Overview of Ephesians: Gospel Truths for Gospel Living

When you open the apostle Paul’s letter to the Ephesians, gone is the hard-driving contentiousness of Galatians or the myriad of sticky holiness issues of 2nd Corinthians. In Ephesians, the vision is grand, the theology is stirring, and the prayers are beautiful. Ephesians is like theology set to a majestic score of music: gospel truth that sings and praises and prays.

Ephesians is theology on bended knee with practical implications for living.

Paul’s letters typically begin with greetings and blessings, followed by with prayers of thanksgiving and intercession, before delving into the main teaching part of the letter.  Ephesians is different. Paul’s theological ideas (1:3-3:21) are woven into the very fabric of prayer:

  • The initial benediction (1:3-14) reflects upon the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit’s purposes in the lives of believers.

  • The prayer of thanksgiving and intercession (1:15-23) highlights gospel truths of our glorious inheritance and Christ’s exaltation as the Lord and Head of the Church, then Paul reminds us of the benefits of grace (2:1-10) and of both Jew and Gentile living together as united and reconciled people (2:11-22).

  • At 3:1, Paul resumes his prayer but suddenly interrupts himself again (you aren’t the only one!) to revel in the mystery of the gospel which calls forth the church and his own role in God’s plan (3:2-13).

  • Paul finally closes his prayer (3:14-19) with intercession for believers to experience the breadth and length and height and depth of Christ’s unsurpassed love before closing with a memorable doxology (3:20-21). And that’s only the first three chapters!

As the desert monk Evagrius said, “The one who prays is a theologian; the one who is a theologian, prays.” Paul would have agreed!  

EPHESIANS at a GLANCE:

Ephesians can be laid out simply:

The Wealth (chapters 1-3)

The Walk (chapters 4-5)

The Warfare (chapter 6:10ff)

PRISON EPISTLE

Ephesians is one of the four “Prison Epistles” of Paul (along with Philippians, Colossians, and Philemon):

“For this reason, I, Paul, a prisoner for Christ Jesus on behalf of you Gentiles” (3:1).

  “I therefore, a prison for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called” (4:1).

“For which I am an ambassador in chains, that I may declare it [the gospel] boldly, as I ought to speak” (6:20).

Paul wrote Ephesians (probably in 62 AD) from a Roman jail, often reminding his readers of his predicament.  

Paul in Ephesus in the Book of Acts

Paul spent two occasions in the city of Ephesus in the book of Acts. His first stint (52 AD) was brief (Acts 18:18-21). Paul’s second stay in Ephesus (53-56 AD) saw him engaging in highly fruitful ministry (Acts 19:1-41; Acts 20:17-38) for over two years:

“And God was doing extraordinary miracles by the hands of Paul, so that even handkerchiefs or aprons that had touched his skin were carried away to the sick, and their diseases left them and evil spirits came out of them” (Acts 19:11-12). Extraordinary indeed!

The ministry was so fruitful that people broke in mass with the Ephesian obsession with magic and the occult. New believers brought their magic books to be burned in the public square. Luke records that the early church counted the price of books: 50,000 pieces of silver (Acts 19:19), equivalent to 50,000 days of wages! A massive movement to Christ was taking place that challenged the prevailing cultural truths of the day.

The sales of silver dropped dramatically! Sales of little dolls of Artemis plummeted in the city. One silversmith by the name of Demetrius was so incensed that he stirred up a riot and the whole city was thrown into confusion and chanted “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!” (Acts 19:23-34) The gospel always confronts the harmful, hurtful, and untruthful ideologies of man.

In Acts 20:17, Paul stopped at Miletus (30 miles to the north of Ephesus) and bid farewell to the Ephesian elders for the final time in a moving and heartfelt speech warning the church of “fierce wolves” (Acts 20:29) but also reminding the elders that he did not “shrink from declaring to you the whole counsel of God (Acts 20:27).

As a personal note, my own mentor, Rev. David Bridgman, on his death bed in a hospital in Orlando a few years ago, read this verse over my own life moments before his death: “And now I commend you to God and to the word of his grace, which is able to build you up and to give you the inheritance among all those who are sanctified” (Acts 20:32). Like the Ephesian elders, it was a moment I will never forget.

Ephesus, the Great City

Ephesus lay 4 km inland from the Aegean Sea on the west coast of modern Turkey. Outside of Rome and Athens, Ephesus was the 3rd most important city in the Roman Empire, boasting a population of 250,000 and sitting along the largest trading route uniting the Eastern and Western parts of the Roman Empire. Ephesus boasted the largest building in the known world, the famous temple of Artemis, which was one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. The Temple of Artemis (the goddess of sexual fertility) was four-times as big as the Parthenon in Athens and bigger than any modern-day football field, which is one reason why Paul probably used a temple-analogy to describe the church:

“…Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord” (2:20).

Ephesus was also obsessed with magic, the occult, and demons, which is why Paul spoke about cosmic principalities and powers and Christ’s lordship over them (“for we do not wrestle with flesh and blood, but…against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places” 6:12). Paul was adamant: Christ is the exalted Lord seated at the right hand of God “far above all rule and authority and power and dominion” (1:21).

Themes of the Letter

  • Our Identity “in Christ”. Paul uses the words “in Christ” or its equivalent 36 times in the letter. Believers are united to the exalted Lord who is the Christ. The precisely grammarly construction “in the heavenly places” is not found elsewhere in Paul but in Ephesians occurs five times (1:3; 20; 2:6; 3:10; 6:12). Believers have been blessed in Christ “with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places (1:3) and are seated with Christ “in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus” (2:6) where Christ reigns triumphant over all earthly powers. Our identity is united to a powerful and exalted Christ! In addition, pay close attention to the Pauline phrase “all things” (1:10, 11, 23; 3:9; 4:10, 15; 5:13). Whether Christ’s rule extends over creation, salvation, or the coming consummation, Christ’s dominion extends over “all things” in the cosmos.  

  • The Unity in the Gospel for the People of God. A spiritual fellowship unites believers to one another. The word ekklesia (the church) occurs nine times in Ephesians (1:22, 3:10, 21; 5:23, 24, 25, 27, 29, 32); Paul’s favorite images of the church include “the body of Christ” (1:22-23; cf. 2:16; 4:4, 12, 16; 5:23, 30), “the holy temple” (2:22; cf. 1 Cor. 3:16-17), and the “bride of Christ” (5:21-33) – all images which connect the body intimately and spiritually to its head who is Christ.

    As I never tire of saying: “Christ is the Head of the Christ”. Therefore, “All ministry is Christ’s ministry” -- Christ always gets all the glory in His church (“to the praise of His glory”, 1:12, 14, cf. 1:6).

Other themes include: Putting on the new self in Christ in thoughts, motivations, words, and deeds while putting off sinful habits; engaging in a spiritual battle in our pilgrim calling; walking in manner worthy of our identity in holiness and love.

In short, Ephesians is filled with gospel truths for gospel living!

Jason Carter