Part 6 – Paul’s Prayer

After penning most of these three thrilling chapters of doctrine in Ephesians, the Apostle Paul prays for the mature Ephesian saints:

Sadly, Paul's place in the plan of God as being ‘the Moses of the age of grace’ to "the body of Christ" is not known by many. The confusion in the Church today is basically the result of her rebellion against the authority of Paul as the Lord’s one divinely-appointed Apostle for the present "dispensation of the grace of God" (Eph. 3:1-3). Thus Paul has largely been marginalized in the church at large today.

The “church, which is the body of Christ,” which we read about only in Paul’s epistles was organized in a very simple way. A general pattern was to have two or more qualified men overseeing each local congregation or church. These men are referred to as the “eldership.” Each man must meet several high qualifications which the Bible lists here below in 1Timothy 3.2-7. Elders are the spiritual leaders of a congregation. They also watch out for the souls of the members like a shepherd.

Each local church bore these characteristics.