Key Words and Phrases in Ephesians

There are several key words and phrases in Ephesians that instantly provide us with an immediate grasp of its content. Let’s look at just a few of them.

“Grace.” If any word stands out as the main key, it is this one, which appears a total of twelve times (1:2,6,7; 2:5,7,8; 3:2,7,8; 4:7,29; 6:24). It is an amazing fact that grace is spoken of more in Ephesians than in any other New Testament book, even more than in Romans! Ephesians has been described as “The Epistle of Grace” and rightly so. It is a misunderstanding of grace that is at the very root of all false doctrine concerning salvation. All such teaching tries to mix grace with works, which immediately negates grace. Ephesians details what grace really means (e.g., 2:4-9).

“Riches.” This word appears five times in Ephesians, all of which occur in the first half of the book (1:7,18; 2:7; 3:8,16). Why? Because the thrust of the first half of Ephesians is our wealth in Christ. Right in line with this is the next key word.

“Walk.” This word, along with “walked,” appears seven times (2:2,10; 4:1,17; 5:2,8,15). Amazingly, just as “riches” appears five times in the first half of Ephesians, “walk” appears five times in the second half. Why? Because the thrust in the second half of the book is our walk in Christ.

“In Christ.” The phrase “in Christ” (or “in Him”) occurs twelve times (1:1,3,4,10 [twice],12,20; 2:6,10,13; 3:6,11). It shows us that we are in Christ, that we are in His Body and all we have is because we are in Him.

“Heavenly places” (or “high places”). Here is a truly fascinating phrase that appears five glorious times in this letter and nowhere else in the New Testament. As we’ll see in more detail later, the Greek phrase (Greek is the language in which the New Testament was originally written) is en tois epouraniois, literally “in the heavenlies.” Each occurrence is unique.

The first occurrence (1:3) tells us that the riches the Christian has in Christ are “in the heavenlies.” The riches we claim are not earthly; they are heavenly.

The second occurrence (1:20) declares that Christ is now “in the heavenlies.” We also read in 4:8‑10 that Christ ascended into heaven and is seated there right now.

The third occurrence (2:6) affirms that the Christian is also “in the heavenlies.” Not only are we on this earth, but we are also in the heavenlies right now; our place there is already set. We are not yet there physically, but we are there positionally. Our position is “in Christ in the heavenlies.”

The fourth occurrence (3:10) speaks of the holy angels who dwell “in the heavenlies.”

The fifth and final occurrence (6:12) shows that evil angels, to some degree, have access to the heavenlies. An example of this is when Satan came before God to accuse Job (Job 1:6-11).

What a marvelous phrase this is! It is used in Ephesians to contrast that which is earthly from that which is heavenly. Paul speaks here of glorious things, things that transcend this earth. But he doesn’t leave us “up in the clouds” in some “mystical trance,” as some view spirituality in our day. No, he brings us crashing back to earth in Chapters 4-6 with the practical application of these spiritual truths. True spirituality is always practical.