Exalting Christ in Ephesians: The Church of Ephesus

Now that we've explored the context of the letter of Ephesians and the cultural context of Ephesus, we're going to look at bit at the local Church, as described in Exalting Jesus in Ephesians by Tony Merida.

It's not an exaggeration to say that the church of Ephesus was birthed under opposition. It would be hard to read about the culture of the day and not think that. The church was made up of some Jewish believers that were in Ephesus before Paul ever went there (Acts 18:24-27), but it was mostly Gentile. "The Ephesian churches were perhaps made up of about 30-40 people, meeting in homes. Since they hadn't seen Paul in about 7-8 years, "They needed instruction. There may have been a lack fo unity amount the pre-Paul converts and those who came later, as well as division between the Jewish and Gentile groups....[It is no wonder, then, that] Ephesians mentions union with Christ and being 'in Christ' more than any other letter, about 36 times" (page 13).

The author concludes his description of Ephesus by stating something I think is especially important in 2019: "Remember, may of us still live in a culture filled with idolatry, superstition and the occult, demonic activity, public sexual immorality, materialism, a love for education devoid of God, and the worship of political leaders. Remember, the Gospel of Jesus Christ is powerful enough to break through these forces and bring people to saving faith in Jesus Christ" (page 12).

How can understanding the cultural and historical contexts for the book of Ephesians give us greater insight into the Truth it proclaims? 

*for a fictional representation of the Church of Ephesus in the late first century, check out Francine Rivers' 2nd book in the Mark of the Lion series, A Voice in the Darkness.