
01: Ephesians Bible Study | Synthesis
In his introduction to the compilation of the sermons he preached on Ephesians, Martyn Lloyd-Jones describes those pressing realities which drove him to the exposition of the text. He says,
“The explanation is that I felt that the themes dealt with in those volumes were of more immediate relevance. I yielded also to the pressure that was brought upon me by those who felt that there was an urgent need for guidance from Scripture on the general questions of peace among nations, the problem of racism, and the mounting problems in the realm of relationships between husbands and wives, parents and children, masters and servants, and also the problems raised by the cults, eastern religions and the new interest in the occult.” —Martin Lloyd-Jones
These reasons feel immediately relevant to Denver today, although Martyn Lloyd-Jones expounded this text in London from 1954-55. Such is the perennial relevance of scripture. If a friend were to give you any book to read, you would of course ask what it was about. If they answered, “It’s about peace between nations, racism, husbands and wives, and new interest in the occult” you might expect a 600 page life’s work. But Paul manages all that in only six short chapters which can be read in about 25 minutes.
It is, however, still a good question to consider: “What is Ephesians about?” It includes prayers, hymns of praise, doctrinal explanations, and targeted advice for different areas of life. These are not disjointed parts, they are variations on a theme which unites the book together.
Study:
This first class we will seek to discover the shape of the book as a whole. Instead of jumping right into the first chapter, (which of course you will do when you read it) we’ll jump into the book as a whole. It can be so helpful before engaging with the parts of one of Paul’s letters to get a sense for the heart and spirit of a letter. What is Paul hoping for the church he is writing to? What seems most central to him and his message? What is Pual’s tone? Is he polemical, exhorting, praising, teaching, correcting?
To prepare for the first class:
- Pray and ask for God to reveal his word to you.
- Read through the whole letter from beginning to end in one sitting.
- Read through again and make a list of repeated phrases or themes.
- Synthesize the text:
- Write one paragraph summarizing Paul’s letter
- Write one sentence Summarizing Paul’s letter
- Choose one word as the key theme of Paul’s letter
- Remember: No summary is perfect and all omit important elements. But it is helpful to bring the whole letter down to theme which you can use to help you interpret the text as begin to move through it chapter by chapter for the rest of the study.
- Come to your first class prepared to share your paragraph, sentence, and word.
Five Bible Study Commitments:
- Come: Commit to showing up! Allow the group to build some momentum.
- Come on time: It adds up, and we want to make sure we actually have time together.
- Come prepared: Prioritize time in the week to go through the study yourself so you come with real familiarity with the text.
- Bring a question: If you’re really looking at the text it should inspire some questions. Anything from, “What does this mean?” to “How should I apply this to my life?”
- Expect God to reveal the truth: We approach the word expecting God himself to speak to us. This is his word, we receive it as the highest authority in our lives.