The series of papers for Theological Foundations for Counseling will be based on the Bible passage of Ephesians 2:1 – 10. This study will describe who the author of Ephesian’s was, the historical context, and the context of the book. The letter of Ephesians was vital for spreading the Gospel in Asia Minor, but its importance is still evident today. This passage summarizes the purpose of the Triune God and explains the gift of salvation. Author The author of the book of Ephesians is Paul. Paul was originally known as Saul. Saul was a pharisee who was known for his horrific persecution of early Christians. God confronted Paul on his way to Damascus. God caused Paul to become blind and spoke to him, telling him to stop his violent acts against Christians and instead share the Gospel with the Gentiles. God forgave Paul and gave him a purpose to unite all Christians and spread the news of salvation to …show more content…
The first part explains that without Jesus, we are dead for our sins and deserving of God’s punishment. The second part introduces the Gospel. Because God is full of grace and mercy, we are saved from what we justly deserve. Lastly, the third part states that we are saved by the gifts of grace and faith (sola gratia and sola fide). Therefore, we have salvation, we must live a sanctified life with Christ’s assistance (Rydelnik et al., 2014, Ephesians 2:1-10). The idea of regeneration of believers explains that we are dead from sin but made alive again by Christ Jesus’s resurrection (Rydelnik et al., 2014, Ephesians 2:1-10). This is the whole belief system of Christians. Martin Luther explained that we should daily put to death our old Adam (sinful nature) and remember that, because of the Holy Spirit working through our baptism and faith, we are a New Man (a sanctified Christian). We cannot, by our own doing, achieve salvation. If we received what we deserved, it would be eternal damnation, but God graciously sent his son to be our