Study Guide Prepared by: John McVay

Key Texts: Eph 5:21-33

Key Questions

What element of Paul's discussion of the relationship between Christ as Bridegroom and the church as bride (Eph. 5:25-27, 29) do you find most inspiring? Why?

How does Paul’s “one flesh” model of marriage enrich the common models debated by Christians today—the “complementarian” model (which looks to creation as establishing enduring, complementary roles for men and women in marriage) and the “egalitarian” model (which also looks to creation, this time for an enduring understanding of the equality of husbands and wives)?

What strategies might struggling families find in Eph ...

Study Guide Prepared by: John McVay

Key Texts: Eph 5:1-20

Key Questions

What arguments does Paul offer to support his ban of crude speech among Christians? (Eph 5:3-5, 12). Which of these arguments are most applicable to our day?

What “bargains” are on offer to you as you await Christ’s return? (see Eph 5:16 and Wednesday’s lesson). What would it mean to “snap up” those bargains?

In Ephesians 5:18b-20 Paul imagines Christians gathered to worship. In your own words, describe the early Christian worship service he recounts.

Paul has illustrated the use of thanksgiving in prayer (Eph 1:3-23, esp. v. Eph ...

Study Guide Prepared by: John McVay

Key Texts: Eph 4:1-16

Key Questions

In Eph 4:17-32 Paul is very interested in the quality of speech practiced by Christians, especially within the fellowship of believers. Why is this such a big deal for him? How are we doing on this today?

How do we build a culture of intra-church communication that mirrors Paul’s counsel in Eph 4:17-32? (See the addendum to the lesson, “Take the Pledge!”)

What does Ephesians 4:30 suggest with regard to the themes of the “personhood” and full divinity of the Holy Spirit? Compare Eph. 4:3-6; Matt. 12:31, 32; ...

Study Guide Prepared by: John McVay

Key Texts: Eph 4:1-16

Key Questions

Is the role of the ascended Jesus described in our passage limited to the first century? If not, what are the implications for the way we staff congregations and view each other as church members today?

How have Eph 4:11-13 been important to Seventh-day Adventists in understanding the functioning of spiritual gifts in general and in understanding the role of Ellen White? (see Wednesday’s lesson)

How might Eph 4:1-16 offer a corrective to some, defective views of church “unity”?

What shift occurs at Eph 4:1? Paul begins the second half ...

Study Guide Prepared by: John McVay

Key Texts: Eph 3:1-21

Key Questions

Eph 3:10 provides something a bit unusual, a “job description” for the church. How would you paraphrase the church’s task? How might we go about accomplishing it?

Eph 3:13 may come as close to a “purpose statement” as Paul provides in the letter. What worry might well motivate the letter?

In his prayer report (Eph 3:14-19), Paul reports his prayer request for wonderful, spiritual assets. Which means the most to you (or which do you need the most) just now?

The last half of our passage, Eph 3:14-21, presents ...

Study Guide Prepared by: John McVay

Key Texts: Eph 2:11-22

Key Questions

What does Paul say in Eph 2:11-22 about Christ’s work of reconciliation performed at the cross? (See the phrases “by the blood of Christ,” Eph 2:13; “in His flesh,” Eph 2:15; “through the cross,” Eph 2:16). How does that work relate to Paul’s earlier “announcement of theme” (in Eph 1:9, 10)?

How might Eph 1:11-22 help believers bring something distinctive and effective to current conversations about race relations? How might it add value to usual concepts of diversity? (And, should Christians be less interested in relationships among races or ...

Study Guide Prepared by: John McVay

Key Texts: Eph 2:1-10

Key Questions

Paul describes the conversion story of pagans who have become Christians. Does every conversion story track on the same basic steps he discloses here in Ephesians 2:1-10?

Paul writes that the believers “were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind” (Eph 2:3). What does that mean? How does the phrase relate to concepts of “original sin”? (See the “Excursus” that concludes this study guide)

In what sense is the believer called to track on the trajectory of Jesus from death to exaltation/enthronement? (Eph 2:4-6) How does ...

Study Guide Prepared by: John McVay

Key Texts: Eph 1:15-23

Key Questions

In the age of hyperconnectivity and social media, what “powers” attract our allegiance today, threatening to compete with Christ for our loyalty and worship? Read back through Ephesians 1:19-23, praying that the exaltation of Jesus may occur in your heart and mind.

In what ways do you most need the power of Christ’s resurrection and exaltation to be expressed in your life?

How might we live if we truly believed that Jesus is exalted at the heart of the cosmos?

Isn’t the exaltation of Jesus more a matter of ...

Study Guide Prepared by: John McVay

Key Texts: Eph 1:3-14

Key Questions

Reviewing Ephesians 1:3-14 and the long list of gifts Paul includes in his thank you note to God, which one is most precious to you? Why?

How might our eschatological outlook change if we focused on God’s “plan for the fullness of time,” to “unite all things” in Christ? (Eph 1:9, 10)

How would your life change if you took more seriously the great purpose of life, to live “to the praise of His glory”? (Eph 1:11, 12)

Compare the “sealing” by the Holy Spirit in Ephesians 1:13, ...

Study Guide Prepared by: John McVay

Key Texts: Acts 18-20; Eph 1:1, 2; 6:21-24

Key Questions

Which of the events, listed below, provides the most help in understanding the setting of Ephesians? Why?

One modern commentator writes, “‘Pound for pound’ Ephesians may be the most influential document ever written.”Klyne Snodgrass, Ephesians, NIVAC (Zondervan, 1996), 37. Why do you think Ephesians has been so impactful?

An Adventist author of yesteryear compared studying Ephesians to a mountain climber who “suddenly comes out at a place where bursts upon his vision a grand and enrapturing scene in every direction, filling his soul with wonder ...