Ephesians

 1.  
 
‘Paul,  an  apostle  of  Christ  Jesus  by  the  will  of  God.’  
   
I   have   been   slow   to   pick   up   commentaries   on   any   book   of   the   Bible.   On   occasion,   I   have   wandered  
through   John   Calvin’s   notes   to   try   and   understand   something   difficult  –   Hebrews   6   and   10,   for   instance.  
But  for  the  most  part,  I  have  avoided  them,  for  fear  of  running  to  them  too  quickly.  We  have  the  Holy  
Spirit   in   us,   and   Jesus   promises   that   He   will   guide   us   into   all   truth   (John   14).   Moreover,   I   have   found  
Colin   Smith’s   lecture   on   ‘transformational,   expository   preaching’   incredibly   helpful.   Running   to  
commentaries   before   grappling   with   the   text   can   rob   you   of   the   joy   of   authentic   revelation.   I   say   all   this  
because   I   have   seen   that   at   least   one   commentator   questions   Paul’s   authorship   of   Ephesians.   More  
truthfully,   I   did   not   see   the   commentary   myself,   but   saw   Terry   Virgo’s   review   of   this   particular  
commentary,  in  which  he  mentioned  that  he  was  sad  that  said  author  questioned  ‘Pauline  authorship’.  
From  a  layman’s  perspective,  I  think  that  the  first  line  of  the  letter  makes  it  rather  clear  who  wrote  it.    
 
Paul  is  identifying  himself  not  only  in  name,  but  also  in  purpose.  He  is  not  appealing  to  his  position,  as  
though  there  were  some  kind  of  power  hierarchy  in  the  church.  However,  the  purpose  given  to  him  by  
God’s  sovereign  working  extends  to  him  a  position  of  ordained  authority  –  that  of  apostle.  His  legitimacy  
is  granted  through  God’s  sovereignty  and  the  fact  that  he  is  now  a  servant,  not  a  ruler.  He  also  takes  
pains  to  note  that  he  is  an  apostle  of  Christ  Jesus.  In  other  words,  he  does  not  speak  on  his  own  behalf,  
but  on  behalf  of  the  God-­‐Man  Jesus  Christ.  Paul  is  the  only  apostle  who  was  not  one  of  Jesus’  disciples  
while  he  lived.  Having  been  a  Pharisee  and  zealous  persecutor  of  the  church,  he  hated  Jesus  and  his  
church.  But  by  His  sovereign  will,  the  living  God  broke  into  Paul’s  life  and  appeared  to  him  as  to  one  
‘untimely  born’  (to  quote  Paul’s  own  testimonial  phrase  from  1  Corinthians  15)  on  the  road  to  Damascus  
(Acts  8).  This  is  in  the  wake  of  Paul’s  presence  at  the  stoning  of  the  first  Christian  martyr,  Stephen,  
recorded  by  Luke  in  Acts  7.  Thus,  if  there  is  anyone  who  knows  that  his  current  position  is  entirely  
attributable  to  the  grace  and  sovereignty  of  God,  it  is  Paul.  ‘By  the  grace  of  God,  I  am  what  I  am,’  he  
wrote  elsewhere.  There  is  an  invitation  in  this  very  first  line  to  meditate  on  the  will  of  God.  And  of  
course  this  raises  the  ancient  question  of  predestination  over  against  ‘free  will’.  But,  like  Spurgeon  said,  
what  men  now  debate  as  ‘Calvinism’  is  really  just  the  Bible1.  I  have  recently  read  a  brief  defence  of  ‘open  
theism’,  in  which  it  is  posited  that  God  does  not  have  exhaustive  knowledge  of  the  future,  but  responds  
‘creatively’  to  any  given  situation.  This  is  not  the  appropriate  space  for  a  critique  of  such  theology,  but  as  
part  of  my  meditation  it  is  suffice  to  say  that  open  theism  is  a  dangerous  position.  In  this  instance,  God’s  
call  on  Paul’s  life  would  be  interpreted  as  a  creative  response  to  persecution  of  the  church  (which  God  
                                                                                                               
1  Spurgeon,  ‘A  defence  of  Calvinism’,  available  at  http://www.spurgeon.org/calvinis.htm  
didn’t  quite  foresee).  This  seems  to  me  very  much  a  recreation  of  God  in  man’s  image  (exchanging  the  
truth  of  God  for  a  lie;  Romans  1).  I  do  not  here  see  a  God  big  enough  to  worship,  but  a  picture  of  God  
that  is  small  –  as  though  we  somehow  have  to  defend  the  God  who  created  all  things.  That  Paul  became  
an  apostle  speaks  to  me  so  strongly  of  an  eternally  pre-­‐existent  God  who  has  exhaustively  foreseen  all,  
and  acts  to  work  out  his  sovereign  will.  I  have  found  John  Piper’s  paper  ‘Are  there  two  wills  in  God?’2  to  
be  helpful  in  this  respect,  and  it  is  well  worth  a  read.  

                                                                                                               
2  John  Piper,  ‘Are  there  two  wills  in  God?’  available  at  

http://www.desiringgod.org/resource-­‐library/articles/are-­‐there-­‐two-­‐wills-­‐in-­‐god