Ephesians is unique in that Biblical scholars believe it was a circular letter. That is, it was sent to several churches in Asia Minor, Ephesus probably being the first church to receive it. Most of our modern translations will have a footnote at ‘in Ephesus’ that will say something like ‘other manuscripts omit in Ephesus, or the earliest manuscripts omit in Ephesus.’ They believe that originally when Paul wrote the letter there was a blank space where the name of the city should be allowing it to be circulated to several churches by just inserting their name. The earliest manuscript of this section of Ephesians is named p46 and while it doesn’t contain the words ‘in Ephesus’ it also doesn’t have a blank space for a name. Read the introduction articles in your Bible Dictionary and Study Bibles for more information.
Paul spent three years at Ephesus on his third missionary journey (Acts 20:31). His ministry there is recorded by Luke in Acts 19:1 through Acts 20:1. One phrase that Paul repeats over and over in the Pastoral Epistles is ‘in Christ, in the Lord, in Christ Jesus, in the Beloved, in Him, etc.’ Even in the little letter of Philemon there are five uses if I counted correctly. They are somewhat hard to count like the old brain teaser where you counted the number of f’s in a sentence and usually came up short. In that brain teaser they reasoned that most people failed to count all the f’s because some were in words that were unimportant. Repeated words or phrases are always important when you are studying a portion of Scripture. Paul’s letter of Ephesians has a lot of these phrases but what does Paul mean when he uses them? In last week’s blog we noticed that anyone not ‘in Christ’ was not saved. This theology can be traced back to Jesus Himself. Note John 15:4-7:
4 Remain in me, and I in you. Just as a branch is unable to produce fruit by itself unless it remains on the vine, neither can you unless you remain in me. 5 I am the vine; you are the branches. The one who remains in me and I in him produces much fruit, because you can do nothing without me. 6 If anyone does not remain in me, he is thrown aside like a branch and he withers. They gather them, throw them into the fire, and they are burned. 7 If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you want and it will be done for you.1
Kenneth Keathley writes:
The importance of the prepositional phrase “in Christ” and other similar expressions can be seen, in part, by noting how many times the New Testament uses them. Of the biblical writers, John and Paul employ the expressions most often. Paul uses “in Christ” (38 times), “in Christ Jesus” (51 times), “in him” (21 times), “in the Lord” (44 times), and other similar expressions no less than 216 times. Clearly, “in Christ” is not an empty phrase, a throwaway line, or a space-filler expression to the apostle. His repetition is not a mantra. Paul’s repeated use of the term reveals that it is the central key to the apostle’s doctrine of salvation and perhaps even his whole theology. However, since “in him,” “in Christ,” “in the Lord,” and so forth, are so ubiquitous in his writings, we sometimes tend to gloss over them and miss their true importance. Besides, the expressions seem abstract and difficult to understand.2
Theologians often refer to this Scriptural idea as our ‘Union with Christ.’ Slow down as you read this epistle and contemplate what Paul is saying when he uses these phrases.
1Christian Standard Bible. 2020. Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers.
2Keathley, Kenneth. 2014. “The Work of God: Salvation.” In A Theology for the Church, 545. Nashville, TN: B&H Academic.
Paul spent three years at Ephesus on his third missionary journey (Acts 20:31). His ministry there is recorded by Luke in Acts 19:1 through Acts 20:1. One phrase that Paul repeats over and over in the Pastoral Epistles is ‘in Christ, in the Lord, in Christ Jesus, in the Beloved, in Him, etc.’ Even in the little letter of Philemon there are five uses if I counted correctly. They are somewhat hard to count like the old brain teaser where you counted the number of f’s in a sentence and usually came up short. In that brain teaser they reasoned that most people failed to count all the f’s because some were in words that were unimportant. Repeated words or phrases are always important when you are studying a portion of Scripture. Paul’s letter of Ephesians has a lot of these phrases but what does Paul mean when he uses them? In last week’s blog we noticed that anyone not ‘in Christ’ was not saved. This theology can be traced back to Jesus Himself. Note John 15:4-7:
4 Remain in me, and I in you. Just as a branch is unable to produce fruit by itself unless it remains on the vine, neither can you unless you remain in me. 5 I am the vine; you are the branches. The one who remains in me and I in him produces much fruit, because you can do nothing without me. 6 If anyone does not remain in me, he is thrown aside like a branch and he withers. They gather them, throw them into the fire, and they are burned. 7 If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you want and it will be done for you.1
Kenneth Keathley writes:
The importance of the prepositional phrase “in Christ” and other similar expressions can be seen, in part, by noting how many times the New Testament uses them. Of the biblical writers, John and Paul employ the expressions most often. Paul uses “in Christ” (38 times), “in Christ Jesus” (51 times), “in him” (21 times), “in the Lord” (44 times), and other similar expressions no less than 216 times. Clearly, “in Christ” is not an empty phrase, a throwaway line, or a space-filler expression to the apostle. His repetition is not a mantra. Paul’s repeated use of the term reveals that it is the central key to the apostle’s doctrine of salvation and perhaps even his whole theology. However, since “in him,” “in Christ,” “in the Lord,” and so forth, are so ubiquitous in his writings, we sometimes tend to gloss over them and miss their true importance. Besides, the expressions seem abstract and difficult to understand.2
Theologians often refer to this Scriptural idea as our ‘Union with Christ.’ Slow down as you read this epistle and contemplate what Paul is saying when he uses these phrases.
1Christian Standard Bible. 2020. Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers.
2Keathley, Kenneth. 2014. “The Work of God: Salvation.” In A Theology for the Church, 545. Nashville, TN: B&H Academic.
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