A Study through Ephesians One: An Introduction

Ephesus, an ancient Greek city on the southwest coast of Ionia, in what is known today as Turkey, maintained a population of 250,000 persons during the first century CE, making it one of the largest cities in the entire Mediterranean. The Jewish citizens of Ephesus were first evangelized with the gospel briefly by St Paul the apostle (cf. Acts 18:19), and then again by Apollos (cf. Acts 18:24-25), who was taught the Way of God more thoroughly by the wife and husband team Priscilla and Aquila (cf. Acts 18:26).

From Ephesus, Apollos traveled to Achaia (Acts 18:27; 19:1), and Paul revisited Ephesus (Acts 19:1), where he encountered some disciples of John the baptizer, who were unaware that Jesus had completed His mission, resolved the grand narrative of Israel, been crucified, died, buried, resurrected, and ascended into heaven, whence He sent the Holy Spirit, whom all believers were to receive. By their faith, and Paul's laying his hands upon them, the Spirit manifested His presence among them; he spent the next three months in Ephesus, speaking boldly and arguing persuasively about the kingdom of God (Acts 19:8).

God was performing extraordinary miracles through Paul, in healing the sick and casting out demons (Acts 19:11-12), which was arousing the attention of "all residents of Ephesus" (Acts 19:17). Luke records: "and the name of the Lord Jesus was praised" (Acts 19:17), leading to the repentance and faith of many. Resolving in the Holy Spirit that an evangelistic work needed to be engaged throughout Macedonia and Achaia, Paul sent Timothy and Erastus into Macedonia, "while he himself stayed for some time longer in Asia" (Acts 19:21-22).

About this time a revolt was stirred about the spread of the Way (i.e., the Christian faith) (Acts 19:23), which was incited by "a silversmith who made silver shrines of Artemis" (Acts 19:24). The monotheism of the Way threatened the livelihood of the idol-maker, hence his outrage toward Christian evangelism. Ephesus was home to one of the seven wonders of the ancient world: the great shrine or Temple of Artemis, constructed and completed around 550 BCE -- the many-breasted, hunter-goddess idol (and twin of Apollo) who typified fertility. The Ephesians believed the idol fell from the sky (cf. Acts 19:35), particularly from Jupiter, and is also known as Diana in Latin (Luna, the moon-goddess). Albert Barnes comments:

This was a celebrated goddess of the pagan, and one of the twelve superior deities. In the heavens she was Luna, or Meui (the moon); on earth, Diana; and in hell, Hecate. She was sometimes represented with a crescent on her head, a bow in her hand, and dressed in a hunting habit; at other times with a triple face, and with instruments of torture. She was commonly regarded as the goddess of hunting. . . . She was also represented with a great number of breasts, to denote her as being the fountain of blessings, or as distributing her benefits to each in their proper station. She was worshipped in Egypt, Athens, Cilicia, and among pagan nations generally; but the most celebrated place of her worship was Ephesus, a city especially dedicated to her. (link) 

After the disturbance had ended, Paul left for Macedonia (Acts 20:1). During his journeys he sailed past Ephesus once to Miletus (Acts 20:16), but sent a message to the elders at the church in Ephesus to meet him (Acts 20:17); he then encouraged the elders to remain faithful over the Lord's flock (Acts 20:28), for he knew that he would never again see them face to face (Acts 20:22, 23, 25).

The city of Ephesus has a significant role in both Scripture and the history of the Church, giving us several church-wide councils of Ephesus. Jesus commanded John the apostle to write a letter to seven churches throughout Asia, the church at Ephesus being the first among such letters. From St Paul's letter to the Ephesians, written while in captivity in Rome about 61-63 CE (Eph. 3:1), the believers were toiling and enduring, intolerant of wicked people, and reproving false apostles, but their love for Christ aphēkes -- had been discharged, allowed to be sent away: "the love you felt at first you have now lost" (Rev. 2:4 Revised English Bible). Jesus continues: "Think from what a height you have fallen; repent, and do as once you did" (Rev. 2:5 REB). We already know from Scripture that, without love, we are "a sounding gong or a clanging cymbal" (1 Cor. 13:1 REB). Orthodoxy and orthopraxy must maintain the centrality of love for God through Christ in the Spirit; without the latter, the former is useless.   

Paul's main theme in his letter to the Ephesians is the Church (Eph. 3:6), the united body of Christ Jesus our Lord, in which both Jew and Gentile (Eph. 2:15) have been incorporated by the ministry of the Holy Spirit. The purpose of Paul's writing this letter is often debated. Given the lack of the phrase "in Ephesus" in the opening remark in the earliest surviving manuscripts ("Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, to the saints who are in [or at] Ephesus"), some think that this letter was originally intended as a circular letter, to be read by all the churches throughout Asia Minor; or perhaps "Ephesians" is actually the known-but-lost letter to Laodicea (cf. Col. 4:6).      

St Paul's authorship is disputed, some scholars noting the letter's peculiar, liturgical style, and its uncommon diction, lending weight to post-Pauline origin. Other scholars note the striking similarities in the letter to the Ephesians with other New Testament letters, for example, Philippians and Romans. External evidence, such as some early Church fathers, attribute the Letter to the Ephesians to the authorship of St Paul. James Patrick Holding comments:

Word choice and writing style are not suitable criteria for saying that a person did or did not write a particular piece of literature -- especially when we are dealing with writing samples as small as the Pastorals, or Ephesians. In this regard, conservative scholars rightly cite the work of Yule [Knig. PE, 39; Oden. 12TT, 13], who notes that samples of at least 10,000 words are needed to make such determinations -- and Ephesians is rather short of that mark. (link)

Regardless of St Paul's authorship, the author of a particular letter is not inspired of God -- only Scripture is "breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness" (2 Tim. 3:16 ESV).    

This letter, though in many English Bible translations is addressed to "the saints who are in Ephesus," may be read, studied, and heeded by all -- all who by grace trust in and are a disciple of Christ Jesus our Lord and Savior -- and receive its words as the very words of God, to the strengthening of our souls, and to the glory of Christ, as we allow those words to perform their work within us (cf. 1 Thess. 2:13).

Chapter one of Ephesians is outlined as follows:

• Opening address (1:1-2)
• Introduction: The Blessed One and His Benefits (1:3)
• Benefits of the Blessed One to Those in Christ: Election, Predestination, Adoption (1:4-5)
• Attribute of the Benefits: To the Praise of His Grace (1:6)
• Benefits of Union with Christ: Redemption and Forgiveness (1:7-8)
• Unveiling of These Mysteries: All Things Consummate in Christ (1:9-10)
• Benefits of Union with Christ: Inheritance and New Life (1:11-12)
• Benefits of Union with Christ: Salvation, Sealing of the Spirit, and Redemption (1:13-14)
• Prayer for Believers in Christ through the Spirit: (1:15-19)
• Evidence of the Blessed One: God's Power at Work (1:20-21)
• The Glory of God in the Preeminent Christ through the Church: (1:22-23)

This brief introduction will serve us as we study Ephesians chapter one line by line, phrase by phrase, and word by word -- the nourishing, all-sufficient, life-giving word of God, in Christ Jesus our Lord, through the indwelling, enlightening, and awe-inspiring Spirit of God our Savior.