Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, to the saints who are at Ephesus and who are faithful in Christ Jesus: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. (Ephesians 1:1-2)

From Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by God’s will, to his holy and faithful people in Ephesus who are in union with Christ Jesus. (ISV)

PAUL. The great apostle (Gk. Paulos, "little")

Name. The name Paul, which was used for the first time by the historian in Acts 13:9, "Saul, who was also known as Paul," has given rise to much discussion. The usual theory is that the apostle had a Jewish name, Saul, and a Roman name, Paul. But it is best to understand that Saul’s name was changed as a matter of course when he became a Christian, that the word Paul means "little," and that Paul wanted to be known as the "Little One" in Christ’s service; such changes in the cases of Abram, Gideon, Naomi, etc., are to be noted.

Personal History. Paul was a native of Tarsus, a city of Cilicia (Acts 21:39; 22:3), and was of pure Jewish descent, of the tribe of Benjamin (Phil. 3:5). There is no mention of his mother, and the information respecting his father is meager, namely, that he was a Pharisee (Acts 23:6) and that from him Saul inherited the rights of Roman citizenship (22:28). It will help to better understand the apostle’s life and teaching to remember that he was (1) a Roman citizen; (2) a Tarsian, a citizen of no humble city; (3) a Hebrew; and (4) a Pharisee. The date of his birth is unknown, although an ancient tradition places it as the second year after Christ.

Previous to Conversion. Because it was the custom among the Jews that all boys learn a trade, Paul learned "tent-making," At the proper age (probably about thirteen) he went to Jerusalem to pursue his studies in the learning of the Jews. Here he became a student of Gamaliel, a distinguished teacher of the law (Acts 22:3). He grew more and more familiar with the outward observances of the law, gaining that experience of the "spirit of slavery," which would enable him to understand himself and to teach others the blessing of the "spirit of adoption." Paul is first introduced to us in connection with the martyrdom of Stephen and the persecution that followed, a.d. 36. The learned members of the foreign synagogues endeavored to refute his (Stephen’s) teachings by argument or by clamor. As the Cilician synagogue is mentioned among them, we can readily believe that Saul was one of the disputants. In this transaction he was, if not an assistant, something more than a mere spectator, for "the witnesses laid aside their robes at the feet of a young man named Saul" (7:58). He is described as a young man but was probably at least thirty. After Stephen’s burial Saul continued his persecution of the church, as we are told again and again in Luke’s narrative and in Paul’s own speeches and epistles. He "began ravaging the church," invading the sanctuaries of domestic life, "entering house after house" (8:3). Those whom he thus tore from their homes he committed to prison. And not only did men thus suffer at his hands, but women also, a fact three times repeated as a great aggravation of his cruelty (8:3). These persecuted people were even "punished … often in all the synagogues" (26:11). Stephen was not the only one to suffer death, as we may infer from the apostle’s own confession, "I persecuted this Way to the death, binding and putting both men and women into prisons … also when they were being put to death I cast my vote against them" (22:4; 26:10). His fame as an inquisitor was notorious far and wide. Even at Damascus, Ananias had heard "how much harm" he had done to Christ’s "saints at Jerusalem" (9:13). It was not without reason that in his later years he remembered how he had persecuted "the church of God beyond measure" (Gal. 1:13).

Member of the Sanhedrin. "There are strong grounds for believing that if Paul was not a member of the Sanhedrin at Stephen’s death he was elected into that powerful senate soon after; possibly as a reward for the zeal he had shown against the heretic. He himself says that in Jerusalem he not only exercised the power of imprisonment by commission from the high priest, but also, when the Christians were put to death, gave his vote against them (Acts 26:10). From this expression it is natural to infer that he was a member of that supreme court of judicature. If this inference is well founded, and the qualification for members of the Sanhedrin was that they should be the fathers of children, Saul must have been a married man, and the father of a family. If so it is probable that his wife and children did not long survive; for otherwise some notice of them would have occurred in the subsequent narrative, or some allusion to them in the epistles" (Conybeare and Howson).

Saul’s Conversion. Owing to the persecution of the church the believers were scattered abroad and went everywhere preaching the word. "And Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord," determined to follow them. "Being furiously enraged at them," he persecuted them "even to foreign cities" (Acts 26:11; cf. 8:3; Gal. 1:13; 1 Tim. 1:13). He went to the high priest "and asked for letters from him to the synagogues at Damascus," where he had reason to believe that Christians were to be found. While on his journey to that city his wonderful conversion took place, changing the proud and persecuting Saul into the loving, helpful Paul (Acts 9:3–9). The conflict of Saul’s feelings was so great and his remorse so piercing and deep, that during this time he neither ate nor drank. He could have had no contact with the Christians, for they had been terrified by the news of his approach; and the unconverted Jews could have no true sympathy with his present state of mind. But he called upon God, and in his blindness a vision was granted him—a vision soon to be realized—of his being restored to sight by Ananias. After his restoration he was baptized, communed with the disciples, and "immediately he began to proclaim Jesus in the synagogues, saying, ‘He is the Son of God’" (9:20), a.d. 37. Conscious of his divine mission, he never believed that it was necessary to consult those who were apostles before him, but he went into Arabia (Gal. 1:17). Of the time thus spent we learn further from himself (v. 18) that it was three years, which may mean either three full years or one year with parts of two others. We are not told to what district he retired, or for what purpose—perhaps for seclusion, meditation, and prayer. After he returned to Damascus (v. 17) the Jews took counsel to slay him, but the disciples took him by night and let him down by the wall in a basket (Acts 9:25).

First Visit to Jerusalem. Preserved from destruction at Damascus, Paul turned his steps toward Jerusalem. His motive for the journey, as he himself tells us, was "to become acquainted with Cephas [Peter]" (Gal. 1:18). He tried to join the disciples; but "they were all afraid of him, not believing that he was a disciple" (Acts 9:26). Barnabas became his sponsor to the apostles and the church, assuring them of the facts of Paul’s conversion and subsequent behavior at Damascus. Barnabas’s introduction quieted the fears of the apostles, and Paul "was with them moving about freely in Jerusalem" (v. 28). It is not strange that the former persecutor was singled out from the other believers as the object of murderous hostility. He was therefore again urged to flee, and, by way of Caesarea, he went to his native city, Tarsus. The length of his stay in Jerusalem was fifteen days (1:18), a.d. 39.

At Antioch. While Paul was at Tarsus a movement was going on at Antioch that raised that city to an importance second only to that of Jerusalem in the early history of the church. A large number believed there through the preaching of the disciples driven from Jerusalem, and when this was reported at Jerusalem, Barnabas was sent on a special mission to Antioch. Needing assistance, he went to Tarsus to seek Saul, a.d. 44. It is believed that Paul’s stay in Tarsus was about ten years. After Paul returned with Barnabas to Antioch, they labored together for "an entire year." As new converts in vast numbers came in from the ranks of the Gentiles the church began to lose its ancient appearance of a Jewish sect and to stand as a self-existent community. They were, therefore, first at Antioch distinguished as "Christians"—they that are connected with Christ. While Barnabas and Saul were evangelizing the Syrian capital, certain prophets came down from Jerusalem to Antioch. One of them, named Agabus, announced that a time of famine was at hand (probably a.d. 46). No time was lost in preparing for the calamity. All the Antioch Christians, according to their ability, "determined to send a contribution for the relief of the brethren living in Judea. And this they did, sending it in charge of Barnabas and Saul to the elders" (Acts 11:22–30). This was the occasion of Paul’s second visit to Jerusalem. Having fulfilled their mission they returned to Antioch, bringing with them another helper, John, whose surname was Mark (12:25).

Between the years 47-57 A.D., Paul made three missionary journeys. Near the end of his second journey, he left the city of Corinth, and departed into Syria, taking with him Priscilla and Aquila (Acts 18:1–18). The apostle’s destination was Jerusalem, since he desired to be there on the Day of Pentecost (20:16). He journeyed by the way of Ephesus, where he started the church, leaving his friends Aquila and Priscilla there to continue the work. After visiting Jerusalem for a short time, Paul returned to Antioch where he stayed for a considerable time before beginning his third missionary, journey that took him to Galatia and Phrygia before arriving again at Ephesus where he stayed for about three years as pastor of the church.

Ephesus — the capital of proconsular (under a military commander) Asia, which was the western part of Asia Minor. It was colonized principally from Athens. In the time of the Romans it bore the title of "the first and greatest metropolis of Asia." It was distinguished for the Temple of Diana, who there had her chief shrine; and for its theatre, which was the largest in the world, capable of containing 50,000 spectators. It was, like all ancient theatres, open to the sky. Here were exhibited the fights of wild beasts and of men with beasts. (Comp. 1 Cor. 4:9; 9:24, 25; 15:32.)

Many Jews took up their residence in this city, and here the seeds of the gospel were sown immediately after Pentecost (Acts 2:9; 6:9). At the close of his second missionary journey, when Paul was returning from Greece to Syria (18:18–21), he first visited this city. He remained, however, for only a short time, as he was hastening to keep the feast, probably of Pentecost, at Jerusalem; but he left Aquila and Priscilla behind him to carry on the work of spreading the gospel.

During his third missionary journey Paul reached Ephesus from the "upper coasts" (Acts 19:1), i.e., from the inland parts of Asia Minor, and tarried here for about three years; and so successful and abundant were his labors that "all they which dwelt in Asia heard the word of the Lord Jesus, both Jews and Greeks" (19:10). Probably during this period the seven churches of the Apocalypse were founded, not by Paul’s personal labors, but by missionaries whom he may have sent out from Ephesus, and by the influence of converts returning to their homes.

EPH´ESUS. The capital of proconsular Asia; an opulent city on the W coast of Asia Minor, located on the banks of the Cayster and about forty miles SE of Smyrna. Its harbor was ample.

History. Ephesus was an ancient city when Paul arrived. By the middle of the second millennium b.c., settlers of Asiatic origin inhabited the site. During the eleventh century b.c., Athenians arrived and gradually assimilated the older population. After varying periods of independence and absorption into neighboring empires, Ephesus came into the Roman Empire in 133 b.c. as part of the province of Asia. Though suffering terribly during the civil wars of the first century b.c., Ephesus enjoyed great prosperity under Rome during the first and second centuries a.d., when the city must have had a population of about a half million. Here the Roman governor resided, and here Paul conducted the longest of his city ministries (two years and nine months, Acts 19:8, 10). The city’s importance lay in its political prominence, its economic clout derived from its position on major trade routes, and its religious leadership as a center for the worship of Diana, or Artemis. By the middle of the third century signs of decay appeared in the city, and in 263 Goths raided Ephesus and dealt it a blow from which it never recovered. By the tenth century the prosperous city of Roman times was completely deserted and invaded by marshes.

The word apostle comes from the Greek apoŒstolos, gen. apostoŒlou, masc. noun from aposteŒlloµ (649), to send. The messenger or ambassador (Phil. 2:25 [see also Phil. 4:18]) can never be greater than the one who sends him (John 13:16; Sept.: 1 Kgs. 14:6). The Lord chose the term apoŒstoloi to indicate the distinctive relation of the Twelve Apostles whom He chose to be His witnesses because in Class. Gr. the word was seldom used (Luke 6:13; Acts 1:2, 26). Therefore, it designates the office as instituted by Christ to witness of Him before the world (John 17:18). It also designates the authority which those called to this office possess. It was the distinctive name of the Twelve Apostles originally (Matt. 10:2; Luke 6:13; 9:10; 22:14; Rev. 21:14) or the eleven later, with whom Paul himself was reckoned, as he says in 1 Cor. 15:7, 9, Acts 1:26. Paul justified his being counted as an apostle by the fact that Christ Himself had called him to the office.

However, the denomination seems from the very beginning to have been applied, in a much wider sense, to all who ministered as colleagues of the Twelve and bore witness of Christ (Acts 14:4, 14 of Paul and Barnabas; Acts 15:2; Rom. 16:7 of Andronicus and Junias; 2 Cor. 8:23) and even by Paul (2 Cor. 11:13; 1 Thess. 2:6). This general meaning of the word held its place alongside its special and distinctive application.

There is no continuity of the office of an apostle since in no place were the churches instructed to ordain apostles.

The term is applied to Christ once in Heb. 3:1 who was sent by the Father into the world, not to condemn it but to save it (John 3:17; 17:3, 8, 21, 23; 20:21).

The word will comes from the Greek theŒleµma, from theŒloµ, to will. The suffix –ma indicates that it is the result of the will. Will, not to be conceived as a demand, but as an expression or inclination of pleasure towards that which is liked, that which pleases and creates joy. When it denotes God’s will, as in this case, it signifies His gracious disposition toward something. Used to designate what God Himself does of His own good pleasure.

The word saint comes from the Greek haŒgios; any matter of religious awe, expiation, or sacrifice. Synonyms are holy, set apart, sanctified, and consecrated. Its fundamental idea is separation, consecration, devotion to the service of Deity, sharing in God’s purity and abstaining from earth’s defilement. The description does not indicate personal purity or perfect behavior, but those who have bowed before God and see Him as their Life Source.

The word faithful comes from the Greek pistoŒs and is the adjective form of peéŒthoµ, to win over, persuade. It describes a person who is worthy of belief, trust, or confidence.

The word grace comes from the Greek chaŒris, to rejoice. Grace, particularly that which causes joy, pleasure, gratification, favor, acceptance, for a kindness granted or desired, a benefit, thanks, gratitude. A favor done without expectation of return; the absolutely free expression of the loving kindness of God to men finding its only motive in the bounty and benevolence of the Giver; unearned and unmerited favor. ChaŒris stands in direct antithesis to eŒrga, works, the two being mutually exclusive. God’s grace affects man’s sinfulness and not only forgives the repentant sinner, but brings joy and thankfulness to him. It changes the individual to a new creature without destroying his individuality.

The word peace comes from the Greek eireµ�neµ and means the opposite of war and dissension. By implication, it means a state of tranquility, but can mean health, prosperity, welfare…every kind of good. Peace is the paramount blessing that Israel was looking for in the messianic kingdom and Paul says that it has come from God through Christ Jesus…He is the Messiah! Paul sees peace as the tranquil state of a soul assured of its salvation through Christ, fearing nothing from God and consequently content with its earthly lot, whatever it is. God is in control and we are at peace with Him.

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