Ephesians

Ephesians has a clear structure: three chapters on what God has done and three on how to live because of it. The first half is almost a hymn — election, redemption, grace, the barrier torn down between Jews and Gentiles, the church as body and temple. Here is the most quoted verse on grace: "by grace you have been saved through faith... not of works". The second half comes down to the concrete: how to speak, work, forgive, treat spouse, children, parents and workers. The close is the image of the "armor of God", with truth, righteousness, faith, salvation and the Word. It is a good doorway into Paul's letters.