David Black Epistle To The Ephesians

Paul’s missionary journey took him and his companions into the great city of Ephesus in late summer of A.D. 52, where they stayed an ministered for approximately three years. His ministry not only flourished in Ephesus, but reach beyond to the other providences within the area. Luke shares that Paul came to Ephesus and found some disciples in the area that were believers, but had not received the Holy Spirit. These disciples were believed to be those baptized unto John the Baptist’s baptism. So, he laid his hands on them and they received the Holy Spirit (Act 19:1-7). Through his discipleship and teaching, “all the residents of Asia, both Jews and Greeks, heard the word of the Lord” (Acts 19:10). The Epistle to the Ephesians is believe not to have been written until Paul’s imprisonment in Rome toward the end of his life around the early 60s.

His letter is seen by many scholars as a sermon or speech, but different from his other writings because of the receivers. According to Thomas Lea and David Black, the recipients of this letter may not be known, which suggest a lack of contact with the readers. Therefore, the specific purpose and exact occasion cannot be deduced from the evidence presented in the text. However, there are some detailed aims that Paul wanted to address with the congregation. He specifically wanted to concentrate on three distinct Christian attributes, which included unity, truth concerning the church, and daily walk. According to D.A. Carson and Douglas Moo, “Paul thought his readers needed to be exhorted to pursue unity and a distinctively Christian ethic; there is an emphasis on cosmic reconciliation in Christ, in general there is an effort to give Paul’s readers a distinctively Christian