EPHESIANS BIBLE STUDY
The Greeting
1:1-2
This epistle is a letter from the imprisoned Paul to the church in Ephesus. It was an important city, the Roman capitol of Asia. There are many ruins visible which show the city had beautiful temples and active commerce.
The Ephesians first heard the gospel from Apollos. He began preaching after hearing the gospel according to John the Baptist. But Priscilla and Aguila explained “the way of God more accurately” to him. (Acts 18:24-26)
Paul then came to Ephesus and met some disciples that had heard the message of John the Baptist. He explained Jesus to them and baptized them. They received the Holy Spirit, spoke in tongues, and prophesied. (Acts 19:1-7) He then spoke in the synagogue until he experienced opposition. He took the converts with him to a public hall, where he continued to preach for two years. (Acts 19:8-10)
Ultimately, a guild of silversmiths rioted because Paul was persuading many people to leave the worship of Artemis and come to Christ. Paul left Ephesus and returned to Macedonia with Jerusalem as his ultimate destination. (Acts 20:1) On his way to Jerusalem, Paul called the Ephesian elders to meet him at Miletus, where he instructed them and prayed. Their sorrowful farewell to Paul showed that they loved him and knew they would not see him again. (Acts 20:37-38)
Indeed Paul was arrested in Jerusalem and was eventually in confinement in Rome, where he wrote this letter in A.D. 62.
Paul identified himself as an apostle to establish his authority to instruct them. That would be especially relevant to believers who had not met him personally.
The Blessings
1:3-10
This section is actually one long sentence in the original Greek. It is a prayer of praise. It also contains many theological truths.
When Paul says “blessed be…God”, it is to praise God. (3) It is not that we add anything to God, for there is nothing to add. (The doctrine of Aesity.) The basis for this prayer, or blessing, is that God has blessed us. In this case, blessing means the benefits God bestows upon us.
God is the source of all blessings. James 1:17 says “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change”.
God gives these blessings “in Christ”. (3) When we come to Christ in faith and are saved, we are “in Christ”. This is sometimes referred to as our “union with Christ”.
So, these blessings from God come only to believers, those who are in Christ. They are already given to us. Paul writes that God “has blessed us” (past tense).
The blessings are “spiritual blessings” in that they are from the Holy Spirit. The Greek word translated “spiritual” is “pneumatikos”, which always refers to the work of the Holy Spirit in the New Testament. It does not refer to immaterial blessings as opposed to spiritual blessings. Spiritual here refers to the source of the blessing rather than the type of blessing.
So, we see all three members of the Trinity at work. The Father gives the blessings in Christ through the Holy Spirit.
These blessings are in the heavenly places, the supernatural realm of God. Believers live on the earth, but are citizens of heaven. Philippians 3:20 says “But our citizenship is in heaven and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body by the power that enables him even to subject all things to himself.”
So, these blessings come from God, who is in heaven, to us as citizens of heaven.
The first blessing is choosing, or “election”. God chose us, believers, in Christ before the foundation of the world. (4) The Greek word translated here as “chose” in its various forms (noun, verb, adjective) is also translated at times as “elect”. Believers are the chosen or the elect.
God did his choosing before the foundation of the world. (4) This was not a plan B for God after Israel failed, but was the plan A all of the time. And this should give us a sense of security and assurance of salvation. If God chose you before the foundation of the world, and later called you to faith in Christ, he is not going to let you go, to lose your salvation.
There is a purpose in God’s election beyond giving us eternal life. We are to be holy and blameless before him. There are two parts to this. First, God makes us blameless in his sight by imputing the righteousness of Christ to us when we come to him in faith. God himself declares us to be righteous.
Romans 5:1 says we have been justified by faith. The Christian Standard Bible makes plain that God does this, saying “we have been declared righteous by faith”.
The second part of this is that we are to live holy lives now that we are reconciled to God in Christ. Holy living testifies to the holiness of God. 1 Peter 1:14-16 says “As obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance, but as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, since it is written, ‘You shall be holy, for I am holy”.
Sinful lives profane his name among those who are not saved.
The next blessing is predestination to adoption. God predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ. This doctrine of adoption says that we become part of God’s family. We become sons, those with special privileges. This does not mean that we are equal to Jesus, but that the blessing of our union with him includes being treated as family.
The most well known verse about this may be John 1:12, that says “But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.”
Romans 8:29 says “For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son in order that he might be the firstborn among man brothers.”
This adoption was according to God’s will and for the praise of his glorious grace, with which he blessed us in Christ. (6) So, it was God’s plan before he created the earth that those chosen would be saved to live holy lives, giving Jesus would have a large family of those who believe in and live for him to the glory of God.. This adoption was according to God’s will and for the praise of his glorious grace, with which he blessed us in Christ.
All of these things were done according to the purpose of God’s will. God’s purpose in this was to glorify himself, to create praise for his grace in saving those who believe in him, even after mankind had rejected him and fallen into sin.
Paul next expounded upon the accomplishments of the grace he blesses us with in Christ (“the Beloved”). He redeemed us through the blood of Christ, he forgave our trespasses, and he revealed the mystery of his will.
To redeem is to pay a price to obtain the release of someone from captivity. Sometimes that price is called a ransom. In the days of slavery, a slave could be freed is someone paid a price for him. That analogy is used for us, as Christ paid the price to release us from slavery to sin.
The price Christ paid was his blood, meaning his death. That is why there are so many hymns and songs that talk about blood. The cost of sin is death, and Christ paid it for us. (Romans 3:23; 1 Peter 1:18-19)
Redemption also resulted in the forgiveness of our sins, here called trespasses. Hebrews 9:22 says “…without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins.
Our redemption and forgiveness came to us out of God’s grace, not our merit. He lavished his grace upon us; he did not hold back. (8)
God also revealed to us the mystery of his purpose. In the New Testament, a mystery is a truth which has not yet been revealed. All through Old Testament times, this mystery was hinted at but not fully revealed. Then, at the coming of Christ, God revealed his plan to unite all things in Christ, both things in heaven and on earth. (10)
In the fulness of time, God will bring everything under Christ. He will rule and everyone will abide by his rule. Everything will be made new under his rule, better than it has ever been since Adam sinned. And we, the children of God, will enjoy it forever.
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