Eph. 1:1 Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, to the saints which are at Ephesus, and to the faithful in Christ Jesus:
Paul’s letter to the Colossians starts off the very same way. Since I have already done that portion of Colossians, I will quote from that journal.
“Paul, an apostle…” - Paul starts out six books in similar fashion (2Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Colossians, 1&2 Timothy)—with a statement to the fact that he is an apostle according to the will or commandment of God. This emphasizes the fact that his Damascus Road experience was the turning point in his life. Until that time he was a member of Israel’s ruling elite and out to destroy the spread of the gospel of Christ. I think this is a wonderful example of God’s supernatural intervention in a man’s life to accomplish His will. Paul could have rejected the whole experience, but he chose to embrace the truth when it was revealed to him so powerfully. There is nothing in the narrative (Acts 9) indicating that he was forced against his will. In fact, as soon as Jesus identified Himself to Paul as the One he was persecuting, Paul became immediately submissive. He immediately recognized the truth and wanted to serve God in truth. This is also a statement of Paul’s authority as established by God to declare His truth.
This letter is addressed to the body of believers, the saints, at Ephesus, but it also seems to be meant for the wider body of believers as a whole. I also got an impression that he could be differentiating between the Ephesian church as a whole and those in the church who were “the faithful in Christ Jesus.” Although it shouldn’t be the case, I think that is a realistic observation on most church congregations. There are those who through their faith are positioned “in Christ” and those whose profession of faith is just that—profession without possession.
Eph. 1:2 Grace be to you, and peace, from God our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ.
“grace…and peace…” – This blessing from Paul is used in every one of his epistles. I know I have noted several times throughout my journals that you can’t experience the peace of God without first experiencing His grace. It is by His grace that we are saved (Ephesians 2:8), and it is only in Christ that we can find peace. Peace is a work of the Holy Spirit in our lives (Galatians 5:22), and we don’t benefit from the presence of the Spirit in our lives until we are “in Christ.
Galatians 5:22 “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith….”
Ephesians 1:12-14 That we should be to the praise of his glory, who first trusted in Christ. In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise, Which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory.”
Romans 8:1 “There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.”
1Corinthians 3:16 “Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?”
2 Corinthians 1:21 “Now he which stablisheth us with you in Christ, and hath anointed us, is God….”
And a little different emphasis…
It’s worth repeating again, that you can’t experience the peace of God without first experiencing His grace. It’s by grace we are saved through faith (Ephesians 2:8). The word for “peace” includes the thought “set at one again.” I love that expression. Through our salvation we become spiritually reconnected in fellowship to the Creator as was intended from the beginning.
Peace is also a reflection of the temperament of our spirit. One of my favorite verses is Isaiah 26:3; the key point in that verse is the promise of peace for the person “whose mind is stayed on Thee.” We need to learn to keep our focus on Jesus and not on our circumstances, the trials and temptations in this world. We should “trust” that God is only going to allow what is intended for good in the lives of those that love Him.
Isaiah 26:3 “Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee.”
Romans 8:28 “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.”
Note that Paul refers to God and Jesus as the one source of grace and peace.
Eph. 1:3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ:
As Paul thinks about the grace and peace that are ours in God through Christ, he can’t help but break out with words of praise. Not only is grace and peace ours for the taking, we are blessed with “all spiritual blessings” in Christ. As stated above, these blessings come to us through the ministry of the Holy Spirit; and we don’t benefit from His presence in our lives until we are “in Christ.” I think it is important to note that we possess spiritual blessings from the moment we are saved—not material blessings (as so many “prosperity preachers” would lead one to believe today).
In “heaven” the focus is on spiritual treasure, not physical. God often chooses to bless us physically and materially as well as spiritually, but that is not the emphasis here. The inheritance we receive “in Christ” and have certain, unfettered access to now is spiritual in nature.
Interesting note: Verses 3-14 form one long sentence in the Greek.
Eph. 1:4 According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love:
Paul goes on to tell us that these blessings are ours “according as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world.” This is an amazing truth that speaks to the omniscience and sovereignty of our amazing God. I don’t know why people try to isolate this verse from the rest of scripture. They try to make God contradict Himself and say that He has chosen some to salvation and others to damnation. Scripture is so clear that He is not willing that any should perish.
2 Peter 3:9 “The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.”
Paul explains being “chosen” (predestination) in his letter to the Romans.
Romans 8:29 “For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.”
To foreknow means to know beforehand. Predestinate is to “limit in advance, determine before.” Because He is God, He knew everything that ever would happen before He ever created one thing. (That truth alone poses many questions that I can’t begin to discuss.) The fact is that He knew in advance every person’s response to Him—whether it would be in faith and obedience or rejection and disobedience. Those who fell into the category of faith and obedience were predestined to be likened to His Son Jesus.
We are chosen through His foreknowledge, and God knew each person that would come to Him in faith before He ever created the world. In my opinion, that is the only way there is no contradiction. It in no way lessens God’s authority; it only increases my awe of Who He Is. Scripture is very clear that God has sovereignly decided to give man the ability to make the choice whether to follow Him in faith and obedience or not. Ezekiel is very clear in that regard.
Ezekiel 18:32 “For I have no pleasure in the death of him that dieth, saith the Lord GOD: wherefore turn yourselves, and live ye.”
Ezekiel 33:11 “Say unto them, As I live, saith the Lord GOD, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked; but that the wicked turn from his way and live: turn ye, turn ye from your evil ways; for why will ye die, O house of Israel?”
And from my journal on Ezekiel for the above verse: “God takes no pleasure in the death of wicked people. He created man for fellowship with Him, to bring Him honor and glory. He is not, however, going to force man into a relationship with Him. Love can’t be coerced; it can only be freely given. I believe that is why God sovereignly chose to allow man freedom of choice.”
Those who are “chosen” are to live holy (pure, moral) lives without blame (unblemished, faultless). This is not an empty or unfair expectation. God can rightly expect this from us because He has given us His Holy Spirit to empower us. Again, we don’t become programmed robots once we become His children. It is our choice to submit and obey. He has equipped us for victory. If we experience defeat, it is because we have not chosen to avail ourselves of His provision.
“before Him” – This is a reference to the fact that our lives are open books to Him. He keeps watch over His own. He doesn’t take us into His family and then abandon us to our own devices. He is ever present and ready to respond to our cries for help, to chastise as necessary, and to make sure that we are given opportunities to grow spiritually. I think that every believer that grabs on to this one truth will find himself becoming more victorious than ever before in his walk with the LORD.
“in love” – This is the most important character trait we can possess in the eyes of God. It should also be the most powerful motivating force in our life. I am involved in a correspondence study of 1Corinthians and just happen to have finished the first half of chapter 13. The Holy Spirit makes it very clear through the apostle that unless our actions are motivated by and done in love, they will profit us nothing in the eyes of God.
1Corinthians 13:3 “And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, and have not charity, it profiteth me nothing.”
The word for love in this verse is the same word translated “charity” in 1Corinthians 13. I think an excerpt from that study would be appropriate here.
“charity” = agape = love, i.e. affection or benevolence….. from a root that states, “embracing especially the judgment and the deliberate assent of the will as a matter of principle, duty and propriety”
In today’s vernacular the word love has a broad spectrum of application. The Greek language has different words to express different types of love. The type of love being described in this chapter is a matter of the mind more than the emotions. That is why it is often referenced as “unconditional” love. It’s a love based on the choice of the person expressing that love to love as a matter of “principle, duty and propriety.” As believers, we have been commanded by the LORD to love one another.
Mark 12:29-31 “And Jesus answered him, The first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord: And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment. And the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these.”
The wellspring of that love as expressed by the believer to others finds its roots in the love that God has for us.
1 John 4:19 “We love him, because he first loved us.”
His love toward us is unconditional, and our love for each other should be unconditional. The fact that God commands us to love tells us that it is based on a decision to obey Him or not. He would not command us to do something outside our ability to obey. When Jesus reiterated this command to His disciples, He identified it as a “new commandment.”
John 13:34 “A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another.”
What made it new? It’s new because it is a command rooted in the life example of Jesus--“as I have loved you.” His example was clear in expressing an unconditional love for each of His disciples. In fact, His love, a love of choice, led Him to lay down His life to die on the cross as the sacrifice for the sin of all mankind. If God’s love for us were dependent on our lovableness (which is how we usually make connection to loving), we would be hopelessly lost.
[end excerpt]
Eph. 1:5 Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will,
All of us who have accepted Christ in faith as LORD and Savior have been set apart as God’s children. Our position in the family is secured through adoption, a loving choice on the part of our Creator. Jesus Christ is the only natural born son of God in the flesh. The Greek for the word “by” in the phrase “by Jesus Christ” states “the channel of an act; through….” In other words, it is only through the sacrificial provision of Jesus through His obedient death on the cross that we are privileged to become part of God’s family. Some of these sentence parts are long, and I had to go back to the beginning of verse three to confirm that “to himself” referenced the Father. It is God the Father that is identified as the authority figure in the Trinity. Son and Spirit act according to His will, His purposes, according to scripture. (And still they are One. No I don’t understand it, but I do accept it as truth by faith.)
Isaiah 14:24 “The LORD of hosts hath sworn, saying, Surely as I have thought, so shall it come to pass; and as I have purposed, so shall it stand….”
Isaiah 55:11 “So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.”
Matthew 18:14 “Even so it is not the will of your Father which is in heaven, that one of these little ones should perish.”
Mathew. 26:39 “And he went a little further, and fell on his face, and prayed, saying, O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt.”
Luke 11:2 “And he said unto them, When ye pray, say, Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done, as in heaven, so in earth.”
John 5:30 “I can of mine own self do nothing: as I hear, I judge: and my judgment is just; because I seek not mine own will, but the will of the Father which hath sent me.”
John 14:28 “Ye have heard how I said unto you, I go away, and come again unto you. If ye loved me, ye would rejoice, because I said, I go unto the Father: for my Father is greater than I.”
John 14:16-17 “And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever; Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you.”
Revelation 1:18-19 & 2:7 “I am he that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell and of death. Write the things which thou hast seen, and the things which are, and the things which shall be hereafter….He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches….”
John 10:30 “I and my Father are one.”
I missed this phrase, “according to the good pleasure of His will,” for so long. All that God has done to provide for us to be part of His family through Christ was done with good pleasure in accordance to His will. It was His delight. How amazing is that thought, knowing that it required the sacrificial suffering of His Son!
Eph. 1:6 To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved.
Why has God chosen to bless us so amazingly? “To the praise of the glory of His grace.” It is through grace, an act of His love that we don’t deserve, that God chose to accept us as His children through the sacrifice of His Son Jesus, “the beloved.” I think it is worth repeating the old acronym for grace—God’s Riches At Christ’s Expense.
1John 4:10 “Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.”
The Greek for “accepted” makes reference to being “highly favoured.” That conveys so much more significance than the English word “accepted.” I am a “highly favoured” child of God. What a precious truth!
Eph. 1:7 In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace;
“In whom” = Jesus
“we have redemption” = Webster uses five words to define redemption-- repurchase; ransom; release; rescue; deliverance.
- Repurchase - We were created to be God’s children. Through Adam, we sold ourselves into the slavery of sin under the father of sin—Satan. God has bought us back through the redemptive sacrifice of Jesus.
- Ransom – We were taken prisoner, held captive by Satan when we yielded to his temptation. God paid our ransom through the sacrifice of His Son to provide us a way out of that bondage.
- Release – Our redemption has released us from the bondage of sin and made us new creations in Christ.
- Rescue – As sinners, those who were in rebellion against God, we were bound for eternal hell. Through faith in the redemptive work of Christ on our behalf; we have been rescued from that destiny and can now look forward to eternity in heaven in the presence of God.
- Deliverance – Not only have we been rescued from damnation for eternity and released from the bondage of sin, we have been empowered to achieve victory over the flesh and the attack of the enemy. We have absolutely no restraints to living a victorious life in the power of the Holy Spirit.
How is this redemption made possible? Through the shed blood of the pure and innocent Son of God, the man Jesus. From the very beginning, God has taught us that provision for sin involves the sacrifice of innocent blood as evidenced when He provided animal skins as coverings for Adam and Eve to cover them after their rebellion. Until the coming of Jesus, forgiveness through sacrifice had to be sought on a continual basis. The sacrifice of Jesus made a once-for-all provision for man’s sin—available simply by asking in repentance and faith.
“according to the riches of His grace” – Riches speak of great treasure. The great treasure of the Father is embodied in His Son Jesus. There was nothing more valuable or precious that He could have sacrificed to provide for us in His love. In fact, nothing else would have satisfied The Righteous Judge.
Eph. 1:8 Wherein he hath abounded toward us in all wisdom and prudence;
“Wherein” = His grace
God’s grace is provided for us in abundance; in fact, the Greek references superabundance or abundance far in excess of what is needed. When I tie that to my thoughts in the previous verse, it is quite thought-provoking. Nothing less than Jesus would have satisfied the requirements of righteousness, yet the only acceptable sacrifice far exceeded the necessary provision. Through Him we have received the empowerment and enlightenment of the Holy Spirit. In Christ we now have access to “all” wisdom and prudence. Wisdom is the ability to make use of knowledge with discernment and judgment. The Greek for prudence makes reference to intellectual or moral insight, the power of acute observation and deduction. I decided to see if I could find something on the internet that would add to my understanding and found two quotes that I liked.
http://www.worldmagblog.com/blog/archives/001983.html
“Prudence is the practical wisdom to choose the best means to a good end and wisdom to do the right thing and to do the right thing well (from Biblical Christian Ethics, David Jones, Covenant Theological Seminary).”
http://cbc-kjv.org/AS%20Sermons/wisdom__charity_principle_things.htm
“Prudence is the exercise of sound judgment in avoiding evils; wisdom is the exercise of sound judgment either in avoiding evils or attempting good. Prudence then is a species, of which wisdom is the genus.”
In other words, based on God’s provision for us “in Christ,” we have no excuse for making bad decisions or falling for the deceit of the enemy.
Eph. 1:9 Having made known unto us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure which he hath purposed in himself:
I think the wording of the CJB gives a little clearer understanding on this verse.
“…he has made known to us his secret plan, which by his own will he designed beforehand in connection with the Messiah….”
Before the coming of Christ, the provision God made for the redemption of mankind was a mystery. This included the truth that this provision had been determined before our creation. This also included the truth that the whole plan is part of “His will.” Knowing everything before ever creating a thing, it was still the Father’s will to create and provide for restoration in fellowship for His rebellious creation. No, I don’t begin to understand it.
Eph. 1:10 That in the dispensation of the fulness of times he might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth; even in him:
The wording of the NLT reads a little easier: And this is his plan: At the right time he will bring everything together under the authority of Christ—everything in heaven and on earth.
The Greek for dispensation speaks of administration and stewardship. My question becomes, “Whose administration and stewardship?” Man was given administrative and stewardship responsibilities at the time of his creation. Though he failed miserably when he rebelled against God in the garden, that responsibility was never rescinded. It was, however, made much more difficult by the curse that resulted from his sin.
“the fulness of times” – This phrase reminds me of God’s description in Genesis 15 of the Amorites—“for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet full.” God was explaining to Abraham that his descendants would not be allowed to enter the “promised land” until the Amorites had reached the point recognized by God as the point of no return so to speak. It occurred to me as I read through this section again that maybe this described the point at which not even one more Amorite alive would choose to acknowledge the one true God of heaven and earth.
God is very clear that His longsuffering is due to His desire that all men come to repentance.
2Peter 3:9 “The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.”
I think verse 10 is reference to the time at the end of the millennium when the wicked will be condemned for eternity and everything in heaven and earth will be unified “in Christ.”
“he might gather together…in Christ” – I got a picture in my mind of someone gathering together his collection of most treasured possessions that all find their value through their connection with one main treasure—His precious Son.
This verse is not a statement on universalism. Scripture is clear in identifying a different eternal existence for those that put their faith in the LORD and those that reject Him.
John 5:28–29 “…the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice, And shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation.”
Revelation 21:8 “But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.”
Matthew 5:11–12 “Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake. Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you.”
Matthew 10:28 “And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.”
Matthew 25:46 “And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal.”
