Paul’s Letter to the Ephesians

Introduction to Ephesians

Ephesus was one of the “epicenters” of Paul’s church planting ministry. While he taught in the lecture hall of Tyrannus for two years, people from all over the region of Asia came to be discipled by him. They, in turn, went back to their hometowns and started churches. In a sense, these churches were Paul’s spiritual grandchildren.

The letter to the Ephesians is actually a letter that was designed to be distributed to all the “grandchildren” churches in the region in Asia. That is why it has less of a personal flavor than most of Paul’s other letters.

While Paul was in prison in Rome, he received word that there was continual racial tension between the Jewish Christians and the Gentile Christians in these churches. Through this letter Paul sought to remind the believers in the region that Jesus had destroyed the dividing wall between the Jews and Gentiles and had created one new man out of the two. This new man is the body of Christ, the church. This letter gives very practical instructions on how to live as the healthy body of Christ.