Ephesians worshiped their gods in the temple and other areas specifically designed for worshiping. Themes and language common to other pauline letters abound in ephesians. He said, naked i came from my mothers womb, and naked shall i return there. Its origin has customarily been credited to paul the apostle however, beginning in 1792, this has been tested as deuteropauline, that is, composed in pauls name by a later creator. Every book of the bible has a theme and a purpose, and that is true of the book of james as well. Book of ephesians ephesians chapter 1 ephesians chapter 2 ephesians chapter 3 ephesians chapter 4 ephesians chapter 5 ephesians chapter 6. Ephesus was the most important city in western asia minor now turkey.
We also learn that an invisible war is raging between the forces of good and evil. With its exalted view of the church in gods plan of redemption, it is common to suggest the theme as the church, the fullness of christ. Themes of the bible are summarized of each book of the bible in snapshot paragraph form. Book summary the words joy and mind are the words which summarize this book. Theology and themes job bible commentary theology of. Paul, an apostle of christ jesus by the will of god, to gods holy people in ephesus, the faithful in christ jesus. Job marvelously demonstrates the conflict of good and evil. The purpose of this essay is to explore the book of ephesians by commenting on critical issues, such as date, authorship, and setting, major. Ephesians 3 new international version niv gods marvelous plan for the gentiles.
Of course, god may guide us to specific jobs for expressing our fundamental calling. Understanding the book of ephesians and bible study guide. In an effort to drive home his main point act on your faith, james gives. The purpose of the book of ephesians was to warn the church elders about the false teachers that were teaching a false gospel and to maintain their first love that they held when.
Your christian walk in other words, your daily life is to be characterized by unity, holiness, love, wisdom, and perseverance in spiritual warfare. The concept that the elect jews and gentiles compose the one family of god, the one holy nation, is a central theme of the book of ephesians. The city of ephesus was a large commercial port city. The purpose and plan of ephesians preaching source. Following a structural analysis, the commentary takes the book section by section, drawing out its main themes, and also comments on individual verses and problems of interpretation. Paul intended that all who long for christlike maturity would receive this writing. The apostle paul wrote this letter to the churches in ephesus and the surrounding region c. Watch our overview video on the book of ephesians, which breaks down the literary design of the book and its flow of thought. All three letters were sent with tychicus and onesimus.
Six different icons are used throughout the book to call your attention to historicalcultural information, old and new testament references, word pictures, unit summaries, and personal application. There was a man in the land of uz, whose name was job. Key verses and themes in job bible commentary theology of work. E phesians is one of the most encouraging books in the new testament. The book of job opens in verse one by telling us that job was a blameless, upright man who feared god and turned away from evil. The name job is the english translation of the hebrew name iyov which means persecuted, hated on the surface job is a long, boring, somewhat confusing book and one might question how it ever came to be grouped with the wisdom books as it is hard to ascertain any wisdom in this tale of woe. The jews in ephesus also had a synagogue in which paul the apostle of christ began his mission in ephesus. Enclosed within the book of ephesians is the discipline needed to develop into true children of god. The traditional idea, that god deals in one manner with the gentile christians and in another with the jewish christians, and that the races are identifiable in christ, has created havoc in the interpretation of the scripturesparticularly the. Part 1 the main themes of colossians myrtlefield house. Set in uz, an obscure land far from israel, during an unknown time period, the book of job focuses on questions about gods justice and why good people suffer.
From chapter 1 to 6, in that order, you will read about. But whereas colossians focuses on christ of the church, ephesians focuses on the church of christ. Jesus is our joy and this joy is grained more and more into our lives as our minds our renewed into his image day by day. A grand epistle like ephesians almost defies coming up with one main theme. Themes of the books summarized in paragraph form on each. And seven sons and three daughters were born to him. After attempting to fathom the pauline thought of ephesians through a careful consideration of the epistle itself, as well as through the various interpretations of leading new testament scholars, one finds it quite easy to agree with john mackays suggestion that this letter is the most contemporary book in the bible. Ephesians 1 niv paul, an apostle of christ jesus by the bible. Paul emphasizes that we have been saved, not only for our personal benefit, but also to bring praise and glory to god. Colossians aims at presenting the head of the church christ, ephesians focuses on the body of christ the church. Jobs suffering did not come because he was bad but rather because of his unwavering faithfulness to god.
The message of ephesians for the global church is that in christ god has reconciled to himself all things by his free grace, and in so doing he has enabled humans all over the world to be reconciled with one another. Job deals with the question of why do good men suffer. I offer the following commentary and summary for ephesians in this article. With its exalted view of the church in gods plan of. Ephesians guide you through the main themes illuminating fascinating details through appropriate commentary and reference notes. Paul wrote the letter to the ephesians sometime in ad 6061, around the. While early lists of new testament books, including marcions canon and the muratorian fragment, attribute the letter to paul. The two great themes of the book of job, as explained by james, are the perseverance of job and the end intended by the lord, and it is important that we learn both themes. The epistle to the ephesians, also called the letter to the ephesians and often shortened to ephesians, is the tenth book of the new. Themes in the book of job while suffering is the chief theme of the book, a reason for suffering is not given.
Themes in the book of james scripture confident living. The book of job reveals the messiah as my redeemer. Intro to ephesians biblica the international bible society. Ephesians executable outline study resources blue letter bible. Instead, we are told that god is the highest law in the universe and that often his reasons are known only to him.
Book of ephesians overview insight for living ministries. In light of these two great reconciliations, christians worldwide are empowered to live a new life of light and love. Therefore it need a free signup process to obtain the book. The introduction to each book gives a concise but thorough treatment of its authorship, date, original setting, and purpose. The epistle to the ephesians, also called the letter to the ephesians and often shortened to ephesians, is the tenth book of the new testament. He has imputed his righteousness to his body, for now we have been bought with a price and therefore no longer our own but all things are gods. Some believe that ephesians appears to be too dependent on colossians. Purpose, background and structure posted on may 12, 2014 by matt dabbs 1 comment a few weeks ago, i started a wednesday night series on the book of ephesians. Have you not put a fence around him and his house and all that he. During this time he also wrote colossians and philemon. The main theme of james is that of faith and actions, but there are also other themes and key topics addressed in this book.
The book of ephesians was written to gods holy people in ephesus ephesians 1. In the midst of suffering, we must never lose our hope in god. The most appropriate response to failures in our work lives is to acknowledge gods. Introduction from the niv study bible go to ephesians. To accomplish the latter the text has been broken down into a number of small sections and. The purpose and plan of the ephesian letter are inextricably interwoven. Sproul has himself written a very helpful introductory level commentary on it titled the purpose of god. The epistle to the ephesians, also called the letter to the ephesians and often shortened to. We know we are walking in the spirit if tasks of life are done in a rejoicing attitude. Its authorship has traditionally been attributed to paul the apostle but starting in 1792, this has been challenged as deuteropauline, that is, written in pauls name by a later author strongly. Another theme which does justice to the content of the epistle and one that i suggest for this study is that. At the same time, it also asks the question we rarely. The latter half of ephesians makes clear that spiritual growth occurs primarily in community with others, iron sharpening iron proverbs 27. Stay encouraged and united with christ with these popular bible verses from the tenth book of the new testament, ephesians.
Sprouls work, the following are five of the most helpful commentaries on the book of ephesians. Ephesians reveals to us the great mystery of the church which is the body of christ. Ephesians presents many significant themes which bring major contributions of thought. Essay introduction as one begins to read the letter to the ephesians, he is intrigued not only by the many topics that the letter mentions, but also the fact that there are some major differences between this book and pauls other writings. Ephesians niv paul, an apostle of christ jesus by the. Theme verse of ephesians therefore i, the prisoner of the lord, implore you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have been called. Each book has a major theme to carry out gods perfect plan here. However, the separation of these two basic interests and the resolving of the inherent difficulties int. Key verses and themes in job bible commentary theology. May the holy spirit, who inspired the epistle, use it to glorify the lord jesus and reveal him to our hearts so as to provoke our faith and deepen our loyalty, increase our. Addressing the problem of theodicy the vindication of the justice of god in the light of humanitys suffering it is a rich theological work setting out a variety of perspectives.
T he book of ephesians is 6 chapters of solid christian teachings. Christ shall indeed be all, and in all dr gooding states that his aim is to capture the special message that colossians brings to us in a way that no other part of scripture does in quite the same fashion. Welcome,you are looking at books for reading, the ephesians the niv application commentary book 10, you will able to read or download in pdf or epub books and notice some of author may have lock the live reading for some of country. It is similar most of all to colossians, with which it shares common themes. Theology and themes job bible commentary produced by tow project most familiar to bible readers as the righteous man who suffered unjustly, job exemplifies the person who questions why good people suffer. In the modern era, however, questions have been raised about whether paul actually wrote this epistle. Job explores the difficult question of gods relationship to human suffering, and invites us to trust gods wisdom and character. The book of colossians is very similar to that of ephesians, in fact both books have passages with similar themes and phrases. Book summary ephesians reveals to us the great mystery of the church which is the body of christ. Mike vestal covers some of the main events and themes of these books, including how we, as gods people, can look at jobs example of the. The epistle to the ephesians, additionally called the letter to the ephesians and frequently abbreviated to ephesians, is the tenth book of the new testament.
I recommend this volume to anyone who is not familiar with the basic themes of this epistle. I chose to teach ephesians because i think christians today need some help with two things. Job 42 chapters this book is thought to be the first of the bible books written. Study guide for job 1 by david guzik blue letter bible.
The book of ephesians was very likely written between a. Suffering is a means which god uses to perfect us to change us, suffering allows him to manifest himself in our lives in greater degrees, suffering softens our heart, humbles us and pushes us to cry out to him, to ask him for help for him to. He has imputed his righteousness to his body, for now we have been bought with a price and therefore no. Another major theme in ephesians is the keeping of christs body that is, the church pure and holy. Overview of the book of ephesians reformed answers to. Job made his stand against fear and did not give into panic. A few weeks ago, i started a wednesday night series on the book of ephesians.
1145 1012 852 262 1603 948 1313 1087 1535 1524 20 732 1037 1442 60 1094 802 396 1271 127 1350 922 246 515 911 633 1108 156 1140 1204 954 727 164