Ephesians 1:1-2

New Verses: Ephesians 1:1-2

1 Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, To the saints who are in Ephesus, and are faithful in Christ Jesus: 2 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. (ESV)

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: 2 Grace be to you, and peace, from God our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ. (KJV)

Greek: 1 Παῦλος ἀπόστολος Χριστοῦ Ἰησοῦ διὰ θελήματος θεοῦ τοῖς ἁγίοις τοῖς οὖσιν [ἐν Ἐφέσῳ] καὶ πιστοῖς ἐν Χριστῷ Ἰησοῦ, 2 χάρις ὑμῖν καὶ εἰρήνη ἀπὸ θεοῦ πατρὸς ἡμῶν καὶ κυρίου Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ.

Transliterated Greek: 1 Paulos apostolos Christou Iēsou dia thelēmatos theou tois hagiois tois ousin [en Ephesō] kai pistois en Christō Iēsou, 2 charis hymin kai eirēnē apo theou patros hēmōn kai kyriou Iēsou Christou.

Literal Word for Word Translation: 1 Paul an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God to the saints who are [in Ephesus] and faithful in Christ Jesus, 2 grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Vocab: ἀπόστολος, apostolos, apostle (sent one); θελήματος, thelēmatos, of will; ἁγίοις, hagiois, to/for holy ones/saints; πιστοῖς, pistois, to/for faithful ones; χάρις, charis, grace/gratitude; εἰρήνη, eirēnē, peace; πατρὸς, patros, of father; θεοῦ, theou, of God; κυρίου, kyriou, of lord/master; Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ, Iēsou Christou, of Jesus Christ; Παῦλος, Paulos, Paul.

Commentary: The term apostle in a general sense pertains to a commissioned missionary/church planter to spread the gospel. In that sense, there are many apostles today. However, Paul is one of those specifically commissioned directly by Jesus (Acts 8:1-18) and his mission was to spread the gospel to the Gentiles. As such, he is one of the original apostles with full authority of Jesus. We are to take the words he writes to the churches as authoratitive and the words ordained to be written by the inerrant inspiration of the Holy Spirit (2 Tim 3:16-17; 2 Pe 3:15-16). As Paul states in verse 1, his apostleship is of Christ Jesus and by the will of God. The apostles of today may have the authority of the gospel and of the Bible along with illumination by the Spirit, but they do not have the same level of authority as the orginal apostles had, who learned directly under Jesus. Paul may have not been one of the original disciples, but he also learned directly from God while in the wilderness of Sinai (Gal 1:11-2:9).

Paul writes this letter from Rome, about A.D. 60, to the churches in Ephesus. It is a clear explanation of the mystery of the gospel as revealed through Jesus Christ with the implications for the believer. It is not meant to be evangelistic in that the letter is addressed to the saints and faithful in Ephesus. The term saint is not a Roman Catholic or Greek Orthodox term, but one that means to be set aside for God’s purposes. All Christians indwelled by the Holy Spirit are indeed holy and set apart for God (Rom 8:28). As such, all are to strive to be holy as God is holy (1 Pe 1:13-2:12).