Final
Ascription and Summary of the Book, Pt. 1
Grace Fellowship Church
Pastor/Teacher, Jim Rickard
5. The Encouragement, vs. 21-24.
Eph
6:24, “Grace be with all those who love our Lord Jesus Christ with
incorruptible love.”
Final ascriptions, not found in
most reliable texts:
Most English translations do not
have anything after APHTHARSIA (incorruptible). Yet, some like the KJV, Wesley,
Young, etc., translations add, “Amen,”
ἀμήν, because it is found in several Greek manuscripts including the Textus
Receptus and Byzantine texts. Yet, the earliest and most reliable Greek
manuscripts do not have this Particle, which gives us firm evidence that
Ephesians did not originally conclude with ἀμήν. In addition, many other books
do conclude with “Amen,” cf. Rom 16:27;
Gal 6:18; Jude 25, thus it is a predictable variant added later, as is the
case here.
Still, other manuscripts include,
“To the Ephesians,” or “The Epistle to the Ephesians is finished,” or “To the
Ephesians, written from Rome,” or the most widely used, “To the Ephesians written from Rome, by Tychicus,” πρός Ἐφέσιος
γράφω ἀπό Ῥώμη διά Τυχικός, because the Stephanus Greek translation included
it. For example:
“The Epistle to the Ephesians,
written from Rome, and sent by Tychicus,” is in the Syriac.
“To the Ephesians,” is in the
Ethiopic. The Vulgate, has no subscription.
“The end of this epistle, which
was written from Rome by Tychicus. Praise be to God for ever. Amen,” is in the
Arabic.
“Written at Rome, and sent by
Tychicus,” is in the Coptic. The Sahidic is defective.
“The Epistle to the Ephesians is
ended, which was written at Rome by Tychicus,” is in the Philoxenian Syriac.
Given that we have found earlier
(older) Greek manuscripts than were available and used by these and other
texts, and what Stephanus used in 1551, they, as well as the Textus Receptus
and Byzantine texts, have been shown to not be as reliable. Therefore, they are
most likely later additions and should not be included in the translation.
As Adam Clarke noted in his commentary,
“We have had already occasion to observe
that the subscriptions to the sacred books were not written by the authors
themselves, but were added in a much later age, and generally by unskillful
hands. They are consequently not much to be depended on, and never should be
quoted as a part of the Divine oracles.” (Adam Clarke's Commentary.)
What is also interesting about
this closing salutation is the absence of personal greetings. This indicates
that whether it was directly written by Paul, (which is most widely believed),
an amanuensis letter, (dictated by Paul but transcribed by another), or even if
this were a pseudonymous letter, pseudepigrapha, (authored by another but using
Paul’s name, which it was not), it was not originally intended for Ephesus,
because a Pauline follower would have realized that Paul had worked there for
an extended period and knew many Christians personally. Likewise, if this was
written or dictated by Paul, there would have been personal greetings to those
he knew well at Ephesus. In addition, the reference to Tychicus, who was from
Asia Minor, confirms that the letter was in all probability written to
Christians in that area and not to the Church at Ephesus. This coordinates with
the variant addition of “who are at
Ephesus” in Eph 1:1 that we
noted at the beginning of this study. “Three of the oldest manuscripts, the Chester Beatty Papyrus (dated
circa 200); the Codex Sinaiticus; and the Codex Vaticanus (usually dated in the
Fourth Century), do not contain the words "at Ephesus." The earliest
extant manuscript containing the words "at Ephesus" is at least two
centuries later than the last two manuscripts referred to above.” (Complete
Biblical Library Commentary.)
Summary of the Book
The first thing we noted was that
the book is divided into two broad sections, “Theological,” Chapters 1-3, and “The
Believer’s Walk,” Chapters 4-6.
We then noted the overall outline
of each Chapter.
The main theme of this chapter was: “God’s Plan for
Salvation.”
Chapter 2 - Outline:
The main theme was: “God’s Way of
Salvation.”
We then broke the chapter down
from three viewpoints:
1. The New Position in the Heavenlies, the new life in Christ. God has
spiritually regenerated sinners, transforming them from death to life, vs. 1-10.
2. The New Position in the Household, unity in Christ. He reconciled
Jews and Gentiles, moving them from alienation to oneness, vs. 11-18.
3. The New Position in the Habitat, the Church is a Temple for the
habitation of God through the Spirit. Gentiles are no longer aliens but fellow
citizens of heaven being formed into a Holy temple for God’s dwelling, vs. 19-22.
II. God’s Grace:
1. Vs. 1-10, speak of the grace panorama
regarding our regeneration, from death to life, and our new position
individually.
2. Vs. 11-17, speak of grace and the
barrier regarding our reconciliation, Jews and Gentiles as one.
3. Vs. 18-22, speak of grace and the
Church regarding being fashioned into the Temple of God.
III. The Analogy: The Temple of
God:
1. The materials for the construction of the temple, vs. 1-10.
2. The method of construction, vs.
11-18.
3. The meaning of the construction, vs.
19-22.
Chapter 3 - Outline:
The main theme was: “Paul’s
Revelation of God’s Plan,” broken down into two main segments:
1. Revelation, Paul’s Stewardship of God’s Mystery Doctrines for the
Church Age, vs. 1-13.
2. Reverence; Paul’s Prayer and Doxology, vs. 14-21.
Within this chapter we noted:
2. The Minister,
Appointed to Proclamation, Eph 3:7-13.
In addition, we noted a
progression of spiritual growth outlined in these passages as well; the
progression from spiritual birth to spiritual maturity that has four basic
doctrines:
1. The Doctrine of the Mystery, vs. 1-6.
2. The Doctrine of Ministry, vs. 7-13.
3. The Doctrine of the Grace Apparatus for
Perception, GAP, vs. 14-18.
4. The Doctrine of the Super Grace Life, vs. 19-21.
That
concluded the Theological aspect of this book. Beginning in Chapter 4 we noted the “Believer’s
Walk.”
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