Dr. Bryan Chapell presents us with a wonderful commentary on the book of Ephesians. In a very readable way he will bring to the forefront the truth of the Mystery of the Gospel as revealed by the Apostle Paul in this text. That mystery is that the Gospel was not just for the chosen people of Israel but that it was also for the Gentiles and now the Gentiles are adopted sons into the family of God along with the children of Abraham.
Many themes are addressed, but the main theme is that Paul the Apostle was "chosen" by God to bring the Gospel to the Gentile world. This would no doubt confound the Jews of his day, whom he was excelling in becoming one of the most honored of their intellectuals. At least he was until the road to Damascus where the Lord confronted Paul, converted him to Christianity and instilled in him a drive to bring the Gospel to everyone he met, Jew or Gentile.
Dr. Chapell preached this series of sermons and then worked to put them in a commentary form so that we could further enjoy the study and time that he put in to learning about Paul, the Ephesians and the message. As I said earlier this text is very readable by both pastoral staff and lay people. If you are working to prepare a series of lessons for you Adult Sunday School class, or youth or even for a preaching series this book will be wonderful addition to you readings on the book of Ephesians. Of course spend most your time in the word and in prayer allowing the Holy Spirit to teach you, but then you can turn to Dr. Chapell's work and feel as though a dear friend has just guided you through a clear explanation of the book.
I very much appreciated Dr. Chapell's way of explaining to us the love that Paul has for the Lord and for his work of bringing the Gospel. In Chapter three Paul affirms that he is a 'prisoner' of Jesus Christ. In reality he was in a Roman jail. But the truth was he was in prison only because he was defending the word of the Lord. Paul was happy in all circumstances, whether in a town where he was being beaten for his message, or in a shipwreck or in a jail. In all these places Paul is comfortable and understands he is there to serve the Lord.
So while in this Roman prison he sits down and writes a letter to the churches in the area of Ephesus. He wants to remind them of their faith, remind them of their need to serve the Lord and remind them that Jew and Gentile alike are all one now in the Lord Jesus Christ.
If you have to decide on where to spend your money for a commentary on Ephesians this is a great place to start. It is more of a devotional / communication style commentary than a deep theological dig into every word and look at the original languages type of commentary. As such it is useful for everyone. Even if you aren't going to teach a series on Ephesians you would be blessed to use this book as part of your devotional time to just learn more about the background of the letter that Paul wrote to the Ephesians.
Thank you Dr. Chapell for a great collection of thoughts and insights.
Enjoy!
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