Ephesians: Session 3 – The Amazing Work of the Spirit Within Us

Notes:

The Spirit’s Amazing Work In Us – Ephesians 1:13-23

  • Eph. 1:13-14. In these verses we see the two major instruments God uses in our salvation and growth – the Word and the Spirit. The two are always found together in Scripture. After we believed God’s Word we were sealed with the Spirit.
  • One purpose of sealing is as identification, authentication, or a mark of ownership. He has marked us out as His own. When a person is sealed they know about it, Rom. 8:16.
  • Another purpose is security, e.g. the tomb of Jesus was sealed. This is brought out in the term “guarantee”, meaning a down payment of a purchased possession, given in advance as a security for the remainder. It is a guarantee that there is much more to come, (2 Cor.1:21-22). The first-fruits of a harvest were prepared and eaten as a foretaste of what was to come.

Eph.1:15-16. Paul is sure that they are Christians because of two things that are operating in their lives – faith and love (Eph. 1:15). Salvation starts with faith and finds its maturity in love.

  • Eph. 1:17-18a. The Old Testament saints prayed to the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Not so in the new covenant. Paul prays to the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, Eph. 1:3; 3:14.
  • What do you pray for the person who has everything (Eph. 1:1-14)? Paul prays that they will be enlightened by the Holy Spirit to know what they have in Christ (1 Cor.2:12). He prays, in particular, that they will know three things:

 1) The Wonder Of The Hope That Lies Ahead (Eph. 1:18b). Hope = the certain expectation of good. Hope does not disappoint. We are not disappointed with the present because of the future. Hope enables us to see things in perspective, Rom. 8:18. We need to put on the helmet of the hope of salvation. Paul has one particular kind of spiritual attack in view. It is the temptation to think that our situation is hopeless. We need to put on the helmet of salvation. (e.g. Psa.73:1-5, 12-14, 16-18, 23-24; Gal.6:9). Our hope includes: *We will be clothed in immortality. *We will have a resurrected body. We will participate in Christ’s ultimate triumph, Jn.17:24. *We will witness the final and complete overthrow of evil. *We will even take part in it. *We will judge angels and administer a new world. *We will see God and be changed into His likeness, 1 Jn.3:2.

  • 2) The Wonder Of What We Have Now (Eph. 1:18c). See Eph. 1:11&13. The riches of His grace, Eph. 1:18; 2:4,7; 3:8. Paul was driven across continents to preach the unsearchable riches of God’s grace. It is like looking through a telescope to measure the vastness of the universe. We are forever discovering more. Moses, on Mount Nebo, could see but not go into the Promised Land. You will never experience inheritance under law.
  • 3) The Wonder Of The Power Resident Within (Eph. 1:19-21). He does not pray that the Ephesians may receive power but that they may discover the power they have. Under the old covenant God spoke of the power of creation. Under the new covenant it is the power of the resurrection. Why? Because sin undid what God did in creation; but the resurrection undoes what sin does…and more! It is the destruction of sin and the undoing of death! Satan has power over man in Adam; but not in Christ. The uniqueness of this power is demonstrated in this: When Satan and man had done all in their power to kill and bury Jesus; God raised Him from the dead and set Him at His own right hand.
  • Conclusion: Are you deficient or sufficient for the totality of life?


  # Answers to this quiz are found in the notes above. Click on quiz to commence. Only correct spelling is recognised. A minimum 70%  correct is required to advance to the next session.