The Apostle Paul’s letter to the church at Ephesus is the Biblical focus for IPHC during this year of 2025. I encourage you to prayerfully study this letter to gain fresh insights and anointing for service to our Lord Jesus Christ. It is particularly insightful this year as in November the IPHC global family will gather near Ephesus for our Global Assembly (https://brushfire.com/iphc/globalassembly2025/584052/details).
Ephesus was a significant city in the ancient Roman world with the fourth largest population in the Empire with upwards of 200,000 people. It was the capital of the Roman province of Asia and the home of the famous Temple of Artemis, one of the seven wonders of the ancient world. The archeological ruins are some of the most impressive from the New Testament era. Much of the Apostle Paul’s ministry was connected to Ephesus and the impact of the church was important at the close of the first century and into the second century.
As an introduction, this article is an overview of the New Testament literature that relates to Ephesus. You can read more about this in Chapter Six of my Rediscovering the Role of Apostles and Prophets (Franklin Springs, GA: LifeSprings Resources, 2003). I encourage you to read this study with your Bible opened to the passages described below.
First, Paul’s initial visit to Ephesus is described in Acts 18:18-21. He came to Ephesus from an 18-month ministry in Corinth (Greece) and traveled with his co-laborers Priscilla and Aquila. While on the journey to Ephesus, Paul shaved his head in preparation for a trip to Jerusalem to attend a Jewish feast, probably Passover. While in Ephesus, he visited the Jewish synagogue and preached the gospel. He was well received, and they wanted him to remain longer. However, he told them he had to leave but would return “God willing.”
Second, the Lord opened the way for Paul to return to Ephesus (Acts 19). Upon arriving, he met some Ephesian disciples who knew little to nothing of the Holy Spirit. This was because Apollos, who followed Paul after he left Ephesus, did not comprehend the full gospel. Once instructed by Priscilla and Aquila, who remained in Ephesus after Paul left, Apollos continuedhis preaching in other areas (Acts 18:24-28). This explains why the disciples in Acts 19 were not fully informed beyond the baptism of repentance preached by John the Baptist, which was what Apollos knew.
Paul preached to them the purpose of John’s baptism and that it pointed to Jesus. Acts 19:5-6 reveals the powerful move of the Holy Spirit upon these disciples as they focused their attention on Jesus and received the baptism with the Holy Spirit with the initial evidence of speaking in other tongues.
Paul remained in Ephesus and the surrounding area for more than two years. Jews and Gentiles responded to the gospel message, and after the first three months, Paul essentially started a Bible school that met daily in the hall of Tyrannus. Over his extended stay, the gospel spread throughout Asia Minor (modern western Turkey), and likely, the churches were formed throughout the areas named in Revelation 2 and 3, as well as Colosse and the churches referenced in Colossians 4:13. Furthermore, Paul wrote 1 Corinthians from Ephesus and likely 2 Corinthians (1 Corinthians 16:8, 19). The writing of 1 Corinthians from Ephesus is important as we shall see when we look at the letter to the Ephesians.
Third, Paul left Ephesus and visited churches in Macedonia, which would have included Thessalonica, Philippi, and Berea. He then went south to Greece (Achaia) and probably spent three months in Corinth. Following those visits, Paul again journeyed towards Jerusalem for Pentecost (Acts 20:16; keep in mind this is close to three years after the visit to Jerusalem mentioned in Acts 18:21).
On the journey, Paul stopped at the port of Miletus, which was 36 miles south of Ephesus (Acts 20:17). He stayed there long enough to send someone to call the Ephesian elders to come visit him. His words to them in Acts 20:18-38 are some of the most instructive and heartfelt words in the Bible. Paul reminded them that he preached “repentance toward God and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ,” and that he did not shun “to declare to you the whole counsel of God” (20:21, 27). He reminded them that as ministry elders, they were overseers “to shepherd the church of God” and warned them that “savage wolves” were on the prey (20:28, 30). In this address, Paul reminded them that it had been three years that he spent with them in all his visits and, “I did not cease to warn everyone night and day with tears” (20:31). He even shared a word from the earthly ministry of Jesus that was not recorded in the written Gospels but was part of the oral tradition of the life of Jesus, “It is more blessed to give than to receive” (20:35).
Fourth, the Letter to the Ephesians itself. The similarities between this letter and that to the church at Colosse have often been observed. There are similar themes in 1st and 2nd Timothy as those letters relate to the church in Ephesus. This should not be surprising given the amount of time Paul spent in Ephesus and the impact of his ministry in that region. The letter indicates that Paul was in prison when he wrote it (3:1; 4:1; 6:20). Paul mentions that he sent the letter with “Tychicus, a beloved brother and faithful minister in the Lord” (6:21; Colossians 4:7; 2 Timothy 4:12).
The dating of this letter is likely sometime in the early 60s A.D., perhaps from Rome when Paul was imprisoned. Earlier, I referenced the connection to the Corinthian church, especially in 1stCorinthians. Topics Paul discussed in Ephesians regarding sexual morality, the meaning of marriage, and the spiritual gifts of Christ in Ephesians 4 are all related to the problems Paul addressed in 1 Corinthians. We should read Ephesians with the view that it reflects Paul’s teachings while there in the middle to late 50s; teachings that are also reflected in the letters he wrote to churches while he was in Ephesus.
Fifth, 1st and 2nd Timothy were written to Paul’s understudy Timothy, who was in Ephesus. Timothy likely remained carrying on the teaching while Paul made his journey to Greece (1 Timothy 1:3). The warnings Paul gave to the Ephesians elders (which may have included Timothy) in Acts 20 are reflected in 1 Timothy. The second letter probably reflects the time that Paul was in prison in Caesarea or Rome (Acts 23:23 through 26:32; Acts 28:16ff). Of interest in these letters are the people that Paul knew in Ephesus, particularly Onesiphorus (2 Timothy 1:16; 4:19) and Trophimus who was from Ephesus and was with Paul in Jerusalem (Acts 21:29).
Sixth, the church in Ephesus is mentioned by Jesus Himself in Revelation 2:1-7. All the churches named in Revelation 2 and 3 were founded before or during the time that Paul ministered in Ephesus. These churches would have received essentially the same messages that Paul wrote in the letters to the Ephesians and the Colossians.
Revelation was likely written at some point in the 90s A.D. This means these churches were close to forty years old and had the background of Paul’s and Timothy’s teachings in their history.
At about 40 years of age, the Ephesian church was commended by Jesus for its faithfulness in protecting the flock of God against the “savage wolves,” particularly of false apostles and the teachings of the Nicolaitans (Revelation 2:2, 3, 6). But also notice Jesus’ rebuke in verse 4: “you have left your first love.” It appears that in its fervency to remain pure, it had lost its love for Jesus Himself and therefore lost how to “speak the truth in love,” one of the teachings of Ephesians (4:15).
There is a final reference to the church at Ephesus that is found in the writings of the early 2ndcentury bishop Ignatius. You can read this informative letter at https://www.earlychristianwritings.com/text/ignatius-ephesians-lightfoot.html#google_vignette. This letter reflects the early church fifty years after Paul and about ten years after the Apostle John (Revelation).
I know this is a somewhat lengthy post, but I encourage you to keep in mind the significance of Ephesus and Paul’s letter to the Ephesians considering what the New Testament teaches us.
