More on Structure

Last week, we looked at Eph 1:3-14 to see how seeing the structure of a passage can help us to understanding it more fully. In that passage, we saw a threefold structure to highlight the work of each Person of the Trinity. I mentioned then that the next article would look at Eph 2 to look for a structure and see how it helps us understand the passage.

First, read Eph 2. Some of your Bibles likely have some section headings, which were added by the translators or publishers. They are not part of the original text, and sometimes they are not always placed where I would place them. They can be helpful at times, but always check to see if perhaps you think they might be misplaced.

Answer the question (without the help of the added section headings): What is Eph 2 about?

Eph 2 has two main parts to it. Look for them. They might be marked by a topic change, by a phrase that starts a new idea, or other clue that helps the reader know that there's a new thought coming. Try to find the two major sections before continuing.

In this case, most of your section headings are likely correct. The first section is from v. 1 through v. 10, and the second is from v. 11 through v. 22.

These two sections have parallel structures to each other! Each half of the chapter has two subsections. In this case, there's a repeated idea in each section to mark off the beginning of the second half of each section. Look for a repeated key idea that subdivides both vv. 1-10 and vv. 11-22. Try to find it before continuing.

The repeated key idea is "but God..." (in v. 4, "but God," and in v. 13, "but now in Christ Jesus"). So now we have the main structure: vv. 1-10 (with subsections 1-3 and 4-10) and vv. 11-22 (with subsections 11-12 and 13-22).

Now, look at the subsections, and look at how the "but God" idea changes things from one subsection to the next. What was true in vv. 1-3 and 11-12? What is now true in vv. 4-10 and 12-22? What is it that God did so that "but God" changes us from what was true to what is now true?

Now, re-answer the question. What is Eph 2 about?