A "Grain Of Wheat" Ministries publication

Translated by David W. Dyer

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The Letter of Paul to the Ephesians

EPHESIANS CHAPTER 1

1:1Paul, a sent one of the Anointed One, Jesus, through the will of God, to those set apart for God who are at Ephesus, even the faithful in the Anointed One, Jesus: 1:2May you have grace and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus, the Anointed One.

1:3May the God and Father of our Lord Jesus the Anointed One be blessed, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in the Anointed One. 1:4For through his love, he chose us to be in him before the foundation of the world so that we would be holy and without defect before him.

1:5He has predetermined that we would be placed as his mature sons through Jesus the Anointed One according to the good pleasure of his will, 1:6resulting in a celebration of the glory of his grace which he granted to us in the Beloved.

1:7It is in him that we have our release by the full payment of the ransom price, which is his blood, even the release from bondage to our sins, according to the liberality of his grace 1:8which he lavished upon us. 1:9Now he is making known to us the mystery of his will which he planned in himself with all wisdom and intelligence in order to satisfy his greatest desires.

1:10His plan is this: by the careful management of events through the passage of time until the end, to rejoin together everything under the headship of the Anointed One himself, both the things in the heavens and the things on the earth.

It is in him also that 1:11we were chosen to be his inheritance – having been selected for this privilege beforehand according to his purpose – who does everything according to the counsel of his own will. 1:12As a result, we who first hoped in the Anointed One serve for the exalting of his glory.

1:13This exalting also includes you, who, having heard the word of the truth, the good news of your salvation, believed into Him and were sealed with the Holy Spirit of the promise. 1:14The Holy Spirit is the guarantee of this inheritance until God takes full possession of those he liberated by paying the full ransom price, resulting in the exalting of his glory.

1:15For this reason I also, having heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and the love which you show toward all those set apart for God, 1:16do not cease to give thanks for you, mentioning you in my prayers. 1:17I pray that the God of our Lord Jesus the Anointed One, the Father of glory, would give you a spirit of wisdom and revelation through fully and correctly knowing him personally.

1:18I pray that you would have the eyes of your heart enlightened so that you would understand the hope to which he calls us, the riches of the glory of his inheritance in those separated to himself, 1:19and the exceeding greatness of his power for those who are believing. It was the operation of this strength of his power 1:20which he wielded in the Anointed One when he raised him from the dead and made him sit in the place of supreme honor and authority in the heavenly places.

1:21Now he is far above all rule, authority, power, dominion, and every name which is named, not only in this age, but also in that which is to come. 1:22All things have been subjected under his feet. And it has been granted to him to be head over all things to the gathering of the called-out ones 1:23which is his body, the full measure of the One who is fulfilling all things.

EPHESIANS CHAPTER 2

2:1In the past you were under the dominion of death because of your errors and sins 2:2in which you once walked, following the course of this world which is controlled by the prince of the powers of the air, the spirit which now works in the sons of disobedience. 2:3We also all once lived in the same way, yielding to the cravings of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the carnal nature and of the mind, and were by nature children led by strong natural passions, just like everyone else.

2:4But God, being rich in mercy because of his great love with which he loved us, 2:5even when we were under the dominion of death because of our sins, gave us his own life together with the Anointed One (it by grace you are being saved) 2:6and now raises us up with him and makes us sit with him in the heavenly places in the Anointed One, Jesus. 2:7This is so that in the ages to come he might show the unlimited riches of his grace through his kindness toward us in the Anointed One, Jesus.

2:8For by grace you are being saved through faith which is not your own but instead is a gift from God. 2:9This saving is not by our own works so that no man will be able to claim any credit. 2:10For we are his epic, poetic masterpiece, formed into a people in the Anointed One, Jesus, for the purpose of carrying out his good works which God previously prepared so that we would be occupied with them.

2:11Therefore, remember that once you – the Gentiles by birth who are called “uncircumcised” by those who call themselves “the circumcision” (referring to something done to the body by human hands) – 2:12that you were at that time separated from the Anointed One, alienated from the community of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of the promise, having no hope and without God in the world.

2:13But now in the Anointed One, Jesus, you who once were far off are brought near by the blood of the Anointed One. 2:14For he is our peace, the One who made both Jews and Gentiles one, having broken down the partition barrier between them, having destroyed the motive for antagonism in his physical body through his death.

2:15He did this by deactivating the law* made up of commandments and decrees so that he could create in himself from the two, one new “man,” so making peace. 2:16This was so that he could reconcile them both to God together in one body through the cross, having put to death the animosity.

*It is true that Jesus said that he did not come to destroy the law but instead to fulfill it (Mt 5:17). The “deactivation” of the law cited in this verse is possible because Jesus already fulfilled all the law and the prophets with his life, death, and resurrection. Therefore, it now could be, and in fact needed to be, deactivated.

2:17And so peace was announced to you who were at a distance and also to those who were near; 2:18for through him we both have our access through one Spirit to the Father. 2:19So then you are no longer foreigners and strangers but you are fellow citizens with those set apart for God and members of the family of God.

2:20You are being built upon the foundation of the sent ones and prophets; the Anointed One Jesus himself being the keystone. 2:21It is through him that each part of the building, being fitted together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. 2:22It is in him that you also are being built together by the Spirit into a dwelling place for God.

EPHESIANS CHAPTER 3

3:1For this reason, I Paul, the prisoner of the Anointed One, Jesus for the sake of you Gentiles – 3:2if, in fact, you have heard of the grace of God which was granted to me to dispense to you – 3:3am writing to say that this divine mystery was made known to me by revelation, as I already wrote before in few words.

3:4When you read what I wrote, you can perceive my understanding in the mystery of the Anointed One, 3:5which in other generations was not made known to the sons of men but has now been revealed to his holy sent ones and prophets through the Spirit. 3:6It is that the Gentiles are fellow heirs, fellow members of the body, and fellow partakers of the promise in the Anointed One Jesus through the good news message.

3:7This is the message of which I was made a servant according to the gift of that grace of God which was given me through the operation of his power.

3:8This grace was given to me, who am less than the least of all those set apart for God, in order to proclaim among the nations the spiritual riches of the Anointed One which are beyond human comprehension 3:9and to make all men understand God’s plans: i.e. our participation in this secret purpose which for ages had been kept hidden in God who created all things.

3:10This is being done with the intention that now the multifaceted wisdom of God would be made known to the principalities and the powers in the heavenly places through the called-out ones. 3:11This is according to the eternal purpose which he purposed in the Anointed One, Jesus our Lord, 3:12in whom we have boldness and confident access to the Father through our faith in him.

3:13Therefore, I ask you not to become faint-hearted because of my sufferings which are for your sake, which really are for your glory.

3:14For this reason I bow my knees to the Father 3:15from whom every part of his family both in the heavens and on earth takes its name. 3:16I pray that he would grant you, according to the abundance of his glory, to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in the inward spiritual man.

3:17I pray that the Anointed One would make his home in your hearts through faith for the purpose that you – being rooted and grounded in his love – 3:18would be able to understand with all those set apart for God what is the width and length and height and depth* 3:19and to know the love of the Anointed One which exceeds human knowledge so that you could be filled with all the fulness of God.

*Perhaps an allegoric reference to the dimensions of the promised land which the Jews were (as we also are) encouraged to enter into and possess.

3:20Now to him who is able to do super abundantly beyond all that we ask or imagine according to the power that works in us, 3:21to him be the glory in the community of the called-out ones and in the Anointed One, Jesus, for all generations, even for the ages of the ages. Amen.

EPHESIANS CHAPTER 4

4:1I, therefore, the prisoner in the Lord, beg you to walk in a way which is worthy of the calling with which you were called, 4:2with all lowliness and meekness, patiently bearing with each other in love. 4:3Be diligent to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.

4:4There is one body and one Spirit, just as you also were called in one hope of your calling. 4:5There is one Lord, one faith, one baptism, 4:6one God and Father of all, who is over all, through all, and in you all. 4:7But to each one of us was given grace corresponding to the measure of the gift of the Anointed One. 4:8Therefore, he said, “When he ascended on high, he led captivity captive and gave gifts to men” (Ps 68:18).

4:9Now this, “He ascended,” how is that important except that he also descended through death, into the lower parts of the earth? 4:10He who descended is the same One who also ascended far above all the heavens so that he might fulfill all things.

4:11And he gave as servants to the called-out ones some to be sent ones, some prophets, some proclaimers of the good news, some shepherds and instructors 4:12for the perfecting of those separated for God, for the work of serving, for building up the body of the Anointed One 4:13until we all arrive at the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God to a fully grown spiritual man, even to the measure of the stature of the fulness of the Anointed One.

4:14This is so that we would no longer be infants tossed back and forth and carried along with every new wind* of teaching, by the deceptive tactics of men who through false wisdom draw us into their error of making the spiritual life into a method {mechanism, “way,” or system}.**

*The Greek word here is “wind,” possibly indicating that the source of such errors is the prince of the powers of the air, who is the devil. There is no doubt that there are powerful, malignant, spiritual intelligences behind the many “movements” or “winds” which sweep through the church shifting the focus from Jesus to other things. These include, but are not limited to: Practices, phenomena, experiences, “correct” pronunciation of Jesus’ or God’s name, etc.

**The Greek word here is “methodeia” or method. An extremely common error is committed by those who try to substitute an intimate communion with the Anointed One and following him with some kind of “way,” “how-to” method, belief system, authority structure, practice, phenomena, etc. which supposedly makes us pleasing to God. Such things are often associated with the aforementioned winds or movements.

4:15But by speaking what is true in love to each other we should grow up into him in all things who is the head, even the Anointed One. 4:16It is from him that the whole body is being fitted and joined together through the life which every member distributes to the others – according to the functioning of each individual part supplying its portion. This is what makes the body grow as it builds itself up in love.

4:17Therefore, I say this – and I am confident that this exhortation is from the Lord – that you should no longer walk in the same way that the Gentiles walk: i.e. in the futility of their own intellectual reasonings. 4:18Since their understanding is darkened, they are alienated from the life of God.

This is because of the ignorance that is in them which comes from the hardness of their hearts. 4:19These, who have stopped caring about what is right or wrong, give themselves over to immoral behavior to greedily practice all kinds of sexual impurity.

4:20But this is not what you have learned from the Anointed One, 4:21if it is really true that you have heard from him and were taught by him. Therefore, according to the truth that is in Jesus, 4:22you should, with respect to your former behavior, put away the old human life whose corruption is exposed through its illusory, fleshly cravings.

4:23Allow the Spirit to renovate your mind. 4:24And clothe yourself with the new “man” which – corresponding to God’s own nature – has been created [by being born inside of you] in righteousness and true holiness. 4:25Therefore, putting away that which is false [i.e. the old ways of thinking and acting], everyone should speak truth with his neighbor, for we are members of each other.

4:26If you are angry, even so, do not sin. Don’t let the sun set while you are still angry, 4:27thus giving the devil a foothold. 4:28Anyone who was a thief should not steal anymore, but instead he should work hard, laboring with his hands at some respectable occupation so that he will have something to give to others in need.

4:29Don’t allow any degenerate speech to come out of your mouth. But if you speak, say something edifying according to the need of the moment so that it will transmit grace to those who are listening. 4:30Don’t grieve the Holy Spirit of God with your words or actions by whom you were sealed for the day of deliverance from the fallen body.

4:31Let all resentment, displays of temper, anger, complaining, and criticizing be put away from you along with all vindictiveness. 4:32Be kind to each other, tenderhearted, forgiving each other just as God also forgave you in the Anointed One.

EPHESIANS CHAPTER 5

5:1Therefore, be imitators of God as children who are loved. 5:2Walk in love, in the same way that the Anointed One also loved us and gave himself up for us as an offering and a sacrifice to God with a pleasing fragrance.

5:3But don’t let such things as sex outside of the marriage bond and all sexual impurity or the desire for wealth even be mentioned among you, which is the characteristic of those set apart to God. 5:4Neither should you use obscenities, engage in frivolous conversation, or tell dirty jokes, which are not appropriate; instead be giving thanks.

5:5For you know this without a doubt: no one who engages in sex outside of the marriage bond, who practices impure sexual acts, nor anyone who is greedy (who is really worshipping money as an idol) has any inheritance in the coming kingdom of the Anointed One and of God [the millennial kingdom or the “Millennium”].

5:6Let no one deceive you with useless words disputing this truth. For it is because of these very things that the punishment of God comes on the sons of disobedience. 5:7Therefore, don’t participate with them in these activities.

5:8For you were once in darkness but now you are in the light of the Lord. Live as children of light. 5:9For the fruit of the light is in all goodness and righteousness and truth, 5:10demonstrating what is pleasing to the Lord.

5:11Have no co-participation with the works of darkness which benefit no one but instead even reprove them. 5:12For it is shameful even to speak of the things which they do in secret.

5:13But all things when they are reproved are exposed by the light, for the light is what reveals everything. 5:14Therefore, he says, “Awake, you who are sleeping, and arise from the dead and the Anointed One will give you light.”

5:15Therefore, be very careful how you live, not as unwise, but as wise, 5:16making the most of the time which is left because these are evil days. 5:17Moreover, don’t be foolish but understand what the will of the Lord is. 5:18And don’t be drunk with wine which produces lack of self control but be being filled to fulness with the Spirit.

5:19Express the spiritual meditations of your heart to each other in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody from your heart to the Lord, 5:20giving thanks to God, even the Father, always for all things in the name of our Lord Jesus the Anointed One.

5:21Submit yourselves to each other in the fear of the Anointed One. 5:22Wives, be completely yielded to your own husbands as if to the Lord. 5:23For the husband is the head of the wife just as the Anointed One also is the head of the called-out ones, he himself being the Savior of the body.

5:24But as the called-out ones are completely yielded to the Anointed One, so let the wives also be yielded to their husbands in everything. 5:25Husbands, love your wives just as the Anointed One also loved the gathering of the calledout ones and gave himself up for her 5:26so that he might make her holy and purify her by the washing in the water of the word which he speaks {rhema, Gk}.

5:27This is so that he might present to himself as a bride those of the glorious gathering of the called-out ones who are without stains or wrinkles or any such things, since it is necessary for her to be holy and without defect to be a partner in this marriage.

5:28So also husbands ought to love their own wives as they love their own bodies. He who loves his own wife loves himself. 5:29For no man ever hated his own body but nourishes and cherishes it just as the Anointed One also does the called-out ones 5:30because we are members of his body.

5:31For this reason a man leaves his father and mother and coheres* to his wife and the two become one flesh (Gen 2:24). 5:32This mystery is profound, but I am actually speaking about the Anointed One and the gathering of the called-out ones. 5:33Nevertheless, each one of you should love his own wife even as himself. And the wife should be reverent towards her husband.

* Greek: “to be glued” or “cemented.” This is the “marriage bond” of ch. 5:5.

EPHESIANS CHAPTER 6

6:1Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. 6:2Honor your father and mother (which is the first commandment with a promise) 6:3so that your life would go well and you would live for many years on the earth.

6:4And you fathers, don’t provoke your children to anger but nurture them in the discipline and counsel of the Lord.

6:5Slaves [and employees], be obedient to those who are your earthly masters with respect and humility, being focused on your work, just as you would do for the Anointed One.

6:6Don’t do your work only when others are watching or by just trying to impress others 6:7but do your work willingly as if working for the Lord and not for men. As servants of the Anointed One, do the will of God from the heart 6:8since you know that whatever good thing each one does, he will receive back from the Lord in the same measure whether he is a slave or free man.

6:9And you masters [employers], treat them in the same way. Give up intimidation as a means of controlling them, knowing that he who is both their Master and yours is in the heavens and there is no favoritism with him.

6:10Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. 6:11Put on the whole armor of God so that you will be able to stand against the strategies of the devil. 6:12For our wrestling is not against flesh and blood but against the fallen princes, against the spiritual authorities, against the world rulers of this darkness, against the evil spiritual beings in the heavenly places.

6:13Therefore, take up the complete armor of God so that you may be able to resist temptation through the difficult times and, having persevered through everything, to stand firmly in the Anointed One without sinning.

6:14Stand, therefore, having encircled your waist with truth and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, 6:15having put on your feet the preparation of the good news message of peace; 6:16additionally take up the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts [fearful thoughts and doubts] of the evil one. 6:17And take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word which God speaks {rhema, Gk}.

6:18By means of all prayer and petitions, be interceding in the Spirit at all times, staying alert with all perseverance in your intercession for all those set apart for God. 6:19Pray also for me that the right words would be given to me when I open my mouth and that I would have boldness when making known the mystery of the good news. 6:20This is the message for which I am an ambassador in chains. But I ask for your prayers so that even in chains I would speak boldly as I ought to speak.

6:21But so that you also may know how I am and what I am doing, Tychicus, the beloved brother and faithful servant in the Lord, will tell you everything. 6:22In fact, I have sent him to you for this very purpose so that you may know our state of affairs and that he may comfort your hearts.

6:23Peace be to the brethren and love with faith from God the Father and the Lord Jesus the Anointed One. 6:24May grace be with all those who love our Lord Jesus the Anointed One with an incorruptible love.

Words in this translation found in italics are words which are implied by the Greek text but do not represent actual words in the Greek text. This practice is common in almost all modern translations. Occasionally, this translator has added words to the translation which represent his own ideas and opinions which, although they are based on his own biblical understanding, are not part of the actual Greek text. Such words are enclosed in brackets, like this [ ]. The reader should understand these words as being the opinion of the translator. In contrast to this, the words in these braces { } indicate legitimate, alternative translations or explanations. Words within parentheses () are part of the original Greek text. Such parentheses are often used in other New Testament translations also.

End of The Letter of Paul to the Ephesians

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