This is a Preview of the Book Entitled

Ephesians

The Mystery of His Will

By Edwin Ray Frazier, 2016
ISBN 978-0-9978937-2-4

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Introduction

This is a Bible study guide book about Paul's letter to the Christians in Ephesus. It is arranged so as to be useful either for individual study, or for groups that make use of the facilitative approach.

The material is presented to prompt personal contemplation and also the sharing of insights together with others. Reflection/discussion questions are sprinkled throughout.

I am heavily indebted to William Barclay's Daily Study Bible Series, Galatians and Ephesians.

Bible quotes are from the New International Version unless otherwise indicated.

The Thirteen Session Titles Are:

1: Introduction to Paul's Ephesian Letter

2: God's Eternal Secret Revealed 1:1-14

3: Marks of the Church 1:15–23 (more in 5:1-20)

4: Created for Good Works 2:1–18

5: Prisoner or Servant? 3:1–13

6: Filled With the Fullness of God 3:17–19

7: Christian Virtues 4:1–3

8: The Church's Leaders 4:4–16

9: What must be Abandoned 4:17–32

10: You are Light in the Lord 5:1–20

11: Women's Submission 5:21–33

12: Children's and Slaves' Submission 6:1–9

13: Be Strong in the Lord 6:10–24

What is Worth Knowing?

Education is an admirable thing.

but it is well to remember from time to time

that nothing that is worth knowing can be taught. ¹

The deepest truths are best read between the lines,

and, for the most part, refuse to be written.²

We want to learn something that is worth knowing. Our chosen method is a blend of presentation and reflection: presentation of biblical truth in print and introduced by a facilitator, and reflection in individual study and group interaction. Thereby we prompt one another and take advantage of the insights of more than one person. The deepest truths not only refuse to be written; they also refuse to be lectured. So we share, discuss, interact.

Someone has noted that a highly educated scientist speaking about a non-scientific subject is about as dumb as the next person. Similarly, a religious person speaking about another person's religious experience may be like a scientist talking about something that he doesn't understand. Therefore we interact not as experts, but as learners together of those truths worth knowing.

Christianity is a relational religion: our beliefs must shape the way we interact with one another. Group discussion in Bible study is one of the best scenarios for developing Christlike graces. Let us encourage one another with the following guidelines.

Present questions or comments concisely in the awareness that others have valuable insights to offer too. When you talk, stop when you finish. Fewer words can say more. We don't have to talk a lot to say a lot.

If you typically don't say anything, look for a time to say something. We won't jump down your throat.

If you typically talk more than half the others in the group, talk a lot less.

If you have wiser thoughts than others, use your wisdom to draw insights out of others. Ben Franklin was much loved and admired on both sides of the Atlantic, in part because of his humility in conversation.

Let's create a safe atmosphere in which each feels invited but not forced to share thoughts, and feels comfortable expressing a new or unpopular idea.

A choir director says, I want one sound. Each voice complements others; no one stands out. So we discipline our questions and comments. We want the strength and harmony of a large percentage of individuals participating rather than having standouts, either in the choir or in the discussion group.

For example, we may learn the facts about grace and still be ungracious. As we interact in group discussion, we learn to be gracious.

Education is not the filling of a pail but the lighting of a fire. ³

Therefore, let us seek to light one another's faith fire.

1 Oscar Wilde, Gurteen, http://www.gurteen.com/gurteen/gurteen.nsf/id/nothing-can-be-taught., 3-11-2014
2 Amos Bronson Alcott
3 William Butler Yeats

Session 2     God's Eternal Secret Revealed 1:1–14

1 Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, To God's holy people in Ephesus, the faithful in Christ Jesus:

2 Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Praise for Spiritual Blessings in Christ 3 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ.

4 For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love 5 he predestined us for adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will 6 to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves. 7 In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God' grace 8 that he lavished on us. With all wisdom and understanding, 9 he made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in Christ, 10 to be put into effect when the times reach their fulfillment–to bring unity to all things in heaven and on earth under Christ.

11 In him we were also chosen having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will, 12 in order that we, who were the first to put our hope in Christ, might be for the praise of his glory. 13 And you also were included in Christ when you heard the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation. When you believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, 14 who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God's possession–to the praise of his glory.   (Eph 1:1–14)

In This Session

A      Paul, an Apostle 1:1

B      Grace and Peace 1:2

C      In Christ 1:3

D      The Mystery of His Will 1:9

E      Predestined before Creation 1:5,9

F      Works Out Everything 1:11

G      The Seal of the Holy Spirit 1:13–14

A       Paul, an Apostle

Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus (Eph 1:1)

Often though not always, the term apostle in the New Testament referred to Jesus' twelve closest friends. Paul was not among Jesus' twelve, and we find no indication that he had ever seen Jesus in the flesh. So he was accused of not deserving the title of apostle. Apostle however was a general term used in a lot of settings to mean an ambassador or representative who was sent out with a mission.

Paul claimed to be an apostle because: (1) he perceived that the Lord had sent him with a divine mission to the Gentiles (Eph 3:1-8), and (2) he had seen the Lord in his conversion experience on the Damascus Road in Acts 9. Apparently some of Paul's critics were saying that only those who had actually seen Jesus in the flesh could be correctly called apostles. Paul and the Christian gospel had opponents who looked persistently for ways to discredit him.

This dispute is a classic confusion over legalism or spirituality. Paul's opponents had a legalistic outlook on just about everything; Paul had graduated to a spiritual outlook. For Paul's generation the issue was whether it was more important to have seen the Lord in the flesh, or to have had a personal encounter of surrender and commitment to him. For us the issue is whether it's more important to have earthly credentials like church membership and tithing, or to have had a personal encounter of surrender and commitment to the Lord.

ARE WE APOSTLES? WHY? HOW?

B       Grace and Peace

Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. (Eph 1:2)

We've seen this phrase used in the closing of letters today. The word grace had and still has both a profound theological meaning and also a poetic, sentimental meaning. Theologically it names the step forward that the New Testament takes: New Testament grace over Old Testament law/legalism. Poetically and sentimentally it's a warm and comforting concept of loveliness, winsomeness, attractiveness.

Peacealso has a theological meaning as well as a poetic, sentimental meaning. Of course peace is foundational to the gospel from the Christmas angel's announcement of peace on earth for all people (Luk 2:14). In Ephesians 2:14 Paul writes that Jesus himself is our peace. The word described a life or a situation of health, wholeness, fulfillment, and all that is good in life. It was infinitely more than the nervous calm of nations between outright fighting.

We've seen the word shalom in letters and elsewhere. It is a transliteration of the Hebrew word for peace. Our name Irene comes from eirene, the Greek word for peace.

As a greeting or a closing in a letter, therefore, grace and peace is a beautiful and biblically meaningful touch and tone for a Christian to share with someone else: we wish for them grace; we wish for them peace.

WHAT OTHER BIBLICAL GREETING OR CLOSING IS APPROPRIATE?

C       In Christ

who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. (Eph 1:3)

Paul uses the phrase in Christ often, so what does it mean for us to live in Christ?

Think of a person who is completely absorbed in the full flush of love: starry eyes, fluttering heart, can't think clearly, can't talk understandably. Such a person is living in love. We've also seen people who live in hatred. Their every moment and every movement is absorbed in vengeance of some kind. We have seen others whose lives are absorbed in ambition, or greed, or some task. They are enveloped in, imprisoned by it.

There can be no more accurate definition of living in Christ than that we become completely absorbed in loving him and living for him. His life, his teachings, his personality dictate what we see with our eyes, what we feel with our hearts, how we think, how we talk. We are enveloped in him; we are imprisoned in him and by him. Indeed, Paul describes himself as a prisoner of Christ Jesus (Eph 3:1).

HOW DO WE EXPLAIN TO A CHILD WHAT IN CHRIST MEANS?

D       The Mystery of His Will

9 he made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in Christ, 10 to be put into effect when the times reach their fulfillment–to bring unity to all things in heaven and on earth under Christ. (Eph 1:9–10)

A mystery (a couple of translations use the word secret) was something which had been a secret but now was revealed. We think of a mystery as something that's hard to understand, but the meaning in Paul's day was considerably different from its meaning today.

So Paul is writing about the previously unseen, now seen purpose of God: to bring all people together in Christ, or under Christ. Paul's own people, the Jews, had interpreted God's promise to Abraham as God's lifting them up above all other people. They had not accepted that promise as God's plan to bring peace and oneness to the world through Abraham and his descendants. Jesus, a descendant of Abraham, brought that promise to fulfillment in his life, death, and resurrection.

Shortly Paul will go on to explain that the church, the faithful and holy people of God, are God's instrument to touch the whole world with the gospel of Christ.

So this is the mystery: God's eternal plan to bring unity through Jesus. It began in God's promise to Abraham, was made possible by Jesus' life, death, and resurrection, and is to be carried out by the church.

The reason that the plan has been such a secret for so long is that the world is filled with arrogance and prejudice. We see it clearly in Jewish views of Gentiles, and Greek and Roman views of barbarians.

WHAT MODERN PREJUDICE IS COMPARABLE TO THAT OF GREEKS TOWARD BARBARIANS?

E       Predestined before Creation

4 For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love 5 he predestined us for adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will . . . . . 9 he made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in Christ. (Eph 1:4–5, 9)

This passage means that God's plan, which was a mystery but has now been revealed, was in God's mind from before Genesis 1:1, before creation. His purpose for Jesus was to accomplish this plan, and he chose us, the church, to carry it out.

(Calvinism is fond of verse 5, and is big on predestination: essentially the belief that every person's eternal destiny was decided before we were conceived, and we have no free choice. Calvinism is a large belief system with many, many variations, all of which claim to be Calvinistic. Baptists did not think much of Calvinism until the late twentieth century, but it is increasing in strength in Baptist thought today.)

WHAT HAS BEEN YOUR OPINION OF CALVINISTS AND CALVINISM?

F       Works Out Everything 1:11

according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will (Eph 1:11)

We are familiar with Paul's words to the Romans: And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose (Rom 8:28). Both that verse and Ephesians 1:11 say virtually the same thing. God is at work in everything, moving people and all creation toward his purpose of oneness in Christ.

Those who love him are the same people as those who have been called according to his purpose. That is a Hebrew parallelism: saying the same thing in two different ways. We find that way of writing often in the Psalms and Proverbs. All over the world and throughout history God has been preparing people and nations to conform to his purpose of oneness in Christ.

HAVE WE HEARD ROMANS 8:28 QUOTED WITHOUT REFERENCE TO GOD'S PURPOSE?

G       The Seal of the Holy Spirit

When you believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, 14 who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God's possession–to the praise of his glory. (Eph 1:13–14)

The Holy Spirit in us is our guarantee that we are indeed enrolled and enlisted in God's plan of the ages. We may identify that spirit by the virtues named in Galatians 5:22–23 as the fruit of the Spirit, and there are some other virtues named elsewhere in the New Testament. Similarly we may identify the opposites of those virtues as a guarantee that someone has no standing in that inheritance and no part in God's plan of the ages.

HOW ELSE HAVE WE HEARD THE SEAL OF THE HOLY SPIRIT EXPLAINED?

Ephesians: The Mystery of His Will

Paperback   101 pages   13.00

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