Notion of Calling in Ephesians St Paul

Just about half a page to 3/4 a page answering this question, “How do you explain the notion of ‘calling’ in Ephesians?” Using this powerpoint

St Paul Ephesians • among the major distinctives of Ephesians within the Pauline letter collection, there are two that make the most immediate impression • in terms of content, the concentrated attention it gives to the phenomenon of the church stands out • in terms of form, it is noticeable that discussion of the church appears in both halves of a document that does not have the usual Pauline letter body • instead, between its letter opening (1:1, 2) and closing (6:21–4), Ephesians is divided into two lengthy parts • – an expansion of the usual thanksgiving section that runs from 1:3 to 3:21, • and an extended paraenesis or section of ethical exhortation that stretches from 4:1 to 6:20 • in the former the letter’s recipients are reminded of the privileges they enjoy as believers in Christ and members of the church and of their significant role in God’s plan for the cosmos • in the latter they are summoned, in the light of their privileged status, to conduct their lives in an appropriate fashion in the church and in the world • Ephesians is also distinctive as the most general of the Pauline letters • since the usual strategy for interpreting Paul’s letters builds on the recognition that he carries out the pastoral application of his gospel in interaction with the particular circumstances and needs of his readers, Ephesians proves initially frustrating • it gives us extremely little information about its recipients or their specific circumstances • in three places the letter is explicit that its addressees are Gentile Christians • ‘so then, remember that at one time you Gentiles in the flesh, called the “uncircumcision” by those who are called the “circumcision”’ is the way that 2:11 begins, without any indication that this presupposes a change of audience • the readers are addressed again in 3:1 as ‘you Gentiles’ and later in 4:17 exhorted to ‘no longer live as the Gentiles live’ with the obvious implication that, although they are ethnically Gentiles, their previous lifestyle, that of Gentile non-believers, must now cease • if what is said to these former Gentiles does indeed reflect their perceived needs, • then the initial eulogy in 1:3–14 and the depiction of the contrast between their past and present that shapes both 2:1–10 and 2:11–22 suggest that they need reminding of the privileges of their salvation • they also need to recall the debt that they owe to Paul’s unique ministry (3:1–13) • the intercessory prayer reports in 1:17–23 and 3:14– 19 indicate that they require greater insight into and further knowledge of what their salvation entails • the content of 4:1–16 shows that the recipients need to recognize the church’s unity and to play their part in maintaining that unity and enabling the church to grow to maturity • the topics dealt with in the exhortation of 4:17–5:20 suggest that more attention ought to be paid to the quality of their behaviour in such areas as dealing with anger, edifying speech, forgiveness, sexual purity, worship, and thanksgiving • they need also to bring distinctively Christian motivation into play in their conduct in the household (5:21–6:9) and to resolve to stand firm by availing themselves of Christ’s strength and God’s armour (6:10–20) • by this means we can build up a picture of the readers as those whose main problems, in the writer’s view, • are powerlessness, instability, and lack of resolve, stemming from an insufficient awareness of their true identity as Christians • the writer’s rhetorical strategy in attempting to build up his readers’ sense of identity and unity focuses on various elements • he employs the language of worship, of thanksgiving, of prayer, of the reminder of the contrast between past and present, and of doxology in chapters 1–3 • this consolidates the writer’s and readers’ common relation to God and Christ and their shared values and taps into the readers’ religious sensibilities and their emotions • by means of participation in thanksgiving and doxology, their confidence in the Pauline gospel’s alternative vision of existence is bolstered • they celebrate a reality in which Christ has triumphed over hostile cosmic powers and has given to the church all necessary resources for living • in this way the writer provides an effective springboard for the second part of his message • its ethical exhortation builds on and arises out of the motivation generated by the sense of gratitude evoked through praise • this pastoral strategy reflects a theology in which Christian living is first of all a response to God’s gracious initiative in Christ • the term that best represents the writer’s own perspective on Christian identity is ‘calling’ • what he wants the readers to grasp is described in the prayer report in 1:18 – ‘that you may know what is the hope of your calling’ • and how he wants them to behave is encapsulated in the very first verse of the paraenesis, 4:1 • – ‘I, therefore, the prisoner in the Lord, beg you to lead a life worthy of the calling to which you have been called’ • distinctive to Ephesians’ elaboration of the notion of calling is its stress on the corporate aspect – belonging to the church • there are nine uses of the term for the church (ekklesia), and their reference, as in images for the church such as ‘the body of Christ’, • is not primarily to local churches, as in the undisputed letters, • but to the universal church, the empire-wide community of Christian believers seen in its totality • Ephesians employs a variety of images for the church • so, for example, it is one new person, a new humanity created to replace the division and enmity between Jew and Gentile in the old order (2:15) • it is God’s household or family (2:19) • it is Christ’s fullness (1:23), that which is filled by Christ, the present focus for and medium of his presence; and it is to grow into and appropriate that fullness (4:13) • the church is Christ’s bride (5:23–33), reminding the readers that in their intimate union with the exalted Christ they are to live holy lives • it is the new temple with the exalted Christ as the keystone holding it all together, with Christian apostles and prophets as the foundation, having given the original interpretation of the gospel, and with believers as the bricks that are being built together into this temple that is God’s dwelling place in the Spirit (2:20–2) • the dominant image, in that it is used ten times in the letter, is that of ‘the body of Christ’ (1:23; 2:16; 3:6; 4:4, 12, 16 (twice); 5:23, 29, 30) • in a variation on Jewish notions of representative solidarity, it entails that believers are seen as having been incorporated in Christ • the image is employed to help the readers to view themselves as a compact whole in relation to the exalted Christ as their head • in relation to Christ as head, the church as body can be depicted as both submitting to (5:23, 24) and receiving its life from Christ (4:15, 16) …