Exegetical over Ephesians 3:14-21

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'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

Though Jesus was sinless and undeserving of death, he offered himself as a sacrifice in atonement for all sin (Invitation to World Religions, pg.418). Paul was always emphatic in maintaining that salvation cannot be earned by “works”, whether humans’ effort to obey the commandments in the Torah or excellent work in general. Instead, he taught that the salvation made possible by Christ’s sacrifice is a gift, the ultimate expression of God’s love and grace. Salvation is given to those who respond to God’s grace in faith, the conviction that God has acted through Jesus Christ to amend for human sin. Although Paul was very clear in teaching that salvation depends on God’s grace and the individual’s turning to God in faith, he did not dismiss the importance of works (Invitation to World Religions, pg.419). For Paul, faith does more than bringing salvation; it unites the believers with Christ in a “newness of life”. He believed that the spirit lives in believers and brings them into union with God. As a divine presence within, the spirit encourages the growth of spiritual virtues, the greatest which is love and makes all Christians one in the church often called “the body of Christ”.

Ephesians is a letter written by the Apostle Paul during his imprisonment in Rome. This is the same Paul who had previously persecuted the church. He is not writing to a particular church body, rather his intended audience was various churches in the surrounding vicinity of Ephesus. To encourage

He says, “That He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man.” To be strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man: Paul asked that they would be strengthened with power, according to the riches of God’s glory. He also prayed that the might would come through the Holy Spirit to edify the inner man. There is an inner man, can be described as the inner spirit or soul, and just as real as our physical body. We all understand the importance of strength in our physical body, but many are exceedingly weak in the inner

Paul writes to the Ephesians: I have heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love toward all the saints.

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

Paul is developing and spreading the doctrine of the Church in his letters. The body of Christ (the Church) is being revealed in his letters to the seven churches. Paul’s revelations about the Church concerned its heavenly calling, promise and destiny. The administration and organization of the Church was revealed to us through the apostle Paul.

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).

There are three basic theories concerning where Paul was imprisoned at this time: Rome, Ephesus, or Caesarea. The traditional view regards Rome as the location from which Paul wrote to Philippi and this author believes the internal evidence is too strong to overturn this traditional understanding.

Ephesians 6:10-16: Paul becomes aware of all the evil that stalks the church of Ephesus and he tries to make everybody aware by explaining them their own significance and identity in Christ.

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

I chose to write my paper on Philippians 3:12-21. Before writing this paper I was not entirely familiar with the reasons for Paul’s letters to the church of Philippi. It was an interesting study once I understood the background and reasoning for Paul’s writings. Paul writes a thank you letter to the Christians at Philippi for their contributions and support in his hour of need, and he uses the occasion to send along some instructions on Christian unity. Paul is also giving them an update on his circumstances. Most of Paul’s letter to the church of Philippi dealt with areas such as joy, rejoice, praise, thankfulness, and attitude.

The main message of this passage is that whatever He calls us for to do we shall do it, and hope for the best, to experience the riches of his glorynessasked, and to feel his Almighty power. But be grateful for all that He has done for us. In the passage it is easy to catch that Paul is praying/asking for “Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better.”(olive tree