Ephesians Is One of the Prison Epistles; the Others Are Philippians, Colossians and Philemon

EVANGELICAL BIBLE COLLEGE OF WESTERN AUSTRALIA

EVANGELICALBIBLECOLLEGE OF WESTERN AUSTRALIA

COMMENTARY.

EPHESIANS

by

DR PETER MOSES

[BOOK 80]

JULY 2004

WHO IS JESUS CHRIST?

Professor Simon Greenleaf was one of the most eminent lawyers of all time. His “Laws of Evidence” for many years were accepted by all States in the United States as the standard methodology for evaluating cases. He was teaching law at a university in the United States when one of his students asked Professor Greenleaf if he would apply his “Laws of Evidence” to evaluate an historical figure. When Greenleaf agreed to the project he asked the student who was to be the subject of the review. The student replied that the person to be examined would be Jesus Christ. Professor Greenleaf agreed to undertake the examination of Jesus Christ and as a result, when he had finished the review, Simon Greenleaf personally accepted the Lord Jesus Christ as his Saviour.

Professor Greenleaf then sent an open letter to all jurists in the United States saying in part “I personally have investigated one called Jesus Christ. I have found the evidence concerning him to be historically accurate. I have also discovered that Jesus Christ is more than a human being, he is either God or nothing and having examined the evidence it is impossible to conclude other than he is God. Having concluded that he is God I have accepted him as my personal Saviour. I urge all members of the legal profession to use the “Laws of Evidence” to investigate the person of the Lord Jesus Christ and if you find that he is wrong expose him as a faker but if not consider him as your Saviour and Lord”

HOW CAN I BE SAVED?

Salvation is available for all members of the human race.

Salvation is the most important undertaking in all of God's universe. The salvation of sinners is never on the basis of God's merely passing over or closing His eyes to sin. God saves sinners on a completely righteous basis consistent with the divine holiness of His character. This is called grace. It relies on God so man cannot work for salvation, neither can he deserve it. We need to realise that the creation of this vast unmeasured universe was far less an undertaking than the working out of God's plan to save sinners.

However the acceptance of God's salvation by the sinner is the most simple thing in all of life. One need not be rich, nor wise, nor educated. Age is no barrier nor the colour of one's skin. The reception of the enormous benefits of God's redemption is based upon the simplest of terms so that there is no one in all this wide universe who need be turned away.

How do I become a Christian?

There is but one simple step divided into three parts. First of all I have to recognise that I am a sinner (Romans 3:23; 6:23; Ezekiel 18:4; John 5:24).

Secondly, realising that if I want a relationship with Almighty God who is perfect, and recognising that I am not perfect, I need to look to the Lord Jesus Christ as the only Saviour (I Corinthians 15:3; 1 Peter 2:24; lsaiah 53:6; John 3:16).

Thirdly, by the exercise of my own free will I personally receive the Lord Jesus Christ as my Saviour, believing that He died personally for me and that He is what He claims to be in an individual, personal and living way (John 1:12; 3:36; Acts 16:31; 4:12).

The results of Salvation

The results of this are unbelievably wonderful:

My sins are taken away (John 1:29),

I possess eternal life now (I John 5:11,12),

I become a new creature in Christ (2 Corinthians 5:17),

The Holy Spirit takes up His residence in my life (I Corinthians 6:19),

And I will never perish (John 10:28-30).

This truthfully is life's greatest transaction. This is the goal of all people; this is the ultimate of our existence. We invite and exhort any reader who has not become a Christian by trusting in the Lord Jesus Christ to follow these simple instructions and be born again eternally into God's family (Matthew 11:28; John 1:12; Acts 4:12; 16:31).

© Evangelical Bible College of Western Australia - PO Box I63ArmadaleWestern Australia 6992

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CONTENTS

ITEM / PAGE
INTRODUCTION / 3
CHAPTER 1 / 8
CHAPTER 2 / 51
CHAPTER 3 / 76
CHAPTER 4 / 87
CHAPTER 5 / 116
CHAPTER 6 / 133
DOCTRINE INDEX / 147

THE PAULINE EPISTLES

The general theme of the Pauline epistles are our Christian blessings and duties "in Christ".

[a]ROMANSRighteousness in Christ

[b]I CORINTHIANSSanctification in Christ

[c]II CORINTHIANSAcceptable ministry in Christ

[d]GALATIANSLiberty in Christ

[e]EPHESIANSAll spiritual blessings in Christ

[f]PHILIPPIANSA joyous daily walk in Christ

[g]COLOSSIANSCompleteness in Christ

[h]I THESSALONIANSDeliverance at the Rapture in Christ

[i]II THESSALONIANSDeliverance from judgments in Christ

[j]I TIMOTHYLocalChurch order

[k]II TIMOTHYFaithfulness to Christ

[l]TITUSLocalChurch order

[m]PHILEMONThe sinner's restoration to Christ

INTRODUCTION

It is important to study the Word of God in a grammatical, historical and literal method. This is the way which we will study the Epistle to the Ephesians

Ephesians is a very important epistle as it is a dividing line in the epistles. They were written in three groups and while all Scripture is inerrant and inspired the Apostles grew spiritually as they got older and matured. You see this fact when you look at the epistles in sequence.

The early epistles were written in the 50’s and comprise 1 and 2 Thessalonians which shows that the first thing he did was to teach Bible prophecy and eschatology. These were followed by 1 and 2 Corinthians, Galatians and Romans, the last two clarifying the conflict between grace and the law. Religious people always want to put people under the law. This group concludes with Romans which represents apart from Deuteronomy the closest thing to Systematic Theology in the Bible.

The second period from AD 61-62 are the Prison Epistles of Ephesians, Colossians, Philippians and Philemon. They are called the Prison Epistles as Paul was in prison when he wrote them. They represent more advanced doctrines.

The final group were the Pastoral Epistles of 1 & 2 Timothy and Titus. These are very important epistles and are written after the book of Acts. Therefore if you want to know how the church is supposed to function you do not look at the book of Acts or 1 & 2 Corinthians you look at the Prison and Pastoral Epistles.

DEVELOPMENT OF THE CHURCH

The book of Acts starts with Israel prominent and ends with Gentiles prominent. 1 Corinthians was written during the Acts period of time when there was a transition from Israel to the Church. It is very important to understand the various historical events and trends with regards to Caesar and the Church in the book of Acts. This together with politics, society and relationship between the Church and Israel is important but this is not the way in which the Church is going to act as it matures nor how we as a church at this time should act.

Acts and the Corinthians and Thessalonians Epistles represent the younger stage, then you have the adolescent and mature church which are the areas where we should be more specifically interested in. Many people want to go back to early Acts but that is reverting to the baby stage.

The Jews seek signs and the Church seeks wisdom. There was a decline in the level of signs and an increase of wisdom as the book of Acts and the latter Epistles proceed. In Ephesians we see an increase in doctrines.

It is one of the most attacked books in the New Testament. It has very little application therefore the liberals say that it is not written by Paul.

Ephesians represents the first time that Paul laid out the basis of Gentile Christianity. He had a tremendous response to the gospel at Ephesus and the vast majority of people did not have any Jewish background. This is in contrast with Romans where in chapters 9-11 Paul deals with the future of Israel. Thus the level of Jewish participation in the church at Rome is seen as much greater than at Ephesus. In contrast to this Paul in Ephesians goes back into eternity past and looks at the Plan of God for humanity as a whole and does not look at the history of Israel.

The Gentiles need something solid in which to believe. The first three chapters are totally doctrine with chapter 4 being almost all doctrine as well. It is not until chapter five that Paul starts his application. In these first four chapters he gives reasons for Christians behaving as unto the Lord as they should. It is important to tell people “why” rather than a series of does and don’ts

THE PRISON EPISTLES

Ephesians is one of the Prison epistles. The others are Philippians, Colossians and Philemon. Most conservative theologians believe that there were two imprisonments, the first during which Paul wrote the, Prison Epistles, which ended in his release, and the second during which I and II Timothy and Titus were penned after which he was executed.

The first imprisonment in Rome occurred after Paul was arrested following a near riot in the Temple at Jerusalem. For his protection he was taken by night down to Caeserea on the Mediterranean coast as there was a group of Jewish extremists who had sworn not to eat until they had killed Paul. He was tried by two successive governors Felix and Festus both of whom were corrupt, and were waiting for him to bribe that never came.

When a new governor arrived in Judah Paul appealed to Caesar as it looked as if the new governor was going to please the Jewish leadership by putting Paul on trial in Jerusalem. Such a trial would have meant his death,. The Caesar at the time was Nero who was, at this point of his reign, not really interested in the administration of the Empire but preferred to fight as a gladiator or race chariots. In charge of the administration he had a very capable man called Seneca.

When Paul eventually went before Caesar it may well have been before Seneca he that came. A group of forged letters were "found" that purported to show that Seneca was a covert to Christianity, but they were most certainly fake. Paul was under house arrest in Rome, which was the common practice for non dangerous prisoners at this time, while they were awaiting trial rather than keeping them in prison. These remand prisoners had Roman guards inside and outside the house for security. The prisoner was responsible for feeding the guards during his house arrest.

After his trial in Rome he was released and he travelled extensively possibly even to Spain. In the introduction to the Pastoral Epistles, published by our College this is further evaluated. Paul was eventually re arrested and this time imprisoned in prison and finally beheaded a few months before Nero himself was executed.

When he was under arrest in Rome news came to him of doctrinal or other issues in churches that resulted in these four letters which have been incorporated into the canon of Scripture.

The four letters were carried by messengers to their final destinations. Tychicus taking the letter to the Ephesians, Epaphroditus took Philippians, Tychicus also took the letter to the Colossians and Onesimus to Philemon who also lived in Colossi. As these cities were in the Roman province of Asia they all travelled together for a while, possibly by boat from the port of Rome on the coast, direct to Ephesus.

ITS DESTINATION

This is a catholic epistle and is therefore is for all believers. This is unique as the rest are addressed to specific people. This has no address as in the original text it is addressed to “the saints who are”. It gives you practically all the doctrines you need to live the Christian life. Paul does not develop all the applications but he does develop the theories. A person who understands this epistle has the background to live the Christian life.

The epistle was to include Ephesus but not specifically. With the things that were happening in Ephesus at that time such as mysticism and ecumenicalism this epistle is specifically useful for today.

Ephesus was called the gateway to Asia and was a seaport on an irregular coastline. The CaystarRiver flowed into the sea at Ephesus and large ships could come into relative safety by sailing up the river.

The river however was eroding areas as it flowed towards the sea which was causing significant silting and reducing the effectiveness of the harbour. The erosion of the landscape was accelerated by over-clearing of the surrounds to the river.

By the time Paul arrives about half of the harbour was useless. As a result the big ships could not get into Ephesus and the Roman engineers are frantically trying to dredge and counter the silting.

It is of interest that a third century A.D. coin from Ephesus bears the image of a small oar propelled boat , an officials barge , and not the deep hulled merchantmen that marked the pride in her seaborne trade on earlier coins. The final Emperor who tried to dredge the harbour was apparently Domitian at the end of the first century.

Paul on some of his missionary journeys goes to Miletus rather than Ephesus and this may well be due to this problem with the harbour.

By the time that Paul went to Ephesus the city was therefore in decline. This is the background of the silversmiths revolt against Paul as they were now reliant on silver trinkets related to one of the seven wonders of the ancient world, the Temple of Diana which was sited here. The Temple was 120 metres in length and 60 metres wide. The colonnades of the Temple of Diana were made of different coloured rocks which created magnificent colours.

The original temple was destroyed by fire in 356 BC. The rebuilt Temple was a spectacular building which lasted until 262 AD. A major highway over 20 metres wide went past the Temple of Diana to the harbour. To the north there was the great stadium and to the south a large theatre. This theatre held 25,000 people.

Sir William Ramsey the great archaeologist said that all of the superstition of Asia was concentrated in the city of Ephesus. As such this area was always one of the major enemies of early Christianity. Here we see mobs in action against the Christians.

Ephesus was also the terminus of a great caravan route. Geographically therefore this was the most important city in the Roman province of Asia. The population at the time was 350,000. With the major conversions from paganism to Christianity Paul crippled a large city.

The sister churches to the Ephesian church are those given in Revelation chapters 2 and 3 together with some others such as the church at Heiropolis.

Some references to Ephesus include Acts 2:9 indicating that there were some people from Ephesus in Jerusalem at the time of Pentecost. This is where the seed was sown. In Acts 16:6 we have the second missionary journey of Paul. Paul however was forbidden to move into this area.

There were three probable reasons for this

[a] Higher priority work for him such as in Europe

[b] A second one could have been the lack of a positive attitude in Ephesus

[c] Paul needed to grow before he tackled the problems in Ephesus

In Acts 18:19 he associates with a couple from Rome, Priscilla and Aquilla. It is of interest that Priscilla is always named first in most of the older manuscripts. It is very unusual in the Scriptures to have the woman’s name first. The man was a Jew born in Pontus and was married to Priscilla a noble woman from Rome.

They had been expelled from Rome under the Claudian persecution of the Jews. With Aquilla being a commoner Paul wrote in a classical manner according to their status. They were both Christians. They came to Ephesus and Paul left them there. This couple were the evangelists in the city. This shows different people with different gifts.

In Acts 19 Paul meets a group of Christians in Ephesus who had been disciples of John. Here was the fourth and last time that the Holy Spirit was given to a group, the first three occasions being to the Jews at Pentecost, the Samaritans and the Gentiles.

It is at the school of Tyrannus that Paul holds a daily BibleSchool for two years. He works in the morning and teaches all afternoon during the long siesta time. This was the way that the Christians were built up in the ancient world. As all Asia were able to hear him at the school it is to all Asia that the epistle is written.

As a result of this there was a riot led by the head of the guild of artisans manufacturing silver objects. These objects have been found all over the ancient world indicating that the level of industry in these objects was very significant in the ancient world. In Acts 19:28 they shouted out Diana is great and the whole city went into riot.