Ephesians 1:1 and 1:2

This blog will hopefully be the beginning of a full study of the book of Ephesians. I hope that God will work through this study for the purpose of the salvation of some, sanctification of others, and ultimately the Glory of God.

Ephesians 1:1 - "Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God..."

This letter starts off as all of Paul's epistles do with him saying who he is. Almost all of the letters that Paul writes declare his apostleship in the opening greeting. Out of the 13 letters that Paul wrote the only ones to not include his declaration to be an apostle are the letters to the Philippians, Thessalonians, and Philemon. Paul's declaration to be an apostle was an astonishing one, due to the fact that to be an apostle you needed:

1. To see Christ Himself (1 Corinthians 9:1)
2. Be commissioned by Christ himself (Galatians 1:1)
3. Be commissioned with the message of the Christian Gospel (1 Corinthians 9:16, Romans 1:1, 2 Corinthians 5)

Paul was not a disciple of Jesus during Jesus' earthly ministry, and had never seen Christ before Christ's ascension. So for Paul to be an apostle something supernatural needed to occur, which did in Acts 9 when Paul was converted on the road to Damascus when Christ appeared to him and later commissioned him to be the apostle to the gentiles (Acts 9:15, Acts 22:17-21, Romans 15:14-21).

Paul received a lot of flack during his ministry for calling himself an apostle. False teachers would argue against his apostleship as to discredit his message. Throughout the epistles you will see Paul's continued defense of his claim to be an apostle. The Disciples of Christ even struggled with Paul's claim, but finally did acknowledge Paul's apostleship (Galatians 2:1-9).

Paul, as stated above, was not just a self-proclaimed apostle but was one by the will of God. It was God's perfect will, as seen in Paul's conversion on the road to Damascus, that Paul be an apostle to the Gentiles, so that Jews and Gentile both could be saved through the glorious grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, by means of the gospel.

Thus Paul, because of the continued opposition to his apostleship, made it clear in his greetings that he truly was an apostle, who was not self-proclaimed, but directed by Christ himself to proclaim the glorious gospel of Jesus Christ, so that, as it pleased God, men would come to a saving knowledge of Him. In Paul's statement to be an apostle it also showed his authority, by God's grace, in what he said and directed them to do.

"...to the saints who are in Ephesus, and are faithful in Christ Jesus:"

This portion of the letter directs attention to who the recipients are:

1. Saints (in Ephesus)
2. Faithful in Christ Jesus (in Ephesus)

So, this letter is directed to those who are believers. This letter is not directed to those who are not believers. Saints means set apart ones, or consecrated ones. This term in the Old Testament was used for Jews and angels. The Jews were God's set apart people of the Old Testament, so for Paul to speak of Gentiles and Jews, together as saints was a huge shift in thinking for Jewish people. Ephesians deals a lot with Gentiles being included in the promises of God. The term Faithful in Christ implies that the believers were continually believing and acting out the gospel. This term shows that the believers did not just say a prayer and now held the label "Saints" but that they were labeled "Saints" because of their continued faithfulness to the Gospel. John Calvin said this:

“No man is…a believer who is not also a saint; and, on the other hand, no man is a saint who is not a believer.”

Another thing to note here is that some of the earliest Greek manuscripts do not include "in Ephesus" but would rather read "to the saints who are also faithful in Christ Jesus." This signifying that this letter was probably not just for the Ephesian church, but was a circular letter for the churches in Asia Minor, of which Ephesus was part of.

Ephesians 1:2 - "Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ."

This is a common greeting from Paul. This greeting is never directed toward unbelievers, but strictly to believers. Believers are the only ones to whom God's saving grace is granted, and believers are the only ones who are not enemies of God, but who are now at peace with God and are adopted sons of God (Ephesian 2:1-9, Romans 3:21-24, Romans 5:1-11).

This Grace and Peace comes from God through Jesus Christ. Jesus is the only possible means by which man can come to God and not be crushed. Jesus is the perfect and only mediator between God and man. Christ through his perfect life, sacrificial death, and glorious resurrection, has now made it possible for man to come to God. We all deserve the perfectly just wrath of God, but if we are declared right by God's gracious gift of Christ's perfection, through faith in Jesus Christ, then we no longer receive our due penalty, but now receive the glorious reward of spending eternity with our creator and finally being satisfied by him who is the only satisfier of man's soul, namely Jesus Christ.

“This is what we have to offer to others—a brand-new greeting from another world: Grace and peace.” -Kent Hughes