Teaching Ephesians – The Gospel of Your Salvation (Part 17)

Grace Thoughts

Teaching Ephesians – The Gospel of Your Salvation (Part 17)

Courtesy of D. Osseman library

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Courtesy of D. Osseman library

We are sharing a special series about teaching the Book of Ephesians in small groups. If you haven’t read the Introduction to the series, we invite you to read it here.

Whether you are interested in studying Ephesians for the purpose of teaching it to small groups or for your own personal study, we believe you will find this series helpful.

We are currently in the middle of Chapter Three.

Basic Premises for Studying Scripture

God is worth knowing
His Word is worth learning and obeying
Because God is worth knowing and His Word is worth learning, we will follow a proven method of knowing Him and learning His Word.
We will use the I – M – D – I method of Bible study:
Inductive – Methodical – Direct – Independent
Inductive study – “logical, objective, impartial reasoning” … examining specifics of Scripture before reaching conclusions
Methodical study – “a way or path of transit” (Greek – methodos) … focused on taking the proper path to gaining knowledge about God
Direct study – “relying on Scripture as the primary tool for learning”
Independent study – “original thinking combined with Spirit insight”
Observe (See and Record)
Question (Ask and Answer)
Interpret (Determine the Holy Spirit’s Intent)
Apply (How God’s Truth applies to your life)

Bible Study – The Group Process

We invite you to model the process of observing, asking questions for interpretation, interpreting for meaning, and applying for discipleship for your small group. This process may be new to some of the people in your group, so going through it with them for awhile may help them feel comfortable with how to do it.

One of the biggest mistakes people make in reading the Bible is trying to interpret the meaning of individual verses before observing everything in the verses. Studying in context also helps keep us from making incorrect interpretations. That means starting the observation process at the beginning of each Bible book.

The challenge in studying alone or with the group is trying to determine the meaning of passages in the Bible before assuring that we’ve observed everything in the passages and asked every possible question. We carefully answer all of the questions before reaching a conclusion to the meaning.

Read the Scripture and go through each step with your group. You may be able to cover observation, questions, interpretation and application in one meeting, but don’t rush the process. It takes time to see everything in a text, ask good questions, get good answers to those good questions, interpret the meaning of the text and apply the meaning to life. If it takes two or three meetings to do that for each text, that’s fine! The goal is to rightly divide God’s Word, not finish by a certain date.

Observe – Write what you see

Ephesians 3:11

… according to the eternal purpose which He accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord.

The Apostle Paul carefully crafted the theology (knowledge of God) of Ephesians in the first half of the letter (chapters one – three). He brought all of it to the mountaintop of God’s purpose when he wrote: “To me, who am less than the least of all the saints, this grace was given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ, and to make all see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the ages has been hidden in God who created all things through Jesus Christ; to the intent that now the manifold wisdom of God might be made known by the church to the principalities and powers in the heavenly places.”

We see there the reason Jesus Christ called Saul of Tarsus on the road to Damascus:

But rise and stand on your feet; for I have appeared to you for this purpose, to make you a minister and a witness both of the things which you have seen and of the things which I will yet reveal to you. I will deliver you from the Jewish people, as well as from the Gentiles, to whom I now send you, to open their eyes, in order to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those who are sanctified by faith in Me.’ Acts 26:16-18

Jesus added Saul (Paul) to the ranks of the apostles for the eternal purpose of destroying the “works of the devil” (1 John 3:8). Jesus appointed Paul to be “a preacher, an apostle, and a teacher of the Gentiles” (2 Timothy 1:11). Jesus said that Paul would be a witness “of the things which I will yet reveal to you.” Jesus did reveal special things to Paul (2 Corinthians 12) that were part of a mystery “which from the beginning of the ages has been hidden in God.” It is a mystery that God has made known “by the church to the principalities and powers in the heavenly places.” All of the spiritual powers see through this mystery that Jesus is destroying the works of the devil.

Part of the mystery is what Paul referred to as “the fellowship of the mystery.” Paul explained that in Ephesians 2:

Therefore remember that you, once Gentiles in the flesh—who are called Uncircumcision by what is called the Circumcision made in the flesh by hands— that at that time you were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For He Himself is our peace, who has made both one, and has broken down the middle wall of separation, having abolished in His flesh the enmity, that is, the law of commandments contained in ordinances, so as to create in Himself one new man from the two, thus making peace, and that He might reconcile them both to God in one body through the cross, thereby putting to death the enmity. And He came and preached peace to you who were afar off and to those who were near. For through Him we both have access by one Spirit to the Father. Ephesians 2:11-18

God confused the one language of all the people of the world (Genesis 11), then chose one man to become the father of a chosen people for Himself (Genesis 12; Deuteronomy 14:2). God created one new man from the two (Jew and Gentile), “thus making peace, and that He might reconcile them both to God in one body through the cross, thereby putting to death the enmity.” That is the great “mystery” Paul preached .. a mystery given to him by Jesus Christ.

Ephesians 3:11 in Greek

κατα προθεσιν των αιωνων ην εποιησεν εν χριστω ιησου τω κυριω ημων

according to the eternal purpose … κατα προθεσιν των αιωνων

The mystery Paul preached was according to (kata) the eternal purpose (prothesin tōn aiōnōn – purpose of the ages). The New Living Translation calls it the “eternal plan,” which is also a good way to describe it. God predetermined, purposed ahead of time (prothesin), that He was going to do what He did through the death and resurrection of the Son of God. This predetermination happened in eternity, not in time. The mystery is not God’s reaction to His plan not working at some point in history. The mystery is that God had a purpose and predetermined a plan that is working.

which He accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord … ην εποιησεν εν χριστω ιησου τω κυριω ημων

The word “accomplished” is epoiēsen. It means “to make or do.” God “made” (created) one new man (Christian) from the two (Jew and Gentile) “by the blood of Christ” (Ephesians 2:13). God accomplished His eternal purpose/plan “in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

Think about that for a minute. God’s eternal purpose was “accomplished” in Christ Jesus. Jesus, the Son of God, is at the center of God’s eternal plan. When Jesus said, “It is finished” (John 19:30), He was pointing to the completion of God’s eternal purpose. Jesus died on the Cross and rose from the grave to abolish death and bring life and immortality to the “one new man” He created. That was Paul’s mystery.

Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me His prisoner, but share with me in the sufferings for the gospel according to the power of God, who has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace which was given to us in Christ Jesus before time began, but has now been revealed by the appearing of our Savior Jesus Christ, who has abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel, to which I was appointed a preacher, an apostle, and a teacher of the Gentiles. 2 Timothy 1:8-11

Observe – Write what you see

… according to the eternal purpose which He accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord. Ephesians 3:11

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Question – Ask and answer questions based on observations

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Interpret – What is the Holy Spirit’s intent in these verses?

Apply – How can you apply these spiritual truths to your life?

Next Time

We will look at Ephesians 3:12 in the next part of our series, Teaching Ephesians.

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Teaching Ephesians – The Gospel of Your Salvation (Part 17)