This is one of the great sections of the bible about salvation, and much of this is not new to us but its so. No humanistic philosophy has an understanding of the world that can begin to approach the glory and wonder of the biblical truth of salvation. Here air is understood to be the zone between earth and the heavens which is inhabited and ruled by antagonistic forces exercising control over the world below. This state of spiritual deadness separation from the life and fellowship of god was initially caused by sin note genesis 2. The book of ephesians serves as a believers boot camp, teaching us that the church is equipped with vast spiritual weaponry in order to accomplish this very task. He will continue to rule until jesus casts him out john 12. Easter what the resurrection leads to sermon by shane. Ephesians 2, 89 and over and over again in this section and other sections the apostle in this epistle, the apostle paul makes it clear we are not saved by works that we do, we are saved by grace through faith alone and faith is the gift of god and the work of god.
To the saints who are in ephesus, and are faithful 1 in christ jesus 2 grace to you and peace from god our father and the lord jesus christ spiritual blessings in christ. It is important to note this fact because the reason he is in prison is directly tied to our topic. For we are gods handiwork, created in christ jesus to do good works, which god prepared in advance for us to do. In ephesians 2, paul shows the full spectrum of our new position. They met with a group of believers who dressed alike. September 6, 2015 listen now download view notes podcast.
When mankind fell into sin we followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air eph 2. In the cosmology of ephesians, this world refers to the present age in enmity with god cf. There are some things which truly can be redeemed with silver and gold, but only the blood of christ can redeem man from sin. B our scripture reading gives us the same picture, but in words. Paul begins his letter with a long sentence of praise for god that. The paperback bible presents the bible by the book and is designed to be portable, readable, and truly personal with ample margins for notations. As a result everything has now changed, they are now converted, they now have a new master, a new lord. This is the spirit of disobedience to gods will that is now at work in persons whose lives are characterized by. Notice the but now in verse, once these ephesians were far from god outside his privileged covenant people but now they are brought near to god through christ. Paul conveyed this to the church at ephesus when he told them that without christ at one time they were dead in trespasses and sins ephesians 2. Splitting the prescribed gospel text into the first and second readings and using the epistle text as the gospel. Harrison considered ephesians, philippians, and colosians as written to the spiritual man, 1 and 2 corinthians and galatians as written to the carnal man, and romans as written to the natural man. His book, the bible, describes his plan of salvation.
And were gonna discuss what it means to come alive in christ, what it really means to be saved, what it is to be a christian. Then in verse 4 he says, but god, and what has happened in our lives because of the amazing grace of god. Jt english its easy to see the ways in which god is good to us, but harder, often, to remember that he is also good for us. All men, regardless of race or religion or status in life, are sinners, in need of gods saving grace in christ. The epistle to the ephesians free sermon outlines and. Its helpful to see the argument in terms of concentric circles.
I encourage you to take out your bible and turn to ephesians 2. The men wore red shirts while engaged in a certain project. I chose to extract two readings from the lectionary to reflect upon sanctuary for refugees. Believers boot camp he has left it up to us to enforce every day in earths trenches, the victory he has won in the heavens. But because of his great love for us, god, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with christ even when we were dead in transgressionsit is by grace you have been saved. Dead the dead have no motion, no sensation, no enjoyment, no appetite, no life.
Click on the links below to download our archive of sermon mp3s. Free sermon book of ephesians martyn lloydjones trust. There are political differences that result in war, division, and strive, both in america and around the world. The only other epistle to a church that paul wrote as the sole writerwithout. For he is our peace not only as he purchased it, but as he is the very bond and centre of union. The apostle describes, the conjunction of the gentiles with israel, ephesians 2. In the opening verses of chapter two he talks about what you were in time past, he talks about our past life as sinners. When we understand this, though, we become all the more desperate for his presence. Strangers no longer sermon by rodney fry, ephesians 2. You followed the rule of a destructive spiritual power. Look with me, would you, at the second chapter of the letter to the ephesians, ephesians chapter 2. The general consensus is that these epistles were written during pauls imprisonment at. This chapter is the christians past, present, and future. Sermons on ephesians first presbyterian church, jackson.
United bible societies, 1975, 601, and that in all likelihood the epistle of ephesians was originally a circular letter written by the apostle. Ephesians preaching order john calvin considered ephesians his favorite letter and he preached a series of fortyeight sermons on the book from may 1558 to march 1559. And god raised us up with christ and seated us with him in the. That is the reason this book has endured through the centuries. The jews, like the gentiles, are dead in their sins. Monergism mp3s with number of sermons in parenthesis. Sermons from ephesians how gentiles became fellow heirs.
Rhetorically, ephesians 2 lays very important groundwork for the rest of the letter. Later in ephesians, this ruler is labeled the devil 4. And god put all things under christs feet, and he gave him to the church as head over all things. And, the conjunction of both with god, ephesians 2. It should be evident by now that one of pauls purposes in writing this epistle was to help answer his own prayer for the ephesians. For we are his workmanship, created in christ jesus for good works, which god prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them. Ephesians teaching copy to correct and pdf for final use. The apostle sets forth the greatness of divine power in mans salvation by setting forth the greatness of his sin and misery, represented under the aspect of spiritual death. Please use these sermons as the lord leads, but nothing on this site may be used for profit without my expressed, written permission. Ephesians 2 commentary the sermon bible commentary. Sermons from ephesians praying for your prodigal ephesians 1. Entire ephesians study in a single 310 page pdf ephesians 2. In ephesians 2, having praised god in ephesians 1 for the greatness of gods mercy to us in jesus.
A collection of sermons on book of ephesians chapter 2 by dr. In fact, that is exactly what the rest of ephesians 2. Living on purpose sermon by alison bucklin, ephesians 2. The purpose of the bible is to proclaim gods plan and passion to save his children. This unique title for satan speaks of his authority prince and his realm the air, a way of referring to satans environment. Article god is not just good to us, hes good for us. He who hath made both jews and gentiles, one church. The apostle describes us by nature as being dead in your transgressions and sins. Metzger, a textual commentary on the greek new testament london and new york.
A crash course in basic christianity eastbrook church. Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind. Constructed on august, 1961, that twentyfive mile long wall was erected in the. Paul was in trouble because he was accused of breaching a wall.
This sermon series and the discussion questions will seek to discover what this means for the leavenworth church of christ. Before christ, we were dead through the trespasses and sins in which we once lived, following the course of this world, following the ruler of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work among those who are disobedient. According to the prince of the power of the air who works in the children of disobedience a. In verse 4 god promised to supply elijahs needs while by the brook. The same ancient greek verb is used in ephesians 2. The epistle to the ephesians how gentiles became fellow heirs 2. Satan, says paul, is now at work in those who are disobedient eph 2. Behind this statement lies the upsidedown idea that such uniting of humanity was won not through the blood of conquest and victory, but through in the eyes of the world still enslaved to the spirit of the air the blood of defeat. Ephesians 2 tells us what our position is in jesus christ. There can be no doubt that this privilege, in some intelligible sense at least, is enjoyed by gods people on earth, or, in other words, that there is a change wrought upon them which is equivalent to their being made alive from having been previously dead. Note the three privileges which are here supposed to belong to believers.