Research Paper On Ephesians

Paul wrote the letter to Ephesus in regards to Christians and how their lives should be directed and it explains how Christ has made the ultimate sacrifice and the results of that sacrifice. Some of the results and benefits include spiritual blessings, the gift of salvation through hearing the word of the truth, and the ability to grow closer to God. Also in Paul’s letter, it provides Christians, new and old, an instruction booklet of how we should live our lives according to how God would want us Christians to live our lives. Such information includes what roads are needed to take in order to get closer to God, how achieve spiritual gifts and powers from the Holy Spirit, and the way to protect against the attacks from the evil one. Ephesians 3:16-18 is spoken in the second part of Paul’s letter when he talks about the gift of salvation. Paul prays that his people may be fulfilled with the power through his Spirit in the inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your heart through faith.

We must understand Ephesus if we want to understand the Book of Ephesians. Ephesus was a large prosperous city in Asia Minor. One of the seven wonders of the world was in Ephesus. It was a large temple dedicated to a goddess named Diana (Artemis). The temple and streets were lined with immoral goddess prostitutes. It was a very wicked city and immorality flourished and flooded over into society and families. Paul was clever in using the concepts of holiness, service, and temple to reveal the power of the Gospel in how it creates a new people born of God dedicated to His holy purposes.

The Bible was inspired by God and given to people in order to give guidance and clarity on how to view the world. A biblical worldview can be established by looking at the Bible, specifically at certain passages such as Romans 1-8. These chapters in Romans explain a biblical worldview in four categories: the natural world, human identity, human relationships, and culture. The secular worldview has immense differences in these same categories. The biggest difference between the secular worldview and the biblical worldview is that the biblical worldview is founded on the truth of scripture.

In the Bible, it is important to understand what the Pentateuch is about and to understand God's Covenants and relationships with his people. The term Covenant is meant in which an agreement is made between two parties, to build trust in each other. A Covenant was made between God and Abraham because they wanted every male Israelite among them to be circumcised and it will be the sign of the covenant. “Flesh is to be an everlasting covenant.” (Genesis 17:1-22). God will give Sarah and Abraham a child named Isaac and then Isaac will have generations of children to come. The two sides of the Covenant between God and Abraham is, Gods command to come true and for Abraham to for fill his promise. Gods command was for males to be circumcised and

Paul became an advocate for the inclusion of the Gentiles among the ‘true’ followers of Christianity. Until this moment in history, Jewish Christians believed that non-Jews had to convert to Judaism and follow the law like them, which included many dietary restrictions and circumcision. Gentiles who worship in the synagogue but did not convert were only

As I elaborate on the theme, “Equipping Saints for Ministry in the New Millennium”, I will discuss Paul’s words in Ephesians 4 to illustrate

Paul expresses an equality of human beings as those he equally owes a duty and a debt to preach the gospel. As mentioned before, some cultures of mankind arose from the refusal to glorify and acknowledge God with purity and righteousness. As a result, they developed cultures of darkness, shamefulness, and foolishness. Furthermore, such cultures of humanity caused their people to lose moral attributes and to grow wicked, selfish, and cruel (Romans 1).

E. Harrison (p. 275) summarizes the message of the Epistle in these words: The greatest single overall emphasis seems to be on the unity of the local church as the body of Christ, which is brought out not only in connection with the discussion of the groups (i.e.; the factions within the church), but also in relation to the Lord’s Supper and spiritual gifts. A corollary is the sanctity of the church as members of Christ, both corporately and individually, (note, especially, such passages as 1 Cor. 3:16-17 and 6:15-20.) We may add, it is in this Epistle that the Holy Spirit through the Apostle Paul most eloquently sets forth the supremacy of love as “the most excellent way,” which the Christian is called to follow (1 Cor. 12:31b-13:13

In Galatians 2:1-3, Paul describes going to Jerusalem with Barnabas and Titus. The chapter of Galatians describes an agreement, which states that the Gentiles, including Titus does not need to be circumcised. Paul, James, Peter and John agree that Gentiles should not need to be circumcised. However, people continue to disagree with them on this particular issue. In the ESV Study Bible, it says, “Paul regards the imposition of circumcision on Gentile Christians as a slavery producing betrayal of the freedom Christ has given.” With all of this being said, the chapter of Galatians proves that it is a completely different event than in Acts. There are undeniable similarities between the chapters, but it is proven that this specific event did not occur at the same time as the Jerusalem Council. In Galatians 2, this event takes place in 47

Paul outlines 3 major ideas in the way that all believers should relate to one another. Paul begins with the posture that we should take with one another. That posture has 3 goals: humble and gentle (without exception), dealing with one another in love, and eager to maintain unity in the church as a whole. Sadly, we have lost sight of this posture not just interracially but also inter-denominationally and cross culturally. While all of these goals are extremely difficult to begin to achieve they are even more necessary to maintain. We are then reminded of the way and reason that we should seek to maintain this unity. That way is through the cross of Jesus Christ where we were reconciled unto God. Because of this reconciliation to God he has

In Ephesians 3, Paul announces himself as a prisoner of Christ Jesus, for the sake of the people. Paul is almost a messenger, he tells the people to live a worthy life, to love one another, and to form a united front in the name of Christ Jesus who gave his life for them. Paul urges the people to follow in God’s footsteps and to be virtuous people, he wants them to live faithful, loving, pure lives as Jesus did. He tells his followers not to let the immoral things suck you in, to ignore the hate, the greed, the deception, and to live as they are “children of the light” (Ephesians 5:8). Paul wants the people to believe in Christ because he has seen Jesus first hand after his blindness being cured and after the resurrection, Paul wants people to live lives that are worthy enough for God, and if you do decent things and are not selfish, Christ will shine on you, bring you light. The rules in the book of Ephesians are given to the people, which say that your actions should reflect what was given up for you, Jesus’ life for the forgiveness of sin. Ephesians is a book of unity of God’s people and tells us the do’s and don’ts of the gentiles. Paul is the leader and spreads the message of God, he explains what is right and what is wrong, while also aiding the people so that they may be in the good grace of God. Good

Paul makes one thing loud and clear for everyone to understand, all are sinners and in equal need of God’s free gift of grace and salvation. No one is better than another (Romans 3:9-24). This was a point he belabored so much through his writing so much I believe because this was a source of division and problems in the church in Rome. People tried to claim that one might be better than another, but Paul wanted it to be clear to the Romans that they were to understand all are equal; no one should be treated as less than yourself. This is because each one of them deserved a death that they were saved from undeservedly by Jesus. He also wanted it to be very clear that we are not adequate to be the judge of anyone else for we are guilty of the same things and will be judged by God for them

In Galatians 1-6 we start off by learning that Paul the apostle was sent through Jesus christ and God the father to the churches of Galatians. Paul returns to Jerusalem and seks help to tell the converts that they don’t need to follow every Jewish law. Then he calls the Galatians foolish, then tells them that Jesus was crucified and now everyone can live for God and not worry about anything. The Galatians begin to question and all Paul wants is for them to stop worrying about Jewish holidays and to start living the way God wants them too. Now we learn that the Galatians are free and if they go and get circumcised, they will be forced to obey Jewish law. Paul then gives them advice about everyone's imperfections and how they

The Jewish community rejected the lax attitude concerning Mosaic Law. The Galatians, who were brought up in an area of the world dominated by a polytheistic, law-based religion, sought comfort in the more disciplined Jewish approach. “Paul: Appealing or Appalling?” is the surprising title of the first chapter in a book about the differing opinions, written by Christian scholars, Marcus J. Borg and John Dominic Crossan. Their account of Paul’s controversial stance on a variety of “major issues” like gender roles and slavery helps to understand the historical significance of Paul’s evangelism. Jews were easier to reach than Gentiles, because of their sacred education, therefore the issue of circumcision was definitely an issue among the first converts to Christianity. The question on everyone’s mind was, “Do you have to be a Jew to be a Christian?” Judeans were taught that salvation would only come to those circumcised according to the custom. Once in Jerusalem, Paul went to the elders to announce God’s grace in the lives of the Gentiles. They rejoiced in his message, but took notice of his advice against Jewish law,

     The meaning of the passage to Paul is to strengthen his brothers in the faith. Paul wrote this to show them that things will not always be perfect and that some times they will face trials but with Jesus all things are possible. Paul also encourages himself through the encouragement of the church of Colosse. I think that when Paul writes to the church’s and tell them what he thinks, encourages them , prays for them, or even just telling them what he face for the gospel, that it gives him a sense of accomplishment or even a sense of why he is doing what he is doing.