Book Of Ephesians: Chapter Analysis

The Apostle Paul’s strategic mission of expanding the church and spreading the Gospel was significant considering the challenges he had to conquer. His life and example was and is applicable to modern cross-cultural leaders and organizations. Philippians 2 is a letter written by Paul to the church of Philippi. It was prepared during his imprisonment in Rome for spreading the Gospel of Christ in an area where people predominately and traditionally believed in Judaism. His writing in this passage highlights Christ as the ultimate example of humility and Paul’s encouragement to his followers to keep the unity, as they are the light of the world.

Paul wrote the letter to Ephesus in regards to Christians and how their lives should be directed and it explains how Christ has made the ultimate sacrifice and the results of that sacrifice. Some of the results and benefits include spiritual blessings, the gift of salvation through hearing the word of the truth, and the ability to grow closer to God. Also in Paul’s letter, it provides Christians, new and old, an instruction booklet of how we should live our lives according to how God would want us Christians to live our lives. Such information includes what roads are needed to take in order to get closer to God, how achieve spiritual gifts and powers from the Holy Spirit, and the way to protect against the attacks from the evil one. Ephesians 3:16-18 is spoken in the second part of Paul’s letter when he talks about the gift of salvation. Paul prays that his people may be fulfilled with the power through his Spirit in the inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your heart through faith.

Paul's letters to the church, also known as epistles, are considered some of the most important documents in the New Testament. Paul's writings continue to shape and forge church even today. His letters were written in some of the darkest, most intense moments of Paul's life, but they also celebrate the grace, love, and life changing power of Jesus. Paul's journey in faith is shown in raw, unapologetic honesty, and inspires Christians to maintain a forward momentum, and to run the race Paul speaks so passionately about in Hebrews 12:1. Paul is able to write with both confidence and humility as he writes about the Christian journey.

The book of Ephesians is one of Paul’s many New Testament letters, or epistles, to the Christian church still in its infancy. At the time of its writing, Paul is in Rome, imprisoned for championing the purposes of Christ and growing the church. We see numerous occurrences where Paul, being a man of little concern for the status quo, is either imprisoned or fleeing capture by Jewish or Roman officials for usurping the latter (Acts 19: 23-41). The date of Paul’s letter to the Ephesians is dated 60-61A.D., depending on differing research. While this is certainly one of his epistles known as the “prison letters”, Ephesians was penned prior to Paul’s first roman

As I elaborate on the theme, “Equipping Saints for Ministry in the New Millennium”, I will discuss Paul’s words in Ephesians 4 to illustrate

In the first close reading of the text, I discovered Paul articulated his desire for all believers to be of the same attitude or frame of mind as Christ. Creating a sense of relationship with God through the example of the servanthood of Jesus. This study revealed the traits of Christ’s life and character found in verses: “he was formed of God” (2:6), “emptied himself’ (2:7), “in human form” (2:8), “name above every name” (2:9), “every knee should bend” (2:10), and “every tongue confess … glory to God” (2:11). Looking at each verse, challenged me to read between the lines and wonder what might be happening within the church of Philippi. Textual Criticism

A literary analysis is the practice of looking closely at small parts to see how they affect the whole. Literary analysis focuses on how word techniques are used by the author to create meaning. One of the reasons that Paul penned his letters in Ephesians was to bolster areas that were weak in the church. In addition to that, Paul wanted to clarify central beliefs that may not have been well-defined. Probing Paul’s letter with such a supposition, reveals several frailties among the Ephesian that Paul needed to encourage and reinforce. One of these weaknesses are amalgamated with the word riches, which is present throughout the letter in Ephesians. In this portion of the essay I will break a portion of the text down into parts, in order to examine the different elements of this piece of literature, by analyzing a portion of the text.

Paul is writing the book of Romans as an occasional letter to the believers in Rome, whom he has never personally met, but desires to connect with very soon. It appears to be a pastoral letter written in an apocalyptic style, because he is dealing with a church that needs direction. He is writing boldly to them to encourage unity as God’s people. Romans 15:15 attests to the strength of his message when he states, “I have written very boldly to you on some points”. Paul is in essence building a framework of beliefs for believers to view the world around them (Caner & Hindson. 2008. Pg.498). Romans though not a systematic theological message, chapters 1-8 are strong truths for a foundational biblical worldview.

In Ephesians 3, Paul announces himself as a prisoner of Christ Jesus, for the sake of the people. Paul is almost a messenger, he tells the people to live a worthy life, to love one another, and to form a united front in the name of Christ Jesus who gave his life for them. Paul urges the people to follow in God’s footsteps and to be virtuous people, he wants them to live faithful, loving, pure lives as Jesus did. He tells his followers not to let the immoral things suck you in, to ignore the hate, the greed, the deception, and to live as they are “children of the light” (Ephesians 5:8). Paul wants the people to believe in Christ because he has seen Jesus first hand after his blindness being cured and after the resurrection, Paul wants people to live lives that are worthy enough for God, and if you do decent things and are not selfish, Christ will shine on you, bring you light. The rules in the book of Ephesians are given to the people, which say that your actions should reflect what was given up for you, Jesus’ life for the forgiveness of sin. Ephesians is a book of unity of God’s people and tells us the do’s and don’ts of the gentiles. Paul is the leader and spreads the message of God, he explains what is right and what is wrong, while also aiding the people so that they may be in the good grace of God. Good

In Philippians, Paul states “do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your request be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus” (Phil 4:6-7). During the time he is writing this, Paul is under house arrest in Rome for preaching (Elwell & Yarbrough, 290). Even though this is a

Our source of knowledge of the apostolic work of Paul comes first from the Book of Acts. The epistles written by Paul serve to further our knowledge of his mission. These letters were written to churches that he had founded or churches that were known to him. Luke’s account of Paul introduces us to the basic facts about this important biblical figure. A more complete understanding of Paul’s journeys can be gleaned from his letters. These epistles were written almost at the time they occurred and they comprise some of the earliest works contained in the New Testament.

The genre of Ephesians 2:1-10 is an Epistle. The Epistles were letters teaching specific churches or groups of people; often inspired by God. They are split into two categories: Pauline Epistles, written by Paul and traditionally Paul was the first word of the book in Greek, and General Epistles, often referred to as the Catholic epistles and were written to the universal Church. The Pauline Epistles consist of: Romans, 1 and 2 Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, 1 and 2 Thessalonians, 1 and 2 Timothy, Titus, and Philemon. The General Epistles consist of: Hebrews, James, 1 and 2 Peter, 1, 2 and 3 John, and Jude. The interpretive principles of this genre are that it is meant to be read as a whole and in one sitting in order to get the main idea of the passage, one must view the paragraphs as the main unit of thought in the passage, one must know the structure to understand the letter, and one must do background reading to fully comprehend the main concept and the history and culture of the setting.

The theme of his letter to the Ephesians is that believers have been unified in salvation by grace and are called to live like Christ. Ephesians 2:1-8 focused mainly

Paul claims to be the author of Ephesians. In fact, the letter was spread around the world recognizing Paul as the author, early in the church history. However “Since the nineteenth century Pauline authorship of Ephesians has been doubted”(The Baker Bible Handbook, 835).This is because notable differences in language and style have been found between Ephesians and other letters claimed to be written by Paul such us Colossians. Anyways, those who believe it was written while Paul , have concluded that he wrote

In the beginning of the book of Ephesians, Paul specifically states that he is the author of the letter to Ephesians, though the authenticity of Paul’s authorship has been questioned. Signing the name of an influential person of the period was common practice from “the third century BC to the first century AD.” Though it would not be the first time that Paul’s name was forged, Ephesians is not a controversial letter, so if the author did not want to include his own name, he could have written the letter anonymously; also, given moral influence of the text, the author would not have lied for no cause. Ephesians is a bit different from the other letters of Paul in that it does not follow the normal structure he has previously used: “salutation, thanksgiving, prayer, body, ethical exhortations, greetings.” Paul also makes many personal references throughout the book of Ephesians including sharing that he is in prison.