A broad meditation on unity between Jew and Gentile in one body.
Ephesians reads less like a response to a crisis than a general reflection, circulated among churches, on God's long-term purpose and the unity of a community drawn from very different backgrounds.
The first half describes Gentile believers, once far off, as now belonging fully alongside Jewish believers, with the barrier between them removed. The image of the church as a building and as a body being assembled runs through these chapters.
The letter urges readers to put off former patterns of anger, deceit, and greed and to put on a renewed character marked by truthful speech, honest labor, and forgiveness.
A section on relationships between spouses, children, parents, and enslaved people and enslavers reflects and partly reframes the household codes of the time. The letter ends with the well-known image of spiritual armor for enduring opposition.