Paul’s letter to Ephesians is called Quintessential Paul. It summarizes Paul’s teaching.
Ephesus was a famous cosmopolitan port city of the ancient world. It has a port where goods from China and other Asian countries transferred to Italy. It is in the modern-day Turkey.
It had dozens of temples, a theater that can hold 25,000 people. Ephesus is known for the temple of Artemis (Greek), aka Diana (Roman). It was one of the seven wonders of the ancient world.
Paul went to Ephesus on his third missionary journey in AD 53 and he stayed there for two and half years. This is where he worked with Aquilla and Priscillaand established the church at Ephesus.
God did extraordinary miracles through Paul in Ephesus – even the handkerchiefs and aprons that had touched him were taken to the sick, and their illnesses were cured and the evil spirits left them. People were driving out the evil spirits in the name of Jesus, whom Paul preaches.
People in that city were seized with fear and the name of the Lord Jesus was held in high honor and people openly confessed and believed in Jesus and those who practiced sorcery brought their scrolls and burned them up.
Because people were turning to Jesus, leaving their trade at the temple, they were losing their business of selling these idols. So this guy named Demetrius instigated people against Paul and there was a big uproar in the city.
We read this story in Acts 18. Wherever Paul went there was a stirring up because he was disturbing the Devil’s nest. Paul left Ephesus after 2 and half years and when he left, there was a solid church based on good doctrinal foundation.
Paul writes this letter to Ephesians. In some manuscripts, the word “Ephesians” was not present and that means it is a circular letter. These letters were circulated from one church to the other – that was the reason Paul did not mention any names in this letter.
Paul wrote this letter between AD 60-62 – this is one of the letters Paul wrote from the prison. The other prison letters are Colossians, Philemon, and Philippians.
Paul’s letters to Romans and Ephesians summarize what Christianity is all about.
Samuel Coleridge called the letter to the Epheisans as “the divine composition of man”. John Calvin called it his favorite book of the Bible. John Knox asked that Calvin’s sermons on Ephesians be read to him on his deathbed.
This book has been called the “crowning jewel,” or capstone, of Paul’s theology.
Martyn Lloyd-Jones’ exposition of Ephesians took eight volumes – he has 37 messages on chapter 1 alone. John Calvin’s 48 sermons on Ephesians take up 705 pages.
Ephesians is a great book. There are lot of commonalities between Ephesians and Colossians.
The main theme of Ephesians is the glorious gospel that unites people from different backgrounds, ethnicities, races, and cultures and the how it manifests in the life of a believer. This book outlines the abundant blessings we have in Christ and gives instructions for believer how to live in family, Church, and society.
Book of Ephesians is very much relevant today to unite the church that has people from various backgrounds, races, and cultures. Our society is deeply divided in so many ways and Paul’s letter to Ephesians teaches us that Jesus Christ unites us all and that is possible by the grace of God.
There are two parts in this letter – Part 1: Chapters1-3, Part 2: Chapters 4-6.
First part: Doctrinal, Second part – Practical.
First part: What our riches are in Christ – Second part: How to use those riches.
First part – The position of a believer in Christ – Second part: The life of a believer in Christ, living in this world.
The first 3 chapters tell us who we are in Christ (theology) and next 3 chapters tell us how we should live (practice).
There are several ways you can outline the book of Ephesians. Here is one way – I borrowed it from the Blue letter Bible website
Outline:
- DOCTRINE: OUR RICHES IN CHRIST (Eph 1:3-3:21)
- Our Spiritual Possessions in Christ (Eph 1:3-14)
- Our Spiritual Position in Christ (Eph 2:1-22)
- DUTY: OUR RESPONSIBILITIES IN CHRIST (Eph 4:1-6:20)
- Call to walk in unity (Eph 4:1-16)
- Call to walk in purity (Eph 4:17-5:21)
- Call to walk in harmony (Eph 5:22-6:9)
- Call to walk in victory (Eph 6:10-20)
- CONCLUSION (Eph 6:21-24)
Please join us on this journy to study Paul’s letter to the Epehsian church.