Bible Commentary / New Testament
Ephesians
Ephesians presents God’s eternal purpose to unite all things in Christ and to form one new people in Him from Jew and Gentile alike. Its major emphases are God’s saving grace, union with Christ, the church as Christ’s body, holy living, household order, and spiritual warfare. The ESV introduction summarizes the letter…
Literary units
Ephesians 1:1 - Ephesians 1:2
Greeting and blessing
These two verses do more than open the letter. Paul presents himself as an apostle whose commission comes from God's will, addresses the readers as God's holy people and believers in Christ Jesus, and pronounces grace and peace from God th…
Ephesians 1:3 - Ephesians 1:14
Spiritual blessings in Christ
This opening doxology blesses God for the comprehensive salvation he has given believers in Christ. The unit moves from the Father's electing and predestining purpose, to redemption and revelation in the Son, to the Spirit's sealing guaran…
Ephesians 1:15 - Ephesians 1:23
Paul's prayer for spiritual wisdom
After the blessing of 1:3-14, Paul moves into thanksgiving and prayer. He asks not for a new saving reality but for God-given wisdom and revelation so that these believers may grasp three things already tied to their calling: the hope God…
Ephesians 2:1 - Ephesians 2:10
Made alive in Christ by grace through faith
Paul takes the resurrection power described at the end of chapter 1 and applies it to those who believed. Verses 1-3 rehearse their former condition: dead in transgressions, walking in step with the present age, under hostile spiritual inf…
Ephesians 2:11 - Ephesians 2:22
Reconciliation of Jews and Gentiles in one body
Paul moves from the Gentiles' former exclusion in 2:11-12 to the new reality created by Christ's blood. Those once far off from Israel's covenant sphere have been brought near, not by becoming Jews, but because Christ has become peace for…
Ephesians 3:1 - Ephesians 3:13
The mystery of Christ revealed
Paul breaks off his prayer to explain his imprisonment in light of the Gentile mission. The revealed "mystery of Christ" is stated plainly in verse 6: through the gospel, Gentiles are fellow heirs, fellow members of the body, and fellow pa…
Ephesians 3:14 - Ephesians 3:21
Prayer for spiritual strength
Paul returns to the interrupted prayer of 3:1 and asks the Father to strengthen believers in their inner life through the Spirit. The goal is not relief from hardship but a deeper, settled indwelling of Christ through faith, a shared grasp…
Ephesians 4:1 - Ephesians 4:16
Unity of the body and growth in maturity
Paul turns from prayer and doctrine to exhortation: as the Lord's prisoner, he urges a walk that fits their calling, marked by humility, gentleness, patience, and forbearance as they work to keep the Spirit's unity in peace. That charge re…
Ephesians 4:17 - Ephesians 5:21
Put off the old self; live as children of light
Paul moves from the call to maturity in 4:1-16 into a dense sequence of moral contrasts. The readers must no longer walk in the futility, hardness, and moral abandon that marked their former pagan life. What they were taught in Christ is d…
Ephesians 5:22 - Ephesians 5:33
Marriage and Christ's relationship to the church
Paul applies the Spirit-filled pattern of 5:18-21 to marriage with distinct exhortations to wives and husbands. Wives are told to submit to their own husbands in analogy with the church’s relation to Christ, while husbands are commanded to…
Ephesians 6:1 - Ephesians 6:9
Instructions for children, parents, slaves, and masters
Paul extends the household instructions by addressing children, fathers, slaves, and masters. Children are to obey and honor parents, with the fifth commandment cited as scriptural warrant and encouragement. Fathers must not stir up resent…
Ephesians 6:10 - Ephesians 6:20
The armor of God and perseverance in prayer
This closing exhortation gathers the readers into one sustained command: receive strength from the Lord, take up God’s full armor, and hold their ground against the devil’s schemes. The repeated verb is "stand," so the aim is not dramatic…
Ephesians 6:21 - Ephesians 6:24
Final greetings and benediction
This closing names Tychicus as Paul’s trusted envoy, sent to give a reliable report about Paul’s condition and to steady the churches rather than leave them anxious over his chains. The benediction then gathers the letter’s relational and…