As an introduction to this letter that Paul wrote from prison in Rome about A.D. 61, there is included a brief history of his relationship with this church. Paul had spent three years at Ephesus establishing the church while on his third missionary journey. He had taught them the Word of God and seen to it that there were elders, appointed by the Spirit of God, to guide and guard this local flock. He also confronted the idolatrous worship centered at the Temple of Artemis [Diana].
He addressed the believers in the church identifying them as "saints" [holy ones] and "faithful" in their relationship with Christ. He greeted them with grace and peace from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ by whose authority he was writing. He then launched into one long sentence that emphasizes the glory of God in all that He is doing in the salvation and lives of believers. In the sphere of this relationship with God, he emphasized the position this secures for them “in the heavenlies.” This position is the realm of influence and perspective from which believers are to live God-pleasing lives in the world, but not of it.
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In the fall of 1969, Gil began a full-time teaching ministry as Senior Pastor of Indian Hills Community Church. He also earned his Ph.D. from the California Graduate School of Theology. The focus of Pastor Rugh’s ministry is systematic, verse-by-verse teaching of the Bible. As a...
