Ephesians – Revealing the Joyous Mysteries

Nov. 5, 2023

   Ephesians is the only one of Paul’s nine letters to churches were he has no rebuke or correction. It is similar to Colossians, which, if Paul did not write at the same time as Ephesians he very likely wrote it at close to the same time. It is interesting to see many of the same topics discussed, but with a different audience, with the Colossians fighting against heretical teaching in the church. Ephesians falls neatly into two parts. Chapters 1-3 are heavy theology of who we are in Christ. Chapters 4-6 are practical application of how we are to live in Christ. Key words in Ephesians are mystery, economy, understanding, fullness, will, and purpose.

Background on Ephesus: The two largest cities in the Roman Empire were Rome and Alexandria, Egypt. After that were Corinth and Ephesus. It was a large port city with a problem; the harbor was slowly getting filled with silt. They were aware of the problem, and the Seleucid kings tried to help the situation a couple of centuries before, but they only made it worse. It was a very religious city, worshipping the goddess of the hunt, called Artemis in Greek and Diana in Latin. She would often hunt humans, and her arrows would turn people into animals. In addition, there was a different idol goddess called Artemis, who was conflated with her, that was worshipped prior to the Greeks. The Ephesians were known as the “keepers of the temple”. They were very religious, but did not seem too particular about what they were worshipping, as long as they could make money manufacturing small silver amulets.

Dating of Ephesians: Paul was a prisoner at the time or writing according to Ephesians 3:1; 4:1; 6:20. Paul could have written while he was a prisoner in Caesarea in 57-59 A.D., or while he was a prisoner at Rome in 60-62 A.D. See The Expositor’s Greek Testament vol.3 p.233-235 and The
Expositor’s Bible Commentary vol.11 p.13-15 for more info.

Did Paul write Ephesians? Everyone agreed that Paul wrote Ephesians, until the Edward Evanson in 1792 and others later denied it.. It is claimed to be different due to long sentences, unique words, and similarities with Colossians which is also denied by them to be Pauline. Ephesians has 39 (or 42) unique words (or 100 words and phrases) not found in books they acknowledge as by Paul. However, Romans has 100, 1 Corinthians 180, 2 Corinthians 95, Galatians has 33, and Philippians 41. See The Expositor’s Greek Testament vol.3 p.221-222 and The Expositor’s Bible Commentary vol.11 p.5-9 for more info. We will see more about sentence length later.

Pre-Nicene writers who quote or allude to Ephesians. Underlined authors said it was by Paul.

1 Clement (allusion)	Treatise Against Novatian (250-257 A.D.)
Ignatius of Antioch (110-117 A.D.)	Cyprian of Carthage (c.246-258A.D.)
Polycarp (c.150 A.D.)	Firmilian of Caesarea (256 A.D.)
Irenaeus of Lyons (182-188 A.D.)	Seventh Council of Carthage (258 A.D.)
The Muratorian Canon (170-210 A.D.)	Gregory Thaumaturgus (240-265 A.D.)
Clement of Alexandria (193-202 A.D.)	Adamantius (c.300 A.D.)
Tertullian (198-220 A.D.)	Victorinus of Petau (martyred 304 A.D.)
Theodotus the probable Montanist (ca.240 A.D.)	Peter of Alexandria (306,285-311 A.D.)
Hippolytus (222-235/236 A.D.)	Methodius (270-311/312 A.D.)
Origen (225-254 A.D.)	Lactantius (c.303-c.325 A.D.)
Novatian (250-257 A.D.)	Eusebius of Caesarea (318-325 A.D.)

Writings up through 325 A.D. quote 70.9% of the 155 verses of Ephesians, in 311 quotes.

Earliest manuscripts of Ephesians

p46 (100-150 A.D.)	Sahidic Coptic (3rd-4th century)
p49+p64 (mid-3rd century)	Fayyumic Coptic (3rd/4th century)
p92 (ca.300)	Alexandrinus (=A) (c.450 A.D.)
Vaticanus (B) (325-350 A.D.)	Armenian (from the 5th century)
Sinaiticus (Si) (340-350 A.D.)	Georgian (from the 5th century)
I (Washington D.C.) (5th century)	Ethiopic (from c.500 A.D.)
Bohairic Coptic (3rd-4th century)	Vulgate (4th-5th century)

Early manuscripts up through 325 A.D. quote 96.8% of the 155 verses of Ephesians.

An Outline of Ephesians

Eph 1-3 Our Standing in Jesus Christ

- Eph 1 The mystery of God’s will

- - Eph 1:1-2 Greetings

- - Eph 1:3-14 Our standing in the heavenly places

- - Eph 1:15-23 You need to know how everything has changed for you

- Eph 2 The mystery of being alive in Christ

- Eph 3 The mystery of Jews and Gentiles together in Christ

Eph 4-6 Our living in Jesus Christ

- Eph 4 Walk worthy of the calling

- Eph 5-6:10 Be imitators of God

- Eph 5:21-6:10 Submit to one another

- Eph 6:11-20 Put on the armor of god

Eph 6:21-24 The messenger Tychicus and farewell

Ephesians 1:1-12 – Our Standing in Christ

1. In Eph 1:1, was the letter to the Ephesians really written to the Ephesians?

A: It was certainly to churches in the area, but some early manuscripts do not have the words “in Ephesus”.

Evidence that “in Ephesus” was added later:

1. p46 Chester Beatty II 100-150 A.D. has no gaps and no space for these two words. This manuscript also contains Galatians, Philippians, Colossians, 1 Thessalonians, 1 and 2 Corinthians, and in each case the city appears where it should. (While it has parts of Romans, Romans 1-4 was not present.)

2. The Alexandrian manuscripts Vaticanus 325-350 A.D. and Sinaiticus 340-350 A.D. both did not have it. On both it was written in later by a corrector.

3. Early writers who do not have “in Ephesus” are Tertullian (wrote 207 A.D.) and Origen (225-253/254 A.D.).

4. Today’s Handbook for Solving Bible Difficulties p.294 mentions that if Paul had written it just to the Ephesians, one would have expected personal greetings to people with whom he had lived three years, but there are none.

5. Similarly, in Ephesians 1:15 it seems Paul is talking of a region, not just the city where he had lived for three years.

6. Origen and Jerome said that “in Ephesus” was not in the best manuscripts they had, though Jerome, in listing the writings of the church, said Paul wrote one letter to the Ephesians (Jerome and Gennadius (c.485-492 A.D.) chapter 5). Tertullian also said that Marcion’s followers considered this letter to the Laodiceans.

Some who held to the circular theory were Theodore Beza and Archbishop James Ussher. See John R. W. Stott’s  ~   p.24 for more info on this.

Evidence that “in Ephesus” was original:

1. The early writer Ignatius in his Letter to the Ephesians 110-117 A.D. in ch.12 says that Paul makes mention of the Ephesians in his letter.

2. As for having the words “in Ephesus”, both Sinaiticus and Vaticanus have these words added in the manuscript by another hand.

3. Alexandrinus (c.450 A.D.), the Claromontanus (5th/6th century) and the Byzantine Lectionary has “in Ephesus”.

4. The church writer John Chrysostom (392-407 A.D.) has it in his commentary. Chrysostom’s commentaries have direct quotes of the scripture.

5. A circular letter would seem to go against Tychicus’ mission, of taking the letter to Ephesus in Ephesians 6:21-22,. Tychicus also took another letter to the Colossians in Colossians 4:7-9.

6. There are no other circular letters we know of in the early Church without the name of the city or person.

7. This would have been the only known circular letter that Paul would have written.

Conclusion: either “in Ephesus” was taken out of some manuscripts, such Chester Beatty II prior to 100-150 A.D., or it was added to some manuscripts prior to c.117 A.D.. This is an example of a very early variant in scripture where we are not certain either way.

   See The Bible Knowledge Commentary : New Testament p.613, The Expositor’s Greek Testament vol.3 p.228-230,242, and the Believer’s Bible Commentary p.1912 for more info.

2. In Eph 1:3,17 and 1 Pet 1:3, is the Father the God of Jesus?

3. Since Eph 1:3-14 is said by Bart Ehrman to be all one sentence in Greek, as is Colossians 1:3-8, does sentence length indicate that these were not written by Paul, who generally wrote short sentences? (Bart Ehrman claimed this in Jesus, Interrupted p.126)

A: No. Not only is Ehrman against the consensus of where the sentence breaks are, the sentences are not much longer than sentences Ehrman agrees most likely were written by Paul. There are four points to answer this claim.

1) Early Greek manuscripts did not have punctuation, so one can only infer what was a period versus a semicolon or comma.

2) Even if God were to reveal to us “divinely inspired punctuation”, it would still be a bogus statistic, for the longest sentence would depend on not only the length of the book but also the subject matter. For example, did Paul write more deep theology at the beginning part of his books, and more short greetings at the end, and was the ratio of beginning theology, middle application, and ending greetings different for different books.

3) Eph 1:3-6, 1:7-10, and 1:11-12, and 13-14 are not one but four sentences, according to Aland et al.’s The Greek New Testament, 4th revised edition (1998). The Nestle-Aland Novum Testamentum Graece (1993), says the same. Ehrman never gave the source for why he thought it was only one sentence. However, 23 years earlier, the 1975 3rd edition Aland et al’s, The Greek New Testament showed them as one sentence, so I suspect he was using the much older version. Again though, the original Greek had no punctuation, so building an argument on where late 20th century people think the periods go, before they changed their minds, is a sketchy argument at best.

4) In contrast to the third point, Ehrman, Aland et al. 4th revised edition, Aland et al. 3rd edition, and Nestle-Aland all agree that Colossians 1:3-8 is one sentence. It is 156 words. Ehrman writes, “Colossians 1:3-8 is all one sentence in Greek; it’s a whopper, and quite unlike the kind of sentence Paul typically wrote. Ephesians 1:3-14 is even longer, twelve verses – not like Paul at all.” (Jesus, Interrupted p.126). Ehrman gives no basis for comparison, but I have provided one below.

Sentence	Word count of the longest sentences	Total Greek words in the book	References
2 Thessalonians	158, 57, 54	823	2 Th 1:3-10, 2 Th 2:8-10; 2 Th 2:1-3a
Colossians	156, 123, 102	1,578	Col 1:11b-20, Col 1:24-29, Col 1:3-8
Romans	139, 123, 113	7,109	Rom 9:19-26; Rom 4:16-21; Rom 2:2-8
Hebrews	135, 72, 65	4,953	Heb 8:8-12; Heb 1:1-4, Heb 2:2-5
Ephesians	124, 124, 104	2,421	Eph 2:1-7, Eph 4:11-16, Eph 3:1-7
2 Corinthians	118, 86	4,476	2 Cor 6:2b-10; 1:8-11
2 Timothy	105, 61, 34	1,238	2 Tim 1:8-12; 2 Tim 1:3-5; 2 Tim 1:6-7
1 Thessalonians	104, 81	1,429	1 Thess 3:9-13; 1 Thess 1:2-5
1 Corinthians	95, 72	6,847	1 Cor 1:20-25; 1 Cor 12:15-18
Philemon	94, 47	335	Phm 8-14; Phm 4-6
Galatians	93, 76	2,230	Gal 2:6-10; Gal 2:14-16
Philippians	88, 82	1,629	Php 1:3-7; Php 1:27-30
Titus	65, 57	659	Titus 1:1-4; Titus 3:4-7
1 Timothy	56, 56	1,591	1 Tim 1:8-11; 1 Tim 3:2-6
Lk 1-7	165, 95, 77	5,960	Lk 3:23-28; Lk 1:67-75; Lk 3:15-17
Acts 1-6	108, 89, 87	3,582	Acts 4:5-10; Acts 3:12-15; Acts 1:1-5
Acts 7-12	72, 65, 64	3,971	Acts 7:38-40; Acts 10:36-38; Acts 7:44-46

Ehrman agrees that the books in italics are most likely by Paul. The “whopper” of 102 words in Colossians 1:3-8 is not only shorter than other verses in Colossians, but also shorter than many other verses in books Ehrman agrees Paul wrote. 11b-20 The longest sentence in each book and which books he agrees are by Paul look random.

4. In Eph 1:4, how are we chosen by God?

5. In Eph 1:4-5, is everything predestination?

6. In Eph 1:4-5, should Christians believe in predestination?

7. In Eph 1:4-5, how does God’s predestination fit in?

8. In Eph 1:4-5, what are some misconceptions about predestination?

9. In Eph 1:4-5, since we are predestined for salvation according to God’s pleasure and will, what about God’s pleasure and will for those predestined for Hell?

10. In Eph 1:4-13, before time began God foreknew who would become saved and who wouldn’t. Why then, does he need to predestine us to be “adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ”, which seems kind of redundant? What I mean is, since he knows it’s going to happen (because he exists outside of time), there is no need for predestining it. Wouldn’t the situations have occurred anyway if he didn’t predestine it? Why isn’t foreknowledge sufficient enough? Perhaps my confusion comes from my understanding of the word predestination. Hopefully you can understand where I am having trouble understanding this concept.

11. In Eph 1:4-5, what are some useful Calvinist insights on free will?

12. In Eph 1:5, what does it mean to be an adopted son?

13. In Eph 1:7, why does the Bible emphasize blood so much?

Ephesians 1:13-23 – The Standing God Has Given Us in Christ

1. In Eph 1:11 and Prov 16:4,33, how are all things working together in conformance with the purpose of God’s will?

2. In Eph 1:13, since we were included in Christ when we heard the Gospel, how were we included before the beginning of time as Eph 1:4 teaches, and in the future as Eph 1:14 and Heb 9:29 show?

3. In Eph 1:14 and 2 Cor 1:22, since we are guaranteed and sealed with the Holy Spirit, why do some people fall away?

4. In Eph 1:14, is the “purchased possession” here refer primarily to our possession of salvation, or God’s possession of us?

5. In Eph 1:14, what is a “guarantee”?

6. In Eph 1:15, what would a Christian’s life be like if they had great faith but little love?

7. In Eph 1:15, what would a Christian’s life be like if they had great love but either little faith or else knew only a little of the faith?

8. In Eph 1:16-18, is Paul primarily praying for something his readers already have, or for a new blessing?

9. In Eph 1:17, why did the Ephesians need to be given the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, since all believers already have the Spirit inside them in Rom 8:9-11?

10. In Eph 1:18, is the inheritance here our inheritance in Christ, or the saints as God’s inheritance?

11. In Eph 1:20, what do you think of theologian Rudolph Bultmann saying that “Christ has risen into the kerygma”, i.e., only in the faith and proclamation of His disciples?

12. In Eph 1:23, what does fullness mean here?

Ephesians 2:1-10 – Redemption, one of the Sweetest Words

1. In Eph 2:1, what is the difference here between trespasses and sins?

2. In Eph 2:1,5, how are we “dead” in transgressions?

3. In Eph 2:2, who is the ruler of the air, and why is he ruling?

4. In Eph 2:3, why were we all objects of wrath?

5. In Eph 2:3, were all objects of wrath, or are only some objects of wrath as in Rom 9:22-23?

6. In Eph 2:4-5, what is the difference between grace and mercy?

7. What does Eph 2:5 show about the idea that a person can keep on improving, reforming themselves, up to the point where they become saved? Why do some people believe that?

8. In Eph 2:5-8, are we saved by grace alone, or by faith plus works in James 2:14-24?

9. In Eph 2:5-8, how do grace, faith, and works interact?

10. In Eph 2:5-8, what are the major aspects of salvation?

11. In Eph 2:6, does this promise of sitting with Christ on His throne refer to reigning with Christ on earth a thousand years, or afterward for eternity?

12. In Eph 2:8, what does the pronoun in “it” is the gift of God refer back to?

Ephesians 2:11-21 – Reconciling all of us together

1. In Eph 2:12-13, in Old Testament times, were all non-citizens of Israel doomed to Hell, with no chance to be saved?

2. In Eph 2:12, what are the five “withouts” here?

3. In Eph 2:14, what is the difference between Jesus “making peace” and Jesus ”being peace”?

4. In Eph 2:14, what is the significance of the dividing wall being broken down?

5. In Eph 2:15, what is the abolishing the hostility/enmity related to?

6. In Eph 2:15, how did Jesus make one out of two?

7. In Eph 2:16-18, who is “both” here?

8. In Eph 2:20-21, since the church is built on the apostles and prophets, do we need apostles and prophets today?

9. In Eph 2:20-21, since Jesus is the chief cornerstone, do we need a man to represent Jesus Christ to rule God’s church today?

10. In Eph 2:21, where can the true church be found?

Ephesians 3 – Our fullness in Christ together

1. In Eph 3:1, why did Paul say he was a prisoner of Christ Jesus instead of a prisoner of Rome?

2. In Eph 3:3,9, what is the mystery here?

3. In Eph 3:4-6, since people in previous generations were not able to hear about Christ, how could anybody in the Old Testament times be saved?

4. In Eph 3:8, how is Paul the least of all the apostles?

5. In Eph 3:8, since Christ’s riches are unsearchable, why does Paul want us to know the extent of Christ’s love in Eph 3:17-19?

6. In Eph 3:9, does the word mean “administration” or “fellowship” here?

7. In Eph 3:15 should it say, “from whom every family”, “from whom His whole family”, or “from who all fatherhood”?

8. In Eph 3:16-19, what exactly is Paul’s prayer for the Ephesian believers here?

9. In Eph 3:18, what is the width, length, depth, and height of the love of Christ?

10. In Eph 3:19, what do the three different Greek words relating to power mean here?

11. In Eph 3:19, how can we have the “fullness” of God?

12. In Eph 3:20, how can God’s tremendous power come through tiny Christians?

Ephesians 4:1-10 – Walk worthy of the calling in unity

1. In Eph 4:1, what does “walk worthy” mean here?

2. In Eph 4:1-2, what are some helpful characteristics of preserving unity here?

3. In Eph 4:3, is Paul speaking of unity in one organization, as Roman Catholics, Greek Orthodox, Mormons, the local church, the International Churches of Christ, and others all teach?

4. In Eph 4:3, is organizational unity something believers should desire?

5. In Eph 4:4, since there is only one body, why are there so many churches?

6. In Eph 4:5, is this water baptism, or Spirit baptism?

7. In Eph 4:6 and Eph 1:23, if God fills everything in every way, is pantheism true, which says that everything is a piece of God?

8. In Eph 4:8, why did Paul say God “gave” gifts to men, since Ps 68:18 says God “received” gifts from men?

9. In Eph 4:9 and Acts 2:27, after He died, did Jesus go to Hell, or not?

10. Could Eph 4:9 mean Jesus came down to earth, rather than descending to the grave?

Ephesians 4:11-13 – Walk worthy of the calling in diversity

1. In Eph 4:11, does this mean “pastor-teacher” as one role, or pastors and teachers as two roles?

2. In Eph 4:11, since there are pastors and teachers today, are there prophets and apostles today, too?

3. In Eph 4:11, what is the difference between a natural talent and a spiritual gift?

4. In Eph 4:11-13, how does a church body identify who has which gifts and should be in which roles?

5. In Eph 4:14-15, what is the difference in these verses between a Christian who is a “baby” and one who is mature?

6. In Eph 4:15, what is the difference between “speaking the truth”, “speaking in love”, and “speaking the truth in love”?

7. In Eph 4:16, how we are all like joints and ligaments that grow?

Ephesians 4:17-4:32 – Walk worthy of the calling in purity Part 1

1. In Eph 4:17 and Rom 1:21, how can some people walk in the futility of their minds?

2. In Eph 4:17, in what ways do you think God will tell some Christians, just like non-believers, you focused too much on things that did not matter?

3. In Eph 4:18, should it say “blindness” or “hardness”?

4. In Eph 4:19, what is “work” at every uncleanness mean?

5. In Eph 4:25-5:2, what is Paul saying about these eight evils?

6. In Eph 4:26, is it a sin to for us get angry, since Jesus and Paul got angry?

7. In Eph 4:26, is it a sin to stay angry? God appears to stay angry at the people and demons in the Lake of Fire.

8. In Eph 4:26-27, what is the difference between being angry and sinning vs. being angry and not sinning?

9. In Eph 4:28, do Christians need to work laboring with their hands?

10. In Eph 4:29, what are evil words here?

11. In Eph 4:29, why is it important that Christians not curse?

12. In Eph 4:31-32, what is Paul contrasting in these two verses?

Ephesians 5:1-16 – Walk worthy of the calling in purity Part 1

1. In Eph 5:1, to what extent should we be just imitators?

2. In Eph 5:2, what is walking in love, and what are alternatives to walking in love?

3. In Eph 5:3, what does not even a hint of sexual immorality mean?

4. In Eph 5:7, should this Greek word be “associate” or “partake”?

5. In Eph 5:8, what would be the difference between “you are in the light” and “you are light” as it says?

6. In Eph 5:11, how can Christians sinfully have fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness?

7. In Eph 5:11, to what extent are we called to expose unfruitful works of darkness vs. just be silent about them?

8. In Eph 5:11, since Christians should have nothing to do with deeds of darkness, should Christian lawyers defend clients they know are guilty?

9. In Eph 5:12, what kinds of things should we not even speak of?

10. In Eph 5:14, where was this verse previously said?

11. In Eph 5:16, how are the days evil?

12. In Eph 5:16, what habits or other things can we put in place to make the most of our time?

Ephesians 5:17-5:33 – Walk worthy of the calling in harmony

1. In Eph 5:17, Paul is speaking to believers, so how are some genuine believers unwise?

2. In Eph 5:18 what does dissipation/debauchery mean?

3. Eph 5:18 has two commands, not just one, so how does the second command relate to the first?

4. In Eph 5:18, what exactly is wrong with getting drunk?

5. Does Eph 5:18 refer to a one-time filling, or a continual filling with the Spirit?

6. In Eph 5:20, what commitment should we make here?

7. In Eph 5:21, how can we do a better job modeling submitting to one another out of reverence to God?

8. In Eph 5:22-6:4 why is Paul saying so much about marriage?

9. In Eph 5:22, why should wives obey their husbands?

10. In Eph 5:22, is it true that the Bible never explicitly states wives are to love their husbands?

11. In Eph 5:22, what is most unusual about this metaphor here?

12. In Eph 5:28, how are husbands to love their wives?

13. In Eph 5:32, why should wives respect their husbands?

Ephesians 6:1-9 – Duties of Christian children slaves, and masters

1. In Eph 6:1, since children should obey their parents, what if their parents say to leave the Christian faith?

2. In Eph 6:2, why did Paul say this was “the first commandment” since it actually was the fifth of the Ten Commandments?

3. In Eph 6:3, Ex 20:12, and Dt 5:16, what exactly is promised here?

4. In Eph 6:3f, how do you deal with a young kid, or even an adult, who as a kid received no discipline or correction as a kid?

5. In Eph 6:4, should fathers ever get their kids angry?

6. In Eph 6:4, should mothers pay attention here too?

7. In Eph 6:4, what are some ways parents embitter / anger/ exasperate their children?

8. In Eph 6:5-8, does the Bible support slavery?

9. In Eph 6:5-7, since Christian slaves were supposed to still obey their masters even if were bad, to what extent should we obey and respect our boss at work, if he or she is bad?

10. In Eph 6:7, why should we do our best when no one is looking?

11. In Eph 6:9 and 1 Pet 2:18, why did God not tell masters to free all their slaves?

Ephesians 6:10-24 – Arm yourselves against dark powers

1. In Eph 6:10-18, what do we know about a Roman solder’s armor?

The breastplate, or thorax

The belt, or zone:

Shields:

The helmet, or perikephalaia:

Boots:

Sword:

2. In Gal 6:10-18, how is the church like an army base?

3. In Eph 6:10, how does a Christian who is strong in the Lord act different than one that is not strong in the Lord?

4. In Eph 6:11, what is the opposite of having the full armor of God?

5. In Eph 6:12, what is the difference between “rulers of this darkness of this age” and “spiritual

6. In Eph 6:12, exactly who or what are we struggling against?

7. In Eph 6:13, exactly why is it important to be strong in the Lord and have the armor of God?

8. In Eph 6:14 is the belt of truth the truth of God, our truthfulness, or our discerning the truth?

9. In Eph 6:15, how does our readiness come from the gospel of peace?

10. In Eph 6:16, why do we need a shield in addition to the other armor?

11. In Eph 6:19-20, how are Paul and us to be fearless?

12. In Eph 6:19, what does this say about the Roman Catholic concept of “stores of grace”?

13. In Eph 6:20, what is interesting about the word “chains”?

14. In Eph 6:21-24, why is this so closely paralleled with Col 4:7-8?

Ephesians 1:1-12 – Our Standing in Christ – some brief answers

1. In Eph 1:1, was the letter to the Ephesians really written to the Ephesians?

A: It was certainly to churches in the area, but some early manuscripts do not have the words “in Ephesus”.

Evidence that “in Ephesus” was added later:

1. p46 Chester Beatty II 100-150 A.D. has no gaps and no space for these two words. This manuscript also contains Galatians, Philippians, Colossians, 1 Thessalonians, 1 and 2 Corinthians, and in each case the city appears where it should. (While it has parts of Romans, Romans 1-4 was not present.)

2. The Alexandrian manuscripts Vaticanus 325-350 A.D. Sinaiticus 340-350 A.D. both did not have it. On both it was written in later by a corrector.

3. Early writers who do not have “in Ephesus” are Tertullian (wrote 207 A.D.) and Origen (225-253/254 A.D.).

4. Today’s Handbook for Solving Bible Difficulties p.294 mentions that if Paul had written it just to the Ephesians, one would have expected personal greetings to people with whom he had lived three years, but there are none.

5. Similarly, in Ephesians 1:15 it seems Paul is talking of a region, not just the city where he had lived for three years.

6. Origen and Jerome said that “in Ephesus” was not in the best manuscripts they had, though Jerome, in listing the writings of the church, said Paul wrote one letter to the Ephesians (Jerome and Gennadius (c.485-492 A.D.) chapter 5). Tertullian also said that Marcion’s followers considered this letter to the Laodiceans.

7. Basil of Cappadocia (357-378/379 A.D.) said that “in Ephesus” was not in any manuscripts known to him. (Against Eunomius book 2 ch.19 p. )

Some who held to the circular theory were Theodore Beza and Archbishop James Ussher. See John R. W. Stott’s  ~   p.24 for more info on this.

Evidence that “in Ephesus” was original:

1. The early writer Ignatius in his Letter to the Ephesians 110-117 A.D. in ch.12 says that Paul makes mention of the Ephesians in his letter.

2. As for having the words “in Ephesus”, both Sinaiticus and Vaticanus have these words added in the manuscript by another hand.

3. Alexandrinus (c.450 A.D.), the Claromontanus (5th/6th century) and the Byzantine Lectionary has “in Ephesus”.

4. The church writer John Chrysostom (392-407 A.D.) has it in his commentary. Chrysostom’s commentaries have direct quotes of the scripture.

5. A circular letter would seem to go against Tychicus’ mission, of taking the letter to Ephesus in Ephesians 6:21-22,. Tychicus also took another letter to the Colossians in Colossians 4:7-9.

6. There are no other circular letters we know of in the early Church without the name of the city or person.

7. This would have been the only known circular letter that Paul would have written.

Conclusion: either “in Ephesus” was taken out of some manuscripts, such Chester Beatty II prior to 100-150 A.D., or it was added to some manuscripts prior to c.117 A.D.. This is an example of a very early variant in scripture where we are not certain either way.

   See The Bible Knowledge Commentary : New Testament p.613, The Expositor’s Greek Testament vol.3 p.228-230,242, and the Believer’s Bible Commentary p.1912 for more info.

2. In Eph 1:3,17 and 1 Pet 1:3, is the Father the God of Jesus?

A: Within the Trinity, yes. Hebrews 1:9 shows multiple senses of the word “God” when it says, “Therefore God, your God, has anointed you.” One must distinguish between nature and role. All three are God in the Trinity, but within the Trinity, the Father has the pre-eminent role, as God to Jesus. The Son is not inferior to the Father, but His role is subordinate to the Father.

3. Since Eph 1:3-14 is said by Bart Ehrman to be all one sentence in Greek, as is Colossians 1:3-8, does sentence length indicate that these were not written by Paul, who generally wrote short sentences? (Bart Ehrman claimed this in Jesus, Interrupted p.126)

A: No. Not only is Ehrman against the consensus of where the sentence breaks are, the sentences are not much longer than sentences Ehrman agrees most likely were written by Paul. There are four points to answer this claim.

1) Early Greek manuscripts did not have punctuation, so one can only infer what was a period versus a semicolon or comma.

2) Even if God were to reveal to us “divinely inspired punctuation”, it would still be a bogus statistic, for the longest sentence would depend on not only the length of the book but also the subject matter. For example, did Paul write more deep theology at the beginning part of his books, and more short greetings at the end, and was the ratio of beginning theology, middle application, and ending greetings different for different books.

3) Eph 1:3-6, 1:7-10, and 1:11-12, and 13-14 are not one but four sentences, according to Aland et al.’s The Greek New Testament, 4th revised edition (1998). The Nestle-Aland Novum Testamentum Graece (1993), says the same. Ehrman never gave the source for why he thought it was only one sentence. However, 23 years earlier, the 1975 3rd edition Aland et al’s, The Greek New Testament showed them as one sentence, so I suspect he was using the much older version. Again though, the original Greek had no punctuation, so building an argument on where late 20th century people think the periods go, before they changed their minds, is a sketchy argument at best.

4) In contrast to the third point, Ehrman, Aland et al. 4th revised edition, Aland et al. 3rd edition, and Nestle-Aland all agree that Colossians 1:3-8 is one sentence. It is 156 words. Ehrman writes, “Colossians 1:3-8 is all one sentence in Greek; it’s a whopper, and quite unlike the kind of sentence Paul typically wrote. Ephesians 1:3-14 is even longer, twelve verses – not like Paul at all.” (Jesus, Interrupted p.126). Ehrman gives no basis for comparison, but I have provided one below.

Sentence	Word count of the longest sentences	Total Greek words in the book	References
2 Thessalonians	158, 57, 54	823	2 Th 1:3-10, 2 Th 2:8-10; 2 Th 2:1-3a
Colossians	156, 123, 102	1,578	Col 1:11b-20, Col 1:24-29, Col 1:3-8
Romans	139, 123, 113	7,109	Rom 9:19-26; Rom 4:16-21; Rom 2:2-8
Hebrews	135, 72, 65	4,953	Heb 8:8-12; Heb 1:1-4, Heb 2:2-5
Ephesians	124, 124, 104	2,421	Eph 2:1-7, Eph 4:11-16, Eph 3:1-7
2 Corinthians	118, 86	4,476	2 Cor 6:2b-10; 1:8-11
2 Timothy	105, 61, 34	1,238	2 Tim 1:8-12; 2 Tim 1:3-5; 2 Tim 1:6-7
1 Thessalonians	104, 81	1,429	1 Thess 3:9-13; 1 Thess 1:2-5
1 Corinthians	95, 72	6,847	1 Cor 1:20-25; 1 Cor 12:15-18
Philemon	94, 47	335	Phm 8-14; Phm 4-6
Galatians	93, 76	2,230	Gal 2:6-10; Gal 2:14-16
Philippians	88, 82	1,629	Php 1:3-7; Php 1:27-30
Titus	65, 57	659	Titus 1:1-4; Titus 3:4-7
1 Timothy	56, 56	1,591	1 Tim 1:8-11; 1 Tim 3:2-6
Lk 1-7	165, 95, 77	5,960	Lk 3:23-28; Lk 1:67-75; Lk 3:15-17
Acts 1-6	108, 89, 87	3,582	Acts 4:5-10; Acts 3:12-15; Acts 1:1-5
Acts 7-12	72, 65, 64	3,971	Acts 7:38-40; Acts 10:36-38; Acts 7:44-46

Ehrman agrees that the books in italics are most likely by Paul. The “whopper” of 102 words in Colossians 1:3-8 is not only shorter than other verses in Colossians, but also shorter than many other verses in books Ehrman agrees Paul wrote. 11b-20 The longest sentence in each book and which books he agrees are by Paul look random.

4. In Eph 1:4, how are we chosen by God?

A: Some think God foreknew everything before He made any choices or predestined anything. Others believe God predestined everything before He made use of His foreknowledge. There are only two verses where God’s foreknowledge and predestination/election of us are in the same verse.

Romans 8:29 “For whom He foreknew, He also predestined” (NASB, NKJV)

1 Peter 1:2 “elect according to the foreknowledge” (NKJV)

In these verses foreknowledge comes prior to predestination/election.

With the crucifixion of Jesus the order is reversed.

Acts 2:23 “Him [Jesus] being delivered by the determined purpose and foreknowledge of God” (NKJV)

However, no verse in the Bible says God had to completely have one before He had the other.

   In summary, God can choose us any way He wants. We do know that God has revealed that He is just, generous, and does nothing without any reason whatsoever. However, God does not seem to feel obligated to tell us all of His reasons.

5. In Eph 1:4-5, is everything predestination?

A: Everything that exists is predestined, even the reality of God permitting us the freedom to make choices without God’s total control. Nothing happens except what God knows, permits, and is a part of His plan. However, God permits people to do things He specifically did not desire the evil things mentioned in Jeremiah 5:28; 8:19; 12:8; Ezekiel 8:6)

   As Francis Schaeffer said in The Church at the End of the Twentieth Century: “We can glorify God, and both the Old and New Testament say that we can even make God sad. That is tremendous.” (Hymns for the People of God no.364) See also the next question for more info.

6. In Eph 1:4-5, should Christians believe in predestination?

A: I had a fairly mature Christian once tell me that he did not believe in predestination. I happened to know that he read his Bible regularly, though I must admit I had my doubts, after he made that foolish statement.

   Ephesians 1:5 and other verses show that believing in predestination is not an option for a Christian, any more than believing God is holy is an option. Now people may believe various truths and errors about predestination, but the word itself is clear in the Bible. God not only knows everything about everyone before we were born, but God chose our destiny before anyone was born. Predestination is not a “Calvinist” doctrine. Rather, it is a Biblical doctrine. Regardless of whether a Christian calls himself a Calvinist, non-Calvinist, or Arminian, believing that an all-knowing God chose us before we were born should be a part of your theology.

7. In Eph 1:4-5, how does God’s predestination fit in?

A: Here are a few things that Scripture has revealed.

1. God can do as He pleases. He is Sovereign over every detail, in that nothing happens beyond what God permits (Job 1:12; James 4:15).

2. God can do as He pleases. He directly and expressly controls every event He desires (Isaiah 14:24,27; 43:13; 55:11; John 10:26; Hebrews 6:17).

3. God can do as He pleases. He has not chosen to directly and expressly control some events (Jeremiah 5:29; 8:19: 12:8; Ezekiel 8:6).

4. God can do as He pleases. Every event, even those permitted and not controlled, is woven into His ultimate purpose (Ephesians 1:11; Proverbs 16:4,33; Romans 11:36; 1 Corinthians 8:6; Revelation 4:11).

8. In Eph 1:4-5, what are some misconceptions about predestination?

A: In Ephesians 1:4, when it says that God predestined us, then if we believe in the authority of scripture, we have to believe that God predestined us. We also have free will, correctly defined. Perhaps you have a hard time with predestination though because there are some misconceptions being taught about it. Let me share four topics that might help.

   God knows everything about the future with certainty, but His knowledge does not restrict our free will or lessen our knowledge. We cannot say, “God knew I was going to do it, so I had no choice, I had to do it.” In Acts 2:23, Jesus Christ was handed over to the Jews by God’s set purpose and foreknowledge, yet those who crucified Jesus were guilty of sin (John 19:11). Here is an example. He can read a book about George Washington crossing the Delaware River over 200 years ago. Our near-certain knowledge from the book did not force George Washington to do this. Suppose we could go back in a time machine to 400 years ago, and take the book with us. We have still done nothing that forced George Washington to do anything. God exists outside of time (Titus 1:2), as well as inside of it, and His foreknowledge did not force us to do anything.

   God’s foreknowledge of us precedes His predestination / choosing in the two verses that mention both together (Romans 8:29; 1 Peter 1:2). Calvinists tend to place these backwards. God chooses everyone He chooses, and then He foreknows. Arminians tend to say God chose before the beginning of time based on His foreknowledge. However, if God truly is outside of time, then both could be simultaneous.

   The sovereignty of Almighty God does not negate our free will, though Calvinists often say otherwise. Some things happened that “did not enter God’s mind” such as the infant sacrifices in Jeremiah 32:35, and people died who should not have in Ezekiel 13:19. Some things happen that make God sad. Yet on the other hand, everything works together according to God’s plan (Ephesians 1:11). How do you reconcile these two ideas? - by the concept of “delegated sovereignty”. God could have total control over everything, in such a way that nothing could displease Him and we are all robots. However, God, who can do anything, apparently chose to delegate His sovereignty, for a time and within limits, such that we have the ability to choose to obey or disobey God. God apparently highly valued man, made in His image, that God made people where they could freely choose to love God. God values this so highly, that He permits people to reject Him and suffer the consequences of their choice.

   What is free will? Martin Luther wrote an entire book The Bondage of the Will where he said free will was a false doctrine. Luther missed the boat here because he took things to unbiblical extremes. We are born with a will that is enslaved to sin (as Luther would agree), but we have free-agency to still cry out for help. We have free will, and a drug addict still has free will too. The drug addict might not have the power to break free of his habit, but he can stumble into a rehab center, fall on the ground and say, “help me”. Some people would make the distinction between a morally-neutral, unbound free-will (which is unscriptural), and what we have, calling the latter free-agency. Other people, especially Christians in the early church, use the term free-will to refer to the Biblical concept.

   In summary, God predestines us, and we also have free-will, properly understood. Before time began, God’s choosing who would go to heaven was not blind or capricious, but every single day of our lives was written in God’s book (Psalm 139:16) as He chose us.

9. In Eph 1:4-5, since we are predestined for salvation according to God’s pleasure and will, what about God’s pleasure and will for those predestined for Hell?

A: The situation is similar to the time George Washington’s friend was convicted to hang for treason. Washington loved his friend, and did not want to see him die. Yet, George Washington also wanted to see justice done. Washington made no effort to intervene with that man’s just sentence for his choices.

10. In Eph 1:4-13, before time began God foreknew who would become saved and who wouldn’t. Why then, does he need to predestine us to be “adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ”, which seems kind of redundant? What I mean is, since he knows it’s going to happen (because he exists outside of time), there is no need for predestining it. Wouldn’t the situations have occurred anyway if he didn’t predestine it? Why isn’t foreknowledge sufficient enough? Perhaps my confusion comes from my understanding of the word predestination. Hopefully you can understand where I am having trouble understanding this concept.

A: God’s predestining us has at least three aspects.

1. Ultimately, the choice on who is saved belongs with God, not us.

2. God works all things together for good for the predestined (See Romans 8:28). In other words, our lives are a “preparation process” for Heaven.

3. God prepares a place for us in Heaven too. Jesus said that in His Father’s house are many mansions. There will not be any empty mansions in Heaven, and nobody in Heaven will fail to have a place prepared by God for them.

   Someone gave this analogy. Perhaps the gates to Heaven have two inscriptions. On the outside it says, “whosoever will” and on the inside it says, “Welcome, you who were chosen from the foundation of the world.

   So on one hand, do not be like many Calvinists who say that since God makes the choice, our role is simply passive, like a puppet. On the other hand, do not be like some Arminians and think that since we make the choice, God’s role is merely a passive judge. The Holy Spirit actively works in people’s lives, and the Father draws people to Himself, or else nobody would every get saved.

   There is a theological term for people’s will choosing something, and yet God choosing to use their choice. It is called “concurrency”. People can argue whether God foreknows everything, and only predestines based on foreknowledge, or else God first predestines everything and foreknows after that. In the two places where both words are used of people, foreknowledge is first. However, there is no need to say a God is restricted to doing all of one before the other; both could have been at the same “time”, from the perspective of a timeless God.

11. In Eph 1:4-5, what are some useful Calvinist insights on free will?

A: Though I am not a Calvinist, I can appreciate some of the concepts certain Calvinists have raised. It should be mentioned that other Calvinists might disagree with these, though.

Mystery: Loraine Boettner explains: we have free agency (but not free will) like goldfish can swim freely in a bowl. “Predestination and free agency are the twin pillars of a great temple, and they meet above the clouds where the human gaze cannot penetrate. Or again, we may say that predestination and free agency are parallel lines; and while the Calvinist may not be able to make them unite, the Arminian cannot make them cross each other.” (p.222)

Permissive Decrees: Charles Hodge of Princeton Theological Seminary, said, “God never decrees to do, or to cause others to do what He forbids. He may, as we see He does, decree to permit what He forbids. He permits men to sin, although sin is forbidden.” (Curt Daniel’s Dissertation p.230). In Chosen by God p.97 R.C. Sproul writes “[God] ordained the Fall in the sense that he chose to allow it, but not in the sense that he chose to coerce it.”

Concurrence: Louis Berkhof says, “Concurrence may be defined as the cooperation of the divine power with all subordinate powers, according to the pre-established laws of operation, causing them to act and to act precisely as they do.” Curt Daniel (p.201) adds “He acts in, with and under the things of Nature.”

Dependent Decrees: God did not expressly decree everything independently. As W. D. Smith and Charles Hodge mention, while the working of good can produce evil reactions by evil men, the evil reactions are not chargeable to God, though God accounts for those too, in His plan. Like a cosmic movie-maker, God expressly decreed a number of specific events and let the film roll. After previewing a number of “takes”, He decreed the take that pleased Him the most. If we are able to erase and edit videotapes as we please, cannot God do the same?

Interaction: Combining the above explanations, the following is a non-Calvinist solution of sovereignty and freedom. We cannot hope to know everything about God’s work (like Boettner’s mystery), but we can learn what is revealed in the balance of the general thrusts of scripture without denying the details of any verses. God had a decreed will (like Pink’s decrees), permissive will (like Hodge’s decrees), and a commanded will (i.e. all are to obey God). God’s will in many matters is interactive with our will (like Berkhof’s concurrence) to the extent that God desires. Perhaps the most marvelous of God’s decrees is a measure of freedom, with its corresponding accountability. While God does not desire, decree, or will evil directly, He permits evil (like dependent decrees) as an “existential parasite,” a part of his plan to accomplish His purposes, which include people who freely choose to love Him.

All Calvinists should take to heart what the Calvinist Francis Schaeffer said in The Church at the End of the Twentieth Century: “We can glorify God, and both the Old and New Testament say that we can even make God sad. That is tremendous. (Hymns for the People of God no.364.)

As Jesus said in Matthew 23:37, “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing.” God can be saddened by our will.

12. In Eph 1:5, what does it mean to be an adopted son?

A: In Greek and Roman culture, sons had a higher status than daughters. But speaking within that culture, in a way they would understand, in Christ, all of us, male and female, have the rights of “sons of God” according to Galatians 3:26.  In Roman law, an adopted son has all the full rights, and responsibilities, as a natural-born son.

   See John R.W. Stott’s The Message of Acts p.39-40 for more info.

13. In Eph 1:7, why does the Bible emphasize blood so much?

A: Because the blood of Jesus is so important. His blood is so precious to us, because Jesus shedding His red blood on the cross for our sins paid the way for people to go to Heaven.

Ephesians 1:13-23 – The Standing God Has Given Us in Christ – some brief answers

1. In Eph 1:11 and Prov 16:4,33, how are all things working together in conformance with the purpose of God’s will?

A: While everyone can see how God can use good things for His glory, God makes no apologies for using evil things, too. See the answer in Genesis 45:8 for more info on this. Here are a few of the ways God can use evil.

1. To accomplish a specific, external task (Genesis 45:8; Acts 2:23)

2. To accomplish an internal change of heart (Judges 3:7-8, etc.)

3. As a warning to others (Luke 13:1-5)

4. As a means of destroying other evil (Habakkuk 1)

5. To refine our faith (1 Peter 1:6-7)

6. To help us die to sin (1 Peter 4:1)

7. To test our faith/develop perseverance (James 1:2-4)

8. Not for our sake, but for others (Colossians 1:24)

9. To be a sign for unbelievers (Philippians 1:28; John 9:1)

10. Just comes with being a Christian (2 Timothy 3:12; Philippians 1:29)

11. To show to Satan and others the quality of our lives (Job)

12. Sometimes we can see no other reasons, except that our persevering glorifies God (See Job 1:8-12; 2:2-6).

2. In Eph 1:13, since we were included in Christ when we heard the Gospel, how were we included before the beginning of time as Eph 1:4 teaches, and in the future as Eph 1:14 and Heb 9:29 show?

A: The Bible implies that God is timeless as well as within time. For a timeless God, the answer is all three: past, present, and future.

Chuck Swindoll has written an excellent Bible study booklet on salvation discussing these aspects.

Past foreknowledge and predestination aspects: Before time began, God, knew the end from the beginning and all our days (Psalm 139:16; Isaiah 44:7; Ephesians 1:4; Titus 1:2).

Present event aspects: When we heard the word of truth, and called upon the Lord (Romans 10:9-10), we have become a new creation (2 Corinthians 5:17). Hebrews 4:2 and Acts 10:44 also show the present aspects.

Present continuing aspects: As we work out in our lives the salvation that is in us, God is in the process of transforming our lives (Philippians 2:12-13; 1 Peter 2:2; Hebrews 3:14; 4:11; 6:11).

Future hope aspects: We long for the completion of our salvation (Hebrews 9:15,28; Romans 8:23-25; 1 Peter 1:4-5,9,13; 1 Corinthians 15:50-53; 2 Corinthians 5:5).

See Hard Sayings of the Bible p.645-647 for more info.

3. In Eph 1:14 and 2 Cor 1:22, since we are guaranteed and sealed with the Holy Spirit, why do some people fall away?

A: Being a Christian is not easy. There are a number of reasons people can fall away.

1. Some were never truly Christians in the first place (1 John 2:18-19; Acts 8:19-23).

1a. They can fool others (Matthew 7:15; 24:11).

1b. They can even fool themselves with a counterfeit conversion (Matthew 7:21-23; Hebrews 3:10-12).

2. Some genuine Christians fall away, but come back. True Christians will persevere.

3. Genuine Christians disagree on whether a genuine Christian can fall away, never come back, and perish in Hell forever. Verses some use to show Christians can fall away include Hebrews 6:4-9; 10:26-32; 2 Peter 2:17-22. Verses some believers use to show genuine Christians will always persevere and never lose their salvation are 1 John 5:13-14; Romans 8: 29-39; John 10:28-29.

4. In Eph 1:14, is the “purchased possession” here refer primarily to our possession of salvation, or God’s possession of us?

A: Christians can disagree on this, and let’s look at the context to see the strength of both sides.

Our possession: Ephesians 1 speak of our position in Christ, and Ephesians 1:11,14 speaks of our inheritance of redemption. 1 Peter 1:3-4 refers to our living hope and inheritance reserved in heaven for us. While see our God’s people/possession also in 1 Peter 2:9-10, the rest of Ephesians 1 emphasizes what we have in Christ, so it is listing our possessions.

His possession: Actually someone could say that Ephesians 1 does not just emphasize what we have in Christ; rather is who we are in Christ. While it can be said that we possess “own” our salvation in heaven through the merits of what Christ has done for us, it is more comforting to know that we are “owned” by God has His purchased possession, and God takes care of what He owns. John R.W. Stott’s The Message of Ephesians p.46-47 holds to this view.

5. In Eph 1:14, what is a “guarantee”?

A The Greek word for “guarantee”, arrabon, probably came originally from Phoenician traders for a contract, deposit, or down payment. The term was also used for an engagement ring. You can think of the Holy Spirit in us as our “engagement ring” promising our ultimate salvation and the marriage supper of the lamb.

   See John R.W. Stott’s The Message of Ephesians p.49 for more info.

6. In Eph 1:15, what would a Christian’s life be like if they had great faith but little love?

A: The might be speaking the truth, but in a non-helpful or even destructive way. Without love it would be like speaking the truth without caring. Sometimes rebuke can be mistaken for that, but with proper rebuke you do care that they repent and you express that. Love can be soft and compassionate; love can also be tough love. But one thing that love is not is apathetic. Jonah spoke the truth without love, and God showed him that Jonah even loved a plant more than Jonah cared for all those people.

   See the Believer’s Bible Commentary p.1912 for more info.

7. In Eph 1:15, what would a Christian’s life be like if they had great love but either little faith or else knew only a little of the faith?

A: They would empathize and be compassionate, but ultimately have little to offer for good counsel or direction.

   See the Believer’s Bible Commentary p.1912 for more info.

8. In Eph 1:16-18, is Paul primarily praying for something his readers already have, or for a new blessing?

A: Sort of both, but not quite either one. Paul’s readers are believers, so they already have some knowledge of God and enlightened understanding. But Paul is still praying for something new. Paul is praying that their knowledge and understanding would be deepened, greatly beyond what they already have.

   See John R.W. Stott’s The Message of Ephesians p.53-54 for more info.

9. In Eph 1:17, why did the Ephesians need to be given the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, since all believers already have the Spirit inside them in Rom 8:9-11?

A: All genuine Christians have the Holy Spirit, but God still commands genuine Christians to be filled with the Holy Spirit. Part of that includes being filled with wisdom and revelation.

10. In Eph 1:18, is the inheritance here our inheritance in Christ, or the saints as God’s inheritance?

A: While both are true, comparing this verse with Ephesians 1:11,14 shows that our inheritance is the primary meaning here. The Bible in many places mentions our blessings as our “inheritance” as sons of God. But we are God’s people, chosen from the world. Imagine a child of a very wealthy family, who might still need to learn to save his pennies for now, but knows that when he is of age he will inherit a great amount of wealth. You are that child! But your inheritance is not just some pieces of paper, pet rocks or metal pieces, but true riches in heaven.

   One way of a believer looking at this is that she or he has the Holy Spirit. But another way of looking at this is that the Holy Spirit has them.

   See the Believer’s Bible Commentary p.1913-1914 for more info.

11. In Eph 1:20, what do you think of theologian Rudolph Bultmann saying that “Christ has risen into the kerygma”, i.e., only in the faith and proclamation of His disciples?

A: Rudolph Bultmann was a hell-bound heretic, and not even very good at covering that up. 1 Corinthians 15:1-8 shows that if someone does not believe Christ rose from the dead, in a visible way, what they believe is in vain. So Paul is saying that a person who believes like this, their faith is in vain, i.e., it won’t do them any good.

   See John R.W. Stott’s The Message of Ephesians p.59 for more info.

12. In Eph 1:23, what does fullness mean here?

A: This Greek word for fullness, pleroma, was a common word that could be used to describe a bowl full of water, a ship filled with it cargo, or a ship with its full complement of crew. It is sort of like a house is not “full” if the children are not all home. In this context it can be active, in that we fill Christ’s possession in heaven, or passive, i.e., Christ fills the church. Since there is a grammatical ambiguity here, it could be both.

   See John R.W. Stott’s The Message of Ephesians p.62-65 for more a more detailed discussion.

Ephesians 2:1-10 – Redemption, one of the Sweetest Words – some brief answers

1. In Eph 2:1, what is the difference here between trespasses and sins?

A: These are synonyms for the same thing: transgressions against God. But the two Greek words here emphasize different aspects. A trespass (peraptoma), can be a trip, a wrong step crossing a boundary or stepping away from the right path. The Greek word for trespass also figures prominently in Colossians 2:13. A sin (hamartia) means a failure in missing the mark or falling short, like an arrow missing a target.

   See The Expositor’s Greek Testament vol.3 p.283 and John R. W. Stott’s The Message of Ephesians p.71 for more info.

2. In Eph 2:1,5, how are we “dead” in transgressions?

A: These verses are sort of a coroner’s report. But like shiny diamonds look best on a dark velvet background, God’s grace shows brighter when contrasted with our previous, dead state. All were dead in at least three ways: judicially, spiritually, and in a lesser way, physical decay.

Judicially: We are already dead in the way that a convicted criminal, scheduled to be executed the next day, is as good as dead. See also the question on Colossians 2:13.

Spiritually: While unbelievers can still do some relatively good things (Matthew 7:10-11; Luke 6:32-34), our spiritual deadness is so complete, that no one cannot even come to God unless the Father draws him (John 6:44) and the Holy Spirit works in the life of the unbeliever (John 16:8-11). They have no sight to see the glory of Christ. Just as the dead can’t talk to the living, the spiritually dead have no communication with God. Furthermore, as Christians, Christ is still required to sustain our salvation (Jude 24; Romans 8:29-39). Praise God for His continual work!

Physical decay: Haley’s Alleged Discrepancies of the Bible p.393 mentions a third way. We all have the “sickness” of mortality, and every time our bodies get well after a disease, which is only a postponement of death.

   It does not mean we have no feeling or will though. In Ephesians 2:2, the Greek word for “live/walk” is peripateo, which literally means “to walk about”.

   See The Expositor’s Bible Commentary vol.11 p.34, When Critics Ask p.475-476, The Tony Evans Bible Commentary p.1221, John R. W. Stott’s The Message of Ephesians p.72, The Bible Knowledge Commentary : New Testament p.622, and The Expositor’s Greek Testament vol.3 p.283 for more on info.

3. In Eph 2:2, who is the ruler of the air, and why is he ruling?

A: The ruler of the air is Satan. Since the Fall of man, Satan is the prince of this world (John 16:11). He is not the King, though. Satan is the god of this age (2 Corinthians 4:3), and the ruler of the air. The whole world is under the sway of the evil one (1 John 5:19). As the Epistle of Barnabas (100 A.D.) puts it, “[God] indeed is Lord for ever and ever, but [Satan] is the prince for the time of iniquity.” (chapter 18) See also the discussion on Romans 8:19-22, 1001 Bible Questions Answered p.61, John R. W. Stott’s The Message of Ephesians p.73-74, and The Expositor’s Greek Testament vol.3 p.284 for more info.

4. In Eph 2:3, why were we all objects of wrath?

A: First two reasons why we all were objects of God’s wrath, and then two qualifications.

Two reasons are what we did, and what we are.

What we did: Romans 3:23 says all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.

What we are: Romans 3:10-20 says that all turn away, and all are worthless. Apart from God, none do good.

   There are also two things that do not incur additional wrath on unbelievers.

Forebearer’s sin: Children are not guilty for the parents’ (or ancestors’) sin in Ezekiel 18; Deuteronomy 24:16. Children might still suffer curses and bad consequences, but nobody suffering in Hell will be able to say, “part of this is not my fault: I was framed.”

   Unfortunately there is a theological viewpoint called traducianism that claims a person bears the guilt for their parents’ sins, their grandparents’ sins, and all their ancestors’ sins. Two groups that believe in traducianism are Lutherans and Eastern Orthodox. In Hitler’s Germany, Jews were accused of being “Christ-killers”. All know that they Jewish people living then did not kill Christ, but the implication was that since their ancestors turned Jesus over to the Romans, they were guilty too. (But it is strange that they would just accuses Jews of being Christ-killers, and not Italians too!)

Unintentional sin: Sin is not counted where there is no law (Romans 4:15; 5:13). Ignorance of the law does not always make us innocent, though. Rather, when we found out we broke the law unintentionally, and we do not regret doing it, then we prove that we would have broken God’s law deliberately if we had known.

   Non-Augustinian Christians believe do NOT believe God is extremely angry with every baby that is ever born, and wants to torture reprobate babies in Hell for the sole reason that He chose to create them with a sinful nature as descendants of Adam.

   However, when someone realizes they are sinful and do not want to change, they are guilty for not wanting God to change them. They are not held accountable for being born with a sin nature, but they can be held accountable for not wanting to be changed out of that initial state.

5. In Eph 2:3, were all objects of wrath, or are only some objects of wrath as in Rom 9:22-23?

A: The next verse, Ephesians 2:4, answers this. All (including Paul) originally were objects [present and future recipients] of God’s wrath. But many have been transformed and in God’s sight are no longer objects of His wrath. The first sense is all people in time before coming to Christ. The second sense is in a predestinated sense that the reprobate will remain objects of wrath, but elect are/will be objects of mercy.

6. In Eph 2:4-5, what is the difference between grace and mercy?

A: Mercy is not getting the punishment you deserve. Grace is getting blessing you do not deserve. In humanity’s fallen condition, unfortunately it is too easy for us to take things for granted. The entire tone of this passage changes starting with just two words: “But God”. The situation may be hopeless, for us on our own, … but God!

   See the Believer’s Bible Commentary p.1917 and John R. W. Stott’s The Message of Ephesians p.79 for more info.

7. What does Eph 2:5 show about the idea that a person can keep on improving, reforming themselves, up to the point where they become saved? Why do some people believe that?

A: When you are dead, only resurrection can make a difference. Otherwise, why don’t they take the procedures they do in a hospital, such as giving patients medicine, doing operations, etc. and apply those in a morgue? There is a place for gradually becoming more godly and holy, called sanctification, but that needs the Holy Spirit and that is done after we are saved.

   As The Tony Evans Bible Commentary p.1221 says, other religions try to tell you how to get to God. But Christianity tells what God has done to come to you.

8. In Eph 2:5-8, are we saved by grace alone, or by faith plus works in James 2:14-24?

A: The language of Ephesians 2:8 is precise: “It is by grace you have been saved, through faith, -and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God - not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works…” Note the following points.

1. It is by [God’s] grace. - not us.

2. Through faith - not our own merits or from ourselves

3. Gift of God - not our works.

4. We were created [and saved] to do good works.

As one Indian Christian said, we are not saved by serving, but saved to serve.

   The quickest way to explain this is: Ephesians 2 shows we are saved by grace through true faith alone, and James 2 shows that true faith is never alone, but is expressed through our works. Galatians 5:6 says what counts is “faith expressing itself in love.”

   Another way of looking at this is asking “Have you been owned?” I not, then why? True faith means that our life is now hidden with Christ in God (Colossians 3:3). If your life does not belong to Christ, then you do not have saving faith.

   See the Evangelical Commentary on the Bible p.1024, The Bible Knowledge Commentary : New Testament p.624, The Expositor’s Bible Commentary vol.11 p.36, and the New International Bible Commentary p.1433 for more info. See also the next question and the discussion on James 2:14-25.

9. In Eph 2:5-8, how do grace, faith, and works interact?

A: One can see some of the key aspects of salvation by asking: who, what, how, for what, and why. The commentator Zerwick calls Ephesians 2:1-10 “the shorter epistle to the Romans” because of the great similarity of content.

Who: God saved us

Specifically, not us or God + us (Ephesians 2:8; 2 Timothy 1:9)

What: Saved by God’s grace through our faith. (Hebrews 4:2; Ephesians 2:8) Specifically not through our works or anything can boast about (Ephesians 2:8-9).

How given: God’s grace was given through Jesus dying on the cross to atone for us (Hebrews 2:17; 1 John 2:2) and to be the ransom for our sins (Matthew 20:28; Mark 10:45; 1 Timothy 2:6: Hebrews 9:15)

How received: God’s grace must be combined with our faith (Hebrews 4:2; Romans 10:10). Even our faith is nothing to boast about though, for even that is given by God through the Holy Spirit (Ephesians 2:8, John 16:8-11).

For what: to do good works (Ephesians 2:10), and because God loves us (John 3:16 and He wants to show His kindness to us (Ephesians 2:7)

Why: Many reasons, a few of which are: to demonstrate His kindness (Ephesians 2:7), we are His workmanship (Ephesians 2:10), because He loves the world (John 3:16); because of His own purpose and grace, not because of anything we have done (2 Timothy 1:9)

   For a discussion of when, see the question on Ephesians 1:13. See The Expositor’s Bible Commentary vol.11 p.33 and the Believer’s Bible Commentary p.1918 for more info.

10. In Eph 2:5-8, what are the major aspects of salvation?

A: Here is one way of looking at salvation.

1. Give gives us unmerited grace (Ephesians 2:8-10; Titus 3:4,7).

2. We must believe and repent (Ephesians 1:13; Romans 10:9-11).

3. God’s Spirit lives in us (Romans 8:9-11; John 14:15-18; 1 John 3:24; Ephesians 2:22; Titus 3:6).

4. Faith without the works of a transformed life is dead (James 2:14-20; 1 John 2:6-15; 1 John 3:5,6,9; Titus 2:11,14; 1 Corinthians 6:9-11,19).

5. God preserves His elect (John 10:28-29; Romans 8:28-29; Ephesians 1:13-14).

11. In Eph 2:6, does this promise of sitting with Christ on His throne refer to reigning with Christ on earth a thousand years, or afterward for eternity?

A: It could refer to both. However, Ephesians 2:6 says we will be seated with Christ “in the heavenly realms”, so its primary meaning probably is eternal. Regardless, praise God that we will be with Christ forever.

12. In Eph 2:8, what does the pronoun in “it” is the gift of God refer back to?

A: Some people say “grace”, and some say “faith”. However, both of these are grammatically feminine, and “it” is grammatically neuter, so it is likely that “it” refers to the preceding sentence, which talks about the whole concept of salvation. See The Bible Knowledge Commentary : New Testament p.624 for more info.

Ephesians 2:11-21 – Reconciling all of us together – some brief answers

1. In Eph 2:12-13, in Old Testament times, were all non-citizens of Israel doomed to Hell, with no chance to be saved?

A: When you get to Heaven you can ask that question to a non-Jewish person named Abraham. – or Noah, or Methusaleh, or Enoch, or Job, or Isaac. They were not Israelites, and they demonstrate that God can reveal Himself however He pleases. Even after the Law was given to Moses, Rahab and Ruth were non-Israelites who were still saved, becoming converts to Judaism. However, all who are saved, even in Old Testament times, are saved through Jesus Christ (1 Corinthians 10:4; 1 John 2:2; Hebrews 2:9; 1 Timothy 2:6). As long as a person rejects the real Jesus as the Way, John 8:24 and Acts 2:37-40 show they have no other way to be saved.  But Noah, Enoch, and others were “saved in Christ” even though they did not know His name while they lived on earth.

2. In Eph 2:12, what are the five “withouts” here?

A: As unbelieving Gentiles, they were a) without Christ, 2) excluded from citizenship (politeias) in Israel, 3) foreigners (xenoi), to God’s covenants of promise, 4) without hope, and 5) apart from God (atheoi). They were in a pretty bleak situation.

   See The Bible Knowledge Commentary : New Testament p.625, The Expositor’s Bible Commentary vol.11 p.39, and John Chrysostom’s Homilies on Ephesians homily 5 in the Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers First Series vol.13 p.70-71 for more info.

3. In Eph 2:14, what is the difference between Jesus “making peace” and Jesus ”being peace”?

A: While both are true, there is a difference. It has been said that “oil and water don’t mix”. But they actually mix quite well if there is an emulsifier. (Soap is a simple kind of emulsifier.) So like an emulsifier, Jesus makes peace by thoroughly mixing two groups together who were totally separate from each other. But a normal peacemaker, Jesus did not do that by appealing to the things we share in common. It is Jesus Himself, who is the basis for our coming together. “Unity” is not necessarily a good thing, if you are uniting with something or someone you should not be uniting with. And we do not seek uniformity, as we have different personalities, gifts, and that is a good thing to complement each other. Rather Unity of the Spirit, in Christ is not only what we are encouraged to do, but we are commanded to do. Think of us not that we are all one color but a prism of light or stained glass reflecting different colors as we illuminate Christ.

   As John Chrysostom said, it is not like Christ melted two metals and made one sculpture out of two. It is rather like Christ melted down silver and lead, and from them made a sculpture out of gold! John Chrysostom’s Homilies on Ephesians homily 5 in the Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers First Series vol.13 p.71.

   See the Believer’s Bible Commentary p.1921, The Expositor’s Bible Commentary vol.11 p.39, and The Tony Evans Bible Commentary p.1222-1223,1224 for more info.

4. In Eph 2:14, what is the significance of the dividing wall being broken down?

A: This sounds like Christ did a building remodeling project. Instead of the separation between Jews and Gentiles (non-Jews), God is putting all believers together as brothers. Any claim of pride or superiority based on ethnic or cultural background, or ancestry in the faith, is now broken, as should be acknowledged as such. The Japanese, American, Arab, Jew, English, or Russian Christian is not only just as much a Christian as anyone else, with non “second-class Christians”, but we are brothers and sisters of each other, and should enjoy fellowship with each other in the Lord. But just like we have no basis for feeling any pride or arrogance towards others, we have no basis for feeling inferior towards others either. There is no “inner ring” of insiders vs. outsiders in the church.

   There was a physical wall outside of the Jerusalem Temple courts with an inscription saying “No foreigner may enter within the barricade which surrounds the sanctuary and enclosure. Anyone who is caught doing so will have himself to blame for his ensuing death.”. Paul might have had this in mind when he said that in the church the wall is all gone as The Expositor’s Bible Commentary vol.11 p.40 says. Though The Bible Knowledge Commentary : New Testament p.625-626 and The Expositor’s Greek New Testament vol.3 p.294 disagree. Josephus uses the same word for that wall, and that wall was still standing. By the way inner curtain separating the holy of holies was a curtain and not a wall.

   James 2:1-9 is very emphatic that we are not to show partiality in the church. But there are views of how we are to do this.

The “Who cares” view: I understand that there is a division of different kinds of people in your church: those who like asparagus, and those who do not. But who cares? In a similar way, we should not consider someone’s ethnic background any more than we should consider people for membership or leadership based in part on their liking asparagus.

The “Watch out that none are neglected” view: Unfortunately we are not perfect on earth. Even in a great, growing church as in Acts 6:1, there can be the unfortunate situation where a group could be neglected. So church leaders should watch to make sure that all are included, at all ministries and levels. This will give greater unity and a greater witness to the world, when the world sees that we are one, as Jesus prayed in John 17:21.

Conclusion: The first way is ideal. However, we are not perfect Christians, and if the early Christians in Acts needed to do the second way, we do too. And I am glad I am not a second-class Christian because I don’t like asparagus!

   See also The Tony Evans Bible Commentary p.1222, the Evangelical Commentary on the Bible p.1024, and John Chrysostom’s Homilies on Ephesians homily 5 in the Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers First Series vol.13 p.72 for more info.

5. In Eph 2:15, what is the abolishing the hostility/enmity related to?

A: Enmity is what enemies have towards each other. Instead of the Mosaic commandments separating Jews and Gentiles, that is all behind us and we have standing before God based on Christ’s finished work. This is not so much a creation, but a “re-creation” creates one body out of two groups.

   See the Evangelical Commentary on the Bible p.1024-1025 for more info.

6. In Eph 2:15, how did Jesus make one out of two?

A: Instead of there being Jews and Gentiles in God’s eyes, now there are only Christians in His church.

7. In Eph 2:16-18, who is “both” here?

A: “Both” here refers to Jews and non-Jews who all have the same access to God through Jesus Christ. This could cause problems from a legal perspective. All Romans were required to worship the Roman gods, with the exception of Jews. But if Gentile Christians were not to be considered converted Jews, that would be a problem. But regardless, they were to bee accepted in one body.

   See the New International Bible Commentary p.1434 for more info.

8. In Eph 2:20-21, since the church is built on the apostles and prophets, do we need apostles and prophets today?

A: Christ is the only true head of the church. Our knowledge of God is based on the teachings of the Prophets in the Old Testament, and the apostles (and their scribes) in the New Testament. We do not need them per se, but we need their words today. This is why scripture is so important to Christians.

9. In Eph 2:20-21, since Jesus is the chief cornerstone, do we need a man to represent Jesus Christ to rule God’s church today?

A: Potentially there are many reasons some people might say that we need a vicar on earth. It would be good to reduce the following bad things:

1. Heresy

2. Not joining with spiritual counterfeit religions

3. Devotion to others besides God

4. Intellectual stagnation (Copernicus, Galileo)

5. Killing and torture of genuine Christians

6. Killing and torture of people in general

7. Legitimizing ungodly rulers

8. Added human doctrines masquerading as divine

It would be good to also improve the following:

1. To be a shining moral example to the world

2. Encouraging more study of the scriptures

3. Christian unity (includes not persecuting Christians)

Western European Christians tried this for a thousand years; the experiment has been called “the Roman Catholic Church” and it was a dismal failure by the time of the Middle Ages. Instead of reducing these things, it increased them. One thing good about the experience of the Catholic church is this: we can learn from past mistakes, and see the dangers of leaving the simplicity of following Christ as 2 Corinthians 11:2-4 teaches.

   A skeptic might argue (tongue-in-cheek) that the entire Roman Catholic Church was just a ploy to deliberately fulfill 1 Timothy 4:1-5. I will leave it to a Catholic to answer this false charge.

10. In Eph 2:21, where can the true church be found?

A: The True Church is not necessarily where the world is looking. As long as someone is looking for the “mere man” that is the head of the true church they will not see it. The true church is headed by Jesus Christ as the cornerstone (Ephesians 2:20). The true church is not built of either stone or brick, but is built of believers (1 Peter 2:5). Thus the true church is composed of genuine Christians from every denomination who have put their faith in Jesus Christ. When speaking of the true church, we can speak of “The Church Triumphant” (that is believers now in Heaven) and “The Church Militant” (that is believers still contending for the faith on earth).

   Unfortunately, sometimes Christians can get so focused on their denomination they lose sight of this. When I suspect a Christian might be this way, I ask him what denomination he is. When he says “XYZ’” I tell him, “do you that there are XYZ’s in heaven. There are no Baptists in heaven either, and I happen to go to a Baptist Church. Instead, there are Christians who are “XYZ’ers” in Heaven, and there are Christians who are Baptists in Heaven, but we are only in Heaven through Jesus, and not through any organization.

   The lie, that the organization is more important than a personal relationship with Christ, is one tool cults such as Mormons and Jehovah’s Witnesses use to convert churchgoers to their false gospel.

   On the other hand, I am not saying gathering and organizing together does not matter. Hebrews 10:25 commands us to not neglect meeting together.

   There are some ramifications to what I just said though. People can be pretty messed up theologically, but as long as they are correct on the primary things (as 1 Corinthians 15:1-4 warns us), and know Jesus, all Christians are “to accept one another just as Christ accepted you...” (Romans 15:7). Genuine Christians can have messed up views on the Sabbath (Romans 14:5), or on diet (Romans 14:2-3). They can do even more serious things, like tolerating an immoral person in their midst (Revelation 2:20), or a man living with his father’s wife (1 Corinthians 5:1). They can be caught up in very serious problems with legalism (Galatians 3:1). Yet even disobedient Christians under God’s discipline are still Christians.

   As for what are many of the things Christians agree on, click on “A Common Christian Confession” www.Biblequery.org/Doctrine/DoctrinalStatements/ACommonChristianConfession.html for a compilation.

Ephesians 3 – Our fullness in Christ together – some brief answers

1. In Eph 3:1, why did Paul say he was a prisoner of Christ Jesus instead of a prisoner of Rome?

A: Paul could look close by at the Roman soldiers guarding him and see that immediate cause of his imprisonment was the evil of Rome. But Paul, looking at the bigger picture, and saw that the ultimate goal of enduring his imprisonment was for the glory of Jesus Christ our Savior. When you look at unpleasant circumstances, whether from persecution or simply bearing up under what this fallen world throws your way, do you focus in the immediate cause or do you make the ultimate goal glorifying Jesus?

2. In Eph 3:3,9, what is the mystery here?

A: A mystery, in Greek, was something that had not been revealed yet. Ephesians 3:10-11 answers this. Jesus Christ starting the church was the mystery, which is not known in Old Testament times, as Colossians 1:26 states. Mystery here means a secret that was not revealed until this time.

   See the Believer’s Bible Commentary p.1926-1928, The Tony Evans Bible Commentary p.1223, The Message of Ephesians p.116-117, The Bible Knowledge Commentary : New Testament p.628-629, the Evangelical Commentary on the Bible p.1026, and The Expositor’s Greek Testament vol.3 p.307-308 for more info.

3. In Eph 3:4-6, since people in previous generations were not able to hear about Christ, how could anybody in the Old Testament times be saved?

A: Yes. At the most basic level, it is not anything we hear, believe, or do that saves us; it is not even the Gospel that saves us. It is God who saves us. God can save anybody He wants to, but we know that God is merciful, yet just and holy.

   See When Critics Ask p.476 for more info.

4. In Eph 3:8, how is Paul the least of all the apostles?

A: Paul gave two reasons why he thought so.

1. Abnormally (last) born (1 Corinthians 15:8)

2. More importantly, Paul used to persecute the church of God. (1 Corinthians 15:8; 1 Timothy 1:13). He went the farthest of any though: from murderer to missionary.

5. In Eph 3:8, since Christ’s riches are unsearchable, why does Paul want us to know the extent of Christ’s love in Eph 3:17-19?

A: Ephesians 3:18-20 answers this. Christ’s riches are immeasurable, but we have the enjoyable (and never-ending) task of experiencing just how great God’s love is for us.

   The Greek word is interesting here; it means literally “not traceable by footprints”. We cannot trace exactly why or how great God loves us, but we can enjoy the fact that He goes.

   See The Message of Ephesians p.120 for more info.

6. In Eph 3:9, does the word mean “administration” or “fellowship” here?

A: The Greek word, oikonomia, from which we get our word “economy” has a wide range of meaning. It means administration with the original connotation of a wife or steward managing a family or household. It can refer to how things are managed, i.e. a stewardship. In the church you can also think of it as managing relations.

   See The Bible Knowledge Commentary : New Testament p.628 and The Tony Evans Bible Commentary p.1223 for more info.

7. In Eph 3:15 should it say, “from whom every family”, “from whom His whole family”, or “from who all fatherhood”?

A: The Greek grammar is unusual here. The word “His” is not in the Greek, so the other translations likely are closer on this verse. The Greek word pater means father, and the Greek word patria means family, though it can also mean fatherhood. Paul was making a play on words here. The more precise meaning is “father… family” though to preserve the pun some translators have “Father … fatherhood”. See The Bible Knowledge Commentary : New Testament p.631, The Expositor’s Greek Testament vol.3 p.312-313, and The Message of Ephesians p.133-134 for more info.

8. In Eph 3:16-19, what exactly is Paul’s prayer for the Ephesian believers here?

A: They already have Christ in them. So Paul is praying that God would grant them strength against opposition, that Christ would be in the center of their lives, being rooted in love, and to comprehend the immensity of God’s love.

   In Ephesians 3:16 Paul did not ask for God to strengthen them “out of” his riches, like a rich men could donate a few dollars out of his wealthy bank account. Rather Paul is asking for God to strength them “according to” his riches, like a rich man might give proportionally to what he owns. Their salvation was instantaneous, but their sanctification is progressive.

   Have you finished growing in Christ yet? - I sincerely hope that you realize the correct answer is “no”, and you are still growing.

   See The Tony Evans Bible Commentary p.1224, The Bible Knowledge Commentary : New Testament p.631, the New International Bible Commentary p.1435, The Message of Ephesians p.135-136, and the Believer’s Bible Commentary p.1929 for more info.

9. In Eph 3:18, what is the width, length, depth, and height of the love of Christ?

A: What are the limits of Christ’s love, if any? Perhaps Paul might have been thinking of the following. The width is people all over the world. The length, or duration, is forever, from eternity to eternity. The depth is not just alive but those who have died. The height is to heaven.

   God is not penny-pinching I the least in what He gives, but sometimes we as believers are penny-pinching in what we want to receive.

   See the Believer’s Bible Commentary p.1930-1931 and The Message of Ephesians p.137 for more info.

10. In Eph 3:19, what do the three different Greek words relating to power mean here?

A: They emphasize different aspects of God’s power.

Power (dynameos) from which we get dynamic and dynamite emphasize God’s energetic working. It could also be “dynamic, living power”.

Strengthen (krataiothenai, from kratos) is to be encouraged, or power we are given to be strong to overcome resistance.

Comprehend (ixischysete, from ischys) may have power to grasp, hold, perceive, or comprehend. In other words, the power of knowing.

   See The Expositor’s Bible Commentary vol.11 p.51-52 and The Bible Knowledge Commentary : New Testament p.630,631,632 for more info.

11. In Eph 3:19, how can we have the “fullness” of God?

A: It is not what we are full of, but rather Who we are full of. It does not mean that we can comprehend infinity, that we can understand that the Holy Spirit Himself is inside us to empower our lives. but The Greek word here, “eis” is a goal, such as to comprehend the fullness of God, not that we contain all of the infinite fullness of God.

   See The Bible Knowledge Commentary : New Testament p.632 for more info.

12. In Eph 3:20, how can God’s tremendous power come through tiny Christians?

A: As Tony Evans says, a fire hydrant can gush huge amounts of water. It is not because of the 3 to 5 gallons of water that the hydrant contains, but rather what flows through the hydrant. Similarly, it is not that we have such great power on our own, but rather God’s power flowing through us.

   But Paul’s prayer is still a vast request; that the full power of God would flow through us.

   See The Tony Evans Bible Commentary p.1225 and the Believer’s Bible Commentary p.1929 for more info.

Ephesians 4:1-10 – Walk worthy of the calling in unity – some brief answers

1. In Eph 4:1, what does “walk worthy” mean here?

A: The Greek word for “worthy” here, axios, means “equal/balance weight”, or “bringing up the other side of the scale”, rather than merit. The verb here is peripateo, which literally means “walk”, or in Australian slang, a “walkabout”. So your “walk” in life should be of equal weight as what you say about yourself, when you call yourself a Christian.

   See The Bible Knowledge Commentary : New Testament p.632 and The Expositor’s Bible Commentary vol.11 p.55 for more info.

2. In Eph 4:1-2, what are some helpful characteristics of preserving unity here?

A: There are three parts to the answer.

How can you “put up with” having unity with another believer? It can be challenging to maintain unity with someone who has the opposite of these characteristics. A key part is the last characteristic, which is translated as “bearing with one another” or “longsuffering”. Longsuffering also implies that you have your feelings under control, rather than your feelings controlling you. Remember that God has put up with you, your sins and your telling Him you cannot do things for so many years. Since God loves you and has put up with you, you should be able to love and to put up with the shortcomings of other believers.

How easy is it for others to put with you? But you should question if it is easy for someone to get along with you. Do you have four essential qualities for people to get along with you, or humbleness of mind tapienophrosyne, gentleness (or meekness) praotes/prautetos, patience makrothymias, and bearing with others? Sometimes we can recognize that we have our own ambitions, things we are proud of, and pet peeves we have to “submerge” to obey these verses and be an easier person to get along with. God might put a person in someone’s life to teach them patience, but you hopefully you are not that person! In Greek culture, humility was considered a vice only worthy of a slave.

What are you willing to give up? Paul, who is telling us this, gave up a lot (safety, freedom, position, prestige, health, and a longer life) to do his ministry in the church. At one point Paul had serious depression in 2 Corinthians 1:8-10. How much would you be willing to give up to not just work with others, but work for others, for no benefit to yourself, and with no earthly reward or praise? Often working with others is not without some cost; it involves giving up our own ambitions and pride.

   See The Expositor’s Greek New Testament vol.3 p.320-321, the Evangelical Commentary on the Bible p.1027, the Believer’s Bible Commentary p.1932-1933, The Tony Evans Bible Commentary p.1226, The Bible Knowledge Commentary : New Testament p.632, John R.W. Stott’s The Message of Ephesians p.148, the New International Bible Commentary p.1435, The Expositor’s Bible Commentary vol.11 p.55, and The Bible Knowledge Commentary : New Testament p.633 for more info.

3. In Eph 4:3, is Paul speaking of unity in one organization, as Roman Catholics, Greek Orthodox, Mormons, the local church, the International Churches of Christ, and others all teach?

A: First of all, let’s just ignore the fact that these groups cannot have unity with each other. This particular verse says, “unity of the spirit”, not unity of an organization. It mentions seven things that are “one”, including one body, but not one organization. It also says we ought to preserve the Spirit’s unity, not try to make our own. So this particular verse does not prove anything about organizations. In fact, it is possible for an organization to be an idol too. As to the broader issue, whether organizational unity is desirable, see the next question. See also When Cultists Ask 251-252, John R.W. Stott’s The Message of Ephesians p.150-151, and The Tony Evans Bible Commentary p.1226 for more info and Building Up One Another p.62-63 for an experience where unity was important.

4. In Eph 4:3, is organizational unity something believers should desire?

A: Genuine Christians disagree on this.

No. Some Protestants say either it is not important, or it is dangerous when it becomes more important than following God in truth, as history has sadly but conclusively shown.

Yes. Catholics, Orthodox, the local church, and other Protestants say organizational unity is desirable.

Regardless, all serious Bible students should be able to agree on the following:

1. The Bible mentions unity of the spirit, and unity of Jesus’ disciples, but it never once says to have unity with those who reject, deny, or obviously pervert the faith.

2. While no Christian is perfect, either in holiness or doctrine, we are to watch out for wolves and divide from heretics.

3. Generally speaking, it is sometimes difficult to have meaningful unity with people who are trying to kill you or burn you at the stake.

4. We should strive to eliminate all that is divisive among Christians and accept one another just as Christ accepted us (Romans 15:7).

5. Unity that is not centered on Jesus Christ is not desirable unity, and we should avoid that.

5. In Eph 4:4, since there is only one body, why are there so many churches?

A: There are at least four main reasons.

1. Just as small differences exist among various Sunni Muslim schools, Mahayana Buddhists, Vedantic Hindus, the two sects of Baha’is, and other religions, so Christians too disagree on secondary matters. As an example, Paul and Silas had a disagreement over taking John Mark with them. Later they reconciled though (Acts 15:36-41; Colossians 4:10; 2 Timothy 4:11).

2. Adding: Over the years, many have been like the Pharisees in Mark 7:6-8, in wanting to add their own complex traditions to Christianity. In general, many say you should follow the Bible plus their tradition, which is put equal to God’s Word. Biblical Christianity is simply following what God says in the Bible, and recognizing human tradition as just of man.

3. Subtracting from Christianity is foretold in 2 Timothy 3:5 says in the last days some will have the form of godliness but deny its power. A number of “liberal” churches take away from God’s teaching, saying God cannot perform physical miracles, and there is no Heaven and Hell, while still pretending to be Christians.

4. Perversion: As prophesied in Acts 20:29-30, there are spiritual “wolves” who through deception draw away disciples after themselves to start their own man-made religion while still claiming to follow Jesus. Many of them have their own book in addition to the Bible. These evil things were prophesied to occur in 1 Timothy 4:1-5, 2 Peter 2:1-3, and Jude 8-19.

6. In Eph 4:5, is this water baptism, or Spirit baptism?

A: Some think it is a twofold sense, as the Believer’s Bible Commentary p.1933 says. But then, if Paul meant both, it would not really be one baptism.

   However, The Bible Knowledge Commentary : New Testament p.633 says it is unlikely to refer to Spirit baptism, since there are three sections referring to the Holy Spirit, Son, and Father, and this is in the section referring to the Son.

7. In Eph 4:6 and Eph 1:23, if God fills everything in every way, is pantheism true, which says that everything is a piece of God?

A: No. While Psalm 139:7-12 shows that God’s Spirit is everywhere, pantheism goes beyond that and says everything is a part of God who is worshipped, such as people, rocks, even dog droppings. For example, a pile of trash is not God, and the pages of an atheist’s pamphlet, denying God exists, are not God. We are not to worship the created things instead of the Creator (Romans 1:23,25). Rather, as Colossians 1:17 shows, all things are held together by Christ.

8. In Eph 4:8, why did Paul say God “gave” gifts to men, since Ps 68:18 says God “received” gifts from men?

A: Christians have two different views.

Copyist error: “Give” may have been the original in Psalm 68:18. While “receive” is in the Masoretic text and the Greek Septuagint, “give” is in the Aramaic-language Targums and Syriac Peshitta. Furthermore, the entire Psalm, excepting possibly this one verse, speaks of what God gives to others.

From an Aramaic Targum: Another view is that Paul usually starts his scriptural quotes with “It is written”, but Ephesians 4:7-8 is different with “It says”. These match very closely the oral tradition in the Aramaic Targum on the Psalter and the Syriac Peshitta. Early rabbis applied this verse to Moses, saying he received the law in order to give it to the people. See The Expositor’s Bible Commentary vol.11 p.57 and the Evangelical Commentary on the Bible p.1027 for more info.

Overall summary: Paul was not quoting any verse, but paraphrasing the entire Psalm 68. See The Bible Knowledge Commentary : New Testament p.634 for more info on this view.

Either way, John Chrysostom (Homilies on Ephesians c.396 A.D.) observes that there was essentially no difference here. God both gives and receives things from men. Viewing at salvation as God receiving the burden of our guilt, or giving us forgiveness is simply looking at two sides of the same thing.

   See The Expositor’s Bible Commentary vol.11 p.57, When Critics Ask p.476-477, The Bible Knowledge Commentary : New Testament p.634, John R.W. Stott’s The Message of Ephesians p.157-158, and Encyclopedia of Bible Difficulties p.404 for more info.

9. In Eph 4:9 and Acts 2:27, after He died, did Jesus go to Hell, or not?

A: While the phrase “Jesus descended into Hell” was inserted in the Apostle’s Creed (Aquileian form 390 A.D.), the Bible does not explicitly say either way. Here is what the Bible says.

Ephesians 4:9 descended to the lower, earthly parts

Psalm 16:10 says “Sheol” which means grave.

Acts 2:27-28 quoting Psalm 16:10: Jesus would not be abandoned to the grave (Hades)

1 Peter 3:19 Jesus preached to the spirits in prison

According to Jewish religious thought, echoed in the Book of 1 Enoch chapter 22 and other writings, the dead went to two places: the righteous to paradise and the unrighteous to prison.

1 Peter 4:6 mentions the Gospel being preached to those dead. (NIV has “now dead” but “now” is not in the Greek). See the discussion on 1 Peter 4:6 for more info, and When Critics Ask p.477-478, When Cultists Ask p.252-254 and Hard Sayings of the Bible p.637-639 for a different answer.

10. Could Eph 4:9 mean Jesus came down to earth, rather than descending to the grave?

A: There are three views which are compatible with the context of the passage.

Descended to the earth (genitive of apposition) Believer’s Bible Commentary p.1934

Descended to death (genitive of comparison)

Descended to the lower parts which belong to the earth (genitive of possession) Bible Knowledge Commentary : New Testament p.634

The Expositor’s Bible Commentary volume 11 p.56 says that interpreting this as the incarnation to earth is acceptable (view 1). It also says this might signify death and burial (view 2).

   See The Expositor’s Greek Testament vol.3 p.325-327 for more info.

Ephesians 4:11-13 – Walk worthy of the calling in diversity – some brief answers

1. In Eph 4:11, does this mean “pastor-teacher” as one role, or pastors and teachers as two roles?

A: In this list of the Greek word kai separates pastors and teachers. This Greek word means “and/even”, and in this passage it could be either way, just as in English. Now pastors do teach (Titus 1:9; 1 Timothy 5:2,17), so there is a combined role. The real question then is whether the Bible supports a role for teachers who are not pastors. The answer is a clear “yes” for at least four reasons:

Stephen witnessed to the Jews, teaching them with a detailed knowledge of scripture, though Acts said he was only a deacon.

a) Paul commended the teacher Apollos, even though Apollos was not a pastor.

b) Barnabas, Timothy, and others taught and preached the word, even when they were not pastors.

c) An elder was supposed to be able to teach (1 Timothy 5:2), which implies they were teaching before they were elders.

d) In fact, Colossians 3:16 commands Christians in general to teach and admonish one another.

2. In Eph 4:11, since there are pastors and teachers today, are there prophets and apostles today, too?

A: Ephesians 4:11 refers to important offices in the church without delineating which extend to the present and which do not. No, there are not people with the New Testament office of apostles and the Old Testament office of prophet walking around today. See The Complete Book of Bible Answers p.350 and the Believer’s Bible Commentary p.1934-1935 for more info.

3. In Eph 4:11, what is the difference between a natural talent and a spiritual gift?

A: First of all there is an overlap in some areas. A person who has a very compassionate heart for others could also have the spiritual gift of helps. A person who has a spiritual gift of knowledge could be intelligent and well-studied, though it does not have to be so. Don’t downplay natural talents, because the church body greatly benefits from these, whether it be public speaking, or important behind-the-scenes functions like accounting. But spiritual gifts go beyond our natural ability, and God has given every believer at least one spiritual gift, according to 1 Corinthians 12:7, though it is possible your gift is not listed there. (No, complaining and fault-finding are not considered spiritual gifts!) With some spiritual gifts, other believers might scratch their heads and ask, “how, naturally speaking, could they do that!” God can give a word for someone to say, and the person did not even know that themselves; they are learning too from what is coming out of their own mouth. How can a person have the stamina to keep on loving and caring, even in spirt of boredom, human persecution, or spiritual opposition? Sometimes they simple answer is: naturally speaking, they don’t. It is God’s power flowing through them, like unlimited water through a small fire hydrant.

   See the Believer’s Bible Commentary p.1935 for more info.

4. In Eph 4:11-13, how does a church body identify who has which gifts and should be in which roles?

A: Unity does not mean uniformity. As Christians we have differences in gifts, and praise God for that! But identifying gifts in people might be a common but often overlooked problem in many churches today. One idea might be an incomplete idea of what true discipleship is. Discipleship can be thought of as taking a young or “broken” Christians and maturing them in the knowledge and practice of the faith, and guarding them from wrong teaching, so that they are mature Christians. That view is true but incomplete. It also involves younger believers discovering their gifts and God’s specific purpose for them right now. Of course they should be open to the fact that God can develop gifts, give them more gifts later, and change their ministry. So good discipleship helping a believer find their ministry God has called them to now, and helping them get plugged in to serve. The younger believers ministry might not be at all similar to the discipler’s ministry. That is fine; there might be a place for the discipler to pass them off to someone else.

   Did you know almost any high school American football team can beat any professional football team, including the 2023 Superbowl champion Kansas City Chiefs, with one qualification. On the pro team, make the offensive guards the wide receivers, the fastest kickoff return person the center, make the waterboy the quarterback, make the defensive secondary the lineman, the trainers the running backs, and the team mascot the middle kicker and linebacker. So, in the church, as in sports, it is important to have people in the places they have the gifts for.

   Many people are concerned about knowing their spiritual gifts, and (hopefully) about using them in the church. But shouldn’t we have the same concern for knowing, and helping others to know, others’ spiritual gifts and using those in the church? So the question should not be “do you have a Christian ministry?” The question should be, “what is your Christian ministry?”

   As one pastor quipped, nobody has to worry about not having a job, because the church as tons and tons of job openings. Most of them are unpaid, however. So everybody in the church, retired, younger, teens, should have a ministry, and church’s should do more so that every member can pull their weight. A church should not be like someone’s description of an American football game: 22 people in desperate need of rest, and 50,000 people in desperate need of exercise! Perhaps a church is like that when a pastor has a deficient view of leadership; he thinks most members don’t need to serve, because he and his small staff will do it all.

   When a pastor feels burnout, one reason could be that He is serving God the wrong way. He is trying to do too much on his own, and doing what the members should be doing. As an example, one day a pastor got a frantic call from a church member. The member said that he had bene talking with a neighbor of his about Christ many times, and the neighbor finally decided he was willing to accept Christ. So could the pastor come over right now and pray with him? The pastor said he would be right over then then hung up. Then the Spirit convicted the pastor, and the pastor called back. The pastor told them man, “I am not coming. You should lead him to Christ.”

   See the New International Bible Commentary p.1436, the Believer’s Bible Commentary p.1936, John R.W. Stott’s The Message of Ephesians p.167, and The Tony Evans Bible Commentary p.1226 for more info.

5. In Eph 4:14-15, what is the difference in these verses between a Christian who is a “baby” and one who is mature?

A: While an infant can do a lot of things, an infant does not have the wisdom or physical capacity to stay out of trouble and keep away from light sockets, hot stoves, traffic, and other dangerous things. Some Christians, including some not so young ones too, have no clue that it is important that they should stay away from heretical or otherwise false teaching, sin, and friendships and memberships that draw them away from God. Even when a Christian realizes this, they need to be taught how to recognize those teachings and situations that they should stay away from. In the Bible we are told to resist the devil (James 4:7; 1 Peter 5:9), but we are told to flee various temptations (1 Corinthians 6:18; 1 Corinthians 10:14; 2 Timothy 2:22), but that God can make us stand up to temptation when we cannot (1 Corinthians 10:14).

   See The Tony Evans Bible Commentary p.127 and John R.W. Stott’s The Message of Ephesians p.170-171 for more info.

6. In Eph 4:15, what is the difference between “speaking the truth”, “speaking in love”, and “speaking the truth in love”?

A: Speaking the truth can be harsh, with no attempt to reach the listener. In a sense it is not what you say that matters so much as what they hear. Speaking in love can be speaking whatever sentimentally seems best, but it can be leaving out uncomfortable truths they need to know. Speaking the truth in love tells the person everything the need to know, though perhaps in the proper timing. But it does it in a way that shows you care.

   In general, speaking the truth in love can be more difficult, delivering what they need to hear (pleasant or unpleasant), the right way. You need to focus on your tone as well as your words. It is also better to know where a person is at before correcting or rebuking them.

7. In Eph 4:16, how we are all like joints and ligaments that grow?

A: There are three points in the answer.

Muscles and bones are very different materials. But a tendon not only need to connect both, but it also needs to have a very strong connection.

We all have important roles in God’s church, even if they might not have a name and might appear minor? In the human body wrists might not seem important, but without a wrist, your hand is disconnected. Which joint in your body would you be willing to do without? – probably none. We should not be content to put up doing without in the church either. If a bunch of people are not doing anything for God, and a bunch of needs in the church are not being met, you have what appears to be two problems. But perhaps the two problems can solve each other.

All the parts take their orders from the head. Whether your ministry is part of a local church or not, we need to take our orders from Jesus Christ, the head of the body. If you think you can accomplish more by taking ethical shortcuts, or in general doing things that you know God does not want you to do, then you are not really acting as a part of the body; if you are not willing to be controlled by the head, Jesus Christ. We have a term for cells that are growing healthily but refuse to take orders from the head, - we call it cancer.

   See the Evangelical Commentary on the Bible p.1028, The Tony Evans Bible Commentary p.1226, and The Expositor’s Bible Commentary vol.11 p.59-60 for more info.

Ephesians 4:17-4:32 – Walk worthy of the calling in purity Part 1 – some brief answers

1. In Eph 4:17 and Rom 1:21, how can some people walk in the futility of their minds?

A: The word for futility here, metaioteti, is only used in the New Testament here and Romans 1:21; 8:20 (of Creation), and 2 Peter 2:18 (of words). It means good-for-nothing, futile, worthless, though it is sometimes also used to refer to idolatry, which is also those things.

   Image thinking, living, planning, and seeking something that is totally empty, worthless, and ultimately purposeless. It is not hard to imagine; a moth does it when it circles a flame. When a person desires and plans for sin that can hurt them, they are not really so different than that moth.

   Imagine the person in prison, for many years, after committing what they had planned to be the perfect crime. Fallen humanity has not just a sinful will and darkened desires but a darkened intellect too. “Vanity of their minds” in the King James Version is also a good term because it emphasizes both the uselessness of their thinking and their prideful feelings of the importance of their thinking at the same time.

   See the New International Bible Commentary p.1416, The Expositor’s Bible Commentary vol.11 p.61, The Bible Knowledge Commentary : New Testament p.636, The Tony Evans Bible Commentary p.1227, and the Believer’s Bible Commentary p.1037 for more info.

2. In Eph 4:17, in what ways do you think God will tell some Christians, just like non-believers, you focused too much on things that did not matter?

A: If you recorded in a journal, or better yet, if you have a journal, add up  the amount of following amounts of time in a month.

a. Time spent praying, thinking about God and His word, and studying God’s word.

b. Time spent browsing the internet and listening to and reading news.

c. Time spent watching sports.

d. Time spent thinking about your favorite activity.

e. Time spent thinking about work, outside of work hours.

f. Time spent thinking about finances and investments, including real estate.

Which one of these will seem much more important than the others when you get to Heaven?

g. Also, while you are at it, count the time spent in relationships with family and friends. Hopefully that is not so much less than the others. It would be really sad if you said, based on time spent, my closest personal relationship is apparently YouTube!

In some parts of the country, I think that contrary to what statistics show, people are very religious. - their religion is their sports team!

   See the Evangelical Commentary on the Bible p.1028 for more info.

3. In Eph 4:18, should it say “blindness” or “hardness”?

A: The Greek word, porosis, can refer to marble, or a calcified joint. In English we get our word osteoporosis from that. One could think of it as “petrified”. However, one Christian commentator, Armitage Robinson, argues that since it does not mean the person has deliberately chosen to be hardened, it is more like a dulling of the senses so he says that “blindness” is a better translation. But “hardened” fits the Greek better, as long as it is understood that it is not a sudden, deliberate act of hardening, but a gradual loss of perception and ability to change.

   See John R.W. Stott’s The Message of Ephesians p.176-177 for more info.

4. In Eph 4:19, what is “work” at every uncleanness mean?

A: This can mean to make business out of, or financially profit from every kind of vice.

   See The Expositor’s Greek Testament vol.3 p.340 for more info.

5. In Eph 4:25-5:2, what is Paul saying about these eight evils?

A: Each of them is contrasted with a counteracting virtue. Some of these are heart attitudes, some are actions, and some are habits. With the Holy Spirit’s power, we need to clean out those heart attitudes, stop doing those evil actions, and break those bad habits. But the trouble is, things tend to come back. Replace those bad attitudes with good ones, those evil actions with good ones, and the bad habits with good habits.

   See the New International Bible Commentary p.1437 for more info.

6. In Eph 4:26, is it a sin for us to get angry, since Jesus and Paul got angry?

A: It is not a sin to get angry in many cases. However, Ephesians 4:26 shows that it is a sin for us to stay angry and hold a grudge. If the sun goes down on your anger, you have been angry too long. See When Critics Ask p.478-479 for a chart of good versus bad anger, and Haley’s Alleged Discrepancies of the Bible p.245 for more info.

7. In Eph 4:26, is it a sin to stay angry? God appears to stay angry at the people and demons in the Lake of Fire.

A: Three points to consider in the answer.

1. We are not to stay angry, get jealous, accept worship, or be called God, but God is not forced to do what He commands His servants to do.

2. God is infinite, and He can feel different things at the same time. He can be angry at one wicked person, and simultaneously delight in one of His children. He can do these at the same time because He is God.

3. Scripture does not say whether or not God will stay angry forever. God might just eventually not care at all about those who choose to live without Him.

8. In Eph 4:26-27, what is the difference between being angry and sinning vs. being angry and not sinning?

A: Anger becomes a sin when you hold a grudge, refuse to forgive, want to get revenge, lose control of your emotions, or get angry about something you should not be angry about. Jesus, Paul, and Moses got angry on occasion about the things of God.

   Christian anger is not just something that happens that we should apologize for. Rather, John R.W. Stott says that a problem in the church is not that there is too much Christian anger, but rather that there is too little of it. When lives are being destroyed and taken away, and we are not angry about it, what does that say about our love for other people?

   See John R.W. Stott’s The Message of Ephesians p.185-186, The Bible Knowledge Commentary : New Testament p.636, The Tony Evans Bible Commentary p.1228, and The Expositor’s Greek Testament vol.3 p.345-346 for more info.

9. In Eph 4:28, do Christians need to work laboring with their hands?

A: This expression means an honest living. Besides regular criminal activity, many in that time amassed considerable fortunes through bribery and corrupt political and business practices that were often legal, but were not right. (Perhaps those times were not so different from our own.) However, as Jesus loved the tax collector named Matthew, Jesus wants corrupt people today to repent of their sins, come to Jesus, and pay back their victims.

  As an aside, stealing was not looked down upon in some Greek cities, such as Sparta and the Lacedaemonians. See The Expositor’s Greek Testament vol.3 p.346-347 for more info.

10. In Eph 4:29, what are evil words here?

A: The word for evil here is not the typical word for evil. In Greek it is sapros, which is used of rotten fruit or a rotten plant. Rotten, corrupt, spoiled, or evil are all good translations of the thought here.

   See The Expositor’s Bible Commentary vol.11 p.65 and John R.W. Stott’s The Message of Ephesians p.188 for more info.

11. In Eph 4:29, why is it important that Christians not curse?

A: Simply because the Bible says not to do so. James 3:10-12 says it should not be that cursing comes from the same mouths as praising God. While it is true that Peter cursed when he denied Christ, Peter wept afterward, and repented of his sin.

12. In Eph 4:31-32, what is Paul contrasting in these two verses?

A: Bitterness, wrath, anger are emotional states, out of which flows evil speech. Malice is a general term for all of that. Wrath (thymos) and anger (orge) are similar, but both mentioned as distinct sins. Wrath is an explosive losing your temper, while anger can be a simmering, vengeful hatred. You can think of anger like magma building in a volcano and seeping out, while wrath is more like a volcanic eruption.

   See The Expositor’s Bible Commentary vol.11 p.65-66 and John R.W. Stott’s The Message of Ephesians p.190 for more info.

Ephesians 5:1-16 – Walk worthy of the calling in purity Part 1 – some brief answers

1. In Eph 5:1, to what extent should we be just imitators?

A: Are you an imitator, who only tries to do what another has done? – I hope so. As a child imitates its parents, we should imitate God (Ephesians 5:1). A child should try to preserve the honor of their parents. We are also imitators of Christ (John 15:12; 1 John 3:16), imitators of what is good (3 John 11), imitators of our leaders (Hebrews 13:7), and imitators of Paul (1 Corinthians 4:16; 11:1; Philippians 3:17; 4:9; 1 Thessalonians 1:6; 2 Thessalonians 3:7,9). On the other hand, in a good way we can do things on our own initiative, volition, or accord, as 2 Corinthians 8:17 and 9:7 show.

   As an aside, some people claim that since God is so great and vast, and humans are so small, we can know next ot nothing about God. But taking this too far, that would excuse our disobeying this verse by denying that we have the capacity to do so. We can’t know everything about God; but the Almighty and all-knowing God has chosen to, and has the ability to show us so much about Himself that we can be imitators of God.

   See The Bible Knowledge Commentary : New Testament p.637, The Expositor’s Bible Commentary vol.11 p.66, The Tony Evans Bible Commentary p.1228-1229, the Evangelical Commentary on the Bible p.1029, and the Believer’s Bible Commentary p.1940-1941 for more info.

2. In Eph 5:2, what is walking in love, and what are alternatives to walking in love?

A: Many people have no clue whatsoever what waking in love is, because they are so far from doing it. As you are going about your life, whether walking, driving, or anything you are doing, what is the main thing you think about? Is it how to make more money, how to have more enjoyment, or how to achieve some goal? I hope that you primary thing is none of the above. Now it is OK to think about those things some, but your primary, “go-to” thought should be how you can love and bless others, and your loving relationship with God. Too often we try to walk according to cultural demands. As Christians we will not completely fit within the culture, nor should we try.

   Paul gives us a good hint on how we can focus on this. Just as Christ came primarily to be an offering and a sacrifice for us, we should consider our life an offering and sacrifice to God. Instead of asking how much money you are making, or how much fun are you having, ask how pleasing is your sacrifice (i.e. your life) to God.

   As Christians, sometimes we get so caught up in other things, that we may be saved, but we are not walking in love. In Revelation 2:4 Jesus exhorts the Ephesian church (and indirectly us) not to forsake our first love. The apostle John in 1 John 2:5-6 says the love of God needs to be perfected in us, and so we should walk as Jesus did. Here Paul is also saying how important it is for us, not just to believe like Christians, but to walk in love.

   See the Believer’s Bible Commentary p.1941 for more info.

3. In Eph 5:3, what does not even a hint of sexual immorality mean?

A: Of course it includes sexual immorality, but specifically don’t get yourself in a situation or friendship where it would appear you are being immoral. This can also refer to immodest jokes, and clothing. When you can say something funny but a bit off-color, God wants you not to be funny. 1 Thessalonians 5:22 also says to avoid the appearance/form of evil.

   See the New International Bible Commentary p.1437 and the Believer’s Bible Commentary p.1941 for more info.

4. In Eph 5:7, should this Greek word be “associate” or “partake”?

A: The Greek word in Ephesians 5:7, summetochoi, does not mean you cannot ever be around them. It means do not partake, participate in, or have any share in what they do. So what about making an investment in a company that promotes immoral or otherwise sinful things? Even if you do not do those things yourself, your profiting when they prosper in what they do is wrong.

   See The Expositor’s Bible Commentary vol.11 p.70 and John R. Stott’s The Message of Ephesians p.198 and The Bible Knowledge Commentary : New Testament p.638 for more info.

5. In Eph 5:8, what would be the difference between “you are in the light” and “you are light” as it says?

A: We are in the light of Christ too, but that is not what this particular verse says. Rather, it is not just that Christ is the source of our light, but we are to reflect Christ’s light to others as Matthew 5:14 and Philippians 2:15 say.

   See John R. Stott’s The Message of Ephesians p.199 for more info.

6. In Eph 5:11, how can Christians sinfully have fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness?

A: If you directly participate in works of darkness of course that is bad. However, if you enable, support, or profit from unfruitful works of darkness you are to stop doing that too. One group that has plagued some churches, especially some conservative churches, like a parasite, is freemasonry. On the lower levels it appears as just a social organization that does benevolent work. But in the higher levels, when they worship a being called Bahomet, and claim that many of the major religions all worship the same god, they are a religious organization that contradicts Christianity. When I was in high school, I knew none of this. I was invited to join DeMolay, which is basically a masonic organization for high school boys. But before going, I found out that black boys were not allowed to come. I thought that was very strange, and I did not want to visit or join an organization like that. But regardless of the masons, if there is any organization that excludes people because of their skin color or ethnic background, you have no business as a Christian joining or supporting that. So if your church wants to be open to the community, and a local masonic chapter wants to meet there, the church should not allow that.

   Some try to combine Christianity with non-Christian things. For example, Camilo Torres Restrepo, a Liberation theology leader, said, “If Jesus were alive today, He would be a guerrillero.”

   In a negative way, some non-Christians have decided that they will not invest in any company that does not support their social agenda. The Blackstone group was started in 1985 as an alternate investment firm. On finance.yahoo.com, on Sept. 30, 2023, it had a market capitalization of $130 billion. It has been ranked as the 175th largest company in the world. Many company are eager to support a particular anti-Christian social agenda, not because the U.S. is forcing them, but rather because Blackstone and others might withdraw their investment in them if they do not.

7. In Eph 5:11, to what extent are we called to expose unfruitful works of darkness vs. just be silent about them?

A: First of all, realize that we will not be popular when we expose works of darkness, and may suffer persecution. But we should expose the works of darkness when it can tempt others, or people are saying it is morally acceptable. We should warn other believers about getting involved with them. There are times when mere silence is a sin.

   According to Marx, religion in this world of exploitation is an expression of distress and at the same time it is also a protest against the real distress. In other words, religion continues to survive because of oppressive social conditions. When this oppressive and exploitative condition is destroyed, religion will become unnecessary. At the same time, Marx saw religion as a form of protest by the working classes against their poor economic conditions and their alienation. See Raines, John. 2002. "Introduction". Marx on Religion (Marx, Karl). Philadelphia: Temple University Press. p.5-6.

8. In Eph 5:11, since Christians should have nothing to do with deeds of darkness, should Christian lawyers defend clients they know are guilty?

A: Generally, being a criminal defense lawyer is a difficult way to make a living if you never lie, shade the truth, encourage your clients to never lie, and refuse to defend clients you know are lying. This is what a Christian would have to do to be a criminal defense lawyer.

   However, as Now That’s a Good Question p.525-527 points out, even people who enter a guilty plea need a fair trial and argue for a less severe sentence. Nevertheless all Christians should agree that lying and implying someone is innocent when they are reasonably sure they are guilty is something no Christian ought to do.

   See the Believer’s Bible Commentary p.1943 for more info.

9. In Eph 5:12, what kinds of things should we not even speak of?

A: It is fine to mention that something is being done, at a high level, and that it is wrong to do so. However, we should avoid “GSD”, Gross Sin Detail, where we mention the sin in such a way that it can be tempting for someone who is prone to that sin. Also, we should not mention any “good advice” about how to get away with a sin. So, for example, I heard from someone a way to rip off a company that is totally undetectable. Do you want to hear what it is? – Sorry, I have decided never to tell a soul.

10. In Eph 5:14, where was this verse previously said?

A: These exact words were not said in the Old Testament, though parts are echoes of Isaiah 60:1 and 26:19. We do not have it recorded where this was previously said. This poetic verse could be from a prophecy, a saying of Jesus not recorded in the gospels, or an early Christian hymn. Paul assumed that his immediate readers would recognize it.

   See The Expositor’s Bible Commentary vol.11 p.70-71 , The Expositor’s Greek Testament vol.3 p.359-360, and John R.W. Stott’s The Message of Ephesians p.201 for more info.

11. In Eph 5:16, how are the days evil?

A: Paul is not referring to daylight, but saying the times are evil. If you think of society as an ocean, there as an “undertow” that would drag you down if you are not careful. Offering to pagan gods, immorality, bribery and corruption, and exploiting others, were not just practiced, but considered socially acceptable and perfectly normal.

   The Christian writer Jerome (393 A.D.) records that the Roman admiral Duilius, was told by others that he had bad breath. He chastised his wife, Billia, for never telling him. She told him that she did not tell him because she thought that all men had bad breath. He was so pleased, because she inadvertently showed that she had always been faithful to him. Romans held her up as an example of great chastity. Imagine living in a society, where one woman really stood out from the others for that reason. Against Jovianus book 1 ch.46 p.382

   Today the undertow might have changed slightly, but it is still there. We, our spouses, and our children can too easily be swept up in it if we do not intentionally live counter-culturally.

   See The Bible Knowledge Commentary : New Testament p.639 and The Expositor’s Greek Testament vol.3 p.361-362 for more info.

12. In Eph 5:16, what habits or other things can we put in place to make the most of our time?

A: Before doing anything, we first need to realize just how precious is the gift we have been given called “time”. Make room for the things you want to spend more time on, by stop doing other things, that are a worse use of your time.

   As John R. W. Stott says in The Message of Ephesians p.201-203, “Jonathan Edwards, wrote before his twentieth birthday in Resolutions, ‘Resolved: Never ot lose one moment of time, but to improve it in the most profitable way I possibly can.’”

Ephesians 5:17-5:33 – Walk worthy of the calling in harmony – some brief answers

1. In Eph 5:17, Paul is speaking to believers, so how are some genuine believers unwise?

A: The Greek word here, aphones, means senseless, and the Greek word for unwise in Ephesians 5:15 in asophoi can mean foolish. They are slightly different, though they overlap. Senseless basically means you are clueless, without any idea about your surroundings or what is coming your way. Foolish can mean that, or else that you think you do see clearly what is coming your way, but you are totally wrong. There is foolishness of a young child, and there is foolishness that is learned, and there is foolishness that comes only by frequent practice.

   Believers, not just people in general, need to stay close to God, in His word, to keep from falling into foolishness.

   See The Bible Knowledge Commentary : New Testament p.639-640 for more info.

2. In Eph 5:18 what does dissipation/debauchery mean?

A: The NET Bible and NIV translate this as “debauchery”, the KJV “excess”, and Williams translation “profligacy”. Either way, it means things that are not only worthless for strengthening a person, but that they break down people’s character, (not to mention their health). It is the opposite of living a saved life.

3. Eph 5:18 has two commands, not just one, so how does the second command relate to the first?

A: The first command is a negative one, don’t get drunk. The second, positive command, is a replacement for the time you spend dealing with drunkenness.

    Why do people get drunk? There can be different reasons, and the reason somebody starts down the road of drunkenness can be different than what keeps them an alcoholic. People can get drunk to make dim their pain, either physical or painful memories. People can get drunk out of boredom, or try to forget the emptiness in their lives and what they see as the meaninglessness of their lives. People can get drunk because of the enjoyment of drinking with friends, or at least seeming friends. People can get drunk for the stimulus or what they see as the excitement. After prolonged alcohol use, people can get drunk because of the craving their body has built up for alcohol. They don’t see anything wrong or bad about getting drunk. They don’t see anything bad about cirrhosis of the liver, dementia, or accelerated aging either, after enough drinks.

   But being filled with the Spirit is very different than being filled with alcohol; for one thing, you can’t just take a bunch of liquid to automatically have that. It is intentional, takes discipline to pray and draw close to God, and to “joyfully” say no to things that look pleasurable and enticing, because you have a higher calling; God wants you for Himself. As John R.W. Stott in The Message of Ephesians p.204-205 mentions Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones says, “If it were possible to put the Holy Spirit into a textbook of pharmacology, I would put him under the stimulants, for that is where He belongs. He really does stimulate… He stimulates our every faculty .. the mind and intellect … the heart … and the will…” (Lloyd-Jones Life in the Spirit p.20-21.)

   No genuine Chrisian would say no to experiencing the Holy Spirit; but the problem comes when Christians want both: both the Spirit and sin. This is not a saying “yes also” to the Spirit”, but saying “no” to other things, and “yes only” to the Spirit.

   Just as being under the influence of alcohol affects your decisions, judgment, self-control, and desires, being under the influence of the spirit likewise affects your decisions, judgment, self-control, and desires. The apostles were under the influence of the Holy Spirit in Acts 2:13, and that was mistaken for being under the influence of alcohol.

   See The Bible Knowledge Commentary : New Testament p.640, The Tony Evans Bible Commentary p.1229, The Expositor’s Bible Commentary vol.11 p.72, John R.W. Stott’s The Message of Ephesians p.204, and the Believer’s Bible Commentary p.1944-1946 for more info.

4. In Eph 5:18, what exactly is wrong with getting drunk?

A: There is one reason, and that alone is sufficient: God commands us not to get drunk. People usually get drunk for pleasure, to drown their sorrows, or when they are addicted, because of how bad they feel when they do not get their drink. A Christian should not be out of control, or have his or her self-control weakened. In addition to the harm it does to your body, it can harm relationships, affect your ability to hold a job, and affect your finances. One trouble with a drunk person is that they think they can control their alcohol, but unknown to them, their alcohol controls them.

   I once took a non-Christian friend who got drunk frequently to a Bible study (which had nothing to do with Ephesians.) I don’t know that last time he had opened a Bible, but the first time he opened the Bible there, the one verse he read was this verse. Unfortunately he did not come back to the Bible Study, because he said it was “too spooky”!

   On a lighter note, The Communicator’s Commentary 1, 2 Kings p.262 says that a popular preacher said, “some of you think you can drown your troubles in drink. I want you to remember, ‘Troubles can swim!’”

   See The Bible Knowledge Commentary : New Testament p.640 for more info.

5. Does Eph 5:18 refer to a one-time filling, or a continual filling with the Spirit?

A: The Greek present tense here shows it is not a once-for-all filling, but a repeated filling.

   It is also in the plural, so it is something for all believers, not just some individuals. It is in the passive mood, so “Fill yourself with the Holy Spirit” would be a bad translation. “Be filled” or “let the Holy spirit fill you” would reflect the passive mood. Finally, it is not an aspiration we should try to achieve; it is a command that we are expected to achieve.

   See The NIV Study Bible p.1798, John R. W. Stott’s The Message of Ephesians p.208-209, and The Expositor’s Bible Commentary vol.11 p.72 for more info.

6. In Eph 5:20, what commitment should we make here?

A: For everything that happens to you, thank God for it and how He can use it in your life? That is not to say that everything that comes you way is good; something things are evil. You are not to thank God for evil, but you can still thank God for how He can use it. Even every-day things, like eating, being intimate with your spouse, or being healthy enough to exercise, thank God ever time.

   See the Believer’s Bible Commentary p.1946 and John R.W. Stott’s The Message of Ephesians p.207 for more info.

7. In Eph 5:21, how can we do a better job modeling submitting to one another out of reverence to God?

A: First of all, we have to give up caring about whether we are over others “in a leadership position” or not. Not caring to advance our role or position is counter-cultural in most societies today. We have to be content with having someone over us in a certain area. We have to get over our fear that they might mistreat, manipulate, or exploit us.

   Finally, when someone else submits themselves to us, we should treat them as we would wish to be treated. Authority is not subjugation. We should be careful not to mistreat, manipulate, or exploit them. We should give them freedom to do what they want within the limits of the goal, and freedom on how to do it, within the limits of teamwork with others.

   See the Evangelical Commentary on the Bible p.1030-1031 and John R.W. Stott’s The Message of Ephesians p.215-216,219 for more info.

8. In Eph 5:22-6:4 why is Paul saying so much about marriage?

A: Paul is saying a lot about responsibilities and modeling a good marriage and family. Consider this: marriage is not for a person’s happiness. That is one side benefit of marriage, but the primary purpose of marriage, just like the primary purpose of the rest of our lives, is to glorify God. Show the world how you can be happy glorifying God. But you can’t fake happiness forever; people will see through it. You should learn to be thoroughly content, happy, and grateful in your marriage.

   Interestingly Stoic philosophers said that husbands should love their wives too, but they only used the Greek word phileo, for brotherly love. Paul says husbands should love their wives, using the word agape, or sacrificial love.

   See John R.W. Stott’s The Message of Ephesians p.206 and The Tony Evans Bible Commentary p.1230 for more info.

9. In Eph 5:22, why should wives obey their husbands?

A: There are two complementary answers.

1. If a wife wants to be obedient to God, she will obey what is commanded here. Wives should obey their husbands, even if the husband is not a Christian. However, wives are supposed to disobey their husbands when there is a conflict between what the husband wants and God desires. In that case, they should follow God, the higher authority.

2. Wives obeying their husbands is not the end of the story in a Christian marriage. Husbands are to love their wives as Christ loved the church (Ephesians 5:25). All are commanded to submit to one another in Christ, according to Ephesians 5:21.

   See Today’s Handbook for Solving Bible Difficulties p.377-380 and Hard Sayings of the Bible p.640-642 for more extensive answers.

10. In Eph 5:22, is it true that the Bible never explicitly states wives are to love their husbands?

A: This is a false statement I have heard. The Bible says women are to be taught to love their husbands in Titus 2:4.

11. In Eph 5:22, what is most unusual about this metaphor here?

A: It is a strange metaphor here; Christ is His own matchmaker. Christ specifically did five things for His bride. He loved her, gave Himself up for her, to sanctify her, cleansed her, and presented her to Himself.

   See John R.W. Stott’s The Message of Ephesians p.227 and The Expositor’s Bible Commentary vol.11 p.77 for more info.

12. In Eph 5:28, how are husbands to love their wives?

A: Contrary to what some might think, the Greek does NOT just say husbands should love their wives just as they love themselves. Rather, the first part is even stronger. The husband would consider the wife as being a part of his body. Ephesians 5:29-31 also bear this out.

   See The Expositor’s Greek Testament vol.3 p 374, The Expositor’s Bible Commentary vol.11 p.77-78, The Bible Knowledge Commentary : New Testament p.641, and the New International Bible Commentary p.1438 for more info.

13. In Eph 5:32, why should wives respect their husbands?

A: They should do so, even if for no other reason than God commands it. However, we can see a number of reasons why it is good for us that God gave this command. As a husband, I appreciate her respect. Children can find it easier to obey and respect their father when their mother respects him. This is why it is important for husbands and wives not to criticize each other in front of the children.

   Also, children watch and model your attitudes and behavior when you are not aware, in ways you do not expect. Once I overheard my children playing house. One was going to play the role of big sister, another would be the little sister, one would be the mommy, and one would be the honey.

   As an aside, Greco-Roman society too recognized that wives had an obligation to their husbands, but not that husbands had any obligations to their wives, according to The Expositor’s Bible Commentary vol.11 p.76. So Paul is saying something “strange” here compared to what new Christians already know.

Ephesians 6:1-9 – Duties of Christian children slaves, and masters – some brief answers

1. In Eph 6:1, since children should obey their parents, what if their parents say to leave the Christian faith?

A: Two points to consider in the answer.

Unbelieving parents too: Ephesians 6:1 does not say to only obey your parents if they are Christians, but to obey your parents regardless of their faith.

Only in the Lord: In Ephesians 6:1 Paul qualified the statement by saying to obey their parents in the Lord. We should obey all parental and government authority to the extent that it does not go against God’s word.

   The Greek word has no age limit for children, as the Greek literally means “offspring”, not “young kids”.

   As a historical note, this answer basically was given by John Chrysostom in Homilies on Ephesians c.396 A.D.

2. In Eph 6:2, why did Paul say this was “the first commandment” since it actually was the fifth of the Ten Commandments?

A: In the phrase “the first commandment”, the word “the” is not in the Greek. First can mean primary, and this was one of the primary commandments. Wuest’s Expanded Translation renders this phrase, “which is a commandment of such a nature as to be the first commandment…” Of course, this command is also the first one small children learn.

   See The Bible Knowledge Commentary : New Testament p.641-642, The Expositor’s Bible Commentary vol.11 p.81, The Expositor’s Greek Testament vol.3 p.375-376, the New International Bible Commentary p.1438, for more info.

3. In Eph 6:3, Ex 20:12, and Dt 5:16, what exactly is promised here?

A: Christians can see this promise is true in not just one, but four ways. While everyone may not agree on which one is the primary meaning all four meanings are true.

Corporately: As the answer to the previous question shows, the Old Testament promise was originally made so that the people could live long in the Land of Canaan without being exiled. This can be generalized as a “corporate” principle. Looking at much of Western history, for Christianity to remain strong in a land, children must learn from their parents.

   Another example of a corporate promise is 2 Chronicles 7:14, “if My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sins and heal their land.” (NKJV)

Individually: As Paul teaches, both this commandment and the promise apply to us today. Ephesians 6:3 does not promise that Christians will live longer than others, but with God’s protection, Christian children will live longer on earth than they otherwise would. Even someone who died at age 25 has lived longer than if they died at age 20.

   Another example of an individual promise is Matthew 19:29-30, where all who have left houses or family for Jesus’ sake will inherit a hundred times and inherit eternal life.

Quality of Life: All three verses not only promise long-life, but that you would live well. Even the Greek word for long-lived is interesting: macrochronious, which literally is “long-timed”. There is a joke about someone who encountered an elderly drunk stumbling along, stooped over, with wrinkles, and liver spots. She asked, “How is it, old man, that you could drink so much and still live such a long life?” The drunk answered, “Old man! Why I am only 30 years old!” Not only does God protect us, but our living a clean lifestyle, with no drugs, no drunkenness, and no illicit sex, will often increase your lifespan on earth.

   Another example of a quality of life promise is Exodus 23:26, where God promises to the obedient Israelites that sickness and miscarriage will be taken away from them and that God will “fulfill the number of your days”, which sounds very similar to the promise in Ephesians 6:3.

Millennially: Of course, in Revelation 20:4, Christians will come to life and reign with Christ for 1,000 years, prior to the rest of the dead coming back.

   Other examples of promises that might be Millennial are: the resurrection of Israel in Ezekiel 37, and the Temple in Ezekiel 40-47, including the water springing from it in Ezekiel 47.

4. In Eph 6:3f, how do you deal with a young kid, or even an adult, who as a kid received no discipline or correction as a kid?

A: It is very difficult, and they might be intolerable to be around. You might have some pity for the deficient background they received from their parents. But somehow, you need to try to get it into their head that they need to change and be willing to accept correction and rebuke.

   See the Believer’s Bible Commentary p.1950 for more info.

5. In Eph 6:4, should fathers ever get their kids angry?

A: Sometimes yes, but Fathers should not exasperate their children, and Colossians 3:21 likewise says fathers should not embitter their children. Godly parents to not have the right to act unreasonably toward their kids. They should not make their children angry without a good reason, such as disciplining. Corporal punishment (spanking) is OK and sometimes required, as Proverbs 13:24; 22:15; and 23:13-14 show.

6. In Eph 6:4, should mothers pay attention here too?

A: According to both The Expositor’s Bible Commentary volume 11 p.82 and Gene Getz in a sermon 1/16/2000, the Greek word for fathers often generically referred to parents. The New Geneva Study Bible p.1870 also says this refers to parents. Likewise The Bible Knowledge Commentary : New Testament p.642 says fathers are addressed here because “they represent the governmental head of the family on whom rests the responsibility of child discipline.”

7. In Eph 6:4, what are some ways parents embitter / anger/ exasperate their children?

A: The Greek word parorgizete is only used here, Romans 10:19 cf. Colossians 3:21. It literally means “provoke to anger”. The Expositor’s Bible Commentary volume 11 p.81 says this verse was truly revolutionary, as this was said in a society where the father’s authority was absolute and child’s feelings were not considered.

   You should discipline them for their good, not based on your feelings. Treat them as though they are just as important to God as yourself, because they are. Do not bully, belittle, or discourage them. Except for where they recognize that you are disciplining them, you should show them the same respect, courtesy, and lack of bullying you would show a friend of yours who is an adult.

   Here is a list of some ways parents can exasperate their children given by Gene Getz in a sermon on Jan 16, 2000.

Physical abuse, including losing your temper or disciplining them while your rage is out of control

Psychological abuse, including embarrassment

Neglect them, in other words, exacerbate their kids by what they don’t do.

Do not try to understand them. Show no interest in their lives, education, sports, or birthdays.

Hypocrisy. Parents sometimes expect behavior from their children that they do not demonstrate themselves.

Expect too much from them

Put them on a performance standard

Forcing them to accept our goals and ideals will not work. It has to be their goals and ideals.

When we are unwilling to admit our mistakes.

Some other ways are:

Making petty rules – forbidding the child to do arbitrary things that are not bad or dangerous and the other kids can do.

Playing favorites

Gaslighting them – telling them they will not amount to anything.

Making demands that are either unreasonable or else unreasonable to them, and you don’t explain.

   See The Bible Knowledge Commentary : New Testament p.642 and John R.W. Stott’s The Message of Ephesians p.246 for more info.

8. In Eph 6:5-7, does the Bible support slavery?

A: The Bible recognized that some Christians were slaves, and it allowed Christians to own slaves. However, it encouraged freedom for slaves in 1 Corinthians 7:21,23. Unlike slavery in the New World and the Muslim world, people were not to be kidnapped and sold as slaves (Exodus 21:16); slaves were not to be abused (Exodus 21:26-27), and runaway slaves were not to be returned to their masters (Deuteronomy 23:15-16).

   The Bible tolerated both a Christian being a slave, and a Christian owning a slave, since slavery was inseparable from the culture at that time. However, Christian masters were not permitted to treat slaves like non-Christian slaveholders treated slaves. In the New Testament, masters were not ever to threaten slaves (Ephesians 6:9) and masters were to treat slaves right and fair (Colossians 4:2).

   See The Tony Evans Bible Commentary p.1232 for more info.

9. In Eph 6:5-8, since Christian slaves were supposed to still obey their masters even if were bad, to what extent should we obey and respect our boss at work, if he or she is bad?

A: Yes. It is sort of like a child needing to obey their parents in the Lord, even if the parents are not Christians. The Bible has more to say to slaves than it does ot kings. There were relatively few kings, and at the most the Roman Empire was two-thirds slaves.
See the Believer’s Bible Commentary p.1951, The Expositor’s Bible Commentary vol.11 p.83 and The Bible Knowledge Commentary : New Testament p.641 for more info.

10. In Eph 6:7, why should we do our best when no one is looking?

A: Someone once defined character as “who you are when nobody is looking.” However, people see you more than you know. Perhaps that saying needs to be corrected to “character is who you are when you think nobody is looking.”

Of course God is always watching us. Someone once said, as a Chrisian you can do whatever you want. Of course, remember that God is always watching, angels are watching, demons are watching, and perhaps departed saints are watching, and you will have to give an account before Christ of everything you did. So knowing that you are being watched by all these people and have to give an account, then sure, go do what you want!

   A Christian sales clerk was once asks to give more than the customer was paid for, assuring him that his employer was not looking. But the Christian replied, “My Master is always looking!” (the Believer’s Bible Commentary p.1951)

Remember, that we serve God, and people with the best of our ability, regardless of whether we see someone looking or not.

11. In Eph 6:9 and 1 Pet 2:18, why did God not tell masters to free all their slaves?

A: Where would the slaves go? Just after a time of frequent wars, perhaps two-thirds of the people in the Roman Empire were slaves, who would have a hard time earning an honest living as free people. In that time, it would be better to have a Christian master who realized that God was the master of both of them, than to be freed without any skills or support. A Christian master would not abuse slaves, take advantage of them sexually or in other ways, and treat them as equals before God. See also the previous question.

Ephesians 6:10-24 – Arm yourselves against dark powers – some brief answers

1. In Eph 6:10-18, what do we know about a Roman solder’s armor?

A: Paul was guarded by a Roman soldier, so he could probably just look over and observe what a Roman soldier had. A Roman soldier in battle would always have a pilum, a type of spear, but a soldier guarding a prisoner would not have one.

   One thing that is not said here, but strongly implied, is that we need to be protected from attacks of the devil. If even mature Christians need protection, how much more do our children and young Christians need to be protected too? If a Christian ever says that children should just be brought up neutral, and they should find their own way to God, I question if they have ever read Galatians 6:10-18.

   Another point is that it is not the soldier’s own equipment that he made. It is issued by God. It is not that the soldier needs some of this equipment; the soldier needs the complete set of this equipment.

   Roman soldiers were heavily armored to defend a position against anything that came their way. They had to defend against direct attacks, from swords, spears, knives, maces, etc., and from attacks they don’t see coming from arrows. The historian Polybius (6.23.2) gave a detailed account of an infantryman. the entire armor, called the panoplia, from which we get our word panoply, was important so that they did not have any bare spots that an archer could shoot.

   Here are the six pieces of armor, in two categories of three each. The first three took a while to put on, and we are to wear them all the time. The last three items a soldier could quickly take up right before battle. A helmet is hot and heavy, so it would only be put on before battle too.

The breastplate, or thorax, was nicknamed the heart protector. It was bronze and covered both the front and back, though some officers had the lighter chain mail instead.

The belt, or zone, kept the armor in place, and from there was hung the scabbard that held the sword. To slacken the belt meant to go off-duty according to The Expositor’s Bible Commentary vol.11 p.87. Faith and love are called a breastplate in 1 Thessalonians 5:8.

Shields in the Roman army were long rectangular. Roman soldiers fought best side by side, to make a wall of shields they called a testudo, the word for tortoise. They were about 3.9 x 2.5 ft wide, or 1.5 by .75 meters. After the siege of Dyrachium, a soldier named Sceva found 220 darts stuck to his shield.

The helmet, or perikephalaia meaning head-covering, was bronze with leather attachments. The helmet of salvation is also mentioned as God wearing it in Isaiah 59:17. The helmet is called the hope of salvation in 1 Thessalonians 5:8. The order is important here. The shield was attached to the soldier with a shield handle, and the shield had to be attached before the helmet could be put on.

Boots were important to the Romans for not losing their footing. Soldiers had special boots called caligae. the Jewish historian Josephus (Wars of the Jews 6.1.8) says they had short, sharp nails in the bottom to keep their footing. The Expositor’s Bible Commentary vol.11 p.87-88 says the reason that the armies of Alexander the Great and Rome could march rapidly over long distances of rough ground was due to their boots.

Sword: There were three offensive weapons of the Roman infantryman, but curiously Paul only mentions one of them. There was a spear, or pilum, and Thracian broadsword, or rhomphaia, and the gladius, or short sword, which is what Paul mentions. The gladius was the weapon of choice of close encounters.

   The one downside of all of this armor is that it took a while to put on. If someone made a surprise attack, and the soldiers were not ready, it would take a while before they could fight. Thus we even need to sleep with our armor on, so to speak.

   See the Believer’s Bible Commentary p.1952, The Expositor’s Bible Commentary vol.11 p.88, The Tony Evans Bible Commentary p.1233, John R.W. Stott’s The Message of Ephesians p.281, The Expositor’s Greek Testament vol.3 p.382,387, and The Bible Knowledge Commentary : New Testament p.643-644 for more info.

2. In Gal 6:10-18, how is the church like an army base?

A: With all the emphasis on fashion and models, you can think of Galatians 6:10-18 as sort of a “Christian fashion show” or our spiritual wardrobe, with an emphasis on the “war” part.

   A Church can be compared to a hospital for the sick to save the dying, an embassy, a lecture hall and school for learning, a fellowship hall for fellow brothers and sisters in the Lord, or a music concert. All of these things are aspects of a local church, but Paul mentions none of that here, because Paul is mentioning a more important aspect. A church is a military base wartime, in hostile territory. We are to glorify God, use the offensive weapon of prayer, and rescue perishing people by sharing the gospel. Oh, and by the way, we should equip and help others to do the same. But it does not do much good to equip others if we are not serving as God’s soldiers ourselves.

   Our battle is not physical, and not with weapons of violence, but rather a spiritual battle against Satanic forces. Sometimes we can falsely assume the battle is against people we can see. Rather, the battle is against spiritual forces we cannot see.

   We are to struggle, as a soldier, to win people to the Lord. If you are not struggling, or even working hard at it at all, then how good a soldier of Christ are you?

   See the Evangelical Commentary on the Bible p.1032-1033, the Believer’s Bible Commentary p.1951, and the New International Bible Commentary p.1438 for more info.

3. In Eph 6:10, how does a Christian who is strong in the Lord act different than one that is not strong in the Lord?

A: A Christian who is strong in the Lord might tend to excel in at least four areas.

They draw near to God with full assurance and a sincere heart as Hebrews 10:22-23 says. They are eager to share their life, and everyone can see their glow as they express their love for God in living out their faith.

They depend on God. They rely on God, think on God, and are not so prone to temptation because their thoughts rest on him. They are willing to give up other things, whether good or bad, for the sake of God as Philippians 3:7-10 shows.

They can endure not just temptation but also hard times and loss. They are like runners running a race, as Hebrews 12:2-7 says.

They are not so concerned about themselves, but are genuinely and sincerely concerned about others. They consider the welfare of others as more important than themselves as Philippians 2:3 says.

4. In Eph 6:11, what is the opposite of having the full armor of God?

A: The opposite of being strong in God’s power is being “sifted like wheat” as Satan had asked to do to Peter in Luke 22:31. Just as no one plays American football without a helmet and shoulder pads, how much more do we need protection against spiritual forces.

   As an aside, in 1655 Puritan minister William Gurnall “wrote the book” about Galatians 6:10-12, called The Christian in Complete Armour. The eight printing had 1,472 pages. We aren’t going to finish discussing everything in his book until next week. 😉

   See John R.W. Stott’s The Message of Ephesians p.276 for more info.

5. In Eph 6:12, what is the difference between “rulers of this darkness of this age” and “spiritual hosts of wickedness in heavenly places”?

A: They are all evil forces, and they can be the same, but these two descriptions show different aspects. Rulers of this dark age refers to evil ideas, forces, and people who can have power and authority over various institutions such as the government, schools, companies, and the media. Spiritual hosts of wickedness in heavenly places does not refer to earthly power, but both direct demonic forces and evil religious influences, both outside and inside of churches.

   The Greek word for world rulers can also be translated as cosmic rulers. It is kosmokratores, and the word was used in Greek Orphic hymns to Zeus as heavenly powers that controlled the fate of humanity.

   See The Expositor’s Greek Testament vol.3 p.383 and John R.W. Stott’s The Message of Ephesians p.264 for more info.

6. In Eph 6:12, exactly who or what are we struggling against?

A: It is important that we understand that our struggle is not simply against human ignorance, weakness, and prejudice. It is not just that already good people need to be informed, helped, and shown the right way. Rather, the whole world is under the control of the evil one (1 John 5:19), and hostile to God (Romans 8:7).

   Our struggle is unusual in that God calls us to do things that would be totally ineffective if we had to do these on our own power. Rather, God expects us to do things that are impossible with, but possible with God.

7. In Eph 6:13, exactly why is it important to be strong in the Lord and have the armor of God?

A: This is not an optional “nice-to-have”, but an essential part for our safety and personal effectiveness for three reasons:

Who is against us: the devil and dark forces can be strong, intelligent and scheming, disarmingly charming, yet bloodthirsty, cruel and ruthless, and we need protection from both direct assaults and subtle attacks.

Our mission: We are to stand against the devil’s schemes (Ephesians 6:11), we are to struggle against powers of this dark age (Ephesians 6:12), and in the day of evil stand firm (Ephesians 6:13-14).

When we are to stand: As Christians with God’s help and honor we should expect to always be able to stand, but especially when the going gets rough in the day of evil (Ephesians 6:13).

   Just as a soldier should be reluctant to fight without his armor and weapons, and just as an athlete should be reluctant to compete without his pads and other sports equipment, a Christian should be just as reluctant to live and contend for the faith without his or her spiritual armor.

8. In Eph 6:14 is the belt of truth the truth of God, our truthfulness, or our discerning the truth?

A: The Greek word here for truth, (aletheia), like the English word truth, could mean either way. But based on the context there are three views:

Believer’s integrity and faithfulness, not the facts of the gospel according to The Bible Knowledge Commentary : New Testament p.643. The NIV Study Bible p.1799 says it is our character. The Evangelical Commentary on the Bible p.1032 says it is our truthfulness with other people. The New International Bible Commentary p.1438 says it is our sincerity and personal integrity.

Truthfulness of God’s Word and our confidence from the certainty of it. The New Geneva Study Bible p.1871.

The first two: The Expositor’s Bible Commentary vol.11 p.87

   John Chrysostom in his Commentary on Ephesians as an entire homily (23) on just this verse. He focuses primarily on the first aspect, of our truthful, holy living. But on p.164 he also asks how we can gird our loins with truth and says metaphorically, “he who seeks the doctrine of truth, shall never fall down to the earth”

All three: The Believer’s Bible Commentary p.1952 says, “Certainly we must be faithful in holding the truth of God’s word, but it is also necessary for the truth to hold us. We must apply it to our daily lives. As we test everything by the truth, we find strength and protection in the combat.”

In summary: we should be girded with all aspects of the truth: we should not only believe the source of truth: God, but let it take root in our lives to transform us, and thus be able to discern what is true and false in this world.

9. In Eph 6:15, how does our readiness come from the gospel of peace?

A: Readiness can come from studying God’s word, learning and fellowshipping with other believers, but that is not what is mentioned here. This readiness comes from our hope and excitement of the good news for us, and for all who will believe.

10. In Eph 6:16, why do we need a shield in addition to the other armor?

A: It is good to have protection against attack in layers. If they get past one layer, there is still a second. They cannot get past the armor if the shield stops them. A Roman shield was usually rectangular, 2 foot by 4 foot shield and metal covered in leather. It might be 12 pounds, or perhaps as much as 15 pounds. Sometimes they would punch the enemy with their shields, to make them lose their footing. If you already have the belt of truth and the breastplate of righteousness, you still need to extinguish Satan’s fiery darts with the shield of faith. Hebrews 11 give many good examples of faith. The NIV Study Bible p.1799 adds that Roman shields were metal but covered in leather. The leather could be soaked in water to extinguish fiery darts (arrows), though that would increase the weight. The Greek historian Herodotus says that arrows were dipped in pitch and set on fire. Pompey used tar-dipped flaming arrows in a naval battle with Mark Antony. Octavius says that Julius Caesar used fiery arrows at the naval battle of Actium. We do not know anywhere that poisoned arrows were used.

   See The Expositor’s Greek Testament vol.3 p.387 for more info.

11. In Eph 6:19-20, how are Paul and us to be fearless?

A: The Greek words for fearless, en harrhesia and parrhesiasomai can mean with boldness. This does not say with our eyes closed” or not counting the risks, but rather despite the risks that we know, and ones that we don’t we do God’s will anyway.

12. In Eph 6:19, what does this say about the Roman Catholic concept of “stores of grace”?

A: Stores of grace is a Roman Catholic idea that saints, and especially Mary the mother of Jesus, have extra grace that they can give to people who pray to them. But in Ephesians 6:19, rather than Paul giving out extra grace to others, Paul is requesting they pray to God to strengthen Paul. It is also interesting that Paul is imprisoned (probably house arrest) when he is writing Ephesians. His chief prayer is not early release, or for his safety, but he sees his greatest need as the need to speak boldly.

   See the Believer’s Bible Commentary p.1953 for more info.

13. In Eph 6:20, what is interesting about the word “chains”?

A: It is a double entendre. Rich people, including women and ambassadors would were small gold ornamental chains; we would call them necklaces and bracelets. The same word can mean a prisoner’s chains too. What the Romans would look upon a prisoner’s chains, Paul might be thinking of as ornamental chains, visible in heaven.

   See John R.W. Stott’s The Message of Ephesians p.28286-287 for more info.

14. In Eph 6:21-24, why is this so closely paralleled with Col 4:7-8?

A: Paul both wrote letters at nearly the same time, and Tychicus probably bore both of them to their churches. Paul was probably hurried to finish before Tychicus left. If a later person were forging Ephesians and/or Colossians in Paul’s name they would have taken care to not make them so close, as The Expositor’s Bible Commentary vol.11 p.91 says.

by Steven M. Morrison, PhD.