The Epistle Of Ephesians : Unity And Peace

With the ability to assimilate to various aspects of the universal Roman society, the apostle is able to relate to and address many different types of people. This aspect of his life makes Paul able to apply the collective ‘we’ when instructing believers of opposing backgrounds. Likewise, after his conversion

Throughout human history, our ancestors lived out the Christian faith in their generation. As a result, the faith passed down into their children’s generations, continuously reaching today’s generation. Then, our society changed from a primitive society to a modern society. With the invention of technology, it creates a new direction towards spreading the Gospel. While our ancestors spoke and wrote Gospel in church, my generation use technology to share the Gospel on social media and Bible apps. With the different styles of preaching the Gospel, how can we unite our generations to pursuit God’s purpose?

E. Harrison (p. 275) summarizes the message of the Epistle in these words: The greatest single overall emphasis seems to be on the unity of the local church as the body of Christ, which is brought out not only in connection with the discussion of the groups (i.e.; the factions within the church), but also in relation to the Lord’s Supper and spiritual gifts. A corollary is the sanctity of the church as members of Christ, both corporately and individually, (note, especially, such passages as 1 Cor. 3:16-17 and 6:15-20.) We may add, it is in this Epistle that the Holy Spirit through the Apostle Paul most eloquently sets forth the supremacy of love as “the most excellent way,” which the Christian is called to follow (1 Cor. 12:31b-13:13

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.

They give scripture which identifies the importance of unity. Ephesians 4:14-16 shows how the body of Christ should be unified in the midst of diversity. Leaders should work extra hard to keep the church family worshipping together. The authors condemn chronological snobbery and suggest that both the young and old come together. The young generation must grow up and the older generation needs to adapt.

Paul outlines 3 major ideas in the way that all believers should relate to one another. Paul begins with the posture that we should take with one another. That posture has 3 goals: humble and gentle (without exception), dealing with one another in love, and eager to maintain unity in the church as a whole. Sadly, we have lost sight of this posture not just interracially but also inter-denominationally and cross culturally. While all of these goals are extremely difficult to begin to achieve they are even more necessary to maintain. We are then reminded of the way and reason that we should seek to maintain this unity. That way is through the cross of Jesus Christ where we were reconciled unto God. Because of this reconciliation to God he has

Paul wrote a letter Philemon with the theme of unifying under God. Pual inform Philemon to accept and forgive Onesimus. Paul asks Philemon to take back Onesimus with open arms as a brother under the Lord and not a slave. Through Onesimus and Philemon, Paul teaches readers of the Bible to view everyone as equals regardless of their background of social status. As followers of Christianity, all should unite under God and not run away from others. Onesimus is a new follower of Christ who is rejuvenated and served Paul in prison. Paul argues that the followers of God are brothers and sisters who help each other during hardships. As a family, people will be able to benefit from one another by guiding each other to light of peace with words from

Well we have seen in this above with the introduction that this deals with the humility when it is genuinely exercised and the rewards that are awarded by God. Well let’s discuss through this Philippians chapter two, one through eleven. Before going into the deeper first let us discuss what it says in the first five verses of this chapter. Well though it is always good to hear from the scholars. To say that in the verse one it clearly states that this chapter was linked to the previous chapter, because this chapter was started with “Therefore” which indicates that Paul began with the unity that was ended up in 1:27. This shows that it has four clauses which deals with the Philippians sharing and as well as their experiences. These are stated to promote unity especially through experiences in the people of Philippians. Richard R. Melick Jr. stated in his book of Philippians, Colossians, Philemon commentaries that,

Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. 11 Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. 12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. 13 Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. 14 Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, 15 and with your feet fitted with the

There are many meaningful passages in the Holy Bible, but a passage from the first letter to the Corinthians touched me the most. “Your every act should be done with love” (1 Corinthians 16:14). Readers must read the first letter to the Corinthians as a whole book before attempting to understand the passage, because apostle Paul, the author of the text, provides readers with a thorough understanding into the life of an early Christian community of the first generation than any other book of the New Testament. Paul may have written more, but there are only two epistles documented in the New Testament with the other two included within the two canonical epistles, which he wrote to the Christian church in the city of Corinth. During the year 56, the community of Corinth was manifesting open factionalism: certain members were distinguishing themselves solely with individual Christian leaders, living publicly in an incestuous union, engaged in legal conflicts in pagan courts of law, participating in religious prostitution, and performing temple sacrifices. The lively pagan culture that Corinth was famous for had crept into the church making it difficult to identify the Christians and non-Christians. The

     Immediate: The Passage before this one deals with the Supremacy of Christ. It tells that Christ is God and how he reconciled us to him. The passage after this one deals with living in him. It tells of the fullness that can be found in him. Paul also writes of our forgiveness and how he was triumphant over the cross. Basically Paul tells us of the freedom we have in Christ.

Paul’s epistle to the believers in Ephesus and Asia Minor has a richness and depth that stirs one’s soul. Paul’s deep affection for the Ephesians is evident as he communicates a profoundly transcendent yet highly practical view of living. In this letter, Paul teaches unity in Christ (Eph. 1:10, 2:11-18). This unity, for the Christian, begins with each individual believer, who, through Christ’s indwelling, becomes connected to Christ. This connection, or uniting (as a vine and a branch c.f. John 15:1-17), of Christ and the believer transforms the believer’s inner being—one’s very identity changes (Eph. 4:24). This inner renovation would further change one outwardly—one’s behavior would conform to one’s identity (Eph. 4:25-6:9). Where does the

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

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.

In my passage Ephesian 1:15-23, this is Pauls prayer to Jesus of giving thanks, God has given us so much, and when God gives us a lot our perception can be changed based on how much we get from God, but we are blind because we can never be satisfied so we ask for more. We can build a wall of ungratefulness and never see the “light of God”.