The epistle to the Ephesians was written by Paul while in prison, probably in Rome around 60-62 A.D.[1] In this letter, Paul expounds with glorious doxologies the work of God in the salvation of the Gentiles and the building up of the church worldwide. Since Paul does not explicitly address issues from the Ephesian church, some biblical scholars think that this letter was written not directly to Ephesus, but as a circular letter to numerous churches in Asia Minor. If this is the case, more credence is given to the fact that Paul dwells on the growth and development of the Church of God.[2]
In Acts 19 and 20 we read of Paul’s work in the city of Ephesus. When Paul arrived there, he found a group of believers who had been baptized with the baptism of John. They had not heard of the Holy Spirit; therefore, when Paul had taught them of the One to whom John pointed, they believed and were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. Paul then laid his hands on them and they were filled with the Spirit. Luke records that after this event, Paul taught in the synagogues concerning the kingdom of God. [3] Following his stay, Paul went to Macedonia; while returning to Jerusalem, Paul stopped in Asia to bid farewell to the Ephesian elders. Paul reminded them that he had taught both Jews and Greeks about repentance and reconciliation through faith in Jesus. He informed them that he would not see them again and declared that he was innocent of their blood because he had not failed to proclaim the whole counsel of God to them. Paul exhorted them to care for the whole church after he had left. In his parting words he commended them “to God and to the word of his grace, which [was] able to build [them] up and to give [them] the inheritance among all those who are sanctified.”[4] This building up of the church- of whom Paul seems to stress the all-encompassing nature- and the revelation of the whole counsel of God are two themes that appear in his epistle written to this same church.
Paul introduces the idea of the mystery of the will of God in verse nine of the first chapter of this epistle to the Ephesians. This is not a magical sort of mystery, nor some sort of non-corporeal experience, but a fuller revelation of things that preexisted but were hidden. This mystery finds its true glory and revelation in the coming of Jesus Christ. Herman Ridderbos concluded that the “mystery that has been revealed with the advent of Christ must also be known and understood “by means of the prophetic writings””; thus, this mystery is contained within the Old Testament.[5] As the writer to the Hebrews points out several times and in various ways in that letter, the aspects of life and worship under the Old Covenant were copies, shadows, and patterns of greater realities, Jesus Christ Himself being the focal point or antitype.[6] Paul’s Christology, or historical eschatology, consists within an “organic relationship with the revelation of the Old Testament.”[7]
Throughout Israel’s history, the LORD established His relationship with His people through the means of a covenant. Of course, this covenant was initiated with Abraham hundreds of years before the inception of Israel as a nation, and even then it was rooted in the promise made to Adam and Eve after the Fall of humanity in the Garden of Eden. The LORD promised Israel that He would be their God and that they would be His people. They were also promised the land of Canaan as an inheritance. Furthermore, they were promised that they would have dominion over all the nations. Once settled in the Promised Land, Israel established a monarchy; God’s promise to David was that his kingly line would never end.[8]
When the Babylonians invaded Judah, the people of God were expelled from their land, the earthly kingship of David ended, and the temple was destroyed. Under the reign of Cyrus, the Jews were allowed to return to their land and rebuild the temple. At that time, Haggai prophesied that the glory of the latter temple would be greater than Solomon’s, intimating that there was something better to come.[9] However, there was still no king in Israel; the people looked forward expectantly for the coming of the promised Anointed One.
It is clear from the interactions that Jesus had with His contemporaries that the Jews were looking for a great deliverer who would rule over an earthly kingdom in Israel, one who would lead them forth to conquer the nations. However, Jesus came to usher in another kind of kingdom; his kingdom was not of this world.[10] Thus, Jesus established not an earthly kingdom, but a spiritual kingdom; he established the new covenant of the heart prophesied by Jeremiah.[11] This new kingdom was not limited to only Israel.
Isaiah spoke of the Servant of God who would be the light of the nations and bringing salvation to the ends of the earth.[12] Simeon confirmed that such prophecies spoke of Jesus when he declared that the child Jesus was “a light for the revelation to the Gentiles” as well as to bring glory to Israel.[13] This was the mystery of which Paul spoke: that through the death and resurrection of this Suffering Servant, the salvation of the Gentiles had come. Paul declared in this letter to the Ephesians that these Gentiles were “included in Christ when [they] heard the word of truth, the gospel of [their] salvation.”[14] Those who had been far distant from the promises of God and the salvation once offered to Israel only, had now been brought near, had been brought into this new covenant through the blood of Jesus Christ.[15] Thus, those who were “dead in trespasses and sins” had been made “alive together in Christ.”[16]
With this point, Paul begins to expand the main theme that runs through this epistle, the theme of the unity of the Church in this new kingdom brought together under one Head that is Christ. Paul (a Jew) says to his readers (Gentiles) that they were “made alive together in Christ”.[17] This theme is first introduced by Paul in the opening of his letter as the reason for the revelation of the mystery to him at that time: “to bring all things in heaven and on earth together under one head, even Christ”.[18] Paul makes the connection between the unification of all things and the salvation of the Gentiles more explicitly in chapter three. There he states, “[t]his mystery is that the Gentiles are fellow heirs, members of the same body, and partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel.”[19] Thus, this new covenant established by Christ, included the Gentiles as well as the Jews. These new converts were made heirs of the promises made to Abraham. The Gentile believers were no longer considered strangers and aliens, those who had no access to God according to the ceremonial rites and temple regulations. Instead, they had been made citizens of the kingdom and “members of the household of God.”[20]
Paul uses this imagery of a household to depict the relationship these new converts had with God and with their fellow believers. These Gentiles were part of a new building that was being constructed, a “holy temple in the Lord” built on the foundation of Jesus Christ as well as the teachings of the apostles and prophets.[21] This was the true temple where God would dwell in the hearts of men by His Spirit, unifying believers into one body in Christ.[22] Paul stresses over and over in this epistle that they, both Jew and Gentile, were made one in Christ.
This unification of Jews and Gentiles was made possible through the work of reconciliation wrought by Christ on the cross. Jews and Gentiles, who were once at enmity against each other, had been brought together into a spiritual brotherhood. Through His death on the cross, Jesus also put to death the hostility that had at one time existed between the Jews and the Gentiles; Jesus died to bring peace to all men.[23] God had now revealed this mystery of the union of Jew and Gentile to Paul in order that he might proclaim the remarkable nature of this new kingdom, that there would be peace and unity within the church, and that this church would grow together in love through their Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.[24] Therefore, Paul urged his readers to keep the “unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace” because they were all of one.[25]
In light of the history of Paul’s interactions with the Ephesians recorded in Acts, this theme of unity makes perfect sense. As we have already seen, Paul was concerned about revealing the whole counsel of God to the Ephesians. Further, Paul had exhorted the elders to care for the whole church, to shepherd them as the flock of God.[26] Even if this letter was not written specifically to the church at Ephesus but was sent out as a circular letter as some propose, confronting the issue of unity within the church, especially concerning Jew-Gentile relations, could be expected since was a common issue among the early churches, Paul himself having dealt with this issue in other specific churches.[27]
This goal of maintaining the unity of the Church and of the building up of the Body of Christ is not limited to the church at Ephesus by any means. The instructions that flow out of Paul’s theology of unity in Christ are as relevant today as they ever were. David Inks declared that the maturity and growth of the Body of Christ is the “eschatological goal of the church”.[28] Therefore, Paul urges his readers not to live as they once lived, as true Gentiles do, with darkened understanding since the mystery of Christ had been revealed to them with power through the Spirit of God.[29] They were called by Paul to “walk worthy of the calling with which [they] were called”; this same call comes to us.[30] Further, Paul exhorts his readers to walk in love, in light, and in wisdom in order that this unity might be preserved. He gives specific practical ways that this can be done at the end of chapter 5 through chapter six.
If this letter was written to the Ephesians, or even to the churches of Asia Minor, how can we today know that this letter speaks the same way to us? First, we must remember that we are also members of this one Body, and are members of the same Lord Jesus. Paul does not limit the scope of this letter to the church of his day. He has a broader eschatology in mind than that; his eschatology “is entirely determined by the realized and still-to-be-realized [italics mine] redemptive work of God in Christ.”[31] Paul mentions that God gave gifts to certain men in the church in order to teach and equip (mend or restore)[32] the Body, “until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.”[33] Therefore, this work is still ongoing in the Church; “He who has begun a good work in [us] will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ”.[34] The epistle to the Ephesians is still read to us today because it is still as relevant now as it was when it was written. God’s word is still graciously preached in our hearing. It is by this “mending, restoring Word [that] we grow into the unity of our singular manhood in Christ.”[35]
The God of this Word is still at work unifying His church unto Himself. We can pray expectantly for this completion, as we watch and wait until Jesus Christ returns. And we can say exultantly with Paul, “unto him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we can ask or think, according to the power at work in us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen.”[36]
[1] Acts 28:28-3, cf. Col 2:4. (Note: all scripture references are taken from the ESV unless otherwise noted.); New Geneva Study Bible (NGSB), 1859
[2] NGSB, 1859
[3] Acts 19:1-8 (Note: all scripture references are taken from the ESV unless otherwise noted).
[4] Acts 20:27-32
[5] Herman Ridderbos, Paul: An Outline of his Theology (Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1975) 51, quoting Rom. 16:26
[6] Heb. 8:5, 10:1. The idea if Christ being the antitype is taken from class lecture on 3/13/08.
[7] Ridderbos, 50
[8] 2 Sam. 7:12-14
[9] Hag. 2:9
[10] John 18:36
[11] Jer. 31
[12] Is. 49:6
[13] Luke 2:32
[14] Eph. 1:13, NIV; cf. Col. 1:24-27
[15] Eph. 2:13
[16] Eph. 2:1, 5
[17] Eph. 2:5
[18] Eph. 1:10, NIV
[19] Eph. 3:6
[20] Eph. 2:19
[21] Eph. 2:20-21
[22] Eph. 2:16, 22, 3:6; cf. 1 Cor. 3:16
[23] Eph. 2:14-17; cf. Luke 2:14
[24] Eph. 3:16-19
[25] Eph. 4:3-6
[26] Acts 20:26ff
[27] See the epistles to the Romans and to the Colossians as examples of this.
[28]David W. Inks, Christ’s Method for Maturity (http://www.kerux.com/documents/keruxv16n2a3.htm) 5
[29] Eph. 4:17ff
[30] Eph. 4:1, NKJV
[31] Ridderbos, 51
[32] Inks, 4
[33] Eph. 4:13, NIV
[34] Phil. 1:6, NKJV
[35] Inks, 5
[36] Eph. 3:20-21
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