STUDY GUIDE FOR ADDITIONAL READING ASSIGNMENT 2

EPHESIANS AND CALVIN'S COMMENTARY ON EPHESIANS

Review Questions:

1. Had Paul ever visited the church in Ephesus before writing his letter to them?

2. How does Calvin explain the phrase in Ephesians 1:4, "According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world"?

3. Calvin speaks of "three causes of our salvation." Explain each one:

   a. The efficient cause

   b. The material cause

   c. The final cause

4.What "mystery" of God's will had been hidden, according to Paul in Ephesians 1:9-10?

5. According to Calvin, in what sense is the Holy Spirit the "earnest of our inheritance" (Ephesians 1:14)?

6. According to Calvin, what is the meaning of the words "principality, and power, and might, and dominion" mentioned in Ephesians 1:21?

7. What word does Paul use in Ephesians 2:1 to describe the sinful state of man without Christ?

8. According to Calvin, what does Paul mean when he says in Ephesians 2:3 that we were "children of wrath"?

9. What does Paul mean when he says we have been "raised up together with Christ" (Ephesians 2:6), according to Calvin?

10. In commenting on Ephesians 2:8, Calvin asserts, "Faith, then, brings a man ______ to God, that he may be filled with the blessings of Christ."

11. What does Paul say about the religious situation of the Ephesians before they came to faith in Christ?

12. According to Calvin, what does Paul mean in Ephesians 2:15, when he says that Christ has abolished "the law of commandments, contained in ordinances"?

13. How does Calvin interpret the statement in Ephesians 2:20, that we are built upon the "foundation" of the apostles and prophets?

14. Does Calvin assert that the inclusion of the Gentiles was not mentioned in the Old Testament?

15. What future change regarding the law had not been understood during the Old Testament, a change that opened the door for Gentiles, according to Calvin?

16. In what sense did God especially make known his "manifold wisdom," as expressed in Ephesians 3:10, according to Calvin?

17. Does Calvin say that if someone has Christ, he also has the Holy Spirit?

18. According to Calvin, what does Paul mean when he says there is "one baptism" (Ephesians 4:5)?

19. According to Calvin, what does Paul mean when he says that Christ "led captivity captive" (Ephesians 4:8)?

20. What does Paul mean when he says that Christ "descended first into the lower parts of the earth" (Ephesians 4:9), according to Calvin?

21. How does Calvin understand the word "apostles" in Ephesians 4:11?

22. How does Calvin understand the word "prophets" in Ephesians 4:11?

23. Does Calvin think that the phrase "pastors and teachers" refers to one and the same church office?

24. Does Calvin argue that we should not be angry at people, but only at their faults?

25. According to Calvin, what does Paul mean when he says in Ephesians 5:5 that "no whoremonger, nor unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater, hath any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God"?

26. Does Calvin believe that Ephesians 5:11 ("have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness") means that Christians should not be friends with non Christians?

27. Does Calvin think that Ephesians 5:22 ("Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord") was an ethical norm that was valid for the society of the time of the New Testament, but that it no longer applies in our modern society?

28. Calvin states, "the man who does not love his wife is a _______."

29. Since Paul uses the word "mystery" (translated "sacramentum" in the Latin Vulgate) to refer to the union of a man and a women in marriage in Ephesians 5:32, does Calvin argue that marriage should be considered a sacrament?

30. Referring to Ephesians 6:4, Calvin says, "Parents, on the other hand, are exhorted not to irritate their children by ______________."

31. List the elements included in the spiritual armor that Paul describes in Ephesians 6.