Ephesians – The Introduction
Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God,
To God’s holy people in Ephesus, the faithful in Christ Jesus:
Ephesians 1:1 (NIV)
‘Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God’ (1:1). Paul claims the same title Jesus had given to the twelve, and whose background in both Old Testament and Rabbinic Judaism described someone especially chosen, called, and sent to teach with authority. Paul had not volunteered for this ministry nor had the church appointed him. His apostleship was founded in the will of God and the choice and commission of Christ Himself. The term ‘apostle’ basically means ‘one sent.’ Paul could not think of himself in his relationship to others except in terms of his being sent to all with the gospel. He is what he is ‘by the will of God,’ here not a ‘permission’ but God’s positive purpose that made Paul a man under authority and enabled him to write with authority. He was constantly at pains to point out that his calling was not due to any personal merit (1 Corinthians 15:9; Galatians 1:13-15).
‘To God’s holy people in Ephesus, the faithful in Christ Jesus’ (1:1). Paul describes his readers in four ways:
Firstly they are ‘holy people.’ The NIV avoids the more common translation ‘saints,’ probably because ‘saints’ tends to be associated with a minority of especially holy believers. Paul saw all God’s people as ‘holy’ because they were set apart to belong to Him. The expression was first applied to Israel as the ‘holy nation’ but came to be used of the whole international Christian community (spoken of as the ‘Israel of God’ in Galatians 6:16). Because we are ‘set apart’ by God, we are called to live in holiness.
Secondly, some manuscripts add that they are ‘in Ephesus.’ Originally a Greek colony, Ephesus was now the capital of the Roman province of Asia and a busy commercial port. It was also the centre of the cult of the goddess Diana (or Artemis) whose temple, after being destroyed in the middle of the fourth century BC, had gradually been rebuilt to become one of the Seven Wonders of the World. In Acts 19:23ff Luke describes how the success of Paul’s mission in Ephesus had so threatened the sale of silver models of her temple that the silversmiths had stirred up a public outcry. The words ‘in Ephesus’ are left out of some of the earliest manuscripts although the grammar almost certainly requires a place name in the original. This makes it likely that Ephesus was only one of a number of places to which the letter was sent.
Thirdly, they are ‘the faithful.’ The word can have an active meaning (trusting, having faith) or a passive meaning (trustworthy, being faithful). Paul may well have blended both here.
Finally, they are ‘in Christ Jesus.’ To be ‘in Christ’ is to be personally and vitally united to Christ, as branches are to the trunk of a tree and arms and legs are to a body. It is impossible to be part of Christ’s body, the church, without being related to both Christ as the Head and to the other members of the body. To be a Christian is in essence to be ‘in Christ,’ one with Him and with His people. The term ‘in Christ’ or an equivalent is used eleven times in 1:1-14. Christians not only have faith in Him but their very life is in Him. This is not mysticism but expresses the very practical truth that Christians, if faithful to their calling, will not try to be self-sufficient, or to move beyond the limits of the purpose and control of Christ, nor will they turn to the world for guidance, inspiration and strength. They find the deepest satisfaction in Him and not from any other source or any other place. The comprehensive description of the Christian’s life is ‘baptised into Christ Jesus’ (Romans 6:3), a very appropriate term as baptism is the outward sign of entrance into the Christian life.
Paul’s description of his readers is comprehensive. They are ‘holy people’ because they belong to God. They are believers because they have trusted in Christ. And they have two homes. They live equally ‘in Ephesus’ and ‘in Christ.’ All Christians are saints and believers, and all live both ‘in Christ’ and in the secular world. Trouble will invariably follow if we forget we are citizens of both. Some of us can pursue Christ so strongly that we withdraw from the world, while others can become so preoccupied with the world that they finish up withdrawing from Christ.