Ephesians
Paul's letter to the church in Ephesus is filled with some of the most wonderful revelations about the believer's union with Christ found anywhere in Scripture. Paul said that the truths he presented in this letter were mysteries hitherto unknown (Ephesians 3:3-6). For this reason, Paul included two prayers (Ephesians 1:15-23 and 3:14-21) in this letter, asking the Lord to bestow wisdom on readers.
Romans
Unlike Paul's letter to the Romans, which masterfully expounds the method of salvation, this letter reveals the benefits of salvation by grace through faith. The letter to the Galatians was harsh
Galatians
Paul's defence of the true gospel in this letter provides some of the clearest statements about grace found anywhere in the Bible. The letter to the Galatians was his strongest. Paul did not mince words when he condemned the reliance on self-righteousness. He skipped most of the usual courtesy of an introduction and got straight to the point with a stinging curse on anyone who dared to preach a gospel other than the one the Galatians had already received (Galatians 1:8-9).
Paul was greatly disturbed that the Galatians had been deceived (Galatians 3:1) from their faith in Christ through a distortion of the gospel (Galatians 1:7). They had been told that faith in Christ alone was not enough for salvation; They had to keep the precepts of the Old Testament law, especially the rite of circumcision. He wrote to return them to a pure faith in Christ for salvation alone.
Paul revealed that trusting in anything other than Christ for salvation alone cancels Christ's death (Galatians 2:21). He also said in Galatians 5:4 that the work of Christ can have no effect on those who rely on their own observance of the law to bring about justification. They have fallen from grace.
Aside from the obvious purpose of this letter—to bring the Galatians back to a pure faith in Christ—Paul provided some personal information about himself and his beginnings in ministry that is not recorded elsewhere in Scripture (Galatians 1:13-2:21).
Corinthians
The two letters to the Corinthian Church were personal and dealt with specific problems and questions; This letter is impersonal and promotes doctrine in the same way that a book would.
The impersonal nature of this letter could be explained if Paul intended for this letter to circulate among other churches. He clearly stated that this was to be done with the letter to the Colossians (Colossians 4:16) and the letter to the Thessalonians (1 Corinthians 4:16). (Thessalonians 5:27). Therefore, there is some reason why this letter is non-specific, mentioning Ephesus because it was the main city from which Paul spent three years evangelizing. This could possibly make this letter the unknown letter to the Laodiceans mentioned at Colossians 4:16.
The letter to the Colossians and this letter is remarkably similar. Just a few of the many similarities are Ephesians 1:1-2 and Colossians 1:1-2; Ephesians 1:7 and Colossians 1:14; Ephesians 1:9 and Colossians 1:26; Ephesians 1:10 and Colossians 1:20 and 25; Ephesians 5:19 and Colossians 3:16; Ephesians 5:22–6:4 and Colossians 3:18–21; and Ephesians 6:5-9 and Colossians 3:22-4:1.
The overall messages of Ephesians and Colossians are basically the same with some differences. This gives Paul a good reason to get the Colossians and Ephesians to share their letters with each other. The same message with different weights would help them understand the points even better. This would further strengthen the argument that this letter to the Ephesians is the same letter that Paul referred to in Coans 4:16 as the letter to Laodicea.
The first three chapters of Ephesians deal with our position and calling in Christ. The last three chapters (Ephesians 4-6) are practical and speak to our lives in this world that require a behavior inspired by this new call of grace. It has been said that
the Epistle to the Ephesians is in practice "the gospel walked out in shoe leather", for it speaks of the relationship between husband and wife, masters and servants, parents and children, etc.
On the doctrinal side (Ephesians 1-3) we find that all has come to pass and is complete in Him. A true understanding of Christianity does not begin with doing but begins with what has been done. We are invited to sit down and enjoy all that God has done for us in Christ. We are to rest in Him. It is only from this revelation that true works of faith spring; otherwise, practical Christianity can turn to the works of the law – a danger that Paul himself warned us about (Ephesians 2:15 and Galatians 3:3).
