Connect Blog - Ephesians
Connect Blog
Ephesians 1:3-14
October 8, 2017
“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ” (1:3).
“Blessed” in this passage means to speak well of … Paul is speaking well of God.
Paul responds to all that God has done for us in Jesus with praise and adoration. Worship is a response to Who God is and What He has done.
The spiritual blessings in heavenly places speaks to that which finds its origin in heaven: forgiveness of sin, redemption, adoption, etc.
“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: 5 Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will, 6 To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved” (1:4-6).
Who? “He (Holy God) hath chosen us (sinful man).”
We didn’t chose God, God chose us
When? “before the foundation of the world”
What this means is that God set into motion his plan for our redemption prior to our creation and fall.
Remember – God is eternal and omniscient. We live in time, God looks down on time. He sees the past and the future concurrently.
There are two extreme views: Calvinistic View and the Armenian View. The Calvinistic view holds that God alone chooses those who will be saved, leaving those who does not chose to go to hell. The Armenian view holds the choice of salvation to be by the free will of man. Now “my” view: I believe that God has set into motion His plan of redemption; that He enables man to see his sinful condition and His provision for their sin and allows man to make a decision. Predestination is, as it relates to man’s salvation, pre-knowledge.
What? “that we should be holy and without blame before him in love: 5 Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself”
“holy” means set apart. God has set us apart in Christ
“blameless” guiltless …because the sentence of our crime was carried out by Christ
“adoption of children” – God has adopted us granting to us all rights and privileges. We are joint heirs with Jesus Christ.
Why?
“love”
“according to the good pleasure of his will”
Like the children’s answer to the question, why did you do that? “Just because.”
Thank God for grace.
“In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace; 8 Wherein he hath abounded toward us in all wisdom and prudence; 9 Having made known unto us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure which he hath purposed in himself: 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: 11 In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will: 12 That we should be to the praise of his glory, who first trusted in Christ” (1:7-12).
“redemption” – to purchase with the intent of setting free. God purchased mankind by the blood of the Lamb and set us free from the debt and dominion of sin.
Talk about the extent of the “forgiveness of sin?”
Verses 8-9 God revealed and is revealing His redemptive plan through Jesus Christ.
God’s intent through Christ is to gather together what had been separated into one forever family.
“inheritance” –usually requires a death to be enforced … Jesus died for us that we might become the children of His Father and possess what He possessed. Everything that was His is ours.
The PURPOSE – “to the praise of His glory.”
“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, 14 Which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory” (1:13-14).
Salvation is by grace through faith … “also trusted … heard the Word … after that ye believed”
At the moment (not later) of salvation God sealed you with His Holy Spirit.
The Holy Spirit in you is God’s down payment; His personal guarantee that what He hasbegun in you He will complete.
The Holy Spirit is the down payment on our future inheritance, “the redemption of the purchased possession,” which takes place at our glorification.
Glorification is therefore God’s final payment.
How does this passage confirm the teaching of “eternal security.”