When I opened my Bible to the book of Ephesians to begin my research, I was bombarded by all my previous notes I had made in the book. Over time, I have made countless highlights, scribbled in many notes, and even have four different tabs indicating one of my memory verses. Ephesians is a book very close to my heart, and I believe that lots of my connection to Scripture came through reading and studying this book. Not only did I study it with my discipler, but I also have been pointed back here countless times to memorize Scripture about topics like edification and lifting others up. Because of this, I absolutely loved getting to spend more time in the book of Ephesians, and learn all about the history and background of everything that Paul said, and why he said it.
About Ephesus
During its time, Ephesus was one of the biggest cities in Rome. Because of its location on the coast, it was a great hub for trade, especially from boats. This meant that people came from all around, making the city of Ephesus a sort of “melting pot” of ideas, cultures, and beliefs. This is very similar to Corinth, because that city was one populated by many travelers, which increased its diversity in culture and ideas. Another thing that made Ephesus similar to Corinth is its city’s popularity due to a temple. While Corinth was known for its temple honoring Aphrodite, Ephesus had a large temple honored to Artemis, who was the goddess of childbirth and the wilderness. This large temple brought in many people, and is now considered one of the seven wonders of the ancient world. Because of this temple’s popularity, Artemis became an important part of this city’s culture, as well as a big portion of their income. The tourism was great for the city, and people even made small idols for people to buy and take with them.
In fact, the author of the book of Acts makes note of this by mentioning “a man named Demetrius, a silversmith, who made silver shrines of Artemis.” (Acts 19:24). Demetrius actually began a riot against Paul in Ephesus, because Paul’s ministry in Ephesus was counteracting Demetrius’ sales of idols. He says in his announcement to other craftsman that “there is danger not only that this trade of ours may come into disrepute but also that the temple of the great goddess Artemis may be counted as nothing, and that she may even be deposed from her magnificence, she whom all Asia and the world worship.” (Acts 19:27). Clearly, Artemis was a major part of life for all those in Ephesus, so Paul’s visit definitely disrupted the city’s history and flow.
Paul’s Visit to Ephesus
Paul visits the city of Ephesus during his second missionary journey, right after leaving Corinth, and this visit is documented in Acts 19-20. This trip is definitely a roller coaster, because Paul experiences both victories and challenges while declaring the Gospel in this city. “And it happened that while Apollos was at Corinth, Paul passed through the inland country and came to Ephesus. There he found some disciples. And he said to them, ‘Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?’ And they said, ‘No, we have not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit.’” (Acts 19:1-2). Here, some of the first people that Paul encountered were disciples, so their faith was real and authentic, but they still had a lot they didn’t know about the Gospel and salvation. Remember, at this time, news was traveling about Jesus’ death and resurrection, but a lot of it was through word of mouth, because they did not have the New Testament at this time. As I’ve said many times, this is crucial to understanding Paul’s journeys and his letters to these churches, because a lot of what he had to do was clearly explain the Gospel and what it meant for people that devoted their lives to Christ.
Paul had many great encounters and opportunities to show the Gospel, and the book of Acts even says that “God was doing extraordinary miracles by the hands of Paul” (Acts 19:11), but he also experienced much hardship. Paul was there for the riot in Ephesus previously mentioned, which surely must have been difficult, but God was able to bring Him out and bring good from that situation.
One of the last things that Paul says to the members of the Ephesian church during his visit concerned false teachers, in Acts 20:29-30. This is a topic that comes up with every single church Paul visits, because anytime the Gospel is present, there are also false apostles that Satan is using in an attempt to create confusion. After spending the last two years of his life in Ephesus, Paul had done everything he could to spread truth, but he also had seen in the past how false apostles got into a church and completely divided it.
The Book of Ephesians
The book of Ephesians is split into two main topics: the explanation of the Gospel, and the application of it. The very first thing that Paul writes in his letter to the Ephesians is a blessing of what God has done through Jesus Christ, where he lists attributes of someone who has accepted salvation, including being blameless, holy, redeemed, and forgiven. I love this, because Paul mentions Jesus immediately, and shows the church in Ephesus who they are because of the Gospel. Then, he gives thanks for all the members of the church of Ephesus because of their faith and love, and prays that the Holy Spirit would give them wisdom and revelations. Through that, Paul uses chapters two and three to explain what Jesus’ salvation really is and how it relates to everyone who believes. He tells the Ephesians that “by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.” (Ephesians 2:8-9). Paul made it very clear that nothing we can do can give us salvation: the Old Testament stood as proof of that. Then, he takes time to specifically address the Gentiles in Ephesus by telling them that they are now permanently a part of the Lord’s family. “So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God.” (Ephesians 2:19) Paul explains how he has been commanded to share the good news to all people, in order to reveal the Gospel, and prays over the church for spiritual strength to be rooted in love and live for Christ.
The second half of Ephesians explains the “what now?”, beginning with the unity of the church. Paul understands how crucial it is for the church to be united: he has experienced churches divided by doctrine and personal issues, and those churches ended up splitting up or dying off entirely. Because of these past experiences, he explains to the church of Ephesus that the church is like a body: it needs all of its pieces to function properly as one. He explains how one should live their new life, and is especially focused on changing what we say and do. One of my favorite verses comes from this section, because it helps me be cautious and think about what I am saying and why I am saying it. “Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear.” (Ephesians 4:29). Chapter five continues on this new way of life by focusing on love, and how we should treat others. He explains how wives and husbands should interact, by saying that wives should “submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord,” (Ephesians 5:22), and that husbands should “love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her” (Ephesians 5:25). Paul additionally explains how children should obey their parents, and how bondservants and masters treat each other.
Finally, Paul ends with the well-known armor of God. He explains to the church that “we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places” (Ephesians 6:12). By showing that this life is not a battle we wage against each other, and is instead us uniting ourselves with God against the devil, Paul illustrates how important it is for us to have the armor of God. I’m sure most of you have heard of the armor of God, including the belt of truth, the breastplate of righteousness, the shoes of the gospel of peace, the shield of faith, the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit. If you think of the church of Christ as a body, like Paul does in chapter four, we can understand that we all need to be careful in protecting this body against the attacks from Satan that we know are coming.
The book of Ephesians is full of lots of wisdom, and tons of applicable things that are still relevant today. However, one of the most interesting things about the church in Ephesus is that they have not just one book mentioning them, but two.
Ephesus in Revelation
If you are at all familiar with the book of Revelation, you know that it contains seven letters to seven different churches. You can go in a very deep dive into these seven letters, and learn how they not only correspond with the churches that existed at the time John wrote this, but also with periods of time from then to now (deep, right?). I won’t go into all of that right now, but I want to focus specifically on what was said to Ephesus. Here, it was God speaking to the church, and John was simply the person that wrote it down.
“‘I know your works, your toil and your patient endurance, and how you cannot bear with those who are evil, but have tested those who call themselves apostles and are not, and found them to be false. I know you are enduring patiently and bearing up for my name’s sake, and you have not grown weary. But I have this against you, that you have abandoned the love you had at first. Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent, and do the works you did at first. If not, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place, unless you repent. Yet this you have: you hate the works of the Nicotaitans, which I also hate. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who conquers I will grant to eat of the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God.'” (Revelation 2:2-7).
This is a very information-heavy passage, so if you need to read it once or twice more, please take that time, and really try to interpret it and find how you can devotionally apply it to your own walk.
Here, Ephesus receives both good and bad feedback. God says that he recognizes the hard work that the Ephesian church has done, and how they are working hard to stay doctrinally sound and bearing good fruit. However, they abandoned their first love. I can relate to this heavily, because I have experienced times where I was so focused on bearing Godly fruit that I actually allowed myself to lose sight of why I was doing it, because of my love for God. The book of 1 Corinthians explains how important it is for our actions to be rooted in love, even saying that “if I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing” (1 Corinthians 13:3). The church in Ephesus allowed their works to become a routine, and not the fruit of a relationship with Jesus. This is so easy to do, especially if you have been a believer for a relatively long time. Sometimes, we need things like this to remind us of why we are doing what we are doing, and to give us a fresh perspective.
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