Reading Paul’s Epistle to Ephesus

Greet­ing

1Paul, an apos­tle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, To the saints who are in Eph­esus, and faith­ful in Christ Jesus: 2Grace to you and peace from God our Fa­ther and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Redemption in Christ

3Blessed be the God and Fa­ther of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spir­i­tual bless­ing in the heav­enly places in Christ, 4just as He chose us in Him be­fore the foun­da­tion of the world, that we should be holy and with­out blame be­fore Him in love, 5hav­ing pre­des­tined us to adop­tion as sons by Jesus Christ to Him­self, ac­cord­ing to the good plea­sure of His will, 6to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He made us ac­cepted in the Beloved.

7In Him we have re­demp­tion through His blood, the for­give­ness of sins, ac­cord­ing to the riches of His grace 8which He made to abound to­ward us in all wis­dom and pru­dence, 9hav­ing made known to us the mys­tery of His will, ac­cord­ing to His good plea­sure which He pur­posed in Him­self, 10that in the dis­pen­sa­tion of the full­ness of the times He might gather to­gether in one all things in Christ, botha which are in heaven and which are on earth—in Him. 11In Him also we have ob­tained an in­her­i­tance, being pre­des­tined ac­cord­ing to the pur­pose of Him who works all things ac­cord­ing to the coun­sel of His will, 12that we who first trusted in Christ should be to the praise of His glory.

13In Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your sal­va­tion; in whom also, hav­ing be­lieved, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, 14whob is the guar­an­tee of our in­her­i­tance until the re­demp­tion of the pur­chased pos­ses­sion, to the praise of His glory.

Prayer for Spir­i­tual Wis­dom

15There­fore I also, after I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints, 16do not cease to give thanks for you, mak­ing men­tion of you in my prayers: 17that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Fa­ther of glory, may give to you the spirit of wis­dom and rev­e­la­tion in the knowl­edge of Him, 18the eyes of your un­der­stand­ingc being en­light­ened; that you may know what is the hope of His call­ing, what are the riches of the glory of His in­her­i­tance in the saints, 19and what is the ex­ceed­ing great­ness of His power to­ward us who be­lieve, ac­cord­ing to the work­ing of His mighty power 20which He worked in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heav­enly places, 21far above all prin­ci­pal­ity and power and might and do­min­ion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in that which is to come.

22And He put all things under His feet, and gave Him to be head over all things to the church, 23which is His body, the full­ness of Him who fills all in all.

Chapter 2

By Grace Through Faith

And you He made alive, who were dead in tres­passes and sins, 2in which you once walked ac­cord­ing to the course of this world, ac­cord­ing to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of dis­obe­di­ence, 3among whom also we all once con­ducted our­selves in the lusts of our flesh, ful­fill­ing the de­sires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by na­ture chil­dren of wrath, just as the oth­ers.

4But God, who is rich in mercy, be­cause of His great love with which He loved us, 5even when we were dead in tres­passes, made us alive to­gether with Christ (by grace you have been saved), 6and raised us up to­gether, and made us sit to­gether in the heav­enly places in Christ Jesus, 7that in the ages to come He might show the ex­ceed­ing riches of His grace in His kind­ness to­ward us in Christ Jesus. 8For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of your­selves; it is the gift of God, 9not of works, lest any­one should boast. 10For we are His work­man­ship, cre­ated in Christ Jesus for good works, which God pre­pared be­fore­hand that we should walk in them.

Brought Near by His Blood

11There­fore re­mem­ber that you, once Gen­tiles in the flesh—who are called Un­cir­cum­ci­sion by what is called the Cir­cum­ci­sion made in the flesh by hands— 12that at that time you were with­out Christ, being aliens from the com­mon­wealth of Is­rael and strangers from the covenants of promise, hav­ing no hope and with­out God in the world. 13But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.

Christ Our Peace

14For He Him­self is our peace, who has made both one, and has bro­ken down the mid­dle wall of sep­a­ra­tion, 15hav­ing abol­ished in His flesh the en­mity, that is, the law of com­mand­ments con­tained in or­di­nances, so as to cre­ate in Him­self one new man from the two, thus mak­ing peace, 16and that He might rec­on­cile them both to God in one body through the cross, thereby putting to death the en­mity. 17And He came and preached peace to you who were afar off and to those who were near. 18For through Him we both have ac­cess by one Spirit to the Fa­ther.

Christ Our Cor­ner­stone

19Now, there­fore, you are no longer strangers and for­eign­ers, but fel­low cit­i­zens with the saints and mem­bers of the house­hold of God, 20hav­ing been built on the foun­da­tion of the apos­tles and prophets, Jesus Christ Him­self being the chief cor­nerstone, 21in whom the whole build­ing, being fit­ted to­gether, grows into a holy tem­ple in the Lord, 22in whom you also are being built to­gether for a dwelling place of God in the Spirit.

Chapter 3

The Mystery Revealed

For this rea­son I, Paul, the pris­oner of Christ Jesus for you Gen­tiles— 2if in­deed you have heard of the dis­pen­sa­tion of the grace of God which was given to me for you, 3how that by rev­e­la­tion He made known to me the mys­tery (as I have briefly writ­ten al­ready, 4by which, when you read, you may un­der­stand my knowl­edge in the mys­tery of Christ), 5which in other ages was not made known to the sons of men, as it has now been re­vealed by the Spirit to His holy apos­tles and prophets: 6that the Gen­tiles should be fel­low heirs, of the same body, and par­tak­ers of His promise in Christ through the gospel, 7of which I be­came a min­is­ter ac­cord­ing to the gift of the grace of God given to me by the ef­fec­tive work­ing of His power.

Pur­pose of the Mys­tery

8To me, who am less than the least of all the saints, this grace was given, that I should preach among the Gen­tiles the un­search­able riches of Christ, 9and to make all see what is the fel­low­shipa of the mys­tery, which from the be­gin­ning of the ages has been hid­den in God who cre­ated all things through Jesus Christ;b 10to the in­tent that now the man­i­fold wis­dom of God might be made known by the church to the prin­ci­pal­i­ties and pow­ers in the heav­enly places, 11ac­cord­ing to the eter­nal pur­pose which He ac­com­plished in Christ Jesus our Lord, 12in whom we have bold­ness and ac­cess with con­fi­dence through faith in Him. 13There­fore I ask that you do not lose heart at my tribu­la­tions for you, which is your glory.

Ap­pre­ci­a­tion of the Mys­tery

14For this rea­son I bow my knees to the Fa­ther of our Lord Jesus Christ,c 15from whom the whole fam­ily in heaven and earth is named, 16that He would grant you, ac­cord­ing to the riches of His glory, to be strength­ened with might through His Spirit in the inner man, 17that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love, 18may be able to com­pre­hend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height— 19to know the love of Christ which passes knowl­edge; that you may be filled with all the full­ness of God.

20Now to Him who is able to do ex­ceed­ingly abun­dantly above all that we ask or think, ac­cord­ing to the power that works in us, 21to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all gen­er­a­tions, for­ever and ever. Amen.

Chapter 4

Walk in Unity

I, there­fore, the pris­oner of the Lord, be­seech you to walk wor­thy of the call­ing with which you were called, 2with all low­li­ness and gen­tle­ness, with long­suf­fer­ing, bear­ing with one an­other in love, 3en­deav­or­ing to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. 4There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called in one hope of your call­ing; 5one Lord, one faith, one bap­tism; 6one God and Fa­ther of all, who is above all, and through all, and in youa all.

Spir­i­tual Gifts

7 But to each one of us grace was given according to the measure of Christ’s gift. 8 Therefore He says: “When He ascended on high, He led captivity captive, And gave gifts to men.”

9(Now this, “He as­cended”—what does it mean but that He also first descended into the lower parts of the earth? 10He who de­scended is also the One who as­cended far above all the heav­ens, that He might fill all things.)

11And He Him­self gave some to be apos­tles, some prophets, some evan­ge­lists, and some pas­tors and teach­ers, 12for the equip­ping of the saints for the work of min­istry, for the ed­i­fy­ing of the body of Christ, 13till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowl­edge of the Son of God, to a per­fect man, to the mea­sure of the stature of the full­ness of Christ; 14that we should no longer be chil­dren, tossed to and fro and car­ried about with every wind of doc­trine, by the trick­ery of men, in the cun­ning crafti­ness of de­ceit­ful plot­ting, 15but, speak­ing the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head—Christ— 16from whom the whole body, joined and knit to­gether by what every joint sup­plies, ac­cord­ing to the ef­fec­tive work­ing by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the ed­i­fy­ing of it­self in love.

The New Man

17This I say, there­fore, and tes­tify in the Lord, that you should no longer walk as the rest ofd the Gen­tiles walk, in the futility of their mind, 18 hav­ing their un­der­stand­ing darkened, being alien­ated from the life of God, be­cause of the ig­no­rance that is in them, be­cause of the blind­ness of their heart; 19who, being past feel­ing, have given them­selves over to lewd­ness, to work all un­clean­ness with greed­i­ness.

20But you have not so learned Christ, 21if in­deed you have heard Him and have been taught by Him, as the truth is in Jesus: 22that you put off, con­cern­ing your for­mer con­duct, the old man which grows cor­rupt ac­cord­ing to the de­ceit­ful lusts, 23and be re­newed in the spirit of your mind, 24and that you put on the new man which was cre­ated ac­cord­ing to God, in true right­eous­ness and ho­li­ness.

Do Not Grieve the Spirit

25There­fore, putting away lying, “Let each one of you speak truth with his neigh­bor,”e for we are mem­bers of one an­other. 26“Be angry, and do not sin”:f do not let the sun go down on your wrath, 27nor give place to the devil. 28Let him who stole steal no longer, but rather let him labor, work­ing with his hands what is good, that he may have some­thing to give him who has need. 29Let no cor­rupt word pro­ceed out of your mouth, but what is good for nec­es­sary ed­i­fi­ca­tion, that it may im­part grace to the hear­ers. 30And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of re­demp­tion. 31Let all bit­ter­ness, wrath, anger, clamor, and evil speak­ing be put away from you, with all mal­ice. 32And be kind to one an­other, ten­der­hearted, for­giv­ing one an­other, even as God in Christ for­gave you.

Chapter 5

Walk in Love

Therefore be imitators of God as dear chil­dren. 2 And walk in love, as Christ also has loved us and given Him­self for us, an of­fer­ing and a sac­ri­fice to God for a sweet-smelling aroma.

3 But for­ni­ca­tion and all un­clean­ness or cov­etous­ness, let it not even be named among you, as is fit­ting for saints; 4 nei­ther filth­i­ness, nor fool­ish talk­ing, nor coarse jest­ing, which are not fit­ting, but rather giv­ing of thanks. 5 For this you know,a that no for­ni­ca­tor, un­clean per­son, nor cov­etous man, who is an idol­ater, has any 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 be par­tak­ers with them.

Walk in Light

8For you were once dark­ness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as chil­dren of light 9(for the fruit of the Spiritb is in all good­ness, right­eous­ness, and truth), 10find­ing out what is ac­cept­able to the Lord. 11And have no fel­low­ship with the un­fruit­ful works of dark­ness, but rather ex­pose them. 12For it is shame­ful even to speak of those things which are done by them in se­cret. 13But all things that are ex­posed are made man­i­fest by the light, for what­ever makes man­i­fest is light. 14There­fore He says:

“Awake, you who sleep, Arise from the dead, And Christ will give you light.” Walk in Wis­dom 15See then that you walk cir­cum­spectly, not as fools but as wise, 16re­deem­ing the time, be­cause the days are evil.

17There­fore do not be un­wise, but un­der­stand what the will of the Lord is. 18And do not be drunk with wine, in which is dis­si­pa­tion; but be filled with the Spirit, 19speak­ing to one an­other in psalms and hymns and spir­i­tual songs, singing and mak­ing melody in your heart to the Lord, 20giv­ing thanks al­ways for all things to God the Fa­ther in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, 21sub­mit­ting to one an­other in the fear of God.c

Mar­riage—Christ and the Church

22Wives, sub­mit to your own hus­bands, as to the Lord. 23For the hus­band is head of the wife, as also Christ is head of the church; and He is the Sav­ior of the body. 24There­fore, just as the church is sub­ject to Christ, so let the wives be to their own hus­bands in every­thing.

25Hus­bands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Him­self for her, 26that He might sanc­tify and cleanse her with the wash­ing of water by the word, 27that He might pre­sent her to Him­self a glo­ri­ous church, not hav­ing spot or wrin­kle or any such thing, but that she should be holy and with­out blem­ish. 28So hus­bands ought to love their own wives as their own bod­ies; he who loves his wife loves him­self. 29For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nour­ishes and cher­ishes it, just as the Lord does the church. 30For we are mem­bers of His body,d of His flesh and of His bones. 31“For this rea­son a man shall leave his fa­ther and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall be­come one flesh.”e 32This is a great mys­tery, but I speak con­cern­ing Christ and the church. 33Nev­er­the­less let each one of you in par­tic­u­lar so love his own wife as him­self, and let the wife see that she re­spects her hus­band.

Chapter 6

Chil­dren and Par­ents

6Chil­dren, obey your par­ents in the Lord, for this is right. 2“Honor your fa­ther and mother,” which is the first com­mand­ment with promise: 3“that it may be well with you and you may live long on the earth.”a

4And you, fa­thers, do not pro­voke your chil­dren to wrath, but bring them up in the train­ing and ad­mo­ni­tion of the Lord.

Bond­ser­vants and Mas­ters

5Bond­ser­vants, be obe­di­ent to those who are your mas­ters ac­cord­ing to the flesh, with fear and trem­bling, in sin­cer­ity of heart, as to Christ; 6not with eye­ser­vice, as men-pleasers, but as bond­ser­vants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart, 7with good­will doing ser­vice, as to the Lord, and not to men, 8know­ing that what­ever good any­one does, he will re­ceive the same from the Lord, whether he is a slave or free.

9And you, mas­ters, do the same things to them, giv­ing up threat­en­ing, know­ing that your own Mas­ter alsob is in heaven, and there is no par­tial­ity with Him.

The Whole Armor of God

10Fi­nally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. 11Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. 12For we do not wres­tle against flesh and blood, but against prin­ci­pal­i­ties, against pow­ers, against the rulers of the dark­ness of this age,c against spir­i­tual hosts of wicked­ness in the heav­enly places. 13There­fore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to with­stand in the evil day, and hav­ing done all, to stand.

14Stand there­fore, hav­ing girded your waist with truth, hav­ing put on the breast­plate of right­eous­ness, 15and hav­ing shod your feet with the prepa­ra­tion of the gospel of peace; 16above all, tak­ing the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one. 17And take the hel­met of sal­va­tion, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God; 18pray­ing al­ways with all prayer and sup­pli­ca­tion in the Spirit, being watch­ful to this end with all per­se­ver­ance and sup­pli­ca­tion for all the saints— 19and for me, that ut­ter­ance may be given to me, that I may open my mouth boldly to make known the mys­tery of the gospel, 20for which I am an am­bas­sador in chains; that in it I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak.

A Gra­cious Greet­ing

21But that you also may know my af­fairs and how I am doing, Ty­chi­cus, a beloved brother and faith­ful min­is­ter in the Lord, will make all things known to you; 22whom I have sent to you for this very pur­pose, that you may know our af­fairs, and that he may com­fort your hearts.

23Peace to the brethren, and love with faith, from God the Fa­ther and the Lord Jesus Christ. 24Grace be with all those who love our Lord Jesus Christ in sin­cer­ity. Amen.

"THE EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS" Introduction To The Epistle (1:1-3)

First INTRODUCTION

1. Have you ever heard of "Hetty" Green, known as "America's Greatest Miser"?

   a. She died in 1916, and left an estate worth over $100 million

   b. Yet, it is said that...

      1) She ate oatmeal cold, because it cost to heat it

      2) Her son's leg was amputated, because she delayed too long

         looking for a free clinic

   c. Sounds crazy, doesn't it?

      1) For someone who had such great assets, to go through life

         miserable

      2) Living the life of a pauper, when great wealth was at her

         disposal

2. But the same could be said of many Christians today...

   a. For in Christ Jesus, we have countless spiritual blessings! - cf. Ep 1:3

   b. However, many of these blessings go unused

      1) Blessings that are wonderful, but unappreciated by many

      2) Resulting in some Christians living what Thoreau would call

         "lives of quiet desperation"

3. God would have us to know about these blessings, or spiritual

   "riches", and in the New Testament one book in particular describes

   many of them . . .

   a. It is the book of Ephesians

   b. One expressed purpose of the book is that we might know "what are

      the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints" - cf.

      Ep 1:18

4. Lest we become the spiritual equivalent of "Hetty" Green, we begin a

   series devoted to the Epistle to the Ephesians, in which we plan to

   "mine" for the riches that are ours in Christ Jesus

[In Ep 1:1-3, Paul addresses the brethren at Ephesus and begins immediately to speak of our "spiritual blessings".  Let's first more closely consider...]

I. THE AUTHOR (1:1a)

   A. PAUL...

      1. Formerly, "Saul of Tarsus", the persecutor of the church - Ac 9:1-2

      2. But who became the "apostle to the Gentiles" - Ac 9:15

   B. AN APOSTLE OF JESUS BY THE WILL OF GOD...

      1. His apostleship was not of his own choosing - cf. Ga 1:1

      2. He knew it was by the grace of God that he had been so called - Ep 3:8a

      3. And his charge?  To "preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ" - Ep 3:8b

   C. WHOSE WORK HAD BROUGHT HIM TO EPHESUS...

      1. First, for a short stay - Ac 18:19-21

      2. Then for over two years, one of his longer periods of service in one place - Ac 19:1-10

      3. He also met with the Ephesian elders at Miletus - Ac 20:17-38

   D. WRITING NOW AS "AN AMBASSADOR IN CHAINS"...

      1. At the time Paul wrote this epistle, he was awaiting trial in Rome - cf. Ep 3:1; 4:1; 6:20

      2. This epistle was written about the same time as Colossians,

         Philippians, and Philemon, approximately 60-62 A.D.

      3. I.e., during the time period briefly described in Ac 28:30-31

[Now for a few thoughts on...]

II. THE RECIPIENTS (1:1b)

   A. THE SAINTS WHO ARE IN EPHESUS...

      1. The recipients of this letter were called "saints"

         a. The word "saint" means "one who has been set apart"

         b. It is related to the word "sanctified" which means "set apart"

         c. ALL Christians were called saints in the New Testament, for

            in Christ Jesus even the vilest sinners are "sanctified" Upon their conversion - cf. 1Co 6:9-11

      2. The recipients of this letter were those brethren "in Ephesus"

         a. This is called into question by some, for in a few manuscripts "in Ephesus" is omitted

         b. For a detailed examination of this question, cf. New

            Testament Commentary, Exposition Of Ephesians, William

            Hendriksen, Baker Book House, pp. 56-61

         c. Hendricksen's conclusion:  this letter was written to the churches of Ephesus and surroundings

      3. Historical background concerning the work in Ephesus can be Found in Ac 18:19-28; 19:1-41; 20:17-38

   B. AND FAITHFUL IN CHRIST JESUS...

      1. This describes the character of those "saints" in Ephesus

      2. They are "faithful in Christ Jesus"; that is, they trusted in

         Him for their salvation - cf. Ep 1:13

     3. They were "faithful" in another sense, also, in that they were

         trustworthy in their stand for the truth - cf. Re 2:1-3, 6

      4. However, they were to be later rebuked for leaving their "first

         love" - Re 2:4-5

[To these "faithful saints", Paul give his customary greeting in which

he prays for grace and peace to come upon them from God and Jesus (1:2).

With the very next verse, Paul begins to praise God for the blessings we

have in Christ, which reveals to us...]

III. THE THEME:  THE BELIEVER'S RICHES IN CHRIST (1:3)

   A. THE SOURCE OF OUR BLESSINGS (RICHES)...

      1. They come from "the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ"

      2. As revealed later, they come to us a result of the "riches"

         of . . .

         a. God's grace - Ep 1:7

         b. God's glory - Ep 1:18

         c. God's mercy - Ep 2:7

      3. As James wrote, "every good gift and every perfect gift is from

         above, and comes down from the Father of lights" - Jm 1:17

   B. THE SCOPE OF OUR BLESSINGS (RICHES)...

      1. They include "every" spiritual blessing; not just a few, but

         every single one!

      3. Blessings that are "spiritual" in nature; unlike many of the

         blessings to the nation of Israel of old, which were but

         material

   C. THE SPHERE OF OUR BLESSINGS (RICHES)...

      1. First, they are "in the heavenly places"

         a. Lit., "in the heavenlies", a phrase found only in Ephesians

            - 1:3; 2:6; 3:10; 6:12

         b. Referring to the spiritual realm, as opposed to the physical

      2. Secondly, they are "in Christ"

         a. It has been counted that this phrase "in Christ" occurs 27

            times in this epistle

         c. Emphasizing that it is only by being "in" Christ that one

            can have access to "every" spiritual blessing

[With verse three, then, we have the "theme" of this epistle stated, and

one would do well to think of it as the "key verse".

Before we close this introduction to Ephesians, it may be helpful to

consider the following outline of the book as presented in "The Bible

Exposition Commentary", Volume 2, Warren W. Wiersbe, p. 7...]

IV. A BRIEF OUTLINE

   A. DOCTRINE:  OUR RICHES IN CHRIST (chapters 1-3)

      1. Our spiritual possessions in Christ (1:4-14)

         a. From the Father (1:4-6)

         b. From the Son (1:7-12)

         c. From the Spirit (1:13-14)

         -- First Prayer:  for enlightenment (1:15-23)

      2. Our spiritual position in Christ (2:1-22)

         a. Raised and seated on the throne (2:1-10)

         b. Reconciled and set into the temple (2:11-22)

         -- Second Prayer:  for enablement (3:1-21; with verses 2-13 as

            a parenthesis)

   B. DUTY:  OUR RESPONSIBILITIES IN CHRIST (chapters 4-6)

      1. Walk in unity (4:1-16)

      2. Walk in purity (4:17-5:17)

         a. Walk not as other Gentiles (4:17-32)

         b. Walk in love (5:1-6)

         c. Walk as children of light (5:7-14)

         d. Walk carefully (5:15-17)

      3. Walk in harmony (5:18-6:9)

         a. Husbands and wives (5:18-33)

         b. Parents and children (6:1-4)

         c. Masters and servants (6:5-9)

      d. Walk in victory (6:10-24)

CONCLUSION

1. In our next lesson, we will begin our study of this Epistle to the

   Ephesians in earnest, noticing immediately some of those

   "unsearchable riches of Christ"

2. But as we have already seen, the "sphere" in which these blessings

   (riches) are to be found is "IN Christ".  How does one get "into"

   Christ?

The answer is found in Ga 3:26-27, where we learn that those who have

been "baptized into Christ have put on Christ".  Are you in Christ...?

"THE EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS"

Blessings Involving The Father (1:4-6)

INTRODUCTION

1. As suggested in the previous lesson, the "theme" of Ephesians is "ThE Believer's Riches In Christ"

2. After his brief salutation (1:1-2), Paul immediately begins in 1:3 by praising God for the blessings (or riches) we have in Christ...

a. This "doxology" actually continues throughout verses 4-14

b. The spiritual "possessions" that are mentioned in this passage can

easily be outlined as:

1) Blessings involving the Father (4-6)

2) Blessings involving the Son (7-12)

3) Blessings involving the Holy Spirit (13-14)

3. In an effort to appreciate how spiritually blessed we are in Christ,

we will examine this section (4-14) in three separate lessons

[With verses 4-6, then, we focus in on "Blessings Involving The

Father", beginning with the fact that in Christ we are...]

I. CHOSEN BY GOD (1:4)

A. DEFINING THE TERM "CHOSEN"...

1. Comes from the Greek eklegomai {ek-leg'-om-ahee}, and means "to

pick out, choose, to pick or choose out for one's self"

2. Related to the idea of "election" which comes from ekloge

{ek-log-ay'}, meaning "the act of picking out, choosing"

B. THE "TIME" OF THIS CHOICE...

1. "before the foundation of the world"

2. Before the world was ever created, God made His "choice" or

"election"

3. Just as with Christ Himself, who was foreordained "before the

foundation of the world" - 1Pe 1:20

C. THE "OBJECTS" OF THIS CHOICE...

1. The Calvinist believes that this choice was...

a. Individual (only certain select individuals have been

chosen)

b. Dependent solely upon God's gracious and mysterious will,

without any foreknowledge of good or evil on the part of

those selected

c. Unconditional and final (there is no possibility of

apostasy)

2. The Arminian believes that this choice was...

a. Individual (certain select individuals have been chosen)

b. Based upon foreknowledge of those souls who would respond to

the gospel and persevere in the faith

c. Unconditional and final, in the sense that God already knows

those who will persevere to the end

3. Paul says simply "...chose us in Him (i.e., Christ)", and I

understand this election by God to have been...

a. General, not particular; corporate, not individual

b. The body of Christ, the church as a whole, which God chose

for His divine and gracious purposes He planned to carry out

in Christ

c. And that while in the "corporate" sense this choice is

unconditional and final, as "individuals" we must be

"diligent to make your calling and election sure" - 2 Pe

1:10

1) Just as Israel (as a nation) had been chosen by God to

receive His blessings

2) But individually, the Israelites also had to "make their

calling and election sure"

D. THE "PURPOSE" OF THIS CHOICE...

1. "that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love"

2. The goal of God's choice in eternity was to produce a people in

Christ Jesus who would be:

a. "holy" - set apart for a special purpose

b. "without blame" - free from condemnation

c. "in love" - walking before God in a "sphere" of love - cf.

Ep 5:1-2

[In Christ Jesus, then, we are blessed to be God's "chosen" people (cf.

1Pe 2:9). How God was able to carry out the "purpose" of His choice

when all He had to work with were sinners will be explained in verses

7-12.

But first we also learn that in Christ Jesus we have been...]

II. PREDESTINED BY GOD (1:5-6a)

A. DEFINING THE TERM "PREDESTINED"...

1. From the Greek word, proorizo {pro-or-id'-zo}, meaning "to

predetermine, decide beforehand"

2. Thus this verse speaks of that which God "predetermined

beforehand"

-- WHO was it that God "predetermined"?

B. THE SUBJECTS OF GOD'S "PREDESTINATION"...

1. Paul simply says "us"

2. As with election, I understand Paul to speaking of the church

as a whole

3. As B. W. Johnson says: "The whole line of argument is general

instead of particular." (The People's New Testament)

--WHAT was it that God "predetermined"?

C. THE PURPOSE OF GOD'S "PREDESTINATION"...

1. "adoption as sons"

2. Quoting Johnson again: God has "foreordained that we, the

church of Jesus Christ, should be adopted as his children."

3. As Wiersbe points out, the word "predestination" refers

primarily to what God does for saved people: "Election seems

to refer to people, while predestination refers to purposes"

(The Bible Exposition Commentary, Vol. 2, p. 11)

3. So it is here, that Paul reveals that which had been

predetermined beforehand was the church (all those who are

saved) would be "adopted" into the family of God

-- WHY did God "predetermine" this?

D. THE BASIS OF GOD'S "PREDESTINATION"...

1. "according to the good pleasure of His will"

2. Putting it simply, the idea "pleased" God!

a. It is something He wanted to do

b. And by His Divine Will He has made it possible!

[What should our reaction be to all this? To praise God for His

glorious grace ("to the praise of the glory of His grace")! For it is

His "grace" by which we can now be...]

III. ACCEPTED BY GOD (1:6b)

A. DEFINING THE TERM "ACCEPTED"...

1. Comes from the Greek word charitoo {khar-ee-to'-o}, and means:

a. To be highly favored

b. To peruse with grace, compass with favor

c. To honour with blessings

2. It is used in Lk 1:28 in reference to the virgin Mary

("highly favored one")

3. Like Mary, those in Christ are "highly favored" in God's sight!

B. THE BASIS UPON WHICH WE ARE "ACCEPTED"...

1. "in the Beloved" (Jesus Christ)

2. As emphasized in 1:3 and throughout verses 4-14, all these

blessings are "in" and "by" Jesus Christ:

a. God chose us "in Him (Christ)" - 1:4

b. God predestined us to adoption as sons "by Jesus Christ"

- 1:5

c. God has made us accepted "in the Beloved (Christ) - 1:6

3. Therefore it is by our being "in" Christ that we are privileged

to be "highly favored" by God, and showered by these wonderful

blessings!

CONCLUSION

1. And what should our reaction be?

a. To praise God for His glorious grace! - cf. Ep 1:6

b. Offering such praise is a form of "spiritual sacrifice" by which

we can say "thank you!" - cf. He 13:15

2. How can God afford to be so gracious to those who are sinners? Our

next lesson will examine how in detail, but notice Ep 1:7

a. Have you experienced this redemption through His blood, the

forgiveness of sins?

b. To learn how, carefully read Ac 2:36-41...

"THE EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS"

Blessings Involving The Son (1:7-12)

INTRODUCTION

1. We saw in the previous lesson that Paul starts his epistle to the

Ephesians with praising God for the spiritual riches (blessings) that

we have in Christ - Ep 1:3

2. Throughout Ep 1:4-14 Paul lists some of these wonderful blessings

that are ours, and in verses 4-6 we saw those blessings which

center around the Father, how that we who are in Christ are:

a. "Chosen by God", to be holy and without blame before Him in love

(1:4)

b. "Predestined by God", to receive the adoption as sons of God

(1:5-6a)

c. "Accepted by God", that is, to be highly favored by Him (1:6b)

3. How is it that we who are sinners are so blessed by God?

a. The answer is hinted at in verses 4-6 by the repeated reference

to Christ:

1) "chose us IN HIM"

2) "adoption as sons BY JESUS CHRIST"

3) "made us accepted IN THE BELOVED"

b. Thus it is only in and through Jesus Christ that we can receive

these wonderful blessings! (remember 1:3)

4. This becomes even clearer as we now consider verses 7-12, as Paul

expands upon "Blessings Involving The Son"...

a. Please note that the distinction being made between blessings

involving the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit is a narrow one

b. For truly each of the blessings described usually involve two or

more Persons in the Godhead

c. But for memorization purposes it can be helpful to divide up the

blessings in the way we have done

[The first blessing we notice in this section is that through His

Son...]

I. GOD HAS REDEEMED US (7a)

A. DEFINING "REDEMPTION"...

1. The Greek word is apolutrosis {ap-ol-oo'-tro-sis}

2. It means "a releasing effected by payment of ransom"

3. As Hendriksen defines it, "deliverance as a result of the

payment of a ransom"

4. Hendriksen goes on to suggest that this "redemption" implies:

a. "emancipation...from the guilt, punishment, and power of

sin" - cf. Jn 8:34; Ro 7:14; Ga 3:13

b. "restoration to true liberty" - cf. Jn 8:36

B. OUR REDEMPTION IS "THROUGH HIS (CHRIST'S) BLOOD"...

1. The purchase price paid in order to redeem us was the blood of

Jesus - cf. 1Pe 1:18-19

2. By His death on the cross, Jesus has paid the price to deliver

us from the bondage of sin, for which He deserves our highest

praise! - cf. Re 5:9, 12

[We now see how God could carry out His choice to have a people who are

holy and without blame, adopted as sons unto Him, when all He had to

work with were "sinners". Through the death of Jesus and the shedding

of His blood, God was just to "redeem" or "deliver" sinners from the

bondage of sin!

There is another way to express what God has done to make it possible

for us to be "holy and without blame before Him in love", and that is,

through His Son...]

II. GOD HAS FORGIVEN US (7b-8)

A. DEFINING "FORGIVENESS"...

1. The Greek word is aphesis {af'-es-is}, and it's shades of

meaning include:

a. "release from bondage or imprisonment"

b. "forgiveness or pardon, of sins (letting them go as if they

had never been committed), remission of the penalty"

2. With the shedding of Jesus' blood, it is now possible to be

"forgiven", that is, "pardoned" so that we are no longer guilty

of or imprisoned by sin

B. WHAT HAS BEEN FORGIVEN ARE OUR "SINS" (TRESPASSES)...

1. The Greek word here is paraptoma, {par-ap'-to-mah}

a. Lit., it means "a side-slip (lapse or deviation)"

b. Thus it refers to (unintentional) error or (willful)

transgression

2. The very sort of things (faults, offenses, sins, trespasses)

that would keep us from being "holy and without blame"

3. Through Jesus' blood, we can obtain "pardon" from such things,

and be "holy and without blame"!

C. THE BASIS FOR BOTH "REDEMPTION" AND "FORGIVENESS" IS GOD'S GRACE...

1. "according to the riches of His grace" - 7c

2. "which He made to abound toward us" - 8a

3. As Paul told Titus, it is by God's mercy and grace we are

justified - Tit 3:3-7

4. This wonderful grace is manifested by God in all...

a. "wisdom" - from the Greek word sophia, {sof-ee'-ah}

1) Defined by Hendriksen as "that ability to apply knowledge

to the best advantage, enabling a person to use the most

effective means for the attainment of the highest goal"

2) In God's case, His wisdom is often beyond the capability

of man to find out on his own - cf. Ro 11:33

b. "prudence" - from the Greek word phronesis {fron'-ay-sis}

1) Meaning "mental action or activity, i.e. intellectual or

moral insight: prudence, wisdom."

2) With much thought God has chosen to show His grace toward

us!

[According to His wisdom, prudence, and grace, God has provided

"redemption" and "forgiveness" through the blood of His dear Son!

But there is more! While God's wisdom is often beyond the ability of

man to find out on his own, through His Son...]

III. GOD HAS REVEALED HIS WILL TO US (9-10)

A. "HE HAS MADE KNOWN TO THE MYSTERY OF HIS WILL"...

1. As explained by Paul later in this epistle (cf. Ep 3:3-5),

this "mystery"...

a. Was not made known to mankind in other ages - 3:5a

b. But has now been revealed by the Spirit to the apostles and

prophets - 3:5b; Ro 16:25-27

2. Making known the "mystery of His will" is due to "His good

pleasure which He purposed in Himself"

a. It pleased God in planning to reveal His will to us

b. Just as it please God in predetermining to adopt us as sons

through Jesus Christ - 1:5

B. THE "WILL OF GOD" THAT IS NOW REVEALED PERTAINS TO WHAT GOD HAD

PLANNED TO ACCOMPLISH IN JESUS CHRIST...

1. God's "plan" was to be carried out "in the dispensation of the

fullness of the times"

a. I.e., in the period of time when everything is right and

ready - cf. Ga 4:4-5

b. Hendriksen suggests that the reference is to the entire New

Testament era...

1) Particularly to the period which began with Christ's

resurrection and coronation

2) But not ending until the Lord, upon His glorious return,

pronounces and executes judgment (New Testament

Commentary, Exposition of Ephesians, pp. 85-86)

2. God's "plan" was to "gather together in one all things in

Christ..."

a. B. W. Johnson comments: "He might gather in one all things

in Christ. That the scattered families and tribes of men,

both Jews and Gentiles, should all be gathered and united

under one head, Christ. Nay, not only men, but angels..."

b. Paul elaborates upon this thought in Ep 2:16, and in

Col 1:19-22

1) By the death of Christ, Jew and Gentile can become one

body

2) By the blood of the cross, God is able to reconcile all

things to Himself

3) The ultimate consequence of this "reconciliation" is that

we might be presented "holy, and blameless, and

irreproachable in His sight" - Col 1:22; cf. Ep 1:4

[Finally, we also learn that through the Son....]

IV. GOD HAS GIVEN US AN INHERITANCE (11-12)

A. "OBTAINED AN INHERITANCE" OR "MADE A HERITAGE"?

1. Some translations and scholars understand that verse 11

should read "we were made a heritage", speaking of God's

inheritance, with an appeal to:

a. Ep 1:14b - where Paul speaks of "the redemption of the

purchased possession"

b. Ep 1:18c - where Paul speaks of "His inheritance"

2. Reasons for accepting the rendering found in the KJV and NKJV

are offered by Hendriksen:

a. The immediate context speaks of "our inheritance" - Ep

1:14a

b. In the NT "the inheritance" is ever said to be "ours" or

"intended for us" - Ac 20:32; Ga 3:18; Col 3:24; He 9:15;

1Pe 1:4 (including Ep 1:18c, where "His inheritance"

can mean that which God is giving to us)

c. Ep 1:5 speaks of "adoption as sons", and in Ro 8:15-17

Paul connects the idea of adoption with that of being heirs

d. In an epistle with many similarities to Ephesians, Paul

certainly speaks of how we are "heirs" - Col 1:12

B. THIS INHERITANCE IS PART OF GOD'S "PREDESTINATION"...

1. Just as God "predetermined" that those in Christ would receive

"adoption as sons" (Ep 1:5), so He "predetermined" that His

"sons" would receive an "inheritance"!

2. This is in accordance with God's grand "purpose", who has the

power to "work all things according to the counsel of His will"

C. THE FINAL RESULT IN RECEIVING THIS INHERITANCE...

1. "that we...should be to the praise of His glory"

a. That "those in Christ" (and what God has made them) will be

a reason to give God glory

b. As Paul wrote the Thessalonians: "that the name of our Lord

Jesus Christ may be glorified in you..." - 2Th 1:12

2. Some understand that Paul is now beginning to distinguish

between those like himself (Jewish believers) and those like

his readers (Gentile believers), for a reason that will become

clear later (cf. Ep 2:11-22)

a. For Paul speaks of "we who first trusted" in verse 12...

b. ...and then says "you also trusted" in verse 13

3. Even if so, one cannot make too much of this distinction...

a. Because all that is said in verses 3-11 (where "we" is

found) applies to Gentile believers

b. And all that is said in verses 13-14 (where "you" is

found) applies to Jewish believers also

CONCLUSION

1. In Christ, then, we have every reason to praise God, knowing that...

a. God has redeemed us (7a)

b. God has forgiven us (7b-8)

c. God has revealed His Will to us (9-10)

d. God has given us an inheritance (11-12)

2. But there is even more! And in the next lesson we shall examine what

that is, as we consider "Blessings Involving The Holy Spirit"

For the time being, have you experienced that wonderful redemption, the

forgiveness of sins, through the blood of Jesus? The apostle Peter

tells how we can in Ac 2:36-41...

"THE EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS"

Blessings Involving The Holy Spirit (1:13-14)

INTRODUCTION

1. In studying verses 4-12 in which Paul is praising God for the

"spiritual riches" in Christ, we have seen blessings which involve

both the Father and the Son...

a. Blessings involving the Father include our being:

1) "Chosen by God", to be holy and without blame before Him in

love (1:4)

2) "Predestined by God", to receive the adoption as sons of God

(1:5-6a)

3) "Accepted by God", that is, to be highly favored by Him (1:6b)

b. Blessings involving the Son also include the following:

1) "God has redeemed us" through the precious blood of His Son

(1:7a)

2) "God has forgiven us" of our sins by virtue of His grace

(1:7b-8)

3) "God has revealed His Will to us" pertaining to His plan to

gather into one all things in Christ (1:9-10)

4) "God has given us an inheritance" as part of His predetermined

plan (1:11-12)

2. Verses 13-14 close out this "doxology", by pointing out blessings

we have in Christ that relate in particular to the work of the Holy

Spirit

[What are these "Blessings Involving The Holy Spirit"? The first one

is...]

I. THE HOLY SPIRIT IS OUR "SEAL" (13)

A. DEFINING "SEAL"...

1. The word is sphragizo {sfrag-id'-zo}, which means "to set a

seal upon, mark with a seal, to seal"

2. A "seal" was used for various reasons, including:

a. To guarantee the genuine character of a document (Esther

3:12), or, figuratively, of a person (1Co 9:2)

b. To mark ownership (So 8:6)

c. To protect against tampering or harm (Mt 27:66; Re 5:1)

B. HOW IS THE HOLY SPIRIT OUR "SEAL"?

1. It could be in every sense of the word...

a. In Ro 8:16, the Spirit Himself "bears witness" that we are

children of God (i.e., guarantees our genuine character)

b. In Ro 8:9, the indwelling Holy Spirit is considered

evidence that we are truly Christ's (i.e., a mark of

ownership, cf. also 1Co 6:19-20)

c. In Ro 8:13-14, it is by the Spirit of God that we "put to

death the deeds of the body" so we can live (i.e., to some

degree helping to protect against tampering or harm, cf.

also Ep 3:16)

2. However, the context of Ephesians makes me think that "proof of

ownership" is what Paul had in mind...

a. He goes on to speak of the Holy Spirit as a "guarantee...until

the redemption of the purchased possession" - Ep 1:14

b. He later says that we were sealed by the Spirit "for the day

of redemption" - Ep 4:30

-- So until that "day of redemption", the Holy Spirit is given

to the Christian as evidence that we truly belong to God

C. WHEN ARE WE "SEALED" WITH THE HOLY SPIRIT?

1. It is AFTER (not before)...

a. One hears the word of truth, the gospel - Ep 1:13

b. One believes the gospel - Ep 1:13; cf. Jn 7:37-39

c. One becomes a son of God - Ga 4:6-7 (which occurs when a

believer is baptized into Christ - cf. Ga 3:26-27)

2. Thus it is only when we obey the gospel of Jesus Christ that we

are "sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise"...

a. As Peter told the crowd on the Day of Pentecost - Ac 2:

38-39

b. And as he told the Sanhedrin Council - Ac 5:32

[This "seal" as a "mark of ownership" is something that might be of more

significance to God (and to Satan, who would try to steal what belongs

to God) than it does to us, but we can take comfort in knowing that God

considers us His property, and that the work of the Holy Spirit in our

lives is to be evidence of such ownership.

Paul describes the Spirit in this passage as "the Holy Spirit OF

PROMISE", which could be understood in two ways:

1) the promised Holy Spirit (cf. Ac 1:4-5; 2:33,38-39); or

2) the Holy Spirit which gives promise of what else lies ahead.

In view of what we learn next about the Holy Spirit, I suspect Paul refers

to the latter, for...]

II. THE HOLY SPIRIT IS OUR "GUARANTEE" (14)

A. DEFINING "GUARANTEE" ("EARNEST", KJV)...

1. The word is arrabon {ar-hrab-ohn'}

2. It is used to refer to "money which in purchases is given as a

pledge or DOWN-PAYMENT that the full amount will subsequently be

paid"

3. In the LXX (Septuagint Version of the OT), the word is

translated "pledge" three times in Gen 38:17-20

B. THE HOLY SPIRIT IS A "GUARANTEE OF OUR INHERITANCE"...

1. God has given the Holy Spirit in our hearts as a "deposit"

("earnest", KJV, and is the same Greek word) - 2Co 1:22

2. He is a guarantee of what God has prepared for us - 2Co 5:1-5

3. The blessing of the Holy Spirit working in our lives is only a

foretaste of the glory that will one day be ours

4. And yet, as an example of what the Holy Spirit can do for us

now, consider these passages: Ro 15:13; Ep 3:16; Ga 5:22-23

C. HE SERVES AS SUCH "UNTIL THE REDEMPTION OF THE PURCHASED

POSSESSION"...

1. While in one sense we have been redeemed (Ep 1:7) through the

blood of Christ, in another sense God has yet to redeem those

who are truly His (Ep 4:30)

2. Until that day, the Holy Spirit serves as a guarantee that the

FINAL redemption will one day take place

3. Hendriksen comments: "At the moment when believers receive

THEIR full inheritance, which includes a glorious resurrection

body (4:30), the redemption of GOD'S own possession takes

place, that is, the full release to him of that which is his

by virtue of the fact that he both made it and bought it."

CONCLUSION

1. So we have the Holy Spirit as a "seal" and a "guarantee". What

should our reaction be?

2. For the third time (1:6,12,14), Paul says these blessings are "to

the praise of His glory"!

3. Thus our reaction should be the same as Paul as stated at the

beginning of this section...

a. "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has

blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places

in Christ" - 1:3

b. I.e., to praise God!

Are you praising God for His wonderful grace and mercy? Later on, Paul

will tell us how we can "walk worthy of the calling with which you were

called" (Ep 4:1), but he sums it up very nicely in Ro 12:1-2...

"I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that

ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto

God, [which is] your reasonable service. And be not conformed

to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your

mind, that ye may prove what [is] that good, and acceptable, and

perfect, will of God."