Galatians
Paul addresses this letter to the “churches of Galatia” (Gal. 1:22And all the brethren which are with me, unto the churches of Galatia: (Galatians 1:2)), a province of central Asia Minor. We know from the book of Acts that Paul twice traveled through this region, on his second journey (Acts 16:66Now when they had gone throughout Phrygia and the region of Galatia, and were forbidden of the Holy Ghost to preach the word in Asia, (Acts 16:6)) and again on his third (ch. 18:23). The Galatians were principally Gentile, never under law, and brought into the knowledge of God through the preaching of the gospel.
The Epistle to the Galatians is short and to the point. The subject is a most critical one, the corruption of the gospel of the grace of God. There were those who would seek to mingle Judaism with Christianity. Judaism was earthly in character, adapted to man in the flesh. Christianity is heavenly in character and totally sets aside man in the flesh.
Outline
The brief, five-verse introduction in chapter 1 is key to the entire book. “Grace be to you and peace from God the Father, and from our Lord Jesus Christ, who gave Himself for our sins, that He might deliver us from this present evil world, according to the will of God and our Father” (Gal. 1:3-43Grace be to you and peace from God the Father, and from our Lord Jesus Christ, 4Who gave himself for our sins, that he might deliver us from this present evil world, according to the will of God and our Father: (Galatians 1:3‑4)). We have been delivered from this present evil world; any teaching that brings us back into that sphere is a corruption of the gospel.
The first two chapters address the subject of Paul’s apostleship (received quite apart from those prominent in Jerusalem) and his special calling as the Apostle to the Gentiles (ch. 2:7). In the third chapter we have law contrasted with grace and promise. The law, coming between the promise (Gen. 12:33And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed. (Genesis 12:3)) and Christ, in no way voided the promise. Faith and blessing go hand-in-hand, as does the law and the curse (Gal. 3:10,1410For as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse: for it is written, Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them. (Galatians 3:10)
14That the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ; that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith. (Galatians 3:14)). The fourth chapter contrasts the legal condition of Israel under the law with the saints under grace and Christ. God sent forth His Son to redeem those under the law that we might receive sonship (ch. 4:45).
The contrast between the Spirit and the flesh is the subject of the fifth chapter. The liberty that we enjoy does not give us license to sin. Recognizing this, our natural tendency is to seek to restrain the flesh by placing it under law. But we are to “walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh” (ch. 5:16). Regardless of the dispensation, the solemn principle stands: “Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting” (ch. 6:78).
The sixth chapter presents practical principles in which we are to continue together. In Christianity it is the law of Christ: “Bear ye one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ” (ch. 6:2). As to circumcision, they were not to trouble him; the Apostle bore in his body the marks of the Lord Jesus physical scars received for his faithfulness to the gospel (ch. 6:17).
Ephesians
Ephesus was a prosperous city in the western coast of Asia Minor and home to the great temple of the goddess Diana. In Acts we read of two visits by Paul to that city on his second and third missionary journeys. The first occasion was brief (Acts 18:19-2119And he came to Ephesus, and left them there: but he himself entered into the synagogue, and reasoned with the Jews. 20When they desired him to tarry longer time with them, he consented not; 21But bade them farewell, saying, I must by all means keep this feast that cometh in Jerusalem: but I will return again unto you, if God will. And he sailed from Ephesus. (Acts 18:19‑21)), while the second extended to more than two years (ch. 19:1,10). Paul’s last journey ended in Jerusalem, and it was during the final leg of that voyage that Paul called for the Ephesian elders from Miletus (see Acts 2019Serving the Lord with all humility of mind, and with many tears, and temptations, which befell me by the lying in wait of the Jews: 20And how I kept back nothing that was profitable unto you, but have showed you, and have taught you publickly, and from house to house, 21Testifying both to the Jews, and also to the Greeks, repentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ. (Acts 20:19‑21)). Paul’s trip to Jerusalem ultimately resulted in his imprisonment at Rome, where he penned this letter.
The Counsels of God in Christ
In the Epistle to the Ephesians we have the most elevated development of truth. The Apostle unfolds the counsels of God concerning Christ and the church, His body (Eph. 1:22-2322And hath put all things under his feet, and gave him to be the head over all things to the church, 23Which is his body, the fulness of him that filleth all in all. (Ephesians 1:22‑23)), counsels that had their origin before the foundation of the world (ch. 1:4). Romans begins with man in the depths of his depravity, but Ephesians begins with the “the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ” and the blessings He has showered on man “who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ” (ch. 1:3). We are chosen in Him, having been marked out beforehand for adoption through Christ Jesus to Himself, accepted in the Beloved, in whom we have redemption, in whom also we have obtained an inheritance, in whom also, having believed, we are sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise (ch. 1:4-13). The first chapter concludes with the church in union with Christ, head to (not over) it.
In Ephesians we are found before God in all the fullness of blessing in Christ. It is new life-quickened together with Christ in a new position (ch. 2:5-6). With the believer seated in the heavenlies in Christ Jesus, there is no mention of the Lord’s coming. (The only other epistle of Paul with this distinction is Galatians, and that for a very different reason.) In the second chapter, we have the house “builded together for an habitation of God through the Spirit” (ch. 2:22).
In chapter 3 Paul begins, “For this cause I Paul, the prisoner of Jesus Christ for you Gentiles” (vss. 12), but then interrupts himself with a divinely inspired parenthesis and develops the subject of the mystery. The Gentiles are brought into blessing quite apart from Israel: “That the Gentiles should be fellow-heirs, and of the same body, and partakers of his promise in Christ by the gospel” (vs. 6). The prayer that closes the chapter is addressed to the “Father of our Lord Jesus Christ” (vs. 14) and concerns that which we have through Christ as Son. In contrast, the prayer of the first chapter addresses “the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ” (ch. 1:17). There we learn what He has accomplished through Christ the Man.
The Practical Walk
In the fourth chapter, the Apostle starts, “I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called” (vs. 1), beginning the practical consequences of that which has preceded (particularly ch. 2:20-22). There is a walk suited to the position described. Though in Ephesians we have a mystery revealed, the book is not in any way mystical, but intensely practical (ch. 4:16).
The Lord, having ascended up on high has given gifts to men (vs. 8). Everything necessary for the edifying of the body flows down from the head.
From verse 17 through to verse 22 of the fifth chapter we have practical exhortations for our walk. “Put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.... And grieve not the Holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption” (ch. 4:24,30).
The remaining portion of the fifth chapter on into the sixth applies the truth borne out in the earlier chapters of a godly order in our earthly relationships. Like Israel of old, we have a land, a heavenly land, which is ours to enjoy. However, “we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places” (ch. 6:12). But we have One, as Joshua did, in whom we find our strength. “Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of His might.... Wherefore take unto you the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand” (vss. 10,13).
N. Simon