The Book of Ephesians is an amazing book dense with theology and practicality! The design is also incredible! Paul spends the first three chapters talking about what we have been given in Christ and who we are in Him, and then the second three chapters he talks about what to do with it! I like what John MacArthur says about this book. He says that this is the book written to the Christians who don’t understand what they have, how rich they truly are, and who don’t understand hot to tap into your God given resources maybe because you don’t know where they are or that you have them at all…
Some people have called this book, “The bank of the believer.” It’s a book about riches, fullness, inheritance…all kinds of depth of theology and perhaps even what Peter was talking about in 2 Peter 3 when he said that Paul, man he writes so intelligently at times that its even hard to understand. (I mean, for example, if you read ahead, verses 3 through 14 are one long sentence!)
Let’s go through some setting type of data points. The author self identifies as “Paul,” the apostle and there is very little controversy around the authorship of this book. It was written about the same time as the Book of Colossians, around 60AD, while Paul was in prison in Rome. This is the first of the prison epistles and really a bit unique among Paul’s letters. Paul gives no correction unlike his other epistles and there are very few personal reference, also unlike other epistles. We find two significant personal prayers of Paul in this book and 42 Greek words that aren’t used in any other letter of Paul.
More than any other book, Ephesians presents the purpose and plan of God for the church. The message is that through the grace given via the agency of the cross of Christ, God has reconciled us to Himself, us to each other, and through those two actions, really even a step further, has united this into one body, the church which Paul calls a “mystery” because it’s so amazing. “Mystery” is a word used 8 times in this book. The only word used more is “grace” at 12 times.
We find the objective statement of Paul as to why he penned this letter in Chapter 3 Verses 14 – 19. “For this reason I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, from whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man, that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height— to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.”
Ephesus is geographically located in modern day Turkey and was second only to Jerusalem in terms of Biblical importance relevant to cities in that region. It’s mentioned more than 20 times throughout the New Testament. Paul spent more time in Ephesus than in any other location and he commissioned Timothy to be in charge of the city there for three years. It was the greatest commercial city of the Roman province of Asia. The convergence of three major trade routes and situated with easy Aegean Sea access.
Ephesians Chapter 1 Verses 1 – 2
Now, borrowing a bit from Alistairr Begg who so awesomely pointed out four things we find in this book that are fantastic and the first is that within the Book of Ephesians we find the “Grammar of the Gospel.” What’s that? Well check this out. The first three chapters of this book deal with all that Christ has done for us, all that we have in Him, all that we are because of Him and its only then that the final three chapters deal with what we are supposed to do and that is the proper “Grammar of the Gospel.”When the emphasis is on human behavior and what I am supposed to do and not do then failure will always be the result. Let alone discouragement, heavy burdening, and the like. But when the leadership of the Gospel of grace and right Christian living is settled upon Jesus Christ and what He has already accomplished, all things follow rightly in order. Too often and too many well-meaning apologists, preachers, Christians and churches talk about what we are to do and to be doing when the true Gospel of salvation and forgiveness of sin is based firmly upon what Jesus has DONE!And the crazy almost incredibly counter-intuitive fact is that once I fully and completely and gladly and humbly grasp what Jesus has done for me on earth and in heaven, it is THEN that I find and am finally able to activate the strength to live unto God. Free and alive and abundant in all that my Father and your Father has given to us in Jesus!! That is the “GRAMMAR of the GOSPEL!”We also have in this book the “Geography of the Gospel” in that it is written to those in Ephesus and yet also to those in Christ Jesus. And so, the first three chapters work out what it is to be in Christ Jesus while the final three chapters work out what it is to be in Christ Jesus in Ephesus…The “Identity of the Gospel” is also found in this book as notice Paul first addresses the “saints” and then the “faithful” as chapters one to three establish your sainthood and chapters four to six show how to walk within faithfulness to that sainthood. To be a “saint” is simply to be in the Greek “hagios” meaning “holy, clean, set apart for God on this earth.” Many believe (because they have been taught) that chapters four through six, doing the “do’s” very well in life earn you the title of “saint” but Jesus said in John 17:17, “Sanctify (“hagiazo”) them by Your truth. Your word is truth.” And John said in John 1:1 and 14, “The Word was God, and the Word became flesh.” And so according to Jesus and John, we are sanctified by the Word, the truth, and Jesus, the Word became flesh and I even recall Him saying that He was the truth. What’s the point? Biblically, if you are a Christian, Jesus by His blood has qualified you into sainthood. There are only two types of people on this planet. Saints, those that are in Christ Jesus, and ain’ts, those that are not. Finally, this book contains the “Security of the Gospel” in that it is through God’s grace that He grants us peace. “Grace to you and peace from God…” Even when our own heart condemns us, God’s grace overcomes the condemnation of our own hearts and in a very good way, we wonder at that. You and I, saints, called according to the purpose of God, saved according to His great love and washed from our sins by the perfect blood of Jesus, who stood in my place, took my penalty which was the grave, and for me and for all time, overcame it, being resurrected in the flesh unto eternal life. So, this book, four things… The grammar, geography, identify and security of the gospel! And Paul says here in verse one that he is an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God. It’s important to settle within yourself what it is God would will for you to be. Not everyone is to be like Paul. 1 Corinthians 12:29 says, “Not all are apostles, not all are prophets, not all are teachers, not all are workers of miracles…” Paul was an apostle. He was not a pastor, evangelist, prophet, or teacher. His teaching actually killed a young man once in Acts 20:9! HA!But there could be a great burden here, a weight on your soul as you look at others in the work of the Lord and say, “I should do that, I should be that.” No, you should encourage them in their calling and walk in your own. I know that I am not called to be an evangelist. A missionary. An apostle. Those things, I am honestly terrible and awkward at and extremely ineffective. And I used to want to hide that. I am called to be a pastor/teacher, and that’s it… And thank God because I’m finally ok with that. You may be called to be a parking lot tidy-upper…you know we need those too? You know that calling carries the same reward as Greg Laurie’s? ...if you’re faithful in it… So, stop carrying around a weight of condemnation or hiding that you’re ineffective in the ministry you think everyone else wants you in…because that keeps you paralyzed in service to the Lord. And start walking in whatever is the will of God for you!And so, “To the saints who are in Ephesus, and faithful in Christ Jesus. Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.” Grace and peace, always in that order in the Bible because you and I can never truly experience peace until we truly experience grace. That you are indeed forgiven. That Jesus did pay the price. That you are loved. Cherished, desired, chosen, spoken and asked for to the extent that Jesus would give His life for you and in His blood, you are free to go. No longer bound by your own weight of guilt and no longer shackled by what you’ve done. Get up, get over it, and move forward in gratitude rather than duty… And then, peace…Peace, this word in Greek means security, prosperity, simplicity, a soul assured and without fear… It means to be upright. Standing on your feet. Everything your Father has in mind for you! You and I have all taken a blow from the enemy, and we’ve been knocked flat out…but to his surprise and even to his fear, we stand straight up strongly…that is peace. And you’ll never know that until you allow your heart to know grace. So saint-up and lets live this life in the inner-victory of the empty grave!