Why the Church? — Ephesians 3:1–13 | Season 2, Episode 6

How Two Become One — Ephesians 5:21–33 | Season 2, Episode 13

How do two people with completely different lives, needs, dreams, and desires actually make a marriage last? It's one of the most practical questions in human experience — and Paul addresses it in just twelve verses. In this episode of the Set Free Stay Free Bible study podcast, host Matt Dawson works through one of the most discussed and most misunderstood passages in all of scripture: Ephesians 5:21–33. Paul's vision for marriage isn't a power struggle or a hierarchy of value. It's a mutual submission rooted in something much bigger — the relationship between Christ and his church. Matt unpacks the Greek language behind submission, explains why the tiger illustration changes everything about how we read verse 22, and makes the case that what Paul asks of husbands may actually be the heavier call of the two. Loving your wife the way Christ loved the church isn't one moment of heroism. It's a lifetime of waking up and choosing to lay your life down every single day. Using the SOAP method (Scripture, Observation, Application, Prayer), Matt draws on 32 years of marriage, his son's recent wedding, and the love and respect wheel to bring this passage to life — and lands on a vision of marriage as the world's most visible reflection of how Christ loves his church. This Ephesians Bible study is for anyone who wants to understand what God's design for marriage actually looks like — and why it matters far beyond the relationship itself. In this episode: * Why verse 21 — submit to one another — is the foundation for everything that follows * The Greek word for submission and why it has nothing to do with weakness * The tiger illustration — what it means to voluntarily surrender strength * Why the husband's call to sacrificial love may be the greater challenge * What it means to wash your wife with the word and present her as holy * The love and respect wheel — and how the two fuel each other * A closing prayer for marriages that reflect the grace and love of Christ 📖 Passage: Ephesians 5:21–33 (New Living Translation) 🔍 Keywords: Ephesians Bible study, Bible study podcast, SOAP method Bible study, Christian Bible study, Scripture-first Bible study, Set Free Stay Free, Matt Dawson, walking through the Bible, Christian discipleship podcast

Children of Light — Ephesians 5:1–14 | Season 2, Episode 11

Have you ever noticed how easy it is to drift? To feel like you're following God, but slowly, subtly, the world around you starts shaping you more than you realize? That's exactly what Paul is addressing as he opens Ephesians chapter 5 — and he doesn't soften it. In this episode of the Set Free Stay Free Bible study podcast, host Matt Dawson works through Ephesians 5:1–14 where Paul calls the church to something simple but demanding: imitate God. Live a life filled with love, following the example of Christ. And then he draws a clear, bright line between the things of darkness and the things of light. With the temple of Artemis looming over the city of Ephesus and a culture where sexual immorality was literally wrapped in the language of worship, Paul's words weren't abstract theology. They were a call to look unmistakably different. And two thousand years later, in a world that blurs the same lines with different language, the call is the same. Using the SOAP method (Scripture, Observation, Application, Prayer), Matt unpacks why Paul hits sexual immorality and greed so directly, what it means to be a bearer of Christ's light in a dark world, and why the Holy Spirit's conviction isn't meant to crush us — it's meant to wake us up. The application lands in one honest word: confess. This Ephesians Bible study is for anyone who has been slowly drifting and needs the light to shine on it. In this episode: * What "imitate God" actually looks like in everyday life * Why Paul addresses sexual immorality and greed so directly to the Ephesian church * The historical context of the temple of Artemis and what it meant for the early church * Why greed is called idolatry — and what it's really about * What it means to expose darkness rather than excuse it * A closing prayer of confession and restoration for children of light 📖 Passage: Ephesians 5:1–14 (New Living Translation) 🔍 Keywords: Ephesians Bible study, Bible study podcast, SOAP method Bible study, Christian Bible study, Scripture-first Bible study, Set Free Stay Free, Matt Dawson, walking through the Bible, Christian discipleship podcast

Take Off the Old, Put On the New — Ephesians 4:17–32 | Season 2, Episode 10

Have you ever felt like two different people? The person you want to be — and the person who shows up when life gets hard, when you react without thinking, when the old you just walks back in like it never left? Paul has language for that. And in this episode of the Set Free Stay Free Bible study podcast, host Matt Dawson works through Ephesians 4:17–32 where Paul gets specific about what sanctification actually looks like in everyday life. The imagery is simple but powerful: throw off the old nature like a cloak you no longer need, and put on the new. Not once — continually. This is the middle ground between justification and glorification, and it plays out in the most ordinary moments of any given day. The lies you tell. The anger you hold onto. The words you let fly. The bitterness you've been carrying for months. Using the SOAP method (Scripture, Observation, Application, Prayer), Matt walks through Paul's practical list — stop lying, don't let anger give the devil a foothold, quit stealing, let your words encourage rather than tear down, don't grieve the Holy Spirit — and ties it all back to the same thread running through the whole letter: it's not about your effort. It's about Christ in you, giving you the power to choose differently every single day. This Ephesians Bible study is for anyone who is tired of being surprised by their old self — and ready to understand what putting on the new nature actually looks like. In this episode: * What Paul means by throwing off the old nature and putting on the new * Justification, sanctification, and glorification explained in plain language * Why anger gives the devil a foothold — and what to do about it * What it means to grieve the Holy Spirit through everyday choices * The summary verse: kindness, tenderheartedness, and forgiving as Christ forgave * A closing prayer for the Holy Spirit's conviction and power to live worthy of the calling 📖 Passage: Ephesians 4:17–32 (New Living Translation) 🔍 Keywords: Ephesians Bible study, Bible study podcast, SOAP method Bible study, Christian Bible study, Scripture-first Bible study, Set Free Stay Free, Matt Dawson, walking through the Bible, Christian discipleship podcast

Gifted on Purpose, for a Purpose — A Conversation About Spiritual Gifts | Bonus Episode

After 25 years of pastoral ministry, one question keeps coming up: Do I actually have a spiritual gift? And does it really matter for my everyday life? In this special bonus episode of the Set Free Stay Free Bible study podcast, host Matt Dawson sits down with Paul Ryden from Global Book Network for a conversation about his book Gifted: On Purpose for a Purpose — a practical, accessible guide to understanding and activating your spiritual gifts where you live, learn, work, and play. If the last few episodes walking through Ephesians 4 left you wondering what your specific gifts might be and how to actually use them, this conversation is for you. Matt breaks down the difference between talents and gifts, explains why so many believers take their gifts for granted without realizing that's exactly what a gift looks like, and unpacks some of the most misunderstood gifts — including the mercy gift, the teaching gift, and the ministerial gifts Paul lists in Ephesians 4. The bottom line? God didn't give you the Holy Spirit so you could use your gifts for an hour on Sunday. He gifted you on purpose, for a purpose — and that purpose touches every area of your life. In this conversation: * The difference between a talent and a spiritual gift * Why most believers already have a ministerial gift without knowing it * What the mercy gift actually looks like — and why it's so misunderstood * Why spiritual gifts are tools to be wielded, not collectibles to be admired * How couples can use spiritual gifts to strengthen their marriages * How to take the free spiritual gifts assessment at mattdawson.tv/yourspiritalgifts 📖 Referenced passages: Ephesians 4:7–16, Romans 12, 1 Corinthians 12 🔍 Keywords: spiritual gifts, Bible study podcast, Gifted on purpose for a purpose, Christian discipleship podcast, Set Free Stay Free, Matt Dawson, walking through the Bible, Scripture-first Bible study

Gifted on Purpose, for a Purpose — Ephesians 4:7–16 | Season 2, Episode 9

Have you ever wondered if your life actually matters? If you're really contributing anything — to the church, to the people around you, to what God is doing in the world? Paul has an answer. And it's not vague encouragement. It's specific. In this episode of the Set Free Stay Free Bible study podcast, host Matt Dawson digs into one of the most practically rich sections of Ephesians — chapter 4, verses 7 through 16. Christ himself, after descending to our lowly world and ascending to fill the entire universe, gave gifts to his people. Not just to pastors and leaders. To every single believer. And those gifts have a purpose: to equip the church, to help each other grow, and to move the whole body toward maturity in Christ. Using the SOAP method (Scripture, Observation, Application, Prayer), Matt walks through all five of the Ephesians 4 ministerial gifts — apostle, prophet, evangelist, pastor/shepherd, and teacher — breaking down what each one actually looks like in everyday church life. He connects this to his book Gifted: On Purpose for a Purpose and makes the case that most believers already have one of these gifts in their mix without even knowing it. The goal of it all? A church that is healthy, growing, and full of love. And the warning Paul gives along the way is just as important: immaturity looks like being tossed around by every clever-sounding lie that feels like truth but isn't rooted in the word of God. This Ephesians Bible study is for anyone who has wondered whether God has actually given them something to offer — and needs to hear that he has. In this episode: * Why Christ both descended and ascended — and what that has to do with your gifts * A breakdown of all five Ephesians 4 ministerial gifts and what they look like in real life * Why maturity in the church means speaking truth in love and growing more like Christ * What immaturity actually looks like — and why it's dangerous * How every part of the body working together produces health, growth, and love * A closing prayer for the church to step into its gifts and grow toward Christlikeness 📖 Passage: Ephesians 4:7–16 (New Living Translation) 🔍 Keywords: Ephesians Bible study, Bible study podcast, SOAP method Bible study, Christian Bible study, Scripture-first Bible study, Set Free Stay Free, Matt Dawson, walking through the Bible, Christian discipleship podcast