EPHESIANS Chapter 4:1-16

The fourth chapter marks the beginning of the practical section of the letter. From here on in the writer is concerned with our responses to the doctrines taught in the first three chapters. This is not to say that chapters 4‑6 do not contain doctrine, but the primary emphasis is the outworking of these truths upon Christians, both individually and corporately.

Chapter 4:1-16 Unity in Service.

Chapter 4 begins in the same way as chapter 3. But this time, Paul is using his circumstances (i.e. his imprisonment) to beseech the Ephesian church to walk worthy of the vocation with which [they were] called (v. 1). This verse makes it clear that just being born‑again is not enough if we are to please God. To please our Lord we must be useful and obedient. It is vital that Christians understand their vocation, what their function is within the Body.

The first fruit of a Christian should be lowliness and meekness (v. 2). Without these characteristics in the life of the believer, further spiritual progress is impossible. We are to be like our Master, Who was “meek and lowly in heart” (Matt. 11:29). Lowliness is the same as humility. Christians should be humble people, remembering from what terrors they have been rescued, by Whom they have been rescued, and what it took to save them (Heb. 12:3-4). Meekness or gentleness is a disposition that, although it is in control of emotions, nevertheless, does not assert itself.¹ To be meek is to have an excellent spirit; it is to have inner strength tempered by a humble sense of duty to God (cf. Num. 12:3). Perhaps the finest description of the combination of these two qualities is given by Solomon in Proverbs 16:32, “He that is slow to anger is better than the mighty: and he that rules his spirit than he that takes a city.”²

Humility and meekness are not qualities often found in the Lord’s people, but they are absolutely essential for healthy and constructive Christian relationships. Nobody can relate to their brother or sister in Christ in the way God wants them to relate if they are full of pride (cf. Rom. 12:3). Verse 2 continues, with longsuffering, forbearing one another in love (cf. 3:17). This we can do when we let Christ reign in our affections (cf. 1 Cor. 13:4, 5), tempering our egos and expanding our concern for others.

EPHESIANS - Chapter 3:1-21

Chapter 3:1-13: The Mystery of the Church.

For this cause I Paul, the prisoner of Jesus Christ for you Gentiles…(v. 1). Most commentators believe that Paul wishes to speak about his situation as a Roman prisoner. He feared that his imprisonment might cause some to depreciate his teaching, and he did not want the Ephesians asking, “If God has done all Paul says He’s done, why is Paul in prison?” Paul addresses this in verse 13ff. But it appears verses 2‑12 are a digression; an explanation of Paul’s special knowledge.¹

The dispensation of the grace of God (v. 2) is a reference to God’s imparting new revelatory knowledge about the Church to His apostle. As the apostle to the Gentiles, Paul was entrusted with the dispensing of this knowledge to the Gentiles. The grace of God here, as in all Scripture, is not an impassive thing. Rather, it refers to God gifting Paul (though grace mustn’t be viewed as a substance) so that he in turn would be a gift to the churches.

How that by revelation He made known to me the mystery…(v. 3). The mystery being the revelation about the Church found…in a few words, in the preceding chapters. By reading those chapters, the church at Ephesus would understand Paul’s…knowledge in the mystery of Christ (v. 4). What is this mystery? It is the truth that the saints were predestined in Christ to be holy, spiritually‑minded children of God, who corporately, in one body (Jew and Gentile) would grow “into a holy temple in the Lord.”

EPHESIANS – Chapter 2: 11-22

Chapter 2:11-22 The One New Man.

The Apostle has just shown that the way out of the deathly grip of sin and Satan is the way of God’s grace. Now he moves on to discuss some practical implications of salvation in Christ. The Gospel reaches out to all men, Jew and Gentile, and makes them brothers. In this way, it reconciles two opposing parties. But it also reconciles men to God. The Gospel therefore, brings peace both horizontally—between man and man—and, vertically—between man and God.

Therefore, remember…(v. 11). The apostle, a Jew, invites the Ephesian Gentiles to remember their condition previous to the coming of Christ into the world. The Jews thought the Gentiles were dogs. The Letter of Aristeas, for example, written by a Jew about 170 years before this epistle, refers to Gentiles as “worthless persons.”⁴ To distinguish themselves from the heathen, the Jews referred to themselves as “the Circumcision.” They did this, not because they alone practiced the rite,⁵ but because of its significance in identifying Israel with the God of the Old Testament Mosaic Law. It is hardly surprising to learn of the Jews speaking about Gentiles as the Uncircumcision (v. 11). By drawing their attention to this, Paul is not exhibiting racist tendencies, but he is highlighting the social gulf, which existed between Jews and Gentiles. This he continues to do in verse 12, where he reminds his hearers that at that time (before the Gospel came to them) you were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise.

EPHESIANS - Chapter 2:1-10

Chapter 2:1-10: Salvation by God’s Grace.

This chapter can be divided between verses 1‑10, which speak of the method of our salvation; and verses 11‑22, which speak of reconciliation (first, that of the Gentiles and the Jews brought together in Christ vv. 11‑15, second, both reconciled unto God vv. 16‑22). Both argue from what has already been said in chapter one about the power of Christ in us as our resurrected Lord.

And you has He quickened who were dead in trespasses and sins. If one is going to speak about the grace of God, as Paul does in this section, one cannot ignore the effects of the Fall upon mankind. All men born into the world are dead in trespasses and sins (cf. Col. 2:13). This deadness (the term nekrous is used figuratively not literally - they are children of disobedience!) is total in regards to spirituality. The day Adam disobeyed God was the day God said he would die, and he did; not physically, but spiritually; that is, he was alienated from the life of God. His spirit was separated from its Creator, and his heart and mind were corrupted by sin. “There being nothing of that spiritual life in them [mankind after the fall] which consisteth of the union of the soul with God.” (J. Fergusson, The Epistles of Paul, 144). This is the doctrine known as Total Depravity.¹ It is vital that men understand their plight with God. They are utterly unable to do anything ‘spiritual’ without the Holy Spirit. And since “God is a Spirit” (Jn. 4:24) all an unsaved man’s religion and good works are as filthy rags in His sight (Isa. 64:6). From this spiritually dead condition has He quickened us. This means that Christ has infused His life (by the Spirit) into His redeemed ones.

EPHESIANS -Chapter 1:15-23

Chapter 1:15-23. Paul’s Prayer

Verse 15 is supposed to be proof that Paul did not write this letter to the Ephesians. But as Paul had been away from Ephesus for a number of years, it is not unusual that he writes of having heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus, and love unto all the saints.

Faith in Jesus as Lord produces love between Christians. The fruit that God most desires to see His adopted children bearing is love (cf. v. 4; 1 Jn. 4:7, 8). From the subjective angle, the sign that a person is under the Lordship of Christ is the love they have for the saints. The news of the Ephesians’ love, not only among themselves, but unto all the saints, encouraged the apostle to give thanks (v. 16), and to pray for them. We might ask ourselves, how often do we thank God for faithful saints, and intercede for them?

The content of this prayer is most instructive.

EPHESIANS - Chapter 1:1-14

Chapter 1:1-2: Salutation.

The apostle Paul, now a prisoner in Rome, addresses the assembly of Christians at Ephesus, whom he had last seen about six years previously.¹ In the opening verse, he states his apostleship as being by the will (thelema) of God. No one could take to himself the title and authority of an apostle of Jesus Christ without the special call unique to an apostle. This calling included sign-gifts (2 Cor. 12:12) and witnessing the resurrected Lord (cf. Acts 1:22; 1 Cor. 9:1). In 2:20, the apostles and New Testament prophets are called the foundation upon which the household of God rests.

In some of his epistles (e.g. Phil.; 1 & 2 Thess.), Paul does not feel the need to state his apostleship at the head of the letter. Here however, where deep teaching about the plan and purpose of God for the Church is being put across, he perhaps saw a need to stamp it with apostolic authority from the start.

Paul writes to, the saints (hagiois - separated [holy] ones), and to the faithful in Christ Jesus. Ephesians is written to all Christians; those at Ephesus, but also, we think, to churches around that city² and, because of its universal character (see esp. 3:15), to all God’s people.

Grace be to you, and peace…(v. 2). Both the words, grace and peace, are important words within this letter.³ The reason we can know peace is because of God’s grace (cf. Rom. 5:1-2).

In the ancient world, letters usually began with a short salutation, not unlike the ones that Paul uses for his epistles. The author’s name and that of the addressee, and a short greeting was the usual way for letters to begin (e.g. Acts 15:23ff, 23:26). However, Paul makes of this characteristic greeting an address from God, the Bestower of a Christian’s blessings.

OBSERVATIONS ON EPHESIANS

INTRODUCTION TO EPHESIANS

Ephesus

The great city of Ephesus lay on the main route between the eastern and western halves of the Roman Empire, and was one of the major cities of the ancient world. By Paul’s time, it had become the capital city of the province of Asia (in modern Turkey). Ephesus was renowned as a “political, commercial, and religious center.” We are also told that “it boasted a 25,000 seat theatre, a race course, and the temple of Diana…one of the seven wonders of the ancient world.” (R. Gromacki, New Testament Survey, 242).

The city’s prosperity was due not only to its being one of the great ports of the Mediterranean, but also to its status as the center of the cult of Artemis (known as “Diana” to the Romans). The goddess Diana was regarded “as queen over both the heavenly powers, including the potent zodiacal powers, and the gods of the underworld.” (M. Turner, New Bible Comm. 21st Century ed. 1228). Local artisans crafted statuettes of the image of Diana in the temple, and these were thought to have magical powers. Diana was believed to have a “magical influence in the unseen world [which] encouraged astrology and sorcery.” (D. E. Hiebert, An Introduction to the New Testament 2.255) It was because of the threat that Christianity posed to this religion that the city was in uproar at Paul’s preaching in Acts 19:23-41.