Part 1 - Grace and Peace

Introduction

Ephesians 1:1–2 ESV

Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, To the saints who are in Ephesus, and are faithful in Christ Jesus: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

New series on Ephesians. Commitment to expository preaching. Lectio continua. Your commitment to expository listening. Listening kung ano ang sinasabi ng Diyos, gustong sabihin ng Diyos, hindi kung ano ang preferences natin, o sa tingin natin ay mas kailangan natin o mas relevant.

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

Sino si Paul? Why important for us?

Apostle of Jesus Christ. “...he writes as one of Christ’s authorised and empowered witnesses to proclaim the eternal and cosmic will of God, which we will find set out in Ephesians” (Richard Coekin, Ephesians for You, 8).

By the will of God. Not will of man. Not his own will.

In prison. Probably in Rome, about AD 61-62.

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

Sino ang mga Ephesian Christians? Why important for us?

Ephesus (not in earlier manuscripts). Maybe a circular letter, for all churches in the region (now Turkey). Paul 2 1/2 years in Ephesus. Acts 19, “Cosmopolitan and commercial.” Pagan, devoted to the temple of the Greek goddess Artemis. Letter’s emphasis “on Christ’s supremacy over the devil and demonic powers” (Coekin, 8).

Saints.

Faithful.

In Christ Jesus.

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ

Greeting. And prayer. Why is this important?

Grace to you and peace. Combination of customary Gentile and Jewish prayers.

from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Trinitarian source.

Theme: Gospel Riches, Union with Christ, and the Church

Gospel Riches

Union with Christ. “Union with Christ is the Spirit-wrought dynamic that ensures our growth in likeness to Christ.” Ian Hamilton, Ephesians, ed. Joel R. Beeke and Jon D. Payne, The Lectio Continua Expository Commentary on the New Testament (Grand Rapids, MI: Reformation Heritage Books, 2017), 11.

The Church

Structure

Indicative-Imperative

Implications for how we read Scripture

For the Christian life and discipleship