Those of us who cut our teeth on Romans tend to see the Christian world in a faith vs. works way. It’s not a bad thing. It just misses an even bigger theme.
Internal to the early church was a dispute regarding how to fit obedience to the Torah into the revelation that came through Jesus. It was (and remains) a very challenging and important question.
But there was also a tension between a Christian worldview and a pagan worldview. After all, it wasn’t long before there were far more converts from paganism than Judaism. And the former pagans brought with them their own errors and issues.
Consider –
(Eph 3:8-10 ESV) 8 To me, though I am the very least of all the saints, this grace was given, to preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ, 9 and to bring to light for everyone what is the plan of the mystery hidden for ages in God who created all things, 10 so that through the church the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places.
“Rulers and authorities in heavenly places”? Angels? Demons? Paul believes in other gods?
Well, we considered the Bible’s view of other “gods” in some depth a few months ago as part of an investigation into the atonement. Here are the links –
Atonement: The Powers in the New Testament, an Introduction
Atonement: Further on Christus Victor
Atonement: Reflecting on the Powers
Atonement: Reflecting on the Powers, Part 2
Atonement: Reflecting on the Powers, Part 3
The bottom line is that Paul (and others) frequently speaks of the gods of nations other than Israel as quite real, as standing in opposition to God, and ultimately as defeated in Christ. Whether Paul is merely speaking in terms that his audience would understand or really considers these “gods” to exist (he calls them “demons”) is disputed by the commentators.
But this much is certain. The ancient pagans to whom Jesus was preached certainly believed that the gods of the Greeks and Romans were real — in some sense. That was their culture, their framing story, their meta-narrative.
Some philosophers doubted the existence of the gods, and it’s possible many others did as well — in private — but the entire machinery of government, society, and even family was rooted deeply in a belief in the pagan gods. Miss this and you miss a lot of the New Testament, which, of course, was written in opposition to not only these gods but the entire system of thought.
Thus, in Eph 3:8-10, Paul proclaims that Jesus’ victory over death proclaimed the “mystery” of the gospel to the gods themselves — showing that God had defeated all his enemies, especially the gods of the Romans who crucified Jesus.
The mystery is no longer a mystery — it’s a revelation. Jesus is revealed as Messiah, king of the Universe, having authority over even heavenly beings — even the gods.
(Eph 5:5-10 ESV) 5 For you may be sure of this, that everyone who is sexually immoral or impure, or who is covetous (that is, an idolater), has no inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God. 6 Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience. 7 Therefore do not become partners with them; 8 for at one time you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light 9 (for the fruit of light is found in all that is good and right and true), 10 and try to discern what is pleasing to the Lord.
Paul returns to the subject two chapters later. He begins to draw a stark line between the pagans and the Christians.
“Sons of disobedience” is a reference back to –
(Eph 2:1-3 ESV) And you were dead in the trespasses and sins 2 in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience – 3 among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind.
The “sons of disobedience” are pagans — the unconverted — who unwittingly follow Satan (“the prince of the power of the air”).
The pagans are not mere “pre-Christians.” They worship Satan because the gods they worship are in league with Satan and stand opposed to Jesus and encourage the vilest of sins.
Near the end of Ephesians, Paul asserts –
(Eph 6:12 ESV) 12 For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.
This not just a battle for the hearts and minds of people. There are cosmic forces — heavenly beings, demons — seeking to defeat the church, fighting a losing battle against the power of Jesus.
And so, one way to tell the story of Jesus’ victory is in terms of his victory over evil, spiritual beings, demons pretending to be the gods of the pagans. And so, to understand the nature of evil, we would do well to study how the ancient world viewed their gods.
(And maybe we might avoid making the same mistakes all over again, with a new vocabulary.)
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