Perspective: Life as the Body

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Life as the Body

(A Synopsis of the Letter to the Ephesians)

God revealed his hidden design to us, which is according to his goodwill and the plan that he intended to accomplish through his Son.  This is what God planned for the climax of all times: to bring all things together in Christ, the things in heaven along with the things on earth.

Ephesians 1:9-10 (CEB)

We are one in the Spirit; we are one in the Lord

We are one in the Spirit; we are one in the Lord

And we pray that our unity will one day be restored

And they'll know we are Christians by our love, by our love

Yeah they'll know we are Christians by our love

From "They'll Know We Are Christians by Our Love" by Peter Scholtes

Not long after I started this blog, I considered blogging through St. Paul's Letter to the Ephesians.  I started making plans for a series of posts, but they never materialized.  My studies of the letter back then only yielded one blog post.  My personal Bible studies have recently brought me back to this epistle, and I have decided to write not a series of posts on parts of the letter but rather a single, relatively short post on the entire letter.

What follows is my synopsis of St. Paul's Letter to the Ephesians.

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St. Paul writes his letter to the church in Ephesus because he wants to make sure that his readers understand what God has done for all of humanity and what it means for our lives together.

God has raised Jesus Christ, the Son of God who was crucified, from the dead and has lifted Him up to His rightful place at God's right hand.  God's intention is that we, who were dead in our sin, may be raised with Christ, become like Him as adopted children of God, and become co-heirs with Him.  What God has done for us through Christ and what God is doing in us through the Holy Spirit are not things we have earned; they are gifts that we receive through faith.

God's plan is not only to reconcile us to God but also to reconcile us to each other.  In Christ, God has broken down the walls that divide us and has made us one.  Together we are built into a single structure of which Christ is the cornerstone, and together we are formed into a single body of which Christ is the head.

Being united together as the Body of Christ has numerous implications for our lives together.

Life as the Body means living according to a higher standard.  If together we make up the Body of Christ, then we must strive to live as Christ lived, following His example of self-sacrificial love.

Life as the Body means being equipped to carry out the ministry of Christ.  Each of us is entrusted with spiritual gifts that are meant to build up the Body as a whole.  We are given different spiritual gifts so that we may carry out different roles in the community of faith.

Life as the Body means trading our old destructive patterns for new ways of life.  We are to take off our old selves, like a worn-out garment, and to put on our new selves.  This means trading lying for honesty, trading destructive wrath for anger channeled constructively, trading fraudulence for productivity and generosity, trading ungracious talk for encouragement, trading bitterness and malice for forgiveness and kindness, and so forth.

Life as the Body is a life lived in the light.  We have been liberated from darkness, so we must not return to it but must rather continue to walk in the light.  Whether we are walking in light or in darkness will be made evident by the "fruit" produced by our lives.

Life as the Body means living in mutual submission to each other.  Those who make up the Body of Christ are to "submit to one another in love."  Even those who are given privilege and power by society are to submit to those who would normally be expected to submit to them.  In fact, their privilege and power give them special responsibilities to other people.

Life as the Body is a battle against the forces of evil.  This battle is not against flesh-and-blood human beings, but against "principalities and powers" - those invisible, insidious forces that oppress humanity.  Again, our enemies are not people but rather demonic forces of injustice.  Spiritual battles require spiritual armaments like truth, righteousness, a readiness to share the Gospel, faith, salvation, and the revelations of God.

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Here ends my synopsis of the Epistle to the Ephesians.  I do not claim that it a definitive synopsis or even a complete one.  I do hope that it inspires you to read the letter for yourself, and I hope that it serves as a helpful introduction to the letter.

The Preaching of St. Paul at Ephesus was painted by Eustache Le Sueur in 1649.