Reading Through The Bible - Ephesians

Some Books of the bible are very short and some are very long but this one is one of the shortest.

Ephesians  -  NEW TESTAMENT  -  EPISTLE

10th book of the NT 

49th book of the Bible

It starts with a reminder about the redemption & forgiveness we have in Jesus and His grace in

  chapter 1 v 7

What is it?

The Book of Ephesians is one of the Epistles in the New Testament which means it is a Letter.

How Long is it?

It has 6 chapters.

When was it Written?

It is generally thought to have been written between 60 & 62 AD.

Who Wrote it?

Apostle Paul

Chapter 1 v 1 tells us the answer straight away 

"Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God,"

Who was it Written to?

It was written to the church at Ephesus as we see in

ch. 1 v 1

 "To the saints who are in Ephesus, and faithful in Christ Jesus"

Why was it Written? 

Paul had visited Ephesus twice and this letter was written while he was in Prison to encourage the Christians he had met there and the others in the church.  

The Overview Bible  tells us the following

"Paul writes to the church at Ephesus about how to walk in grace, peace, and love."

 

What is the main theme? 

It focuses on being called by Grace 

and how to walk in the Faith

The Overview Bible  tells us the following:

"Paul wrote Ephesians to accomplish two things:

1. Describe the Christian’s calling. The first half of the letter focuses on the Ephesians’ calling. They were chosen by God, sealed with His Spirit, and saved by His grace. 
2. Prescribe the Christian’s walk. The second half teaches how to “walk in a manner worthy” of the Christian’s calling (Eph 4:1). Paul outlines what the Christian walk looks like in various facets of life."

Teach Sunday School  tells us the following

"Paul encouraged the believers telling them they were the adopted sons of God ....  picked before the foundation of the world."

"Paul encouraged the believers to walk in a manner worthy of their calling."

What 2 special relationships does Paul teach about in Ephesians?

Parents & Children.

Husbands and wives.

What very well-known passage in included in this Book?

The Christian Armour in Chapter 6 v 10 - 18

This is where Paul tells the believers to know their enemy and how to stand against him.

This ends with the order to Pray continually in

 verse 18

How does it end?

It ends with the announcement that Paul has sent Tychicus to comfort them and tell them all the news of Paul.

and then a Blessing in ch. 6 v 23-24

23 Peace to the brethren, and love with faith, from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.  

24 Grace be with all those who love our Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity. Amen.

 

Quick outline of Ephesians

1. Our calling in Christ (Eph 1–3)
   • Identity in Christ (Eph 1)
   • Grace in Christ (Eph 2:1–10)
   • Peace in Christ (Eph 2:11–22)
   • Paul’s calling (Eph 3:1–13)
   • Paul’s prayer for the Ephesians (Eph 3:14–21)
2. Our walk in Christ (Eph 4–6)
   • Walk in unity (Eph 4:1–16)
   • Walk differently from the world (Eph 4:17–31)
   • Walk carefully (Eph 5:1–21)
   • Walk in love (Eph 5:22–6:9)
   • Stand firm in the armour of God (Eph 6:10–24)

OTHER BOOKS OF THE BIBLE ARE ADDED REGULARLY AND AN UPDATED LIST CAN BE FOUND AT OUR READING THE BIBLE PAGE 

Sunday Scripture - Ephesians 4 v 2

Sunday Scripture is just simply a thought or two on a Bible verse that may have struck me afresh or maybe for the first time or has always been special to me.

Today I am looking at Ephesians 4 v 2

 Today's verse talks about

        lowliness,

                  meekness,

                            longsuffering,

                                       forbearance

                                                   and love.


Such a lot of virtues to think on and try to put into action.

Can we do this by ourselves?

I don't think so.

I believe we need God's help to provide the lowliness, meekness, longsuffering, and love in our lives because they are not part of our human nature.


With His help we will be able to love others more like He loves them.

With His help we will come to the point where we will be able to

forbear one another in love

because that means to be patient with one another, have self-control in situations with each other, show restraint and tolerance in words and actions which is only possible through truly loving someone.


As always I like to make sure we are taking this verse in context so let's read the first 6 verses of this chapter

I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called,

2 With all lowliness and meekness, with longsuffering, forbearing one another in love;

3 Endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.

4 There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling;

5 One Lord, one faith, one baptism,

6 One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.

From this we can see that the theme here is unity, there should be no strife, no aggression, no impatience, etc. as we walk in the Spirit together and it is all because of love, the love that we all have received and the love which we are called to show to others - His love flowing through us.

It's Holiday time

          and the gardens are blooming

                    so I chose a flower to focus on

                                 when I was making a graphic for today's verse

Have you ever decided to ask God to help you grow these virtues in your life by the work of 

the Holy Spirit?

Have you ever decided to ask God to help you love others as He loves them?

This is an action on our part that God has told us we must do

but

we really need God's help because we cannot love others without it,



and we certainly cannot stand by them through everything without it.

Let's think on this as we go through this week.

Smile God Loves You! Ephesians 5:2 - Sunday Scripture

This Sunday's Scripture on God's Love is Ephesians 5:2  

So many times when looking at a verse from Scripture I come back to these 

Question Words.

Who?

                    How?

                                        What?

                                                            Why?

 In this verse we are exhorted to Walk in Love but the verse goes on to tell us how to do this 

by following the example of God's Love.

Who gives the example for us to follow?
Christ.   We have seen that He loves us.


How do we know He loves us?
He gave Himself in our place.


What did He become?
An offering for us to God, a sacrifice instead of us.


Why did He do that?
To make an aroma of fragrance for God to be able to enjoy.

Because of Jesus we can be a sweet fragrance unto God.

If God had not had such great love for us then Christ would not have loved us and there would have been no sacrifice to prepare our way back to God.

It all stems from God's Love to us.

There is no hope for us without God's Love for us.

Surely this should make us smile each day.

Why We Worship 9

I am taking time each week to ask myself "Why we worship"

Today I want to look at God's Mercy.

Mercy is "not getting what you deserve". 

ie.  It is like a judge finding you guilty of a crime, but then not administering any punishment.

The Bible tells us that God is Merciful towards us.

So God shows us his mercy by not giving us the punishment we deserve.

          The punishment we should receive because of the sin in our lives.

          The Punishment which should be death and complete separation from God.

This is a compelling reason for us to worship God and give Him thanks.

Thank you God that you are a merciful God.

Can you pray this along with me?