Biblical teaching on spiritual warfare, the battle for your mind, and training your thoughts toward Christ. Catch up or rewatch sermons here.
How to Fight
Messages From This Series
The Book of Ephesians
Paul claims that he is currently “in chains” for the gospel (Eph. 6:20). Throughout the book of Acts, we see Paul imprisoned several times because of his ministry. Many scholars agree that Paul is most likely writing this letter to Ephesus during his time in Roman imprisonment. When you compare the ending of Ephesians to other New Testament letters, we learn that Colossians and Philemon were probably written and sent out simultaneously. This would place the writing of Ephesians around 60-62 AD.
Many scholars suggest that this letter was designed as a “circular letter” to be sent out to many churches around Asia Minor. This theory has a lot of merit to it for two reasons. First, Paul doesn’t begin his letter with greetings to any church leaders that he knows. (This is fairly common for his other writings.) Second, the letter sounds much more general. In many of Paul’s other writings, he addresses specific people and problems. Paul was a pastor in Ephesus for several years. Yet, he writes as if he doesn’t fully know the recipients of the letter (Eph. 1:15). Therefore, it is likely that Ephesians was written originally not directly to the city of Ephesus, but rather to the general area under Ephesian influence aka Asia Minor.
Paul was the pastor of the church in Ephesus for several years (Acts 19:9-10). During that time, “all of Asia heard the gospel” (Acts 19:10). So many people were converting to Christianity that the local idol economy suffered, resulting in local silver workers causing a riot meant to persecute the Christians in Ephesus. Along with persecution, the church in Asia Minor was surrounded by many different spiritual beliefs about spirits, demons, magic and special ceremonies. With this in mind, Asia Minor needed some encouragement in the basics of the Gospel and community life in the face of trials and false religions.
- Bible Project
- Beale, G. K., & Gladd, B. L. (2020). The Story Retold: A Biblical-Theological Introduction to the New Testament. InterVarsity Press.
- Klein, W. W. (2006). Ephesians. In Expositor’s Bible Commentary (pp. 19-176). Zondervan Academic.
- Snodgrass, K. (1996). Ephesians. Zondervan.
![](https://discovergrace.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/jonas-jacobsson-0FRJ2SCuY4k-unsplash-1-800x800.jpg)
Books Recommended by Our Teaching Pastors
- Winning the War in Your Mind by Craig Groeschel
- Get Out of Your Head by Jennie Allen
- You Are Not Your Brain by Jefferey Schwartz M.D.
- Do Hard Things by Steve Magness
- Learned Optimism by Martin E. P. Seligman PhD
- Atomic Habits by James Clear
- Boundaries by Dr. Henry Cloud & Dr. James Townsend
- Commentary on Galatians by Martin Luther
Grace Magazine
How to Fight Issue