Author’s Note

Jan 30

After engaging in a detailed study of Romans, I felt compelled to give Ephesians the same treatment. It’s a jammed packed epistle that deserves good, in depth attention. As I started a verse by verse study, I wanted to write a commentary not on my initial thoughts, but primarily writing my conclusions after studying each verse in context as well as engaging with a plethora of commentaries from scholars and theologians throughout history. The bibliography contains dozens of different resources from early church fathers writing in the 4th century, to theologians from the 19th, 20th and 21st centuries. This is by no means a “scholarly” commentary as I am no official scholar. However, I wanted to glean insight from as many resources as I could reasonably get my hands on to (hopefully) distill down an easy to understand commentary that will be helpful to anyone. You’ll find a bibliography for the quotes used at the end of every chapter. Sources are listed in alphabetical order.

The commentary you’ll find from me is nothing short of biblically conservative, clinging to traditional (thus broadly orthodox) views. Everything is done under the presupposition that The Bible is the inerrant and inspired word of God.There is no hubris in trying to re-interpret Paul in ways that would oppose the historical understanding of the gospel. Namely, doctrines relating to: man’s sinfulness and need of atonement (both Jew and Gentile), Jesus as the One who fulfilled the Law and was the perfect atonement for our sins (thus bringing about a new covenant), faith in Christ as the requirement to appropriate forgiveness of sins, inclusion of the Gentiles into this new covenant, how to live as a follower of Christ, and final judgment of mankind in the age to come.

Hopefully, you’ll find this as a useful and insightful study tool as you read through Ephesians or get to verses that provide more questions than answers. The goal is to be an accessible “one stop shop” to have questions answered or simply have a better understanding of the text. This is much more in depth than something like a study Bible will provide, yet not overly long or too technical (some scholarly volumes on Ephesians can be nearly 1,000 pages)! The majority of verses are summed up in 1-3 paragraphs, but there are plenty of instances where multiple pages are dedicated to a few verses at a time. There are also a few topics that are looked at in more detail by way of an Excursus. Most people do not have the money to spend on multiple commentaries and Greek word study resources, much less the freedom to devote many months pouring them over. I aim to be the solution to that, thus distilling down what I’ve learned through my studies into (hopefully) an easy to read and understand verse by verse exposition backed by credible and biblically conservative theologians throughout history. -Korey Napier

Unless otherwise noted, Scripture quotations are from the New American Standard Bible 1995 (NASB1995): New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved.

korey napier

Author’s Note

A Brief Introduction to Ephesians