Ephesians 1.1b-Identification of the Recipients of the Epistle
Wenstrom Bible Ministries
Pastor-Teacher Bill Wenstrom
Tuesday February 14, 2023
Ephesians Series: Ephesians 1:1b-Identification of the Recipients of the Epistle
Lesson # 10
Ephesians 1:1 From Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by God’s will to the saints who are living in Ephesus. Specifically to those who are believers in Christ Jesus. (Lecturer’s translation)
As we noted, in Ephesians 1:1, the apostle Paul presents a two-fold description of the recipients of this letter.
The first asserts that they were the saints who were living in Ephesus and the second identifies specifically who these recipients, namely that they are faithful because of their faithfulness the teaching of Christ Jesus.
The term hagios (ἅγιος), “to the saints” describes all the members of the body of Christ who have been set apart through the baptism of the Spirit at the moment of conversion in order to order serve God exclusively.
It summarizes the doctrine of sanctification, which is a technical theological term for the believer who has been set apart through the baptism of the Spirit at the moment of conversion in order to serve God exclusively and is accomplished in three stages: (1) Positional (2) Experiential (3) Perfective.
By positional, I mean that God views the believer as crucified, died, buried, raised and seated with Christ since at the moment of conversion, the Holy Spirit placed the believer in union with Christ, identifying him with Christ’s crucifixion (Romans 6:6; Galatians 2:20), His death (Romans 6:2, 7-8; Colossians 2:20; 3:3), His burial (Romans 6:4; Colossians 2:12), His resurrection (Romans 6:5; Ephesians 2:6; Philippians 3:10-11; Colossians 2:12; 3:1) and His session (Ephesians 2:6; Colossians 3:1).
“Positional sanctification” is the believer’s “entrance” into the plan of God for the church age resulting in eternal security.
It also results in two categories of positional truth (1 Corinthians 1:2, 30; 1 Peter 1:2; 1 Thessalonians 5:23; Ephesians 5:26-27; Hebrews 2:11; 10:10; Acts 20:32; 26:18; Romans 6:3, 8; 2 Thessalonians 2:13).
“Retroactive” positional truth is the church age believer’s identification with Christ in His death and burial (Romans 6:3-11; Colossians 2:12) or in other words, when Christ, died God considers the believer to have died with Him.
“Current” positional truth is the church age believer’s identification with Christ in His resurrection, ascension and session (See Ephesians 2:4-6; Colossians 3:1-4) or in other words, when Christ was raised and seated at the right hand of the Father, the Father considers the believer to have been raised and seated with Christ as well.
“Positional sanctification”: (1) What God has done for the church age believer. (2) His viewpoint of the church age believer. (3) Sets up the potential to experience sanctification in time. (4) Provides the believer with the guarantee of receiving a resurrection body.
“Experiential sanctification” is the function of the church age believer’s spiritual life in time through obedience to the Father’s will, which is revealed by the Spirit through the communication of the Word of God (John 17:17; Romans 6:19, 22; 2 Timothy 2:21; 1 Peter 3:15; 1 Thessalonians 4:3-4, 7; 1 Timothy 2:15).
“Experiential sanctification” is the post-conversion experience of the believer who is in fellowship with God by confessing any known sin to the Father when necessary followed by obedience to the Father’s will, which is revealed by the Spirit through the Word of God.
Experiential sanctification is only a potential since it is contingent upon the church age believer responding to what God has done for him at the moment of conversion, therefore, only believers who are obedient to the Word of God will experience sanctification in time.
The believer can experience this victory and deliverance by appropriating by faith the teaching of the Word of God that he has been crucified, died, buried, raised and seated with Christ (Romans 6:11-23; 8:1-17; Galatians 2:20; Colossians 3:5-17). This is what Paul did.
“Perfective sanctification” is the perfection of the church age believer’s spiritual life at the rapture of the church, which is the completion of the plan of God for the church age believer (1 Corinthians 15:53-54; Galatians 6:8; 1 Peter 5:10; John 6:40).
It is the guarantee of a resurrection body and will be experienced by every believer regardless of their response in time to what God has done for them at justification.
All three stages of sanctification refer to the process of conforming the believer into the image of Jesus Christ, which is the Father’s plan from eternity past (Romans 8:28-30).
Therefore, in Ephesians 1:1, Paul starts off by identifying the recipients of the letter as the saints who are living in Ephesus, which as we noted, was a seaport in the western part of the Roman province of Asia in the first century A.D.
However, though the prepositional phrase ἐν Ἐφέσῳ (en Ephesō), “in Ephesus” indicates that the Ephesian Christian community was the recipients of this letter, it was not only intended for them but the entire Christian community in the Roman province of Asia.
Paul sent Tychicus with not only Colossians but also what we know today as the Ephesian epistle from Rome.
The first stop with the Ephesian epistle was Ephesus and from there it was sent to Laodicea, which accounts for this letter appearing in Marcion’s list as the epistle to the Laodiceans and from Laodicea, a copy of Ephesians would then be brought to Colossae.
The reason why the Ephesian epistle did not appear in some of the best and oldest manuscripts is that this letter was meant for the various churches in the Roman province of Asia.
Thus, as Dan Wallace noted, the place in which the name “Ephesus” appeared was left blank for the names of each of these churches.
As Dan Wallace also pointed out that the churches located in Ephesus would have made most of the copies of this letter because Paul’s base of operations was in this city for nearly three years.
The apostle Paul employs the adjective pistos (πιστός), which functions as a substantive and means “believers” and is describing the recipients of this epistle as being sinners who were declared justified by the Father through faith in His one and only Son, Jesus Christ.
This use of the word as we also noted appears in 2 Corinthians 6:15, 1 Timothy 4:10, 12 and 5:16.
The articular construction of the adjective hagios (ἅγιος), “to the saints” not only substantives this word but serves as a substantiver for the entire clause ousin en Ephesō kai pistois (οὖσιν ἐν Ἐφέσῳ καὶ πιστοῖς).
The presence of the article before the adjective hagios (ἅγιος) and not before the adjective pistois (πιστοῖς) indicates that these two words are describing only one group of individuals and not two.
Therefore, this construction indicates that Paul is presenting a two-fold description of the recipients of the epistle.
The dative masculine singular form of the noun Christos (Χριστός), “Christ” is the object of the preposition en (ἐν), which is often interpreted by expositors and scholars as being a marker of an intimate association and relationship.
This would indicate that the recipients of this epistle were believers who were intimately associated with Jesus Christ.
Therefore, this prepositional phrase could be interpreted as describing the recipients of this letter as not only being in union with Jesus Christ and identified with Him in His crucifixion, death, burial, resurrection and session at the right hand of the Father through the baptism of the Spirit at the moment of their justification but also that they were experiencing fellowship with the Lord.
However, it is better to interpret the preposition en (ἐν) as functioning as marker of the object of the believer’s faith at justification.
This is first indicated by the fact that the adjective pistos (πιστός) does not means “faithful” describing an attribute of the recipients of this epistle but rather “faith,” which refers to the recipients of this epistle being declared justified by the Father through faith in His one and only Son, Jesus Christ.
This adjective does not speak of their post-justification in the gospel but rather justifying faith, which is indicated by the fact that the articular construction of the adjective hagios (ἅγιος), “to the saints” serves as a substantiver.
This means it is converting into a substantive the entire clause it belongs to, namely, ousin en Ephesō kai pistois (οὖσιν ἐν Ἐφέσῳ καὶ πιστοῖς).
The presence of the article before the adjective hagios (ἅγιος) and not before the adjective pistois (πιστοῖς) indicates that these two words are describing only one group of individuals and not two.
Therefore, this construction indicates that Paul is presenting a two-fold description of the recipients of the epistle.
Both descriptions are simply describing the recipients of this letter as Christians or regenerated children of God but from different perspectives.
The first describes them as set apart to do God’s will exclusively and the second describes them as those who believe in Jesus Christ as their Savior.
The second reason why the preposition en (ἐν) is functioning as marker of the object of the Ephesian Christian community’s faith is that it is employed in this manner in Ephesians 1:15 (ὑμᾶς πίστιν ἐν τῷ κυρίῳ Ἰησοῦ).
In Ephesians 1:15, Paul asserts that he did not cease giving thanks to the Father when he heard of their faith in the Lord Jesus and love for the saints.
Paul was not only thanking the Father for the fact that they were justified by faith but also he was thanking the Father for their post-justification faith in the gospel, which manifested itself in their obedience to the command to love one another.
Thirdly, we see this prepositional phrase en Christō Iēsou (ἐν Χριστῷ Ἰησοῦ) and variations of it employed with the cognate noun of the adjective pistos (πιστός), which is pistis (πίστις), “faith” in Galatians 3:26 (τῆς πίστεως ἐν Χριστῷ Ἰησοῦ), Colossians 1:4 (τὴν πίστιν ὑμῶν ἐν Χριστῷ Ἰησοῦ) and 1 Timothy 1:13 (ἐν πίστει τῇ ἐν Χριστῷ Ἰησοῦ).
In each of these passages, the preposition en (ἐν) is marking the Lord Jesus Christ as the object of the Christian community’s faith at justification.