To the Faithful in Christ Jesus

Let me sort of give you an idea of what I’m hoping for us to do in what I’m hoping is our years together. When I think life group, I think Bible study and when I think Bible study, I think deep dives into Scripture. I think of saying all the things that I would want to say in a sermon series if I had unlimited time to go through a book and that’s pretty much what I want to do with the book of Ephesians. So I’m in no rush to finish this. If it takes us 6 years to go through 6 chapters and we all have this book memorized forwards and backwards, that sounds good to me. I hope that whatever verses or books we look at in this group, we can feel like we know this better than when we came into it. What I want to do tonight is look at some verses that we may skim through to get to the meat of the passage. All we will do tonight is look at Ephesians 1:1-2. If we are reporters, in these first few verses we see the who, the where, and the what being answered. And the deeper we look into the where and the what, we will see part of the why question being answered. Why does Paul write such a theologically deep letter to this church? Part of the reason comes down to where they are located. So, let’s pray and then lets read Ephesians 1:1-2

Ephesians 1:1–2 NASB95

Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, To the saints who are at Ephesus and who are faithful in Christ Jesus: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Authorship (Verse 1a)

So who is the author of Ephesians? Paul. So is the same Paul that we see throughout the book of Acts and elsewhere in the New Testament the Paul that writes Ephesians. Well some critics say no. Some scholars and theologians say that the book of Ephesians is not an authentic Pauline letter. With my doctorate, I spent a lot of time in chapter 2 talking about the authorship of Ephesians and I think that a very strong argument can be made for Paul being the author but why do some people not think that Paul really is the author? It comes down largely to the language that is used in the letter. Scholars have noticed that there is a strong similarity between Ephesians and Colossians so they say that one must have copied the other and that one was likely written much later by someone that claimed to be Paul. People will take the similarities and differences of Ephesians and Colossians and say that someone who wasn’t Paul, was full of Paul’s insights and had access to his writings, and had a special love for Colossians and imitated Paul’s style. Ephesians does read differently than most of Paul’s letters. There does seem to be a stylistic difference in this book that isn’t found anywhere else but does a change of style automatically mean that someone other than Paul wrote it? People will say that Paul uses words in this letter that aren’t found anywhere else in any of the letters that they are more certain of his authorship but that really doesn’t change anything. Paul says things in Galatians that he doesn’t say anywhere else and Galatians is one of the most readily accepted letters of Pauline authorship. One example that we will see later is that Paul only uses the word forgiveness in 2 places: Ephesians 1:7 and Colossians 1:14 but he doesn’t use that word anywhere else. Now obviously Paul was familiar with the concept and word of forgiveness, especially as a Pharisee, but does the fact that he only used it in those places mean that someone besides Paul wrote it? Instead, Paul is using terms that the audience would be familiar with. In some places he will use multiple words or phrases to address the same thing. In Ephesians he uses the phrase heavenly realms and heaven and they both address the same thing. Nothing about word choice or style should automatically eliminate Paul as the author. Paul would always write to address certain audiences, certain trials, and certain conditions. Paul does the same thing in Ephesians as we will see. The next argument for Paul’s authorship is that the early church readily accepted Paul as the author. The argument against Paul’s authorship really didn’t come until the 18th or 19th century. The thing about an author imitating Paul’s style or pretending to be Paul is that the early church never would have accepted a letter as authoritative if they were written by someone claiming to be someone else. Several passages in Ephesians clearly point to Paul as being the author or point to his ministry. If the author of this book isn’t Paul, he is being incredibly deceptive in his writings and the book should be rejected. William Klein notes that in the early church, the Christians were more ready to accept anonymous books into the canon than books that were copies of someone else. Klein says, “Apostolic connection was crucial, but falsely appending an apostle’s name on a document was apparently unacceptable.” The early church never questioned that Paul was the author and there has yet to be a convincing enough argument for us to reject that Paul is the author. So, that is a long answer to is the Paul in the very first word of the letter the Paul seen throughout the New Testament. Paul identifies himself as an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God. Who or what is it that made Paul the man that he is? It wasn’t his own doing, it was from God Himself. Paul says that he is an apostle of Christ Jesus, a sent one from Christ Himself. Paul says this because we need to know that Paul is not operating by his own authority or by his own orders. Paul is working as a commissioned servant of Christ. Many of those that would come across this letter would need to know that while Paul was the last of the apostles chosen, this did not mean that he had no authority. Paul had all the authority as the 12 did and this is because it was Christ that made him an apostle and not himself. In a sense, Paul didn’t volunteer for this. He is who he is by the will and grace of God. The same reason that any of us are what we are is because of God’s will for us. This is something that we are going to see in the verses to come. As Paul introduces himself as an apostle of Christ by the will of God, we are reminded that he is writing under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit and because these are inspired words, we need to read them in light of that. We need to listen with humility and remember that where the Bible speaks, God speaks. Charles Hodge said, “The epistle reveals itself as the work of the Holy Ghost as clearly as the stars declare their maker to be God.”

Recipients (Verse 1b)

Who is Paul writing to? The second half of verse 1 says “To the saints who are at Ephesus and who are faithful in Christ Jesus.” So we see the location and we also see the recipients of the letter. Now it is possible that Paul is writing a circular letter that would be spread around throughout Asia Minor with Ephesus being the starting point or the primary city. This doesn’t mean that Paul isn’t writing to a specific church at all but it does sort of support why the letter sounds different than other letters that Paul authored. Paul was familiar with Ephesus and he was also familiar with its problems. Ephesus was a major trade route for the Roman empire, right on the Cayster River and it was considered a capital city of the empire. Ephesus had roads that would lead to all of the other major cities of Asia Minor so it was considered the gateway to Asia. Paul knew that Ephesus and its surrounding areas were religious and at the same time, hostile towards Christianity. If you look at the book of Acts, we see that Paul spent over 2 years in Ephesus, the longest he ever stayed at one spot, but we also see that in Ephesus, there was the temple to Artemis. This temple not only represented the religious consumption of Asia minor, it was also a major economic point for the Ephesians. That’s why in Acts 19 we see the mob rebel against the Christians and a riot pretty much break out. As early as Acts 19 we see that Ephesus is not open and affirming of the Christian life. Paul later on in 1 Corinthians 16:8-9 is writing to the church in Corinth from Ephesus and he says that he is going to stay in Ephesus because there is a wide door for effective service that has been opened to him there and there are also many adversaries. Timothy would go on to pastor as the church of Ephesus, Jesus would address them later on in one of the 7 letters found in Revelation, it is a bustling and biblically important location. Paul is writing to a group of people that are in a sense, behind enemy lines, and I believe that is why Paul is so doctrinally heavy in the first half of Ephesians. He wants to make sure that these believers have what they need to know in order to endure. As Paul writes, he reminds the reader that they are saints and they are faithful in Christ Jesus. Every Christian is a saint. Sainthood is something that the Catholic Church gets all wrong. Every true Christian is a saint and every saint is someone that is faithful. John Calvin said, “No man, therefore, is a believer who is not also a saint; and, on the other hand, no man is a saint who is not a believer.” Who are the faithful? Those that are in Christ Jesus. What does it mean to be “in Christ Jesus”? That is one of Paul’s most well-known phrases of describing who Christians are. In just Ephesians alone, Paul will reference this unity about 36 times. In total, Paul will use this phrase 164 times in his 13 letters. Tony Merida said that “This is the heart of Christianity: to be united to Christ. Christians are people who are in Christ. You are united in HIs death and His resurrection.” If we are in Christ, everything that is His is ours. If we are in Him, His righteousness is our righteousness. If we are in Him his riches and resources are our riches and resources. This doesn’t mean that we become a god, but it does mean that everything about us, our identity itself is founded solely in who we are in Christ.

The Core of Paul’s Letter and Theology (Verse 2)

Sort of quickly, look again at Ephesians 1:2 “Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.” One of the most common themes in all of Paul’s letters is grace and peace. All of what Paul is and all that we are comes down to the grace of God. 12 times in this letter, Paul will return to grace. Multiple times he will return to peace. Those that are united to Christ through faith will be those that have experienced and have received the grace and peace of God. Paul says in Romans 5:1 “Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,” At the heart of Ephesians we see that what is true for them is true for us. There is one gospel for all people for all time. The issues facing the church in Ephesus and the church around Asia minor are the same issues that we face today. We may not experience the same level of persecution but the world has always been hostile to Christianity to various degrees. James Montgomery Boice puts it like this: “These faithful saints, who were in Christ, were nevertheless also in the world- in Ephesus- and were obliged to live for Christ there. In the same way we must live for Christ in Philadelphia, in London, in New York, in Singapore, or wherever God has placed us. And our world is like Ephesus! Was Ephesus crassly commercial and materialistic? So are our cities. Was it pagan, preoccupied with sex, superstitious? So are we. What can keep Christian people faithful to God in such environments? What can enable them to be saintly continually? There is only one answer. It is what Paul speaks of in his greeting: ‘grace and peace,’ and particularly grace, from God the Father.” The same thing that allowed Paul to endure, the Ephesians to endure, is the same thing that will allow us to endure. So I’m done for the night but what can we go back over and what questions do you guys have?

What does 'in Christ Jesus' mean, according to the sermon?

What key themes does Paul emphasize in his letters, as highlighted in the sermon?

What issues that the church in Ephesus had do you think we experience today?