Summary: Bible - Book of Ephesians

The GIST

Ephesians, a book of the Bible, is a short letter with a very large canvas. In six chapters it sets out a vision of God's plan to bring everything in heaven and on earth together in Christ, and then asks a mixed community of Jews and Gentiles to live as the first evidence that the plan is working. It is the tenth book of the New Testament and one of the letters that carry the name of Paul the Apostle. One scholar called it the "crown of Paulinism."

Its opening verse names Paul as the writer, and tradition holds that he wrote it around AD 62 as a prisoner in Rome, at about the same time as Colossians, which it closely resembles. Many modern scholars doubt this on grounds of style, vocabulary and outlook, and date it to the decades after Paul's death; others defend the traditional view, and surveys of scholars show the field divided. There is a second puzzle. The words "in Ephesus" are missing from the earliest and best manuscripts, and the letter greets nobody by name, which is odd for a city where Paul is said to have spent years. Most scholars therefore think it was a circular letter meant for many churches.

What It Says

The blessing (chapter 1). After a one-line greeting the letter breaks into praise: "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ". What follows is a cascade. In Greek, the whole passage down to the end of the chapter is just two long sentences, and it reads like a man who cannot stop. Believers were chosen "before the foundation of the world", adopted as children, and redeemed: "In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace". Behind it all is a purpose God has now made known, "the mystery of his will", which is that "he might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth". Those who believed were "sealed with that holy Spirit of promise", a down payment on what is to come.

The praise turns into prayer. The writer asks that his readers be given "the spirit of wisdom and revelation", with "The eyes of your understanding being enlightened", so that they can grasp the hope they are called to and the power at work for them. That power is the same that raised Christ from the dead and seated him "Far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion". Christ is head over all things for the sake of the church, "Which is his body, the fulness of him that filleth all in all."

From death to life (2:1 to 10). The letter then describes what has happened to its readers in the starkest terms. They "were dead in trespasses and sins", carried along by the course of the world. Two words change everything: "But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us". He has made them alive with Christ and raised them up with him. The sentence that follows is among the most quoted in Christian teaching: "For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God". It is not earned, "lest any man should boast." Yet works are not dismissed, only put in their place: "For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works".

One new people (2:11 to 22). Now comes what many take to be the keynote of the book. The Gentile readers are told to remember what they were: "aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world". That has ended. "But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ." The image is of a barrier torn down: "For he is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us". Out of two hostile groups Christ makes "one new man", reconciling both to God through the cross. The result is a new belonging: "ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellowcitizens with the saints, and of the household of God". Together they are a building, set on the foundation of apostles and prophets, "Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone", rising into a holy temple where God lives.

The mystery and a prayer (chapter 3). The writer speaks of himself as "the prisoner of Jesus Christ for you Gentiles" and explains his commission. The mystery hidden in earlier ages has now been revealed: "That the Gentiles should be fellowheirs, and of the same body, and partakers of his promise in Christ by the gospel". He calls himself "less than the least of all saints", given the task of preaching "the unsearchable riches of Christ". Through the church, he says, God's many-sided wisdom is displayed even to powers in the heavenly places. So his readers should not lose heart over his sufferings.

Then he kneels: "For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ". He asks that they be strengthened inwardly by the Spirit, that Christ may live in their hearts, and that, "being rooted and grounded in love", they may grasp its "breadth, and length, and depth, and height", and "know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge". The first half of the letter closes with a doxology to the one "that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think".

Unity and growing up (4:1 to 16). The hinge of the letter is a single word: "I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called". Everything said about what God has done now becomes a way of living, and its first mark is patience with one another, "Endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace." The grounds for unity are counted off like a creed: "One Lord, one faith, one baptism". Unity is not sameness. Christ gave different gifts, "some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers", and their purpose is to equip everyone else, "for the edifying of the body of Christ". The goal is maturity, no longer being children "carried about with every wind of doctrine", but "speaking the truth in love" and growing up into Christ the head.

The old life and the new (4:17 to 5:20). The practical section is built on a change of clothes. Readers are to "put off" the old self and "put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness." Each instruction comes with a reason. Tell the truth, "for we are members one of another." Anger must not be nursed: "Be ye angry, and sin not: let not the sun go down upon your wrath". The thief is to work so that he has something to give. Speech should build up. Bitterness is to go, and in its place: "And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you." They are to "walk in love" and to "walk as children of light", using their time well, "Redeeming the time, because the days are evil", and to be filled not with wine but with the Spirit, singing "psalms and hymns and spiritual songs".

The household (5:21 to 6:9). The same pattern is carried into the home, under the heading "Submitting yourselves one to another in the fear of God." Three pairs are addressed. Wives are told to submit to their husbands, and husbands are given the longer and harder charge: "Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it". Marriage itself is read as a picture of something greater: "This is a great mystery: but I speak concerning Christ and the church." Children are to obey their parents, and fathers are warned, "provoke not your children to wrath". Servants are to work sincerely, as serving Christ, and masters are told to give up threats, since they too have a Master in heaven who shows no favouritism.

The armour of God (6:10 to 24). The letter ends on a battlefield. "Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil." The enemy is not other people: "For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world". Piece by piece the soldier is dressed: truth as a belt, "the breastplate of righteousness", feet shod with the gospel of peace, "the shield of faith", "the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God". All of it is held together by prayer. The writer asks prayer for himself too, "an ambassador in bonds", that he may speak boldly. He commends Tychicus, who carries news of him, and signs off with peace and grace.

Why It Matters

Ephesians has been read as a letter about how to hold a mixed church together, one whose members came from Jewish and Greek backgrounds. One scholar sums up its practical theme as a plea for Christians to keep in practice the unity Christ has already won for them, and another sees the unity of Jewish and Gentile believers as its keynote. The second-century writer Ignatius of Antioch seems to have known it well.

The question of authorship remains open. Some defend Paul as the writer, some think he dictated a letter that another hand expanded, some think it unlikely to be his at all, and some say the evidence is inconclusive. If it is Paul's, it was probably written from Rome soon after he arrived there; scholars who dispute that date it later.

The household instructions are a notable part of the letter, and their meaning is disputed. Readers called egalitarian take the command to wives in the light of the preceding verse about submitting to one another, and understand a mutual submission of husband and wife. Others reply that the word does not carry that mutual sense elsewhere.

Who Should Read It

Anyone who wants the widest view of what the Christian faith claims in the fewest pages. It suits readers who love ideas and readers who want practical counsel on anger, speech, work and family, because it insists the two belong together. Communities divided by background will find it speaks to them directly.