More details about Ephesians

Opening of Ephesians: 1:1-2: “Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, to the saints in Ephesus, the faithful in Christ Jesus. Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.”

Why did Paul write the letter?

• Paul mentions several times in the letter that he was in chains.
• For example: 3:1: "For this reason I, Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus for the sake of you Gentiles."
• According to the last two verses in Acts, Paul was under house arrest in Rome for two years. While there he wrote four letters: Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, and Philemon. Ephesians was unusual in that it did not deal with any particular situation or problem in the church. Therefore, the question has to be asked: why did Paul write it?
• New Testament scholars are divided on their reasons, but it might be as simple as this: it was a friendly letter written to assure his friends in Ephesus that he was fine while in prison. Out of the all the places we have discussed in Paul’s travels, Paul stayed in Ephesus the longest, for 3 years, and Ephesus may have been his favorite city. Perhaps Paul found himself under house arrest, and, after awhile, he wanted to write a letter to his many friends in Ephesus to reassure them that he was fine even though he was under house arrest. Paul had stayed in Ephesus a long time, he had trained the leaders there well, and so they had no theological problems. By writing them he would let them know that he was doing fine under house arrest. Even more, since they had no problems, in the letter Paul discussed some ideas more deeply than in other letters. That adds validity to the idea that he knew the recipients of the letter well, that they had no problems, and that Paul felt the freedom to give more details about different issues.

Discussion of the idea of “church” in Ephesians

• Paul used the illustration of a body to represent God and believers:
• 1:22, 23: “And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way.”
• 2:14, 16: “For he himself [speaking about Jesus] is our peace, who has made the two one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility [between Jews and Gentiles] . . . and in this one body to reconcile both of them to God through the cross, by which he put to death their hostility.”
• 3:6: “This mystery is that through the gospel the Gentiles are heirs together with Israel, members together of one body, and sharers together in the promise in Christ Jesus.”
• 4:4-6: “There is one body [meaning one people of God] and one Spirit—just as you were called to one hope when you were called—one lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.”
• 4:11-12: “It was he who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, to prepare God’s people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up.”
• This “body of believers” is to work together for the purpose of mutual encouragement and accomplishing the tasks of the church as a whole. The house churches in Ephesians were not having problems, and so Paul was able to discuss how they relate to each other in more detail. This becomes more clear when comparing the Corinthian letters and Ephesians: the Corinthian house churches had many problems, and so Paul had to focus on helping them work through their problems instead of giving them deeper teachings. Paul does mention this “body” idea in I Corinthians 12:12-31, but most of the Corinthian letters focuses on their problems. But the house churches in Ephesus contain more mature Christians, and so Paul instructed them in the finer details of how they relate to each other as part of the “body of Christ.”

Predestination vs Free Will: what are they exactly?

• Paul mentioned the idea of predestination at the beginning of the letter:
• 1:4, 5: “For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love he predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will.”
• 1:11: “In him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will.”
• Predestination, simply put, is the idea that in the distant past God chose the people who would eventually accept him. Those whom God chose in the past will become Christian at some point in their lives. If someone was not chosen, then he/she will not become a Christian. God made the choice (or "predestined" certain people) and the decision is final. Note: God did not choose who would go to hell. Everyone deserves to go to hell, but God chose some to become Christian and go to heaven.
• The opposite idea is called “Free Will.” This is the idea that everyone decides for him/herself whether to follow God or not. God does know who will choose him and who will deny him, but God does not make the choice, instead people get to choose. This is known as “foreknowledge,” that God knows beforehand but does not make the choice himself.
• What does the Bible teach?: the Bible seems to speak about both ideas. The verses above seem to be for predestination, but other verses seem to be for free will: For example, John 3:16: “For God so love the world that he gave his only son, that whoever believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.” Plus there are many more verses on both sides. This is why there is so much disagreement over the two, because both sides can find verses that back up their point of view.
• To sum up:
• Predestination: At some point in the distant past God chose those who would become Christian and go to heaven. By default, those God did not choose will not become Christian and therefore go to hell.
• Free will: God has given everyone freedom to choose to follow Jesus or not.

Second part of Ephesians: How To Live As a Christian: 4:17-6:20.

• At this point in Ephesians Paul shifts and discusses the actions of a Christian. He had to do that that because his teachings were causing confusion. Remember that Paul said not to be circumcised or follow the Law. Also remember that the Law told the people of God (in the Old Testament period) how to live. Basically the Christians did not know how to live. Paul kept saying not to follow the Law of Moses, yet they did not really have an alternative. After all the Gospels had not been written yet, and so those Christians could not read Matthew, Mark, Luke, or John to see how Jesus lived. [Paul wrote his letters from 51-65 but the first Gospel was not written until around the year 68.] Therefore, in many of Paul's letters he tells Christians how to life. Some examples from Ephesians:
• 4:25: “Therefore each of you must put off falsehood and speak truthfully to his neighbor, for we are all members of one body.”
• 4:29: “Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen.”
• 4:32: “Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.”
• 5:22-6:9: Describes the Christian household: wives, husbands, children, slaves
• These verses can be confusing. Paul discussed the members of a Christian household, but also included slaves (6:5-9). [Note: some Bibles will use “servants” because the Greek word, “doulos,” can mean both servant and slave.]
• The short answer for this is that slavery was of a different type in the Roman period than in the American South before the Civil War, or really in most places in the world. Slavery in the Roman period was not a racial issue but an economic issue. Go here to read about this in more detail.

Outline of Ephesians

• 1-3: The church
• 4:1-16: Unity in the body of Christ
• 4:17-6:20: How to live as a Christian
• 6:21-24: Closing remarks