INTRODUCTION
The Pauline Epistles
The Pauline epistles, of Paul, or Letters
of Paul, are the thirteen New Testament books
which have the name Paul (Παῦλος) as the first word, hence claiming authorship
by Paul the Apostle.
Among these letters are some of the earliest extant Christian documents. They
provide an insight into the beliefs and controversies of early Christianity
and as part of the canon
of the New Testament they are foundational texts for both Christian theology
and ethics. The Epistle to the
Hebrews, although it does not bear his name, was traditionally
considered Pauline for a thousand years, but from the 16th century onwards
opinion steadily moved against Pauline authorship and few scholars now ascribe
it to Paul, mostly because it doesn't read like any of his other epistles in
style and content.[1]
Most scholars agree that Paul really wrote seven of the Pauline epistles, but
that four of the epistles in Paul's name are pseudepigraphic;
scholars are divided on the authenticity of two of the epistles.
The Pauline epistles are usually placed between the Book of Acts and the General epistles in
modern editions. Most Greek manuscripts, however, place the General epistles
first,[2]
and a few minuscules (175,
325, 336, and 1424) place the Pauline
epistles at the end of the New Testament. [4]
Background
“The letter to the Ephesians was written in Rome and was the
first of the Prison letters (Acts 20-27; see Acts 28:30.) Trchicus carried this letter along with
Colossians and Philemon, Probably the two larger letters were written at the
return of Onesimus to Philemon.
Ephesians is the most impersonal of Pau’s letters. Indeed the words “at Ephesus” are not in the
best manuscripts. Colossians 4:16
mentions a letter to the Laodiceans. It
has been conjectured that the letter know as Ephesians is really the laodicean
letter. Possible it was sent to Ephesus
and Laodicea without being addressed to any specific church. The letter would then be “to the saints who
are …faithful in Christ Jesus” anywhere.”
The Truths in Ephesians
“The doctrine of the Epistle confirms this view. It
contains the highest church truth, but has nothing about church order. The
church here is the true church, "His body," not the local church, as
in Philippians, Corinthians, etc. Essentially, three lines of truth make up
this Epistle: the believer's exalted position through grace; the truth
concerning the body of Christ; and a walk in accordance with that position” [4]
This book has three major truths
- The Christians position through Grace
- The truth about the Body of Christ.
- The live the believer lives in accordance with that position.
The book of Ephesians is broken down into 6 chapters which
could be entitled thusly:
Chapter 1. The
Blessings of Redemption.
Chapter 2. Made
Alive in Christ.
Chapter 3. Paul’s
Stewardship.
Chapter 4. Unity of
the Spirit.
Chapter 5. Be
Imitators of God.
Chapter 6. Family
Relationships and the Armor of God.
The overall theme of
this book is the Christs church which is the body of believers; with Jesus as
it’s head.
Chapter One
The Blessings of Redemption
1 Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will
of God, To the saints who are at Ephesus and who are faithful in Christ Jesus: 2 Grace to you and peace from God our Father
and the Lord Jesus Christ.
Paul begins his letter by first stating his name as the
author of the letter and secondly stating who he was writing to.
This part of the letter is known as the salutation.
Does the word saint used here refer to persons who are
without sin?
No! The word saints
was translated from the Greek word hagios hag'-ee-os which meaning consecrated
or set apart blameless through Jesus, dedicated to the holy service of God.
All who have accepted Jesus as savior and Lord of their
lives and are dedicated to His service can be called saints.
3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord
Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly
places in Christ, 4 just as He chose us in Him before the
foundation of the world, that we would be holy and blameless before Him. In
love 5 He predestined us to adoption as sons through
Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will 6 to the praise of the glory of His grace,
which He freely bestowed on us in the Beloved.
In the original Greek manuscripts this doxology (verses 3-14) was
one sentence praising God. These verses,
and the word predestined, might indicate to the unbeliever that we were
preselected or predestined, and have no choice. The word predestined is used six times in the
New Testament. Time was created by God (Gen 1: 2-5) for
our benefit, and as its creator, God is not bound by His creation, as we are. He
see our time as one occurrence and therefore He knows our thoughts and actions
before we were born even before the foundation of the earth. He is Omniscient
(complete knowledge).
7 In Him we have redemption
through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches
of His grace 8 which He lavished on us. In all wisdom and
insight
Because of the fall of mankind through the sin of Adam (Gen 1:26);
all sons and daughters of Adam share in this sin and are in need of redemption
to be restored to a state of grace (Galatian
1:4). All of mankind, who accept
this sacrifice and confess with their lips Jesus is Lord (Philippians
2:11; Romans
10-9), have been redeemed through the blood sacrifice of Jesus, and all
shall be saved through the abundant Grace of God (Romans
10-9). God does not forgive sin by
any other sacrifice than that of blood. Blood
sacrifice is the ultimate sacrifice. DNA
(the bio instruction code), a determining code of who we are, is in our blood, and
all our cells. Our blood carries life
giving oxygen and nourishment throughout our bodies. Notice Paul uses the word lavished, which
was translated from the Greek word perisseuo
per-is-syoo'-o meaning abundance. God
does not apportion His grace in just sufficient quantity, but rather in
abundance.
9 He made known to us the mystery of His will,
according to His kind intention which He purposed in Him.
What does Paul mean
when he says “the mystery of His will”?
Before Jesus, there was only the Law.
What then is this mystery? Redemption
through Jesus Christ our Lord. God
desires all, Jew and Gentile, to know His will and be saved Mathew
18:14. The mystery is to be known
only by those who believe in Christ Jesus.
The sacrifice of His Son Lord Jesus, who by His suffering and death;
willing took upon Him the sins of the world. He rose from the dead having
victory over the grave. By doing this He saves all who believe and gives us the
hope of eternal life with Him in Paradise through His resurrection. For those who do not believe there is no
revelation of this mystery.
10
with a view to an administration suitable to the fullness of the times, that
is, the summing up of all things in Christ, things in the heavens and things on
the earth.
Time has always been an interesting subject probably, in
part, because we are bound by time. What
is the fullness of time? The fullness of
times are the times as recorded in the Gospel.
The following are references to such times:
Galatians
4:4 – Time was full when Jesus was born.
Corinthians
10:11 – End of the ages.
Luke 21:24 –
Until the time of the Gentile is completed.
Acts 1:7
– Not for us to know Gods times.
The Father has placed all of creation under the rule of
Christ Jesus.
11 also we have obtained an inheritance, having
been predestined according to His purpose who works all things after the
counsel of His will, 12 to the end that we who were the first to hope
in Christ would be to the praise of His glory.
What is an inheritance, and what does it mean in this
context? The word inheritance is
translated from the Greek word: kleroo klay-ro'-o meaning; to allot, i.e.
(figuratively) to assign or pass down (a privilege). [2] In this context I believe God has passed down
through Jesus the keys to the kingdom. The
word predestined may mean, to some, that we have no choice. This could not be further from the truth; in
fact predestined in this context means Gods plan was conceived before
time. From the beginning God knew man
would fall from grace and His plan was to afford us the chance to choose His
Son as redeemer; this was His predetermined plan for us. All Jews believed in the coming Messiah, the
deliverer, as prophesied by the prophets.
They did not, however, realize that Christ Jesus was this promised deliverer. Far too many people today fail to see Jesus
as the son of God and the only way ( John 14:6 )
to eternal heavenly life with Christ Jesus.
13 In Him, you also, after listening to the
message of truth, the gospel of your salvation—having also believed, you were
sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise,
This verse has so much to tell us; let’s break down this
verse into some key components. “You also” - with
these words Paul a Jew was once again pointing to the inclusiveness of the Jew
and Gentile in God’s plan for salvation.
“message of truth”
can be explained in this way: The
message was given by Jesus, who had no deceit in Him, and therefore spoke only
the truth, to all who would believe in Him. See also ( John 17:17 ). Who is “the Holy Spirit of promise” and what is this
promise? Let’s read the following: Joel 2:28
; Zechariah
12:10 ; John
7:38&39 “You and I were sealed
in Him by the Holy Spirit of promise”. To
be sealed in this context means to be confirmed, by way of the indwelling of
the Holy Spirit, as an adopted child of God.
Jesus promised the Holy Spirit
would come to all who believe and accept Jesus.
14 who is given as a pledge of our inheritance,
with a view to the redemption of God’s own possession, to the praise of His
glory.
Once again let’s break down this verse: The “who” - is the Holy Spirit who is promised. “Given as a pledge” - “The word pledge is
translated from the Greek word: arrhabon ar-hrab-ohn' of Hebrew origin; a
pledge, i.e. part of the purchase-money or property given in advance as
security for the rest:--earnest.”[4]
We can now see the Holy Spirit of God was given to us as a promise, a
pledge of our inheritance to all who will believe ( Romans
8:23 ; 2
Corinthians 1:22 ). All of mankind has been purchased in blood by Jesus ( Acts
20:28 ). Much to the sorrow of Jesus
some of mankind will reject His sacrifice and be lost for all eternity ( 1
Timothy 5:15 ; Matthew
28:17 ). “God’s own possession” – We, who are
believers are His bond servants, belonging to Jesus, who has purchased us with
His blood; we who are adopted into His kingdom, will then, by promise, receive
our full inheritance as children of God.
15 For this reason I too, having heard of the
faith in the Lord Jesus which exists among you and your love for all the
saints, 16 do not cease giving thanks for you, while
making mention of you in my prayers
This verse is a continuation of verses 13 & 14 and
therefore Paul uses the phrase “for this reason”. We see
Paul using the same words here as in the case of Philemon as recorded in Philemon
1:4 & 5. The use of the words
among you indicate to me that not all had this love of the saints. Saints here means only those who by reason of
anointing served God to spread the word as apostles of Jesus. In verse 16 Paul writes words of being
thankful to God for their devotion and offers the assuredness and encouragement
of them being remembered in his prayers.
A true characteristic of Christianity is faith and love often found
together in Paul’s writings.
; 17 that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the
Father of glory, may give to you a spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the
knowledge of Him.
What do these words mean in this context “spirit of wisdom”? Wisdom is the first and perhaps the most
prized gift of the Holy Spirit. In I
Corinthians 2:10 Paul writes: “For to us God revealed them through the
Spirit; for the Spirit searches all things, even the depths of God.” The last few words of this verse shows Paul
asking the Father to open their eyes to the knowledge of those things which
were taught to them, by Christ, through Paul, his servant.
This is a short prayer, I say when I read scripture. Father open my eyes to the truths your word,
and give me the wisdom to use this knowledge in your perfect will.
18 I pray that the eyes of your heart may be
enlightened, so that you will know what is the hope of His calling, what are
the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, 19
and what is the surpassing greatness of His power toward us who believe.
The “heart”
is our very center of being, where our deepest emotions are kept. “the eyes” - In this context the eyes, are metaphorically described as the gateway to
knowledge. The eyes allow light into the
mind to dispel the unknown; they serve to illuminate the mind to previously
unknown things. The eyes by themselves
do not discern what is good and what is evil this comes only from God. “heart may be enlightened” - Paul is calling
for a deeper knowledge of God to be
revealed. We cannot understand God’s
calling for us unless our eyes are opened by the Holy Spirit and our love for
Him is deepened (Matthew
6:22).
…These are in accordance with the working of the strength of
His might 20 which He brought about in Christ, when He
raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places,
21
far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and every name that is
named, not only in this age but also in the one to come.
Nothing can compare with the power of God, who Became flesh,
and lived as a man and was called the son of man, and as God’s only begotten
Son was also called the Son of God. Jesus
the Son of man was tempted, tested and suffered as a mortal man; and being
sinless as the Son of God, took upon Himself the sins of the world; atoning for
the sin with His life on Calvary. Thus we see Gods perfect sacrifice, in Jesus.
He was raised from the dead to be
glorified and to sit at the right hand (seat of power) of the Father for all
the ages.
In verse 22 & 23 we see The Father placed all creation under
His authority.
22 And He put all things in subjection under His
feet, and gave Him as head over all things to the church, 23
which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all.
Jesus has authority over creation (Psalms 8:6 & 1 Corinthians
15:27 ). Jesus is the head of the
church and is Lord over all things; He has absolute authority. The church is the body of believers;
consisting of all who believe and accept Jesus as Lord of their lives and as
such are in Him. These are the believers
who Jesus knew before the foundation of the world. God’s plan has been
fulfilled by the Son of God and was then, and is now, the head of the church ( John
1:15-18 ; Colossians
1:15-19 ).
Credits and Citations
[2]- Greek translation are derived from Crosswire.org/study
bible and Strong’s Exhaustive concordance
[4] – Wikipedia.org
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