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Daily Devotions

Ephesians

Ephesians 
Day 
Day 7

"Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, to the saints who are in Ephesus, and faithful in Christ Jesus."

Text: Ephesians 1:1

WAYS OF SENDING GREETING

There were many ways of sending greetings to addressees.

1. Formal Roman style

The writer would begin with declaring who he was. A classic example may be found in the letter that Claudias Lysias, a Roman commander at Fort Antonia, Jerusalem, wrote to the Governor Felix.

“Claudias Lysias,
To the most excellent governor. Felix.
Greetings.”
ACTS 23:26

The content of his letter would follow this greeting (Cf. Acts 23:27-30)

2. Paul’s style of sending greetings

How should we describe Paul’s style of greeting his readers?

a) It was semi-formal

Paul would normally state that he was an apostle of the Lord Jesus Christ. In stating this, he adopted an element of formality.

b) It was personal

Usually, both ideas do not mix well. Nevertheless, Paul developed a style that included both formality and a personal touch

c) Standard way of greeting

We could say that Paul had a “standard” way of greeting his readers. A careful examination of his many letters would reveal that he would greet his readers in a similar way.

d) Uniquely Pauline

However, it must also be said that Paul developed a rather unique style of addressing his readers. One of the most unusual ways of addressing his readers was to include a spiritual-theological element.

A SPIRITUAL-THEOLOGICAL ELEMENT

Paul use two terms quite regularly:-

1. “Saints”

One of the terms that he used to describe his readers was the word “saints” (Cf. Romans 1:7; 1 Corinthians 1:2; 2 Corinthians 1:1 etc)

2. “Faithful”

The other word that he would use to address his beloved readers would be “faithful” (Cf. Colossians 1:2)

Both words were employed purposefully with deep theological and spiritual significance.