Today, the city of Ephesus is a ruin located in Turkey. In the First Century A.D. Ephesus was the capital of the Roman province of Asia. It was also a major commercial center with a cosmopolitan culture. The Apostle Paul spent considerable time in Ephesus evangelizing and discipling the body of believers. The Letter to the Ephesians was written during one of several times that Paul was in prison, most likely in Rome. (1)
In Chapter 3, Paul tells of his calling to minister to the Gentiles and God’s plan for Gentile believers. The chapter ends with a prayer, from which we all can receive a blessing:
For this reason I bow my knees before the
Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its
name, that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be
strengthened with power through His Spirit in the inner man, so that Christ may
dwell in your hearts through faith; and that you, being rooted
and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what
is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of
Christ which surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled up to all the fullness
of God.
Now to Him who is able to do far more
abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works
within us, to Him be the glory in the church and in
Christ Jesus to all generations forever and ever. Amen.
(Ephesians 3:14-21 NASB) (2)The first part of Chapter 4 continues with an appeal to the reader:
Therefore I, the prisoner of the Lord, implore you to walk in
a manner worthy of the calling with which you have been called, with all
humility and gentleness, with patience, showing tolerance for one another in
love, being diligent to preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of
peace. There is one body and one Spirit, just as also you
were called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one
baptism, one God and Father of all who is over all and through all and in
all. (Ephesians 4:1-6 NASB) (3)
I pray that we will treat each other with patience and tolerance through the humility, gentleness and love that Christ gives us. Peace be with you all.
(1) Falwell,
Jerry, et al. Liberty Commentary on the New Testament. Thomas Nelson
Inc., 1978.
(2) https://biblehub.com/nasb/ephesians/3.htm
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