Ephesians 6:24

As the apostle opened his epistle by referring to God’s grace, so he ended it (Ephesians 1:2). God’s grace was the key to the calling of the Christian and the creation of the church. It is also essential to the conduct of the Christian (cf. Ephesians 1:7; Ephesians 2:5; Ephesians 2:7-8; Ephesians 3:2; Ephesians 3:8; Ephesians 4:7). Paul wished God’s unmerited favor and divine enablement on all who love Jesus Christ purely, without wrong motives or secret disloyalties (cf. 1 Corinthians 16:22). As God has poured out His grace to us in all purity, so we should pour out our love to Him in purity.

"Ephesians is ultimately about how God has powerfully equipped the church to experience blessing in Christ, by creating a new community that is able to honor God and resist the forces of evil. No longer does one’s Jewish or Gentile identity dominate. They are part of a new, reconciled community, a reconciliation that involves not only God but also one another. All enablement in this new sacred community is rooted in what the exalted Christ has provided for His people. That is why believers can have hope, since they have begun participation in a wealth of benefits distributed from heaven. The church’s members are citizens raised and seated with Jesus in a heavenly citizenship, though they represent Him now as light on the earth, fully enabled for the task. In all of this, God is taking steps toward the ultimate summation of all things in Christ." [Note: Bock, "A Theology . . .," p. 319.]