For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them. - Ephesians 2:10 (ESV)
Ephesians is a Pauline letter/epistle written during his imprisonment, likely around A.D. 62, a couple of years before his death. Acts 19 describes Paul's time in Ephesians and the riot that he unintentionally provoked. In Acts 20, we read Paul’s final words to the Ephesian elders. The text says that Christians are people who are saved by by God's grace, through faith in Christ, to the glory of God. Because of that, believers are united in Christ, and their identity is determined by him. As a result, they should live together in a manner that is worthy of their calling. This extends to their relationships with God, each other, and everyone else. The text is concerned to describe the Ephesians' source of salvation and to motivate them to live as they have been called. Ephesians describes what is true for all believers, so it is relevant to all Christians as it stands.
The Big Idea of Ephesians
I have taught the big idea of Ephesians as the following: Live for God Through Christ. Given the name and purpose of this website, this big idea is no accident. Ephesians is a miniature systematic theology, covering a range of issues and topics spanning eternity past to eternity future and the time and space in between. Paul’s purpose is not to share general information, however. Instead, he is writing so that his readers will walk in a manner worthy of their call (Ephesians 4:1) given all that he is telling them.
An Outline of Ephesians
Chapter 1: Salvation Glorifies God
In chapter one, Paul makes clear that salvation glorifies God above all. All things are “to the praise of his glory” because God works “all things according to the counsel of his will.” The salvation believers enjoy is from God and for God. Paul thanks God for the salvation that God has given to the Ephesians and tells them of his prayer for them. He wants them to know the powerful love of God for them in Christ. God’s love for them is backed by the same power that raised Christ from the dead and exalted him as head over all creation.
Chapter 2: Salvation Is by Grace
Paul emphasizes in chapter two that salvation is a gift, that is, by grace and not by works. The salvation believers enjoy is the result of God’s love for us in Christ and His subsequent act to raise us from spiritual death to life with Christ. The Ephesians were separated from God and completely hopeless. But Christ brings Jews and Greeks and all other peoples together by his blood and makes them fellow citizens and members of the household of God.
Chapter 3: Salvation's Goal Is Christ in Us
Paul describes the goal of salvation in more detail in chapter three. The apostle pivots to describe the particular charge he received from God to reveal the mystery of the gospel to the Gentiles. Specifically, Paul refers to the church and the fact that the new covenant offers Gentiles the chance to become full heirs of God’s kingdom along with God’s chosen people, the Jews. The goal of Paul’s life is to preach this gospel and bring as many people as God wills together in Christ. Thus Paul prays that the Ephesians may dwell in the Ephesians’ hearts through faith and that they may be filled with all the fullness of God (3:19). Paul concludes this first major section of his letter with a doxology, an exclamation of praise, to God, extolling his almighty power at work in the church and in Christ for God’s glory in the church.
Chapter 4: Salvation Unites the Church
Paul makes a significant transition in chapter four from discussing the plan of God in the church to how the Ephesians should live in light of it. Since they are united in Christ, they should seek to preserve and cultivate unity in their relationships with one another. The functioning of the church should be to collaborate in building themselves up in love to grow into Christ.
5:1-6:9: Salvation Grounds Relationships
In 5:1-6:9, Paul elaborates more specifically on the kinds of relationships the Ephesians should have with one another in society. Because they are in Christ, they should be sexually pure, and filled with the Spirit rather than drunk with wine. The marriage relationship should reflect Christ and the church, children should obey their parents, and slaves’ and masters’ treatment of one another should reflect the fact that both have the same Master in heaven.
6:10-24: Salvation Enables Strength
Paul concludes his letter with an exhortation to remain strong in the Lord and faithful to him in love. The Ephesians must arm themselves for the spiritual warfare in which they are engaged. As they do so, Paul also requests that they pray for him.
Benefits of Ephesians
Paul’s letter to the Ephesians is something like a concise systematic theology. Most categories of traditional systematic theology are included in the letter. As such, the letter offers a succinct summary of what it is that Christians believe. More than that, Paul explicitly weds how Christians should believe with how Christians should think. All of the propositional truth in the first three chapters leads to practical implications in the final three chapters.
Who God is and what he has done in the world defines who we are and how we ought to live. Ephesians describes God as having saved us by grace and through faith in Christ so that we might live for Him. At bottom, God defines and grounds our whole existence. We are constantly tempted to substitute something in for God, so it would be difficult to come up with something more basic than that. Our priority and focus in this life must be God above all and the relationship we have with him through Christ. Our relationship with God entails a relationship with the church, which entails relating to one another and the rest of the world as a function of our union with God in Christ. Ephesians is, therefore, a book that we will never outgrow. Believers will only find themselves filling out and expanding in their understanding of the contents of this letter as they grow in Christ and are built up together with the church into Christ the head.