Stress Test Devotional April 27
April 27, 2024
EPHESIANS 4:1 | 1I therefore, the prisoner in the Lord, beg you to lead a life worthy of the calling to which you have been called.
It is quite likely Paul wrote his letter to the Ephesian Christian community between 61-63AD during his first incarceration in Rome (see Acts 28:16). He had visited there on his second missionary journey in 52AD, leaving Aquila and Priscilla to work with the church there. Paul himself spent three years there during his third missionary journey, as we learn in Acts 19. A further picture of life in this community can be gleaned from his two letters to Timothy who was resident there. There were disagreements in the church on gender roles, conflicts between slaves and masters, and confusion created by false teachers. John’s letter to Ephesus in Revelation
2:1-7 also names a lack of passion and love, a coldness of heart.
Paul wants his fellow Christians in Ephesus to see how critical their life together is, to him, to God, and to their common future.
What divisions have you experienced in the church?
