According to the early church fathers, Ephesus was the base of operations for the apostle John when he wrote his letters. Lastly, Ephesus was the leading city of the seven churches of Asia addressed in Revelation. Thus, there are six books of the New Testament that have some bearing upon the topic of proclamation and conversion in the city of Ephesus.
However, only Acts and the letter to the Ephesians will be discussed
here. No other elements from the other books mentioned have any bearing
upon the initial conversions of the Ephesians.
| Text | Observations |
| AC 18:19 And they came to Ephesus, and he left them there. Now he himself entered the synagogue and reasoned with the Jews. [20] And when they asked him to stay for a longer time, he did not consent, [21] but taking leave of them and saying, "I will return to you again if God wills," he set sail from Ephesus. | A short visit where Paul reasoned with the Jews. No mention is made of converts, but Paul leaves on friendly terms, with the Ephesians actually wishing he would stay longer. |
| AC 18:24 Now a certain Jew named Apollos, an Alexandrian by birth, an eloquent man, came to Ephesus; and he was mighty in the Scriptures. [25] This man had been instructed in the way of the Lord; and being fervent in spirit, he was speaking and teaching accurately the things concerning Jesus, being acquainted only with the baptism of John; [26] and he began to speak out boldly in the synagogue. But when Priscilla and Aquila heard him, they took him aside and explained to him the way of God more accurately. | Apollos is heard teaching Jesus in the synagogue, though instructed only in the baptism of John. Priscilla and Aquila took him aside and corrected this decifiency. |
| AC 19:1 And it came about that while Apollos was at Corinth, Paul having passed through the upper country came to Ephesus, and found some disciples, [2] and he said to them, "Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?" And they said to him, "No, we have not even heard whether there is a Holy Spirit." [3] And he said, "Into what then were you baptized?" And they said, "Into John's baptism." [4] And Paul said, "John baptized with the baptism of repentance, telling the people to believe in Him who was coming after him, that is, in Jesus." [5] And when they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. [6] And when Paul had laid his hands upon them, the Holy Spirit came on them, and they began speaking with tongues and prophesying. [7] And there were in all about twelve men. | Paul found some disciples at Ephesus, though it seems they were not in the synagogue previously visited by him, Aquila and Apollos. Interestingly, these people seem to have a connection with the same level of teaching concerning Jesus as Apollos orignially had, as they too were also only familiar up to John's baptism. Paul instructed them concerning this deficiency and then baptized them. |
| AC 19:8 And he entered the synagogue and continued speaking out boldly for three months, reasoning and persuading them about the kingdom of God. [9] But when some were becoming hardened and disobedient, speaking evil of the Way before the multitude, he withdrew from them and took away the disciples, reasoning daily in the school of Tyrannus. [10] And this took place for two years, so that all who lived in Asia heard the word of the Lord, both Jews and Greeks. | Perhaps these twelve men formed their own synagogue,
as Paul enters this synagogue, and "reasons" and "persuades" them concerning
the kingdom.
As opposition arose within that synagogue, Paul went to a lecture hall and continued "reasoning" with hearers from all of Asia (the Roman political province covering modern Eastern Turkey , not the continent as we know it today). |
| AC 19:11 And God was performing extraordinary
miracles by the hands of Paul, [12] so that handkerchiefs or aprons were
even carried from his body to the sick, and the diseases left them and
the evil spirits went out. [13] But also some of the Jewish exorcists,
who went from place to place, attempted to name over those who had the
evil spirits the name of the Lord Jesus, saying, "I adjure you by Jesus
whom Paul preaches." [14] And seven sons of one Sceva, a Jewish chief priest,
were doing this. [15] And the evil spirit answered and said to them, "I
recognize Jesus, and I know about Paul, but who are you?" [16] And the
man, in whom was the evil spirit, leaped on them and subdued all of them
and overpowered them, so that they fled out of that house naked and wounded.
[17] And this became known to all, both Jews and Greeks, who lived in Ephesus;
and fear fell upon them all and the name of the Lord Jesus was being magnified.
[18] Many also of those who had believed kept coming, confessing and disclosing their practices. [19] And many of those who practiced magic brought their books together and began burning them in the sight of all; and they counted up the price of them and found it fifty thousand pieces of silver. [20] So the word of the Lord was growing mightily and prevailing. |
Many believers came and confessed magic (possibly occult) involvement, and publicly destroyed books worth quite a sum of money. (It is interesting that no one seems to have questioned their prior repentance or baptism.) |
| AC 20:17 And from Miletus he sent to Ephesus and called
to him the elders of the church. [18] And when they had come to him, he
said to them,
AC 20:18 "You yourselves know, from the first day that I set foot in Asia, how I was with you the whole time, [19] serving the Lord with all humility and with tears and with trials which came upon me through the plots of the Jews; [20] how I did not shrink from declaring to you anything that was profitable, and teaching you publicly and from house to house, [21] solemnly testifying to both Jews and Greeks of repentance toward God and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. |
This passage is perhaps the most clear summary of Paul's manner and message of ministry. Concerning evangelism, he speaks of humility and tears in trials. He taught both in public and in private. The message was repentance towards (eis) God (not "of" certain sins) and faith in Christ (cf. Hebrews 6:1). |
| AC 20:22 "And now, behold, bound in spirit, I am on my way to Jerusalem, not knowing what will happen to me there, [23] except that the Holy Spirit solemnly testifies to me in every city, saying that bonds and afflictions await me. [24] "But I do not consider my life of any account as dear to myself, in order that I may finish my course, and the ministry which I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify solemnly of the gospel of the grace of God. | He summarizes his ministry as his testimony to the "gospel of the grace of God." |
| EPH 1:13 In Him, you also, after listening to the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation--having also believed, you were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise | Here we see a reference to their conversion, with a rough
sequence of events:
- listening to the gospel - believing - being sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit |
| EPH 2:4 But God, being rich in mercy, because of His
great love with which He loved us, [5] even when we were dead in our transgressions,
made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), [6]
and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places,
in Christ Jesus, [7] in order that in the ages to come He might show the
surpassing riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.
[8] For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; [9] not as a result of works, that no one should boast. |
First, the conversion of the Ephesians and Paul is described
as being "made alive together with Christ," being "raised up with Him"
and "seated with Him in the heavenly places." This is quite likely a reference
to baptism (ref. Rom 6:3-4).
Reiterating the role of grace, the Ephesians were saved (perfect participle) by grace (chariti este sesosmenoi) through faith (dia pisteos). |
Eph 4:20-24 may at first glance appear to be related to conversion, but it a directive towards ongoing spiritual growth as reflected in the Eph 4:25ff, similar to remarks made in other letters (e.g. Col 3:1ff ).
There are some unique elements pertaining to conversions in Ephesus. These include the prominence of believers in Jesus who has only been instructed to the point of John's baptism (who were then instructed and promptly administered Christian baptism), the subsequent public confession by believers of past or perhaps even present "magic" involvement (whose initial repentance and baptism were not questioned though this sin did not come to light until some time after their conversions). By way of summary, Paul said the people were taught of repentance towards God and faith in Christ. They were connected with Jesus in baptism (made alive with him, raised up with Him, seated with Him). Lest any might think they deserved their salvation, he persistently taught salvation was by grace through faith.
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