Ephesus Ephesus stood at the crossroads of both north-south and east-west trade routes and was well known as the “guardian” of the temple of Artemis (Acts 19:35). It was founded by Ionian Greeks around 1044 BC on a natural harbor where the Cayster River emptied into a gulf of the Aegean Sea (the site of the ancient city is now well inland). The city came under Roman rule in 41 BC. At the time of the apostles, Ephesus was a wealthy city, a commercial and religious hub, and thus the most important city of the Roman province of Asia. The worship of Artemis in Ephesus was nearly as ancient as the city itself. The temple of Artemis, one of the seven wonders of the ancient world, was a key to the wealth and commerce of Ephesus, because the worship of Artemis brought many pilgrims to Ephesus and provided many commercial opportunities for idol makers and other vendors of goods and services. When Paul arrived on his third missionary journey in AD 53 (Acts 19), Ephesus had been a city continuously for over a thousand years and was deeply devoted to its patron goddess and her temple. As Paul’s message began to gain more adherents, Christianity threatened the pagan temple and the comm...

The Church The church is the community of those who recognize the lordship of Christ and submit to him (Eph 5:21-24). In the Greek world, the word translated “church” (Greek ekklēsia) designated an “assembly” of people such as a regularly summoned political body or simply an informal gathering (e.g., Acts 19:32, 39, 41). Similarly, in the Septuagint (the Greek translation of the Old Testament) the term is used to refer to the assembly of Israel (e.g., Deut 31:30). In the New Testament, ekklēsia is used to refer to (a) the entire body of Christ in the world (e.g., Matt 16:18; Eph 1:22); (b) all the believers in a given locale (e.g., Acts 9:31; 1 Cor 1:2); or (c) an individual local congregation that gathers regularly for worship, instruction, fellowship, and prayer (e.g., Rom 16:5; see Acts 2:42). The New Testament uses a number of images to describe the church: The Israel of God—the “new people of God” (Gal 6:16) who belong to him (1 Pet 2:9-10) and who are his “holy priests” to do his work in the world (1 Pet 2:5, 9) God’s family (Eph 2:19)—the “household of God” (1 Tim 3:15), made up of those who have been adopted as God’s children and designated as his heirs A hol...