Introduction to the Book of Ephesians

“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. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.” (Ephesians 2:8-10, ESV)

Paul

A little over twenty years ago I developed a Bible study that was part commentary and part questionnaire on the Book of Ephesians. This was my first endeavor in creating a curriculum for a class essentially from scratch. Being a relatively new Bible teacher at the time, I look back and see that God used that study to mature me in my own walk bringing me closer to Jesus. It was a unique class since it was taught in people’s homes and not at our church. This provided an intimate setting, if not downright tight at times if a home was not well suited for the number of people that attended that week. We called the study “Move Closer to the Light,” a title influenced by the lyrics of a Michael Card song.

Recently I found that old study and thought it would be fun to review again and update as necessary and make it available for others to use. I also thought it would be simple requiring only a few minor tweaks in editing. Once I got started I realized just how much my walk with the Lord had changed and along with that my views on basic theology making the rewrite something more than a simple update. This commentary is the result of that rewrite. While the commentary is neither exhaustive nor comprehensive it should be thought provoking.

The Book of Ephesians has always been one of my favorite books of the Bible. Probably since that this is the book that God used to shape much of my early Christian walk. Many of the presuppositions I had been taught prior to this study required serious reexamination and in some cases they just needed to be jettisoned. I hope this revised commentary edition will continue to challenge and strengthen you as the earlier study version did for me twenty plus years ago.

My continued prayer and hope is that others are able to “Move closer to the Light” that is Jesus. He wants us to seek Him daily as James would remind us, “Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you.” (James 4:8a, ESV)

Enjoy and God bless,

Dave Heywood