Systematic Bible Study

[GWH]

Thank you for asking! I do! Going back and reading Ephesians 1, it struck me as Paul's address to "everyone" in general and, when I reached the end of the chapter, I noticed the first footnote was, "Some manuscripts do not include in Ephesus" which only encouraged my first impression.
And reading further into Chapter 2 doesn't discourage my initial impression either, considering Paul specifically addresses both Gentiles' as much as Jews' access to the Father by One spirit (Ephesians 2:17-18).

And the one footnote for this chapter with regard to Ephesians 2:10
10 a Literally which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.
The BSB renders the language as:
10For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance as our way of life.a
brings to mind, "you will hear a voice, when you turn to the right and when you turn to the left...." (I regret my computer is excruciatingly slow in loading more than one tab so I can't offer the exact verse without suffering with major lag time while responding so I gave up trying. You do get what you pay for as the saying goes) :/

Yes, this is what I said in post #28:

I pulled the book on Ephesians by my favorite commentator William Barclay down from my library shelf to refresh my memory about what he said regarding its interpretation, and he cited 3:1 to indicate that it was written while Paul was in prison and noted 55 verses are almost the same as in the epistle to the Colossians. Referring to 1:1 Barclay said that none of the best early manuscripts have the words "in Ephesus", which supports the view that this was a circular missive, apparently meant for both Gentiles and Jews.

Regarding 2:10, I like the BSB translation of walking as "way of life", because it implies "walking with God or in the Spirit" and allows for occasional sins that need to be confessed.
The verse you were looking for is Isaiah 30:21.

 

[Mem]

Regarding 2:10, I like the BSB translation of walking as "way of life", because it implies "walking with God or in the Spirit" and allows for occasional sins that need to be confessed.
The verse you were looking for is Isaiah 30:21.

Nice, thanks for retrieving it for easier reference, especially noting that " your ears shall hear a word behind you..." as a mirroring of "...which God prepared beforehand..."

 

[GWH]

EPH 3:1-6 – “For this reason I, Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus for the sake of you Gentiles—surely you have heard about the administration of God’s grace that was given to me for you, that is, the mystery made known to me by revelation, as I have already written briefly. In reading this, then, you will be able to understand my insight into the mystery of Christ, which was not made known to men in other generations as it has now been revealed by the Spirit to God’s holy apostles and prophets.”

“For this reason I, Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus for the sake of you Gentiles” – this epistle should be read with Colossians,
which refers to Paul being in chains (Col. 4:3&18), so perhaps we will do so.
“surely you have heard about the administration of God’s grace that was given to me for you” – this assignment is recorded in
Acts 9:15-16. Although his focus was the Gentiles, Jews were not excluded per Acts 28:17-23.
“that is, the mystery made known to me by revelation” – this mystery was described in Eph. 2:13-22 and is mentioned also in
Rom. 11:25 & 16:25 as well as in Colossians
“as I have already written briefly” – Barclay translates this as “as I have just been writing to you”, which would refer again to Eph. 2:13-22.
“In reading this, then, you will be able to understand my insight into the mystery of Christ” – yet a third time Paul referred to Eph. 2:13f.
“which was not made known to men in other generations as it has now been revealed” – this statement is paralleled by Rom. 16:25 & Col. 1:26.
“by the Spirit to God’s holy apostles and prophets.” - Rom. 16:26 indicates that Paul has the writings of the OT prophets in mind, as Jesus explained per Luke 24:45-47.