Who Are The “We” and the “Ye” in Ephesians?
Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, to the saints which are at Ephesus, and to the faithful in Christ Jesus:
Grace be to you, and peace, from God our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ.
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ:
According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love:
Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will,
To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved.
In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace;
Wherein he hath abounded toward us in all wisdom and prudence;
Having made known unto us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure which he hath purposed in himself:
That in the dispensation of the fulness of times he might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth; even in him:
In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will:
That we should be to the praise of his glory, who first trusted in Christ.
In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise,
Which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory.
Ephesians 1:1-14
And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins;
Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience:
But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us,
Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;)
And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus:
That in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus.
For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast.
For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.
Wherefore remember, that ye being in time past Gentiles in the flesh, who are called Uncircumcision by that which is called the Circumcision in the flesh made by hands;
That at that time ye were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world:
But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ.
For he is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us;
Having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances; for to make in himself of twain one new man, so making peace;
And that he might reconcile both unto God in one body by the cross, having slain the enmity thereby:
And came and preached peace to you which were afar off, and to them that were nigh.
For through him we both have access by one Spirit unto the Father.
Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellowcitizens with the saints, and of the household of God;” Ephesians 2:1-19
Obviously, to the discerning reader of these passages, the “we” and the “ye” are two different groups of people. Since Paul is the author of this letter, he would be included in the “we who first trusted in Christ.” (chapter 1, vs 12), which would have to be all those “saints” who believed and received the gospel of their salvation (Ref. 1 Cor. 15:1-4) during Paul’s 35 year Acts ministry. The “ye…who also trusted in Christ” would be these Ephesian Gentiles who were “aliens from the covenants of promise.” (chapter 2, vs 11), which would be the Abrahamic, everlasting covenant the “we” were a part of (Ref. Gal. 3:29; Gen 17:7-19).
Question: Why were the Ephesian Gentiles Paul is writing to in this letter not in the covenants of promise? Because they weren’t blessing Israel in some way (Ref Gen. 12:1-3), as was the uncircumcised Gentile Cornelius (Ref. Acts 10:1,2; 11:2), therefore, under the “to the Jew first” protocol (Rom. 1:16) during the Acts, they could not be offered salvation directly. But with Paul’s setting aside of Israel at the end of the Acts (Ref. Acts 28:26-28), the way was made to go directly to these kinds of Gentiles who were outside the promise and reveal the advent of the dispensation of grace (Eph. 3:1-3), which brought the Acts body of Christ into fellowship with the post-Acts b of C, creating “the one new man…the fellowship of the mystery” by the elimination of the Jewish ordinances prescribed for the Acts church (Eph. 2:14,15; 3:9) In effect, what this did was end the practice of any facits of the Jew’s religion the Acts believers were doing. Unfortunately, the bulk of Christians and Christian theology over the last 20 centuries has ignored this directive by God, through Paul, as parts or all of it continues to be practiced to this day. All Scripture is taken from the King James Bible. Related articles: The Christian Religion; To The Jew First
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