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Explore the Christian Life
Our main focus will be on the book of Ephesians, but we will also look at some issues of Christian doctrine. A doctrine is a belief, such as election, predestination or regeneration. You’ll see in Unit 4 that regeneration refers to God’s work of taking spiritually dead rebels and giving them eternal life. Christians often refer to the doctrine of regeneration as being ‘born again’.
In this module, we seek to explore what it means to be a Christian. We hope that by combining the study of Ephesians with doctrinal topics, you’ll gain practical insight for your own Christian life.
Explore the Christian Life - Contents Page
Introduction
Unit 1: About Ephesians
- What kind of book is Ephesians?
- The author of Ephesians—an apostle of Christ Jesus
- The readers of Ephesians
- What makes the book of Ephesians unique?
- The man who carried the letter—Tychicus
Unit 2: Blessings
- God’s blessings in the book of Ephesians
- Election and predestination
- Redemption and the forgiveness of sins
- Wisdom and understanding
- Summary of the big ideas in Ephesians 1:3-10
Unit 3: Our inheritance
- What is the inheritance?
- God’s sovereignty at work
- Who are the heirs?
- Paul’s prayer
Unit 4: Salvation by grace
- Our position before we trusted Christ
- God’s intervention
- God’s grace
- From death to life
- Excursus: Regeneration, or being born again
- Christian identity
Unit 5: A new world
- What we were: people without citizenship
- What we are now
- How it came about
- The new people of God
Unit 6: Paul’s special ministry
- Paul’s imprisonment in Rome
- How does Paul understand his ministry?
- The mystery that Paul has been commissioned to proclaim
- Paul’s response to God’s plan and his part in it
Unit 7: The church
- What Paul teaches in Ephesians about the church
- The basis of the unity of the body of Christ
- What Paul teaches in Ephesians about gifts and ministries
- Excursus: The doctrine of church and the Christian life
Unit 8: A new person
- The root cause of immoral lifestyle
- Where do we learn how to live in a good way?
- Cultivating love
- Sexual immorality and the Christian
- How children of God should think of themselves
- Excursus: The doctrine of sanctification
Unit 9: Walking in wisdom
- Christian wisdom in everyday living
- Instructions for husbands and wives
- Instructions to parents and children
- Instructions for the workplace
Unit 10: Spiritual warfare
- Active engagement in Christian survival tactics
- Stand when the days are evil
- Put on the full armour of God
