Ephesians
A New Covenant Commentary
Lynn H. Cohick
CASCADE Books - Eugene, Oregon
EPHESIANS
A New Covenant Commentary
New Covenant Commentary Series 10
Copyright © 2010 Lynn H. Cohick. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form, electronic or mechanical, or stored on any information storage and retrieval system without prior permission in writing from the publishers. For permissions write to Wipf and Stock Publishers, 199 W. 8th Avenue, Suite 3, Eugene, OR 97401.
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Cascade Books
An Imprint of Wipf and Stock Publishers
199 W. 8th Ave., Suite 3
Eugene, OR 97401
www.wipfandstock.com
isbn 13: 978-1-60608-141-9
Cataloguing-in-Publication data:
Cohick, Lynn H.
Ephesians : a new covenant commentary / Lynn H. Cohick.
xiv + 176 p. ; 23 cm. Includes bibliographical references and indexes.
New Covenant Commentary Series 10
isbn 13: 978-1-60608-141-9
1. Bible. N.T. Ephesians—Commentaries. I. Title. II. Series.
bs2695.3 c55 2010
Manufactured in the U.S.A.
NCCS | New Covenant Commentary Series
The New Covenant Commentary Series (NCCS) is designed for ministers and students who require a commentary that interacts with the text and context of each New Testament book and pays specific attention to the impact of the text upon the faith and praxis of contemporary faith communities.
The NCCS has a number of distinguishing features. First, the contributors come from a diverse array of backgrounds in regards to their Christian denominations and countries of origin. Unlike many commentary series that tout themselves as international the NCCS can truly boast of a genuinely international cast of contributors with authors drawn from every continent of the world (except Antarctica) including countries such as the United States, Australia, the United Kingdom, Kenya, India, Singapore, and Korea. We intend the NCCS to engage in the task of biblical interpretation and theological reflection from the perspective of the global church. Second, the volumes in this series are not verse-by-verse commentaries, but they focus on larger units of text in order to explicate and interpret the story in the text as opposed to some often atomistic approaches. Third, a further aim of these volumes is to provide an occasion for authors to reflect on how the New Testament impacts the life, faith, ministry, and witness of the New Covenant Community today. This occurs periodically under the heading of “Fusing the Horizons.” Here authors provide windows into community formation (how the text shapes the mission and character of the believing community) and ministerial formation (how the text shapes the ministry of Christian leaders).
It is our hope that these volumes will represent serious engagements with the New Testament writings, done in the context of faith, in service of the church, and for the glorification of God.
Series Editors:
Michael F. Bird (Bible College of Queensland, Australia)
Craig Keener (Palmer Seminary, Philadelphia, USA)
Titles in this series:
Romans Craig Keener
Colossians and Philemon Michael F. Bird
Forthcoming titles (in order of projected publication):
Revelation Gordon Fee
James Pablo Jimenez
1–3 John Sam Ngewa
John Jey Kanagaraj
Pastoral Epistles Aída Besançon-Spencer
Mark Kim Huat Tan
Acts Youngmo Cho & Hyung Dae Park
Luke Jeannine Brown
2 Peter and Jude Andrew Mbuvi
Matthew Joel Willits
1 Peter Eric Greaux
1–2 Thessalonians David E. Garland
Philippians Linda Belleville
Hebrews Tom Thatcher
Galatians Brian Vickers
2 Corinthians David deSilva
for
James Allen Cohick Jr.
Preface
Ambrosiaster1 does well in trying to capture the volume and brilliance of the vision of the Triune God expounded in the six chapters of Ephesians. Pointing to the phrase “length and breadth and depth and height” (3:18), he asks his readers to think of a sphere, whose length is the same as its breadth, and whose depth is the same as its height. He rejoices that the same is true of God, who is boundlessly infinite. Ambrosiaster observes that we cannot thank God enough who, being infinite and infinitely great, yet made possible humanity’s redemption through Christ. Julian of Norwich had a vision of a different sort of sphere, specifically a hazelnut, which seemed so small and insignificant that it might disintegrate into nothingness. This nut symbolized the universe in relationship to God, and she marveled that God would care for something so relatively inconsequential. But she understood that it was God’s vast love which sustained it. In meditating on the great love of God shown in his redemption of humanity from sin, she cried that “all shall be well, and all shall be well, and all manner of thing shall be well.”2
The Letter to the Ephesians invites its readers to sing with Julian that all shall be well. In this epistle, sin has been overcome by Christ’s death on the cross. Saved by God’s grace through faith, Christians are seated with Christ in the heavens. They enjoy full fellowship through Christ’s work in making the two (Jew and Gentile) into one holy people, a temple of the Lord, the Body of Christ. Sealed with the Holy Spirit, they are empowered for holy living.
It has been my joy to wade into this epistle, with its exuberant, extravagant language that, like a stained glass window lit up by the sun’s rays, casts a radiant picture of God and his church. I offer my deepest thanks to Craig Keener and Michael Bird for their invitation to participate in the New Covenant Commentary Series. Their shrewd comments helped me think more clearly and strengthened my arguments. My sincere appreciation goes to the editorial team at Wipf and Stock, especially Chris Spinks, who made the publishing process smooth and efficient. I am indebted to Wheaton College and my dean, Jill Baumgaertner, and associate dean, Jeffrey Greenman, for providing release time to pursue this delightful project. I am deeply grateful to my colleague Michael Graves for our fruitful dialogues on the Greek text of Ephesians. My teaching assistant, Adam Cieszkiewicz, exceeded the call of duty in his diligent research, proofreading,