Ephesians: Background and Beginning

Ephesians

This newest series will be the longest one yet. Instead of digging deeply into a chapter, my goal is to dig deeply into the entire book of Ephesians. My hope is that we will explore in depth each and every verse so that by the end we will all have a strong grasp of the book of Ephesians.

The church of Ephesus was started by Paul during his second missionary journey. He was in Corinth preaching and teaching for over a year and a half (Acts 18:11) and this is where he met fellow believers Priscilla and Aquilla (Acts 18:1-3). In fact, Priscilla and Aquilla departed from Corinth and sailed to Syria with him (18:18); however, when the ship ported in Ephesus, Priscilla and Aquilla stayed. Paul went into the synagogue and “reasoned with the Jews” (18:19) and then departed shortly thereafter stating that he hoped to return to them one day (18:20-21).

The church was probably not established at this time. It likely was established when Paul returned on his third missionary journey (Acts 19). However, Priscilla and Aquilla likely would have been able to minister to the people while they stayed, discipling those that Paul may have converted, and witnessing to unbelievers. They were used greatly by God by increasing Apollos’ wisdom of Scripture (Acts 18:24-28) who in turn was able to lead others to salvation.

When Paul returned to Ephesus there was some confusion with different doctrines. Paul helped disciple these young believers and teach them accurately (Acts 19:4-7). As the church grew (Acts 19:20), the unbelievers began to hate Paul and tried to get him out of the city, eventually capturing some of his travel companions (Acts 19:29). After the riot, Paul encouraged the young believers and departed to Macedonia (Acts 20:1). He spent a minimum of two years in Ephesus on this journey (Acts 19:10).

To our knowledge, this is the last time Paul was in Ephesus. After that he wrote the letter to the Ephesians from prison, and to Timothy, someone he discipled and was very close to, who pastored the church of Ephesus (1 Timothy 1:3).

Now that we have the background of how the church started and continued, let’s dig into the first couple of verses of this epistle.

Paul starts with one of his typical greetings. He states, “Paul, an apostle of Christ by the will of God, to the saints who are in Ephesus, and faithful in Christ Jesus:” Clearly we can see here that Paul was writing to believers at the church of Ephesus. He calls them saints, something all believers are because of the grace of God and blood of Christ. Paul also calls them faithful in Christ Jesus. He may have had specific believers in mind when writing the “faithful in Christ Jesus” such as those twelve young believers he discipled during his third missionary journey (Acts 19:7). We also see that Paul makes it clear that his apostleship is according to the will of God. God decided to appoint him as an apostle, it was not his abilities or credentials, it was not his goodness or obedience, it was God alone who called him to be an apostle.

In Ephesians 1:2, Paul continues with his greeting, stating, “Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.” This is a standard greeting from Paul, but it is important to note that he is not wishing grace and peace according to the world’s standards. Paul is wishing biblical grace and peace on the Ephesian believers.

Paul is not wishing the Ephesians have an easy life. He is wishing that the Ephesians have peace no matter the circumstance. When we live righteously the devil will attack us. He hates it when we obey, he hates it when we shine for Christ, and therefore he will aim to hinder our peace. Therefore, the peace Paul prays for is supernatural peace, the type of peace that is only possible through God. We recently finished a study on Lamentations 3 where we saw Jeremiah find peace despite his excruciating circumstances. This is the type of supernatural peace Paul prays for.

The grace Paul wishes for the Ephesians is also a supernatural grace. As I mentioned, when we are walking with God we face difficult circumstances. They may not be outward, they may not be physical, but the devil will try relentlessly to knock us down and keep us down. In the world’s eyes it does not seem gracious of God to allow us to suffer, to allow the devil to attack us, but how else would we grow? How would our faith and trust in Him grow? How would we have more peace, joy, and love? When life is easy we do not feel the need to grow, we are happy with where we are. God is gracious by allowing us to go through hardships. He is gracious in putting us through difficulties. We would not choose to hurt, but He chooses it for us because He knows it is what is best for us. He is gracious and loving enough to allow us to suffer so that we are able to grow.

This concludes the introduction to the book of Ephesus. We will dig into Paul’s teaching starting next week as we try to understand this epistle. I hope you are excited to discover, or rediscover, the truths from this book. The bible is an amazing book, and I want to be clear that I don’t claim to know and understand everything about Ephesians. I can go through the book of Ephesians verse hundreds of times and still be hit deeply by something new every time. Therefore, I encourage you all to do your own study with me and allow the Holy Spirit to show you things through His Word. His Word is alive and ready to speak to us, we just have to listen!

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