Ephesians is often treated as a pure type example of the Pauline method that “the indicative preceds the imperative.”
But what Paul does first is pray. Simply reading verse 3 and following involves readers in a prayer of thanksgiving to God–and much more so for those listening to the epistle read out loud in a Church gathering. This prayer then turns into a request for God to grant the Ephesians knowledge of what they have. And that practice, which involves the reader and listeners of the letter, sets the stage for the imperative at the end of the epistle, that the Ephesians should pray for everything.
God doesn’t begin with propositions. He begins by practice and teaching us by practice. That way we are in a position to understand both His propositions and his poems.
Theology should be compared more to dance than to book reading.
By the way, one of the astounding oddities I found reading the English translation of Bavinck’s first volume of Reformed Dogmatics (pp. 34, 35) is that he lists William Ames as a bad guy for defining theology as “the art of living to God.”
This is one area where I think the East is better than the West; they realize theology is best understood and expressed in the life of the Church and in her liturgy, feasting, fasting, praying, and singing.
Thanks Mark.
I read on your blog that your were giving some talks on Ephesians. Will you make your notes available? Or, are they already posted somewhere?
-Andrew