BOOK OF EPHESIANS

AN INTRODUCTION

Devotional Bible Study

The Epistle of Paul the Apostle to the EPHESIANS

Ephesians is addressed to a group of believers rich beyond measure in Jesus

christ, but who continue to live as beggars.
Why do they remain in spiritual poverty?

Because they remain ignorant of their true wealth.

No christian has to live like a spiritual beggar when God offers riches beyond
all imagining.

To move from poverty to prosterity, however, believers must first listen to and
meditate on what God's word says about their tru standing, and then access it
and begin living it by faith. The is no other way.

To move from poverty to prosterity, however, believers must first listen to and
meditate on what God's word says about their tru standing, and then access it
and begin living it by faith. The is no other way.
The Epistle of Paul the Apostle to the EPHESIANS

The traditional title of this epistle is Pros Ephesious, “to the Ephesians.

The epistle was directly addressed to the Ephesians, but written in such a way
as to make it helpful for all the churches in Asia.

Themes: The spiritual bounty of the Christian and the unity of the church in
Jesus Christ.
Author: The apostle Paul.

Time: Likely written from prison in Rome about AD 60-62.

Structure:
v 1-3: describes the content of the Christoian's heavenly bank account: adop-
tion, acceptance, redemption, forgiveness, wisdom, ineritance, the seal of the
Holy Spirit, life, grace, citizenship - in short, every spiritual blesings.
The Epistle of Paul the Apostle to the EPHESIANS

Structure:
v 1-3: describes the content of the Christoian's heavenly bank account: adoption,
acceptance, redemption, forgiveness, wisdom, ineritance, the seal of the
Holy Spirit, life, grace, citizenship - in short, every spiritual blesings.

v 4 - 6: lays out spiritual walk roted in that spiritual wealth.

Ephesians 2:10 gives a good outline for the book:”For we are His workmanship,
created in Christ Jesus (1-3) for good works,... that we should walk in them (4-6)
 Life Principles
12. Peace with God is the fruit of oneness with God.
Ephesians 1:3-12

17. We stand tallest and strongest on our knees.

Ephesians 3:16-19

9. Trusting God means looking beyond what we can see to what God sees.
Ephesians 3:20-21

25. God blesses us so that we might bless others.

Ephesians 4:28

8. Fight all your battles on your knees and you win every time.
Ephesians 6:10-20
Answers to Life Questions:
How can I develop a better self-image?
Have you ever wondered how God views your life?
Do you worry that He sees your flaws and mistakes and loves you less?

Do not worry! God knows you perfectly and loves you completely just the
way you are. You are His masterpiece - His workmanship of grace and love
- His work of art. He continues to paint the colors of your life in such a
way that you will glorify Him.

“We are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which
God prepared beforehand, thatwe should walk in them” Ephesians 2:10
Every frustration, every disappointment, and every joy has a purpose.
(Romans 8:28 - And we know that all things work together for good to
those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.)
God rejoices over you, though He knows you are not yet what you will be when you step into
the eternal presence of God (1Cor 13:12). Until that time, God is patiently molding and shaping
your life into the image of his Son.
Life Principles
3. God's word is an immovable anchor in times of storm.

13. Listening to God is essential to walking in times of storm.

What the bible says about GRIEVING THE HOLY SPIRIT

Did you know that we can short-circuit the effective work of

the Holy spirit in our lives by grieving Him?
Ephesians 4:30 - Do not grieve the Holy Spirit

How do we grieve the Holy

Spirit?When we disobey God's commandments and when we choose to
act in unrighteous ways. We displease the Lord when we know
what to do and then choose to do the opposite.
“Your ungodly behaviour breaks the heart of God.”
Our conduct tarnishes God's good name, but also because He
loves us and deeply desires to reward us, bless us, and see good
fruit
produced in and through us - not discipline us.
God knows that sin injures us and saddles our lives with negative
consequences. When we know that our loved ones do things that
harm them, we feel grieved. So does He.
How can we avoid grieving the Holy Spirit?

1. Choose to keep God's commandments.

2. To live a disciplined life by depending on the power of the Spirit.
3. When we sin, we confess the sin immediately and repent of it, changing
our minds and our behavior to conform to God's Word.
Ask the Holy spirit to lead us and help us every day.

Through the help of the Holy Spirit, we enjoy a successful Christian

walk. He keeps our footing sure.
Life Principles
21. Obedience always brings blessings.

22. To walk in the Spirit is to obey the initial promptings of the spirit.
 ANSWERS TO LIFE'S QUESTIONS:

Why is it important to forgive others?

All of us, at one point, have to deal with issue of unforgiveness.

When we allow a bitter spirit to lodge in our souls, where it grows and
festers, it becomes both painful and destructive. Unforgiveness lies at the root
of many of the physical, emotinal, psychological, and spiritual problems we see
today.

The Apostle Paul wrote, “Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamour, and evil
speaking be put away from you, with all malice. And be kind to one another,
tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you”
(Eph. 4:31-32). When Paul spoke of bitterness, wrath, anger, clamour, and evil
speaking, he was describing the ugly manifestations of as “spirit of
unforgiveness”.
A spirit of unforgiveness goes beyond a temporary unwillingness to forgive,
the period between the time a person gets hurt and the time he forgives
the one who hurt him. A spirit of unforgiveness develops when the one
hurt chooses to remain in that unforgiving state.
 ANSWERS TO LIFE'S QUESTIONS:

Why is it important to forgive others?

People who develop thisnasty spirit often say, “I just don't think I could ever
forgive that”. They make the statement when thy feel they have been
treated in such an unjust, unfair, harmful way that they simply can't let go
of the pain.

We are all going to be hurt. Every one of us has been hurt, are hurting now,
or are going to be hurt by somebody. The only way we can insulate
ourselves against being hurt is to completely remove ourselves from the
possibility of love. To risk love is to risk hurt.

Hurt is unavoidable, but we can deal with hurt. No pain is too deep or too
widespread to lie beyond the power of God's forgiveness, working in and
through us. Unforgiveness, is a choice we make with the will - and its a
devastating bad choice, not only for the relationship, not oly for the cause
of Christ, nut also for the one who refuses to forgive.
 ANSWERS TO LIFE'S QUESTIONS:

Why is it important to forgive others?

We should'nt forget that it was our loving Saviour, Jesus Christ, who ended a
story on the necessity of forgiveness with these words: “And his master was
angry and delivered him to the torturers until he should pay all that was due
to him. So My heavenly Father also will do to you if each of you, from his heart,
does not forgive his brother his trespasses” (Matt. 18:34,35)

Life Principles
2. Obey God and leave all the consequences to Him.

5. God does not require us to understand His will, just obey it, even if
it seems unreasonable.
 Life Examples: TYCHICUS
Ephesians 6:21

Each time Tychicus is mentioned in Scripture (Acts 20:4; Eph. 6:21;Tim. 4:12;
Titus 3:12), he is running errands for the apostle Paul, then a prisoner in
Rome. In a sense, he is Paul's “messenger boy”.

Paul himself wrote, Tychicus, “ Tychicus, a beloved brother, faithful minister,

and fellow servant in the Lord, will tell you all the news about me.
I am sending him to you for this very purpose, that he may know your cir-
cumstances and comfort your hearts.” (Col. 4:7,8)

We might feel tempted to evaluate Tychicus's ministry as minor, especially

when compared to Paul's. But do you realize that Tychicus delivered
Paul's messages to several churches, and thus played a major part in
distributing the Word of God? Is that unimportant? Absolutely not!
Tychicus has a crucial ministry, and he fulfilled it.

Will you allow him to inspire you to fulfill your own crucial ministry, whatever it is?
Life Principles
6. You reap what you sow, more than you sow, and later than you sow.

22. To walk in the Spirit is to obey the initial promptings of the spirit.