Ephesians 1:3-6

A WARNING BEFORE WE MOVE ON

We are about to dive head into to some of the most theologically packed chapters in the entire Bible. These are chapters filled with glorious truths that have been topics of debate for centuries throughout the history of the church. We are going to get a full dose of the doctrines of election, predestination, adoption, glorification, and the church. It is going to be a wonderful exploration together. But, before we do this, I was reminded about a warning that is vitally important to give as I listened to a sermon by Dr. Tony Merida, teaching pastor of Temple Baptist Church in Hattiesburg, MS. This warning screamed at me as I heard it proclaimed by Dr. Merida and I knew I needed to share it with you.  It comes from a study of the life span of the church at Ephesus. So, look with me at Acts 19 and Revelation 2. Let’s start with Acts 19:1-20,

“And it happened that while Apollos was at Corinth, Paul passed through the inland country and came to Ephesus. There he found some disciples. And he said to them, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?” And they said, “No, we have not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit.” And he said, “Into what then were you baptized?” They said, “Into John’s baptism.” And Paul said, “John baptized with the baptism of repentance, telling the people to believe in the one who was to come after him, that is, Jesus.” On hearing this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. And when Paul had laid his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came on them, and they began speaking in tongues and prophesying. There were about twelve men in all.8 And he entered the synagogue and for three months spoke boldly, reasoning and persuading them about the kingdom of God. But when some became stubborn and continued in unbelief, speaking evil of the Way before the congregation, he withdrew from them and took the disciples with him, reasoning daily in the hall of Tyrannus. This continued for two years, so that all the residents of Asia heard the word of the Lord, both Jews and Greeks. And God was doing extraordinary miracles by the hands of Paul, so that even handkerchiefs or aprons that had touched his skin were carried away to the sick, and their diseases left them and the evil spirits came out of them. Then some of the itinerant Jewish exorcists undertook to invoke the name of the Lord Jesus over those who had evil spirits, saying, “I adjure you by the Jesus whom Paul proclaims.” Seven sons of a Jewish high priest named Sceva were doing this. But the evil spirit answered them, “Jesus I know, and Paul I recognize, but who are you?” And the man in whom was the evil spirit leaped on them, mastered all of them and overpowered them, so that they fled out of that house naked and wounded. And this became known to all the residents of Ephesus, both Jews and Greeks. And fear fell upon them all, and the name of the Lord Jesus was extolled. Also many of those who were now believers came, confessing and divulging their practices. And a number of those who had practiced magic arts brought their books together and burned them in the sight of all. And they counted the value of them and found it came to fifty thousand pieces of silver. So the word of the Lord continued to increase and prevail mightily.” (Acts 19:1-20)

Acts 19 shows is the power of God that is revealed during the beginnings of the spread of the Gospel in the area of Ephesus. Paul spent around 3 years ministering in this city and we are shown a brief glimpse of the effect that the Gospel had on the spiritual climate of this city.  We can see that Paul continued to preach the Gospel for 2 years, in spite of opposition, so that eventually “all the residents of Asia hear the word of the Lord, both Jesus and Greeks” (Acts 19:8-10). We also see that God was working in miraculous ways through Paul (Acts 19:11-12). Then in verse 13 we shift and see the evidence of false teachers from the beginning in Ephesus.  The teachers were trying to cast out an evil spirit in a man by using the same declaration that Paul used but were not truly saved and therefore did not have the power of Christ in them.  The evil spirit “mastered all of them” and sent them away “naked and wounded” and the word spread to all the residents of Ephesus (Acts 19:16-17). Then we see the passion of this church leap out from the pages.  Focus with me on verse 18-20, “many of those who were now believers came, confessing and divulging their practices. And a number of those who had practiced magic arts brought their books together and burned them in the sight of all. And they counted the value of them and found it came to fifty thousand pieces of silver. So the word of the Lord continued to increase and prevail mightily.” What we are shown here is the love this church had for Jesus Christ.  Notice that they came together and burned their books of magic arts in front of everyone.  Luke makes sure we realize the significance of this by including the value of the books.  Think about it, it would have been easy to just sell the books, earn the money, and put it to good use in the church but that is not what we see take place.  We see them burn the books, losing a total value of fifty thousand pieces of silver. This is because of the value they found in Jesus Christ.  Their love for Christ was so strong that they didn’t care how much money they lost.  They wanted to show everyone the truth by destroying the lies.  What a powerful testimony of love.  Now, look with me at Revelation 2:1-7,

“To the angel of the church in Ephesus write: ‘The words of him who holds the seven stars in his right hand, who walks among the seven golden lampstands.’ ‘I know your works, your toil and your patient endurance, and how you cannot bear with those who are evil, but have tested those who call themselves apostles and are not, and found them to be false.  I know you are enduring patiently and bearing up for my name’s sake, and you have not grown weary.  But I have this against you, that you have abandoned the love you had at first.  Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent, and do the works you did at first. If not, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place, unless you repent.  Yet this you have: you hate the works of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate.  He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who conquers I will grant to eat of the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God.’” (Rev. 2:1-7)

This is about 40 years removed from the account we just read in Acts 19 and what we read is Jesus giving a warning to the church in Ephesus, calling them to repent. First, we see Jesus commend them for their stance against false teaching.  He is says, after the call to repent, “I know your works, your toil and your patient endurance, and how you cannot bear with those who are evil, but have tested those who call themselves apostles and are not, and found them to be false. I know you are enduring patiently and bearing up for my name’s sake, and you have not grown weary” (Rev. 2:2-3). This church had taken a strong stance against false teachers and was commending by Christ for it. If you remember last week, we saw that this was the very thing Timothy was charged to do at Ephesus.  But what Jesus calls them to repent from is their abandonment of the love they had at first (Rev. 2:4). I believe this love was the love we were shown in Acts 19, a love for Jesus Christ that was astounding as I read it. Christ calls them to remember where they had fallen from, repent and do the works they did at first (Rev. 2:5). This hit me right between the eyes and pushed me to give this warning to you as we begin. 

DO NOT LET THE STUDY OF DOCTRINE TURN INTO A LOVE FOR DOCTRINE but LET IT FILL YOUR HEART WITH A LOVE FOR CHRIST!

So, as we dive into these next three chapters, heed this warning, and fight against the temptation to love doctrine and knowledge over the person of Jesus Christ.

Ephesians 1:3-6

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love he predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved.

Tonight we have the difficult task of looking at the doctrines of election (choosing), predestination, and adoption. But before we dive into these doctrines let’s look at what Paul shows us in these verses that will guide us correctly through them.

First, we see that Paul’s purpose in writing these truth’s is DRAW US TO WORSHIP! (3a)

We see this in a few different ways throughout verses 3-14. 

THE FIRST IS THE WAY HE BEGINS – “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ” (v. 3a). Everything that Paul is about to expound up in verse 3-14 is one big explosion of worship.  Verse 3-14 is actually on long sentence in the Greek text totaling 202 words.  And it is all worship! Dr. Sam Storms comments on this in a lecture he gave at Wheaton College, he says, “Ideas and principles and exclamations of praise come tumbling out of Paul’s mouth.” Paul is about to set his pen to write the profound mysteries of our adoption into the family of God and what it pours out as is praise. This, therefore, is the only appropriate response when we view these mysteries. 

PAUL CONCLUDES EACH STANZA WITH A COMMON REFRAIN – We also see this purpose at we get to verse 6 and read that all our election, predestination and adoptions happens “to the praise of His glorious grace.” He will use a similar version of this refrain 2 more times in verse 12 and verse 14, “to the praise of His glory.” God brought about all these things in salvation for the ultimate praise of His glory and grace.  His grace is mentioned often throughout this letter and is one of the main focus’ in this first sentence.  And here we read that it is to be praised!

Paul longs for everything in this letter to cause the readers to feel the effect of God’s lavished grace and thus become extravagant in their worship.  This is something that frequently happens with Paul, as he expounds on the grace and mercy of God in salvation he is left with nothing to do but praise God from whom all blessings flow. I believe in Romans 11:33-36, Paul gets to a point where he can’t contain it any longer and just explodes in praise.  He had just spent 11 chapters (mind you those where not placed there by Paul), over half of the letter, expounding once again on the mysteries of the Gospel and then we have a brief moment of praise that jumps out of the page before he transitions to the practical application of the Gospel in our lives.  Listen to these words by Paul,

“Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways! ‘For who has known the mind of the Lord, or who has been his counselor?’ ’Or who has given a gift to him that he might be repaid?’ For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen.” (Romans 11:33-36)

First and foremost, our study of doctrine should lead us to worship. When we set our eyes on the author of our salvation the response should always be just like Paul’s, exuberant praise! 

Next, we are shown the RICHES OF OUR SALVATION (3b)

Paul writes, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessings in the heavenly places” (Eph. 1:3). What a glorious truth! Don’t just skim over this to get to the rest of the sentence.  Let this settle in! Soak in what it means to be blessed “in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places.” Everything we are going to study in the next few chapters is going to explain this glorious statement, but for now let’s stop and just think about the weight of it. 

WE HAVE BEEN BLESSED BY GOD, IN CHRIST, WITH EVERY SPIRITUAL BLESSING IN THE HEAVENLY PLACES! HALLELUJAH WHAT A GREAT GOD!

Salvation is rich! There are so many things that have taken place on our behalf and we are about to open the word to meditate on all of them. All of the truths that Paul writes next are the blessings he is dwelling on as he pens verse 3. They are all meant to cause us to worship God for His magnificent grace.  They are written to show us the riches of our salvation. This is one long sentence spewing out of Paul’s mind onto the parchment for us to see the overflow of his heart.  For the next 11 verses we are going to be opening up our salvation and taking a close look at the riches of all that has taken place.  Tonight, we will start by tackling the next 3 verses and try to unpack everything that is there. 

Paul begins with the WORK OF GOD IN SALVATION (4-6)

In the 32 words of verse 4-5 Paul writes about the work of God in our salvation and then concludes with verse 6 by calling us again to praise because of His glorious grace. It is a note of interest that in these two verses, we find Paul mention what has become 3 different important doctrines of salvation in the Christian faith. So let’s take our time as we look at these closely. 

First is THE DOCTRINE OF ELECTION (4a)

Paul writes, “even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him” (v. 4). Every believer, every saint, all who are faithful in Christ, have been chosen by God the Father! There is no way to get around these words presented in scripture.  If the English translation wasn’t clear enough take a look at the Greek. The Greek literally means to “pick or choose some from many for one’s self.” And the little Greek clause “hemas,” the plural for “I,” tells us who has been the chosen. God has done the choosing and the ones that are chosen are “us,” the saints who faithful in Christ (1b). Let that sink in for a moment. Election is not just a concept dreamed up by John Calvin, it is truth based on the scriptures which tell us that those whom God has chosen are the elect (see also Romans 9:11 and 1 Peter 1:10). And Paul doesn’t leave us wondering about the details of this choosing. He goes on to explain to us when, how, and why this has happened.  Dwell on these truths with me:

1.       WHEN: Our election took place “before the foundation of the world” (4). Before the world was founded, before anything was ever laid, before the beginning of the beginning, we were chosen. This goes beyond even saying before we were born and goes all the way back before the beginning of all of creation. It tells us that before Genesis 1:1, God chose us (see also 2 Thessalonians 2:13 and 2 Timothy 1:9-10). Sam Storms says,

“This is to emphasize that the divine decision concerning human destiny is wholly unaffected by human deeds…Election is not something that awaits some event in human history, either the cross-work of Jesus or the faith of man. It antedates all human history. God’s choice is not dependent on human merit or temporal circumstances. God sovereignly elects us unto eternal life before we exist and without our consent. That isn’t to say that our voluntary consent isn’t important. We must still believe in Jesus, but our belief is itself the historical and experiential fruit or effect of God’s pre-temporal elective decree.”

John Piper also writes,

 “It is an unspeakably precious grace that God has chosen for himself before the foundation of the world: a people to be saved from their sins and who will glorify and enjoy him forever. This choosing was absolutely unconditional.” (Future Grace, John Piper, p. 232)   

But we also see Paul affirm that salvation is only through Jesus Christ. This shows us the “how” to our election.

2.       HOW: Our election took place “in Christ” (4). Election does not in any way shape or form take away from salvation being through faith in Jesus Christ.  It does help us understand what it means for our salvation to be through grace alone, but Paul makes sure that his readers understand what he said in verse 1 by using the same phrase as he says that we are chosen “in him” (“in Christ”). All of salvation was designed before the foundation of the world to flow through Jesus Christ. The death of Christ and the resurrection of Christ were predetermined to take place and the choosing of the elect takes place “in Christ” (see also Acts 2:23-24). Charles Hodge explains this in his commentary on Ephesians. He writes,

“It was in Christ as their head and representative [that] they were chosen to holiness and eternal life, and therefore in virtue of what he was to do in their behalf. There is a federal union with Christ which is antecedent to all actual union, and is the source of it. God gave a people to his Son in the covenant of redemption. Those included in that covenant, and because they are included in it in other words, because they are in Christ as their head and representative receive in time the gift of the Holy Spirit and all other benefits of redemption. . . . It is, therefore, in Christ, i.e., as united to him in the covenant of redemption, that the people of God are elected to eternal life and to all the blessings therewith connected” (Charles Hodge, Commentary on Ephesians, 31)

You cannot remove the fact that all of salvation flows through Christ as you embrace the act of God the Father choosing those that would receive salvation. And finally, Paul answers “why” we have been chosen.  

3.       WHY: Our election to place so “that we should be holy and blameless before him” (4). We have been chosen so that we should be holy and blameless before Him.  God’s choosing of us for salvation is for the purpose of us being presented to Him as holy.  If you look back through the Old Testament you see time and time again that man will never be holy and blameless before God. From the fall of man our sin has kept us from the presence of God.  David tells us that only those with clean hands and a pure heart may ascend the hill of the Lord (Psalm 23). He also says that he was “brought forth in iniquity” (Psalm 51:5).  Paul tells us in Romans 3 that “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Rom. 3:23) and that “None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God. All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one” (Rom. 3:11-12). Paul, will also tells us in this letter that, without God intervening we would be spiritually “dead” (Eph. 2:1) and by nature “children of wrath” (Eph. 2:3), “following the prince of the power of the air” (Eph. 2:2). There is no way for us to be holy and blameless before God without Him doing something. But “He chose us” to be “holy and blameless.” Our election took place so that we would be able to come into His presence and experience life.  Peter tells us this in 1 Peter 3:18,  “For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit.”

REJOICE IN WHAT THE LORD HAS DONE!

From election, Paul moves to THE DOCTRINES OF PREDESTINATION and ADOPTION

Paul writes, “In love he predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he blessed us in the Beloved” (5-6).  I am going to put these two doctrines together because one is aimed towards the other.  The aim of predestination is adoption.  Predestination is referring here to the determined place for those whom God has chosen to end.  And that is adoption through Jesus Christ! Our adoption is a glorious truth to meditate on.  Adoption brings with it so many marvelous blessings.  Adoption gives us a new name.  Adoption provides us with an inheritance. Adoption takes us from the devastated state that we were in, being hostile towards God, and makes us sons and daughters of God. We will dive into these things as we continue on in this letter so for now we will leave that on the table to chew on for a while. 

WE HAVE BEEN PREDESTINED FOR ADOPTION AS SONS AND DAUGHTERS OF GOD!

And once again Paul doesn’t just drop this in our laps without telling us the motivation for our adoption and our response to it.  He lets us see that the motivation is two-fold. 

1.       It is “In love” (5a). Our adoption comes to us from the love that God lavishes upon us. You cannot escape the fact that “love” is involved in our salvation.  Some might like to remove love completely and focus on the second part of the motivation, being God’s will, but it is impossible to deny that God loves us.  John 3:16, the most quoted verse of all time, says, “For God so loved the world.” John writes later in 1 John 3:1, “See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God.” And Paul will write, just 20 verses later, “But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ” (Eph. 2:4).  God’s love for us was clearly a factor in our election, predestination, and adoption. 

2.       It is also “according to the good pleasure of his will” (5b). However, our election, predestination, and adoption are not some crazy way of God being handcuffed by His love for us.  They all are according to His will.  Not only according to His will, but the good pleasure of His will.  The double phrase tells us a lot here.  I am not fond of the way the English Standard Version and New American Standard Bible translates the word for “purpose,” and would actually agree with the King James Version which translates it as, “good pleasure.” This tells us that God is pleased to bring us into salvation.  It delights Him! It is not just His will that we are chosen to be predestined for adoption through Jesus Christ, but it is also good and pleasing to Him. We are shown that His love for us did not force Him to bring us into salvation but that He was pleased to do so.  No one puts the implications of this better than Sam Storms who comments,

“Note also that election pleases God. He likes it. God didn’t predestine us unwillingly, grudgingly, or reluctantly. He wanted to do it. He delighted to do it. God has an emotional life. There is immense and unfathomable complexity in His feelings: He delights in some things, and despises others. He loves and hates. He rejoices and judges. Choosing hell-deserving sinners to spend an eternity with Him as his beloved children is uniquely joyful and pleasing and delightful and exciting and satisfying to the heart of God! Should it not also then be a joyful and pleasing and delightful and exciting and satisfying truth to our hearts? Should we not, then, talk of it often, sing of it often, and often tell of it to others? God’s pleasures must become our pleasures. We must learn to rejoice in that which rejoices Him” (a lecture given at Wheaton College).

These are both marvelous truths! “In love” and as a part of the “good pleasure” of God’s will, we were predestined for adoption through Jesus Christ.

3.       Finally, it is “to the praise of His glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved” (6). All of this is designed to bring extravagant praise to God. Paul ends the first “stanza” (so to speak) the same way he began in verse 3, God has blessed us and we should praise Him. Everything in our salvation has taken place so that we will understand the grace that has been lavished on us (Eph. 1:8) and praise Him for His glorious grace.

As we continue on in this study, I encourage you to worship the Lord for the great things He has done.  My heart’s desire is that our response to these glorious truths would be the same as William Cowper after he studied the grace of God in Romans 3:25,

“Immediately I received the strength to believe it, and the full beams of the Sun of Righteousness shone upon me. I saw the sufficiency of the atonement He had made, my pardon sealed in His blood, and all the fullness and completeness of His justification. In a moment I believed, and received the gospel . . . Unless the Almighty arm had been under me, I think I should have died with gratitude and joy. My eyes filled with tears, and my voice choked with transport; I could only look up to heaven in silent fear, overwhelmed with love and wonder.” (Gilbert Thomas, William Cowper and the Eighteenth Century, p. 132)

Introduction (Ephesians 1:1-2)

A BRIEF OVERVIEW:

Why we are studying this letter

I have titled this series “To The Church” because of the uniqueness of the letter of Ephesians. The letter of Ephesians is unique and a powerful letter for a couple of different reasons. First, unlike the letters to the church at Corinth or the church at Philippi, this letter contains very little personal addresses.  In fact, the only name mentioned in the entire letter is Tychicus, who is sent by Paul to tell them about how Paul is doing as he is writing from a prison in Rome and deliver the letter to them. Because of the lack of personal addresses, it requires very little understanding of the history of the church in Ephesus in order to gain deep truths from the letter.  Where letters like Galatians, Philippians, 1-2 Thessalonians, and 1-2 Corinthians all have more depth to them when you understand the background of what is going on; Ephesians allows for the reader to dive straight in without having a good knowledge of the history of the church at Ephesus. This does not mean that the letter is not deep but the depth is not caused by knowledge of the church itself. It is packed full of both rich doctrine and gospel centered practical application. Because of the lack of expression of personal touches in the letter, many believe this is a circular letter sent to the Asian churches surrounding Ephesus and that the church of Ephesus was a very influential and therefore the first to receive the letter. What this tells us is that this letter is a powerful letter that any church can pick up and immediately relate to. It is a beautiful letter with Gospel saturated truth.  

What we are going to study

We are going to take our time through this letter because of the depth it contains. It packed full of both rich theological truths and solid practical application.  One of the things I love about this letter is the commitment of Paul to show how everything flows through our faith in Christ.  Chapters 1-3 show the doctrine of salvation, how it was through the grace of God that He chose to draw to Himself a people by redeeming them through the work of Jesus Christ on the cross.  Chapters 4-6 then move in to the practical applications to what it looks like to be the church and how everything we do flows from us being “In Christ.”  There are two main themes in the letter of Ephesians.

1. Christ has reconciled all creation to Himself and to God, and
2. Christ has united people from all nations to Himself and to one another in His church

These themes are going to guide us as we walk through the letter run.  There are also a few extra interesting notes to make about truths that run through the letter as well:

1. The “will of God” is mentioned more times in Ephesians than any other letter (4 times in the opening paragraph alone)
2. The letter is replete with references to the working of the triune God. Throughout the letter of Ephesians we are going to see the ways the Father, Son, and Spirit work in salvation and sanctification.
3. We are “in Christ.” Our salvation, unity, fellowship, strength, love, etc exists because we are “In Christ”

So, as we dive in, keep in mind these truths that will serve as a guide as we study and praise God for His glorious grace

.               Ephesians 1:1-2

“Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God,
     To the saints who are in Ephesus, and are faithful in Christ Jesus:
  Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.”

The temptation when studying any letter of scripture is to rush through it.  Often we are lazy as pastors or pushed by the nature of the impatience of Americans to move at a fast pace through a letter.  I remember the fight that went on in my soul to just be done with the letter when we studied 1 Corinthians last fall.  I want to start by encouraging you to commit to this study with us and my prayer is that you will long for the rich truths that are presented to radically change the direction of your life.  I pray you will passionately pursue the depth of God’s word and long for it to move within your soul, drawing you closer into fellowship with Him. I have heard stories of Pastors spending years in the letter on Romans alone.  One, whom I admire greatly, spent 8 years walking his church through Romans.  I can feel the impatience inside of me say, “I couldn’t imagine sitting through that long of a study of one letter.  What about the rest of the Bible?” But let’s begin by seeing our tendencies (probably driven by our fast food societal nature) and strive against them.  Let’s take this letter and love the truth that is in every word and every verse.  With that said, the rest of our night tonight is going to be a carefully study of the introduction in verse 1-2. I will try not to keep you here too late. 

It is easy to skip the introductions of the Epistles and say, “this is not where the meat is, show me the meat.” But, when we do this, we miss out on something that will drive us through the rest of the letter. These are not merely literary devices but are placed there for a specific reason and aid in our understanding of every verse that we will study. As I sat down this past week to begin the study, I was captivated by the depth of the first two verses so we are going to tackle these each sentence at a time. 

We are shown the FOUNDATION from the beginning

Paul writes, “Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God.” Here, Paul uses the same terminology he uses in Col. 1:1 and 1-2 Cor. 1:1. This is different from how he opens up the letter of Romans or 1 Timothy. I was us to look closely at the focus Paul starts with as this will lay the foundation of the whole letter.  As I mentioned earlier, Paul uses this concept more times in Ephesians than any other Epistle he writes, he will use this 4 times alone in the next paragraph.  His use of this here is to show his readers that his call to be an apostle is by the same plan and purpose that God has for all of salvation, by “the will of God.”  The idea is not a divine will that we are to determine, but the idea of God’s eternal plan and purpose of salvation which He has had before the foundation of the world.  Paul’s emphasis on all of salvation being according to His divine plan and purpose begins here in Paul’s very introduction of the nature of his apostleship. He shows us that:

EVERYTHING WORKS ACCORDING TO THE WILL OF GOD, TO BRING GLORY TO HIMSELF THROUGH JESUS CHRIST

Paul is going to show us throughout this letter that this “will” is not defined by anything we do but everything that God does.  In Gal. 1:15, Paul tells us that his apostleship and his salvation was given to Him by the will of God before he was even born, “But when He who had set me apart before I was born, and who called me by His graces.” What this FOUNDATION tells us is that we are about to be shown the “will of God” so we need to pay attention. This is amazing! Think about it, how often do we look for the “will of God?” I feel like every time I turn around I hear another believer talk about how they are still searching for the will of God for their lives. It is something we all long to know. Beloved, this letter will show you the will of God! Don’t let this statement pass you by.  Dive in, search for it, and see what God reveals to you.

The next thing we are shown is the INTENDED RECIPIENTS

Paul goes on to write, “To the saints who are in Ephesus, and are faithful in Christ Jesus.” He is showing us that the intended recipients of this letter are the “saints in Ephesus that are faithful in Christ Jesus.”

THE SAINTS – Paul regularly uses this term to refer to all believers.  The Greek word here “hagios” refers to our separation rather than our purity. It has in view the position of the believer as being set apart and sanctified. It implies that those who are intended to receive this letter have been set apart by God and declared holy.   

Paul is about to open up the doors to the mystery of the Gospel, showing us of how salvation is brought about and he intends to do this so that those that are set apart will be strengthened and challenged by their understanding of what has happened. While this letter can be used by the Spirit to draw an unbeliever into salvation, it is primarily intended for the redeemed to know who they are and what has taken place in their lives.  This is why I titled the series, “To The Church.” This is something we will see this often throughout the letter and will understand the depth that this carries better as we go along.   

FAITHFUL IN CHRIST – But Paul also qualifies this with the words “who are faithful in Christ.” Why does he add this to his introduction?  I believe this is intentional and carries a lot of weight to it. Therefore, this is vitally important as we begin our study.  The word he uses for faithful is the Greek word “pistos.” Dr. Sam Storms, pastor of Bridgeway Church in Oklahoma City, writes, “the term translated “faithful” refers not so much to reliability or trustworthiness (a passive meaning, pointing to their character) but to belief or faith (an active meaning, pointing to their activity).”  It is our faith and trust in Christ acting itself out.  And Paul also reminds us that our faith needs to be found in Christ. While I did mention earlier that you don’t need a thorough background understand of this history behind this letter to comprehend it’s depth but for this point it would help for us turn to 1 Timothy 1:3-5,

“Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by command of God our Savior and of Christ Jesus our hope to Timothy, my true child in the faith: Grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord. As I urged you when I was going to Macedonia, remain at Ephesus so that you may charge certain persons not to teach any different doctrine, nor to devote themselves to myths and endless genealogies, which promote speculations rather than the stewardship from God that is by faith. The aim of our charge is love that issues from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith.”

Timothy was charged to teach those at Ephesus not to teach a doctrine different than the gospel of Jesus Christ. We also see in Revelation 2 that Jesus commends this church for its stance against false prophets.  So it is safe to say that when Paul writes this letter to the saints in Ephesus he is fully aware of the false teachings that are going on in Ephesus.  He qualifies the saints to remind them that the only salvation is faith in Christ.  They are not saved by anything other than belief and faith in Christ Jesus, and their active faith reveals that they are truly “in Christ.” This carries so much challenge to those of us that read this letter.  This letter is for you if you are indeed “faithful in Christ.”  If you are not, everything about this letter will be confusing.  Apart from our being in Christ we will not know the mystery of salvation.  It is through Christ that we have the Spirit and therefore have the ability to know the mind of God (1 Cor. 2).  Don’t miss this:

 YOU CANNOT PURSUE KNOWLEDGE OF GOD WITHOUT GOING THROUGH JESUS CHRIST. He is the only way, the only truth, and the only life!  

This also provides us with confidence because we are found in Christ.  It reminds of our true citizenship.  It screams at us to show us our place in this world.  While teaching at Wheaton College in Kansas City, Dr. Sam Storms writes about this and says,

“No matter where you are geographically and physically, what you are spiritually will never change. You may be at work, at play, overseas, under the weather, out of money, but you are always and unchangeably in Christ! You may be down in the dumps, over the hill, or beside yourself, but you are always and unchangeably in Christ! You may be at paradise or in prison, at the movies or in Belton, but you are always and unchangeably in Christ! Your geographical, earthly, physical location has no affect on your spiritual identity. But the reverse is different. It is precisely because you are in Christ that wherever you live and work and play, you make an impact, you carry an influence, you make a difference. Your spiritual identity as one in Christ must control and characterize how you live, wherever you live. And remember: it is in Kansas City that you are in Christ. They are true simultaneously. You do not live in Christ only while you are at church or in class or in a home group, then to return to being simply in Kansas City when you leave that more ‘holy atmosphere.’ Your ‘in-Christness’ is not simply a heavenly reality that obtains only somewhere up there. You are ‘in Christ’ even when you are ‘in sin!’”

Child of God, know that no matter where you are in life, know that you are IN CHRIST. You are set apart by God to be” in Christ.”  What a glorious redemption we have!

Finally we are shown the BLESSING PAUL PRAYS FOR US TO RECEIVE as we read

It is easy to skip over the quick blessing Paul gives in this letter, “Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.”  You hear it so often in the New Testament and probably sometimes in the local church that you attend. Actually, Paul writes this very blessing (or some variation of it) in every one of his Epistles. The sad thing is when we read this we skim right over it. It has lost all the power that was intended behind it.  Let’s take some time as we close this first study to try to open our hearts and ears to see the fullness of this blessing. 

GRACE TO YOU – This is not just a standard greeting or a simple blessing. It is one that is meant to bring power with it.  Think about it, “Grace to you.”  In these 3 simple words there is the prayer for the divine power of grace to flow to those who read this letter. Paul wants to begin by letting the recipients of the letter know he wants this letter to be a way in which the grace of God is lavished on us.  He wants for the truths of this letter to pour out on you in grace. “Grace to you” is powerful! “Grace to you” is magnificent! The most wonderful thing we can ever wish on a person is the grace of God.  Here those words, let them resonate in your heart and cherish them. It is also worthwhile to note that not only do we read “grace to you” In the beginning of all Paul’s letters but at the end of Paul’s letters we read “grace be with you.” John Piper makes an interesting note about this in his book Future Grace. He writes,

“Without exception the apostle Paul begins and ends each of his thirteen New Testament letters by blessing his readers with future grace…at the beginning of his letters Paul has in mind that the letter itself is a channel of God’s grace to the readers. Grace is about to flow ‘from God’ through Paul’s writing to the Christians. So he says, ‘Grace to you.’ That is, grace is now active and is about to flow from God through my inspired writing to you as you read—‘grace [be] to you.’ But as the end of the letter approaches, Paul realizes that the reading is almost finished and the question rises, ‘What becomes of the grace that has been flowing to the readers through the reading of the inspired letter?’ He answers with a blessing at the end of every letter: ‘Grace [be] with you.’ With you as you put the letter away and leave the church. With you as you go home to deal with a sick child and an unaffectionate spouse. With you as you go to work and face the temptations of anger and dishonesty and lust. With you as you muster courage to speak up for Christ over lunch. . . . [Thus] we learn that grace is ready to flow to us every time we take up the inspired Scriptures to read them. And we learn that grace will abide with us when we lay the Bible down and go about our daily living” (Future Grace, 66-67).

Grace is opened up for us as we read the word of God.  Grace extends to us through the Son and the inspired words of God that we will be studying in this letter.  May grace come to you as you read and may grace be with you as you place the Bible down and live a life that is “faithful in Christ.” 

AND PEACE – Now we turn to the word “peace.” This closes out our study of the introduction and is a vital blessing prayed for by Paul for us.  This is because Paul is not only going to communicate the mystery of the Gospel to us but he is going to show us that there is a bond, a unity, which is a result of lives that are “faithful in Christ.” There is a unity that should exist between those that are “in Christ” that is unique and powerful. So, when he prays for “peace,” he is laying the foundation for the charge of unity he is about to express.  He is acknowledging that our unity will only exist as the peace of Christ rules our lives. This peace is the “shalom” of God. And my prayer is for this peace for all who read this letter, the peace that comes through the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ.  I long for our unity to be magnificent and our bond to be unique and inviting.  I know that it will only come through the peace of Jesus Christ. Grace and peace will come up often in this letter so it is only fitting that they are prayed for in the beginning.

So I say with Paul, “Grace to you and peace for God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ!”