THE BOOK OF EPHESIANS, PART 2

Pastor Brandon Cross

Woodland Church

Wednesday, June 24, 2026

RECAP LAST WEEK – EPHESIANS 1:

THE BIG IDEA:

The Gospel should affect the way we live our lives personally, in our communities, and with our families.

EPHESIANS, CHAPTER 1: SPIRITUAL BLESSINGS IN CHRIST
Believers are chosen, adopted, redeemed, and sealed by the Holy Spirit. Paul prays that they understand the hope of their calling and Christ’s authority over all things.

• PART 1 (verses 3-14) is a doxology, or words of praise, highlighting God’s redemptive plan for mankind.

• PART 2 (verses 15-23) is a prayer for spiritual wisdom.

SESSION 2

EPHESIANS, CHAPTER 2: MADE ALIVE AND RECONCILED

Paul explains that salvation is by grace through faith, not works, bringing people from spiritual death to life. He details how Christ broke down the wall between Jews and Gentiles, creating one new humanity and a unified temple.

1.  SALVATION BY GRACE (Verses 1-10)

• OUR PAST STATE (verses 1-3) Before accepting Christ, everyone is spiritually dead, trapped in sin, and controlled by the world and spiritual forces of darkness.

(Ephesians 2:1-3, NKJV) “And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins, in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience, among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the others.”

QUESTIONS:

What is the biggest difference that you can think of between who you were before accepting Christ and who you have become since you became a believer?

Why do you think that is?

What do you think it should be?

• MERCY INTERVENES (verses 4-7) God made believers alive with Christ, placing them in a spiritually resurrected state.

(Ephesians 2:4-7, NKJV) “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 raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.”

QUESTIONS:

What does it mean to you that we have been made alive in Christ?

How would you explain that to someone else?

• GRACE VS. WORKS (verses 8-10) Salvation is an unearned gift, received through faith. Good works do not earn salvation, but rather are the natural result of being remade by God for the specific purposes He planned.

(Ephesians 2:8-10, NKJV) “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.”

QUESTION:

What do you think it means that we were created in Jesus “for good works?”

2.  UNITY AND THE “ONE NEW MAN” (Verses 11-22)

• THE FORMER SEPARATION (verses 11-12) Before Christ, Gentiles (non-Jews) were alienatedfrom God, treated as foreigners, and excluded from God’s covenants

(Ephesians 2:11-12, NKJV) “Therefore remember that you, once Gentiles in the flesh—who are called Uncircumcision by what is called the Circumcision made in the flesh by hands—that at that time you were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world.”

QUESTIONS:

Why do you think Paul is reminding the Gentile believers of their former “legal” status before God?

What does he mean by “having no hope?”

• BREAKING THE BARRIER (verses 13-18) Through His sacrificial death, Jesus destroyed the spiritual and cultural “wall of hostility” separating Jews and Gentiles.

   

(Ephesians 2:13-18, NKJV) “But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For He Himself is our peace, who has made both one, and has broken down the middle wall of separation, having abolished in His flesh the enmity, that is, the law of commandments contained in ordinances, so as to create in Himself one new man from the two, thus making peace, and that He might reconcile them both to God in one body through the cross, thereby putting to death the enmity. And He came and preached peace to you who were afar off and to those who were near. For through Him we both have access by one Spirit to the Father.”

QUESTION:

Can you think of anything today that would be similar to the Mosaic laws for Christians today that may be a “dividing wall” to new believers?

• THE HOUSEHOLD OF GOD (verses 19-22) Believers are no longer strangers; they are active members of God’s household.

   

(Ephesians 2:19-22, NKJV) “Now, therefore, you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone, in whom the whole building, being fitted together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord, in whom you also are being built together for a dwelling place of God in the Spirit.”

QUESTION:

What does “Household of God” mean and how do we model that for those who are “new” to our fellowship?