BIBLE STUDY – FRIDAY, 12TH OCTOBER, 2018
THEME FOR THE YEAR: “UNLIMITED RICHES OF GOD’S GRACE” (Ephesians 2: 8-10).
TOPIC: THE MYSTERY OF GODS GRACE
TEXT: EPHESIANS 3: 1 -7
AIMS:
* To help us understand Gods plan and purpose of our salvation
* To help us understand the benefits of being a member of God’s family
INTRODUCTION:
A Mystery is something that is difficult or impossible to understand or explain. The book of Ephesians presents to us a glorious list of doctrines concerning God’s salvation and its application to His people. One of these great topics is the mystery revealed to Paul. It had been Gods original plan to gather the Gentiles and unit them together with the Jews as one family of God. This can be found in Isaiah 49:6b which says “I will also make you a light for the Gentiles that my salvation may reach to the ends of the earth.” And so in Apostle Paul’s, letter to the Gentiles at Ephesus, he made it known to them that his call to the apostolic office was by the grace of God for the primary purpose of unveiling the hidden truth of God’s mystery which is to gather the Gentile nations and unit them together with the Jews so that they will become members of the body of Christ and so that the Gentiles should be fellow heirs of the same body and partakers of his promise in Christ through the Gospel. Here, apostle Paul identifies himself as one carrying that grace, it was the grace to reach out to those who have not come to the knowledge of Christ. As believers, we have also been given this privilege to reach out to the lost world and through the message of the Gospel make them heirs of the kingdom of God and of Christ.
QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION
- In verse 2 of our text, what reference did apostle Paul made as regards his ministry to the Ephesians? Colossians 1:25, Galatians 2:7.
- In verses, 3-6 of our text Paul again talks about the “mystery of Christ”, To whom was the mystery made known? Eph. 3:3, Eph. 3:5.
- What is the Mystery that was revealed to Paul Eph. 3:6
- In your own opinion, is it necessary that every member of the church should be involved in the work of evangelism?
CONCLUSION
Paul had been given the privilege of revealing a great message. It was a ‘mystery’ in the sense that it was a truth about God’s plan for the ages that could not be known by humankind unless God Himself revealed it, It was the message that the God of Israel now extends His grace to and welcomes the Gentiles into His full favor through Jesus Christ. And so, today let us key into this grace as we join Paul in unveiling this mystery to those who have not yet come to the knowledge of Christ.
TALKBACK
MEMORY VERSE: Eph. 3: 6 “This mystery is that through the gospel the Gentiles are heirs together with Israel, members together of one body, and sharers together in the promise in Christ Jesus”