THE GOSPEL OF
CHRIST
SPREADING THE SOUL-SAVING MESSAGE OF JESUs
(Chapter 1)
Introduction by narrator accompanied by a cappella singing:
THE GOSPEL OF CHRIST. Spreading the soul-saving message of Jesus. And now, Timothy Sparks and Ben Bailey.
Timothy Sparks:
“Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ”
(Eph. 1:2). I’m Timothy Sparks.
Ben Bailey:
And I’m Ben Bailey. Welcome to our study of the Book of Ephesians. We’re so thankful that you have joined us for our broadcast. Today, the message is being brought to you by individual members and congregations of the churches of Christ. The church of Christ in your area would be happy for you to stop by and visit. They would like to have a Bible study with you, and help you understand spiritual things as God would have you to. If you’d like a copy of today’s broadcast, we’d be more than glad to send you one. We make it available on a DVD or a CD. If you just send us an e-mail through our website at www.thegospelofchrist.com, call us, or write to us, we’ll be happy to help you in any way we can in your study of God’s Word.
Today as we begin our study of
the Book of Ephesians, we need to understand that the church in
Timothy Sparks:
In Ephesians 1:3, Paul pronounces a great blessing. He says,
“Blessed be the God and Father
of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in
the heavenly places in Christ.”
We learn from Ephesians 1:3 that every spiritual blessing is found “in Christ.”
We learn from passages such as Matthew 5, that God makes the Sun to rise on the
evil and the good, and sends rain on the just and the unjust. But here, we
learn that spiritual blessings are
located only “in Christ.” If you
want to be blessed spiritually, you have to be in Christ. Paul begins this epistle
by speaking to the Christians of Ephesus, and by telling them where they are, spiritually
speaking. While they are located physically in
Ben Bailey:
Paul then reminds the Christians how special they are to God. In verses 4 through 6, Paul tells them that God chose them, that He set them apart, and that He made them His special people. Each of us is special to God if we are His children. We need to know that God loves each one of us deeply—so much so that He gave His only Son to die on a cruel Roman cross for us. Sadly, some people come to Ephesians 1:4-6 and similar passages to teach the concept of predestination, which means that from eternity, God “pre-selected” certain people to be lost and certain people to be saved. Maybe He chose you to be saved, and me to be lost, or me to be saved and you to be lost. Paul‘s not teaching this idea here at all. In fact, such a concept is completely foreign to the Bible. The best way to understand how God “chooses” certain people or groups is to understand that God “call us” out of the world and into the church. God “pre-selected” the church in eternity (Eph. 3:10-11) to be that special group of saved people. So, if we really look at how God selects us, we see that He selects us as we obey the Gospel and do His will. Someone has rightly said, "The choice we make is important, because the devil votes against us, and God votes for us. We places the deciding ballot.” Joshua told the Israelites, “Choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve” (Josh 24:15). And so it’s not that God is “pre-selecting” certain people to be saved or lost. Acts 10:34-35 teaches us that God is no respecter of persons, and that we all possess free moral agency. If that’s true (according to Galatians 2 and Acts 10), then how could it be that we have already been “predestined” to be saved or lost? If we look at it as God does, we see that we all have a choice to make. Paul’s discussion in 1 Timothy 2:4 shows that predestination is false. God wants all men to be saved, and to come to knowledge of the truth.
Timothy Sparks:
That brings us to Ephesians 1:7. There, Paul spoke of the fact that “in Christ we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our sins according to the richness of His grace.” It’s been properly said that grace could be spelled out G-R-A-C-E, and that it means Gods Riches At Christ’s Expense. God gave His Son Jesus—and Jesus gave Himself—for your redemption and for mine. He shed His priceless, precious blood to redeem us. Now we need to know what the word “redeem” means. It is a word that means “to buy back, to purchase.” God gave His Son—that was the purchase price God gave. The purchase price Christ gave was His own blood. We learn from 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 that we were “bought with a price,” and that we should therefore glorify God in our body. The price is the blood of Jesus Christ. “In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace” (Eph. 1:7). From Revelation 12:11, we learn how Christians of the first century overcame. “They [first-century Christians], overcame him [the devil] through the blood of the lamb [the blood of Jesus Christ] through the word of their testimony [the Word of God], and they did not love their lives to the death.” They were willing to die for the cause of Christ. If we overcome it all, it will be because we were redeemed, and followed the Lamb wherever He goes (Rev. 14:4). We can overcome through the blood of Christ and through the Word of God—if we are willing to die for His cause.
Ben Bailey:
In Ephesians 18ff., Paul tells Christians of the great
gift they have been given. Verses 10-11 speak specifically of the inheritance
that we, as God’s children, have obtained. Yes, God and Christ paid a great
price. But we, as a result, have been given a great gift and reward. We will be
able to live with God for all eternity. The Christians in
Timothy Sparks:
Paul is going to say something very similar to this in Romans
8, where he talks about the blessings of being in Christ. He starts off by
saying, “There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus.”
Paul frequently speaks about the blessings associated with being “in Christ.” In
passages such as Galatians 3:27, Paul speaks to Christians to remind them of
what they did to get into Christ. He says, “For as many of you have been
baptized into Christ, have clothed yourself with Christ.” Paul wants us to know
that the blessings we receive in Christ were purchased by the blood of Christ.
We have redemption “through His blood.” In Ephesians 1:13, Paul tells the
Christians in
Ben Bailey:
There are so many in our modern world who want to put
their hope in men or doctrines of men. But ultimately, we can’t go wrong when
we stick with the Bible. Paul asked the question in Romans 4:3, “What do the
scriptures say?” That’s the question that each of one of us ought to ask. What
does the Bible say? If we put our hope in the Word of God, we cannot go wrong.
This is exactly where Paul is heading when he says in verses 13 and 14 that we
have the Holy Spirit as the guarantee of our salvation. We live in a world that
often changes. Things you thought you could trust, maybe you can’t trust anymore.
Friends whom you thought were faithful, may not be so. We live in a changing
world. As Paul writes to the Christians in
Timothy Sparks:
And as we look at the overriding theme of the Book of
Ephesians (the church of the Christ), we see that Paul speaks about wisdom,
knowledge, and revelation. God has given us the Bible. The church is built upon
the Word of God, because faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God
(Rom. 10:17). God has given us His revelation. The church was established in
Ben Bailey:
In Ephesians 1, Paul teaches us that the church is the
body, and that it has Christ as its head. If God is going to be glorified in
the church, the church must be the body of Christ. He must be its head (Eph.
1:22). One of the key ideas in this chapter is where Paul says, “And He [God]
put all things under His [Christ’s] feet, and gave Him to be head over all
things to the church, which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in
all.” We learn from this passage that the church and the body are synonyms.
They are one and the same. The church is the body of Christ, the church of the
living God, the
Timothy Sparks:
As we look at the religious world around us, we see so
many different denominations. It has been estimated that there are 30,000+
denominations. By definition, the word “denomination” means “part of a whole.”
It’s not the whole thing, but part of something. Christ did not die for a segmented
and divided body. Paul pleaded with the Christians at
Ben Bailey:
If the church is the body, then we must realize that Christ is its head. The head tells the rest of the body what it must do. It sends signals to other parts so they will know how they are to function. Apply that to the church. Christ is head of the church. Jesus said in Matthew 16:18, “I will build My church.” The church belongs to Jesus. He is the head of the church. The church is His body. That being the case, in every matter in the church, we have to let Christ make the decision. There is no decision for you and me to make in matters of religious doctrine. God “put all things under His feet, and gave Him to be head over all things to the church, which is His body” (Eph. 1:22). Paul taught by inspiration that everything in the church is to be under Christ’s control. We must have a “thus saith the Lord”—a book, chapter, and verse—for everything we do in our worship. It’s not the case that God has not decided such matters. In fact, the Bible says in Psalm 119:89, “Forever, O Lord, your word is established in heaven.” God’s plans have already been decided. He has already established the terms of pardon. He has told us what the church should and should not be. Although there are many today who would like to make a manmade denomination into the church of our Lord, we cannot do that, and allow the church to still glorify Christ. We must do things the way God commanded. If I’m going to submit to God’s will, and if I’m going to be a part of the church for which Jesus died, then I need to allow God to tell me how that’s supposed take place. God doesn’t need my help in that matter. I need to simply do as Jesus has said. The words of Mary are so relevant. Speak of Jesus, Mary said, “Whatever He says to you, do it” (Jn. 2:5). According to God’s teaching on the church, it is Christ’s body. He is the head. We therefore need to obey Him in every way.
Timothy Sparks:
In John 6:29, Jesus says, “This is the work of God, that you believe on Him whom He has sent.” If a person wants to become a Christian, and wants to be “in Christ,” he first must believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. Without belief, it does no good to do anything else found within the New Testament. It has been established that Jesus is renowned historical figure. There is no adequate explanation for His empty tomb, other than the fact that he was resurrected. The resurrection is what puts power into Christianity. Without the resurrection, there is no power, and Christianity becomes a farce. But as we learn from Romans 1:4, Christ proved who He claimed to be by His resurrection from the dead. So, Christ made Christianity both possible and provable. Once we believe in Jesus as the Son of God, we must repent. Jesus Himself said, “Unless you repent you will all likewise perish.” (Lk. 13:3) We must have a change a heart (a change in mind) so that we can conform our will to God’s will. After a person has repented, he must confess that Christ is the Son of God. It is the same confession that the Ethiopian nobleman made when Philip told him that nothing could hinder him from being baptized if he believed. The nobleman said, “I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God” (Acts 8:37). Once he had confessed, they stopped the chariot, and both Philip and the nobleman went down into the water, where Philip baptized him. The Ethiopian nobleman then went on his way rejoicing. He was able to rejoice because he had been saved. Salvation takes place at the point of one’s baptism into Christ. It is the point at which we come in contact with the soul-saving blood of Jesus. In Acts 22:16, Ananias said to Saul of Tarsus, “Why are you waiting, arise and be immersed, and wash away your sins calling on the name of the Lord.” You, too can become a Christian, and enjoy every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, which are located only in Christ. You must live a faithful Christian life, so that you can continue to receive the grace that God so graciously extends (and which we cannot earn). God extends His grace as long as we continue to walk in the light, and as long as we continue to follow and obey His Word.
Ben Bailey:
What a wonderful blessing it is to be a child of God! The
theme of the Book of Ephesians is “Glory to God in the
As always, we want to thank you
for joining us in our broadcast today. If you’d like to have a copy of today’s
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hope and prayer that you will accept the Bible as the Word of God, do only what
it says, and enjoy the hope of eternal life. We hope that you will continue to
study with us “the Gospel of Christ, God’s saving power.”
Narrator accompanied by a cappella singing:
THE GOSPEL OF CHRIST is brought to you by loving, caring members of the church of Christ. The McLish Avenue church of Christ in Ardmore, Oklahoma, oversees this evangelistic effort. For a free CD or DVD of today’s broadcast, please write to:
THE GOSPEL OF CHRIST
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We encourage you to attend the
1. The beginnings of the
2. What is the theme of the Book of Ephesians? Support your answer with Scripture.
3. Where are all spiritual blessings found? Support your answer with Scripture.
4. It has been suggested by some that Ephesians 1:4-6 teaches the concept of “predestination.” What is predestination? Does Ephesians 1:4-6 teach it? If not, what is the passage teaching?
5. According to Ephesians 1:7, where do we find “redemption through Christ’s blood?”
6. If grace was spelled G-R-A-C-E, what would come after each capital letter?
7. According to 1 Corinthians 6:19-20, we were “bought with a price.” What was that price?
8. Who are the people described in Revelation 14:4?
9. In Ephesians 1:8-11, Paul discusses a “great inheritance” that is laid up for Christians. What is that inheritance?
10. In Ephesians 1:13, Paul equates the phrase, “Gospel of your salvation,” with another phrase. What is that phrase?
11. According to Ephesians 1:14, what is the Christian’s guarantee of salvation?
12. According to Malachi 3:6, what is one of the attributes of God?
13. The word “church” refers to a group of people. Who are those people?
14. According to Ephesians 1:22, what relationship exists between the “church” and the “body”?
15. According to Ephesians 4:4, how many bodies are there?
16. According to Matthew 16:18, Ephesians 1:22, and Ephesians 4:4, how many churches did Christ establish?
17. What, according to Romans 1:4, proves Christ’s deity beyond all doubt?
18. Christ wants “something” to exist in His church. According to John 17:21 and 1 Corinthians 1:10, what is it?
19. What is “the sword of the Spirit” (Eph. 6:17)?
20. According to Ephesians 1:22, what is Christ’s relationship to the church?
THE GOSPEL OF CHRIST,