Letter to the Ephesians (Part Eleven)

Part Eleven of the New Testament Survey Series

Khen Lim



Interior of a home in ancient Ephesus (Image source: kirazlivillage.com)

Paul’s letters have always been known to have a reason or purpose even if at times, one might have to labour on looking for one. Nonetheless, one finds it if you try hard enough. His letter to the Ephesians, though, might be an exception because there is no documentation of rhyme or reason in it. Take his letter to the Colossians as an example. Here, he specifically levels his attacks on faux teachings but in Ephesians, it is almost non-existent.

If we dig deeper than normal, maybe we can find Paul encouraging his readers to stay united in Christ. Given that assumption then, this letter offers an outline of what kind of discipline is considered necessary in order to be true children of God and in that, we get every help we can in learning how to fulfil our purpose and calling that the Lord has for each of us. The view by many, therefore, is that Paul’s letter to the Ephesians is a suite of instructions on building and equipping a maturing church by way of the Body of Christ and how it fleshes out its role in God’s economy.

Perhaps the most significant aspect of this letter is the doctrine behind at least half of Paul’s teaching to the Ephesians concerning our standing in Christ. It is this real value that constitutes a large chunk of this letter and we do ourselves no service by glossing through it because it is right here that Paul offers us the foundation upon which we can build on to understand spiritual warfare or the struggle of the saints.

Image source: ephesus.ws

In his doctrine, Paul talks about several issues of great importance. He not only tells us who God’s children are (as in who God wants us to be, cc.4-6) but that we must also be firmly grounded in knowing where His Hand has been in the history of humanity (cc.1-3). While very little of this is new to the Jews, the tremendous earth-shattering culture shock would surely come in verse 5:32 when Paul introduced the notion that the Church was the Body of Christ and with that, the stark realisation that the Gentiles are alongside Israel in being “sharers together in the promise in Christ Jesus” (3:6).

It wasn’t just the Jews who found this very hard to swallow; even new Jewish Christians were completely caught out by what Paul had to say and this is all because being a Jew meant that they considered themselves exclusive claimants in being God’s only chosen redeemed (Dt 7:6) as was proclaimed in the Old Testament. Little wonder therefore that this new paradigm that is so roundly articulated by Paul would be at the root of some serious disputes and acrimony between the Jewish communities and the new Gentile converts.

There should be no dispute that this is Paul’s letter because as it is firmly noted in verse 1:1, evidence can also be gleaned in verses 3:1, 1:15-16, 4:1 and 6:19-21. Yet we are not surprised at all that challenges to the letter’s authorship have arisen though in the scheme of things, they are more bothersome than serious.

As for the date of writing, we put it somewhere between 60AD and 63AD when Paul was languishing in a Roman prison for the first time (3:1, 4:1). This also means that it was written around the same time as those he wrote to the churches in Colossae and Philippi and also the letter to Philemon, which is why they are collectively called the ‘Prison Epistles.’ We should also take note that the Book of Acts leaves us right at this point in Paul’s life.

The audience for the letter should be as obvious as the title suggests, meaning the saints of the church of Ephesus. However the irony presents itself in verse 1:1 where the phrase “in Ephesus” is actually – and oddly – missing. This simple two-worded phrase is enough to create some degree of controversy because it is found in nearly all the manuscripts and by all ancient accounts and yet, as a title phrase – as in something like “To the Ephesians” – it doesn’t crop up elsewhere.

Image source: bibleplaces.com

Like Corinth, the city of Ephesus has a history worth understanding in order to get the setting for the letter correct. Established on a river bend that was eventually modified for full harbour duties near the mount of the Cayster River on the western coast of Asia Minor (now modern Turkey), Ephesus is an ancient Greek city located on the coast of Ionia between Smyrna to the north and Miletus to the south. Following the annexation by the Roman Republic in 129BC, Ephesus flourished with a population boom, increasing from 33,600 to 56,000 in that same period, making it the third largest cosmopolis in Roman Asia Minor.

This was the city famous for the Temple of Artemis, which although physically devastated by the Goths in 268AD, was somewhat rebuilt or repaired at a later date. We may also be familiar with the biblical fact that John the apostle wrote his Gospel there. It was also the city that hosted several Christian Councils in the Fifth Century.

When Paul was there, Ephesus was a prosperous port city known for its robust international trade, thriving silversmith guild and a mouth-gaping theatre capable of seating 20,000 at full capacity. Given the paganist nature of the Ephesian community known for the worship of the mother idol of Diana, it would have to be very daunting to have built a church there.

Paul’s style of writing here appears a little detached and with an impersonal tone, giving the impression that he might not be very close to the Ephesians (1:15, 3:2, 4:21) although in Acts 20:17-38, he considers them his dear friends, having ministered and spent a fair bit of time there in the past.

Because of this impression, some consider this as a circular letter that could’ve done its rounds in churches other than just Ephesus. If that is the case, then we should consider that the readership for Paul’s letter is wider than originally anticipated. There isn’t any other way to get around Paul’s missing warmth in the way he wrote except to believe that he wrote it for a larger audience.

In this letter, Paul raises six areas for Christian understanding: 

-         God’s sovereignty in salvation (1:3-11)

This is where he explains His supreme right to divine predestination and His will to choose. 

-         Christ’s saving work (1:5, 7, 13)

Paul also includes lessons on Sonship, redemption and the sealing with the Holy Spirit. 

-         Defining Christian love (3:17-19)

The apostle espouses the important particularity of agape that is so prolifically mentioned. 

-         The Church as the Body of Christ (2:20-22)

We are encouraged to view this as being centrally critical to God’s larger scheme of things. 

-         Embracing a transformed life in Christ (4:1-6:18)

Paul exhorts Christians not to live like they did in the past. Though unsaved before, Gentiles are born again and therefore must commit to a life changed in and for Christ because the difference between then and now is as contrasting as light and dark (5:8). 

-         The mysteries of God (1:9, 3:3-11, 5:32, 6:19)

Even as we derive little to no understanding of the mysteries of God, Paul reveals them in ways only God could have made happen.

Part Twelve (Letter to the Philippians) will be available on February 24 2016