The Messy Coffee Table

Welcome back to chapter 5 of our Ephesians study! Let's dig in: Imitators of Christ We're slowly nearing the end of this letter from Paul to the church in Ephesus, and we're definitely getting into the nitty-gritty now of what it looks like practically to walk in the "new life" with Christ and put the "old life" behind us (see my post, Ephesians 2: From Death to Life). The beginning of Ephesians 5 is a call to be imitators of God, as Paul began to describe in chapter 4 (Eph. 4:25-32).  Verse two describes Christ as "a fragrant offering" to God. Back in Genesis 8:20-21, Noah's offering after the flood is described as an aroma pleasing to God, and God responds to this pleasing offering with a promise to never again destroy the Earth because of the evilness of mankind. Christ's death on the cross pleases God in the same way, and he responds with an even greater promise...the forgiveness of sins and new life with Him, despite our broken...

Today we pick up in verse 17. In this second section of chapter 4, Paul gives the Ephesians some practical ideas for walking in the Christian life, tangible ways the church can be living out unity and maturity with one another, building each other up. He does this by juxtaposing the old life, which we are to put away, with our new life as believers in Christ. Put Away The Old Life There's a few things Paul uses to identify what our "old self" looked like before we began to walk with Jesus and encourages us to put this old way behind us. According to him, the non-believer has "futility in thinking" (v.17) and is "darkened in understanding" (v.18). This kind of "ignorance" has nothing to do with intelligence, or enlightenment as it would have been called back then (ESV Study Bible, 2269). But combined with their "hardness of heart" (v. 18; in other words, a blindness to God's glory and a lack of knowledge of His love and who H...

Let's dive into Ephesians 4 together. Today we're looking at verses 1-16. (If you're still catching up, select "bible studies" from the top menu. All previous studies are there!) One God, One Body, One Fullness We're back to that theme of unity in the body of Christ. Paul re-emphasizes the importance of pursuing unity within the body because we are all unified under ONE God. He repeats the number "one" eight times---seven times in reference to God and once in reference to us. It's interesting how he does this because Paul is recognizing that we are unified body made up of individuals...each with our own gifts and our own stories. Though our faith journeys may look different from the next person the same message is threaded among all believers, and all combine together under one greater story...God's story. But this is not in a manner of pride...rather, verse 2 describes the character of this walk as very humble. In the time Paul is wr...

Let's continue the journey: open up to Ephesians 3. God's Plan for Unity Among Believers Paul begins with "For this reason...". He's picking up after describing the church as a building, with Christ as the cornerstone (see Ephesians 2). He has encouraged the Ephesians, saying they too are being built together as a church in this way. And so for this reason, Paul would continue... But, being Paul, he sidetracks a bit first to remind the Ephesians of the ministry to which he has been called. In case they were confused or forgot, I guess. Anyway... Here in this long aside is revealed God's "marvelous plan for the Gentiles." That is, God's plan for believers who were not Jewish, descendants from Israel. This includes the believers in Ephesus. He says this is possible because now people are hearing the gospel and believing it as it is " revealed by the Spirit to God's holy people and apostles." (vs. 5). This unifies Jews and Gent...

If you're ready, open up to Ephesians 2 in your Bible. I highly encourage you to read and pray through the chapter on your own first to get a sense of whats going on and also discover the things that stand out to you or raise questions. After you've read, let's continue the journey together. Recall from chapter 1 the themes that will come up over the course of these chapters: unity and reconciliation under Christ. To more fully understand this, Ephesians 2 highlights both the good and the bad, the old life before Christ and our new life in Christ. Let's start with the bad news: The Bad & The Ugly: The Old Life As sons and daughters of Adam (through whom the sin of humankind was passed on), we are all born into a sinful, helpless state (Psalm 51:5; Ecclesiastes 7:20; Rom. 5:12; 1 John 1:8). Paul describes this state as spiritual death (v.1). Before we step into faith in Jesus, by nature (vs.3) we are helpless and separated from God. Paul is pretty explicit in...

Welcome back! Let's dig in...Open up your Bible, read Ephesians 1:15-23. What Do These Verses Say About God and Ourselves? In the first 14 verses Paul is praising God for the faith of the Ephesians, and really fleshes out what it means that they came to faith...how it happens by God's good pleasure and will, all to the praise of His glory. For Him the Ephesians (and all believers in Christ) are made heirs to an inheritance in Heaven, marked with the seal of the Holy Spirit assuring us that we will be united together and with God under Christ (Ephesians 1:1-14). "For this reason," Paul begins in verse 15 (the reason being the God-glorifying faith of the Ephesians), “...I have not stopped giving thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers" (verse 16). Paul has been encouraged by their faith and desires to continue to encourage them towards a life that is fixed on God and his will. He tells them specific things that he has prayed for them, things that tell u...

Welcome to the FIRST EVER Messy Coffee Table Bible Study! Over the next couple months, we will be journeying through the book of Ephesians together. A number of things have kind of inspired the desire to do a Bible study on this blog: The Bible is the unchanging, living, God-breathed Word. It's where my faith is based and the place from which I long to encourage my readers. Ephesians is a book I've always loved in different phases of my faith journey, but have never walked through in an exegetical fashion, so I'd love to do that in the context of a larger community. Priscilla Shirer said at the Passion Conference in 2018, that if you hadn't read through the book of Ephesians yet, that you just had to do it, and that was the last little push I think I needed. Part 1 of Ephesians Chapter 1 (Verses 1-14) There’s a lot going on here...so to be clear from the get-go: I am not a pastor. I do not have a seminary degree. I am just a Jesus-lover exploring the Word of God...