Paul wrote the book of Ephesians while he was imprisoned. In fact, it is one of his four prison epistles including Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, and Philemon that he wrote while he was under house arrest in Rome.
In order to understand Ephesians, there are several things that will help.
Usually, when Paul wrote to a church, it is because something is going wrong. That is not the case with Ephesians. He wrote for the two following reasons.
--- In Chapters 1-3, Paul pointed out spiritual blessings in heavenly places.
--- In Chapters 4-6, Paul gave instructions on how to live together on earth.
Paul wrote Ephesians from the perspective of union with Christ, who is the head of the true church. Notice that he says, "in Christ" at least 30 times in this particular epistle and about 200 in all his books.
The unity of the church, especially between Jew and Gentile believers, is the keynote of the book. This is shown by the recurrence of such words and phrases as:
--- together
--- made alive together
--- raised up together
--- sitting together
--- built together
Ephesians contains:
--- Blessings for believers
--- The spiritual position of Gentiles as a result of the work of Christ
--- Unity in the midst of the diversity of gifts among believers
--- Instructions about different relationships
--- A popular benediction found in Chapter 3
--- The seven "ones" in Chapter 4
--- Imagery of spiritual warfare, including the metaphor of the Armor of God in Chapter 6
In the book of GALATIANS, Paul encourages those in Galatia not to turn back to legalism and live by the law and wanting to be circumcised.
In the book of EPHESIANS, Paul does not address any special error. Instead, he gives instruction on how to live as a Christian in the church, in the home and in the world. He stresses the importance of having a relationship with Christ as the head of the church.
Paul did not use as many asides and rhetorical questions in Ephesians as he did in Galatians because his tone was much different. Remember an aside is something Paul said as a sarcastic remark that is set off with hyphens or parentheses. A rhetorical question is a question when the answer is already understood.
Again, Paul was not on a first name basis with Jesus. He almost always used a double or triple name for Jesus instead of saying just Jesus. Notice how he says, "the Lord Jesus Christ," "Jesus Christ," or "Christ Jesus."
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