Delve Into Luke-Acts & Paul's LettersSample

DAY 15 – EPHESIANS

Besides Colossians, Paul sent at least two more letters with Tychicus and Onesimus from his imprisonment in Rome. One of them has traditionally been known as Ephesians, but it may not actually have been written to believers in the city of Ephesus. The original letter hasn’t survived, but there are many early copies, and some of the most accurate are addressed simply “To God’s holy people,” not “To God’s holy people in Ephesus.” If this letter had been written to the Ephesians, Paul would have included lengthy personal greetings at the end, since he spent over two years in Ephesus and got to know many people there. Instead, he tells his readers that he’s “heard about” their faith and says they’ve no doubt “heard about” him as well. So, like Colossians, this is a letter from Paul to a group of believers he’s never met personally.

One possibility is that this letter was actually written to “God’s holy people” in Laodicea. Paul did write to that city at the same time he wrote to Colossae. He told the Colossians, “After this letter has been read to you, see that it is also read in the church of the Laodiceans and that you in turn read the letter from Laodicea.” If the letter now known as Ephesians really was sent initially to Laodicea, this would explain why it introduces Tychicus but not Onesimus. Onesimus would have remained in Colossae, with the church Paul had asked to welcome him back as a brother, but Tychicus would have continued on to nearby Laodicea with this second letter. On the other hand, if Paul had been writing to the Laodiceans, we would expect him to introduce himself as a coworker of their friend Epaphras. But he doesn’t mention Epaphras. So another possibility is that Ephesians is a general letter that was intended to circulate among the churches of western Asia Minor, to address some problems they all had in common.

Even though we don’t know exactly who the intended recipients were, we can at least tell from the letter itself that they were Gentiles who’d come to believe in Jesus. Paul addresses them as “you Gentiles.” He draws a contracts between “we, who were the first to put our hope in Christ,” meaning himself and his fellow Jews, and “you [who] were included in Christ when you heard the message of truth,” meaning them and their fellow Gentiles. They also seem to have lived in a place where there was little direct Jewish influence. They weren’t being encouraged to follow certain aspects of the law (such as being circumcised, keeping kosher, and observing the Sabbath and other festivals) as a means of supporting their faith and restraining their desires. Indeed, they don’t seem to have been concerned enough about controlling their actions and had to be exhorted to live better lives.

As he typically does in his epistles, Paul uses his opening thanksgiving and prayer (which are quite lengthy in this case) to introduce his main theme. He writes that by exalting Jesus Christ above all things, God has brought everything together under his rule. One thing this means, Paul observes immediately, is that Jews and Gentiles have been brought together into one body, with Jesus at the head. This means that Gentiles who believe in Jesus “are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with God’s people and also members of his household.” Or, as Paul puts it shortly afterwards, “Through the gospel the Gentiles are heirs together with Israel, members together of one body, and sharers together in the promise in Christ Jesus.”

Paul tells his readers he’s praying they’ll understand the implications of their new identity. In the rest of the letter’s main body, he explains those implications. These believers are part of a body that God has given the resources to ensure that each of its members becomes godly and mature. So they must give up their former way of life and practice purity in daily living and integrity in their relationships. As in the case of Colossians, the responsibilities of those in and under authority--wives and husbands, children and parents, servants and masters--are used as an important example of the new kind of relationships God is expecting. Paul also cautions his readers that by seeking to live new kind of life in this world, they’re entering a spiritual battle. God’s people must be on their guard and to arm themselves with all the resources that God has provided – “the full armor of God.”

Paul’s closing greetings are understandably brief, because this is a letter to people he’s never met and doesn’t know well. While we can’t determine exactly who they were, this is nevertheless a letter that documents for readers in all places and times the dramatic transformation that God brings to human communities when the “message of truth” about Jesus is heard and believed.

PRAYER: Give me the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that I may know You better.