Ephesians Chapter 1
Victory in Christ
A Study in Ephesians
Ephesians Chapter 1 – Our Spiritual Blessings in Christ
Most of this information came from the NIV Study Bible and the Holman Commentary on Ephesians
In a Nutshell – Paul tells the Christians in Asia Minor: Greetings, praise be to God the Father who chose you and adopted you as His spiritual children before the foundation of the world. In Christ you have redemption, the forgiveness of sin; you have been spiritually enlightened and enriched. In the Holy Spirit, you were sealed and made secure. I pray that you may be enlightened to understand the significance and magnitude of these blessings.
Greetings (vv. 1-2)
Verse 1: typical of his letters, Paul lets the reader know who wrote the letter before they start reading the actual letter. He gives us his credentials: he is an apostle because God called him and chose him for that position. This makes it clear that he is someone who has the authority to address them and teach them. He then lets them know who the letter was written to, in this case the faithful in Christ or believers or Christians.
Verse 2: Grace and peace. Basically Paul used a common greeting from that time similar to the Jewish greeting Shalom, which means peace to you. But he expresses that this grace and peace are from God.
Spiritual Blessings in the Father (vv. 3-6)
Verse 3: God is to be praised because He has given us every spiritual blessing in Christ. However, we may not always feel blessed, so Paul spells out the blessings to make sure we understand just how we have been blessed.
Verse 4: We have been chosen by God. He has made us holy and blameless in His sight because of His great love for us. This does not mean that Christians do not sin, it means that Jesus’ death paid for all of our sins and God sees us as holy and blameless.
Further look at predestination:
1. The bible seems to teach both God’s sovereignty and free will
a. Predestination: Ephesian 1:4-5; Romans 8:29-30 and John 6:44
b. Free will: (Matthew 11:28; John 3:16; 1 Timothy 2:1, 3-4; 2 Peter 3:9)
2. We cannot and should not expect to understand the Bible exhaustively
3. This is an antinomy: contains two apparently mutually exclusive truths that must be held simultaneously.
a. Light is an example of this – matter cannot contain energy and energy cannot contain matter, yet light has properties of both. It is impossible, yet it is true.
b. God exists in a realm beyond our understanding and so does some of His teachings
Verses 5-6: God adopted us into His family and we are now true children of His. God gave use to spiritually blessings: He chose us and He adopted us. He made this choice before He created the world and He made this possible through the death and resurrection of His Son. He was motivated to be kind to us and to receive our praise for His grace.
Spiritual blessings in the Son (vv. 7-12)
Four blessings are listed: In Christ, we are redeemed, forgiven, enlightened and enriched.
Verse 7: Redeemed means to be “bought back.” It carries the idea of bring released from slavery. We are freed from sin, both the penalty and the enslaving power of sin. Redemption was accomplished by Christ’s death on the cross. Forgiveness goes hand in hand with redemption. We cannot have one without the other. To forgive means that God gave up His right to punish us. God’s ability to do this grew out of His grace, which He “lavished on us with all wisdom and understanding.”
Verses 8-10: We were enlightened through Christ when God “made known to us the mystery of His will.” That mystery is the knowledge that in the end, God will make all things right through Christ who is the ruler of all things.
Verse 11: We have been enriched in Christ because we have been “chosen” and “predestined according to God’s plan” to receive and inheritance when we stand before Him in heaven. It was His plan from the beginning.
Verse 12: The result of these four blessings from Christ is that God should be praised.
Spiritual blessings in the Spirit (vv. 13-14)
Verse 13: We have been made spiritual secured. By being “marked with a seal” God indicated His authority, authenticity and security through the validation of His ownership of us. It is like a court document that proves He has adopted us and has given us equal share in His kingdom. It also marks us as people who are under the protection of God.
Verse 14: The Holy Spirit has given us a deposit or down-payment on our inheritance in Christ. We have been sealed until the day of redemption when we have our final release from sin. It is like a Trust fund that God has placed in our name.
Prayer for Enlightenment (vv. 15-23)
Verses 15-17: The complexity and magnitude of these truths is beyond our ability to comprehend or appreciate fully, so Paul prays for our enlightenment. He prays for wisdom, which is the practical ability to act on what we know and believe. He also prays for revelation, which is God allowing you to experience and know Him.
Verses 18-23: Paul continues to pray specifically that we might comprehend our hope, our riches, and God’s power. Our hope is built on the promises from God. This is not an “ify” hope, but an assurance that it will happen because of God’s ability and power to do so. Our riches in Christ is Paul’s way of trying to express that we should not focus on the worldly treasures which will only last for a short time, but rather on the heavenly treasures that are being prepared for us to enjoy for all of eternity as a part of our inheritance. God’s power is something tangible that they have witnessed through His miraculous works (raising Jesus from the dead, healings, etc.) and something intangible as in the way He changes lives beyond our understanding. His power can help us make our focus the hope and riches to come rather than the worldly pleasures and riches that seem to be so abundant around us.
This is part one in a series on Ephesians. Please read the other parts of this series:
2. Ephesians Chapter 2 - Our Spiritual Union with God
3. Ephesians Chapter 3 - Paul's Prayer for Power
4. Ephesians Chapter 4, part 1 - Our Call to Unity and Holiness
5. Ephesians Chapter 4, part 2 - Our Call to Unity and Holiness
6. Ephesians Chapter 5 - Our Life of Love
7. Ephesians Chapter 6 - Our Obedience Leads to Victory
A Study in Ephesians
Ephesians Chapter 1 – Our Spiritual Blessings in Christ
Most of this information came from the NIV Study Bible and the Holman Commentary on Ephesians
In a Nutshell – Paul tells the Christians in Asia Minor: Greetings, praise be to God the Father who chose you and adopted you as His spiritual children before the foundation of the world. In Christ you have redemption, the forgiveness of sin; you have been spiritually enlightened and enriched. In the Holy Spirit, you were sealed and made secure. I pray that you may be enlightened to understand the significance and magnitude of these blessings.
Greetings (vv. 1-2)
Verse 1: typical of his letters, Paul lets the reader know who wrote the letter before they start reading the actual letter. He gives us his credentials: he is an apostle because God called him and chose him for that position. This makes it clear that he is someone who has the authority to address them and teach them. He then lets them know who the letter was written to, in this case the faithful in Christ or believers or Christians.
Verse 2: Grace and peace. Basically Paul used a common greeting from that time similar to the Jewish greeting Shalom, which means peace to you. But he expresses that this grace and peace are from God.
Spiritual Blessings in the Father (vv. 3-6)
Verse 3: God is to be praised because He has given us every spiritual blessing in Christ. However, we may not always feel blessed, so Paul spells out the blessings to make sure we understand just how we have been blessed.
Verse 4: We have been chosen by God. He has made us holy and blameless in His sight because of His great love for us. This does not mean that Christians do not sin, it means that Jesus’ death paid for all of our sins and God sees us as holy and blameless.
Further look at predestination:
1. The bible seems to teach both God’s sovereignty and free will
a. Predestination: Ephesian 1:4-5; Romans 8:29-30 and John 6:44
b. Free will: (Matthew 11:28; John 3:16; 1 Timothy 2:1, 3-4; 2 Peter 3:9)
2. We cannot and should not expect to understand the Bible exhaustively
3. This is an antinomy: contains two apparently mutually exclusive truths that must be held simultaneously.
a. Light is an example of this – matter cannot contain energy and energy cannot contain matter, yet light has properties of both. It is impossible, yet it is true.
b. God exists in a realm beyond our understanding and so does some of His teachings
Verses 5-6: God adopted us into His family and we are now true children of His. God gave use to spiritually blessings: He chose us and He adopted us. He made this choice before He created the world and He made this possible through the death and resurrection of His Son. He was motivated to be kind to us and to receive our praise for His grace.
Spiritual blessings in the Son (vv. 7-12)
Four blessings are listed: In Christ, we are redeemed, forgiven, enlightened and enriched.
Verse 7: Redeemed means to be “bought back.” It carries the idea of bring released from slavery. We are freed from sin, both the penalty and the enslaving power of sin. Redemption was accomplished by Christ’s death on the cross. Forgiveness goes hand in hand with redemption. We cannot have one without the other. To forgive means that God gave up His right to punish us. God’s ability to do this grew out of His grace, which He “lavished on us with all wisdom and understanding.”
Verses 8-10: We were enlightened through Christ when God “made known to us the mystery of His will.” That mystery is the knowledge that in the end, God will make all things right through Christ who is the ruler of all things.
Verse 11: We have been enriched in Christ because we have been “chosen” and “predestined according to God’s plan” to receive and inheritance when we stand before Him in heaven. It was His plan from the beginning.
Verse 12: The result of these four blessings from Christ is that God should be praised.
Spiritual blessings in the Spirit (vv. 13-14)
Verse 13: We have been made spiritual secured. By being “marked with a seal” God indicated His authority, authenticity and security through the validation of His ownership of us. It is like a court document that proves He has adopted us and has given us equal share in His kingdom. It also marks us as people who are under the protection of God.
Verse 14: The Holy Spirit has given us a deposit or down-payment on our inheritance in Christ. We have been sealed until the day of redemption when we have our final release from sin. It is like a Trust fund that God has placed in our name.
Prayer for Enlightenment (vv. 15-23)
Verses 15-17: The complexity and magnitude of these truths is beyond our ability to comprehend or appreciate fully, so Paul prays for our enlightenment. He prays for wisdom, which is the practical ability to act on what we know and believe. He also prays for revelation, which is God allowing you to experience and know Him.
Verses 18-23: Paul continues to pray specifically that we might comprehend our hope, our riches, and God’s power. Our hope is built on the promises from God. This is not an “ify” hope, but an assurance that it will happen because of God’s ability and power to do so. Our riches in Christ is Paul’s way of trying to express that we should not focus on the worldly treasures which will only last for a short time, but rather on the heavenly treasures that are being prepared for us to enjoy for all of eternity as a part of our inheritance. God’s power is something tangible that they have witnessed through His miraculous works (raising Jesus from the dead, healings, etc.) and something intangible as in the way He changes lives beyond our understanding. His power can help us make our focus the hope and riches to come rather than the worldly pleasures and riches that seem to be so abundant around us.
This is part one in a series on Ephesians. Please read the other parts of this series:
2. Ephesians Chapter 2 - Our Spiritual Union with God
3. Ephesians Chapter 3 - Paul's Prayer for Power
4. Ephesians Chapter 4, part 1 - Our Call to Unity and Holiness
5. Ephesians Chapter 4, part 2 - Our Call to Unity and Holiness
6. Ephesians Chapter 5 - Our Life of Love
7. Ephesians Chapter 6 - Our Obedience Leads to Victory
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