Paul's Letter to the Ephesians

By John S. Torell

The city of Ephesus at the time of the apostle Paul was an important Roman city on the coast line of the Mediterranean Sea. It was an important trade center and the Roman government had invested in the city with a series of public buildings.

It contained a number of different temples of Roman deities, but the most famous of them all, was Diana, and a lavish temple had been built to this goddess of wild animals. She was also a fertility deity and women called on her to become pregnant. The temple of Diana was an elaborate structure and a number of silver smiths in the city fabricated mini shrines of the temple in silver, and thousands of people purchased these artifacts, so that they could have private worship of Diana in their homes.

When the apostle Paul came to Ephesus around 57 A.D. to visit the Christians who lived there, more and more people came to Christ. and The silver smiths that made the shrines of Diana, started a riot, since they felt that their livelihood was threatened. It is estimated that Paul wrote the epistle to the church in Ephesus around 60-61 A.D., when he was in prison in Rome.

The letter that Paul wrote to this church is a master piece and it contains a wealth of information about Christ, His atonement for the human race and most of all, that salvation is by grace, not by works. Paul wrote that his knowledge of Christ did not come from people, but that he had direct revelations from the Holy Spirit.

It is in this letter that we learn that when Jesus ascended up into heaven after His resurrection, that He first went back down to Paradise. He took with Him all the saints from Abraham to all the Old Testament prophets and the people that believed in the future Messiah, and brought them with Him, as He ascended into heaven.

It is in this letter that Paul sets forth the offices in the church: apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers. Paul also warned the Christians not to grieve the Holy Spirit.

Paul also did a teaching on marriage and what the different roles husbands and wives have, including how to raise children and what responsibilities children have.

The Letter to the Ephesians is a must read for every Christian.