The Strand Study Bible

EPHESIANS

Author : Paul Theme : The Spiritual Wealth and Walk of the Believer About the Author : See introduction to Romans

About the Book : Paul reminds Christians of the immense spiritual wealth that they possess in Christ (Eph 1:3). The wealth of: predestination (1:5), adoption (1:5), redemption (1:7), forgiveness (1:7), wisdom and prudence (1:8), inheritance (1:11), power (1:19), life (2:1,5), and citizenship (2:6,19). Like the Christians at Ephesus, every believer possesses this same wealth, but, sad to say, few ever seem to recognize it. Because of this, the first three chapters were written to remind Christians everywhere of the incredible abundance of spiritual wealth that they possess as born-again believers. Paul then motivates them in the last three chapters to conduct themselves accordingly. Ephesians was written from Rome c. AD 62, during Paul’s First Roman Imprisonment (Acts 28:29-31). Helpful Background : Ephesians is a letter written by the Apostle Paul to a church he founded c. AD 53 on his Second Missionary Journey (Acts 18:19-21). A year after its establishment (while on his Third Missionary Journey) Paul returned to Ephesus. For the next three years (from AD 54-57), Paul built a thriving, soulwinning work (Acts 19:1-20:31). Four years later in AD 61, Paul found himself under house arrest in Rome penning this epistle along with three others: Colossians (AD 62), Philemon (AD 62), and Philippians (AD 63). Tychicus and Onesimus delivered all four of these epistles (Eph 6:21-22, Colo 4:7-9 and Phile 10-12). Notes of Interest : 1. Ephesians quotes the OT 4 times. 2 of those 4 quotes refer directly to CHRIST . 2. Prophecies are referred to 5 times in Ephesians . 3. Prophecies concerning CHRIST are referred to 3 of those 5 times. 4. There are no OT characters referred to in Ephesians . 5. There is 1 inset map used in the book of Ephesians . It is numbered chronologically (#68). Outline of Ephesians :

1. The spiritual wealth of a Christian (Eph 1-3) 2. The spiritual walk of a Christian (Eph 4-6) Ephesians 1

Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ: 4 According as he hath 3 chosen us in him before the 4 foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame be- fore him in love: 5 Having 5 predestinated us unto the 6 adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of 7 his will,

1. Acts 18:19-21 & 19:1 - 20:1,17-38 2. Exo 34:6 & Joel 2:13 3. or, “elected” - I Pet 1:1-2 & Rom 8:29 4. Mt 25:34 & Rev 13:8 5. Rom 8:29 & Acts 13:48 6. Jn 1:12 & Rom 8:15, 23 & 9:4 & Gal 4:5 7. II Pet 3:9 & I Jn 2:2

Greetings from Paul to the church at Ephesus Date Written - c. AD 62 1 Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, to the saints which are at 1 Ephesus, and to the faithful in Christ Jesus: 2 2 Grace be to you, and peace, from God our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ. The spiritual wealth of a Christian 3 Blessed be the God and Father of our

1:3 According to the original Greek, verses 3-14 is all one sentence. In fact, it is the longest sentence in any Greek literature known to man. The Spirit of God constructed it this way in order to try and overwhelm us with the spiritual blessings that we possess in Christ. THE ADAGE IS TRUE: Christians need to start living in conjunction with who they are instead of who they used to be 1:4 Although not everyone has “chosen” God to save them (salvation is still a “whosoever wants it” type salvation - Rom 10:13), in reality, God has chosen everyone to be saved. Paul said in I Timothy 4:10: For therefore we both labour and suffer reproach, because we trust in the living God, who is the Saviour of all men , specially of those that believe . Though most will reject God’s simple way of salvation (Mt 7:13-14 & 20:16 b & 22:14 and Jn 14:6), still, He is not willing that any should perish (II Peter 3:9). Is not everybody’s name initially written in the Book of Life from birth? According to Psalm 69:28 and Exodus 32:32, it is. The Book of Life is that ledger in Heaven, which contains the names of every born-again believer who is to inherit eternal life (Lk 10:20, Heb 12:23 and Rev 3:5 & 21:27). Thus, the only reason for someone’s name being “blotted out” of the Book of Life is if they came to the age of accountability and rejected CHRIST as their only means of salvation (Dan 12:1, Rev 20:15 and Phil 4:3 ). No one has to go to Hell. People choose to go there because they make light of God’s love and reject His way of salvation. Remember Cain (Gen 4:1-9)? Remember Esau (Gen 25:27-34 and Mal 1:1-5)? 1:5 According to Romans 8:29, Christians are predestinated to be conformed to the image of Christ. Meaning, predestination (the destiny of the elect to act like Christ) is about the “sanctification of the elect” ( that we should be holy and without blame before him in love - vs 4), not the salvation of the elect ( Rom 8:29 c ). 1962