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Ephesians 1:1-14 [5]

If you are new to this blog, please start with 1 (Intro) and then continue in order.


Just like when you did the overview, start each study time with prayer, asking God to open your eyes to the truth and lead and guide you in the truth through his Holy Spirit.

DAY 1
Read through chapters 1 and 2, marking every instance of grace and peace. I like to mark grace with an orange circle and peace with blue waves under it (as in peace like a river😁), but any distinct way would be fine. As you do this. look for other repeated words and phrases and write some of them down. Spend some time thanking and praising God for his grace and peace. You could even use some of the language of the passage like, "Thank you, God, for the riches of your grace, which you have lavished upon us." (from verses 7 and 8).

DAY 2 AND 3
Choose at least 2 repeated words or phrases in chapters 1 and 2 and mark them in a distinct way. You could also list out the repeated phrases and where they occur, looking for similarities and differences between them. Spend some time thanking and praising him for something in the passage and cast your anxieties on him because he cares for you. (1 Peter 5:7)

DAY 4 AND 5
Start with prayer. We have been looking at a lot of key words, one thing that is important to observe in a passage. Now we are going to focus on lists. Lists can help us to see what different things the passage says about one of our key words or phrases. It can also be a conceptual list.  Let's start with the first one. Looking at just verse 1, write down what it says about Paul. Make another list of what you learn about the Ephesians in verse 1.

You have probably noticed that this first part of Ephesians talks about all the spiritual blessings that we have in Christ. Write out those blessings. You can number them on the left and then write the verse reference on the right like this:

1. God chose us in Christ v. 4

Spend some time thanking and praising God for these blessings! Once again, if you are doing this with a friend, share your observations (key words and lists) and then spend some time praising God together for all the spiritual blessings we have in Christ. Even if you don't have someone else doing the study with you, I still encourage you to share what you are learning with someone else and then you could read about the blessings we have in Christ together and praise him together.


My Observations on the Passage [5.5]

I have decided to include my observations just to give you an idea if you are on the right track or not. Since these are just observations, there really is not a right answer. Different people are going to notice different things. God has made us all different and it is beautiful! But here is what I came up with:

DAY 2 AND 3
One phrase I looked at was "according to"
According to:
1. the purpose of his will v5
2. the riches of his grace v7
3. his purpose v9
4. the purpose of him v11
5. the council of his will v11

DAY 4 AND 5
Paul
 an apostle
  -of Christ Jesus
  -by the will of God

Ephesians
1. the saints (in Ephesus)
2. are faithful
  -in Christ Jesus

Spiritual Blessings in Christ
1. chose us v4
2. that we should be holy and blameless v4
3. predestined us for adoption
  -to himself
  -in love
  -as sons through Jesus Christ
4. his glorious grace v6
5. redemption through his blood v7
6. the forgiveness of our trespasses v7
7. lavished upon us the riches of his grace vv7-8
8. made known to us the mystery of his will v9
9. we have obtained an inheritance v11
10. we be to the praise of his glory v12
11. sealed with the promised Holy Spirit v13
  -the guarantee of our inheritance
  -until we acquire possession of it


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