Exegesis Chapter 3

Ephesians 3:14-21 “For this reason I kneel before the Father, from whom his whole family in heaven and on earth derives its name. I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with the power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your heart through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge- that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in

Paul more than anyone was responsible for the spread of the Jesus movement into the Gentile world. By the end of the first century Christianity had become an important religious force. Paul while respectful of its Jewish origins moved the Christian faith into a position where it was no longer bound by Jewish law and was able to embrace people of any cultural background. After his own conversion, Paul passionately espoused his message from the Palestinian world through Asia Minor and southern Europe to Rome, the heart of the empire. Some of his letters by Paul to fledgling churches throughout the Roman Empire are contained in the New Testament and outline Paul 's theology. He insisted that Gentiles had as much access to the faith as Jews and that freedom from the Law set everyone free. It was this teaching which was essential for the development and success of the early church which would otherwise have remained another Jewish sect.

The first letter to the Christian community was sent from Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy, though Paul was the main author. Paul was writing to them to clear up their misunderstandings about the return of Christ, also considers it as instructions in holy living. Paul wrote about his longing to visit the church in Thessalonica but

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.

Paul is the author of the book of Titus. The book of Titus was written around the years 63-65 A.D. The letter was addressed to Titus who was a gentile and a companion of Paul. Paul called Titus his “True son”. Titus along with First and Second Timothy are called Pastoral Epistles. The reason for being categorized that way is because the letters emphasizes the reason for having leaders within the church. (Votaw, Clyde W. pg.130-38) The book 's theme is instructions to Titus on how to run the churches in Crete and to encourage Titus in faith. The first readers of this letter would be Titus, some of the leaders within the Crete churches, Zenas and Apollos who Paul gave the letter to give of Titus. Paul and Titus most likely visited Crete

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

Paul left Ephesus after an attack from a local silversmith resulted in a pro-Artemis riot involving most of the city. During his stay in Ephesus, Paul wrote four letters to the church in Corinth admonishing them for their pagan behavior.

Paul wrote to the Romans from Corinth during his three month stay. Paul was on a missionary trip passing through the east and was on his way to Rome. It was one of two letters; One to Rome and the other to Ephesus. They must have already had churches started in Rome because “We can safely assume that the church was not planted by an apostle”(Schreiner pg.11). The Church was most probably started by Jewish Christians.

Paul’s plan for evangelism led him to what was considered the “civilized world” of the Roman Empire, leaving to others the centers of Judaism – Palestine, Alexandria, and Babylon. Paul’s movement westward was from Antioch to Cilicia, Galatia and Pamphylia, Asia Minor, Macedonia and Greece, Italy, and Spain. Paul’s strategic plan was to stretch churches and the gospel from Antioch throughout the entire region. Paul’s strategy was to take his teachings to the metropolis areas instead of the smaller cities and towns. His thought was that his influence in these large areas would bring others that could carry on his teachings into these regions. As past history shows, Paul’s timeframe for teaching is limited due to being driven out of the cities by force before his work was completed. There were 2 cities where he was able to spend considerable time, Corinth and Ephesus. These cities were of utmost importance to him and were

The apostle Paul foresaw at the end of his life a great tsunami of attacks coming against the church of God. He responded with three letters. We call them the Pastoral Epistles: 1, 2 Timothy and Titus. After Paul’s first imprisonment, he visited different places including the Island of Crete, an Island only 160 miles long south of Greece and Turkey in the Mediterranean Sea. He wrote this letter to Titus around 62 A.D. from somewhere in Macedonia. Paul’s main objective is to encourage Titus and give instructions about Godly living as a young pastor. The churches in the Island of Crete needed leadership, correction and order thus Paul could not be everywhere. Paul at some time had visited the island of Crete for he says in Titus 1:5 “I left you

The City of Ephesus was a city of wealth, and was impacted by Christians greatly for centuries. “Ephesus was founded by Ionian Greeks at a location where

Paul visited Ephesus on his first missionary journey, on the way from Greece to Syria. After his third missionary journey, he stayed there and pastored the Ephesian church for 3 years (Easton, np). “Though Paul was not the first to bring Christianity to Ephesus, for Jews had long lived there, he was the first to make progress against the worship of Diana” (Orr, np). Because of his strong ties to the church, Paul cared deeply about the faith of the believers there (Macarthur, np).

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

At the outset of the letter of Ephesians it expresses that Paul was the creator. Despite the fact that the letter expresses this, it has been addressed if Paul was truly the creator. It is normal that Paul composed the letter close to the time he composed the letter to the Colossians, and most likely was still in prison. "The canonicity of Ephesians has never been in debate. Its title shows up among the titles in each known rundown since Marion's Instrument of A.D. 140"(Wood, 19). Right now the general population were not precisely beyond any doubt of their motivation and Paul offered them some assistance with realizing what it is that God expects of them. The general population were in a universe of disarray, they didn't comprehend what to

During the time the letter was written, most believe that Paul was in a prison in Rome. He wrote three letters at around the same time. One letter was to the Colossians; one letter was to Philemon, whose slave, Onesimus, had recently run away; the final letter was to the church that Paul had started in Ephesus. The messenger that carried the letters to the church of Colossae most likely passed through the sea port and great city at Ephesus. Working in Ephesus for at least two years, Paul expanded the reach of the Gospel to the entire