By definition, a locution (lo·cu·tion: pronounced “ləˈkyo͞oshən”) is a “word or phrase identified with a specific speaker or author, especially with regard to the authors style or use of idioms.” The apostle Paul is well known for his locutions. His style of writing included specific self-identifying locutions at the beginning of most of his letters. Of the thirteen letters generally ascribed to Paul as author, the specific locution “an apostle,” or “an apostle by the will /command of God” is found in nine of them. See below.
· Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God (Rom 1:1)
· Paul, called by the will of God to be an apostle of Christ Jesus (1Cor 1:1)
· Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God (2Cor 1:1)
· Paul, an apostle—not from men nor through man, but through Jesus Christ and God the Father (Gal 1:1)
· Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God (Eph 1:1)
· Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God (Col 1:1)
· Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by command of God our Savior and of Christ Jesus (1Tim 1:1)
· Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God (2Tim 1:1)
· Paul, a servant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ (Titus 1:1)
Like most of Paul’s letters, the Ephesian letter opens with Paul’s typical self-identifying locution, “an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God,” (1:1). Of course, as we have detailed in previous blogs, the location of his locution is a dusty, remote Damascus Road, upon which the man Saul experienced a very dramatic and life-changing face-to-face encounter with the resurrected Jesus, and the specific location where he received his apostleship directly from the mouth of Jesus (Acts 9:15).
And once again, we see the introduction of one of Paul’s letters serving not only as an identifier of the author, but as a thematic introduction to the contents of the letter.
God had a plan in mind when He called Saul to become an apostle; He wanted him to become “the apostle to the Gentiles”. It was God’s will (1:1) to include the Gentiles into His plan of salvation “in the fullness of time” (as we see Paul proclaim later in 1:10,) and he specifically chose Saul and sent him (Acts 22:21) to invite the Gentiles into that plan.
God had a plan in mind and Paul was fully on board. Paul later describes himself more specifically (Romans 11:13) as “the apostle to the Gentiles.” More specifically, in Romans 11:13, he writes to the Gentile Roman Christians about how eager he is to be part of God’s will, “I am speaking to you Gentiles. Inasmuch as I am the apostle to the Gentiles, I will make the most of it.” The “inasmuch” indicates that to the degree to which Paul is fully convinced that it is God’s will that he is the apostle to the Gentiles, to that same degree he is just as convinced to living out God’s will in his life.
It was Paul’s mission to make the most of his apostleship among the Gentiles throughout his life, and his efforts are reflected in this letter to the Ephesians. We see Paul directing his comments specifically to the Gentile Christians in Ephesians 2:11. And from the context of 2:11, (“Therefore remember that at one time you GENTILES in the flesh“) we know that Paul begins to speak to Gentile Christians as early as 1:13, and perhaps even as early as 1:2.
It is interesting to note that Paul also specifies that at times he is also addressing Jewish Christians in the Ephesian letter. Paul refers in 1:12 to, “we who were the first to hope in Christ.” Since we know historically that the Jewish nation were the recipients to whom Jesus first revealed himself, we can know for certain that he is definitely NOT referring to Gentiles there.
So, we learn from the Ephesian text, that the Ephesian letter is written to both Jewish and Gentile Christians as they congregate in one church in the city of Ephesus. However, the two are not one. They are badly divided and thus Paul wants to make the most of his apostleship to the Gentiles to address them in the context of the whole church, the "one body" to ensure that the two do indeed become one.
“…he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility by abolishing the law of commandments expressed in ordinances, that he might create in himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace, and might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility” (2:14-16).
So, Paul begins his letter by highlighting the location of his locution, as a means of reminding his readers of his authority as the apostle to the Gentiles and his commitment to fulfilling his mission.
If Paul did not understand that his apostleship to the Gentiles is the will of God (1:1), there would be no reason for his letter to the Gentiles in Ephesus, because there would be no reason for the two to become one as there would be no conflict in the merging of the two groups. So, Paul addresses Jewish Christians at times in his letter and at other times Gentile Christians and at still other times perhaps both groups together.
And so, it behooves the contemporary reader to know when in the text Paul refers specifically to his Gentile readers, when he specifically refers to his Jewish readers, and when he refers to both at the same time.
For instance, in Ephesians 1:1, we read that Paul’s letter is addressed to “the saints who are in Ephesus, and are faithful in Christ Jesus.” Because we already know from context that Paul is addressing both Jewish and Gentile Christians living in Ephesus, and here identifies them as “saints” and “full of faith”, we can safely assume that he includes both Jewish and Gentile Christians as readers and therefore uses an inclusive sense of 1st person plural possessive pronoun, “our” in his benediction to them in the following verse (1:2).
”Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.”
The difficulty of interpretation becomes quite apparent as we move through the next few lines of the text. In 1:3-11 we see Paul use the 1st person plural pronoun 9 more times which means there are 9 interpretive occasions for which the references of the 1st person plural pronoun must to be determined in that section. Does Paul include both Jewish and Gentile Christians in all those references? Is he specifically referring to Jewish Christians as he does in 1:12, as mentioned above? Or is he only referring to Gentile Christians in this paragraph?
These are questions that need to be asked as we read through each paragraph in Ephesians.
For now, however, Paul’s location locution brings us back to the dusty Damascus Road and his explicit calling to be "the apostle to the Gentiles," and more specifically now to those Gentiles in the church located in Ephesus.
And his location locution gives him the authority to speak authoritatively to both groups.