Ephesians 1:1

From Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, to the saints [in Ephesus], the faithful in Christ Jesus. 

The Apostle carried the ultimate authority at the time this was written. And that Paul was an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God also means that his appointment was not by a committee or a church, but by the Father Himself. 

This is important because, at the time, the church was nascent and required a source of authentic truth. Paul needed to define his distinctiveness so that people would take him as seriously as they should among the different voices.

The truth he wants to share is not for argument or debate; it is the truth that Christ Jesus himself put His stamp on.

ABOUT PAUL

Paul's salvation was spectacular. He was struck down and was probably afraid for his life (Acts 8:1-3; 9:1-31), and he was blinded by a light that was brighter than the sun. And he was in that state for three days. 

The point I am making is that he was hijacked to be an apostle. Before his hijacking, he thought he knew it all, having been a well-trained Pharisee (Acts 22:3) and an observant Jew to the core. 

He was not your average Joe. He was marked by zeal. He was sure; he was persuaded that the right course of action was to stamp out anything that had to do with Jesus Christ. 

He would later refer to himself as having been "a blasphemer and a persecutor, and an arrogant man (1 Timothy 1:13)." 

By those would be the descriptions farthest from his mind when he requested authority from the high priest to arrest those who were associated with Jesus, as we have in Acts 9. 

Before them, he put some in prison. Not just men, but also women.  

The point is, he had his own plans. But later, by revelation, he said that God separated him from his mother's womb to deliver his message.

But when the one who set me apart from birth and called me by his grace was pleased to reveal his Son in me so that I could preach him among the Gentiles, I did not go to ask advice from any human being, (Galatians 1:15-16)

He was not among the 12; It seems God has a reason for that. Paul said it was for Christ to display His patience through him. 

But here is why I was treated with mercy: so that in me as the worst, Christ Jesus could demonstrate his utmost patience, as an example for those who are going to believe in him for eternal life. (1 Timothy 1:16)

That patience tells us that Christ is not a man like us, and He does not reject anyone because of their history. 

The people Paul wanted to imprison are now the ones he is supposed to work with. Very awkward, right? Those people he wanted to kill, he was now supposed to be part of them. 

No wonder the Jews wanted to kill him. He was the definition of a conversion. He was a credible witness and therefore a threat to the whole system. He was also a judgment on those who have not converted. 

He was convincing, as he mixed: 

• Personal revelation/conversion: no reason not believe him. He has zero incentive to lie. The 12 apostles could be accused of having an incentive to lie.  
• Scriptural information: no reason not to believe him since he was a well-trained Pharisee, meaning vast in scriptures. The 12 apostles could be accused of being ignoramuses.
• The Resurrection: no reason not to believe because there is no body to be found, and Paul had every incentive to disprove Christianity. The 12 apostles could be accused of trying to hide things.

And then there was the powerful collective testimony of the growing Christian body.

So when Jews reject his message, he said it was because they are spiritually blinded and are stubborn (Acts 28:27, Romans 10:21). His very existence removed the ground from their excuses.

And Paul acknowledged the grace of God that worked in him (1 Corinthians 15:10), including for his writings (Romans 15:15-16) that are now called scriptures (2Peter 3:15-16) - the very word of God himself. 

ABOUT THE WORD OF GOD

The word of God is not just God's syllable, but God's truth. 

In John 17:17, Jesus prayed, "Set them apart in the truth; your word is truth."

There are three words of God (all referred to as truth), if you will. 

a. Jesus: The Living Word (John 1:1-2, Revelation 19:13, John 14:6)

b. Scriptures: The Written Word (2 Timothy 3:16-17, John 10:35)

c. Inspiration: The inspired Word (Matthew 4:4, John 16:13)

We can describe the third as the Holy Spirit's communications to our hearts (Luke 12:11-12). Which may not be syllabic, but impressions, which may be difficult to put into words, and sometimes we may not be aware of them. 

But one thing that holds everything together is the scriptures, the 66 books that constitute the bible, on which Paul's authority is stamped on a good number of them, including this book of Ephesians.

• We would not know Christ, who is the Word of God, apart from the scriptures. We are talking about incidents that happened thousands of years ago. Though we were not there, they are the guaranteed truth. 
• We do not truly know God without the scriptures. And we know Him from the background of His millennia-long interaction with humanity, through which we observe His character.
• We would not know the gospel, the truth that saves us, without the scriptures. 
• We would not distinguish between the Holy Spirit and other spirits without the scriptures (1 John 4:1-3).

So Paul would, in the next six chapters, unveil the divine truth that we may not know in any other way, except through his writing. 

Of course, God chose him to purposely write these things, for the benefit of you and me, for the benefit of the billions of His children who have come before us. And if we are not the last generation before Jesus comes, that would come after us. 

It is the unchanging truth, without the need for an upgrade. 

It is the word of God coming through the apostle of Christ Jesus (our ascended Lord) to the people of God, called the saints, who Paul also called faithful in Christ Jesus. 

Saints are the identity, reflective of the act of God to separate us to Himself, and "faithful" is about how our life reflects that separation on an ongoing basis.  

Rejecting Money-For-Blessings Schemes in the Church

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