Many scholars evaluate Ephesians as a pseudonymous letter of Paul’s, attributing it to a period some twenty years, approximately, after Paul’s martyrdom, and composed by disciples of Paul, sometimes styled as a “Pauline school.” Others note that the earliest manuscript traditions lack “to the Ephesians,” and propose that the “letter to the Ephesians” was a circular letter, perhaps composed by Paul himself, and possibly the same letter noted at the end of Colossians which was sent to the Laodiceans (Col. 4:16) as well as to other churches. Whatever the case may be with respect to authorship – Paul or a circle of disciples – the Pauline themes in the letter to the Ephesians are notable, as is the beauty of the letter. Both elements are present in this Sunday’s reading, Ephesians 1:3-14; indeed so many Pauline themes and so much elevated rhetoric are present that it can be difficult to comment on all aspects of the reading. Let me list some of the themes, however, which take us to the heart of Paul’s, indeed, Christian, theology. One, is that we have been “chosen” by God. Two, we are redeemed through Christ. Three, we are called to be “holy and without blemish.” Four, we, through Christ, have been “destined” for “adoption” into God’s family. Five, we have already received, through the Holy Spirit, “the first installment of our inheritance.” When I reflect on these many themes in concert, however, I come back to one overarching theme: we are called to be a part of God’s family. The cosmic realities of Christ’s sacrifice, the plan for all humanity “before the foundation of the world,” is intended so that we should enter into God’s family.

And centuries prior to doctrinal defintions of the Trinity, the reality of the Trinity imposes itself on the language of Ephesians through the experience of God as relational, not only in the inner workings of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, but their relationships with humanity. The Holy Spirit is “the first installment of our inheritance.” This is language of belonging; inheritance is family language. So, too, is the language of “adoption”: Christ has acted on our behalf, “we have redemption by his blood,” and redemption is language borrowed from the ancient slave trade, so that we can become brothers and sisters of Jesus Christ in God’s family. Inheritance, adoption, these were intended for us from the beginning.

Yet, it is not just “us” who were chosen from the beginning, as opposed to the notorious “them,” for all of humanity is intended by God to be a part of God’s family. The biblical language of “chosenness,” in the passive voice, can obscure that God has chosen us all (1 Timothy 2:4; cf. Ezekiel 18:32), and that it is up to us to respond to God’s choice. In Ephesians this response is noted by the call to be “holy and without blemish,” terms, or similar ones such as teleios (mature) and amemptos (blameless), which are found throughout the Pauline epistles as descriptions of the manner of life to which the Christian is called. Hagios (holy) is a word that described Israel’s vocation, and God himself, and now could be applied to those adopted into God’s family. Amomos (without blemish) is a term that defined the proper sacrificial victim, but was extended to apply to the moral blamelessness Paul called for amongst the members of his churches. Neither, Ephesians 1:4 seems to imply, will be completed prior to our entry into God’s presence, the fullness of his family, but, as with all family life and family members, we strive to grow, to develop as complete people, to move from infancy to maturity. We encourage our family members to reach their full potential. Paul called for the same from his family members.

I know, I know, how do I move from the soaring notes of,

“In him we have redemption by his blood,
the forgiveness of transgressions,
in accord with the riches of his grace that he lavished upon us.
In all wisdom and insight, he has made known to us
the mystery of his will in accord with his favor
that he set forth in him as a plan for the fullness of times,
to sum up all things in Christ, in heaven and on earth” (Ephesians 1:7-10),

to what seems like the spiritual equivalent of “clean up your room”? I can only say this: God acted on a cosmic scale so that we could have a place we could all call home, a family to which we all belong, participation in a love that never ends. Now, clean up your room.

John W. Martens

John W. Martens is an associate professor of theology at the University of St. Thomas, St. Paul, Minn,where he teaches early Christianity and Judaism. He also directs the Master of Arts in Theology program at the St. Paul Seminary School of Divinity. He was born in Vancouver, B.C. into a Mennonite family that had decided to confront modernity in an urban setting. His post-secondary education began at Tabor College, Hillsboro, Kansas, came to an abrupt stop, then started again at Vancouver Community College, where his interest in Judaism and Christianity in the earliest centuries emerged. He then studied at St. Michael's College, University of Toronto, and McMaster University, with stops at University of Haifa and University of Tubingen. His writing often explores the intersection of Jewish, Christian and Greco-Roman culture and belief, such as in "let the little children come to me: Children and Childhood in Early Christianity" (Washington, D.C.: The Catholic University of America Press, 2009), but he is not beyond jumping into the intersection of modernity and ancient religion, as in "The End of the World: The Apocalyptic Imagination in Film and Television" (Winnipeg: J. Gordon Shillingford Press, 2003). He blogs at  www.biblejunkies.com and at www.americamagazine.org for "The Good Word." You can follow him on Twitter @biblejunkies, where he would be excited to welcome you to his random and obscure interests, which range from the Vancouver Canucks and Minnesota Timberwolves, to his dog, and 70s punk, pop and rock. When he can, he brings students to Greece, Turkey and Rome to explore the artifacts and landscape of the ancient world. He lives in St. Paul with his wife and has two sons. He is certain that the world will not end until the Vancouver Canucks have won the Stanley Cup, as evidence has emerged from the Revelation of John, 1 Enoch, 2 Baruch, and 4 Ezra which all point in this direction.