Submission Reviseted-Prelims

INTRODUCTION
ORIENTATION AND CONTEXT
Significance of Text
Jesus prayed for the unity of all believers in John 17. This may have been on Paul’s mind when he wrote his letter to the church in Ephesus. The entire book of Ephesians is a call to believers to be one within the body of Christ. Ephesians 5, specifically, is an exhortation to living the life of one who has been called out by God to be separate. This call for unity is quite clear in the passage beginning in chapter 5, verse 21 and continuing to the end of the chapter in verse 33.
In this passage the author, generally thought to be Paul, gives a clear definition of what the holy life will look like between a husband and wife. There is some debate on whether Paul or one of his disciples was the author; this argument will be addressed later in the paper.
Many commentators, pastors and even lay readers of this passage seem to treat the submission aspect as one of the most important aspects of biblical understanding, defending it, explaining it, translating then retranslating it, without looking at the verses in the four larger contexts. The larger contexts are 1) the chapter/larger passage the verses are located in, 2) the entire letter addressed to the “saints in Ephesus” (Ephesians 1:1), 3) the New Testament as a whole and 4) the complete revelation of God’s message to mankind. Because our Bibles have been divided into subheadings and even smaller into paragraphs and sentences by well-intentioned yet not divinely inspired writers, it can be difficult to understand God’s full intent.
God did not create humanity to live in a hierarchical social arrangement. This observable system was an outcome of the Fall from Grace when Adam and Eve first sinned as can be seen in Genesis 3:16b, “Your desire will be for your husband, and he will rule over you.” Why would God continue to force a hierarchical system on the beings He created in His image if it was not in His original design? Would He not rather give us the tools and encouragement to rise above and break the bonds of this sin dominated system?
Historical and Social Setting
Tradition has stated that Paul is the author of this letter to Ephesus and that he wrote it while in prison in Rome ca. A.D. 60 (Radmacher, 835; Moule, 16, 20). Indeed, the first sentence states that he is the author. Why then have some critics come forward to challenge this claim? The answer could be as long as the years between now and when this epistle was first penned; however, some attempt shall be made to discover the identity of the author.
Of all the sources consulted to write this paper, Houlden’s commentary stands out as the most opposed to Pauline authorship and Moule’s commentary as the most agreeable. Houlden states that given the amount of evidence about style, vocabulary, thought and even situations facing the church as gleaned from other sources, the letter must have been written in the late first century (235-6). He does consent that the author must have been someone very close to Paul and also equally inspired (235). One of the most widely held arguments against Pauline authorship is the fact that this letter does not name any particular person or any particular situation whereas the rest of Paul’s undisputed letters do (Houlden, 235). Another argument against Paul is that the letter is modeled too closely to the style and content of the letter to the church in Colosse (Houlden, 239-40).
In rebuttal to the argument against Pauline authorship, Moule cites four different early church fathers, St. Irenaeus, St. Clement of Alexandria, Tertullian and St. Ignatius, all of whom seem to secure a pro-Pauline stance as the author of this epistle. In Moule’s own eloquent words, “[T]he extant writings of the Fathers of the first two centuries, to say the least, shew no trace of the existence among them of such a personage as would be thus required on the theory that the Epistle is not St. Paul’s” (24). Given the unintentional defense by the early church fathers of Pauline authorship, one would be hard-pressed to find concrete evidence to deny it. In simple defense of this letter’s apparent similarities to the letter to the Colossians, Powell suggests, “…that Paul was writing the two letters around the same time, to differing groups, which may account for the similarities and the differences” (695).
Another argument is whether this letter was meant for the Ephesians alone or was meant to be passed along between many different churches. The evidence for this argument is more conclusive than the previous argument, but still has some leaps of logic that may not be necessary. Sproul gives a very concise definition of textual criticism when presenting the evidence of the debate. He concludes his presentation by saying, “The majority viewpoint today is that, in all probability, the epistle to the Ephesians was written originally as a circular letter” (11). It is the opinion of the author of this paper that this epistle was divinely inspired, penned by the apostle Paul, written while he was in prison in Rome ca. A.D. 60. The debate on whether or not it was originally meant to go to Ephesus alone is simply a waste of time given the fact that Ephesus needed a letter such as this as much as, perhaps more than, the other churches in Asia. It will be assumed from here on that this letter was written to Ephesus.
At the time of Paul’s writing, the city of Ephesus had a very colorful and exciting past. The beginnings of the city are clouded in myth and mystery with as many different opinions as there are people to possess them. A few things can be discerned from this history that had a direct impact on Paul’s interaction with the people and his subsequent writing of this letter.
Ephesus was a city of great value to commerce and travel due to its location which is now on the far western edge of the modern country of Turkey which borders the Aegean Sea. Not only was it significant to commerce, but it was also of great importance to politics. Ephesus was then the capital of the Roman province of Asia (Houlden, 255). Goods would come in to Ephesus from all over by ship and then begin the journey inland and vice versa. There were many different people groups who lived in the city because of its economic magnitude; and with many different people groups come many differing religious views. Paul certainly had his work cut out for him when he came to preach the Word of God in Ephesus as can be evidenced from Acts 19 beginning in verse 23 where a riot breaks out and Paul, Gaius and Aristarchus are almost murdered because Paul is hurting the sale of idols.
It is usually hard for people, once they accept Christ, to give up completely all sin they held onto for so long. This is probably the reason for Paul writing this letter. He wanted to encourage the believers to continue on the path that would bring them closer and closer to the attitude and actions of Christ.

Literary Context
To properly understand the passage to be exegeted, one must first understand that this was originally written as a letter to the believers in Ephesus. However, Houlden claims that the letter reads more as a homily or dissertation (235). (This is yet another argument that Houlden grasps to pronounce this as an un-Pauline letter.) Second, one must look at the passage as it appears first in the entire Bible, second in the New Testament, third in the book of Ephesians and fourth in the chapter and immediate contexts.
First, God’s message throughout the Bible is one of redemption. God wants His people to come back to Him. This can be seen in the story of the Flood (Genesis 6-9), the entire account of Israel beginning with Abraham and continuing through such people as Moses, Joshua, the various judges, the various kings and ending with the various major and minor prophets, and finally in the New Testament with the coming of Christ.
Second, the New Testament lays down the fulfillment of the Old Testament prophecies of a Savior in the person of Jesus. Jesus came to further God’s attempt at redemption and to make it easier for His people to know Him and trust Him.
Third, the book of Ephesians is a divinely inspired letter from Paul to believers to become united against evil and united in holy living, not for the acquiring of grace, but rather as a fulfillment of Christ’s power within them. Throughout the letter Paul gives many examples of what the outward show of inward Christianity will look like.
Fourth, the immediate context of this passage is exactly what was mentioned in the previous paragraph: A snapshot of what grace looks like working in the lives of believers.