Ephesians 1:1 Commentary and Bible Study

The word ‘apostle’ simply means a messenger. Sometimes Scripture uses the term of those who were not in the special circle of the Twelve, and it uses the term in its literal sense, a messenger, an evangelist; we don’t use it, or we shouldn’t use it that way today, to avoid confusion. But Paul was more than just a messenger. He was a special representative, called personally by Jesus Christ and called to teach truth, to be a channel of revelation, to write Scripture and, of course, to establish the church. An apostle was technically one who had been with the Lord during his earthly ministry and had been trained by him. Paul was an exception, taught by special revelation – as he says, ‘one born out of due time’ – and he was even taught things that he would never be allowed to divulge while on earth. An apostle was taught personally by the Lord, and this also was true of Paul, although in his case it was the resurrected Lord who appeared to him; he did the signs of an apostle, and he was a channel of revelation. So the term is used of the Twelve and one made up, to occupy the place of Judas, plus the apostle Paul. Paul, even in his conduct, was a God-inspired, given example. ‘Follow me,’ he says. He doesn’t say it arrogantly. God has given him, revealed to him – it isn’t his wisdom – exactly how the church should be governed, how it ought to be organised, how you should conduct yourself as a believer. So under inspiration he says to the people, ‘Be imitators, close followers of me.’ So not only his word is truth, but also the methods that he employed and adopted are a pattern for all the church subsequently, until Christ shall come again. ‘By the will of God,’ we note. He didn’t decide to be an apostle himself, but just like the other eleven, plus Matthias, he was especially commissioned by the Lord, but separately, the only one who was added to that celebrated company. He wasn’t like a pastor, who is recognised and appointed by the church, or a deacon, or an elder. No, the church didn’t appoint Paul either; it was God who appointed him. He was one of that special band who have now passed, now that the Scriptures are given and the church has been founded. ‘To the saints …’, that means literally those who are set apart for God. That is so important. We are saints, if we are saved, set apart, taken out of the world. We are not of the world; we don’t resemble the world. We are trying to reach people in the world and bring them out to the gospel of Christ and to salvation. ‘And to the faithful …’ which means here, not so much to the loyal, which it rather sounds like, but to those who have faith in Christ Jesus. It is about the act of believing, and yet it means more than that and the words ‘in Christ’ should be taken separately. The reason the translators do not translate it ‘those who have faith’ is because the next term on the end of the verse would then read wrongly; it would read ‘those who have faith in Christ Jesus’. But what the verse means is this: To the faithful, to those who have faith, who are in Christ Jesus. It is true we have faith in Christ Jesus but the apostle also says that we are in Christ Jesus, as it were plugged into him, under his wing; we have communion with God and a relationship with him and we have it, because we are in Christ. In so far as we are in relationship with him and he is our Saviour and he has died for us and we trust in his work and his merits, only on those grounds do we have union with God. So we are the ‘set apart ones’ who have faith but, because of that, we are ‘in Christ Jesus’ and we have a vital relationship with him.