contrasted to the unchristian life-style of the environment.”1 Along similar lines Bruce thinks that the letter was written to encourage the Gentile believers to appreciate their heavenly calling and destiny and to walk worthy of that calling.2 Much of the content of this letter reveals these themes but so do many other of Paul’s epistles. O’Brien suggests that the central message of the Ephesians is the cosmic reconciliation and unity in Christ, emerging initially from Eph 1:9–10 where the mystery