1 ¶
Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, to the saints which
are at Ephesus, and to the faithful in Christ Jesus:
Paul is
speaking here to the Christians at Ephesus and to Christians throughout the
ages who would read this letter. You do not do injury to the verse by taking
that tack. Imagine that Paul is also writing this letter to you.
Paul is an
apostle by the will of God and we are saved by the will of God.
John 1:12 But as many as received him, to them gave he
power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: 13 Which were born, not of blood, nor of the
will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.
Paul is an
apostle. An apostle is separated unto God.
Romans 1:1 Paul, a servant of Jesus
Christ, called to be an apostle, separated unto the gospel of God,
An apostle
is a preacher and a teacher.
1Timothy 2:7 Whereunto I am ordained
a preacher, and an apostle, (I speak the truth in Christ, and lie not;) a
teacher of the Gentiles in faith and verity.
Bible students will always argue whether or not there
were apostles other than the eleven and Paul or whether or not Junia in Romans
16:7 was representative of female apostles.
Romans 16:7 Salute Andronicus and Junia, my kinsmen, and
my fellowprisoners, who are of note among the apostles, who also were in Christ
before me.
That is whether its meaning is that Junia was esteemed
by the apostles or was an apostle of note as it can read either way. But, if
there were more apostles than the twelve or if Junia was an apostle let’s not
forget that some seventeenth century Baptist churches had female deacons to
monitor and protect the chastity of females in the church and at the Baptisms.*
*H. Leon McBeth, The
Baptist Heritage: Four Centuries of Baptist Witnesses (Amazon Digital
Services.)
Ephesus, now only ruins about 2 to 3 miles southwest of
Seljuk, Turkey, was one of the great Greek and Roman cities of the ancient
world with a one-time population of more than a quarter of a million people
plus one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, the Temple of Diana,
mentioned in Acts, chapter 19. It is also called by some scholars the Temple of
Artemis, which is confusing, as I’ve read articles that said Artemis was a
different Greek goddess than the Ephesian Diana. Others say Diana is the Roman
name for Artemis.
The church at Ephesus would have met in someone’s home as
there were no church buildings as such until the late second century. The
church at Ephesus could have been composed of several house churches as Romans
16:5; 1 Corinthians 16:19; Colossians 4:15; & Philemon 1:2 reveal.
“The saints which are at Ephesus,” is an interesting phrase.
Saints, in the Bible, are those set apart or sanctified by God. The church is
composed of God’s saints, His sanctified ones.
1Corinthians 1:2 Unto the church of
God which is at Corinth, to them that are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to
be saints, with all that in every place call upon the name of Jesus Christ our
Lord, both theirs and ours:
Faithful is another interesting word. To be careful is to be
full of care or worry.
Philippians 4:6 Be careful for
nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let
your requests be made known unto God.
To be fruitful is to be productive.
Genesis 1:22 And God blessed them,
saying, Be fruitful, and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let
fowl multiply in the earth.
To be joyful
is to be full of joy.
1Kings 8:66 On the eighth day he sent
the people away: and they blessed the king, and went unto their tents joyful
and glad of heart for all the goodness that the LORD had done for David his
servant, and for Israel his people.
So, there
are many other words that end in –ful that denote a quality of being filled
with something or like dreadful, causing someone else to be filled with
something. Faithful, then, in this context implies that the saints are full of
faith and faith implies obedience to God’s will.
Numbers 12:7 My servant Moses is not so,
who is faithful in all mine house.
A faithful
Christian is full of faith.
Acts 6:5 And the saying pleased the
whole multitude: and they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy
Ghost, and Philip, and Prochorus, and Nicanor, and Timon, and Parmenas, and
Nicolas a proselyte of Antioch:
Acts 6:8 And Stephen, full of faith
and power, did great wonders and miracles among the people.
Acts 11:24 For he was a good man, and
full of the Holy Ghost and of faith: and much people was added unto the Lord.
So, those in
charge in any church body should be also.
1Corinthians 4:2 Moreover it is
required in stewards, that a man be found faithful.
In the
context in 1 Corinthians it is faithful, holding the mysteries of God in faith,
as in faithful to God’s doctrines for Christians to live by, trust in, and
believe.
1 Corinthians 4:1 ¶ Let a man so account of us, as of the
ministers of Christ, and stewards of the mysteries of God. 2 Moreover it is required in stewards, that a
man be found faithful.
So, here
Paul sends his salutations and greetings to the saints, God’s sanctified ones,
at Ephesus, those who are filled with faith in Christ Jesus, and to you, if you
fit that qualification.
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