Ephesians Week 6 - Questions

Text: Ephesians Chapter 4 


Week 6 / Question 1: In 4:1 Paul says "therefore" (in light of the greatness of God's grace and mercy and the reveling of this marvelous plan to open up the covenant promises to the whole world) we should "Walk in a manner worthy of out calling." What does this mean to you?




Week 6 / Question 2: In verses 4:2-3, Paul gives us a list of things that show that we are walking in a way that is worthy of our call - Name a few of these things.
a.
b.
c.





Week 6 / Question 3: In 4-6, Paul lists seven elements that unite believers into one body. List them. Comment on them if you'd like.

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.





Week 6 / Question 4: Read Ephesians 4:8-10. What are your thoughts about what this is saying?





Week 6 / Question 5: Read Ephesians 4:11-16 and answer the following questions:
a. (v.11) What did God give to the church:
b. (v. 12) For what reason did he give these?
c. (v. 13) When will we not need these gifts anymore?
d. (v. 14-16) Summarize verses 14-16 and in your own words, answer this question: What will these gifts help us do / produce in us?



Week 6 / Question 6: Read 4:14 again. There are three things that the apostle mentions here that will cease when we attain unity of faith in Christ. What are those three things and what is your definition of each as it relates the Church?
a.
b.
c.





Week 6 / Question 7: Read Ephesians 4:17-19 and answer the following questions:
a. What does Paul admonish the believers not to do?
b. Why does he say that unbelievers do these things?




Week 6 / Question 8: Read Ephesians 4:20-24 and answer the following questions:
After telling them what NOT to do, what does he now tell them TO DO?






Week 6 / Question 9: Read Ephesians 4:25-32. Here Paul is giving them instructions on living a consecrated life. List some of things that stand out to you.







Week 6 / Question 10: In v. 26-27, Paul tells us the dangers of anger and bitterness. In your own words, tell us what this passage means to you.






Week 6 / Question 11: What do you think it means to "grieve the Holy Spirit of God." (v.30)






Week 6 / Question 12: In light of the first three chapters (explaining God's marvelous mystery, His FREE GRACE and his CHOOSING of them) tell us what you think these instructions and about Paul's call for them to "walk in a manner worthy of their calling."

Ephesians Week 5 - Study Questions

Ephesians 3:14-21

1. In verse 14, Paul says "For this reason I kneel before the Father" -  What is he referring to? (Hint: look at what he has just been talking about in the previous verses).


2. Read verse 16-17a (NIV). Fill in the blanks

Here Paul is praying to God the Father and asking that:

OUT OF: _________________________________________________________________________

GOD WOULD STRENGTHEN YOU WITH: _____________________________________________

THROUGH: _______________________________________________________________________

IN YOUR: ________________________________________________________________________

SO THAT: ________________________________________________________________________

IN YOUR: ________________________________________________________________________

BY: ______________________________________________________________________________


3. Read Philippians 4:19 along with the above verse. If we are "strengthened out of the glorious riches of God by the power of His Holy Spirit", how then are we equipped for every good work that He has chosen for us to walk in from the foundation of the world? In what ways do these verses give you confidence?


4. According to verses 17-19, what are the benefits of being "rooted and grounded" in love? Put in your own words what it means to you to be "rooted and grounded" in love.


5. In verse 18 Paul prays that we may have "strength to comprehend" the HUGE love of Christ. Why would we need strength to comprehend that? (Hint: look at what Paul says in verse 19).


6. Read the prayer in Ephesians 1:15-23 again and then read 3:20-21. Paul says that God is able to to "exceedingly abundantly above" all that we could ask or think according to the power that is at work within us."

a). To you, what does "exceedingly abundantly above" mean? Expound if you wish.


b). Do you see any relationship / correlation between the two prayers?

Ephesians Week 4 - Study Questions

{CLICK HERE for a printable .pdf file of the questions}

**Please note - Verses in BLUE are hyperlinks and will take you to the reference.**
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1. Read Genesis 17:1-14

a. To whom did God appear and institute the covenant of circumcision?

b. What word did God use to describe this covenant?

c. What was circumcision a sign of?

d. Read Colossians 2:11. What is Paul saying to the believers in Colossae about circumcision? What kind of circumcision is Paul referring to there?





2. Read Ephesians 2:11-12
Paul mentions 2 groups here – Who was he referring to?

According to these verses, what previously separated Gentiles from God?
From our reading last week, what else separated them from God?





3. According to Ephesians 2:13 and Colossians 1:20, what brings us near to God? 

For further thought: Do you think this is what initially brings us near or does this draw us ever nearer as we walk with Christ? In other words, when we “feel” far away from The Lord, what does the blood of Christ do at that point, after we’ve already professed faith in Him?


4. Read Micah Chapter 5:1-5 noting especially verse 5:5. This was a prophecy of a ruler of Israel that was to come. Who was this prophecy about?

Now, read Ephesians 2:14. What is the similarity between this and the Micah prophecy?




5. According to Ephesians 2:14-18, How did Christ set aside the law and what was His purpose in doing this?



6. Read Ephesians 2:19. How did the Gentiles benefit from this setting aside of the law? 




7. According to Ephesians 3:6, what was the mystery that Paul was responsible for revealing?



8. Read Ephesians 3:7-11. Pay special attention to verse 10.
Put verse 10 into your own words. What is the purpose of the church?



9. Read Hebrews 4:16, Hebrews 10:19, 1 John 2:28 and Ephesians 3:12. 

What’s the message of these passages? How do we approach God?




10. In your own words, summarize the message of Ephesians 2:11-3:13

Ephesians Week 3 - Study Questions

Ephesians 1:15-2:10 - Week 3 Study Questions

Printable .pdf HERE

Ephesians Week 3 - Study Questions
(Ephesians 1:15-2:10)

1. Read verses 15-16. Why does Paul say that he gives "unceasing prayers of thankfulness" to God for the believers in Ephesus?

For deeper thought: How might Paul have known those things about them?

2. Read verses 17-19. Name all the things here that you see Paul is asking in prayer for these believers.

For further thought, if Paul was praying God to do this for the believers in Ephesus, can we trust that God will do those things for us?

3. Read Ephesians 1:19 - 23. Where is Christ? What "position" is he in? Why?

4. Read Ephesians 1:3 again and then skip ahead and peek at Ephesians 2:6. What "position" is the believer in?

5. According to Ephesians 1:21, is this life all that there is?

For deeper thought: In light of Ephesians Chapter 1, are you encouraged to walk through your day to day living any differently than you are right now? Share with the group if you wish.

6. Read Ephesians 1:19b - 20 again. Read it outloud. Do you believe that? (YES) (NO)

If it’s true that the same power that raised Jesus from the dead lives in you, how does that affect your:

a. prayer life 
b. marriage / parenting / other relationships
c. witnessing 
d. tendency to worry

7. Read Ephesians 1:22 - WHY did God the Father make Jesus the head of all things?

8. In v 23 we are told that “the Church is his body; it is made full and complete by Christ, who fills all things everywhere with himself.”

a. Read Mt 16:18 - What did Jesus promise to do here?

b. We are told that Christ fills “all in all” in v. 23. Do you see this verse telling you that anything fills Him?

c. Read Colossians 1:18. What is Paul saying about The Church?

For further thought: Can you love Jesus and not love the Church?

9. Read Ephesians 2:1-2.

a. What does he mean by “the course of this world”? (ESV)

b. Who is the prince of the power of the air?

c. Who are the “sons of disobedience”?

d. Do you see that Paul is making a contrast here between two groups? If yes, what are the two groups?

d. What does this verse say to you about those not following Christ?

10. In 2:3, we are told something about mankind as a whole. What is revealed here about mankind?

11. Ephesians 2:4-7 says:  “But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us (even when we were dead in our trespasses!) made us alive together with Christ —by grace you have been saved— and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.

Here we are told that because of something God did something by something and then He put us somewhere so that He might show us something at a specific time.

Because of: _______________________________
He: _____________________________________

By: _____________________________________
We were put: _____________________________
In order to: _______________________________
When: __________________________________
We are also told here that prior to us doing these things we were _____________________ and now we are _______________. 




12. According to the above verses and Ephesians 2:8-9, how are we saved and what state were we in when that happened?

13. Verse 10 says, “For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.”

Put this in your own words and tell us what that means to you personally. This tells us something about us and God's purpose for saving us.

Week 2 - Questions

WEEK 2 STUDY QUESTIONS

1. In Ephesians 1:2, Paul extends two things to these faithful believers. What are these two things? Expound on the meanings of these words.


2. In verse 3, What has God blessed us with? (What in the world does this MEAN?! How, if we really believe that and walk in that knowledge, will that change our day to day lives?)

3. In verses 4 - 6 (and really, in SO much of this letter) Paul is telling believers about their POSITION (or their "standing") before God the Father IN CHRIST and how they got there. According to these verses, answer these questions:

• a. HOW did we get into God's family?
• b. What was the PURPOSE of this?
• c. WHEN was this decision made?
• d. WHY was this decision made? 

4. Verses 7 - 10, Paul tell believers about the benefits that God's adopted children have been given. He also tells us about the things we have to look forward to because we are IN CHRIST. In your own words, paraphrase verses 7 - 10. 

5. Read verses 11-14 and answer the following questions:

• a. What is the inheritance that we have obtained?
• b. In thee verses Paul references 2 groups: "we" and "you" - What 2 entities is he referring to?
• c. What does it mean that the Holy Spirit is the "guarantee" of our inheritance?
• FOR FURTHER THOUGHT - Do we have our complete inheritance now?

6. Read verses 15-16. Why does Paul say that he gives "unceasing prayers of thankfulness" to God for the believers in Ephesus?


For deeper thought: How might Paul have known those things about them?

7. Read verses 17-19. Name all the things here that you see Paul is asking in prayer for these believers.

For further thought, if Paul was praying God to do this for the believers in Ephesus, can we trust that God will do those things for us?

8. Read Ephesians 1:19 - 23. Where is Christ? What "position" is he in? Why?

9. Read Ephesians 1:3 again and then skip ahead and peek at Ephesians 2:6. What "position" is the believer in?

10. According to Ephesians 1:21, is this life all that there is?

For deeper thought: In light of Ephesians Chapter 1, are you encouraged to walk through your day to day living any differently than you are right now? Share with the group if you wish.

Week 1 - Study Questions

1. Acts 7:51– 53 is the crescendo of Stephen the Martyr’s speech. (Stephen was the first person to be killed for a belief in Jesus as the Messiah). Saul, a Pharisee, was standing there listening to this speech. List at least three things that Stephen accused them of:

2. What do you think Stephen meant by “uncircumcised in hearts and ears?”

3. Read Acts 7:51 - 58 noting especially 7:57. Describe in your own words what was going on here. 

4. Read Acts 8:3. Use three adjectives to describe Saul here.

5. Read Acts 8:4 – Can you see a silver lining (or a divine purpose even?) for the persecution of the church?

6. Read Acts 9:4 - When Jesus appeared to Saul, why did he say to stop persecuting HIM?

What are the implications of your answer?

7. Read Acts 9:13 – 17 – What caused Ananias to go from thinking of Saul that “He’s going to kill us!” to calling Saul “brother”?

8. Read Acts 26:14. This is part of Paul’s testimony before King Agrippa and he is explaining his conversion to him. What do you think Jesus meant when he said “It is hard to kick against the pricks? (Some translations say goads – think of a bush full or thistles and thorns).

Personal application: Are there any goads that you’re kicking against when it comes to God?

9. Acts 26:15 - 18 – What are some of the reasons that Jesus gave for appearing to Saul?

10. Acts 19:15 – 16 – Would you say that the author of Acts believes that evil spirits are a reality? Would you like to share your opinion on this?

11. What was the reason for the riot in Ephesus?

12. Using only one adjective – how would you describe God’s choice, conversion and calling of Paul?