Ephesians Intro, Part 2 - Survey of the Epistle by Steve Gregg 5.20.23

https://thenarrowpath.com | Ephesians - a “prison epistle” of Paul (like Colossians, Philippians and Philemon), written late in his life, probably sometime after AD 60. It has many similarities in subject matter to Colossians, the two books sharing about 78 verses, substantially, in common.

Long sentences. In the original, 1:3-14; 15-23; 2:1-9 and 3:1-7 are each one long sentence.
Theme: The Church is…
• The Family of God (1:5; 2:19; 3:14-15)
• The Body of Christ (1:22-23; 2:15; 3:6)
• The Fullness of Christ (1:23)
• The Temple of the Holy Spirit (2:21-22)
• The Bride of Christ (5:22-32)
• The Army of God (6:11-17)
“In Christ” we…
• are blessed with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places (1:3)
• are chosen before the foundation of the world (1:4)
• are accepted [by God] (1:6)
• have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins (1:7)
• are to be gathered with all things (1:10)
• have obtained an inheritance (1:11)
• were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise (1:13)
• have been made to sit together in heavenly places (2:6)
• experience exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us (2:7)
• as His workmanship, are created for good works (2:10)
• who once were afar off have been brought near by the blood of Jesus (2:13)
• along with believing Jews, are a new creation—one new man (2:15)
• are built up as a building to be the dwelling place of God through the Spirit (2:21-22)
• are fellow heirs, of the same body, and partakers of His promise through the gospel (3:6)
• are forgiven by God (4:32)
• are light (5:8)
Outline of the Book
I. Theological foundations— We have everything “in Christ” (chapters 1-3)
A. Salvation and its benefits—(1:1—2:10)
1. Blessings, election, redemption, forgiveness, the indwelling Spirit (1:3-14)
2. Paul prays that we will grasp the ungraspable (1:15-21)
3. Our new status (1:22—2:22)
a. The body of Christ, the fullness of Him (1:22-23)
b. Risen and exalted in Christ (2:1-7)
c. A new creation in Christ for the performance of good works (2:8-10)
d. A new Israel (2:19)
e. A dwelling place of God (2:20-22)
B. Paul’s marveling at the mystery revealed (3:1-13)
C. Paul’s prayer that we may comprehend the incomprehensible (3:14-21)
II. Practical outworking of these truths (chapters 4-6)
A. Walk worthy of this calling (4:1)
1. In unity of the Spirit (4:2-16)
2. Put on the New Man (4:17-32)
B. Walk in Love (5:1-7)
C. Walk in Light (5:8-14)
D. Walk in Wisdom (5:15-17)
E. Walk in (be filled with) the Spirit (5:18-21
F. Christian conduct in human relationships (5:22—6:9)
1. Marriage (5:22-33)
2. Parent/child (6:1-4)
3. Master/servant (6:5-9)
G. The spiritual warfare (6:10-20)
Closing thoughts (6:21-24)