Ephesians: Intro
The city of Ephesus was one of the most important cities of Asia Minor and under the Romans was the capital of the region known to them as Asia. It was celebrated for its temple to the goddess Diana, considered one of the seven wonders of the ancient world.
The letter from Paul to this church is accepted to have been written around 62-63 A.D. and was one of the four letters thought to be written from his prison time in Rome. The others are Philippians, Colossians, and Philemon. Second Timothy, while claiming a prison setting is better known as a "pastoral epistle".
Unlike other writings of Paul, this letter was not written to correct some errors or misuse of doctrine, but for the confirmation of the church of Jesus Christ (the professing church not a single church) in its spiritual unity as the body of Christ, having on the, whole armor of God to withstand the works of evil that have always made war against her.
The oldest copies of the letter do not include the words "in Ephesus" in verse 1: 1, leading some to conclude that a blank was inserted there by Paul so that the name of any church could later be filled in and the letter used for more than one specific church.
The letter seems clear to have been intended to be understood in two sections:
DOCTRINES OF CHRISTIANITY (Chapters 1-3)
The believer's election and adoption
Person and work of Christ
The Gentile's sharing equally in the Gospel's blessing
Paul's commission to establish these truths
EXAMPLES OF THESE DOCTRINES (Chapters 4-6)
The unity of the church and the body of Christ
The church as spotless in Christ
The church protected by the whole armor
During the days of the writing of this letter, Ephesus held over 200,00.0 people, and had an open air theater that held 25,000. It was a port city, allowing for the flow of many traders and many different types of people.
Paul had worked in the city for some time (Acts 19) and had therefore come to know the city and its people well. Acts 20 teaches us that he called for the elders of this city to visit him one last time as he journeyed to Rome.
There is a remarkable correspondence between certain books of the New Testament back toward related Old Testament books. Romans relates in principle to Exodus and Hebrews relates to Leviticus in principle taught. Ephesians relates back to the OT book of Joshua. In Joshua we have the people of Israel entering upon the possession of their inheritance. In Ephesians believers are called upon to enter by faith now into the possession of our own inheritance which we who believe and trust shall enjoy in the fullness of the promise to be kept by God, just as He kept the promise to His chosen people.
Paul seems to want us to know that even though the Gentile peoples came later into the position of grace, that their acceptance by God was not inferior to the spiritual position before God of the Jews ..
At the same time he also seems to teach us that the Gentiles cannot be intolerant of their Jewish brethren nor forgetful of the Jewish past of salvation history. In this letter he will teach us the true meaning of Christ's relationship to His church. He is its head and Lord, so requiring loyal obedience and service; He is the bridegroom, seeking a pure bride; and He is both the Messiah of Israel and the hope of the Gentiles, so uniting in Himself a new people, based upon grace through faith of both Gentiles and Jews.
Thirteen NT books begin with the name of the man who wrote Ephesians, and one more may also have been his writing but it begins with the word "God" (Hebrews). Paul was not his original name. His original name was Saul, the name of the first king of Israel, anointed by Samuel. Like Saul the king he was a Benjamite and for many years he was a haughty and self-righteous Pharisee u1:til one day he had a meeting with Jesus and all things in his life were forever changed.
The book of Ephesians is, iii its own way, a story for us of such change.
It teaches us what we were, what we are, and what we can be.
