Ignite Bible

New King James Version

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NEW KING JAMES VERSION

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Ignite: The Bible for TeensCopyright © 2013 by Thomas Nelson, Inc.

The Holy Bible, New King James Version®Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. All rights reserved.

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FIRST PROOFSFIRST PROOFS

EPHESIANSAD 60 1400 BC

READ IT:The book of Ephesians is a letter from Paul to the churches in and near the city of Ephesus. Paul encouraged the people to change their old lives of idol worship, casual sex, and foolish thinking and to live new lives as believers in Jesus. They were Christians now with a whole new identity. Paul also gave them some practical ways to live in unity with God and others.

GET IT:Who wrote it: PaulWhen it was written: a.d. 60Why it was written: to encourage the believers by reminding them of their spiritual blessings and instructing them to live holy lives.

LIVE IT:Our identity is in Jesus.We have a new life, a new way of thinking that will give us a purpose for living.

FIND IT: Redemption in Christ Ephesians 1Salvation by Grace Through Faith Ephesians 2—3Instructions for Living Ephesians 4—5The Whole Armor of God Ephesians 6

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1:10 NU- Text and M- Text omit both. 1:14 NU- Text reads which. 1:18 NU- Text and M- Text read hearts.

guarantee of our inheritance until the redemp-tion of the purchased possession, to the praise of His glory.

PRAYER FOR SPIRITUAL WISDOM15Therefore I also, after I heard of your faith

in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints, 16do not cease to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers: 17that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him, 18the eyes of your un-derstanding* being enlightened; that you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, 19and what is the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe, according to the working of His mighty power 20which He worked in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places, 21far above all principal-ity and power and might and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in that which is to come.

22And He put all things under His feet, and gave Him to be head over all things to the church, 23which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all.

BY GRACE THROUGH FAITH

02 And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins, 2in which you once walked according to the

course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience, 3among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature chil-dren of wrath, just as the others.

4But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, 5even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), 6and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, 7that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kind-ness toward us in Christ Jesus. 8For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, 9not of works, lest anyone should boast. 10For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.

BROUGHT NEAR BY HIS BLOOD11Therefore remember that you, once Gen-

tiles in the flesh— who are called Uncircumci-sion by what is called the Circumcision made

GREETING

01 Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God,

To the saints who are in Ephesus, and faithful in Christ Jesus:

2Grace to you and peace from God our Fa-ther and the Lord Jesus Christ.

REDEMPTION IN CHRIST3Blessed be the God and Father of our

Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, 4just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love, 5having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, 6to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He made us accepted in the Beloved.

SOUL FUELEPHESIANS 1:4He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love.

7In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace 8which He made to abound toward us in all wisdom and prudence, 9hav-ing made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His good pleasure which He pur-posed in Himself, 10that in the dispensation of the fullness of the times He might gather to-gether in one all things in Christ, both* which are in heaven and which are on earth— in Him. 11In Him also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestined according to the purpose of Him who works all things according to the counsel of His will, 12that we who first trusted in Christ should be to the praise of His glory.

13In Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, 14who* is the

FIRST PROOFS



WHITE HOT TOPIC

THE BIBLE IS THE TRUTH

GOOD NEWS!READ IT: EPHESIANS 1:13, 14

GET IT: Some people think the Bible is useful only for the holidays, for when they’re feeling seriously sad and depressed, or for wed-dings and funerals. The Bible is good for all those events, but the main purpose of the Bible is to tell us about God’s relationship to people. In His desire to relate to us He created us in His image. He loves humans so much that even after the first two messed things up He didn’t stop loving us. In fact, He loved us enough to come to earth as Jesus and die for our sins even though we didn’t deserve it. He loves us and wants us to be saved and to live a new life with Him.

The saving He does for us is called “salvation.” The good news about the saving is called the “gospel.” Ephesians 1:13 calls the good news of how God came to save us the “gospel of your salvation.” That is really what the Bible is all about. Even the Old Testament stories point to Jesus and the good news of salvation.

LIVE IT: Don’t let your Bible be a holiday/special occasion/pick-me up book. Open your Bible expecting to read good news about how God saves us and gives us new life. And then be sure to tell others about it, just like Philip did with the Ethiopian in Acts 8:26–40.

FIND IT: For more on The Bible Is the Truth, see 2 Timothy 3, page 0000.

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3:9NU- Text and M- Text read stewardship (dispensation). • NU- Text omits through Jesus Christ. 3:14 NU- Text omits of our Lord Jesus Christ.

of Christ), 5which in other ages was not made known to the sons of men, as it has now been revealed by the Spirit to His holy apostles and prophets: 6that the Gentiles should be fel-low heirs, of the same body, and partakers of His promise in Christ through the gospel, 7of which I became a minister according to the gift of the grace of God given to me by the effective working of His power.

PURPOSE OF THE MYSTERY8To me, who am less than the least of all

the saints, this grace was given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ, 9and to make all see what is the fellowship* of the mystery, which from the beginning of the ages has been hidden in God who created all things through Jesus Christ;* 10to the intent that now the manifold wisdom of God might be made known by the church to the principalities and powers in the heav-enly places, 11according to the eternal pur-pose which He accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord, 12in whom we have boldness and access with confidence through faith in Him. 13Therefore I ask that you do not lose heart at my tribulations for you, which is your glory.

APPRECIATION OF THE MYSTERY14For this reason I bow my knees to the Fa-

ther of our Lord Jesus Christ,* 15from whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, 16that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man, 17that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love, 18may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height— 19to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.

in the flesh by hands— 12that at that time you were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. 13But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.

CHRIST OUR PEACE14For He Himself is our peace, who has

made both one, and has broken down the middle wall of separation, 15having abolished in His flesh the enmity, that is, the law of com-mandments contained in ordinances, so as to create in Himself one new man from the two, thus making peace, 16and that He might rec-oncile them both to God in one body through the cross, thereby putting to death the enmity. 17And He came and preached peace to you who were afar off and to those who were near. 18For through Him we both have access by one Spirit to the Father.

CHRIST OUR CORNERSTONE19Now, therefore, you are no longer strang-

ers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, 20having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone, 21in whom the whole building, being fitted together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord, 22in whom you also are being built together for a dwelling place of God in the Spirit.

THE MYSTERY REVEALED

03 For this reason I, Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus for you Gentiles— 2if indeed you have heard of the dispen-

sation of the grace of God which was given to me for you, 3how that by revelation He made known to me the mystery (as I have briefly written already, 4by which, when you read, you may understand my knowledge in the mystery

EPHESIANS 2:8, 9By grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.

SPARKS

EPHESIANS 3:20Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us.

SPARKS



WHITE HOT TOPIC

SALVATION

THE BEST GIFT EVERREAD IT: EPHESIANS 2:8, 9

GET IT: What was the best gift you ever received? A bike, a gaming system, a computer? What made that gift so special? Was it because it was something you really, really wanted? Or was there something more to it? The very best gifts—the ones that deserve the word gift—are those that someone gives freely, without any expectation of behavior or payment or good work.

Jesus gives us that type of good gift. We don’t deserve salvation. We didn’t earn our rescue. And while there are certainly good things about you—lots of them—they’ll never be enough to pay Jesus back for salvation.

That’s what grace is all about: getting something we don’t deserve—and not getting what we do deserve! God gives with grace because God gives freely, without expecting anything in return. Salvation then is the very best gift you could ever, ever receive!

LIVE IT: Jesus offers you salvation completely free of charge. It’s a gift. Think about that: Are you receiving it as a gift of grace? Or have you been trying to earn it, thinking you’re good enough so Jesus would obviously offer you salvation?

How might you to live differently now that you know salvation is a gift? What response might you have in your day-to-day life?

FIND IT: For more on Salvation, see John 3, page 000.

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pastors and teachers, 12for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, 13till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ; 14that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning crafti-ness of deceitful plotting, 15but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head— Christ— 16from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the ef-fective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edify-ing of itself in love.

THE NEW MAN17This I say, therefore, and testify in the

Lord, that you should no longer walk as the rest of* the Gentiles walk, in the futility of their mind, 18having their understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God, because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart; 19who, being past feel-ing, have given themselves over to lewdness, to work all uncleanness with greediness.

20But you have not so learned Christ, 21if indeed you have heard Him and have been taught by Him, as the truth is in Jesus: 22that you put off, concerning your former conduct, the old man which grows corrupt according to the deceitful lusts, 23and be renewed in the spirit of your mind, 24and that you put on the new man which was created according to God, in true righteousness and holiness.

20Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, 21to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen.

WALK IN UNITY

04 I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you to walk worthy of the calling with which you were called,

2with all lowliness and gentleness, with long-suffering, bearing with one another in love, 3endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. 4There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called in one hope of your calling; 5one Lord, one faith, one bap-tism; 6one God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you* all.

SPIRITUAL GIFTS7But to each one of us grace was given ac-

cording to the measure of Christ’s gift. 8There-fore He says:

“When He ascended on high,He led captivity captive,And gave gifts to men.” *

9(Now this, “He ascended”— what does it mean but that He also first* descended into the lower parts of the earth? 10He who descended is also the One who ascended far above all the heav-ens, that He might fill all things.)

11And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some

FLASHPOINT

MATURITYEPHESIANS 4:11–16 Spiritual matu-rity—growing closer to God, following and trusting Him more each day, knowing more about His truth—isn’t just an individual thing. It’s a community thing. When one person’s faith grows and matures, it affects other people. And when those people’s faith grows and matures, it affects even more people. And so on. We each have to do the work—praying, study-ing, following, trusting, loving—to become mature. But the work is best when others are doing it too—like a team working toward the same goal.For more on Maturity, see 1 Timothy 4, page 000.

SOUL FUELEPHESIANS 4:32Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you.


FIRST PROOFS FIRST PROOFS

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4:25 Zechariah 8:16 4:26 Psalm 4:4 5:5 NU- Text reads For know this. 5:9 NU- Text reads light.

person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater, has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God. 6Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience. 7Therefore do not be partakers with them.

WALK IN LIGHT8For you were once darkness, but now you

are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light 9(for the fruit of the Spirit* is in all goodness, righteousness, and truth), 10finding out what is acceptable to the Lord. 11And have no fellow-ship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather expose them. 12For it is shameful even to speak of those things which are done by them in secret. 13But all things that are exposed are made manifest by the light, for whatever makes manifest is light. 14Therefore He says:

“ Awake, you who sleep,Arise from the dead,And Christ will give you light.”

WALK IN WISDOM15See then that you walk circumspectly, not

as fools but as wise, 16redeeming the time, be-cause the days are evil.

17Therefore do not be unwise, but under-

DO NOT GRIEVE THE SPIRIT25Therefore, putting away lying, “Let each

one of you speak truth with his neighbor,” * for we are members of one another. 26“Be angry, and do not sin” :* do not let the sun go down on your wrath, 27nor give place to the devil. 28Let him who stole steal no longer, but rather let him labor, working with his hands what is good, that he may have something to give him who has need. 29Let no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth, but what is good for neces-sary edification, that it may impart grace to the hearers. 30And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. 31Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, and evil speaking be put away from you, with all malice. 32And be kind to one an-other, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you.

WALK IN LOVE

05 Therefore be imitators of God as dear children. 2And walk in love, as Christ also has loved us and given Himself

for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet- smelling aroma.

3But fornication and all uncleanness or cov-etousness, let it not even be named among you, as is fitting for saints; 4neither filthiness, nor foolish talking, nor coarse jesting, which are not fitting, but rather giving of thanks. 5For this you know,* that no fornicator, unclean

FLASHPOINT

ANGEREPHESIANS 4:26, 27 If you expect to be able to live without anger just because you follow Christ, you probably won’t last past Tuesday. Anger in the face of life’s frustrations is as natural as tears.

But anger can lead to sin and can eas-ily become a voice inside your head that drowns out other important voices, like happiness. Anger can get so loud that you can’t even hear God whispering words of comfort and calm, and that’s dangerous. You don’t need to pretend anger never speaks, but you do need to know how to turn it down, so peace and forgiveness can be heard loud and clear.For more on Anger, see James 1, page 000.

FLASHPOINT

COMMUNICATIONEPHESIANS 5:1–7 In this passage Paul asks followers of Jesus to be “imitators of God” (v. 1). That’s a pretty big task! But Paul gives us a few ideas about how we can start, including how we speak. He advises us that empty words, mean-spirited joking, and filthy talk don’t please God. Instead, we’re to offer thanks and show love through our words.

Next time you find yourself in a conversation that’s headed in the wrong direction, you can step up to turn it around. If people are being negative, find something positive to say or change the subject.For more on Communication, see Titus 2, page 000.



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5:21 NU- Text reads Christ. 5:30 NU- Text omits the rest of this verse.

one another in psalms and hymns and spiri-tual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord, 20giving thanks always for all things to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, 21submitting to one another in the fear of God.*

MARRIAGE— CHRIST AND THE CHURCH22Wives, submit to your own husbands, as

to the Lord. 23For the husband is head of the wife, as also Christ is head of the church; and He is the Savior of the body. 24Therefore, just as the church is subject to Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in everything.

25Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her, 26that He might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by the word, 27that He might present her to Himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she should be holy and without blemish. 28So husbands ought to love their own wives as their own bodies; he who loves his wife loves himself. 29For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as the Lord does the church. 30For we are members of His body,* of His flesh and of His stand what the will of the Lord is. 18And do

not be drunk with wine, in which is dissipa-tion; but be filled with the Spirit, 19speaking to

LIVING WISELYREAD IT: EPHESIANS 5:1–21

GET IT: On one of his mission trips, Paul spent time preaching in the city of Ephesus. Later he wrote this letter to the Christian church there. He wanted to help them understand how to live for God as Christians. The Ephesian Christians lived in a city that had a huge temple for the Greek goddess Diana. Everybody worshipped this goddess. Paul told the Christians to live differently from the way everyone else was living. This chapter told them exactly what to do. It was written a very long time ago, but the mes-sage is clear for us today too.

LIVE IT: Take Paul’s challenge to live differently from others who are not Christians. Study these phrases. What do they mean for you today? Write down some specific, real-life examples of what Paul says to do and not do. How will you make them happen in your life?

FIND IT: Your next Spotlight: Hebrews 11, page 000.

SPOTLIGHT

FLASHPOINT

MARRIAGE AND DIVORCEEPHESIANS 5:22–33 In a marriage, two people leave their homes and become “one.” They’re now a single unit. They listen to God and make decisions together. They are responsible to each other as well as to God. That’s why it’s so important to respect and love others now. As you learn to love more selflessly, you can set yourself up for a great Christlike marriage someday.For more on Marriage and Divorce, see Colossians 3, page 000.



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5:31 Genesis 2:24 6:3 Deuteronomy 5:16 6:9 NU- Text reads He who is both their Master and yours. 6:12 NU- Text reads rulers of this darkness.

the rulers of the darkness of this age,* against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. 13Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.

14Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness, 15and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; 16above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one. 17And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God; 18praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints— 19and for me, that utterance may be given to me, that I may open my mouth boldly to make known the mystery of the gospel, 20for which I am an ambassador in chains; that in it I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak.

A GRACIOUS GREETING21But that you also may know my affairs

bones. 31“For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.” * 32This is a great mystery, but I speak concerning Christ and the church. 33Nevertheless let each one of you in particular so love his own wife as him-self, and let the wife see that she respects her husband.

CHILDREN AND PARENTS

06 Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. 2“Honor your father and mother,” which is the first

commandment with promise: 3“that it may be well with you and you may live long on the earth.” *

4And you, fathers, do not provoke your chil-dren to wrath, but bring them up in the train-ing and admonition of the Lord.

BONDSERVANTS AND MASTERS5Bondservants, be obedient to those who

are your masters according to the flesh, with fear and trembling, in sincerity of heart, as to Christ; 6not with eyeservice, as men- pleasers, but as bondservants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart, 7with goodwill doing service, as to the Lord, and not to men, 8know-ing that whatever good anyone does, he will receive the same from the Lord, whether he is a slave or free.

9And you, masters, do the same things to them, giving up threatening, knowing that your own Master also* is in heaven, and there is no partiality with Him.

THE WHOLE ARMOR OF GOD10Finally, my brethren, be strong in the

Lord and in the power of His might. 11Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. 12For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against

FLASHPOINT

FAMILYEPHESIANS 6:1–4 Ephesians is Paul’s letter to the Jesus-followers living in Ephesus. Paul was encouraging God’s people and reminding them how to live out their faith. These verses describe how God intended for children and parents to relate with each other.

When we read Scripture, it’s some-times easy to focus on what other people are supposed to do. Parents like to point out to kids what the Bible says to them; husbands like to remind their wives about the directions they should follow. But when you read verses like this, focus on the sections that are written to you! Your parents won’t always get things right—no one can—but God is still telling you to obey and honor them.For more on Family, see 1 Peter 4, page 000.

SOUL FUELEPHESIANS 6:1Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right.



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and how I am doing, Tychicus, a beloved brother and faithful minister in the Lord, will make all things known to you; 22whom I have sent to you for this very purpose, that you may know our affairs, and that he may comfort your hearts.

23Peace to the brethren, and love with faith, from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. 24Grace be with all those who love our Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity. Amen.

FLASHPOINT

WISDOMEPHESIANS 6:10–20 The armor of God, described in this passage, is a great summary of the way a wise person lives. Living the way God wants you to, having peace and faith, being confident in your salvation, and studying the Bible—that’s what it looks like to live a life of wisdom. You don’t have to be an adult to live this way. Think about each piece of that armor (read them from the passage), and imagine putting them on today.For more on Wisdom, see Exodus 18, page 000.

EPHESIANS 6:10Be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might.

SPARKS


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