My family and I are in the process of adopting a child from Ethiopia. There’s a little boy right now halfway across the world who doesn’t even know that America exists. Much less, that there’s a daddy, mommy, and two big brothers waiting for him here. But we have been working to get him for almost a year now. Essentially, we are drawing him to ourselves. There’s nothing special about him.  We can’t see his future potential. No reason to pick him over the other five million orphans in Ethiopia. The only thing we know about him is that he needs a family. He’s in a desperate situation and we want to give him a family.

Our focus passages today are Ephesians 1:3-12 and Ephesians 2:4-10. The first word that stands out to me as I read this  passage is adoption. Our spiritual adoption process starts with God, just as our son’s adoption doesn’t start with him, but with us as his parents. God chose us before we even knew we needed a Savior. Dead in our sins, we were blind to the Truth. Ephesians  2:4 & 5 says, “But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us,  even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved). And 1: 7 says, “In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace.”

We did not orchestrate our own salvation.  You didn’t go to God on terms you came up with. God set the standard of holiness and made a way for your sins to be forgiven. Not only did you not orchestrate your salvation, you did not earn your salvation. Verses eight through nine say, “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.” By grace through faith, not by works! You don’t have to worry about the good outweighing the bad in your life. You don’t have to keep a list of what you’ve done that makes you “good enough.” Even your goodness isn’t perfection, so a Perfect Sacrifice had to be made.

So, the idea of salvation didn’t originate with you. It wasn’t on the basis of your works. God chose, adopted, and predestined. Our passage in Ephesians also says God has a plan for you life. 2:10 says “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.” His life-long plan is that you would grow in Christlikeness, or be sanctified. His plan includes events that will draw you closer to Him. I’m so thankful He not only saved us, but wants a relationship with us! His activity in our lives never stops!

God chooses us and redeems us, for His glory, for the purpose of sanctification. Praise God today for His grace, His plan of redemption, and for drawing you to Himself!

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The Scripture Dig team will be speaking on the beautiful theme of adoption at a retreat this weekend. Please pray for us as we prepare, travel, and minister!

“You have been saved.”

So what? What does God’s salvation have to do with our everyday lives? And just how are we supposed to live out God’s truth in the midst of today’s culture?

Paul’s letter to the Christians in Ephesus helps us answer these questions. In Ephesians, Paul not only beautifully expounds on God’s glorious gift of salvation, he also shows us how to live it.

The Scripture Dig team is excited about exploring the book of Ephesians with you during the month of April. This letter is so practical! We will begin by looking at how and for what purpose God saves us. Then we will see how His salvation should affect our character, our church life, our family relationships, and more.

Do you long to grow in your knowledge of God and deepen your intimacy with Christ? Then join the Scripture Dig team on our journey to Ephesus!

Understanding Ephesians

Although Ephesians has some aspects of a written sermon or devotional, it is basically a letter or epistle. Like all letters in the New Testament, Ephesians was written for a specific purpose, to a specific group of people, in a specific cultural situation, in a specific time period, to deal with specific issues.

Understanding the historical context in which this letter was written will help us separate universal truths and applications from instruction and applications that were specifically tied to the original audience and their historical situation. For instance, we cannot directly apply the facts found in Philemon. I don’t think many of us have had runaway slaves! However, there are foundational truths and principles – like forgiveness and restoration – we must accept and apply.

Unlike most New Testament letters, Ephesians does not address any specific, looming problems. This seems to indicate that the church was fairly solid – unlike the Corinthian church, which dealt with multiple problems like sexual sin and division. Based on the letter itself and Paul’s history with the church, his purpose in writing seems to be to encourage them to further spiritual growth and to keep them on a solid doctrinal footing.

Background & History

Paul made his first visit to the city of Ephesus around 50 AD during his second missionary journey (See Acts 18:18-22). Ephesus, an important trade center, was well-known for its worship of Artemis (also know as “Diana,” the goddess of fertility). This first visit was brief, but the message was well received. When Paul left, his coworkers, Priscilla and Aquilla, remained behind to carry on the work he started.

Paul returned to Ephesus about four years later during his third missionary journey and stayed for 3 years. This time, he faced opposition from some of the Jewish leaders at the synagogue. So, Paul and the believers moved to a rented lecture hall. God greatly blessed the message: “All the Jews and Greeks who lived in the province of Asia heard the word of the Lord” (Acts 19:10).

As hearts turned to Christ, opposition increased. Some local business men, who did not like the effect the Gospel had on their idol-making business, incited a riot and Paul had to leave Ephesus. But God’s truth was firmly planted in the entire region. The Gospel “spread widely and grew in power” (Acts 19:20).

At the end of his third missionary journey, on his way to Jerusalem, Paul sent for the Ephesian elders to meet him in Miletus. During this final goodbye, he warned them of trouble ahead. He charged these leaders to carefully watch themselves and their flock because “savage wolves” would infiltrate the church to distort the church. They must diligently guard the church! (See Acts 20:17-37.)

Date and Purpose

It is generally accepted by scholars that Paul wrote this letter to the Christians in the broader area of Ephesus from prison in Rome between 60 and 62 AD. As we saw above, Paul was concerned that false teachers would try to sway them from the truth he had taught them. They needed a firm grasp of the Gospel. Because the pagan worship of Artemis was so ingrained in the culture, the church also faced a lot of opposition from the people around them. They needed to be armed with practical ways to live out their faith.

We may not have to deal with Artemis worship today, but our culture certainly opposes God’s truth. We too, need a solid foundation and practical ways to stand firm in the midst of temptation and false teaching. Are you ready to dig in?

What do you hope to gain from this study of Ephesians?