Reason for writing

In the epistle there is no special reason for writing it. As can be seen from many places in the epistle, it was written by St. Paul in chains (3:1 [1]; 4:1 [2], etc.). Judging by the enthusiasm and lofty tone of the entire epistle, it can be considered probable that St. Paul was disposed to write his desire to communicate to the Ephesians those lofty contemplations into which he had been led by the Spirit of God in his imprisonment (Bishop Theophan the Recluse). Another reason could be the Apostle's desire to comfort the Ephesians, who were grieving over the calamities that had befallen their spiritual father and teacher (Ephesians 3:13 [3]). And, finally, the third reason could be fear for the Ephesians and the desire to warn them against Judaizers and other false teachers. From Ephesus. 3:3-4 [4] it is evident that the Apostle wanted to reveal to the Ephesians the "mystery of salvation" proclaimed to him by revelation, that the Gentiles, along with the Jews, were called into the Kingdom of Heaven (3:6-9 [5]). ^I, therefore, a prisoner in the Lord, beseech you to walk worthy of the calling to which you have been called. ^Wherefore I beseech you not to be discouraged by my sorrows for your sake, which are your glory. ^because the mystery has been proclaimed to me by revelation (of which I have written briefly above), then you, as you read, can see my understanding of the mystery of Christ. ^ that the Gentiles also might be joint heirs, being one body, and partakers of his promise in Christ Jesus, through the gospel, of which I have become a minister, according to the gift of the grace of God, which has been given me by the work of his power. This grace has been given to me, the least of all the saints, to preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ, and to reveal to all in what consists the economy of the mystery which was hidden from eternity in God, who created all things through Jesus Christ. ^

Place and time of writing

As to the place, and therefore the time, of writing the Epistle to the Ephesians, not all interpreters fully agree with each other. What is absolutely certain is that this Epistle was written by the holy Apostle Paul from bondage, for in the Epistle he more than once calls himself "a prisoner of Jesus Christ" (3:1), "a prisoner in the Lord" (4:1), and says that he fulfills an embassy in chains (6:20 [1]). It is known that St. Paul was imprisoned in Caesarea in Palestine, where he was kept in the custody of the governor Felix for two years, until he demanded the trial of Caesar, as a result of which he was sent to Rome (Acts 23:35 [2]; 24:27 [3]; 25:10-11 [4]), and then to Rome (Acts 28:16 [5]). In Rome there is usually a distinction between the first and the second, between which there is supposed to be a certain interval. The ancient signatures on the Epistle to the Ephesians refer it to Roman bonds, but since in it the holy Apostle says nothing about his approaching end, as he does, for example, in the later and undoubtedly written Epistle to Timothy from Rome (2 Tim. 4:6 [6]), but still hopes to boldly preach the mysteries of the gospel (Eph. 6:19-20 [7]), these could only be the first bonds. Theophanes the Recluse believes that the Epistle to the Ephesians was written from Caesarea in Palestine on the grounds that: there is no indication in the Epistle of any changes in the church of Ephesus, for good or bad, from which it must be assumed that it was written very soon after St. Paul left Ephesus; The holy Apostle asks the Ephesians to pray that the word would be given to him, to proclaim with their lips openly, with boldness, the mystery of the gospel: this goes more to the Caesarea confinement than to the Roman one, for in Rome the Apostle enjoyed greater freedom, could receive everyone and preach "with all boldness without hindrance", while in Caesarea he was imprisoned and only a few were allowed to enter him (Acts 28:30-31 [8] and Acts 24:23 [9]); Ep. Theophanes the Recluse believes that such an active Apostle as St. Paul could not have spent two years in prison in Caesarea without work, and therefore he probably wrote to those who had converted to Christianity, teaching and instructing them in the faith. Theophanes the Recluse, the Epistle to the Ephesians was written in Caesarea in the year 60 or 61 A.D. Other interpreters, comparing the Epistle to the Ephesians with the other Epistles, and finding that it was written at the same time as the Epistles to the Colossians and Philemon, and soon after the Epistle to the Philippians was written (compare Ephesians 6:21 [10] and Colossians 4:7-8 [11]), believe that the Epistle to the Ephesians was written from Rome in 62 or 63. This epistle, as well as the Epistle to the Colossians, was sent by the holy Apostle Paul with Tychicus, whom he commissioned to inform these churches in detail of his circumstances. ^And having called two centurions, he said, "Prepare for me two hundred foot soldiers, seventy cavalry, and two hundred archers, so that from the third hour of the night they may go to Caesarea." ^But after two years, Felix was replaced by Porcius Festus. Wishing to please the Jews, Felix left Paul in chains. ^Paul said: I stand before the judgment of Caesar, where I should be judged. I have not offended the Jews in any way, as you well know. For if I am wrong and have done something worthy of death, I do not deny to die; but if there is nothing of which these accuse me, then no one can deliver me up to them. ^When we came to Rome, the centurion handed over the prisoners to the military commander, and Paul was allowed to live separately with the soldier who guarded him. ^For I am already becoming a victim, and the time of my departure has come. ^and about me, that the word might be given to me, by my mouth to proclaim openly with boldness the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an embassy in bonds, that I may preach boldly as I ought to. ^And Paul lived for two whole years at his own expense, and received all who came to him, preaching the Kingdom of God and teaching about the Lord Jesus Christ with all boldness without hindrance. ^And Paul he commanded the centurion to watch, but not to oppress him, and not to forbid any of his relatives to serve him or to come to him. ^And that you also may know of my circumstances and deeds, Tychicus, a beloved brother and faithful servant in the Lord, will inform you of all things. ^Tychicus, beloved brother and faithful servant and fellow worker in the Lord, whom I have sent to you to know your circumstances and comfort your hearts, will tell you all things about me. ^

The Authenticity of the Message

Tertullian, in his polemic against Marcion, says that the Marcionites considered the Epistle to the Ephesians to be written not to the Church of Ephesus, but to the Church of Laodicea. In some ancient copies the words "En Epheso" — "To the Ephesians" — are actually omitted, in others they are found only in the margins. At the same time, in the Epistle to the Colossians, which, due to the similarity of content and the indication of the time of departure, belongs to the same time as the Epistle to the Ephesians (cf. Ephesians 6:21 and Colossians 4:7), the Apostle speaks of an Epistle to the church of Laodicea, but we do not have such an Epistle. Finally, the Epistle to the Ephesians lacks the usual greetings of a personal nature, which would have been natural, since St. Paul lived in Ephesus for three whole years. All this gives reason for new critics to reject the authenticity of the epistle.However, even St. Ignatius the God-bearer, who himself wrote the Epistle to the Ephesians, testifies to the existence of a similar epistle of the holy Apostle Paul. All perplexities can be easily explained if we assume that the Epistle to the Ephesians was in the proper sense a circular epistle, intended not only for the Church of Ephesus, but also for all the churches of Asia Minor, including Laodicea, in relation to which the Church of Ephesus could be considered a metropolis. The authenticity of the Epistle to the Ephesians is then confirmed by St. Polycarp of Smyrna, St. Irenaeus of Lyons, and St. Clement of Alexandria, who literally quote some expressions from it.

Content and Division of the Message

The Epistle to the Ephesians contains six chapters. The main subject of the epistle, as its author himself says (Ephesians 3:2-9), is the mystery of God's economy, and then the moral requirements arising from it. Accordingly, the Epistle is naturally divided into two equal parts: Dogmatic, which occupies the first three chapters (1-3); The Dogmatic part is an abbreviated exposition of the main Christian truths, but mainly develops the idea of the Church as the Body of Christ; the moral part teaches the unity of faith and unanimity in moral activity, arming for spiritual warfare. In general, this epistle is extremely important, representing an excellent apology for Christianity. St. John Chrysostom and Blessed Jerome emphasized the mysterious depth of this epistle, and St. Athanasius called it the catechism of Christian teaching. Many of the interpreters see in it, as it were, the program of the entire Apostolic preaching.

Exegetical analysis

The Epistle to the Ephesians contains six chapters. The main subject of the epistle, as its author himself says (Ephesians 3:2-9), is the mystery of God's economy, and then the moral requirements arising from it. Accordingly, the Epistle is naturally divided into two equal parts: Dogmatic, which occupies the first three chapters (1-3); The Dogmatic part is an abbreviated exposition of the main Christian truths, but mainly develops the idea of the Church as the Body of Christ; the moral part teaches the unity of faith and unanimity in moral activity, arming for spiritual warfare. In general, this epistle is extremely important, representing an excellent apology for Christianity. St. John Chrysostom and Blessed Jerome emphasized the mysterious depth of this epistle, and St. Athanasius called it the catechism of Christian teaching. Many of the interpreters see in it, as it were, the program of the entire Apostolic preaching.

Part I

The Epistle to the Ephesians begins with the usual inscription and the Apostolic greeting: "Paul is the messenger of Jesus Christ, by the will of God, to the saints who are in Ephesus, and to the faithful in Christ Jesus: grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ" (vv. 1-2). The holy Apostle first of all gives praise and thanksgiving to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ for the election of us to holy life, which was predestined "before the foundation of the world" and consists in the adoption of us as sons to God through Jesus Christ, Who, having accomplished our salvation by His blood and having revealed to men the mystery of God's favor, became the Head of all things in heaven and on earth, and made us through Himself heirs of God (vv. 3-12). who have believed in Christ, and consequently have become partakers of the good things which He has given, and give thanks to God for them, remembering them in their prayers, and asking God to give them the Spirit of wisdom, and to enlighten the eyes of their hearts, that they may know the riches of his inheritance and the power of his power (vv. 13-19). as the God-Man above all creation, and about the submission to Him of all that exists. Here we see the exaltation of human nature in the person of our Saviour, the testimony that the Lord Jesus Christ, even as a man, is the King and Lord of heaven and earth, of angels and men. "And he made him above all things, the head of the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all" (vv. 22-23). This teaching about the Lord Jesus Christ as the Head of the Church is extremely important. Just as the members of our body constitute one living organism with their heads, so all believers with Christ also form one bodily and spiritual organism. Those who are baptized into Christ put on Him, become one with Him. That is why Christ acts in Christians as a creative and life-giving force (Bishop Theophan the Recluse). The whole life of the body, organic and mechanical, depends on the head. And psychologically, the head, as the receptacle of the brain, the main organ of mental activity and the external senses, is recognized as the source of spiritual life, its guiding principle. This comparison of the Apostle gives the idea of the complete dependence of the Church on the Lord Jesus Christ, of the fact that Christ Himself leads His Church." The fullness of Him who fills all in all" (v. 23) — these words are obscure and give different thoughts. It is most correct to understand these words as follows: the Church is a spiritual organism in which there is no place where the Divine powers of Christ would not act. "She's full of Christ. He fills it all" (Bishop Theophan the Recluse). St. Chrysostom explains why the Apostle did not confine himself to calling the Church only the Body of Christ, and Christ its head: "In order that thou, having heard the word head, should not take it in the sense of authority only, but in its proper sense, — not consider Him only a ruler, but see in Him the real head, the Apostle adds: the fullness (i.e., the Church is the fullness) of Him who fulfills all in all. The Apostle considers the title "chapter" to be insufficient, as it were, in order to show the kinship and closeness of the Church to Christ."In the second chapter, the Apostle speaks of how the greatness of the actions of God's economy was manifested in the quickening, as it were, of the resurrection from the dead, spiritually dead people, magnified by God from extreme humiliation. This was accomplished solely by the grace of God, without any merit on the part of man himself: "For by grace you are saved through faith, and this is not of you, the gift of God: not by works, so that no one should boast." — these words are very fond of sectarians, trying to prove with their help their false teaching about the uselessness of good works for salvation. But it is clear that here we are talking only about the first moment, about the very arrangement of salvation by God, and not about the assimilation of this salvation by people. Of the latter it is said, "For we are His creation, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God has ordained for us to do" (v. 10). The meaning of all these words is that "salvation is arranged for us and we are called to receive it not for any works, but by grace alone. But they are called not to do nothing on their part, but to realize their salvation, being rich in good works" (Bishop Theophan the Recluse, vv. 1-10). The Lord created mankind anew (vv. 11-15), reconciling both Jews and Gentiles to God by means of the cross, killing the enmity on it, that is, the enmity with God, which alienated both peoples from Him because of their sinfulness. And here St. Paul emphasizes the abolition of the Old Testament law in the New Testament with the words: "having abolished the law of commandments by doctrine" (v. 15) and "breaking down the barrier that stood in the middle" (v. 14), that is: "put an end to the law, which, like a wall, divided Jews and Gentiles." "And when he came, he preached peace to you, to those who are far off and to those who are near" (v. 17)—the essence of Christ's gospel was that the Son of God, who became incarnate and suffered for us on the cross, reconciled us to God. The Apostle here calls the pagans "far away," and the Jews "neighbors" (Blessed Theodoret). Jews and Gentiles, united in Christianity, formed one Church, as if one building, established on the foundation of the Apostles and Prophets and on the Cornerstone, the Lord Jesus Christ Himself, and are sealed together by one Spirit (vv. 17-22). It is important here that Christ is the cornerstone on which the Church was built, and not the Apostle Peter, as the Latins, the Roman Catholics, assert.In the third chapter, the Apostle speaks of the hidden mystery of the calling of the Gentiles to the Church of Christ and that it is precisely he who has been given the grace to proclaim this mystery of Christ to the Gentiles. He suffers many sorrows from the Judaizers for this preaching, but he does not lose heart, and the Ephesians ask them not to grieve for him (vv. 1-13). The saint finishes. The Apostle writes the dogmatic part of the Epistle with a prayer for the Ephesians (vv. 14-21), so that they may be strengthened in faith and love for Christ and understand "the love of Christ that surpasses understanding," "that they may be filled with all the fullness of God," that is, with every virtue with which God is filled, "that ye may have Him wholly dwelling in you," according to the explanation of Blessed Theodoret. Wishing the Ephesians to attain the fullness of Christian perfection, the holy Apostle gives glory to God in the Church in Christ Jesus (vv. 20-21 [1]).The second half of the Epistle to the Ephesians, embracing the last three chapters – the 4th, 5th and 6th, is the moralizing part of the epistle. Having explained in the first three chapters that all Christians constitute one Body with Christ as One Head, the holy Apostle deduces from this main idea of the Epistle how Christians, united and renewed in Christ, should live and act. First he depicts: 1) The general order of life, the main feature of which is unanimity in faith (4:1-16); then 2) Rules of life common to Christians of all conditions (4:17-5:21); 3) The rules of life are particular, according to conditions, enumerating the mutual duties of spouses, children and parents, slaves and masters (5:22-6:9), and finally, 4) he calls in general to the struggle against the world and sin, drawing an image of Christian asceticism (6:10-18). This should be based on humility, meekness, long-suffering, and love. The main thing that Christians should strive for is "unity of the spirit in the bond of peace." As the strongest motive for such spiritual unity, the holy Apostle puts forward that Christians have "one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, Who is over all, and through all, and in us all" (vv. 1-6). Each of the believers, as a separate member in the organism, is given a special grace, a special gift, by which he must serve others for the common good. This heterogeneity of gifts not only does not hinder unanimity, but, on the contrary, strengthens the unity between Christians even more, just as the heterogeneity of the members does not prevent the body from growing and strengthening by their mutual cooperation. For this peaceful and loving edification and growth of the Body of His Church, "for the perfecting of the saints, for the work of ministry, for the edification of the Body of Christ" (v. 12); Christ appointed "some apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers" (v. 11). Here the divinely established church hierarchy is clearly affirmed in denunciation of Protestants and sectarians who deny the legitimate hierarchy. The purpose of the establishment of the church hierarchy is to help the spiritual perfection of believers: "until we all come to the unity of faith and knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ" (v. 13), that is, until "all have ascended to a state of perfect repose in God, and, having presented themselves as a dwelling place worthy of God, will have Him dwelling in themselves. This is the measure of the age of the fulfillment of Christ" (Bishop Theophan the Recluse). The main task of the moral Christian life is not to be infants, tossed about and carried about by every wind of teaching, but, following the example of a living organism, uniting with one another in love, to grow the Body of the Church of Christ "into Him Who is the Head, Christ" (vv. 7-16). from age to age. Amen. ^

Part II

In the second half of this chapter, the holy Apostle, depicting the negative aspects of the life of the pagans, such as the Ephesians were before, exhorts "to put off the former way of life of the old man, corrupting in deceitful lusts" and "to put on the new man, created according to God, in the righteousness and holiness of the truth," that is, in the righteousness and holiness of the truth. This inner renewal must be expressed first of all in truthfulness: "Therefore, rejecting falsehood, speak the truth every man to his neighbor" (v. 25); then in angerlessness: "When you are angry, do not sin: let not the sun go down on your anger" (v. 26), that is, make peace with him whom you are angry with before the sun goes down; Further, the Apostle exhorts not to steal, but to work with one's own hands, "so that there may be something to give to the needy," to avoid rotten words, that is, foul language, and to be modest and edifying in conversation, not to offend the Holy Spirit with one's bad behavior, to shun all strife, irritation, rage, anger, shouting, and slander, but to be kind and compassionate to one another, and to forgive offenses in return. "As God also in Christ has forgiven us" (vv. 17-32).Continuing the same moral exhortations in the fifth chapter, the holy Apostle urges Christians to imitate God in love, as children imitate their father, taking his example in all things (vv. 1-2 [1]). As an incentive to a moral life, the holy Apostle points out the deprivation of sinners of the Kingdom of God, warning especially against fornication and drunkenness and against all impurity and covetousness, and exhorting Christians to "walk as children of light," testing what is pleasing to God. The state of the inveterate sinner is like a deep sleep, but he too can awaken from this sinful sleep, and the Apostle cries, "Arise, you who sleep, and rise from the dead, and Christ will give you light" (v. 14). Some commentators believe that these words are a free translation of what the holy prophet Isaiah said in verses 60:1 and 26:9 [2] and verses 19: "Arise, shine, O Jerusalem, for your light has come... Thy dead shall live, dead bodies shall arise." Further teaching that this temporal life is given to us in preparation for eternity, and bearing in mind the multitude of sinful temptations that surround us in this life, the holy Apostle exhorts: "Take heed, therefore, that ye walk carefully, not as foolish, but as wise, valuing the time, for the days are evil" (vv. 15-16), that is, do not waste precious time, but use it to prepare yourselves for eternity. To do this, first of all, one should not be "senseless," but one should "understand what is the will of God." The Apostle especially warns against the abuse of wine, saying that such abuse leads a person to debauchery. Instead of carnal pleasures, Christians should seek spiritual pleasures, being filled with the Spirit and edifying themselves by singing psalms and spiritual songs, and demanding that these songs be sung not only with the tongue, but also with the heart (vv. 1-20). Here the Apostle presents the conjugal union as an image of the mysterious union of the Lord Jesus Christ with the Church, which is why these verses 20-33 constitute the content of the Apostolic reading during the celebration of the sacrament of marriage. The Apostle demands self-sacrificing love for their wives from husbands, and prescribes complete obedience to their husbands to wives: "Wives, be subject to your husbands as to the Lord" (v. 22) — since: further, the Apostle explains that "the husband is the head of the wife, just as Christ is the head of the Church" (v. 23), then "as the Church obeys Christ, so also the wives are subject to their husbands in all things" (v. 24), that is, in all that is good. From this it is clearly seen that obedience is commanded to wives not at all slavish and compulsory, but "as to the Lord", that is, sincere and heartfelt, based on love. The headship of the husband in a Christian marriage should be understood only as primacy, which is always inevitable in any unions and societies consisting of several persons, but not as power. The husband is the natural head of the family, if only because he bears the main burden of family duties, which the wife cannot bear with the relative tenderness of her nature and the weakness of her physical strength. "Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the Church and gave Himself up for her" – consequently, conjugal love must be first of all spiritual love, and not carnal, and have a moral goal: "in order to sanctify it, cleansing it with a bath of water by means of the word"... "that it may be holy and blameless" (vv. 25-27) — here by "the bath of water" is meant the sacrament of baptism, by which Christ cleanses from all defilement and impurity those who enter His Church. In the same way, husbands should be concerned about the moral purity and salvation of the souls of their wives. At the same time, husbands should express their love in caring for their wife as for their own body – to "nourish and warm" her, "as the Lord does the church" (vv. 28-30 [3]). This again points to the need for spiritual love between spouses in Christianity: the husband should look at his wife not as some kind of mechanical tool for carnal pleasures, but as a part of himself.In this regard, the Apostle also reminds us of the biblical basis for such love for his wife: "Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave to his wife; and they shall be one flesh" (Gen. 2:24). With these words, the Apostle wishes to dispose Christian spouses to a strong marital union and to show how unnatural and ungodly marital disagreements, and even more so divorces, are. "This mystery is great; I speak in relation to Christ and to the Church" (v. 32) – St. John Chrysostom best explains these words: "Truly it is a sacrament that a man, having left him who begat him, who gave birth to him, who brought him up, and the one who conceived him, was sick with him, gave birth to him in sickness, leaving those who have done so much good, to whom he is accustomed, is united with her whom he has not seen before, who has nothing in common with him, and prefers it to everything... Truly this is a great mystery, containing some hidden wisdom." "I speak in relation to Christ and to the Church" — with this addition the holy Apostle wishes to suggest that the closeness of husband to wife and their mutual union in blessed Christian marriage are so great and contain such a mystery that they can be the best and most obvious likeness of the mysterious unity of Christ with the Church, in which they have their highest prototype. "There is also much that is mysterious in the natural marriage between husband and wife, as the Apostle says, but I am speaking of Christian marriage, which is concluded in the image of the union of Christ with the Church. Such a marriage is already the greatest mystery, it is already a sacrament of the Church." What is the union of Christ with the Church? It is the closest union, imbued with love, holy and indissoluble. In conclusion, the Apostle says: "So let each one of you love his wife as himself; and let the wife be afraid of her husband" – everything should be mutual for spouses. In the beginning, the Apostle said: "Obey one another in the fear of God," but nevertheless, the husband is the head, and therefore the wife owes him special obedience. Since wives are inclined to be burdened by the power of their husbands over them, and husbands are inclined to abuse their primacy position, the Apostle concludes by commanding that which can be violated primarily in marriage: he commands husbands to love, and obedience to wives. The expression: "And let the wife fear her husband" is, of course, only a figurative expression, and does not at all signify the wife's slavish fear of her husband, who has no place and cannot have a place in Christianity. This "fear" is nothing but respect for the husband with the fear of offending him and diminishing his love for himself. Blessed Jerome translates this expression: "Let the wife honor her husband."In the sixth chapter, the holy Apostle speaks first of all about the duties of children to their parents, and then of parents to their children. Children should obey their parents, for the natural law of justice requires it, and the fifth commandment of the Law of God commands it, and parents should not be excessively harsh to their children, should not lead them into sin, but should bring them up wisely in the teaching and chastisement of the Lord (vv. 1-4 [4]). Further, the Apostle inspires slaves with obedience to their masters, and masters with a just and lenient attitude towards their slaves. The political or social question of the legality or illegality of slavery is not touched upon here by the holy Apostle at all. The Christian Church in general did not set herself the task of bringing about external political or social upheavals, but only the internal rebirth of people, which should naturally lead to external changes in all human life (vv. 5-9 [5]).In conclusion of his moral instructions, the holy Apostle calls Christians to an invisible spiritual battle with the enemy of our salvation, the devil, and his servants: here we see the foundation of Christian asceticism. The whole life of a Christian should be an unceasing struggle. For this struggle, the Apostle calls on Christians to put on the whole armor of God, to gird up their loins with truth, to put on the armor of righteousness, to put on their feet in readiness to preach the gospel of peace, and above all to take up the shield of faith, the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit – the Word of God, and, armed in this way, to wage a stubborn struggle against the snares of the devil, against the spirits of wickedness in the heavenly places, which constantly draw man to the path of sin and opposition to the will of God. This Apostolic reading (vv. 10-17) is read on the feast days of some monks and at monastic tonsures. The main weapon in this case should be prayer, and at the same time it should be unceasing – "at all times". Evil spirits are called "peacekeepers" here not in the sense that they have been given power over the world, but because all evil in the world, all evil people do their will: they are the peacekeepers of the world "lying in evil." The expression "under the heavens" means that the spirits of evil hover everywhere between heaven and earth, embracing us from everywhere, as the air surrounds us everywhere, and are constantly attaching themselves to us, "like mosquitoes in a damp place," according to the figurative comparison of Ep. Theophanes the Recluse. The "whole armor of God" is especially necessary for us to be able to resist these evil spirits "in the evil day." By this "evil day" we must understand especially decisive moments in our lives, such as death and the Last Judgment, when we will need to give an account to God of our earthly life as we spent it. From all this it is clear that Christians are soldiers of Christ, obliged to wage an unceasing struggle against the enemy of God and the enemy of human salvation, the devil, and against his servants and all kinds of evil that proceeds from them. A Christian must be completely irreconcilable to all kinds of devilish evil, but, of course, fight against it by means worthy of a Christian (vv. 10-18).In the conclusion of the epistle, which contains verses 19-24, the holy Apostle asks, firstly, prayers for himself, thereby teaching that the prayers of the Church are more important and higher than all the persons who are placed in it, and, secondly, he speaks of the embassy to the Ephesians of Tychicus, The holy Apostle Paul concludes his epistle with a wish for peace and love to the brethren and with the usual Apostolic blessing: "Grace be with all those who love our Lord Jesus Christ, Amen. In "incorruptibility" means, according to the interpretation of St. John Chrysostom, in sinlessness.Therefore, imitate God, as beloved children, and live in love, just as Christ also loved us and gave Himself for us as an offering and sacrifice to God, as a sweet fragrance. ^With my soul I have sought Thee by night, and with my spirit I will seek Thee within me from the early morning: for when Thy judgments are done on earth, then those who dwell in the world will learn righteousness. ^Thus should husbands love their wives as their own bodies: he who loves his wife loves himself. For no one has ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and warms it, even as the Lord does the Church, because we are members of His body, of His flesh and of His bones. ^Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is what justice requires. Honor your father and mother, this is the first commandment with a promise: let it be good for you, and you will live long on earth. And you, fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the teaching and instruction of the Lord. ^Servants, obey your masters according to the flesh with fear and trembling, in the simplicity of your heart, as to Christ, not only with visible helpfulness, as men-pleasers, but as servants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart, serving with diligence, as the Lord, and not as men, knowing that each will receive from the Lord according to the measure of the good he has done, whether slave or free. And you, gentlemen, do the same to them, moderating your severity, knowing that there is a Lord in heaven over yourselves and over them, who has no respect of persons. ^