Get Ready
Galatians is one of Paul’s first writings. His letter to the Ephesian believers is one of his last. His message is both personal and universal in scope. His guidance to individual believers as well as to churches is as relevant today as it was in the first century.
Author
Paul wrote this letter from Rome during his imprisonment (60-61) awaiting trial before Caesar. It was a time of relative peace and quiet after the challenges of his arrest in Jerusalem in the midst of a riot, his trials before the Jewish and Roman leaders in Palestine, and his harrowing voyage – complete with shipwreck – to Rome. (You can read all the details in Acts, chapters 21-28.) He was technically imprisoned; but the Roman justice system moved very slowly, so Paul was confined to a private house with a couple of guards. He was hardly a flight risk since he had wanted to get to Rome for the past several years. Within the house he was free to do pretty much as he chose, so he welcomed all who came to him, proclaiming the Kingdom of God and teaching about the Lord Jesus Christ with all boldness and without hindrance, [Acts 28:30-31].
Context
Ephesus was the central city of the Asian provinces of the Roman Empire (modern Turkey), on a par with Jerusalem and Alexandria in Egypt. It sat at the crossing of two major trade routes and had good access to the Mediterranean Sea, so it was an economic as well as political hub.
It was also a religious center. The Temple of Artemis (or Diana) attracted visitors and worshippers from all parts of the eastern empire. By the time Paul got there the city’s economy greatly depended on the visitors and their purchases, especially the silver icons of the goddess. Eventually the silversmiths convinced the people that Paul’s preaching was hindering the worship of Artemis (which was hurting the sale of religious symbols). This led to a riot and ultimately Paul’s departure from Ephesus, [the details are in Acts 19:23-41].
But before he was forced to leave the city, Paul developed an extensive and thriving ministry, including the towns around Ephesus. He spent almost three years there – more time than with any other mission church. He started as he usually did, proclaiming the Gospel in the synagogue. And, also as usual, he proclaimed the good news to the Gentiles when the Jews refused to accept his message.
Structure
There are two major sections in this letter:
The first three chapters describe the church and individual believers as the result of God’s plan for his creation from the beginning. We are the result of – and expression of – God’s love and his loving desire for more children like his son, Jesus. Paul lays out the “mystery” of God’s plan for our salvation and our continuing work showing and sharing God’s love with others.
The second part of this letter [chapters 4-6] focuses on the “so what” aspect of our relationship with Christ. Since we are this new creation, since we have been brought into a relationship with the living Lord, what should this mean to our behaviors and actions? What should this mean to our relationships with other believers and with people who are not yet part of our fellowship with Christ?
Interestingly, Paul provided a preview of the major points of his letter when he met with the leaders of the Ephesian church on his way back to Jerusalem at the conclusion of this missionary journey, [check Acts 20:16-38].
Major Themes
This is the only letter in which Paul does not deal with a problem (or problems) in the church. Evidently the churches around Ephesus were functioning relatively well and were not experiencing significant division or other problems (as with the Corinthian church: check the earlier posts 65 and 66).
This gives Paul, at the end of this ministry, an opportunity to reflect on and present his understanding of God’s ultimate plan for his creation – especially the humans he created “according to our likeness,” [Gen 1:26].
The first section focuses on the blessings God gives humans who believe in Christ, including the knowledge of God’s power and the new life that we have as believers (not the sinful dead experience we had as non-believers). Paul also talks about reconciliation, not just between us and Christ, but among each other – especially between Jewish and Gentile believers.
In the second section Paul discusses the effect of God’s work on the lives of believers and on the church. He deals with building up the “body” of Christ, the contrast between a holy life and an unrighteous one, and relationships among husbands and wives, parents and children, and masters and servants. In each case Paul points to Christ as the standard and model.
Paul concludes with his description of strength for believers and value of “the whole armor of God,” [Eph 6:11].
Get into the Word
1. Who wrote this letter? When did he write it? Where did he write it? What was his situation? What had he experienced prior to writing this letter?
2. Who is the intended audience for this letter? Where did they live? What kind of city was it? What was the situation for these believers? What the primary competitor to Christianity? What happened when Paul began his ministry in the city?
3. How did Paul conduct his ministry in Ephesus? Who did he talk with first? How did they respond? What did Paul do next? Who did he talk with? How did they respond to his message?
4. How is this letter organized? What are the major sections of the letter? What does the first section deal with? What does the second part of the letter cover? Why do you suppose Paul chose these subjects for the letter? How do you think his readers responded?
5. What is unique about the content of this letter? Why was the timing appropriate to writing this letter? How do you suppose Paul felt about being able to write this type of letter rather than his other letters?
6. What are the major ideas in this letter? How do the two major themes relate to one another? Why is it important that believers understand both ideas? How does Paul end his letter? Why do you think he chose this concept for his closing? How does it relate to the rest of the letter? How does it relate to believers today?
Bible Trivia:
Paul wrote his letter to the Christians in Rome while he was in Ephesus – and he wrote this letter to Christians in Ephesus while he was in Rome.
The Apostle John also wrote from Ephesus – his Gospel and his letters – after his release from exile (on the island of Patmos).
In Ephesus Paul started the practice – still used today – of using a school for a start-up church; when he left the synagogue (because the Jews refused to accept the Gospel) he rented a lecture hall from Tyrannous [Acts 19:9].
68: Not dead, but alive and one in Christ – Ephesians – 2:1-22
Get Ready
What is the most surprising gift you have received from another person? Was it a special occasion? What the gift extraordinary or more “regular”? Was it expensive or not? Was it just for you or something that you could share? What made this gift so surprising for you?
The Word
2You were dead through the trespasses and sins 2 in which you once lived, following the course of this world, following the ruler of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work among those who are disobedient. 3 All of us once lived among them in the passions of our flesh, following the desires of flesh and senses, and we were by nature children of wrath, like everyone else. 4 But God, who is rich in mercy, out of the great love with which he loved us 5 even when we were dead through our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— 6 and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, 7 so that in the ages to come he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.
8 For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God— 9 not the result of works, so that no one may boast. 10 For we are what he has made us, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand to be our way of life.
11 So then, remember that at one time you Gentiles by birth, called “the uncircumcision” by those who are called “the circumcision”—
a physical circumcision made in the flesh by human hands— 12 remember that you were at that time without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. 13 But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. 14 For he is our peace; in his flesh he has made both groups into one and has broken down the dividing wall, that is, the hostility between us. 15 He has abolished the law with its commandments and ordinances, that he might create in himself one new humanity in place of the two, thus making peace, 16 and might reconcile both groups to God in one body through the cross, thus putting to death that hostility through it. 17 So he came and proclaimed peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near; 18 for through him both of us have access in one Spirit to the Father. 19 So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are citizens with the saints and also members of the household of God,
20 built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the cornerstone. 21 In him the whole structure is joined together and grows into a holy temple in the Lord; 22 in whom you also are built together spiritually into a dwelling place for God. NRSV
Get into the Word
1. What is Paul talking about in this section? How does he describe his readers’ situation? Who is affected?
2. What has God done in response to our dilemma? Why has he done this? How has this affected our situation?
3. How does Paul describe God’s actions? What does he say about our response? What was God’s purpose in all this?
4. What does Paul address in the next section? How does he begin this subject? What does he say about this situation? What has changed about their condition?
5. What has Christ done for Gentiles and Jews? How did he do this? How does this affect us today? What image does Paul use for believers?
Get Personal
How has God helped you appreciate his grace recently? How has he helped you see the “whole structure”?
Notes . . .
2:2. Ruler of the power of the air — Satan – Jews believed only they were not subject to his authority in this world (not that they acted as if they were subject to God’s).
2:3. We were by nature — the comedian, Flip Wilson, often used the excuse: “The devil made me do it.” Paul did not view every “sin” as caused by a demon, but by our human condition of being separated from God.
Wrath — often used to refer to God’s response to sin: it is not the human emotion of anger – since God is holy he must reject any connection with sin; with no connection with God we are “dead.”
2:4-7. But God . . . — Paul expands on the Jewish belief that God chose them: For you are a people holy to the Lord your God; the Lord your God has chosen you out of all the peoples on earth to be his people, his treasured possession. It was not because you were more numerous than any other people that the Lord set his heart on you and chose you—for you were the fewest of all peoples. It was because the Lord loved you and kept the oath that he swore to your ancestors, that the Lord has brought you out with a mighty hand, and redeemed you from the house of slavery, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt. Know therefore that the Lord your God is God, the faithful God who maintains covenant loyalty with those who love him and keep his commandments, to a thousand generations, [Deut 7:6-9]. Paul expresses the same idea in Romans: All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God; they are now justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, [3:23-24].
2:5. Made us alive — God offers a relationship with him – “life” – through Christ. Paul expresses this central tenant of our faith throughout his letters [check Rom 6:8-11 and Col 2:12-13].
2:6. Raised us up with him — for Paul this is a done deal. Christians experience the new life in Christ when they accept him as their savior.
2:8. You have been saved — this verse, together with verse 9 is the foundation statement of Christian belief, Here again, Paul uses the past tense for a completed action.
2:9. Not the result of works — our “works,” whether good or bad, have no effect – in favor or against – our salvation.
2:10. Created in Christ Jesus — God’s grace through Christ is consistent with his other saving actions – it is intended to lead to the “good works which God prepared beforehand to be our way of life,” (God rescued the Israelites from Egypt before he gave Moses the commandments, [check Exodus 20:1]).
2:12. Strangers to the covenant — in Paul’s time this was literally true; non-Jews could not even enter the Temple; they could only go as far as the Court of the Gentiles. (Paul was arrested in Jerusalem because some Jews thought he had taken a Gentile into the Temple [the story is in Acts 21:28-29].)
2:13. Brought near — Paul may have been thinking about God’s promise to Isaiah: For the Sovereign Lord, who brings back the outcasts of Israel, says: I will bring others, too, besides my people Israel, [56:8]. Peter repeated the promise in the first Christian sermon [check Acts 2:38-40].
2:14. Dividing wall — there was an actual wall separating the Court of the Gentiles from the Temple proper (there was also a separate court for women), even though the original Temple separated only the priests from the rest of the Jews [details are in 1 Kings 8:41-43].
2:16. One body — Paul uses this image often [check Galatians 3:28-29, 5:6; Colossians 3:11].
2:18. Note how Paul captures the Trinity: God is the center, Christ is the cause and the Holy Spirit is the provider.
2:20. Cornerstone — the image comes from Psalm 118: The stone that the builders rejected has now become the cornerstone, [v.22]. In architecture, then as now, the cornerstone determined the location and orientation of the entire building.
Memory Verse
For by grace you have been saved through faith and this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, [Ephesians 2:8].
Next Lesson
Phillipians 3: Knowing Christ.
most surprising gift? I have been so incredibly blessed; I couldn’t even begin–my first thought was things–but I don’t think that is what you mean? or maybe you do? The gift of faith, gift of love, of friendship, of our children? it goes on and on.