Greeting
Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, To the saints in Ephesus, the faithful in Christ Jesus: 2 Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
In writing to the Ephesians, Paul uses the standard form for ancient letters. The first two verses of his letter to the Ephesians do not form a sentence; they are a formula, or pattern, consisting of three parts. First the author identifies himself; next he indicates to whom he is writing; and then he adds an opening greeting.
The author of this epistle is Paul, originally known as Saul of Tarsus. Trained at the feet of Gamaliel, an eminent teacher in Jerusalem, Saul was a Pharisee and an avowed enemy of Christianity. In his zeal for traditional Judaism he persecuted Christians in Jerusalem and even in outlying regions. In the course of a raid on Christians in Damascus, Saul was confronted in blinding light by the risen Christ, who demanded of him, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?” (Acts 9:4).
Corrected of his folly and converted by the Spirit, Saul the persecutor became Paul the Christian. That, however, was obviously not Paul’s own doing. It came about, he acknowledges, “by the will of God.” But God was not content merely to have Paul as a Christian follower, a disciple and learner. God willed to have Paul serve as an apostle. An apostle, by definition, is someone who is sent out, an ambassador, a representative who speaks for the one sending him. By God’s will Paul speaks as an “apostle of Christ Jesus.” Hence Paul’s words have authority. The letter to follow may come from Paul’s pen, but, regarding the content, Paul the apostle says, “This is what the Lord says.”
Paul addresses his letter to “the saints in Ephesus, the faithful in Christ Jesus.” In our day the term saint has taken on a somewhat different meaning from the one intended here. Common usage is inclined to attach the term to people who have died (my sainted grandmother), or people accord the term to someone whose conduct lifts him above the common run of men (he’s a real saint!).
Paul, however, intends more than that. Literally the term “saints” means “holy ones.” And that is precisely how Paul regards his readers. If we look ahead to verse 4, we hear Paul say they are people whom God chose “before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight” (verse 4). That holiness and blamelessness, of course, can come only through the forgiveness of sins received by faith in Christ. Hence in this letter Paul is addressing believers. We might paraphrase his words, “To the believers in Ephesus who are holy by faith in Christ Jesus.”
Because a few manuscripts do not contain the words “in Ephesus,” some question whether it was intended for the congregation in Ephesus. The content of the letter, of course, is not affected by its destination. It remains God’s inerrant, inspired message for all times and would remain so even if it were a general letter intended for a number of congregations, as modern interpreters tend to claim. It should be noted, however, that the majority of manuscript evidence going back to the earliest times and drawn from all quarters of the church favors inclusion of the words “in Ephesus.”
The third element in Paul’s salutation is the greeting itself. Paul combines two terms, “grace” and “peace.”
The Greek word translated “grace” is similar to the way one Greek person would greet another. “Peace” is the standard Jewish secular greeting—the familiar Hebrew term shalom.
In Paul’s context, however, both are much more than secular terms; they are the grace and peace that come from “God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.” With the term “grace” Paul calls attention to an amazing quality in the heart and mind of God that makes him willing—yes, eager—to give. And a state of peace comes to the person who has received God’s gracious gifts. The two elements of Paul’s greeting to the Ephesians, therefore, go together as cause and effect.
And by way of anticipation, let us note how combining the standard Greek and Jewish greetings and investing them with a new, spiritual meaning is the perfect introduction to a letter that will be saying much about how, in Christ, Jews and Gentiles have been brought together into one body, the Christian church.