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    Shepherd's Notes: Ephesians
    Shepherd's Notes: Ephesians
    Shepherd's Notes: Ephesians
    Ebook121 pages1 hour

    Shepherd's Notes: Ephesians

    By Dana Gould and David R. Shepherd

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    About this ebook

    You grew up using the well known black and yellow striped Cliff's Notes to help you grasp everything from great literary works to algebra. Unfortunately, what "Cliff" forgot was the greatest literary work in history: the complete Holy Bible. Enjoy the ease of understanding the Bible like never before, book by book. Shepherd's notes helps reader's learn about the inspired authors of the Bible books and when and where they were first penned. Each Bible book is revealed in simple understandable steps that outline and underscore the focal points and personalities of the biblical text. You'll look to these unique books for their use in Bible studies, teaching, personal devotions and even in sermon preperation! Christian and home schools will find Shepherd's Notes an invaluable resource.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherBH Publishing Group
    Release dateJul 1, 1998
    ISBN9781433671951
    Shepherd's Notes: Ephesians

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      Book preview

      Shepherd's Notes - Dana Gould

      INTRODUCTION

      Ephesians is a special New Testament book. Here the teachings of Paul find their highest expression in a sweeping summary of his faith. This letter to the Christians at Ephesus is the one that best sets out the basic concepts of the Christian faith. An insightful and powerful book, Ephesians is both devotional and theological, holding a place all its own among Paul's New Testament letters.

      AUTHOR

      Paul the apostle referred to himself as the author in two places in the letter: 1:1 and 3:1. Some scholars think Ephesians contains a writing style, vocabulary, and even some teachings that are not typical of the apostle Paul. Yet others regard the book of Ephesians as the crown of all of Paul's writings. In line with the undisputed acceptance of Pauline authorship in the early church, we can conclude that there is no reason to dispute Paul as author of Ephesians.

      Paul was the outstanding missionary and writer of the early church. Both he and his theology are important in the New Testament, not only because thirteen epistles bear his name, but also because of the extended biographical information given in the book of Acts. From the information in these two sources, we can piece together a picture of one of the major personalities of early Christianity. The letters of Paul, as listed in the New Testament, include Romans through Philemon. His experience of radical change and call to proclaim the gospel to the Gentiles provided his motivation to travel throughout the Roman world, preaching the way of Christ.

      PURPOSE FOR WRITING

      Paul wrote most of his letters to meet specific needs in the churches, but it is difficult to determine the specific occasion for which Ephesians was written.

      The letter itself, however, hints at several purposes. The apostle taught that Jewish and Gentile believers are one in Christ. This oneness is to be demonstrated by their love for one another. Paul used the noun form of the verb to love (agapē) nineteen times (about one-sixth of the total uses in all of Paul's letters). Ephesians begins with love (1:4–6) and ends with love (6:23–24).

      Ephesians is a general statement of Christian truth concerning the church, Christian unity, and the Christian walk. The understanding of this truth is as necessary for the church today as it was in Paul's day.

      DATE AND PLACE OF WRITING

      Interpreters are divided on the question of the time and place of the writing of Ephesians. Paul's imprisonments in Acts 21:15–26:32 and 27:1–28:31 are the only ones that might bear on the question of where and when the Prison Epistles (Ephesians, Colossians, Philemon, Philippians) were written. In all four of these letters, Paul mentioned his imprisonment.

      Date. The traditional view is that Ephesians was written during the early sixties (60–62). References in Ephesians 6:21–22 suggest that Tychicus carried the letter to its destination.

      Place. Careful review of this extensive and complex issue leaves the subjective opinion that all four Prison Epistles were written from Rome while Paul was imprisoned there about A.D. 60–62.

      AUDIENCE

      In spite of the traditional heading (1:1), relatively little is known about the recipients of the letter who are called Ephesians. (Several important and early manuscripts do not contain the words in Ephesus (v. 1).

      Some interpreters have suggested the Ephesians was originally a circular letter, sent perhaps to churches throughout Asia. The church at Ephesus kept a copy of this letter without an address. As time passed, readers outside Ephesus might have assumed that Ephesus had received the letter initially. The hypothesis of a circular letter, though not without problems, provides the most logical explanation of the omission of in Ephesus from the greetings of the letter.

      Tychicus

      Tychicus, whose name means fortunate, was one of Paul's fellow workers in the ministry. Tychicus and Onesiumus carried the Colossian letter from Paul, they were also the bearers of this letter to Ephesus. Tradition holds that Tychicus died a martyr.

      PAUL'S MINISTRY AT EPHESUS

      At the close of his second missionary journey (about A.D. 49–52), Paul left Achaia (Greece), taking Aquila and Priscilla with him. They stopped at Ephesus and surveyed the situation in that city where religions flourished. The Ephesians urged Paul to stay, but he declined. Leaving Aquila and Priscilla and perhaps Timothy there to carry on the Christian witness (Acts 18:18–21), Paul sailed to Antioch. He returned to Ephesus during a third missionary journey and experienced triumph over the challenge of Jewish religious leaders as well as that of the Greco-Roman religions represented in the worship of the Greek goddess Artemis (Roman name, Diana; Acts 19:24).

      Paul's ministry in Ephesus lasted three years (Acts 20:31). From there he journeyed to Jerusalem, where he was arrested by the Jews and turned over to the Romans.

      STRUCTURE OF THE LETTER

      Ephesians follows the pattern common to Paul's letters—discussing doctrine in the first half, followed by practice in the second half. The content of Ephesians falls naturally into two divisions:

      Chapters 1–3 discuss the spiritual privileges of the church, spelling out the great Christian truths of experience and

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