Every man who has given himself to a study in depth of Ephesians has come to acclaim it the grandest Epistle of the Apostle Paul. More than any other letter, Ephesians speaks in personal and practical terms to the Christian everywhere. Such has been the reaction of the Church throughout the Christian era. John Chrysostom (345-407) wrote in his Preamble to the Homilies, “This Epistle is full to the brim of thoughts and doctrines sublime and momentous. For the things which scarcely anywhere else he utters, there he makes manifest.”
Samuel Taylor Coleridge described Ephesians as “the divinest composition of man.” A. S. Peake spoke of it as “the quintessence of Paulinism.” F. R. Barry once commented that Ephesians is “at once the most ‘modern’ in many ways of all the books of the New Testament and the richest record of Christian experience.” The renowned Edgar J. Goodspeed spoke of this Epistle as “a great rhapsody on the worth of Christian salvation.” Many hymns of the Christian Church, among which is “The Church's One Foundation,” were inspired by this sublime Epistle. F. F. Bruce characterizes it as “the coping-stone on the massive structure of Paul's teaching.”
A. AUTHORSHIP
In two places in the Epistle the writer identifies himself: (1) “Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God” (1:1); (2) “For this cause I Paul, the prisoner of Jesus Christ for you Gentiles” (3:1). That these references are authentic is substantiated by the fact that the Church fathers assigned the Epistle to Paul of Tarsus as early as the second century. Ephesians was known to Ignatius of Antioch as Pauline before his martyrdom about A.D. 115. Bishop Polycarp of Smyrna, as well as the authors of the Epistle of Barnabas and the Shepherd of Hermas, give evidence of attributing Ephesians to the Apostle Paul. Marcion, the noted heretic, rejected the Old Testament but favored the writings of Paul. In A.D. 144 he issued a list of approved Christian books, in which were ten of Paul's letters, including Ephesians. Surprising, however, is the fact that he referred to the letter as “The Epistle to the Laodiceans.” He no doubt took his cue from Col. 4:16, in which there is a reference to such a letter.
Pauline authorship is further sustained by other Christian leaders of the second century, including Irenaeus of Lyons, Clement of Alexandria, and Tertullian of Carthage. The famous Muratorian Canon (ca. A.D. 190) lists Ephesians as one of the authoritative Christian books. Justifiably, therefore, a large segment of scholarship concludes that the whole Early Church viewed it as genuinely Pauline.
Nevertheless, during the latter part of the nineteenth century a number of critics attacked the authenticity of the Epistle, claiming that Paul was not the author but that a learned follower of Paul composed it. The main arguments against Pauline authorship involve the lack of personal greetings to the recipients, the duplication in varying degree of 75 of the 155 verses of Ephesians in Colossians, the employment of many new words, the allusions to gnostic ideas, and the absence of strong emphasis upon Paul's central doctrine of “justification by faith.”1
However, a long list of illustrious scholars insist that the Epistle is the direct fruit of Paul's pen.2 Donald Guthrie's able defense is sufficient here. He writes:
When all the objections are carefully considered it will be seen that the weight of evidence is inadequate to overthrow the overwhelming external attestation to Pauline authorship, and the epistle's own claims. … To maintain that the Paulinist out of his sheer love for Paul and through his own self-effacement composed the letter, attributed it to Paul and found an astonishing and immediate readiness on the part of the Church to recognize it as such is considerably less credible than the simple alternative of regarding it as Paul's own work.8
Moreover, the majesty of this Epistle would compel us to assert, if it is not composed by Paul, the assumed author “must have been the apostle's equal, if not his superior, in mental stature and spiritual insight.” After all the evidence is sifted, the Pauline authorship still maintains a strong position among students of the apostle.
B. RECIPIENTS
To whom was this letter written? This question on the surface may not appear to be important, but an examination of the references to the recipients exposes the problem.
(1) The title, which has been attached to the Epistle from the earliest centuries, is “To the Ephesians” (Gk., pros Ephesious). The oldest manuscript of Ephesians, the Chester Beatty Papyrus (P 46), which is dated about A.D. 200, plus the two outstanding fourth-century codices, Sinaiticus and Vaticanus, employ this title. The witness of the Early Church on this matter is almost universal. The Muratorian Fragment, Irenaeus, Clement of Alexandria, and Tertullian refer to it as the Epistle “To the Ephesians.” Tertullian comments that Marcion (ca. 150) listed the epistle as “To the Laodicians,” but does not include one “To the Ephesians.” Adolph Harnack, the famous teacher of Berlin, claimed that the letter was addressed originally to Laodicea, but the name was dropped from the latter because of the bad reputation the church developed at a later time.4
(2) The early character of the title would seem to settle the question of the destination of the letter, except that the earliest and best manuscripts do not possess the phrase in Ephesus (Gk., en Epheso) in 1:1. The Chester Beatty Papyrus, as well as Sinaiticus and Vaticanus, omit this phrase. Origen, the great biblical scholar of the third century, remarks that the words “at Ephesus” were not in the manuscripts that he knew. Also, Basil and Jerome of the fourth century indicate that the best manuscripts available to them lacked this phrase.
(3) Several facts arising out of this apparent conflict between title and address must be kept in mind in seeking a resolution of it. First, titles were probably added to the books of the New Testament at the time they were gathered together, perhaps sometime during the second century. Second, a scribe in seeking a title for this letter might have taken a clue from II Tim. 4:12, where Paul writes, “Tychicus [who carried the Colossian Epistle] have I sent to Ephesus.” Third, it is quite out of character for Paul not to address the recipients of his correspondence directly and intimately. According to Acts 19—20 the apostle had lived and worked three years in Ephesus. It seems incredible that he would not have mentioned in this Epistle some of the individuals whom he knew personally at Ephesus. A perusal of the letter reveals that many of his readers were not well known to him (1:15; 3:2; 4:20-21). The conclusion to which these facts lead is that the letter was not written primarily for the church at Ephesus.
(4) Of the suggestions concerning the recipients of the Epistle, three merit passing consideration. First, Paul addressed the letter originally to a particular congregation, but the salutation and personal greetings were omitted later so that the Epistle could be used more generally. In due time, however, the letter became identified with Ephesus. This view, needless to say, fails to take into consideration the fact, easily verified from his other writings, that the apostle consistently involves personal matters in his correspondence. For this same reason Marcion's assignment of the letter to the church at Laodicea receives little consideration from scholars.
Second, Paul addressed the Epistle to the whole Christian world5 and not to a particular congregation. It has been conjectured that the introductory greeting might have read originally, “To the saints who are also faithful in Christ Jesus.” But grammatically, this proposal breaks down. Furthermore, parallel usage in Romans, II Corinthians, and Philippians militates against the absence of a place name. Such passages as 1:15 and 6:21 seem to suggest that Paul had particular readers in mind.
Third, Paul addressed this Epistle to a number of churches. Originally, a blank space was left at the place where “at Ephesus” appears, in order that a name might be inserted. In other words, Ephesians is a circular letter. In support of this view are several facts. The general thought of the Epistle is applicable to people in different situations, thereby accounting for the lack of personal greetings such as we find in Paul's other letters. It must be remembered that Paul had labored for three years in Ephesus; yet according to 3:2 and 4:21, some doubt is introduced that Paul himself had brought the readers to Christ. Marcion's designation of it as the letter “to the Laodiceans” would be a natural error if he possessed a copy of the original in which this name had been inserted.
How did the letter circulate? Perhaps Tychicus or some other messenger carried the Epistle from place to place and inserted the name of the particular church to which he was reading it. Also, several copies of the letter might have been created, each one bearing the name of a particular church. The former view appears to be more feasible. It is a fair conclusion to say that Paul addressed this Epistle to the churches of the western part of the province of Asia, among which would be Ephesus, Colossae, Laodicea, Pergamum, and Philadelphia. Perhaps Ephesus received it first and then it circulated throughout the rest of the region. Since it began its circulation at Ephesus, and also since Ephesus was the chief city of the area, the letter eventually became associated with the Ephesian congregation.
C. THE PLACE AND OCCASION OF WRITING
Three explicit notes in the Epistle indicate that Paul was a prisoner at the time of its writing. In 3:1 and 4:1 the apostle speaks of himself as a “prisoner.” In 6:20 he writes of himself as “an ambassador in bonds.”6 Where was Paul when he wrote this letter? Our primary source on this matter is the Book of Acts, which records three imprisonments: (1) Philippi (Acts 16:19-34); (2) Caesarea (Acts 25); and (3) Rome (Acts 28:16 ff.). Since the Philippian imprisonment was only for a single night, it can readily be dismissed as the place from which the letter was sent. While the Caesarean imprisonment was lengthier —more than two years (Acts 24:26-27)—it cannot be sustained as the location of the composition of the letter. The “Prison Epistles” indicate that Paul expected a speedy release (cf. Philem. 22; Phil. 2:24). But the general attitude of the Palestinian Jews toward Paul during his Caesarean imprisonment would give little hope of an early dismissal. Also if Paul had been contemplating an appeal to Caesar, knowing that it would necessitate a trip to Rome, he would not have intimated an early release.
Some commentators have alleged that the imprisonment to which Paul refers in these Epistles is one which he experienced at Ephesus.7 The theory is predicated primarily on I Cor. 15:32, in which Paul asserts that he “fought with beasts at Ephesus.” A second source is II Cor. 11:23, in which the apostle suggests numerous imprisonments. While other internal evidence is mustered in support of this position, there is no explicit biblical record that Paul was ever in prison at Ephesus. The reference to a match with beasts must be taken as a metaphor of the intense opposition he faced from evil men. In all likelihood his Roman citizenship and his influential friends in Ephesus would have saved him from imprisonment there.
The most reasonable view is that the Epistle to the Ephesians, as well as Philippians, Colossians, and Philemon, was written while Paul was a prisoner in Rome. The references to “the praetorian guard” (Phil. 1:13, NASB) and to the saints “that are of Caesar's household” (Phil. 4:22) most certainly suggest a Roman setting. Moreover, Paul lived in comparative freedom in Rome while his trial was pending (Acts 28:30). For two years he occupied his own house and thus was able to give attention to any necessary correspondence with his churches in the Aegean area.
If the Roman theory as to the place of writing is correct, what is the sequence of composition of the “Prison Epistles”? Usually the order is conceived to be the following: Onesimus, the runaway slave of Philemon of Colossae, appeared in Rome and came under the influence of Paul. After his conversion he was sent back to his master in company with Tychicus, a native of the province of Asia, who carried the letter to Philemon. In the little letter Paul appeals for leniency for Onesimus. Prior to Onesimus' and Tychicus' departure, Epaphras, one of Paul's colleagues who probably founded the church at Colossae, apparently arrived from that city with some word concerning the spiritual condition of the church there. Thus Paul took advantage of the anticipated trip of Onesimus and Tychicus to Colossae to address a letter to that church (Col. 4:7-9). The completion of the Epistle to the Colossians also provoked Paul to dictate one for all the churches in western Asia. This letter, known as the Epistle to the Ephesians, was also delivered by Tychicus (Eph. 6:21).
The similarity of language and ideas of Colossians and Ephesians supports the view that they were composed together. Ephesians is an expansion of several ideas which are only embryonic in Colossians. By checking cross-references to Colossians, the student of Ephesians will discover the striking linguistic and conceptual similarity between these two Epistles. In this commentary, occasionally, and particularly where the likeness is important, the reference to the Colossian letter has been noted.
D. THE THEME OF THE EPISTLE
Bruce laments the fact that Paul's thought has been so exclusively identified with the doctrine of justification by faith that the insights of Colossians and Ephesians have been “overlooked, or felt to be un-Pauline.”8 Unquestionably, Galatians and Romans, out of which has come the emphasis upon the key teaching of justification by faith, are pivotal Epistles. They occupy a distinctive position as far as the apostle's message is concerned. In Ephesians, however, we possess the most succinct statement of Paul's central doctrine: “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: not of works, lest any man should boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them” (2:8-10). Thus, equally important for an understanding of Paul's thought are the insights of the Ephesian letter.
Ephesians, along with Colossians, introduces us to the apostle's concern with unity. Von Soden has commented that Ephesians is “above all a hymn of unity.” Paul seeks to demonstrate that the redemptive plan of God involves essentially the unity of man and the cosmos with himself. At the heart of the order of things there exists a deep rift. Man and God are tragically alienated. Likewise the world in which man lives is disunited, naturally, morally, and socially. Discord is the most characteristic trait of man himself and the world around him. For Paul, Christ is God's answer to this disharmony. The apostle makes his point explicit in 1:10: “That in the dispensation of the fulness of times he [God] might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and. which are on earth.” More specifically, with regard to the profound separation of Jew and Gentile, “the mystery of Christ” is that “the Gentiles should be fellowheirs, and of the same body, and partakers of his promise in Christ by the gospel,” thus bringing unity. This is all “according to the eternal purpose which he purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord” (2:11-18; 3:1-13).
According to Ephesians, Christ's work of unity begins experientially with the newness of life which man, touched by the grace of God, enjoys. The weighty little phrase “in Christ” is thematic. Paul writes in 1:3: “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ.” To be “in Christ” has many dimensions, among which are adoption (1:5), forgiveness of sins (1:7), sealing with the Holy Spirit (1:13), resurrection from spiritual deadness (2:1-6), reconciliation unto God (2:13-18), putting on of the robe of righteousness (4:22-24), the experience of holiness (3:14-21), and sensitive ethical and social living (cc.5—6).
As an instrument of reconciliation and unity, God creates the Church, which is Christ's body. Through the Church, God unites Jews and Gentiles, thereby removing the history-long enmity. Christ reconciles them both “unto God in one body by the cross, having slain the enmity thereby” (2:16). Jews and Gentiles become in Christ “one new man, so making peace” (2:15). Gentiles who were once “far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ” (2:13) and together with the Jews enjoy “access by one Spirit unto the Father” (2:18). The Church as the body of Christ witnesses to the fact that cleavages, be they ever so deep, can be removed. These are the “cleavages of nation, race, color, class, religion and culture which engender bitter hostility and threaten our world with annihilation.”9 When the Church is really the Church, she is a unit like a household, a commonwealth of citizens with equal rights, and indeed a holy temple in which the Holy Spirit dwells (2:19-22).
The Church—in the Pauline sense of the Church universal—is always a unity, possessing one Spirit, holding fast to a single creed, and growing in likeness to her Head, Christ, by the ministry of her charismatic leaders (4:1-16). Morever, subjected to her Lord, the Church is led to the experience of sanctification, for which Christ died with the expectation “that he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish” (5: 22-33).