Introduction to Paul's Letter to the Ephesians

EPHESIANS AT A GLANCE

Salvation is a wonderful thing and sometimes words fail us when we try to describe all that God has done for us in Christ.  I looked up the word "salvation" in a Bible dictionary and it defined the term by concepts such as rescue, deliverance, liberation, security, safety, soundness, forgiveness, restoration, healing, prosperity, and well-being.  Yet somehow, I don't think that even these words capture the full essence of all that we have in Jesus Christ.  These words are only the beginning!  I like to define the term salvation as the "state of being spiritually rich in Christ."  The book of the Bible that does a tremendous job of cataloging many of the spiritual blessings (or spiritual riches) that believers have in Christ is Paul's Letter to the Ephesians.

Author
Tradition ascribes Ephesians to the Apostle Paul.  Some scholars speculate that Luke, Timothy, Tychicus, or another of Paul's associates may have written the letter.  However, I believe that Pauline authorship of Ephesians is more than plausible for several reasons:

1. The letter itself identifies its author as Paul and contains several personal references to the apostle and his current situation (see 1:1; 3:1;  and 4:1).
2. The Early Church consistently regarded Ephesians as a genuine work of Paul.  It was not until the eighteenth century that some scholars questioned Pauline authorship of the letter.
3. Ephesians is structurally and theologically consistent with Paul's other writings.
4. The letter is a literary masterpiece.  Could anyone other than Paul have written it?

For these and other reasons, I believe that the traditional view that Ephesians was written by the Apostle Paul is the preferred one.

Recipients
It is possible that Paul's letter was not designed for just one congregation, but for multiple congregations in the area.  The phrase "in Ephesus" in Ephesians 1:1 does not appear in some of the earliest Greek manuscripts of the New Testament.  Therefore, it may be the case that Paul's letter was a general one and was to be circulated among several cities with the appropriate city's name inserted.  One piece of evidence for this theory is that the letter contains no specific exhortations or personal greetings.  If the theory is indeed correct, then the letter probably became associated with Ephesus because of the city's prominence in the ancient world.

Background
Ephesus was a principal port city in what is now modern Turkey.  It was probably second only to Rome in terms of stature.  Acts chapters 18-20 chronicle Paul's ministry in Ephesus, which began around A.D. 55 and lasted for about three years.

Date
A.D. 60-62.  This date is based on the view that Paul wrote Ephesians while he was imprisoned in Rome.  Those who refute Pauline authorship of the letter typically argue for a later date.

Occasion
While imprisoned in Rome (see Acts 28:16, 30-31), Paul wrote the so-called "Prison Epistles," which are: Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, and Philemon.  It seems that after Paul wrote Colossians, which describes the role of Christ as Lord over the cosmos, he was then inspired to explore the deeper implications of Christ's Lordship for the Body of Christ.

Theme
The Church as the Body of Christ.  Concerning the Church:

• It is mentioned nine times (1:22, 3:10, 21, 5:23, 24, 25, 27, 29, 32).
• It is described biologically as the Body of Christ, architecturally as a Holy Temple, and socially as the Bride of Christ.
• The Church is universal rather than local.  It consists of all who have been saved.
• The Church (body) and its head (Christ) are united and interdependent.

Message
The Letter to the Ephesians consists of two sections. The first section is about the believer's position in Christ.  The second section is about the conduct of believers in the world.  Ephesians 2:10 sums up the entire book, "For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do."