Ephesians
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Peace, Grace and Undying Love
Paul bookends Ephesians with a salutation of grace and peace and a benediction of peace and grace. Along with....
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Genuine Care for One Another
Paul and the Ephesians shared great care and concern for one another. Given their diverse cultural....
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Encouragement from the Front
In Ephesians 6:21, Paul says he has sent Tychicus with the letter so he might give them a good report to encourage their hearts. Paul is....
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Pray for Gospel Preaching
In Ephesians 6:19-20, Paul, an ambassador in chains, requests prayer. His request is not to be...
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In the Need of Prayer
In Ephesians 6:19, Paul requests prayer for himself. We have nothing that we did not receive and accomplish nothing apart from...
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The Mystery of the Gospel
In Ephesians 6, Paul says that he is an ambassador in chains for proclaiming the mystery of the Gospel. While human beings could...
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Pray for All the Saints
In Eph 6:18, Paul tells us to pray for all the saints. What should be the content...
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Intercessory Prayer
In Ephesians 6:18, prayer for all the saints is part of Paul’s comprehensive portrait of...
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Be Alert, Pray with Perseverance
In Ephesians 6:18, Paul’s admonition on prayer requires “staying alert” that we might pray at all times with all perseverance. The theme of...
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Pray with all Perseverance
In Ephesians 6:18, there are four “alls” of prayer that Paul references that...
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Pray at all Times
In Ephesians 6:18, Paul admonishes us with four “alls” of prayer. The second is pray at all times. Throughout the...
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Praying in the Spirit
In Ephesians 6:18, Paul tells us to pray with all kinds of prayer and supplication “in the Spirit.” The Holy Spirit is...
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Prayer and Warfare
Paul’s most comprehensive instruction on prayer follows admonitions to stand fast in spiritual warfare. We are strengthened with...
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Prayer and Warfare
In Paul’s instruction on spiritual warfare (Ephesians 6:10-20) we find that the armor of God and devout prayer are...
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Wielding the Sword Pt 3
In spiritual warfare, victory is achieved with the Word of God, rightly interpreted and guided by the Holy Spirit. The Word of God is effective in every situation. It is all that is needed to expose the fallacies of...
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Wielding the Sword Pt 2
In Eph 6, Paul explains that the Christian’s warfare is not with flesh and blood. It is a spiritual battle. The only offensive weapon in the armor of God is "the sword of...
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Wielding the Sword Pt 1
Jesus first donned the armor that’s been bequeathed to us. He discerned all things, put his enemies to...
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The Helmet of Salvation
The helmet of salvation in Ephesians 6:17 is referred to as the hope of salvation in 1 Thessalonians. Paul is recognizing that...
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The Shield of Faith
Satan has many schemes and methods for assaulting God’s people. Paul likens the attacks to blazing arrows which are intended not only to...
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Prepared by the Gospel of Peace
As ironic as it may seem, the warfare with the devil is the result of peace with God. The Gospel of peace is...
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The Armor of Peace
As ironic as it may seem, the warfare with the devil is the result of peace with God. The Gospel of peace is...
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The Armor of Righteousness
The breastplate of righteousness protects our hearts from the condemnation of God’s holy Law, our own conscience and the...
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The Armor of Truth
In Ephesians 6:14, Paul begins enumerating God's provision that enables His children to withstand the schemes of the devil. He...
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Standing Firm
In Ephesians 6:11-14, Paul uses variations of the word “stand” four times. This is clearly the heart of the instruction. We are to...
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Resisting in the Evil Day
In Ephesians 6:13, Paul calls for us to withstand the pressure we will face in...
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The Schemes of the Devil
In Ephesians 6, Paul addresses the issue of spiritual warfare. He calls upon Christians to be clothed with the armor of God in order to...
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The Nature of Our Ancient Foe
In Ephesians 6:11-12, Paul prepares the saints for battle with the devil. While Satan is no match for God, in our own strength we are no match for...
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Finally, Be Strong in the Lord
In Ephesians 6:10, Paul begins his last set of admonitions. By introducing this section with the word “finally,” Paul draws forward all of...
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Godly Masters in the Workplace
After instructing laborers on godly service, Paul addresses those who have authority over them. He reminds them that they will answer to God for how they treat those in their charge. A godly master will recognize that...
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Serving Christ in the Workplace
Underlying Paul’s instruction to slaves and masters in Ephesians 6:5-9 are broader principles of Christian conduct for earthly enterprise. The same temptations that slaves and masters faced can...
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Bondservants and Masters
In Ephesians 5:5-9, the Apostle Paul addresses the ubiquitous labor/authority relationship that existed in that day in the institution of slavery. While the status of slaves was...
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Raising Children in the Lord
In Ephesians 6:4, Paul commands parents to tenderly and affectionately nurture their children toward maturity in the discipline and...
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Do Not Provoke Your Children
In Ephesians 6:4, Paul limits parental authority and explains the purpose of that authority, which is to raise them in a godly way. While the...
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Children, Obey Your Parents
In Ephesians 6:1-3, Paul addresses children as responsible members of the covenant community and gives them a command as children...
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Children in the Lord
Throughout Scripture, God has worked covenantally with families. This is carried over in the New Testament in...
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Marriage for the Glory of God
In Ephesians 5, Paul’s extensive instruction to married couples contains no specific examples. Instead he provides the universal standard by which...
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Marriage and the Mystery
Throughout the book of Ephesians, Paul develops the theme of the mystery of God’s will. The mystery, hidden in times past but...
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Love Your Wife as Yourself
The Apostle Paul takes the “one flesh” union very seriously. He instructs the husband to love his wife, not "as he loves his own body," but to love her...
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As Christ Loved the Church
The primary goal of Christian marriage is to reflect something of the relationship between Christ and His church. Christ demonstrated His...
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Husbands, Love Your Wives
Though Paul tells the wife to submit to her husband who is her head, he never commands the husband to rule over her. While the...
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Submit in Everything?
Many people today find the word “submission” offensive when applied to marriage. However, it is...
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Submission to the Lord
The wife is called to submit to her husband “as to the Lord.” Her submission is not a punishment but a privilege; an opportunity to...
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Headship and Marriage
When Paul commands wives to submit to their husbands, the only reason given is that the husband is head of the wife as Christ is the head of...
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God's Design for Marriage
Jesus and the New Testament authors’ understanding of marriage is not rooted in the corrupted forms of marriages in the Old Testament nor the...
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The Spirit Directed Marriage
As Paul continues to describe the lifestyle of those “filled with the Spirit,” in Ephesians 5:22, he turns to the “household tables,” laying out the proper order for the most...
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Life in the Spirit is Orderly
In Ephesians 5:15-21, the main command is to “be filled with the Spirit.” Throughout the passage, Paul demonstrates how the spiritual life is...
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The Spirit Directed Assembly
In Ephesians 5:19, the Apostle Paul describes the assembly of God’s people when it is directed by the Holy Spirit. This Spirit guided assembly is...
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Worthy Songs of a Worthy God
When the body of Christ is filled with the Spirit, we will "address one another in psalms, hymns and spiritual songs, singing and...
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The Singing People of God
In Ephesians 5, one of the results of being filled with the Spirit is addressing one another with psalms, hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in...
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The Spirit and the Word
Paul uses several phrases for the controlling influence of the Holy Spirit. We are to be “filled with the Spirit,” “walk in the Spirit” and “led by the Spirit.” In Scripture...
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Be Filled with the Spirit
In Ephesians 5:18, Paul contrasts the degrading lifestyle of intoxication with a lifestyle filled by the Spirit. The Apostle commands us not to...
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Understanding the Lord's Will
In Ephesians 5:15-16, Paul admonishes Christians to be diligent and aware that they might live wisely, buying back the...
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Redeeming the Time
In Ephesians 5:15-16, Paul describes walking wisely as “making the best use of the time." A literal translation is...
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Be Careful to Walk Wisely
In Ephesians 5:15, the Apostle Paul sums up all that he has been instructing the Ephesians concerning their walk as the redeemed of...
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Light's Transforming Power
We who were once darkness have been transformed by the light of Christ into light (Eph 5:8). As light in a world of darkness, we are...
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Let Your Light Shine
In Ephesians 4:11, Paul admonishes us to have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but by bearing the fruit of light, expose them. This is what...
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Exposed by the Light
As Children of light we are to bear the fruit of light. In Ephesians 5:10-11, we find that bearing the fruit of light is pleasing the Lord. We grow in...
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Walk as Children of Light
What is a Christian? The book of Ephesians offers a great resource for outlining an answer to that important question. The first half of...
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The Fruit of Light
Though we were spiritually dead children of wrath, God made us alive and adopted us as His children. The commands in the last three chapters of Ephesians are...
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Children of Light
In Ephesians 5:8, Paul tells us that before coming to Christ we “were darkness.” This means that we were not only in the realm of darkness but the darkness was in us. However...
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Covetous Idolaters
In Ephesians 5, Paul characterizes sexual immorality, all impurity, filthy speech, foolish talk and crude joking as the product of a...
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Love and Sexuality
Immediately after admonishing the Ephesians to emulate God and walk in love, Paul warns against sexual immortality. While the world...
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Walk in Love
In Ephesians 5:1-2, Paul defines "imitating God" as walking in love as Christ loves us. This command sums up...
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Imitating God as Dear Children
Paul summarizes the commands of Ephesians 4:25-32 as imitating God as beloved children. Parents are the greatest influence in...
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Kind, Tenderhearted, Forgiving
In contrast to the sins of resentment listed in Ephesians 4:31, Paul explains that Christians are to grow more and more in kindness, tenderheartedness...
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Put Away Sins of Resentment
After warning Christians not to grieve the Holy Spirit, the Apostle deals with sins of resentment that undermine the work of the Spirit. Resentment is...
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Do Not Grieve the Holy Spirit
In the middle of Paul’s instruction about how Christians are called to live, he says, “Do not grieve the Holy Spirit.” God’s elect are...
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Fitting and Edifying Speech
In Ephesians 4:29, the Apostle Paul admonishes Christians to guard their mouths from corrupting talk. Language was created...
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A Productive Life of Generosity
Stealing belongs to the old, unregenerate way of life. According to Scripture, stealing is a much broader category than...
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Be Angry and Do Not Sin
The commands Paul gives in Ephesians 4 preserve the unity of the saints. When we are provoked to anger, we must not sin. We are to...
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A New Life of Truth
In Ephesians 4:25, Paul transitions from general exhortation (put off the old, be renewed in mind and put on the new) to specific exhortation. We must put off...
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Living Out our Salvation
The first three chapters of Ephesians clearly proclaims that redemption is of the Lord; we contribute nothing to our salvation. But this does not mean that we...
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Putting on the New Man
By the renewing work of the Holy Spirit we learn to put on the new self. God does the work of transformation but we are...
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From Delusion To Renewal
"Learning Christ" teaches us to "put off" the old man and “put on” the new. In essence, Paul is saying that, as the recipients of redemption, we should...
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Put Off The Old, Don the New
In Ephesians 4:22-24, the Apostle Paul uses the imagery of clothing to admonish us to live according to the reality of God’s redemption. The Scripture contains a...
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Learning Christ Transforms You
In Ephesians 4:17-21, Paul admonishes Christians to forsake their former way of living, reminding them that such a way of life is not the result of...
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Leaving the Past Behind
In Ephesians 4, we find that God’s redemptive blessings compel us to leave our past way of life behind and pursue the way of life consistent with...
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Growing in True Unity
In Ephesians 4, Paul admonishes the church to mature together in unity. Our unity is in the objective truth of God’s Word. He warns against...
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Christian Maturity and Stability
Christians enjoy an objective unity because of the redeeming work of the Triune God. However, the Apostle Paul urges...
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Equipping for Ministry
In Ephesians 4:11-12, Paul lists gifts of proclaiming the word and then explains the reason why Christ gives these gifts to the church. The preaching and...
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Trophies of Our Lord
In Ephesians 4:7-10, Paul describes how our unity in Christ is dependent upon the diversity of gifts that Christ gives to each member of the body of Christ. Not only are our...
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Our Diverse Unity
The world often confuses often pits unity against diversity because they confuse unity with unanimity and individuality with individualism. However...
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Maintaining True Unity
In Ephesians 4, Paul tells us that walking worthy of our calling includes giving due diligence to maintaining the unity of the Spirit. In the context, we find that this unity originates with...
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One People in the Triune God
As recipients of the grace of God, Paul says we should be eager the maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. However, Paul is not calling for...
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The Unity of the Spirit
While God’s people are called to walk in humility, meekness, gentleness and forbearance toward everyone, Paul addresses where this is most important...
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Humble, Meek, Patient, Forbearing
Those who are humble, meek, patient and forbearing are living in a manner that is worthy of their calling. Seeing ourselves as the dependent creatures we are makes us humble before others. Meekness is the...
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Walk in Humility and Gentleness
In Ephesians 4:2 the Apostle Paul expounds upon the overarching appeal for Christians to walk in a manner worthy of their calling. He names four specific....
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Walking Worthy of Our Calling
Ephesians is evenly divided into two parts. Chapters 1-3 deal with the indicatives of God’s plan and work of redemption while chapters 4-6 deal with our response to such wondrous truths. Chapter 4....
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More Than We Can Ask or Imagine
The Apostle Paul's wondrous prayer in Ephesians 3 finishes with great confidence. He has made extravagant requests of God but the Lord is able to do much more...
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An Extravagant Prayer
Our prayers are a window into our hearts, reflecting our priorities and desires. As we grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ, our...
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Filled by the Fullness of God
The climax of Paul’s remarkable prayer in Ephesians 3 is a summary of his petitions. All that he has...
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Power for the Christian Life
When Paul prays for the church in Ephesians 3, he asks that God’s purpose be realized in the lives of His people. God is the...
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Bowing Before the Father
The Apostle Paul begins his prayer in chapter 3:14 with a posture of humble adoration. He bows his...
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The Cosmic Import of the Church
The collective worship of God’s people is important to the realization of His purpose. In Ephesians 3:10 we learn that, through the...
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The Manifold Wisdom of God
In Ephesians 3:8-10, Paul identifies 3 audiences for the mystery of God’s will that he has been commissioned to proclaim: the...
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The Unsearchable Riches of Christ
In Eph 3, the Apostle Paul describes the wonder of God’s grace in commissioning him to take the Gospel to the Gentiles. Paul felt unworthy, referring to himself as the...
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The Stewardship of Grace
The Apostle Paul begins chapter 3 with the intention of offering prayer on behalf of the Ephesian Christians before breaking off into a 12 verse digression. The Apostle is...
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Habitat for Divinity
In Ephesians 2, Paul explains how Christ has destroyed the barriers in the Temple that kept God separated from man. When Jesus died, the veil...
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Not Only Citizens but Family
In Ephesians 2:19, the Apostle Paul speaks of Christians of a Gentile heritage that were once strangers and aliens. They were once...
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Christ Our Peace
In Ephesians 2:13-18 we find that Christ provides true peace because it begins with reconciliation to God. There is no...
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The Work of Peace
In chapter 2:14-17, Paul picks up the theme from 1:9-10 where Christ is uniting all things under His Lordship. Christ has come to bring peace and...
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From Two, One New Man
In Ephesians 2:14-18 we find that, in Christ, God is creating one new race comprised of both Jews and Gentiles. Christ has...
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Brought Near by Christ’s Blood
After telling the Ephesians to remember their Gentile heritage, which had them “far off” from God, the Apostle Paul declares that, in Christ...
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Remember from Whence We Came
The first command in Ephesians occurs in 2:11. Up to that point, the Apostle Paul had been declaring the facts of our redemption. This first command is to “remember” what...
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We are His Workmanship
In Ephesians 2:8-9, the Apostle Paul guards the purity of the Gospel by declaring that salvation is by grace through faith and not of works. However, in verse 10...
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By Grace through Faith
The previous context is very important to a proper understanding of Eph 2:8-10. Salvation by grace is defined as being made alive with Christ when...
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Immeasurable Riches of Grace
In Eph 2:6-7, we find that God’s people are not only made alive with Christ, they are raised up with Christ and seated with Christ in the heavenly places in Christ. By virtue of...
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Made Alive with Christ
After describing our hopeless situation without Christ, the Apostle introduces the only remedy with the words, “but God.” This is a...
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The Realm of the Walking Dead
After providing a glorious account of Christ’s exalted reign and the resurrection power that He now wields on behalf of the church, Paul reminds us...
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Christ Reigns for the Church
Paul responds to the absolute sovereignty of God with thanksgiving and prayer, making it clear that a true understanding of predestination and election does not lead to apathy but engagement with God’s purpose. God’s sovereignty is...
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Great Power for God's People
In Ephesians 1, Paul prays that Christians realize the magnitude of the power of God resourced for their redemption and sanctification. Christ, as our...
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God's Immeasurable Greatness
All of humanity is born blind in heart. In Ephesians 1:17-18, Paul prays that God will, by the Holy Spirit, grant wisdom and insight to...
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Our Hope and Rich Inheritance
The Apostle Paul does not pray for the saints to be given hope or a rich inheritance for, as his opening doxology has made...
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Enlightened Eyes of the Heart
All of humanity is born blind in heart. In Ephesians 1:17-18, Paul prays that God will, by the Holy Spirit, grant wisdom and insight to...
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An Increasing Knowledge of God
After the initial greeting, Ephesians chapter 1 is comprised of two of the longest sentences in Scripture. Paul’s opening doxology is a...
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Our Guaranteed Inheritance
In Ephesians 1:14, the Apostle Paul underscores the Christian's assurance of his eternal inheritance by showing that the seal of the Holy Spirit, which marks...
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Sealed with the Holy Spirit
Paul uses the ancient practice of applying a “seal” to describe God’s ownership and preservation of His people. The various...
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The Assurance of Our Hope
In Ephesians 1:11, the Apostle Paul assures his readers of their inheritance in Christ because they were predestined for...
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God's Purpose and Providence
Ephesians 1:11 has been called "the strongest and most comprehensive statement about God's absolute sovereignty in...
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Our Inheritance in Christ
One of the spiritual blessings in the opening doxology of Ephesians is a new inheritance for the...
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Summing Up Everything in Jesus
Before the creation of the world, God planned to send Christ to reveal the mystery of His will and oversee the realization of His...
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Managing the Fullness of Time
The plan of God, which encompasses everything that transpires in creation, centers upon Jesus Christ. The "fullness of time" refers to...
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The Mystery: His Plan Set Forth
In the opening doxology of Ephesians, the content of the "mystery of God's will" is the plan of God, laid out in...
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The Mystery of His Will Pt 3 (Note: Part 2 and 4 was unable to be recorded)
The opening doxology of Ephesians reveals not only God's purpose but provides a...
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The Mystery of His Will
God can only be known by revelation. While nature declares God's existence, it is...
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The Grace of Wisdom and Insight
In the opening doxology of Ephesians we find that the riches of God's grace that He lavishes...
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Lavished with Unbounded Grace
In Ephesians 1:7-8, the Apostle Paul tells us that the redemption and forgiveness we have in Christ is according to...
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Ransomed in Time
Considering Ephesians 1:3-14 as a doxology with three stanzas, the first stanza describes the grace of...
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The Glory of His Grace
The doxology in Ephesians 1:3-14 can be read as three stanzas each ending with a refrain to the praise of...
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Predestined for Adoption as Sons
Salvation is of the Lord, from beginning to end. In Ephesians 1:4, Paul tells us that God chose us in Christ before the foundation of...
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Chosen for His Glorious Purpose
In Ephesians 1:4, Paul says that God's people were chosen "in Christ" before the foundation of the world that they should be holy and...
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Blessings from the Dawn of Time
In Ephesians 1:3, Paul states that God has "blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in...
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Blessings in the Heavenlies
The longest sentence in the New Testament is a doxology, a song of praise that outlines the Covenant of...
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Grace and Peace to God's Saints
In the salutation to the book of Ephesians, the Apostle Paul addresses Christians as saints, faithful in...
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A God-Centered Salutation
In this introduction to the book of Ephesians, we consider the importance of the book to...
Speaker
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Stan McGehee, Jr.