Blogspot Emmanuel

 Welcome Back! Now that we have, I hope gained a better perspective individually of how a Christian should walk or live concerning our interactions and relationships with our spouses and family and others, and yes even our enemies. Now that we have considered what a Christian’s standard should be and their morals. Let’s not forget a Christians relationship to God’s Word, the Bible and to Christ as Lord. Then there’s the question of the hurdle of what keeps people from “being” the people God has called us to “be”.

   Before we begin observing Paul’s Letter to the Ephesians. I want to share a little about Bible study. When you read the Word of God you need to train yourself to slow down long enough so that you really understand what God is saying. The Bible is the very Word of God and it was written and as Kay Arthur says, “so that we might know Truth and live by it” .Bible study should help you develop and sharpen your study skills and motivate you towards “Destination Discipleship”.

    Observation is the first step in the process of observation, interpretation and application… we need to learn to skillfully observe scripture in order to correctly interpret and then apply.

We need to learn to interrogate the text by asking… what we call the 5 W’s and an H, that is by asking: Who, what, when, where, why and How.

     Everything that happens in scripture… happens within a context, observation skills help us establish context. “Context rules in scripture… Context is King” (Arthur).

Our goal is to establish the context and know the Truth that is being revealed from God’s Word in the context of “then”. Once we know the Truth of God’s Word in its proper context of “then”…It becomes applicable in the same present-day context. This is an aspect of the eternality of God’s Word.

     If you are new to Bible study or perhaps have studied for some time, please bear with me and give yourself over to the process that follows. Why? Because if you’re truly interested in learning “how” to discover what God’s Word says and means in context so that you can live accordingly and then share the Truth with others, which is my passion in life. You’ll see there is no better way to study.
Paul exhorts Timothy in 2 Timothy 2.15 “Be” diligent to present yourself approved to God as a workman who does not need to be ashamed, accurately handling the word of truth.


     For those of you wondering who I am to say that. First, this is not about me. I am a saved born-again Christian. Saved by God’s grace through faith when I was 40 years old! I was blessed to have a man willing to come alongside me when I was a new believer who encouraged me to use the spiritual gifts God had blessed me with to teach others. It’s been 22 years since God intervened in my life and called me to Himself. In fact, Easter is my Spiritual Birthday! Jesus Christ is the Lord of my life. I am an exegetical Bible teacher and instructor trained by Precept Ministries International. I have been teaching exegetical “Precept Upon Precept” studies for 16 years at Emmanuel Church and, I am an elder. And, I am “all about discipleship”.


    Concerning observation. It’s all about looking with the intention and purpose of seeing and paying attention to detail. If I were to say to you, “Look” and then point. I would hope you would respond to me and ask, “At what?” This is where the 5W’s and an H come in. Let’s give this a try…. This is an exercise in observation. Ephesians 1.1 Please observe this text and then we will interrogate the text:
     I Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God,To the saints who are at Ephesus and who are faithful in Christ Jesus:

Now let’s interrogate the text and ask the 5 W’s and an H. Who is writing? Paul is our author. Now we know who the author is. Who or What is Paul? The text informs us Paul is an apostle a “sent one of” Christ. How is it that Paul is an apostle? By the will of God. Let’s put together who or What Paul is and how Paul is an apostle.

Paul is an apostle “of” Christ “by” the will of God. Little words like “of” and “by” are very important words. Another “big” little word in scripture is “be”.

      The New Testament is written in Greek. Apostle in the Greek means “to send one off on a commission to do something as one’s personal representative, with credentials furnished.” (Wuest)

John MacArthur’s writes: “Paul wrote with the authority of an apostle. Apostolos means “sent one” and in the New Testament is used as an official title of the men God uniquely chose to be the foundation layers of the church. Apostles were the receivers, teachers, and writers of God’s final revelation the New Testament. Paul was an ambassador if you will of Christ, empowered by Christ to speak on Christ behalf by the will of God. A proof text for this would be Ephesians 2.20: The context here is speaking of the Church v 20 “having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus Himself being the corner stone,”

     To whom is Paul writing, who are the recipients? Paul’s epistle which means letter, is written to the saints, faithful in Christ Jesus. This informs us Paul is writing to Christians/those of faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.

Our text informs us where they are, at Ephesus, this refers to geographical location.

What are they called? Saints, which refers to God’s perspective of them as set apart by God / holy ones. Sanctified ones… set apart by God for God.

How are they described? As faithful in Christ Jesus. This is man’s perspective of those who have trusted in Christ Jesus as Lord and Savior made evident by the life they live.

Note: In case you might be asking… Are the saints and faithful in Christ Jesus the same people? Which is a reasonable question. Here is some information from a commentary.

     “The same persons are referred to by both designations, as the Greek proves: “to those who are saints, and faithful in Christ Jesus.” The sanctification by God is here put before man’s faith. The twofold aspect of salvation is thus presented, God’s grace in the first instance sanctifying us, (that is, setting us apart in His eternal purposes as holy unto Himself); and our faith, by God’s gift, laying hold of salvation” (2 Th 2:13; 1 Pe 1:2). (Bible Knowledge Commentary)


     What we just did in Ephesians 1.1 was simply to ask questions of the text, 5 W’s and an H and some simple exegetical work like defining what Greek words mean and just look at how much more you can learn beyond just reading. I truly hope you see the great contrast between reading scripture and observing scripture. Learning to observe scripture is an important skill to develop.

   Our goal in Bible study is to come to the place of understanding who said what to who when, where and why and ask, how can I apply that to my life now. What is lacking at times in study is establishing the context in which what we are reading took place.

   The context of establishing that Paul is writing and writing to people in Ephesus who are Christians is important, likewise he is writing to them as an apostle with authority to speak on Christ’s behalf by the will of God. As we move forward in this text knowing this is huge!

Now that we know who is writing, to who and where they are. Now we need to ask ourselves why? Why is he writing, what is he writing about? What is his purpose and intention for Paul writing this letter?

The truth of the matter is you will get out of Bible study what you give to it. What do I need to give to Bible study? Yourself!
I’m sure you’ve heard people say, “You will get out of that what you put into it”. This is God’s Word and we didn’t put anything into it. What we need to do is give ourselves over wholly and completely without any reservation to study God’s Word and come to know and understand God according to His Word and live accordingly.

Paul in his first letter to Timothy instructed him in this way.

     "Until I come, give attention to the public reading of Scripture, to exhortation and teaching" 1 Timothy 4.13. Looking deeper at what Paul said. The phrase “give attention to” in Greek implies and denotes the giving of self wholly and completely without any reservation.

How many of God’s people give themselves over completely to God and His call on their life and to know God according to His Word? In Paul’s second letter we see the same aspect of exhortation.
2 Timothy 2.15:

Be diligent to present yourself approved to God as a workman who does not need to be ashamed, accurately handling the word of truth.


These are exhortations and instructions from a spiritual father to his son in the faith and you need to know that “Be diligent” is an English transliteration of the original word, spoudazō which in the Greek means “study”. It’s meaning “to make haste, to exert one’s self, endeavor, give diligence.” (Wuest).

     What Paul is exhorting Timothy to do is to “be” diligent to study. Why? In order to present or show yourself approved. Approved meaning to put to the test with the purpose of approving. A workman approved is one who has been put to the test and has found approval. And the approval is from God! We should all be so given over to the study of God’s Word.

These are the first two letters in the Bible I ever read. And this is what I have given myself over to do and have done for the last 22 years. We each need God’s Word at work in us if we are to walk worthy of what God has called us to. It’s what the Holy Spirit uses in us to lead and guide us in Truth. “But if you don’t know, you can’t do, let alone be.” Par -Phase John MacArthur How can we share anything with anyone we don’t ourselves first possess?

I truly hope this inspires you as much as it has me in my life to give ourselves over to the “study” of God’s Word. “Walk the Worthy Walk”.