The Letter to the Ephesians
The Theme:
Under an emotional and spiritual attack by well meaning but misdirected first century Jewish believers, the small but growing band of believers at Ephesus had a “self-image” problem. They were caught up in the battle that defined much of Paul’s teaching and writing. Some were pressing them to come under the covering of the covenant God made with the Jewish people at Sinai in order to follow after Jesus. In the end, the net effect was that same as many movements in Christianity today, they were made to feel inadequate in what God called them to be if they did not do things the according to the standard of a certain group within the faith. The same was true of other groups of believers, like the Corinthians (1 Cor. 7:18-20). The letter was therefore to lift and encourage the beleaguered Gentile believers, and to assure them they were fully accepted by God apart from the covenant promise God was upholding eternally to the Jewish people. Beyond encouragement, the letter also offered a call to that small group to walk in a way that showed they were a part of the Kingdom. Finally, Paul warned them about being casual in their walk for the days were part of an ongoing battle that promised to continue until Jesus returned. The book can be easily divided into three parts: The Call of the Believer (Encouragement, Chapters 1-3); The Conduct of the Believer (Instruction, Chapter 4:1-6:9); The Conflict of the Believer (Warning, 6:10-20).
Part One. The Call of the Believer (Chapters 1-3)
Chapter 1. The Divine Heritage: What can lift a believer that is suffering in an attack on his life and testimony?
All of us go through times of feeling a distance with God, times of testing in our walk and times we cannot see clearly through the fog of this world into the beauty and purposes of the next. The church of Ephesus was set in a town that was glorious, but commercially declining. It was a town in which hostility came easily to anything that would undo the tradition and history of the place and its pagan goddess, Diana. Paul wrote to the people in the local body of believers in an effort to lift them spiritually, as well as to assure them that they were fully accepted by God, a teaching that ran contrary to the Judaizers that were attempting to bring the believers into the bondage of acting out a covenant that was not made with them at Sinai.
The letter was written by Paul at about age 55, while he sat under house arrest in Rome. Other letters like Colossians and Philippians were written about this time and all were written for two purposes: 1) to address specific issues that affected the progress of the church (i.e. Judaizers) and 2) to express a depth of thought on the work of Jesus and its implications in the contemporary church (i.e. living out great truths).
The argument of this letter is as follows:
Chapter 1. After greeting them (1-2), Paul set out to encourage the Ephesian believers as he told them that he continually praised God because of the work God did on their behalf:
He chose them to be distinctly set apart. (3,4)
He adopted them (as Gentiles!) in the work of Jesus deliberately (5-7), wisely and willfully (8-9) to bring everything together under Christ's mighty rule. (10)
He purposely gave them an inheritance that they may be the first of many to praise and glorify God (11-12) when they trusted His Word and were cemented into a relationship through the Spirit's power. (13)
He gave His Spirit as a promise of the new inheritance to reassure them. (14)
When Paul heard about their faith he began praising God for this (15-16) constantly praying that they would receive more wisdom and Divinely uncovered truth concerning implications of the great call of God for them: hope, riches of the inheritance, a deep understanding of His mighty power available to them, and a knowledge of the powerful exalted position of their Savior!Application (timeless truths for all believers of every age):
1) Remember that God recruited them thoughtfully, and specifically chose His army to gain victory in the battle: You are not a "mistake" -He is qualified to choose the right ones!
2) God gave an unshakeable inheritance to them. You have an incredible future planned for you -He has guaranteed it!
3) God moved into their hearts to offer incredible power and to reassure them when they felt beaten down. You can be lifted countless times - He has power to keep restoring and rebuilding you!
Yet, all these things needed to be clearly understood for them to keep their heart in the battle! The key to real encouragement is the understanding of God’s perspective on who we are and what we are worth!
Chapter 2. The Divine Initiative: What in the world is God doing?
Paul continued the encouragement by helping them look past the circumstances of their daily lives. Peering into the veil of the spiritual world, Paul told them a tale of God's great rescue work and His eternal purpose:
You were shackled in the dungeon of the dead, enslaved by a wicked prince that forced you to entertain him in the filthiness of the flesh. (1-3)
Yet God was moved by love and rescued you (giving you life)! (4-5)
He has granted you royal privileges that include full rights to His throne (6) in order that he might someday show all realms His true self! (7)
He is gracious, our mighty Savior, a wondrous Creator of good things. (8-10)Paul then carefully explained that because of what God called them to be a part of in Jesus, believers must remember their former state of distance from God (as part of the unbelieving nations) was something completely cared for by God in their salvation.
There were two implications he highlighted:
- They were NOT second-class believers as some Messianic Jewish teachers were inferring.
(11-18)- They were different, but fully part of the new structure that God built to be whole and unified. (19-22)
Application (Timeless truths for believers):
1) When God found us, we were lost and unlovable, but that won’t stop a God who sees through the present into the future. (1-3)
2) When God makes something happen, it happens, no matter who objects or protests. When God says you are "in", you are "in"! (4-5)
3) The greatest privileges are God’s alone to give to His creation, and they have been poured out on those he rescued from darkness. (6-7) When discouraged, remember, we play a role in eternal history whenever we choose to participate. We have the King’s ear, and access to His throne room.
4) When we walk in the confidence of His work in us we show His victory over sin. When we walk in the sins of the flesh, we contradict what He has said that we were created for. (7-10)
5) God flies everyone first class, and doesn’t distinguish between our backgrounds and former failures. He transforms failures - it is what He loves to do! (11-18)
6) God wants us to share, and celebrate unity. We can find a thousand ways to divide us, but His objective is to build a united Body of Messiah that gives glory to Him! (19-22)
Chapter 3. "The Divine Purpose: The Secret God Whispered about YOU!"
Paul carefully crafted an argument to encourage the believers of Ephesus. He first lifted them when he spoke of their Divine inheritance (chapter 1) and then strengthened the argument as he drew them into an understanding of the Divine Initiative that made their inheritance possible (chapter 2). Paul wanted them to see this as, not as a late breaking thought in God’s mind, but as part of His eternal purpose!
In eternity past, God had a secret. Not everything He was going to unfold was known to even the highest angels of Heaven. He waited for the right time and place, and whispered something that no doubt shocked the angels of the throne room. The name of every believer was part of the secret. Do you know what He said?
God’s covenant with Abraham did not limit His ability to bless the whole earth, even the pagan nations. (1-8)
Men found this an unbelievable mystery (9), and even Heaven was shocked with the news! (10)
It was not an afterthought for God; it was part of His original Divine plan. (11)
What did this mean to the individual believer?
Application (The timeless truths for believers):
1) A believer can have bold and confident access to the Father. (12)
2) They can see past the troubles of this life, taking their troubles to a Savior who listens to people of every background that believe on Him. (13-15)
3) God’s purpose in saving men is to give them:a. Incredible and rich blessing in accordance with His abundance. (16a)
b. Powerful might to stand in the encouragement of the Spirit within. (16b)
c. Integrity and purpose that will demonstrate that Messiah is “at home” in their heart. (17a)
d. Deep roots of passionate love for each other and for Him. (17b)
e. Some small comprehension of how overwhelming His love for us is, and how much He desires to show it to us by filling us with Himself (17b-19)!
Paul was overwhelmed by what God wanted to do for believers, and closed in a worshipful benediction. Perhaps this was a chorus or a worship song of the early church. Perhaps, because of its great words, it ought to be one in our time!
Benediction Song:
“God is able to do more than we truly think He can.
He is more powerful than what we have experienced so far.
He is worthy of incredible praise and honor!
He will receive that in never-ending praise soon!”
(The Apostle Paul, Ephesians 3:20-21)
Part Two. The Conduct of the Believer (Chapters 4:1-6:9)
Chapter 4. The Walk of the Believer: What does the “march” of Jesus look like?
Paul argued that each Ephesian believer had a great calling of God, a great Divinely initiated relationship that should lift and encourage any who examine it. Yet, there was a practical side to this call. They were supposed to change their lifestyle! It was time for the believers to act significantly different than the world around them. It was time they get in step with the cadence call for the march with the Master.
What does the “March of the Master” look like?
It is characterized by other person-centered forbearance (Gr. anechomai= by, to hold) of one another. (2)
It involves a deliberate maintenance of the peace and unity of the Spirit gave to believers: (3-6)a. We were all given the peace and unity. (3)
b. We were brought into one body with one Spirit and call. (4)
c. We serve the same Messiah through the same faith, and got His Spirit the same way. (5)
d. We honor the same Heavenly Father. (6)It involves acknowledging the real distinctions of this time: our giftedness: (7-11)
a. Each has been lavished with the spoils of the Messiah’s victory over death and hell in His earthly ministry. (7-9)
b. Messiah did this work to complete His Father’s plan for us. (10)
c. God used that work as the opportunity to bless us with specific pre-packaged and gifted personalities. (11)
d. Each of those special people have been sent to fulfill the singular objective of making the Body complete and strong. (12)
e. The measure of progress toward the completion of the body is:i. Our unity (13a)
ii. Our Christ-like character (13b)
iii. Our solid commitment to truth (14a)
iv. Our warnings concerning deliberate deception schemes (14b)
v. Our loving teaching of the truth that build the Body (15-16)It requires that a believer walk in a distinctly different pattern than the world around him. (17-19)
a. Mental Discipline- Don’t walk with an “empty mind” (Gr. Mataiotes= empty mind). The modern term from the Latin is “amuse” (17).
b. Spiritual Discipline- Don’t walk as one blind of God’s desires (18).
c. Physical Discipline- Don’t walk as one that greedily feeds the fleshly desires (19).It is measured by nine steps of Christ-like character development. (20-32)
a. Presupposition: Jesus teaches the truth and believers need to learn it! (20-21)
b. Behavior (negative): Believers must “unlearn” the pattern of dominance of deceitful lust. (22-23)
c. Behavior (positive): Believers must adopt a new pattern: holiness and righteousness. (24)
d. Tongue (negative): Believers must quit lying and tell the truth to one another. (25)
e. Attitude: Believers must quit holding anger and giving the Devil maneuvering room in our midst. (26-27)
f. Work ethic: Believers must quit stealing and work hard. (28)
g. Tongue (positive): Believers must commit to using their tongue to graciously build up one another. (29)
h. Spirit: Believers must become sensitive to what grieves the Spirit of God. (30)
i. Relationships: Believers must become soft hearted to one another, and deliberately build the desire to show love to one another as Jesus did. (31-32)
Chapters 5:1-6:9 The Walk of the Believer: The Walk That Counts!
Believers fail to walk as God intended them for several reasons:
1. Impatience; the need for immediate gratification.
2. Selfishness; the need to look out for #1 is in conflict with Christ-centered behavior.
3. Seared; our primary focus has been trained on the physical life.
4. Rebellion; we have an inborn craving to disobey.
God intended us to walk in a way that creates a happy and healthy environment for us and others. Paul offered five ways to walk the path that pleases God.
Chapter 4 (review) mentions two important ways to walk:
1) Worthy of calling (1)
2) Distinctly (17)
Chapter 5 offers three more:
3) Walk in love (2) means: Relational matters (vv. 2-7). This means Giving like Jesus (2). How do I walk in love? I cannot be greedy, sensual or selfish in lifestyle (3); I must not be lewd or filthy in speech (4-7).
4) Walk as children of light: Exposed truths (8-14), Live the fruit (8-10), Avoid the rest. (11-14)
5) Walk Wisely: (“purposefully” 5:15-6:9) -Watch the times (15-16); Watch the influences. (18)
The Spirit of God will transform your: voice (5:19-20) and your relationships: (5:21-6:9)
a. Wives (5:22-24): submit
b. Husbands (5:25-33): love
c. Child (6:1-3): obey- honor
d. Fathers (6:4): understand
e. Workers (6:5-8): work hard
f. Bosses (6:9): respect
What God expects, He empowers and He blesses!
Part Three: The Conflict of the Believer (Chapters 6:10-20)
Chapters 6. "Arming Yourself God's Way" (Ephesians 6:10-20)
Why do believers with seemingly good lives fall into collapse and ruin? Why are young zealous Christians often very quickly "cooled off"? Why does it seem we don't have the fire in our walk with God we once did? It may be because we are getting hit by shots of our enemy, and we aren't using the protection and power God offers us. Today we will assess the fight, and our resources.
Paul urged the believers of Ephesus to be strengthened in God’s power (10). How?
1) by using the resources God gave them; (11)
2) by identifying the real enemy; (11b-12)
3) by deliberately putting on all the protection provided by God; (13), 2 Cor. 2:11 says Paul was not ignorant of Satan’s devises, yet many today ARE. Paul talks of two types of armor.
The FIRST TYPE is that armor which must always be at the ready. If there is a lull in the battle, do not remove the first three. He indicates that in the verb form “always having”:
a.) Belt of truthfulness: (alethia: truth as content) vulnerable area, carefully protected (14); Paul was not addressing the truth of salvation (as in v. 17 and the sword, Word), but rather the commitment to truthfulness of the believer!
b.) Breastplate of righteousness (holy choices): covering heart, able to take direct blows when positioned correctly (14b), breaks your heart when not maintained. In the Hebrew world, the “heart” is the mind! (Prov. 23:7; Mark 7:21). Paul does not refer to self righteousness (Eph. 2:8-9), nor of imputed righteousness (2 Cor. 5:21), but of a life practice of righteousness, or holy living.
c.) Saddle guard straps fixed in position to provide a firm stand with the Gospel: metal tabs that protected the surface of the foot with cletes to hold the soldier in place. Paul refers to the unmovable faith in the Gospel to bring peace in the life of the lost.
The SECOND TYPE of armor is indicated in the poor translation of “Above all” (v.16). The grammar is NOT indicating the shield is more important, but is linked to the verb form of all of the next three items:
d.) Blocking shield of faith (theuron; large shield to block arrows; 4.5 feet by 2.5 feet., cp. Psalm 18:30). His reference is not to “belief” as such, but to “trust” that changes our view of ourselves and the world around us. When the battle rages, use the shield.
1) they were effective when locked together;
2) they were effective when held tightly and trusted and all remained in place.e.) Helmet of salvation (refers to the protection of the transformed mind) when we understand that our salvation has a PAST aspect: justification; a PRESENT aspect: sanctification; and a FUTURE aspect, our eventual glorification. We must see things through God’s eyes and learn to call the battle by His Word!
f.) Sword of the Spirit: the WORD (RAMA: From the word “to pour, an utterance”) of God. The “machaira” dagger is not the broad sword, rhomphaia). A specific Word from God that He gives to take a direct shot at the enemy!
4) How do we use the armor? (18)
1. We use it in prayer
2. God wants us to ask Him for what we need
3. We use it when we persevere
4. We use it when we stand with one another.********************************
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