In our contemporary world, it is usual for the writer of a letter to start with some such formula as “Dear…”, and to append his or her name at the end. This was not the custom in Paul’s time. The writer then introduced himself immediately; thus, at the beginning of the letter to the Ephesians, we read: “Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus…” While this introduction served to authenticate the letter, the fact that it was normally borne by a trusted emissary, in this case Tychicus (6:21), meant the origin of the letter was known before it was read to the assembled ecclesia, for this appears to have been the practice (cf. Col. 4:16, 1 Thes. 5:27). The salutations which stand at the beginning of Paul’s letters possess a special interest for they are in a sense a distillation, an epitome of his theology, and this we shall discover as we examine the first two verses of the letter.
Paul writes as an accredited apostle of Christ Jesus, “through the will of God” (v.1). It is accordingly not as an ordinary person that Paul is now communicating with his readers. In our studies of John 13-17 [“The Way to the Father”, May 2004 -Dec. 2005]. we saw how the Lord Jesus was careful to stress the fact he was also an apostle, “one sent”. His authority derived from the fact his Father had sent him into the world: “…I came forth and come from God; for neither have I come of myself, but he sent me” (John 8:42). Our Lord is thus supremely God’s apostle, a fact recognized in Hebrews 3:1, where we are called upon to “consider the Apostle and High Priest of our confession, even Jesus”. It was this fact, of being sent and commissioned by God, which established Jesus of Nazareth as God’s apostle.
Now the Lord knew he would go to the Father and that others would be his accredited representatives after his ascent into heaven. It is for this reason that in those final words to the faithful eleven the Lord emphasises the role to be played by them during his absence with the Father: “As thou didst send me into the world, even so sent I them into the world” (John 17:18). The record in the Book of Acts shows how faithfully they discharged their apostleship. However, to the ranks of the Twelve one was added who was to be the apostle, the one sent to the Gentiles; it was he who received a special revelation on the Damascus road (Acts 9:1-19). Years later, in his defence before Agrippa, Paul refers to his experience, and quotes the words addressed to him by the Lord who would deliver his apostle from the people of Israel, and from the Gentiles to whom he was sending him (Acts 26:17). Earlier, in his words from the stairs of the tower of Antonia, he had referred to a subsequent and confirmatory revelation when the Lord Jesus had given him the reassurance: “Depart: for I will send thee forth far hence unto the Gentiles” (Acts 22:21).
At the opening of Ephesians, a letter which we know to have been intended for a number of ecclesias, we can understand why Paul would invoke the authority invested in him as a specially commissioned apostle to the Gentiles. He did not invariably mention his status as apostle in all his letters. Thus, in addressing himself to the Philippians, with whom he had the most cordial of relations, he is content to refer to himself and Timothy as “servants of Jesus Christ” (Phil. 1:1).1
We note in the salutation in the Ephesian letter, Paul mentions that, while he is indeed in a special sense the apostle of Jesus Christ, this is through the will of God. He thus brings himself in line, as he so often does, with the teaching of the Lord Jesus who, as we have reminded ourselves above, could commission the apostles with an authority he himself had received from his Father. None had greater love and reverence for the Lord Jesus than Paul himself, and yet he knew the Lord God was sovereign. Worthy of notice in this connection is the lyrical outburst at the end of Romans 11: “For of him, and through him, and unto him are all things. To him be the glory for ever. Amen.”
All is ultimately subject to God’s will, a truth which explains everything relating to the Lord Jesus. His mission is epitomised in the quotation of Psalm 40, quoted in Hebrews 10:7: “Then said I, Lo, I am come (in the roll of the book it is written of me) to do thy will, O God” (v. 7). The moving evidence of this lies in the anguished prayer of Gethsemane: “O my Father, if this cannot pass away, except I drink it, thy will be done” (Matt. 26:42). The prayer he has taught all his followers contains these words: “Thy will be done, as in heaven, so on earth” (Matt. 6:10).
We come now to consider the recipients of the letter; they are the saints who are also “the faithful in Christ Jesus” (NIV, NRSV, REB). The description of the believers as “saints” indicates the status conferred on all who, by faith and baptism, become members of God’s new society in Christ Jesus. Before the promulgation of the terms of the covenant God made with the Israelites in the wilderness,2the Lord God informed them that if they observed the conditions He was laying down they would be a special people.
These conditions need to be quoted in full, for they have a special bearing upon the nature of the new covenant and the conditions attaching to it:
“Now therefore, if ye will obey my voice indeed, and keep my covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto me from among all peoples: for all the earth is mine: and ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests, and an holy nation” (Exod. 19:5,6).
Underlying this passage is the basic notion of holiness, a people set apart for the express object of doing God’s will.
The echo of this fundamental passage is clear in Peter’s words as he addresses the followers of the Lord Jesus:
“But ye are an elect race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people of God’s own possession, that ye may shew forth the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvellous light” (1 Peter 2:9).
It is thus that those who embrace the offer of salvation in the Lord Jesus inherit the privileges and responsibilities forfeited by Israel as the result of disobedience. Thereby the great prophecy of our Lord uttered shortly before his death was fulfilled:
“Therefore say I unto you, The kingdom of God shall be taken away from you, and shall be given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof” (Matt. 21:43).
All this is implied in the use of the term “saints” in the New Testament; it means that every follower of the Lord Jesus is not only to be separate from the world with its practices: he must also show forth God’s “excellencies”, producing the fruit of the spirit (Gal. 5:22). This calls for submission to God’s will in all circumstances. The promises inherent in the new covenant exceed by far those available to the Israelites in the wilderness. This requires total faithfulness, and Paul’s estimate of those he was addressing was that they were “faithful”.
We have two words in English — “belief” and “faith” — and while we have a verb corresponding to the first, “to believe”, we talk of “having faith” instead of “to faith” (as a verb). The Greek is simpler: pistis (faith), pisteuo (to have faith) and pistos (faithful); the relationship between the three is evident. When Paul describes his readers as “faithful” he is recognizing that their faith is active and productive. In our consideration of faith, we are encountering the first fundamental necessity in man’s relationship with God, and none was more convinced of this than the Apostle. As he declares: “For I am not ashamed of the gospel: for it is the power of God unto salvation… as it is written, But the righteous shall live by faith” (Rom. 1:16,17), a fundamental truth endorsed in resounding terms in Hebrews 11:6: “And without faith it is impossible to please God…” (RSV). [See the Digression below: “The structure of the early section of Romans”.]
It is this grace which Paul mentions in the second verse of his salutation: “Grace to you and peace from God and the Lord Jesus” (Eph. 1:2). The reflections in which we have already engaged in our brief consideration of the letter to the Romans have reminded us of the importance of grace. Here, in this second verse, grace is coupled with peace but this connection, too, has been anticipated in the earlier letter to the Romans: at the beginning of chapter 5 faith, peace with God and the access to divine grace through our faith are all brought before us (see vv. 1,2). “Peace” (Hebrew “shalom”) we know to be the conventional Jewish greeting; to this is now added the mention of God’s grace.
The associations of Biblical peace are rich and varied. The Old Testament had spoken of one who would be “the prince of peace” (Isa. 9:6), whose government would inaugurate an endless peace upon the throne of David (v. 7); Micah also speaks of the man of Bethlehem Ephrathah who would be the peace (5:5). While such passages prophesy the future benefits of the righteous reign of the Lord Jesus, his task at his first coming was to conquer sin, man’s deadliest enemy, thus removing in his person the enmity between God and man. About this we hope to write at greater length when we come to Ephesians 2. It must suffice for the present to note that there Paul speaks of the one who is “our peace”.
When we ponder the blessings brought to the believer by the redemptive work of the Lord Jesus, we can see how appropriate was the salutation: “Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.” Some of the lovely features of Paul’s letters are the terms he occasionally employs to describe the God he served and whose he was (cf. Acts 27:23). Thus in the letter to the Romans, he speaks of “the God of patience and comfort” (15:5), “the God of peace” (v. 33, and again in 16:20).
While our new life in the Lord can bring us peace, this experience does not come automatically. It is in the contemplation and cultivation of certain qualities that this peace can be found. So much Paul taught his beloved Philippians: first, he mentions the need for us to be free from anxiety, by using the resources of prayer with thankfulness (4:6,7). Then he rehearses the lovely things on which the mind should dwell; when this is done, and only then, will the God of peace be with us (vv. 8,9). Paul was doubtless familiar with his Lord’s words, with their invitation to come to him in order to find freedom from our anxieties (Matt. 11:28-30).
(Next: God’s gracious purpose of redemption preceded the foundation of the world)
- The variations in Paul’s salutations are significant. We have noted that in addressing the Philippians he does not refer to his apostleship. This is the case also at the beginning of 1 Thessalonians and 2 Thessalonians and is an evidence of the affectionate relationship he had with these Macedonian believers. Likewise, in addressing Philemon, doubtless a convert of his, he does not invoke his apostleship. Where it is appropriate, and this is a token of Paul’s courtesy, he associates with himself others familiar to his readers: (a) 1 Corinthians 1:1, Sosthenes (see Acts 18:17); (b) 1 Thessalonians 1:1, Silvanus (Silas) and Timothy (see Acts 17:15); (c) 2 Thessalonians 1:1, Silvanus; and (d) Philemon 1, Timothy. It may surprise us that in his two letters to Timothy and Titus, two close associates, he introduces himself as an apostle; it is, however, his apostleship which establishes the authority of these instructions.
- The book of the covenant must not be confused with the book of the law. The former is expressly mentioned in Exodus 24:7; the terms are set out in chapters 20-24. It was ratified by blood (see Exod. 24:4-7) and was thus a precursor of the new covenant in the blood of the Lord Jesus. The book of the law was more comprehensive, and a copy was lodged by the Levites at the side of the ark (Deut. 31:25,26). It was doubtless this ancient copy which was found in the renovation of the Temple in the days of Josiah, the reading of which had such a profound effect upon the king (2 Chron. 34:15-19).
The Origin of the Organic World – Part One