**N.B. This is a transcript of my complete chapter on Ephesians taken from "Sixty-Six Books - An Overview of the Bible Book by Book"
Paul’s letter to the Ephesians soars from the depth of ruin to the heights of redemption. Considered by many to contain some of the profoundest of Paul’s thinking. It is at the very least the letter that contains some of Paul’s more thoroughly thought through writing.
Author
Twice the author of the epistle identifies himself as Paul (Eph. 1:1, 3:1). Tradition and Church history both agree that the Apostle Paul wrote Ephesians.
Recipients
Paul was in prison when he wrote Ephesians (Eph. 4:1). Four of Paul’s epistles refer to his imprisonment (Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, and Philemon. Thus, these four epistles are sometimes referred to as the prison epistles.
The problem in exactly dating them is that he was in and out of prison many times. The prevailing view is that all four were written in Rome during Paul’s two-year imprisonment there as recorded in Acts 28: 30-31. The support for this view is compelling. Paul says the gospel had spread to the whole Praetorian Guard (Phil. 1:13) and that, “the saints in Caesar’s household greet you” (Phil. 4:22). This why the early church believed this and that it was written to Ephesus.
At the time Paul wrote this letter, a particular kind of false teaching had caused trouble among the churches in and around Ephesus. Paul's messenger apparently took several copies of the same letter and distributed them around all the churches in the region. Someone may have written the name of the receiving church into the introduction as each copy was handed out. If this were the case, it would explain why some ancient manuscripts include the word 'Ephesus' (EPH 1: 1) in the opening greeting, but others omit it.
Message
Ephesus was the chief city of the Roman province of Asia, and Paul saw that if Christianity was established in Ephesus it would likely spread throughout the province. Ephesus was also centre for some of the pagan religions of the region (Acts 19:35). This meant that the Christian converts from that area were coming from a society where superstition and false religious ideas were widespread, and Paul knew that sooner or later the church in Ephesus would soon be challenged by such false ideas. He also knew that a society with false religious beliefs usually has low moral standards, and his letter to the Ephesians deals with the sorts of problems that arise when a church is planted in such a society.
The subject of Ephesians is primarily the believer’s call to faith. The message is that since believers have been called to be in Christ in the church, they should live a worthy life in unity, righteousness, love, wisdom, and submission, and stand against all the forces that would move them away from that lifestyle.
Structure
Ephesians is in the format of an ancient letter. Paul begins with a thanksgiving and a prayer (Eph. 1:3-23). In the middle of the prayer, he takes a spiritual diversion to develops several other themes. Then, he returns to his prays again (Eph. 3:1) before wandering off again on another subject finally to come back and pray a second time (Eph. 3:14).
Beyond the introduction, the body of this epistle is divided into two further parts: The sections have sometimes been titled, doctrine and duty, wealth and walk, or calling and conduct.
I. 1:1-23 Greetings and Introduction.
II. 2:1-3:21 God's plan for the church.
III. 4:1-6:24 The daily life of the church members
Purposes
The false teaching that was spreading around the region and creating much was an early form of Gnosticism, a religious philosophy that regarded Jesus Christ as neither fully human nor fully God, but as a sort of semi-angelic being. This teaching stated that, although Jesus Christ was superior to normal men and woman, both he like all humans needed to seek help from unseen angelic powers if they were to reach perfection.
In this letter to the Ephesians, Paul repeats his assurances that Christ is supreme over the universe, and that includes all the angelic powers, good and bad. By His death and resurrection, he has triumphed over all the evil spiritual forces of the universe. Because of this, Christians likewise can have complete victory in their battle against evil (Ephesians 2:26; Ephesians 6:12).
The major purpose of Ephesians is to enlighten believers concerning their calling so they can live a life worthy of it. Paul begins by showing how the Trinity was vital in a believers’ understanding of salvation. Believers are chosen by the Father (Eph. 1:3-6), redeemed by the Son (Eph. 1:7-12), and sealed by the Spirit (Eph.1:13-14). Then, Paul prays that they would be enlightened (Eph. 1:18), so that they would know the hope of their calling. They are called to fellowship with God and the church, which had now been fully revealed in Christ (Eph. 2:16, 3:6). He also urges them to walk worthy of their calling to the church (Eph. 4:1).
Another minor purpose of Ephesians is to encourage the recipients not to lose heart (Eph. 3:13). No doubt, Paul’s imprisonment discouraged many believers. However, he tells them not to feel sorry for him or be discouraged by what has happened. God has especially chosen to bless him through his time in prison by fully revealing to him the mystery of the church which he has the privilege of explaining to them now in this letter.
Summary:
Paul wrote to the Ephesians to enlighten them concerning their calling in the church, to urge them to walk worthy of it, and to encourage them not to lose heart. Believers should always remember this and walk worthy of their high calling.