Sermon Tone Analysis

Blessings in Christ

Personal Observations:

v.1, Paul’s affirms his apostleship to the audience as only by the will of God and not man.

v.1, The Ephesians were faithful in Christ

v.2, Paul presents a standard greeting to the Ephesians

v.3,

He begins his letter to the Ephesians with a “worship session” that continues from 3-14; afterwards he has a “prayer session” from 15-23.

v.3, Christians are blessed with every spiritual blessing by Christ, in Christ

v.4, Paul makes the connection between our spiritual blessings and our predestination

v.4, we are called to be holy and blameless before God

v.5, our predestination was established in love, according to His kind intention of will

v.6, God does not hold back His grace from us, but He freely bestows it upon us in Christ the Beloved

v. 7-8, we have redemption in Christ and our sins are covered and forgiven according to the riches of His grace, which he lavished on us (note v.6, twice Paul makes this point)

v. 8-10, In His wisdom and insight, God made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His kind intention, in Christ (note, v.5 and 9, God’s interactions with humanity, where we are saved and exposed to the truth He reveals, it is all based on His kind intention, we are absolutely dependent on Him)

v.11-12, we have our inheritance in Him, a gift established in the beginning according to His will, to the praise of His glory

v. 13-14, we who believe are sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit, given to us as a pledge of our inheritance, for the purpose of redemption in God’s own possessions (v.

6, 12, 14, Paul’s worship session is clear through his repetition of “to the praise of His glory/ of the glory of His grace)

Overview: Paul gives glory to God by praising God’s kindness and grace to sinners, redeeming Christians and gifting them with an inheritance, mentioned multiple times.

Note, this plan was a long time in the making; not sporadic or some emotional outburst on God’s part.

What is also important to observe is that this passage reveals the full Godhead at work in the lives of Christians.

The fullness of the Trinitarian God is 100% involved in the salvation of mankind.

Prayer Requests and Praise Reports

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Intro:

The letter to the Ephesians is called a Prison Epistle (along with Philippians, Colossians, and Philemon) because it refers to Paul’s chains (6:20; cf. ; ; ; ), and to his being the Lord’s prisoner (3:1; 4:1).

Ephesians has been described as “the crown and climax of Pauline theology,” and a bombshell in its explanation of the gospel and of life with Christ .

Author.

The writer of Ephesians identifies himself as Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God (see ; ).

Most of the letter is about two subjects: power and identity.

It describes the power God’s Spirit gives for living.

It shows who we really are without Christ and who we become both individually and corporately with Christ.

It is about how we understand ourselves and how we can get along with each other and God.

The focus on God’s new society also makes Ephesians one of the most important works for understanding the church.

Nothing short of attachment to him will rescue us from the human plight, and nothing can define us as human beings more than attachment to him.

From living with him we learn how to live for him.

Ephesians does not give a list of rules to follow, nor can response be superficial or easy.

This letter requires us to change our inner being and character in a radical way.

Life can no longer merely happen, for all our activity must now take place in, to, and for the Lord.

Truth and love as defined by Christ become the twin forces guiding all else.

In fact, Ephesians has more focus on truth and love than nearly all other New Testament documents.

Snodgrass, K. (1996).

Ephesians (p.

17).

Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan.

■ AUTHOR: The apostle Paul and Timothy.

Recipients.

Because the phrase who are at Ephesus is not in many early manuscripts, and because there is no mention of a local situation or individual believer, many scholars think this letter was an encyclical, intended to be circulated among all the churches in Asia Minor (including those in Smyrna, Pergamos, Thyatira, and Sardis, as well as Ephesus).

It is probably best to view Ephesians as a letter intended for all Christians in Asia Minor, with Ephesus being the primary or first recipient, as Ephesus was a very important city.

From what we know about Ephesus, it was a port city in western Asia Minor, made the capital of the region by Emperor Augustus in 27 BC.

As for Ephesus it was a port city in western Asia Minor, made the capital of the region by Emperor Augustus in 27 BC.

With a population probably above 250,000, it was the most important city in the region.

So logistically speaking, it would be a natural choice for Paul’s church-planting ministry.

reports that Paul’s work there was so effective that after two years all who lived in Asia heard the word of the Lord, both Jews and Greeks.

Paul’s time in Ephesus spanned approximately AD 52–55.

So logistically speaking, it would be a natural choice for Paul’s church-planting ministry.

reports that Paul’s work there was so effective that after two years all who lived in Asia heard the word of the Lord, both Jews and Greeks.

Paul’s time in Ephesus spanned approximately AD 52–55.

Date.

Unlike other letters (e.g., ), however, in Ephesians he mentions no fellow prisoners.

Thus, Paul was incarcerated at the time.

He could have written during his two-year Caesarean imprisonment (; ).

Yet, Paul probably wrote while under house arrest in Rome ().

First, there are many similarities of content and wording between Ephesians and Colossians, suggesting that they were written near the same time, and Colossians was most likely written from Rome (see Introduction to Colossians).

Furthermore, Tychicus delivers both letters (; ).

Rome fits well with the large number of coworkers mentioned in , as compared to Caesarea’s relative smallness.

Because this is a prison epistle, and we know Paul was incarcerated multiple times, if it was written from Rome, Paul penned the letter around AD 60–62.

■ DATE: a.d.

60–61 (Paul imprisoned in Rome).

■ OCCASION:

As for Ephesus itself, it was a port city in western Asia Minor, made the capital of the region by Emperor Augustus in 27 BC.

With a population probably above 250,000, it was the most important city in the region.

Thus it was a natural choice for Paul’s church-planting ministry.

reports that Paul’s work there was so effective that after two years all who lived in Asia heard the word of the Lord, both Jews and Greeks.

Paul’s time in Ephesus spanned approximately AD 52–55.

• To give new believers converted from a background in Judaism, local religions, magic, and astrology a positive grounding in the gospel of Christ.

• To help and admonish believers to cultivate a distinctively Christian lifestyle.

(1) Unity of the Church.

All believers have a God-given unity, which they should recognize and seek to maintain (4:1–6).

Their position as members of one another means laying aside falsehood and speaking truth with each other (4:25).

Among Paul’s letters, Ephesians is second only to Romans in its attention to Gentiles.

Because of amazing grace, they share in blessings once enjoyed only by Israel (2:11–22).

(2) Exaltation of Christ Rather Than His Suffering.

Although Paul referred to Christ’s cross and blood (1:7; 2:13, 16), in Ephesians he does not use the verb meaning “crucify” (cf.

; ; Gl 3:1) or words for Christ’s afflictions (cf.

; ; ).

Instead Paul emphasizes Christ’s exalted state: resurrected, glorified, and seated at God’s right hand ().

All things have been subjected to this exalted Savior (1:22).

■ KEY THEMES:

(3) Community Life and Ethics.

Nearly half the letter treats how believers should live together and before the world.

Very important is the address to wives and husbands (5:22–33), unique in the NT for its length and its treatment of marriage as a picture of Christ and Church.

Also there appear exhortations to community love and harmony (4:25–32), to purity of lifestyle (5:1–14), and to the proper relationship between slaves and masters (6:5–9).

“Be filled with the Spirit” (5:18) is a command unique to Ephesians.

1. Christ is supreme over all of creation, especially the powers of darkness.

\ above all rule and authority and power and dominion (1:21).

Believers are already God’s light in a dark world (5:6–11).

Significantly, Paul gave 11 verses (6:10–20) telling believers how to prepare themselves for spiritual conflict.

In doing so, he gave a unique passage on the armor of God (cf. ; ).

2. Believers participate with Christ in his death, resurrection, and fullness.

(5) Life as Spiritual Warfare.

This last theme is closely connected to the others.

Although other letters warn about the enemy’s work (e.g., ; ), only Ephesians spends so much time on the defeat of evil forces.