Maturing (4:7-16)
Part #3: New Living
12. THE GOSPEL BRINGS New Life (4:17-32)
13. THE GOSPEL BRINGS Light (5:1-14)
14. THE GOSPEL BRINGS Wisdom (5:15-21)
Part #4: new loving
15. THE GOSPEL SHAPES Relationships #1 (5:22-33)
16. THE GOSPEL SHAPES Relationships #2 (6:1-9)
Part #5: War Armour
17. STAND FIRM (6:10-24)
Studying Ephesians for Yourself
Reading ephesians
To give you a good grounding in the book, let’s do a close reading of the book together.
Step 1: Pray
Pray that God will give you wisdom and insight as you study the letter of Ephesians.
Step 2: Read the entire book in one sitting
Ephesians is actually quite short, only six chapters and should only take 15-20 minutes to read through. Reading it in one sitting will give you a big broad view of the book, and to be honest, this is primarily how the book should be read. Why? Because that’s how the recipients would have read it! Yes, we will be breaking it apart verse by verse and seeking to understand its meaning over the coming months, but we shouldn’t do that without also reading it as a whole letter. While reading it, try take note of the big ideas, themes and words Paul keeps coming back to.
Step 3: Read again!
This time, read it and highlight the following words. Look at how they’re used and what they are adding:
#1 - In Christ: This is one of Paul’s favourite ways to speak about the followers of Jesus. Go looking for the phrase and see it everywhere!
#2 - Love: Love is a big theme in Ephesians - first God’s love for us and then our love for others.
#3 - God the Father, Jesus Christ the Son, and the Holy Spirit: Paul often mentions different members of the Trinity in different ways. How does he refer to the roles of God the Father, Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit?
Step 4: Commit to reading the book often
Through the series, commit to continuing to come back to the book. Read it often. Read it fast. Read it slowly. But don’t leave it on the shelf. You might want to commit to reading the book once a week for the duration of the series. You might want to attempt to memorize the entirety of chapter 1 by the end of the year. You might want to pick just 10 different verses to memorize.
Recommended Reading for Ephesians
Sometimes when you travel to a strange and foreign country, it’s good to have a reliable guide to help you come to grips with what you’re seeing. So it is with the biblical texts. You might like to grab a copy of one (or all!) of these to help you in your exploration of Ephesians.
