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Exegesis of ephesians
Ephesians summary overview
Ephesians summary overview
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The passage I have chosen to critically analyze is Ephesians 1 :7-10. It states: “In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace that he lavished on us. With all wisdom and understanding, he made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in Christ, to be put into effect when the times reach their fulfillment---to bring unity to all things in heaven and on earth under Christ.”
The main idea of this passage expresses the restoration or redemption of man, through Christ, as an original plan or intention of a graceful, fulfilling God, who wants to give riches to his flock when the time is fulfilled. In verse 7, it speaks of God’s grace being the cause and the effect being redemption. Verses 8 and 9 both speak of God’s wisdom and purpose as if it was a plan that had been laid out beforehand. This entire passage frequently refers back to he, him, and his. It is frequently referring to God and Christ throughout the passage.
Several times it references things such as through him, in Christ, and under Christ. This redemption we shall be receiving has been given to us through the Son of God. The way they reference God in this verse is as a fulfilling, wise, purposeful, and gracious being. He is referenced as giving and having good pleasure. Finally, it references a time when this shall all come to pass, but it does not give us a specific date. It says when the times reach their fulfillment. We are unaware of when this specific time is. This time is known by God alone. His purpose for the message is supplied in verse 10. He would strives to bring unity through all things in heaven and on earth. In heaven and on earth is consi...
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...second meaning is to buy something or to purchase something from somewhere else. If you are to buy something that was on sale, then that means that item will not be on sale again. It is bought and paid for and therefore it will not be sold again. Christ bought and paid for our sins and we will not have to have them paid for again by anyone else.
The third meaning of redemption is found within the New Testament. It comes from the Greek compound or the word. The first part of this word is ‘apo’ which simply means ‘away from’. The next part of the word is ‘latrosis’ which means ‘ to be free’. This means that we are free and moved away from the sin in our lives, from the law and the things that kept us captive within in the law. We have been removed and delivered from these things. The person removing us and doing the delivering is God, through his son, Jesus Christ.
Throughout many of Paul’s letters there are many debates pertaining to the authorship, destination, date, and the purpose. In the book of Ephesians many scholars debate on the authorship and if Paul actually wrote the letter, or if it was a scribe. Although there are some debates on whether Paul actually wrote it or not, he does refer to himself twice in the letter. In 1:1 and in 3:1 Paul states himself, 1:3 states, “For this reason, I Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus for the sake of you Gentiles” (NIV) In verse 1:3 Paul states that he is a prisoner, therefore it is debated that he did not specifically write this because he was imprisoned in Rome at this time. According to Wallace “This, of course, is not to say that the letter must be by Paul, but it is to argue that without such internal testimony, no such claim could be made” (Wallace). Many scholars also debate on the vocabulary usage and the structure of the letter. Some believe that the structure is similar, but the vocabulary seems to be different than his New Testament epistles. Hoehner claims that,” Though the book has a close affinity with Colossians, critics claim that Ephesians is uncharacteristic of Paul” (Hoehner 613). The destination of Ephesians is somewhat debated, but many do believe that the letter was sent to the church of Ephesus. “Some to claim that Ephesus is a better starting point, others suggest Caesarea.” (Wallace) Although this is an argument that has many valid points, it is obvious that Paul was imprisoned in Rome while he wrote Ephesians. It is said by Hoehner that “Ephesians was probably delivered by Tychicus (Eph. 6:21-22), who also took Paul’s letter to Colossians (Col. 4:7-9)” (Hoehner 613). As for the date goes m...
In transition, the last two lines of the verse “Be of sin the double cure; Save from wrath and make me pure.” (850), are very significant. They capture the fulfillment of Old Testament prophesies and refer to what is often called the double imputation. In this, our sins were laid upon the pure, unblemished Christ, which he then in turn absorbed the punishment of God’s wrath for the sake of mankind. The relationship between Toplady’s concepts and biblical verse are once again evident in this encounter. Referring back to the Bible for an explanation, the first book of Peter reads: Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, having dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed. (The Holy Bible, 1 Pet. 2:24) This passage correspondingly defines double imputation as being a justification by grace through faith alone. Therefore, loosely translated,
What exactly does the term redemption actually mean? M. Wayne Clark, in his editorial titled “Redemption: Becoming More Human” in Expository Times, gives his own thoughts and ideas on what this word really means. Clark says that this word has several specific meanings. One of these is that “‘redemption is salvation from the states or circumstances that destroy the value of human existence itself’” (76). This is saying that this term is about being forgiven for past sins and crimes that someone has committed. Sins and crimes are known to be very fragile to someone’s right to exist as a human. Clark says another way that redemption can be defined is that it is a type of forgiveness that removes someone’s sha...
...hard to understand fully because of its comprehensive metaphoric language and the difference in culture from present day. It is also sometimes hard for us to understand God's actions because we think of him simply loving and caring rather than ruthless and violent. We need to understand that the creation of mankind is taking place in the recordings of these scriptures and so things may not be as customary as we would like to think. I believe that God has a plan for everyone. And, in the case of Saul, he had a plan to take away his kingdom in order to pass it on to David so the formation of history could continue. I also think this passage, like many other passages from the Bible, has a message linked to it, a lesson to the story if you will. The lesson is to prove that God's unlimited power must never be taken for granted or there surely will be hell to pay.
(34) ‘Who has known the mind of the Lord? / Or who has been his counselor?’ / (35) ‘Who has ever given to God / that God should repay them?’ / (36) For from him and through him and for / him are all things. / To him be the glory forever! Amen.
“The Bible is a special revelation from God to man of truths concerning Himself, His purposes, His plans, His will, man and his sinful nature, and God’s redemptive plan for man.”
The Bible shows God constantly pursuing His people and man rejecting him over and over again. This passage displays this ongoing struggle by showing all Jesus did for us and how the people still shunned and rejected him. However, this passage also gives reassurance that it is never too late to repent and accept the Lord. This passage displays some important themes of the Bible: man’s redemption, God’s forgiveness and grace, and the blessing of a relationship with God. This passage is essentially the message of the Bible in one small
“Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, with all malice,” Ephesians 4:31 (Revised Standard Version).
In the days of Christ’s life on this earth, believers did not have access to the Bible in its entirety as we know and are familiar with today. Believers in this ancient time period only had access to the Old Testament. However, through their access to the Old Testament, believers were provided a foundation for New Testament times. This foundation provided New Testament believers with the Lord’s established principles of right and wrong they were expected to follow. In addition, the Old Testament is overflowing with accounts of people whose lives exemplified the future life of Christ on this earth. These pictures allowed the Israelite nation to begin to have an understanding of why Christ needed to come as their Messiah and the work He needed to do on earth. Finally, there are common themes that are interwoven throughout the entire Old Testament. Three of these themes: transgression, redemption, and consummation point to the purpose of Christ’s atoning death on the cross. These themes portray God’s work both in the lives of Old Testament believers, but they also foreshadow God’s desire and plan for believers in New Testament times and beyond.
The New American Standard Concordance translates the following Old Testiment Hebrew words as “repent”, nā·ḥǎm, šûḇ, and “repentance”, šû·ḇā(h). Additionally the NASU translates the following New Testament Greek words as “repent”, metanoeō, and “repentance”, metanoia. Of these two New Testament word, the two most prevalent to the basic salvation of a Christian are metanoeō, and metanoia. These will be compared and contrasted herein.
...y disposition, man tends be nothing while God is not in his or her life. Since we came out of nothing in one sense, nothing sustains us from the total destruction the devil wants us to experience but the spirit and power of God step in. So, let us experience the scriptures in a deep way especially allowing the Holy Ghost to speak to us while we look at the portrait of God seen in Jesus. We must allow our self to know God on a personal level. In Ecclesiastes 12:13 says “All has been heard; the end of the matter is: Fear God [revere and worship Him, knowing that He is] and keep His commandments, for this is the whole of man [the full, original purpose of his creation, the object of God’s providence, the root of character, the foundation of all happiness, the adjustment to all inharmonious circumstances and conditions under the sun] and the whole [duty] for every man.
Analysis of biblical writings has helped us to better understand the challenges and mysteries of scripture. In studying Ephesians 1: 15-23, research will help us draw out the bigger picture of what the writer intends to convey in his message. This passage is a prayer of thanksgiving and intercession in which Paul expresses gratitude to God upon hearing of the Ephesians “faith in the Lord Jesus and love toward all the saints” (1: 15 NRSV). This leads Paul to pray intensively that the Ephesians will gain an expanded awareness of the extraordinary and unsurpassed power of God manifested on their behalf. Paul writes this as encouragement and support to the readers.
The necessity for the Word to become flesh and dwell among humankind is directly related to the fact that the Word is life, sin is death, and life had to conquer death. The sin that entered brought physical, spiritual and eternal death. Therefore, the reconciliation was required to restore physically, spiritually, and eternally.
Redemption as a theme in the bible is one that seems to go through a transitional phase. The idea in this case is a representation of freedom, setting free from bondage or exchange of something that one has in their possession for another that is in another person’s possession. The concept in this case can best be defined as a sort of ransoming or trade off. Both the writers in the Old Testament as well as those in the New Testament differently interpret and expound on this theme. The concepts adopted by both sides remain the same to date; however, the events that surround the interpretation from both sides bring out two very different interpretations of the same concept.
...Wright has a style of writing that immediately grasps the reader’s attention of the subject as early as his introductory pages of the book. Wright accomplishes his goal of reminding the reader that Israel was to bring salvation and truth to all nations. His goal of persuading the audience that Jesus is a pivotal part of the history of Israel is established. In many passages of this book Wright early on shows Christ as the answer/fulfilment to Israel’s many years of exodus, exile, enslavement and many sufferings. He describes how he reaches this goal and introduces the audience to typology. Through typology Wright and others can understand God and Christ through out the entire scripture. “The correspondence between the Old Testament is not merely analogous, but points to the repeating patterns of God’s actual activity in history.”