This concentrated passage summarises the Good News of the Lord Jesus Christ in a hymn of praise to God the Father. The distinctive character and functions of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit are portrayed. Supremely it glorifies the Lord Jesus Christ to whom reference is made in almost every verse.
1:1 Paul, an apostle[One
sent forth with a specific mission: Luke 11.49; Gen 45.7;
Ex 3.10-15; Is 6:8-9; Jer 1.7; Ezek 2.3; Amos 7:15;
Jer 23.21.] of Christ Jesus by the
(*)will[Eph 1.5,9,11]
of God[Or "Paul, one Jesus Christ sent forth
through the will of God". Man's desires are irrelevant: must know God's will,
and that what we do is sent of Christ. Jesus always did God's will
(John 6.38)], To the
saints[normal description of God's people (never
addressed as "sinners")] who are in Ephesus and
faithful[part of will of God for us]
in Christ Jesus[Or, if "in Ephesus" omitted (as
some texts), then "who are in Christ Jesus and faithful (to him)". This appears
to be a General letter: there is no reference to anything or anyone specifically
at Ephesus]:
2
Grace[expanded in
Eph 1.3-8] to you and
peace[refers to the reconciliation of all things
(Eph 1.9-10)] from God our Father and the Lord
Jesus Christ.
Father blesses the Son
3[Eph 1:3-14 is one long sentence: its convoluted nature
and the complexity of the concepts makes translation difficult. Breaking
it into short English sentences spoils the balance of the Greek]
BlessedA[= "Well spoken
of". Essentially same Greek word as that used of Father blessing us. Paul
obeys command to bless God (Psalm 134.1)] be the
God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has
blessedA[Old Testament concept of Father
blessing his son in view. Father's blessing is very powerful with respect
to destiny (e.g. Isaac's blessing of Jacob (Gen 27) and Jacob's blessing
his of sons (Gen 49)). The blessing not only affects the son but his
seed within him (Gen 27:18 relates to Christ (Gal 3:16)): this
is how we are blessed in Christ]
us[us = faithful servants
(Eph 1.1)] in
ChristB[everything in Eph 1 and Eph 2
is "in Him"] with every spiritual
blessing[Note the wide extent of this blessing; Eph 1.14;
We shall bear Christ's image (1 Cor 15.45-50)]
in the heavenly (places),
Chosen to holiness
4 even as he
chose[What is in view is a "choosing of a corporate
people (us) in Christ for a purpose", not the selection of individuals to
be in Christ. Realisation of this destroys presumption and elevates Christ,
we have nothing unless we are in Him] us in
himB before the foundation of
the world[as we are chosen on the basis of a specification (that
we are the body of Christ, and Christ has been chosen on the basis of His
merit) this pre-choosing presents no conceptual
difficulty], that we should be
holy[= "set apart" Part of God's will for us]
and blameless[= "guiltless" Part
of God's will for us] before him,
Destined to sonship
5 having predestined us in love to receive
sonship[Part of God's predestined will for us is
that we become exactly like Christ in all respects (Rom 8:29), achieved
through the work of the Holy Spirit (Eph 1:13). Sonship is greater than
childhood: we must receive our position as sons (there was a ritual in which
a child became a "son" of his father, which could be applied equally to his
own son, or to someone else he wished to make his son. This sonship allowed
the son to fully inherit his father's estate etc. (see Gal 4:1 for the
slave status of a child until this has been done). This is NOT adoption of
children as now understood (AV text very misleading): we must be BORN
(John 3:3-7) into God's family] through Jesus
Christ according to the purpose[Lit "good
pleasure"] of his
(*)will[Eph 1:1,9,11],
6 to the praise[commendation]
of the
gloryD[Eph 1:12,14] of his
grace[God's purpose was to show the immense greatness of His
graciousness towards us by accounting us part of His Beloved Son, so that
onlookers (e.g. the angels 1 Pet 1:12) might be caused to marvel
and praise the LORD. The work of grace in salvation in Christ was done before
we knew it. His grace gets praised by us when we come to know it,
Eph 1.9,17,18. It is made to abound to us ("lavished upon us" Eph 1.8)
when we really know it: until we know it cannot abound by effectually saving
us from the power of sin, the world, devil etc..] which
he freely bestowed on us in the Beloved[Or (following Received
Text) "in which (grace) he has made us favoured in the
Beloved"],
Freed slaves
7 In
whomB we
1) have redemption[Lit: "the loosing away"
- the favour experienced by a redeemed slave.] through
his blood,
2) the forgiveness of our trespasses[the
favour experienced by a condemned man],
according[Not "out of", but in proper proportion
to the riches] to the
riches[Eph 2.7; 1.18] of
his grace[See note on "grace" in Eph 1.6] 8
which he lavished[Lit: "made to
abound to us"] upon us,
How we recognise and receive it
9 having made
known[Greek perfect tense, so ALREADY revealed, with continuing
implications] to us in all wisdom and insight the
mystery[It was previously hidden, but is no longer
hidden to us (Eph 3.4-5; 1.17)] of his
(*)will[Eph 1:1,5,11],
The ultimate purpose to bring peace in Christ
according to his
purpose[Lit: "good pleasure"]
which he had[This was done before the foundation
of the world (Eph 1.4)] set forth[Or
"purposed"] in
ChristB[Lit "him"] 10
as a plan[Lit "stewardship"]
for the fullness of time, to head up
all[Main focus is the principalities and powers etc.
(Eph 1:20-23; Col 1.15-20); secondary focus is the reconciliation
of Jew and Gentile (Eph 2.15)] (things) in
ChristB[Done through his flesh:
Eph 2.15], things in[Lit "upon"]
heaven and things upon earth[This is the ultimate
purpose of God in history];
The inheritances of God's people to God's glory
11[Translation of the Greek of Eph 1:11-14 is difficult,
as it is not entirely clear whether it speaks of us being God's inheritance
and God benefits, or, what is more probable, of our inheritance and
benefit] (that is) in
himB in whom also we have obtained
an inheritance[Or, less likely, "were chosen as (his)
inheritance"] having been predestined
according to (the) purpose of him[I.e. of God (Eph
1.1)] who accomplishes all (things) according to the
counsel of his
(*)will[Eph 1:1,5,9],
12 to the end that we who hoped in the
Messiah[Lit: "Christ"]
beforehand[Those who were looking to the deliverance
from the Messiah before He came, that is the Jews (Rom 8.29;
Rom 11:2)] should be to the praise of his
gloryD[Ultimate destined purpose of God for
us (Eph 1:6,14). In terms of the Jews what magnifies God's grace "to the
praise of his glory" (Eph 1:6) is that God has kept His promises of
the coming Messiah to Abraham and David in spite of all the human
failures]. 13
In himB
you[Gentiles (Eph 2.11)]
also, having heard the word of truth, the gospel of your
salvation, and having believed in him, were
sealed[This is the security mark signifying God's
new ownership of us. (This probably refers to the indwelling Holy Spirit
rather than the empowering of the Baptism in the Holy Spirit:
2 Cor 1:21 refers to the anointing (= Baptism in the Holy Spirit)
as being distinct from the sealing of the Spirit in our HEARTS
(2 Cor 1:22); sealing relates to salvation (Eph 1:13) and
redemption (Eph 4.30), again both inward works rather than to the Spirit's
empowering; Rev 9.4 refers to the seal of God being on the forehead,
again relating to our position in Christ, rather than power for service)]
with the promised[Acts 2:39 promises Him
to Gentiles] Holy Spirit, 14
who is the guarantee[Or "pledge" (Greek word
is transliterated Hebrew used in Gen 38:17,18,20) or "down-payment".
(A traders' word: money given in advance to a vendor as security for the
rest). See also 2 Cor 1.21-22 & 2 Cor 5.5 which make
clear that the down-payment of the Spirit is given to us in our hearts.
Remarkably, the down-payment is paid TO US to provide our assurance.]
of our inheritance[We get this in virtue of being
among the sanctified (Acts 20.32). Inheritance is never random or arbitrary,
but is the result of a definite choice by the testator, usually to a member
of the same family. Note, the Greek could possibly read "who is the guarantee
of (Christ's) possession of us"] until the
possession[We are a people for God's possession
(1 Peter 2:9)] is redeemed[Lit.
"with a view to the redemption of the possession", i.e. until the whole of
the christian is redeemed by God. (RSV = "until we acquire possession of
it") Again the unusual feature is that when God has paid the full price and
possesses all of us it is WE who obtain the full benefit and possess all
our inheritance (in Christ). That God allows even Gentiles to receive this
magnifies God's grace "to the praise of his glory" (Eph 1:6). For the
nature of the inheritance see Eph 1.3 (blessings in Christ), Rom 8.23
(the redemption of our bodies), 2 Cor 5.4-5 (to be fully clothed,
so that what is mortal is swallowed up by life). "redemption" is same word
as in Eph 1:7], to the praise of his
gloryD[Eph 1:6,12].