Answers for Ephesians Chapter 2

About These Answers

DAY ONE
Questions and Answers

1. Chapter 2 starts off with the words “As for you…” which signifies a shift in focus or a comparison with the previous topic. To what or whom are the sinners dead in their sins being compared?

The risen Christ who is alive after being raised from the dead

2. Who is the ruler of the kingdom of the air?

Satan, the devil

3. From the first three verses, describe 3 things that sinners follow.

• The ways of the world and the ruler of the kingdom of the air
• Desires of our sinful nature
• Thoughts of our sinful nature

DAY TWO
Questions and Answers

1. As mere men and women we will never act as merciful as God, and we will never demonstrate as great a love as God our Father. Aside from the obvious sacrifice of Jesus Christ, what is the greatest human act of mercy or love that you have witnessed or heard of in your life?

2. What’s the difference between mercy and grace? Can you have one without the other?

Grace and mercy are both aspects of God's love for mankind. While they are different, they are the same in the sense that they both result from God's compassionate love for us. While we may think of God in human terms, it is not likely that God separates the different aspects of his love from each other, after all God is Love.

GRACE

Favor or kindness shown without regard to the worth or merit of the one who receives it and in spite of what that same person deserves. (from Nelson's Illustrated Bible Dictionary, Copyright (c)1986, Thomas Nelson Publishers)

"Grace is what God may be free to do, and indeed what he does, accordingly, for the lost after Christ has died on behalf of them" (Lewis Sperry Chafer, Systematic Theology, 7:178 from The New Unger's Bible Dictionary. Originally published by Moody Press of Chicago, Illinois. Copyright (c) 1988.)

MERCY

The aspect of God's love that causes Him to help the miserable, just as grace is the aspect of His love that moves Him to forgive the guilty. (from Nelson's Illustrated Bible Dictionary, Copyright (c)1986, Thomas Nelson Publishers)

"Mercy is a form of love determined by the state or condition of its objects. Their state is one of suffering and need, while they may be unworthy or ill-deserving. ((from The New Unger's Bible Dictionary. Originally published by Moody Press of Chicago, Illinois. Copyright (c) 1988.)

3. In verse 2 we see the name of the devil given as the ruler of the kingdom of the air. What are some other names God gives him from the following verses?

• Matt 4:3 The tempter came to him and said, "If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread."
• John 8:44 You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father's desire. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies.
• John 12:31 Now is the time for judgment on this world; now the prince of this world will be driven out.
• I John 5:19 We know that we are children of God, and that the whole world is under the control of the evil one.
• Rev 12:9 The great dragon was hurled down-that ancient serpent called the devil, or Satan, who leads the whole world astray. He was hurled to the earth, and his angels with him.
• Rev 13:8 All inhabitants of the earth will worship the beast-all whose names have not been written in the book of life belonging to the Lamb that was slain from the creation of the world.

DAY THREE
Questions and Answers

1. Cite three reasons for our salvation given in verses 1 through 10.

• Verse 4 - But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, 5 made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions-it is by grace you have been saved.
• Verse 7 - 6 And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, 7 in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace,expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus.
• Verse 10 - For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.

2. Describe people’s lives before salvation from the following verses. In fact the verses describe each of our lives without Christ, so start each with the words, “I was…” and then add the characteristic from the verse provided.

Verse 1:

• I was… dead in my transgressions and sins

Verse 2:

• I was…following the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air
• I was…disobedient

Verse 3:

• I was… gratifying the cravings of my sinful nature and following its desires and thoughts
• I was… an object of wrath

Verse 5:

• I was… dead in transgressions

Verse 12:

• I was… separate from Christ
• I was… excluded from citizenship in Israel
• I was… a foreigner to the covenants of the promise
• I was… without hope and without God in the world

Verse 13:

• I was… far away

DAY FOUR
Questions and Answers

Now describe people’s lives after salvation from the following verses. Thank God the verses describe each of our lives with Christ, so start each with the words, “I am…” or “I will be…” and then add the characteristic from the verse provided.

Verse 5:

• I am… alive with Christ
• I am…saved by grace

Verse 6:

• I am… raised up with Christ
• I am… seated in the heavenly realms with Christ Jesus

Verse 7:

• I will be…shown the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus.

Verse 8:

• I am…saved by grace through faith-and this not from myself
• I am…a recipient of the gift of God

Verse 9:

• I am…not saved by works

Verse 10:

• I am…God's workmanship
• I am…created in Christ Jesus to do good works

Verse 13:

• I am…now in Christ Jesus
• I am…brought near through the blood of Christ.

Verse 16:

• I am…reconciled to God through the cross

Verse 18:

• I am…able to have access to the Father by one Spirit.

Verse 19:

• I am…a fellow citizen with God's people
• I am…a member of God's household

Verse 22:

• I am…a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit.

DAY FIVE
Questions and Answers

1. In verses 14 through 18, we see the words “the two” in verse 14; “out of the two” in verse 15; the words “both” and “their” in verse 16; and the words “we both” in verse 18. Explain the use of these words. What do they refer to?

They refer to the Gentiles and the Jews

3. How should we act towards people of different religions? Should we become acquainted with someone of another faith at work or as a neighbor and they do not wish to hear about our God, how should we act towards them? What about people who are hostile towards Christians?

HERE IS ONE MAN'S OPINION: I believe faith comes by hearing, and by hearing the Word of God. God may be at work in a person’s heart and we may not know it, we should always demonstrate the attitude of Christ. The Bible tells us we are blessed if we are persecuted for the Christ. As I like to say, the truth never changes. So my response is that we should always endeavor to speak the truth to all we encounter.

DAY SIX
Questions and Answers

1. In the following verses cite what God has accomplished “in Christ Jesus”; identify what is accomplished “in Christ Jesus”.

• Verse 6 - And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus,
• Verse 7 - in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to usin Christ Jesus.
• Verse10 - For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do
• Verse 13 - But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near (to God) through the blood of Christ.

2. What is a cornerstone and why do you think Jesus Christ was described as a cornerstone?

A stone placed at the corner, or the intersecting angle, where two walls of a building come together. In biblical times, buildings were often made of cut, squared stone. By uniting two intersecting walls, a cornerstone helped align the whole building and tie it together.

In his address before the Jewish SANHEDRIN, the apostle Peter quoted Ps 118:22 and boldly proclaimed that "Jesus Christ of Nazareth," crucified and raised from the dead, was the stone rejected by the builders who has now become the chief cornerstone (Acts 4:11). This chief cornerstone, Jesus Christ, is the foundation of the church, because "there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved" (Acts 4:12) and in Him "the whole building, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord" (Eph 2:21). All who believe in Jesus find a solid Rock on which to build their lives. (from Nelson's Illustrated Bible Dictionary, Copyright (c)1986, Thomas Nelson Publishers)

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