
Since 1962 Sunset International Bible Institute has been a leader in teaching God’s Word, training local church leaders
and preparing preachers and missionaries for effective ministry. Developed in the laboratory of preacher training and
proven in the crucible of practical ministry, the Sunset curriculum has grown to forty core courses used both in our resident school and distance learning applications. In 1989 the Sunset Video Studio was inaugurated to record each course of study in a professional format. Those courses, each with a companion study guide, have been used to teach thousands of individual students and develop a world-wide network of video satellite schools in local congregations and mission fields.
Now in printed form that same library of trusted Bible study material is available through Sunset Institute Press for an
even wider circle of Bible students, thanks to a benevolent God, an excellent editorial staff and a number of faithful
supporters who believed in the project.
This book is the result of a multi-step process which began with a videotaped course. The voice track of the videotape was
first transcribed then formatted and edited from spoken to written style. The goal of the editorial process has been to produce a readable document while protecting the course content and the style and personality of the teacher. We believe
the goal has been achieved and that each of the forty books planned for the Sunset Bible Study Library will likewise
achieve that goal.
Special gratitude must be expressed to Cline Paden and Truman Scott who began the video course series in 1989, to Bob Martin, who directed Sunset Video Studio, to Virgil Yocham and the staff of Sunset External Studies Division who wrote the study guides, and to the staff of Sunset Translation Center who edited the manuscripts and to each faculty member of Sunset International Bible Institute who took extra time to prepare and present these courses in the studio.
In addition to the English version, this book and its companion volumes are being translated into the major languages of the world to produce a Bible study library which can be used on the mission fields of the world to mature Christians, train church leaders and grow churches that plant other churches.
TABLE OF CONTENTS:
I. Introduction to the Letter ................. 1
II. The Church Purchased, Endowed, and Defined . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
III. The Sovereign Christ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
IV. God’s Grace and Man’s Work . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
V. God’s Grace and the Gentile . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
VI. The Mystery–the Church’s Stewardship . . . . . 52
VII. Paul’s Prayer and God’s Power . . . . . . . . . . . . 62
VIII. The Worthy Walk and Unity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72
IX. Teachers unto Perfection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82
X. The Christian’s New Life-style . . . . . . . . . . . . 93
XI. The New Life-style/submission . . . . . . . . . . . . 103
XII. Submission and Conflict . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114
INTRODUCTION:
Welcome to the study of the letter to the Ephesians. It was written from a Roman prison by the apostle Paul. Originally it was sent to the church in Ephesus by Epaphras, a colleague of Paul in his mission travels. This letter is called a general epistle, for its message relates to all congregations of the Lord’s people for all times. It seems not to have been directed to one particular congregation, though it was first sent to the Ephesian church. It was intended to be circulated among all the churches. From Colossians 4:6 it is evident that congregations of the church in New Testament times distributed and exchanged copies of apostolic correspondence. Thus, every congregation could have a copy of all inspired letters.
Ephesians is a companion letter to the Colossian correspondence. The book of Colossians was written to exalt the figure of Christ as “the head of the body” in all of His glory, His honor, and His dignity as a divine person. Ephesians is the counterpart to Colossians, and it completes the composite of Christ and His church because it exalts “the body of that head.” It therefore shares in all of the glories, honors and dignities of Him who is the head of the church.
- Author/Speaker:
- Gerald Paden
- ISBN:
- 0-9721615-7-0
- Publisher:
- Sunset Institute Press
- Pages:
- 123
- Copyright:
- 2004
- Binding:
- Paperback
- Language:
- English