Grace Institute: The Pauline Epistles: Ephesians: 1:1 - 3:21

Ephesians Survey of the New Testament: The Pauline Epistles Winter 2006

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Salvation is by Grace (1:3-2:10)

The Spiritual Blessings of the Saints (1:3-23)

After a brief salutation, Paul begins his letter to the Ephesians with a lengthy description of the spiritual blessings we have in Christ. These blessings, covered in verses 3 to 14, are all one sentence in the original Greek.

Paul begins by blessing God for the blessings he has given us. He describes these blessings as “spiritual” blessings, and blessings that are in “heavenly places,” meaning the blessings are not physical or material. God the Father grants these blessings “in Christ,” and the blessings are guaranteed by the presence of the Holy Spirit in our life

What are these blessings?

• We are adopted as sons (v. 5) . Adoption grants non-physically related children all the privileges of a natural born child. We are not God's children naturally. Our spiritual nature makes us enemies of God. But because of the forgiveness of God and the redemption he gives us through Christ, we become God's adopted children, part of His family.
• We have redemption and forgiveness of our trespasses (v. 7) . Our sinful nature made us enemies of God and a slave to sin. God has forgiven the believer of these sins and redeemed us from our sinful captivity.
• We know the mystery of His will (v. 9) . The mystery of his will discussed here is the mystery that God sent Christ in “the fullness of times.” Those who followed God before Christ longed to see and understand the fullness of God's salvation plan ( John 8:56 ). We have the privilege and blessing of being on this side of Christ, and thus are able to see the details of how God has redeemed us.
• We have obtained an inheritance (v. 11) . Because we are adopted children of God, we also are heirs of God's estate ( Romans 8:17 ). My children are heirs to my estate. But that really is not much of a source of hope for them, for my estate pretty much consists of a house with a mortgage on it, a car on which I owe money, some furniture, and a small amount of savings. But what is God's estate? What does God own? God owns everything ( Psalm 50:10-12 ), and we are the heirs to this estate.
• We are sealed with the Holy Spirit (v. 13) . In centuries past, letters were sealed with wax and then stamped with the signet ring of the sender. When someone received a letter with the seal intact, they knew the letter had not been tampered with. Furthermore, the seal assured them that the letter had not been forged. The Holy Spirit seals these blessings, assuring us that we aren't going to be tampered with and assuring us that these blessings are genuine.

How does God give the blessings?

• He decides by His will (v. 4-5, 11) . God chooses and predestined to whom he will give these blessings.
• He gives through Jesus Christ (v. 5) . Notice the repeated use of the phrase “In Him” and “In Christ.” Jesus is the mechanism through which God grants the Father all the spiritual blessings we receive. Jesus is the agent of the blessing.
• He gives through Christ's blood (v. 7) . Paul details the work of Christ through which these blessings are possible. It is Christ's death on the cross that facilitates the passing of God's blessings to us. Specifically, Christ's blood provides redemption or the satisfactory payment for our sins. That redemption gives us forgiveness, and is what allows us to be adopted, etc.

Who can receive these blessings?

• Blessings are given to those who listen (v. 13).
• Blessings are given to those who believe (v. 13) .

Why does God give these blessings?

• He gives because it suits Him (v. 5, 9, 11) . It is according to his will, not our will (v. 5).
• It suits his purposes, not our purposes (v. 9) He does it on purpose, not by accident. It is part of a greater plan of God (v. 11).
• He gives because of His grace (v. 6, 7) . Grace is defined as “the unmerited favor of God.” In other words, “getting something we don't deserve.” Salvation is not just avoiding punishment, but receiving a whole litany of amazing blessings and gifts from God. It means more than just not going to hell, but becoming an adopted son of God who will fully inherit all that is God's.
• He gives so we would praise Him (v. 6, 12, 14) . Ultimately, all God does is for his glory. God wants to show us his great, loving, and forgiving character. He wants all of creation to see and understand who He is. So gives us abundantly to amaze all of creation. And, he wants us to proclaim that to all.

After explaining these blessings, Paul can't help but break into prayer to God. First he prays that the Ephesians might truly understand the riches of their spiritual blessings (1:15-19). Then he praises Christ for his role in providing these blessings (1:20-23)

Saved by Grace (2:1-10)

Grace is Undeserved (Who We Were Before God's Grace) (2:1-3)

We Were Dead (2:1-2)

Paul reminds his old church, and he reminding us, who we were before God's grace. Grace is unmerited favor from God. Therefore, grace is only grace if the recipient is undeserving. One can never be entitled to grace. It is unearned and undeserved. So Paul first reminds us that we were undeserving before God's grace. Before God's grace we were dead.

Paul is saying that we were dead to God. Because of our transgressions, our sin, because of the wickedness and evil inherent within us, we were considered dead to God. Instead of following God, we followed a different path. Paul tells us we used to live in sin.

Instead of following God, we followed the ways of the world. Literally it says we followed in a worldly age or era. Paul is saying we lived according to the values promoted by this world. But not only did we follow the ways of the world. Instead of following God, we also followed the ruler of the kingdom of the air. This is Paul's euphemism for the Devil, or Satan. Before God's grace we followed Satan, the one who still is at work in those who refuse to obey God.

We Followed Our Desires (2:3a)

Before God's grace, we were just looking the next thing to satisfy our cravings. We were motivated by our hunger for food. We were motivated by our sex-drive. We were motivated by our need for excitement and adventure. We were motivated by the desires of our body. Before God's grace, we had no moral compass except to satisfy our hunger, be it hunger for food, hunger for sexual satisfaction, or even hunger for meaning and self-esteem.

We Were Objects of God's Wrath (2:3b)

Because we chose to follow the world, because we chose to follow Satan, because we chose to follow our fleshly desires, we made God angry at us. Before God's grace, we were objects of God's wrath by our very nature. We were inherently evil people. It was our nature. And as a result, God was angry with us.

Grace is God's Favor (Who We Are After God's Grace) (2:4-10)

God Made Us Alive (2:4-5)

God considered us dead because we were following the worldly ways and because we were following Satan. We were the walking dead, unable to see or follow God. But because of his love, his mercy, and his grace, God made us alive even when we were dead. How could God do this? How did God make us alive? God became the man Jesus and humbled himself to the point of death. And then, three days after Jesus died, he rose again.

God Gave Us Blessings (2:6-7)

God forgives us and makes us alive to Him. That is a tremendous act of mercy. But God doesn't stop with that. God raises us up with Christ and seats us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus. That is a picture of the incomparable riches of God's grace.

God Saved Us (2:8-10)

Finally, we have experienced God's grace in that God has saved us. We weren't able to save ourselves from God's wrath. We weren't able to save ourselves from our death sentence. Salvation is not from ourselves. Instead, it is a gift from God.

United by Grace (2:11-3:21)

Grace Unifies the Jew and the Gentile (2:11-22)

The Alienation of the Gentiles (Ephesians 2:11 -13)

Jews are the nation God chose as his own special nation, chosen to be his representatives throughout the world (Gen. 12:1-3). The Gentiles were not part of this promise. The Jews were circumcised creating a physical division between Jews and Gentiles. But there were deep factors that divided Jews and Gentiles. T he Jews had one God; Gentiles had many pagan gods. The Jews were a dispersed Semitic people, who tended to be xenophobic. Gentiles of Paul's time were members of the Roman Empire, a diverse cosmopolitan world. The Jews were the Chosen people. Gentiles had no such national calling. Paul lists the spiritual distinctions between the Jews and Gentiles before the Gentiles came to know Christ:

• Without Christ (they had no national messiah)
• They were aliens, outside of Israel
• They did not have the covenants of Israel
• They had no hope
• They were without God.

The Gentiles were not part of God's program. He was dealing with the Jews. While this does not mean Gentiles were unable to be “saved,” God's focus was on this nation, and it was through this nation that the rest of the world would hear the gospel and be blessed.

The Reconciliation of Jews and Gentiles (Ephesians 2:14 -18)

But now, after Christ, God has reconciled the Jews and Gentiles. This has been accomplished by the following.

• Christ abolished the Jewish law (2:15). The law was no longer the mechanism by which God revealed his grace. Now God revealed himself through Christ.
• Both Gentile & Jew must come to God through Christ (2:16). The plan of salvation is now the same for all (2:18). It is by God's grace, not works, so neither can boast (2:10).
• The dividing lines have been erased and the two groups have been made one (2:14, 17).

Conflict between Jew and Gentile in the early church.

Jew-Gentile relations were the central issue of the early church. Whether in a theological question of whether or not Gentiles needed to follow the Jewish law or be it in divisive attitudes and behaviors found within Jews and Greeks in the church, the inclusion of Gentiles into the church was the focus of much of the New Testament, and especially the writing of Paul.

The first and only church council found in scripture dealt with the relationship between these two groups. The controversy specifically was that some Jewish Christians felt that Gentiles would need to first become Jews (“be circumcised”) and follow the Jewish law and customs before they could be saved. Others, namely Paul and Barnabas, felt that they were not bound to the Jewish law.

The apostles debated this point extensively. The conclusion, stated by Peter, was that Gentiles did not need to follow the Jewish law to become Christians, for “we believe it is through the grace of our Lord Jesus that we are saved, just as they are.” (Acts 15:11)

Since we all find salvation through faith rather than through obedience to the law, there is now no distinction between Jew and Greek. Neither is their distinction between male and female, nor slave or master. All are one in Christ.

The Church United (Ephesians 2:19 -22)

Paul uses a number of metaphors to drive home the point that all in the church; Jew and Gentile are united together in one community, one nation, and one household.

• Jews & Gentiles are citizens of one nation, no longer strangers and foreigners.
• Jews & Gentiles are members of the same household of God.
• Jews & Gentiles are parts of the same building, established on Christ and the apostles.

The Mystery of Reconciliation (Eph. 3:1-13)

The “Paul's a Prisoner Parenthetical” (3:1)

Paul states his imprisonment is "for the sake of you Gentiles." Such a statement could have been troubling to his readers, so he breaks off his train of thought and expands on this point. The entire paragraph from 3:2 to 3:13 is a parenthetical explanation of how his imprisonment benefits the Gentile readers and why they should not be discouraged by his trials. Paul picks up his thought in 3:14 , where he repeats the connector, “F or this reason.”

The Mystery Defined (3:2-8)

Paul was to preach to the Gentiles “ the unfathomable riches of Christ .” The riches of Christ refer to the rich blessings imparted by Christ. [1] Specifically, for the Gentiles, these riches are the grace that made redemption (1:7) possible for the not only the Jews, but also the non-Jewish nations (3:6). The Gentiles would now be “chosen” (1:4-5) The Gentiles would now be adopted into God's family (1:5). The Gentiles would now receive an inheritance ( 1:14 ).

This is the mystery of which Paul speaks. Namely, (3:8) “… that the Gentiles are…fellow-heirs and fellow-members of the body and fellow-partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel.” The mystery is that the gospel of Christ that now is available to not only the Jews, but the Gentiles as well

The Revelation of the Mystery (3:9)

This mystery was hidden and (3:9) “ in other generations was not made known to the sons of men.” Paul is referring to a time when the Gentiles were excluded from Israel and were strangers to the covenant of promise ( 2:12 ), namely the age of Israel before Christ. In the Old Testament, God hid the mystery from the prophets and teachers of Israel . Charles Ryrie states, “The mystery spoken here is not that the Gentiles would be blessed (for that was predicted in the OT) but that Jews and Gentiles would be equal heirs in the one body of Christ. This was unknown in OT prophecy. [2]”

The Purpose of the Mystery (3:9-12)

The second reason Paul received grace was (3:9) “ to bring to light what is the administration of the mystery. ” Paul was to illuminate how the mystery was managed and cared for.

Paul declares the mystery is now to be brought to light so (3:10) “ the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known. ” Manifold is not a commonly used word today, and likewise the Greek word from which it is translated is also rarely used. It means literally, “marked with a great variety of colors. [3]” So the mystery is brought to light so the great many shades and hues of God's wisdom could be made known to the principle and chief angels. [4]

This process might seem backwards to our normal impression of things. Normally we think that angels reveal God's wisdom to the church. But, Paul tells us it is just the opposite. It is the church that reveals God's wisdom to the angels.

The Humility of Paul (3:13)

Paul concludes this parenthetical section telling the Ephesians that they have no reason to be discouraged about Paul's imprisonment. He states “therefore,” reminding them that his imprisonment is a result of his calling by God to preach the gospel and to reveal the mystery. Paul sees this as a privilege that puts his imprisonment in perspective. Furthermore, the Ephesians can have boldness and confidence in life.

Paul's perspective on his current troubles provides a lesson for us. Paul sees his tribulations as a privilege from God. As for us, when tribulations surround us, rather than despair, we can hold on to the fact that God will use the process to refine us, to develop hope within us, and to show the world the mystery of his salvation.

Paul's Prayer for the Ephesians (Eph. 3:14 -21)

Paul picks up his “reason” in verse 1 and says, because of the unity we have in Christ, He prays that the Ephesians would come to understand the fullness of Christ's love for them. Only when we understand that the depths of Christ's love will we realize that we are all united by that love and that none of us deserve to be members of the body of Christ outside of that love. For Paul, that makes Christ worthy of all glory forever and ever (3:21)

Footnotes

1. Zodhiates, entry for Strong's No. 4149.
2. Ryrie, pg. 1880.
3. Thayer and Smith. "Greek Lexicon entry for Polupoikilos". [Strong's No. 4182].
4. Zodhiates, entry for Strong's nos. 746, 1849, and 2032.

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