Category Archives: Bible Study

Topics and Themes from the Bible

Ephesians Overview – Vision and Practice

Quick Overview of Ephesians

The book of Ephesian was written by Paul the apostle. The six chapters can be divided into two parts.
1.  Chapter 1-3 Vision as God sees it from the heavens (not from earth)
2. Chapter 4-6 Living the Christian Life – Application and Practice

Top Keywords in Ephesians:  Jesus Christ, God, purpose, glory, church, inheritance, economy.

God’s goal for the Church 

  • Christ has broken down walls between Jews & Gentiles, making peace and removing hostility (2:14ff)
  • Jews & Gentiles fellow citizens of heaven & members of household of God (2:19)
  • Jews & Gentiles are fellow heirs in Christ  (3:6)
  • Edify itself in love (4:16)

The Two Great Prayers in Ephesians

  • Ephesians 1:15-23 – a prayer that God would grant the believers  a spirit of wisdom and revelation (so we believers could see what God sees)
  • Ephesians 3:14-19  – a prayer for spiritual strength so that Christ could dwell in our hearts through love (so that the riches of the vision could be practical in the believers lives)

Relationships among Christians in the early Church

  • Members together of the family of God (brothers and sisters in Christ)
  • Body of Christ
  • Marriage being a type of Christ and the Church (chapter 5)
  • Faithful service, exemplified by Tychicus (6:21)
  • Comfort and encourage one another (6:22)
  • Peace between brothers (6:23)
  • Recipients of God’s grace (6:24)
  • Mutual love resting on their mutual faith
  • Top “Church” keywords:  church, Body of Christ, family, household, brother, marriage, husband and wife, members,

Who you are in Christ

  • Blessed with every spiritual blessing in Jesus Christ (1:3)
  • God has had a plan (purpose) for me since eternity past (1:4)
  • Adopted son of God (1:5)
  • Accepted in the Beloved (1:6)
  • Redeemed from slavery to sin (1:7)
  • Forgiven (1:7)
  • Recipient of His rich grace (1:7)
  • Can understand the mystery of His will (1:9)
  • An heir of God (inheritance)
  • Sealed in Jesus Christ by the Holy Spirit, therefore eternally secure (1:14)
  • I am the beneficiary of His great power (1:19)
  • Because He was raised from dead, I will be too (1:20)
  • Made alive together with Christ (2:1; 2:5)
  • I am in Christ positionally—security (2:6)
  • Saved from wrath of God by grace through faith (2:8)
  • Have boldness of access to God with confidence (3:12)

The believer’s mission 

  • Gospel presentation (bold ambassador for Christ) (6:20)

How you should behave in light of your identity 

  • I should live to the praise of His glory (1:13)
  • Have love for all the saints (1:15)
  • I should do the works God has prepared for me to do (2:10)
  • Walk worthy of the calling I have in Christ (4:1ff)
    • Lowliness
    • Gentleness
    • Longsuffering
    • Bearing with one another in love
    • Endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace
  • Speaking the truth in love (4:15)
  • Exercise the spiritual gift God has given me to edify the Church (4:12ff)
  • Do my share to help edify the body in love (4:16)

 How you become able to live as God wants

  • Strengthened with might through His Spirit in inner man (3:16)
  • Through Christ dwelling (being at home) in my heart through faith (3:17)
  • By being  rooted and grounded in love (3:17)
  • He does the work according to the power in us (Holy Spirit) (3:20)
  • Know God’s Word so I am not tossed about by every wind of doctrine , and subject to the trickery of men (4:13ff)
  • Put on whole armor of God (6:10ff) – warfare
    • Truth (6:14)
    • Practical righteousness (6:14)
    • Gospel of peace (6:15)
    • Shield of faith (6:16)
    • Helmet of salvation (6:17)
    • Sword of the Spirit (Word of God) (6:17)
    • Praying in the Spirit (6:18)

Prayer – lots is needed

  • Praying always in the Spirit (6:18)
  • Watchful in prayer (6:18)
  • Perseverance in prayer (6:18)
  • Make supplications for all saints (6:19)
  • Pray for open doors for the gospel (6:19)
  • Pray for boldness for those who are ambassadors of Christ (6:20)

The Spirit said to Philip

In the desert, the Spirit is speaking. He spoke to Philip in Acts chapter 8. Verse 26,  Now an angel of the Lord said to Philip, “Rise and go toward the south to the road that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.” This is a desert place…..8:29 And the Spirit said to Philip, “Go over and join this chariot.” The result of this glorious sovereign circumstance is that Christ is preached, taught and exalted. The person riding on the ancient vehicle learned about and was brought to Christ. The passage in Isaiah was used by the Spirit to exalt Christ. We should always trust the Spirit to bring circumstances for Christ to be made known.

Prayer in Daniel, just the verses

Daniel 9:3 Then I set my face toward the Lord God to make request by prayer and supplications, with fasting, sackcloth, and ashes.
Daniel 9:13 “”As [it is] written in the Law of Moses, all this disaster has come upon us; yet we have not made our prayer before the LORD our God, that we might turn from our iniquities and understand Your truth
Daniel 9:17 “Now therefore, our God, hear the prayer of Your servant, and his supplications, and for the Lord’s sake cause Your face to shine on Your sanctuary, which is desolate.
Daniel 9:21 yes, while I [was] speaking in prayer, the man Gabriel, whom I had seen in the vision at the beginning, being caused to fly swiftly, reached me about the time of the evening offering.

Its great to just look at the verses related to prayer in the Old testament book of Daniel.

God’s Word and Prayer

God’s Word is a Treasure to be Pursued and essential for Prayer

In Ephesians 6:17 And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God;   18 praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints —

Wow, note the connection between the Word of God and prayer.  So the Word of God is really import to our prayer life.  More about that later.

The Bible is the Word of God.  Few things can change your life for the better than the time you spend studying God’s Word.  Solomon, the wisest man who ever lived, said this of God’s wisdom, “13 Happy is the man that findeth wisdom, and the man that getteth understanding. 14 For the merchandise of it is better than the merchandise of silver, and the gain thereof than fine gold. 15 She is more precious than rubies: and all the things thou canst desire are not to be compared unto her. 16 Length of days is in her right hand; and in her left hand riches and honour.” Again in Proverbs 8:10-11 where wisdom personified is speaking, “Receive my instruction, and not silver, And knowledge rather than choice gold; For wisdom is better than rubies, And all the things one may desire cannot be compared with her.” Read those verses again!  God’s wisdom is a treasure.  Who doesn’t love the thought of going on a treasure hunt?  If we knew the location of some buried treasure, we would spare no effort to find it. If we had to miss a meal or two while we dig for treasure—no problem! Job felt that way, “I have treasured the words of His mouth more than my necessary food” (Job 23:12b).  Job didn’t just say God’s Word was more important to him than food but more important than his necessary food. Think about it! The importance of God’s Word wasn’t lost on Jeremiah either, “Thy words were found, and I did eat them; and Thy word was unto me the joy and rejoicing of mine heart” (Jeremiah 15:16).

God’s Word is a Treasure to be Pursued

The Bible is the Word of God.  Few things can change your life for the better than the time you spend studying God’s Word.  Solomon, the wisest man who ever lived, said this of God’s wisdom, “13 Happy is the man that findeth wisdom, and the man that getteth understanding. 14 For the merchandise of it is better than the merchandise of silver, and the gain thereof than fine gold. 15 She is more precious than rubies: and all the things thou canst desire are not to be compared unto her. 16 Length of days is in her right hand; and in her left hand riches and honour.” Again in Proverbs 8:10-11 where wisdom personified is speaking, “Receive my instruction, and not silver, And knowledge rather than choice gold; For wisdom is better than rubies, And all the things one may desire cannot be compared with her.” Read those verses again!  God’s wisdom is a treasure.  Who doesn’t love the thought of going on a treasure hunt?  If we knew the location of some buried treasure, we would spare no effort to find it. If we have to miss a meal or two while we dig for treasure—no problem! Job felt that way, “I have treasured the words of His mouth more than my necessary food.” Job didn’t just say God’s Word was more important to him than food but more important than his necessary food.  Think about! The importance of God’s Word wasn’t lost on Jeremiah either, “Thy words were found, and I did eat them; and Thy word was unto me the joy and rejoicing of mine heart.”

Read the Word Daily

So you are eager to study the Bible.  You have your good Bible translation in hand.  Now what?  Well, a good first place to start is a daily reading plan so you can begin to understand the big picture of God’s Word.  Daily reading plans are available from various sources, including Olive Tree to help you read through the entire Bible in a year.  Does reading through the entire Bible in a year sound like something you just don’t have the time for?  Do you realize that by committing yourself to reading the Bible twelve minutes a day you could accomplish just that?  That is just six minutes in the morning and six minutes in the afternoon.  Everyone has time for that. We all waste more time than that every day don’t we?  Just do it.  If you are not ready for that kind of plan, then consider reading just one chapter in the book of Proverbs every day for a month. There are thirty-one chapters in the book of Proverbs, so that would work out great.  Proverbs is filled with very practical information—wisdom from God that meets you where you are today.  Another excellent choice for Bible reading is the Gospel of John, especially if you are a fairly new believer and want to get to know your Savior better.  Even if you are an unbeliever, the Gospel of John is a good place for you to meet the Savior. John says he wrote his gospel that you might believe, “And many other signs truly did Jesus in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book: 31 But these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through his name.” (John 20:30-31). If you are an unbeliever, you won’t understand the Bible very well, but God will be more than gracious in helping you to understand what you need to know in order to believe in Jesus Christ as your Savior. So to begin Bible study, get into the habit of just reading your Bible—regularly.