INTRODUCTION TO THE BOOK OF EPHESIANS

Introduction:

  This epistle shows the oneness of God’s people in union with Christ:

In It…

1). The church is called a body, with Christ as the head;

2). It is like a building, with Christ as the cornerstone;

3). It is like a wife, with Christ as the husband.

The Author:

The Apostle Paul (1:1).

The City of Ephesus:

(See map).

Its Location:

Ephesus was a great commercial center of Asia Minor. It was located at the mouth of the Cayster River and on the shore of the Aegean Sea. (An arm of the Mediterranean Sea off southeast Europe between Greece and Turkey.). It was about 50 miles south of Smyrna.  Ephesus was noted for the great temple of Diana, which was one of the seven wonders of the ancient world (Acts 19:27).  The site of the city is now covered with ruins.

Its Religion:

The inhabitants of Ephesus worshiped the Goddess Diana. She was called Diana, by the Romans and Artemis by the Greeks. She was the “great virgin goddess” of hunting and childbirth and was traditionally associated with the moon. She was worshipped among heathen nations under various names. (See Hislop, The Two Babylons). She was worshipped as the goddess of fertility. Her most noted temple was that at Ephesus which was built outside the city walls. It was in building about 220 years. It was built of shining marble; was 342 feet long by 164 feet broad and was supported by a forest of columns, each 56 feet high. At the center, hidden by curtains, within a gorgeous shrine, stood the very ancient image of the many breasted goddess. It was made of the ebony tree which was supposed to have fallen from the sky. Behind the shrine was a treasury, where, as in the safest bank in Asia, nations and kings stored their most precious things. The women of Ephesus sold their jewels to help raise funds for the temple. Kings presented columns and gifts of gold from many nations. When it was completed in 323 B. C., it was the most magnificent building ever constructed in the Greek world and was acclaimed one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. The temple, as Paul saw it, stood till A.D. 262, when it was ruined by the Goths. (A member of a Germanic people who invaded the Roman Empire in the early centuries of the Christian era.) (Acts 19:23-41). No doubt the devotion to this temple by the Gentiles was what led Paul to speak of the glorious temple of Christ that is made of living stones and groweth continually.

Paul’s Visits:

(1) His first visit is recorded in.. (Acts 18:18-21).

(2) His second visit, when the Holy Spirit is given to believers, is in (Acts 19:2-7).

(3) His third visit is when he addresses the Ephesians elders (Acts 20:17-35).

The Date: The most probable date for the writing of Ephesians is A.D.  64.

The Place Written:  Written from Rome while Paul was in prison.

(See Eph. 3:1; Acts 21:15; Acts 27-28)

The Purpose of the Book:

To show that all believers are seated in heaven in Christ and are to walk worthy of Christ. Romans, the first doctrinal letter, sets forth the true relationship of the believer to Christ in death, burial and resurrection. Ephesians, the second doctrinal letter, pictures the believer as sitting together with Christ in heavenly places. It contains the highest of church truth, but not church order.

The Key Words:

(1) Together: 1:10; 2:5; 2:6, 21, 22; 4 16.

(2) One: 1:10; 2:14,15,16,18; 4:2,4,5,6,7,25,32; 5:21,31,33.

(3) In Christ: (Eph. 1:1, 3, 6, 12, 15, 20; 2:10, 13; 3:11; 4:21).

(4) In Heavenly Places: (Eph 1:3, 20; 2:6; 3:10).

(5) Riches: of Grace: (Eph 1:7; 2:7); of Glory (Eph 1:18; 3:16); of Christ (Eph 3:8).

The Key Verses:

Eph 1:10, Eph 2:6, Eph 2:14-22, Eph 4:3-16, (especially Eph 4:13)

The following outline will give an overview of our analyses of this epistle.

OUTLINE:

1. 1-3; THE BELIEVERS PERFECT STANDING
2. The  Salutation To Believers
3. The  Standing Of  Believers
4. The  Sagacity Of God Toward Believers
5. The  Sealing Of  Believers
6. The  Supplication For Believers
7. The  Spiritual Death Of  Unbelievers
8. The  Spiritual Resurrection Of  Believers
9. The  Strangers Who Became Fellow-Believers
10. The  Slaying Of The Enmity Against Believers
11. The  Special Revelation For Believers