1. Ephesians 1:10. Paraphrase this verse.

I found this passage to be very difficult, personally. Let me share some translations of Scripture to shed some light on it.

NIV: … to be put into effect when the times reach their fulfillment – to bring unity to all things in heaven and on earth under Christ.

NLV: And this is the plan: At the right time he will bring everything together under the authority of Christ – everything in heaven and on earth.

ISV: … to usher in the fullness of the times and to bring together in the Messiah all things in heaven and on earth.

He has some great plans for us! Don’t miss it for the world…

2. Ephesians 1:13, 4:30. What is the meaning of being “sealed” by the Spirit?

The Jews received a mark on their body called circumcision. An outward seal that they belonged in the covenant. We receive an inner seal of the New Covenant, the very Spirit of God Himself marks us forever as His.

3. Ephesians 2:1-9. What part did we play in bringing about our salvation?

It is hard to find anything in this passage that can be attributed to us. We were dead. Dead people cannot bring themselves back to life. Someone has to administer life from outside our bodies. That is what God did. He gave us that spark of life, while we were still dead. Then He raised us up together with Him. In the process faith began to flow. How can one not believe that something is happening when suddenly life is flowing through him? Yes, our faith was in there but not even that can we credit to ourselves. It is all, from start to finish, the gift of God. The fact that we are involved in it in any way is totally incidental.

If I were physically dead, and you, a healer, came along and laid hands on me, and I got up, would the “getting up” be something I did to earn that resurrection? Paul’s point. Grace saved you through faith. But even that, not of yourself. Pure gift. Pure grace.

4. Ephesians 2:20, 3:4-5. Who are the foundation stones of the whole church (vs regional and local churches)?

The church was founded and grounded in apostles and prophets. I believe it is better here to think of Old Testament prophets who gave us the Word of God, from Moses to Malachi. Take that and add it to the words of the Apostles and you have a solid foundation.

Your church, and your nation’s church, may have its founders and leaders, but that sort of apostleship is not to be confused with the founding apostles of whom Paul is speaking.

5. Ephesians 3:10, 6:12. What message is given to the “rulers” from the church? What rulers are these?

Chapters 3 and 6 both point to the real “rulers” of the world (for now). These are invisible entities, demonic spirits, who have been given temporary rule here until Jesus comes. Paul says that when we preach and teach our message, demon spirits are aware of what is being said. They have known from the beginning that Jesus is Lord and that one day He shall defeat them. They have heard from the foundational men of the church that Christ rose from the dead, defeated sin and death, shall return one day, and until then they are to be subject to anyone who will use the Name of Jesus to be victorious over them.

6. Ephesians 4:5. What is the one baptism?

Elsewhere Paul says that it is by One Spirit that we are all baptized into One Body. The real baptism is the baptism in and of the Spirit. Water baptism is a part of who we are, but is only a shadow of the ultimate Spirit truth.

7. Ephesians 4:9. When did Jesus go to the lower parts of the Earth? What is there?

Paul must have received this revelation directly from the Lord, or in connection with a conversation with Peter. It is not recorded in the story of the death of Jesus that He went anywhere. But in Spirit He did. I Peter 3:18 informs us that at His death, Jesus departed in the Spirit to visit spirit prisoners who had been chained since the days of Noah.

All other stories you might hear about His travels must be consigned to the realm of fertile imagination. This is all we know. How far down, exactly what the conditions are, what happened after Jesus’ announcement to them… we really have no clue.

8. Ephesians 4:13. What is the pathway to church unity?

The denominations are mostly wrong on this, if I may be so bold. Their idea is that we must take the truth we have and isolate it, and compartmentalize it, and build an organization around it.

Paul tells us that the various men whom Jesus has given to the church, when left to do their duty properly throughout the generations, will gradually lead us all into perfect unity of belief. Until then, the pathway is diversity, struggle, misunderstanding, study, groping, listening, caring.

It is not running off to the denomination and teacher of my choice, thinking he has all the truth. He doesn’t.

Oh that true Christians would come together and study the Word together, and yield to one another, and listen to the men whom God has chosen to lead the flock, rather than this constant separation and division into doctrinal and social clubs.

9. Ephesians 4:17-18. Explain Paul’s assessment of the “nations.”

The truth was revealed to mankind through the Jews, not the Gentiles. Paul is a Jew among Jews, and must tell the truth to his new Gentile friends. The Gentiles, that is, “the nations”, don’t get it. They don’t understand. They all walked away from God’s light, early and often. They are ignorant. Their hearts are hard.

10. Ephesians 4:25-32. Do these commands suggest an automatic sanctifying of man?

Absolutely not. The capacity, the potential, is there, when the Spirit first arrives. But the flesh lingers also. The battle lines are drawn. Paul addresses this battle later in the epistle and tells us exactly what we need to do to be armed and ready for it. There is no excuse for constant failure.

11. Ephesians 5:19. What are these three kinds of songs?

Psalms are what you might think they are. Poems set to music. There are 150+ of them in your Bible.

Hymns are closely related to Psalms, and remind us that the singing of David’s 150 is not the boundary for church music. Write a poem to God, based on the Scriptures of course. Set it to music. You have a hymn.

Spiritual songs are songs given by the Spirit. Some claim to be able to do this in our day. Why not? Is this one of those fabled first-century-only gifts? Who says?

Paul said he would, at will, sing with the Spirit. When he did that, he was creating a spiritual song. It’s that simple. Need not be written down, but can be enjoyed in the moment the Spirit gives it.

12. Ephesians 5:24. Does Paul allow for areas of a married woman’s life that are outside the realm of “subjection”?

Let me keep it simple. The answer is no. She is to be subject in all things. How much clearer could it be? Sorry ladies. I know you want me to say that if a man loves a woman properly, a woman will be able to submit to him properly.

But I don’t read that condition, or may I say, that excuse, in this text. Men must love, but when will women head back to true submission, and heal the church and then the world, of its great departure from the ways of God?

The so-called equal rights movement has caused more damage than we know…

13. Ephesians 6:1. What about parents who are not in the Lord?

This phrase “in the Lord” does not imply disobedience to those parents who are not saved, but it does suggest, I believe, that no child who is a disciple of Jesus is required to obey a command from saved or unsaved parent that violates the expressed will of the word of God.

14. Ephesians 6:5. How did Paul deal with the social conditions of his day?

He seems to have accepted things as they were. Obey the Emperor, though he be Nero, unless of course he asks you to compromise your faith. Slavery? Maybe not a great thing, and you may have a nasty master, but rather than joining protests to end slavery worldwide, just be the best slave you can be. Once more it is assumed that no slave must obey an evil command, but that is not what is under surveillance here. The idea is, slavery is here, Nero is here, darkness is here: let’s shine as the lights we were meant to be!