I have been considering the Letter to the Ephesians. Despite the fact that Ephesians not only goes beyond and sometimes compromises what Paul wrote in his seven genuine letters, the letter also echoes some of what was central to Paul’s thought. For example Ephesians 2:6-10 concisely summarizes Paul’s affirmation of justification by grace through faith, found in Galatians and Romans. Those verses are:

Both with and in Christ Jesus he raised us up and gave us a place in the heavens, that in the ages to come he might display the great wealth of his favor, manifested by his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. I repeat, it is owing to his favor that salvation is yours through faith. This is not your own doing, it is God’s gift; neither is it a reward for      anything you have accomplished, so let no one pride himself on it. We are truly his handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to lead the life of good deeds which God prepared for us in advance.

The point is not that the author knew Paul’s letters to Rome and Galatia, but that he lived within a Pauline tradition and sought to be faithful to it. His vocation was to express what Paul meant to a later generation. He tried to preserve even as he also tried to accommodate.

If Ephesians is analyzed within the context of Pauline writings, the question of its relationship to the thought of Colossians and other letters of Paul may be fruitfully studied. This is why the letter is attributed to Paul.

The emphasis in Ephesians is principally on the Risen and Exalted Christ, with the significance of his death an underlying assumption. There is little reference to the Second Coming, so prominent in Paul’s other writings. Brief mention is made of the pledge of inheritance, day of redemption, wrath of God, and judgment. The picture given is more that of a Church growing and progressing in history rather than of one waiting for the imminent return of Christ.

The image of the Church in Ephesians is more universal and catholic than in any other Pauline writings. In Romans and 1 Corinthians the body of Christ    refers to the local church, but in Ephesians the body of Christ is the universal Church, of which Christ is the head and every Christian a member. Emphasis is placed on the possibility of joining Jews and Gentiles in one great people of God. The whole Church is the spouse of Christ. The earlier problems with Jewish persecution seem to have been settled.