Sermon Tone Analysis

Introduction

 

Ephesians deals with what matters most – God, Jesus, the Spirit, the world, the church, salvation, faith & works, the Christian life, marriage & family, spiritual warfare, unity, relationships, truth, love, worship, prayer, and much more.

It’s a high place in Scripture because it offers a magnificent view of God’s great plan for humanity.

Paul had spent three years in Ephesus teaching and ministering to people.

They lived in a difficult place with its 50 gods and goddesses, the temple of Artemis, the emperor cult, the popularity of magic, and much more.

Paul wanted these Christians to stay strong in their faith.

Specifically, he wanted them to have a deeper understanding and experience of three realities:

 

*New life* we have in Christ;

*New community* we belong to as a result of our relationship with Christ;

*New walk* we are called to by Christ.

\\ 1:1-2           Introduction to the Letter            

1:3-14              Praise for Spiritual Blessings in Christ

1:15-23            Prayer for Spiritual Understanding

2:1-10              *New Life* in Christ                                                                       

2:11-3:21        *New Community* in Christ                                                          

        2:11-22                The Creation of a New Community

        3:1-13                  Paul’s Unique Role in God’s Plan

        3:14-21                Paul’s Prayer for the New Community

 

 

4:1-6:20          *New Walk* in Christ

        4:1-16                  Walk in Unity

        4:17-32                Walk in Holiness

        5:1-6                     Walk in Love                                          

        5:7-14                  Walk in Light                                                                      

        5:15-6:9              Walk in Wisdom

        6:10-20                Walk in Strength

6:21-24            Conclusion to the Letter

 

 

Review of 1:1-2

 

*/1/**/ /*/Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, /

*/    /*/To the saints who are in Ephesus, and are faithful//// in Christ Jesus: /

*/2 /*/Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

/

 

►       *“apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God”*

Paul had been called, authorized, and sent on a mission by Jesus Christ.

His letters carry Christ’s full authority.

If we take Jesus’ words seriously, we must also take Paul’s words just as seriously because they come from Christ.

►       *“saints” = “faithful” (believing ones)*

“Saints” are not an elite group of Christians who live extremely pious lives.

The saints are people who belong to God because of their relationship with Jesus.

Saints are Christians.

Christians are also known as faithful ones—those who exercise faith in or believe in Jesus.

►       *“in Ephesus” and “in Christ”*

We saw that Paul’s sense of geography places us both in the world (“in Ephesus”) and in a relationship with Christ.

We should not pursue Christ and completely withdraw from the world or engage the world and forget about our Lord Jesus.

►       *“Grace and peace”*

God’s grace (free and undeserved gift) produces our peace (deep contentment, calmness, and wholeness that comes from a harmonious relationship with God).

Letter explodes in Praise – 1:3

 

*/3 /*/Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ /

/with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, …/

 

*Blessed** be the God who has **blessed** us in Christ with every spiritual **blessing**.*

Most often in Scripture God is praised because of what he has done for us.

We worship God as a response to what he has done.

God has touched both the unrighteous and the self-righteous in Christ.

Both were equally sinful and deserving of death.

But both have been blessed in Christ with every spiritual blessing.

Both should respond in worship.

What are the blessings?

– 1:4-14

| -    chosen to be holy and blameless in love (1:4)-    predestined to be adopted as children (1:5)  |

| -    redeemed through Jesus’ sacrifice (1:7)-    forgiveness of sins (1:7)-    knowledge of God’s plan in Christ (1:8-10)-    an inheritance full of hope (1:11-12)  |

| -    sealed with the Holy Spirit (1:13)-    the Spirit guarantees our future inheritance (1:14)  |

 

\\ Father  – 1:4-6

 

 

Son  – 1:7-12

 

 

Spirit  – 1:13-14

 

 

 

Our response to all that God has done ?

à “to the praise of his glory” (1:6, 12, 14).

As we realize what God has done, we want to praise him all the more.

That’s why the next section (Eph.

1:15-23) is a prayer that we might understand and grasp what God has done and all that we have in Christ.

Why should the children of the king live like they were homeless orphans?

Blessings from the Father (1:4-6)

 

*/4/*/even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him in love, /*/5 /*/having predestined us for adoption through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, /*/6 /*/to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved.

/

 

Blessings: (1) chosen to be holy and blameless in love

                  (2) predestined to be adopted (as children)

 

The Father’s blessing relates to the doctrine of *election.*

Election – a controversial doctrine

 

Election* *is certainly a biblical doctrine, but one that is often misunderstood.

Some people lean so heavily on election in an attempt to build a theological system that they sometimes neglect other important biblical beliefs.

Other people simply avoid the issue like the plague.

As we address this issue this morning, the first thing we should admit is that we are not followers of any one human teacher—be it John Calvin or John Piper or John Wesley or John Eldridge.

We are followers of Jesus Christ.

We are a body of believers because of our common faith in Christ.

We are brothers and sisters in Christ.

Second, we need a bit of historical context.

Historic, orthodox Christianity says …

 

Salvation = God’s Gift & Human Response

                        God’s grace & sovereignty & human freedom

 

Two unbiblical and unorthodox views of salvation:

 

1.

Salvation by works (Pelagianism) – denial of God’s assisting grace (Holy Spirit’s calling, convicting, enabling, and assisting a person to respond freely to Christ).

\\ \\

2.     Universalism – ultimate salvation of all humans

 

Biblical Christianity à  Salvation = Gift + Response

 

Some emphasize Gift – Lutheran, Reformed, Presbyterians, General Baptists and leaders such as John Calvin, Jonathan Edwards, and John Piper.

Taken too far, this leads to a belief in fate where everything is predetermined ahead of time and humans have no freedom.

This calls into question God’s very character, the worth of human beings, and seems to make God the author of evil.

Some emphasize Response – Greek Orthodox, Anglicans, Anabaptists, Assembly of God, Pentecostals, Methodists, Particular Baptists and leaders such as Erasmus, Jacob Arminius, John Wesley, NT.

Wright, Stanley Grenz.

Taken too far this belief results in salvation by works where everything depends on what we do or fail to do.

This calls into question God’s sovereignty and power as well as salvation itself.

Almost any good thing taken too far can become a bad thing.

If you say S = G & R, you are a biblical Christian.

It is extremely dangerous to say that someone who embraces S = G & R is not a biblical Christian.

Eph.

1:4-6

 

A common approach to Ephesians 1 is to emphasize Gift so much that Response gets ignored.