|
|
|
EPHESIANS CHAPTER ONE
I) [INTRODUCTION]:
[BKC, NT, Walvoord & Zuck, Eds., Victor Books, USA, 1988, p. 613]:
A) AUTHORSHIP:
"Twice in this epistle Paul referred to himself by name as the author of the book (1:1, 3:1). Yet the Pauline authorship of Ephesians has been greatly disputed in recent years. Some critics think that the book reflects aspects of vocabulary, style, and doctrine that differ from Paul's writings. Though the book has a close affinity with Colossians, critics claim that Ephesians is uncharacteristic of Paul. They suggest that the book was pseudonymous, that is, it was written by someone who did not use his own name but who instead claimed to be Paul...
[Considering verses 1:1 and 3:1 this would be deliberate deception which contradicts the content which when compared with the rest of Scripture is obviously inspired by God]
However, pseudonymity was not practiced by the early Christians. Also this book is regarded by many as the crown of all Paul's writings. Thus it seems strange that a disciple of Paul would be greater than Paul in theological and spiritual perception. Furthermore, Ephesians was extensively and indisputably accepted in the early church as Paul's letter. There is no strong reason for rejecting the Pauline authorship of Ephesians."
B) DESTINATION
"Some scholars view this epistle as encyclical, a circular letter to be distributed to several undesignated local churches in the province of Asia or some other area. This is supported by... observations: (1) the words 'in Ephesus' (1:1) do not appear in three early Alexandrian Greek manuscripts, and (2) it is strange for Paul not to mention by name any of the individuals in a church where he had lived and worked for three years (Acts 20:31)....
[(3) Marcion referred to this Epistle as the Epistle to the Laodiceans]
[BKC, cont.]:
"The epistle may still be considered a circular letter, with Ephesus being the primary church addressed since Paul had stayed there so long and since it was the capital city of the province of Asia. This helps explain the absence of personal names of Ephesian believers. If this epistle were routed to other churches after the Ephesians read it, it may have gone to Laodicea and Colosse, for Paul in writing Colossians urged the believers there to 'read the letter from Laodicea' (Col 4:16), possibly a reference to the Ephesian epistle..."
C) PLACE AND DATE
[BKC, NT, p. 614]:
"Paul was a prisoner at the time he wrote this letter (Eph 3:1; 4:1); 6:20). Scholars differ on whether Paul wrote this letter while he was imprisoned in Caesarea (Acts 24:27) in A.D. 57-59, or in Rome (28:30) in A.D. 60-62. All things considered, the Roman imprisonment seems more likely. Along with Ephesians, the Books of Philippians, Colossians, and Philemon are thought to have been written during the same time period and hence are called the 'Prison Epistles' (cf. Phil 1:7; Col 4:10; Phile. 9). Since Ephesians gives no hint of his release from prison, as do Philippians (1:19-26) and Philemon (v. 22), it is reasonable to think that he wrote it in the early part of his stay, or about A.D. 60. this would have been when Paul was kept under guard in rental quarters (Acts 28:30). Following his release he traveled, wrote 1 Timothy and Titus, was arrested again, wrote 2 Timothy, and was martyred in Rome."
[Expositor's Bible Commentary, NIV, Vol 11, Zondervan Publishing, Grand Rapids, Mich, 1978, p. 14]:
"Did Paul really expect to be released from Caesarea at any moment? [As is indicated in the Epistle]. He was aware that his only resort was to appeal to the emperor and to insure that he would fulfill his God-given commission to preach the gospel in Rome (Rom 1:1-15) and even further west (Rom 15:24)."
II) THE CALLING OF THE CHURCH
A) PROLOGUE
[BKC, NT, p. 615]:
"All knowledge may be divided into two categories: pure or theoretical knowledge and applied or practical knowledge. In most of his letters Paul begins with pure or doctrinal knowledge and ends with applied or practical knowledge. In this epistle the first three chapters deal with doctrine (the calling of the church) and the last three chapters with application (the conduct of the church)."
1) [EPH 1:1]:
"Paul, an Apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, To the saints in Ephesus, the faithful in Christ Jesus:"
a) PAUL WAS MADE AN APOSTLE THROUGH THE WILL OF GOD
"Paul, an Apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God" =
[BKC, NT, p. 615]:
"Paul was made an Apostle of Christ Jesus through God's will or decision. It was not his own choosing or plan. Thus he had God's authority behind him. As an Apostle Paul was commissioned and sent by God with the gospel message.
b) APOSTLE DEFINED
Apostle from the Scripture text which is the Greek "apostolos" literally can be translated "one sent with a message" = "apo" = from "stello" = to send
From a New Testament context an apostolos would be as Peter defined an Apostle, (as it is rendered in NT translations with a capital "A") in Acts 1:21-22:
i) [Acts 1:21-22]:
(v. 21) "Therefore it is necessary to choose one of the men [in order to replace Judas] who have been with us the whole time the Lord Jesus went in and out among us,
(v. 22) beginning from John's baptism to the time when Jesus was taken up from us. For one of these must become a witness with us [the Apostles] of His resurrection."
C. I. Scofield states,
[The New Scofield Study Bible, NIV, New York, Oxford Univ. Press, 1967, p. 984]:
"The word 'Apostle' (Gk Apostolos) means a messenger, one sent forth with orders. It is used concerning our Lord Himself (Heb 3:1). Elsewhere it is used of the Twelve, who were called to that office by our Lord during His earthly ministry; of Paul, called to the Apostleship by the risen and ascended Lord; of Barnabas (Acts 14:14), specially designated by the Holy Spirit (Acts 13:2); and of Matthias, chosen by lot to take the place of Judas Iscariot (Acts 1:15-26). Although Matthias is never actually referred to as an Apostle, it is said of him: 'so he was added to the eleven Apostles.'
The 'signs of an Apostle' [i.e., the technical special spiritual gift of Apostle] were:
(1) They were chosen directly by the Lord Himself or, as in the case of Barnabas, by the Holy Spirit (Mt 10:1-2; Mk 3:13-14; Lk 6:13; Acts 9:6, 15; 13:2; 22:10, 14-15; Rom 1:1).
(2) They were endued with sign-gifts, miraculous powers which were the divine credentials of their office (Mt 10:1; Acts 5:15-16; 16:16-18; 28:8-9).
(3) Their relation to the kingdom was that of heralds, announcing, to Israel only (Mt 10:5-6), the kingdom as near (see Mt 4:17, note 9), and manifesting kingdom powers (Mt 10:7-8).
(4) Our Lord delegated, first to Peter (Mt 16:19) and then to the remainder of the apostolate (Mt 18:18; Jn 20:21-23) on behalf of all Christians, the authority to deal with men's sins through the Gospel, under the the figure of 'the keys of the kingdom'
(5) The Apostles' future relation to the kingdom will be that of judges over the twelve tribes (Mt 19:28).
(6) Consequent upon the rejection of the kingdom and the revelation of the mystery hidden in God (Mt 16:18; Eph 3:1-12), the Church, the apostolic office was invested with a new endowment, the baptism with the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:1-4); a new power, that of imparting the Spirit to Jewish believers in Christ; a new relation, that of foundation stones of the new temple (Eph 2:20-22); and a new function, that of preaching the glad tidings of salvation, through the crucified and risen Lord, to Jew and Gentile alike.
(7) It is implied that an Apostle was one who was an eyewitness of the resurrection of Christ (Acts 1:22; 1 Cor 9:1), i.e., he must have seen the risen Lord. There is no N.T. record that Barnabas, called an Apostle in Acts 14:14, saw Christ after His resurrection, but if such a qualification was implicit in Apostleship, he must have been such an eyewitness."
c) THE LETTER IS ADDRESSED TO SAINTS = BELIEVERS
"To the saints in Ephesus, the faithful in Christ Jesus" =
[BKC, NT, cont.]:
"The letter is addressed to the saints who resided in Ephesus. 'Saints'(hagiois, 'holy ones') are those set apart for God's use. They are part of the universal church by virtue of their salvation in Christ. The words 'in Ephesus' are omitted by some early manuscripts... but strong external and internal evidence support their inclusion. If this epistle were a circular letter, it seems that Ephesus, such a strategic city in Asia Minor, would have certainly received it first. The faithful in Christ Jesus further defines the 'saints' and could be rendered 'that is, believers in Christ Jesus.' These saints were in Christ Jesus, not in Adam or the Goddess Artemis of Ephesus. While believers have geographical locations (e.g., 'Ephesus'), spiritually they are positioned 'in Christ' (cf. 'in Christ at Colosse' in Col 1:2). Paul used 'in Christ Jesus,' 'in Christ,' or 'in Him' quite frequently. In Ephesians 1:1-14 the phrase occurs nine times! Christians have their very life in Christ."
2) [EPH 1:2]:
"Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ"
a) GRACE AND PEACE DEFINED
Grace is defined here as unmerited, i.e., undeserved blessing; and peace is defined as the absence of enmity, i.e., being in eternal and temporal fellowship with God. The eternal peace with God is as a result of the believer having trusted alone in Christ alone unto eternal life which erased the eternal wrath of God toward them. Thus by grace, God put the believer into an eternal state of peace with Himself. Temporal peace with God is a moment to moment experiential fellowship with God brought about by the believer's moment to moment walk with Him - beginning with confession of known sins, (1 Jn 1:9) to reestablish loss of fellowship and obedience to God's will as led by the Holy Spirit to continue in that experiential fellowship.
[BKC, NT, p. 615]:
"Paul's extension of grace (charis) and peace is different from the normal Greek letters which had only 'greetings' or 'greeting' (chariein, e.g. the apocryphal 1 Maccabees 10:18, 25; thousands of ancient papyri letters; and Acts 15:23; 23:26; James 1:1). 'Grace' expresses God's steadfast love toward man and 'peace' shows the relational state as a result of that grace. Paul opened his letter to the church at Ephesus with greetings to the believers there, expressing his wish that God's grace and peace be with them."
B) GOD'S SPIRITUAL BLESSINGS FOR THE BELIEVER
1) THE PROVISION OF EVERY SPIRITUAL BLESSING IS FROM GOD THE FATHER OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST
a) [EPH 1:3]:
(v. 3) "Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ."
[BKC, NT, p. 616]:
"Paul stated that God is to be blessed or praised. The word for praise is eulogEtos from a verb that means 'to speak well of'. In the New Testament it is applied only to God (Mark 14:61; Luke 1:68; Rom 1:25; 9:5; 2 Cor 1:3; 11:31; 1 Peter 1:3)...
In Ephesians 1:2 God is the Father of believers; here in verse 3 God is the Father of Christ (cf. v. 17; cf. similar wording in Rom 15:6; 2 Cor 1:3; 1 Peter 1:3). In Ephesians 1:2 the first Person of the Trinity belongs to believers, suggested by the word 'our.' Here is verse 3 the pronoun 'our' shows that believers belong to Christ, the second Person of the Godhead. Since He is the son of God and believers are connected with Him, they are also related to the Father.
This God Who is to be praised is the One Who has blessed us. This is a verbal form (ho eulogEsas) of the adjective 'praise' (eulogEtos), at the beginning of the verse. The verb means 'to speak well of, eulogize, extol'; here it means 'to benefit, prosper,' This word is not used in classical Greek literature. For example, Zeus is not said to have bestowed any specific act of blessing on anyone. Rather he is said to have caused good luck or good fortune. However, the verb eulogeo is used over 400 times in the Old Testament, indicating that God bestows benefits to His children in every Age. Mary was said to be 'blessed' among women and to be bearing the 'blessed' Child (Luke 1:42).
Paul's use of the past tense participle 'has blessed' points to this blessing or prospering of believers as having occurred in eternity past. With what are believers blessed? With every spiritual blessing (in the Gr., this phrase precedes the words 'in the heavenly realms'). 'Every spiritual blessing' (eulogia) refers to every spiritual enrichment needed for the spiritual life. Since these benefits have already been bestowed on believers, they should not ask for them but rather appropriate them by faith. Similarly Joshua was not to ask for land since God had already promised it to him (Josh 1:3-4). But he was to enter into the enjoyment of that provision.
The manner or sphere of this enrichment is in Christ. The place of these 'blessings' is in the heavenly realms, as opposed to the earthly realm of the Ephesian Goddess Artemis. Thus these blessings are spiritual not material, heavenly not earthly, eternal not temporal (2 Cor 4:18; Col 3:1-4). Five times Paul used the phrase 'in the heavenly realms': in Ephesians 1:3, 20; 2:6; 3:10; 6:12.
Ephesians 1:3 tells much about God's blessing on believers: (a) when: eternity past (b) with what: every spiritual blessing: (c) where: in the heavenly realms; (d) how: in Christ."
2) THE BASIS OF THE BELIEVERS SPIRITUAL BLESSINGS
[BKC, NT, p. 616]:
"Paul continued his discussion of believers' spiritual blessings by showing that they are based on the work of the three Persons of the Trinity: the selection of the Father (vv. 4-6), the sacrifice of the Son (vv. 7-12), and the seal of the Spirit (vv. 13-14)."
a) [Eph 1:4]:
i) GOD'S ELECTION FOR HIMSELF
(v. 4) "For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight."
[BKC, NT, pp. 616-7]:
"The Apostle first told when God's work of election took place: before the Creation of the world. The word for at the beginning of this verse is not as literal a translation of the Greek adverb kathOs as 'even as' (ASV, RSV) or 'just as' (NASB). 'As' suggests that the way God blesses believers (v. 3) is through the threefold work of the Trinity. But the adverb can also have a causal sense, and may be rendered 'since,' 'because,' or 'insofar as' (cf. 4:32). The idea is that spiritual blessings (1:3) for believers are because of or on the basis of the work of the Trinity: God blesses believers because of the Father's electing, the Son's dying, and the Spirit's sealing. Both concepts seem to be included: spiritual blessing are the work of the three Persons of the Trinity, and the work of the Trinity is the basis of all a believer's spiritual blessings.
Spiritual blessings begin with and are based on election (He chose us), of which God is the subject and believers are the object. Election is God's sovereign work of choosing some to believe (cf. Rom 8:30; Eph 1:11; 1 Thes 1:4; 2 Thes 2:13; Titus 1:1). Salvation is God's doing, not man's (Eph 2:8-9). Though it is an act of grace (Rom 11:5-6; 2 Tim 1:9), based on His will (Eph 1:5, 9, 11), a person is responsible to believe (v. 13). 'God chose you to be saved.... through belief in the truth' (2 Thes 2:13);
In Him indicates the sphere (cf. 'in Christ' in Eph 1:3) of election, as He is the Head and Representative of spiritual humanity (vv. 10,22; Col 1:18). The time of election is in eternity past, and the purpose of election is that believers will be holy and blameless in His sight for eternity. What God has begun in the past will be accomplished and completed in the future. Christians are 'holy' (hagious; cr. hagiois, 'saints,' Eph 1:1), that is, set apart for God which is the purpose of His electing grace. In addition, the purpose of His election is to make Christians 'blameless." This word amOmous, 'without blemish,' is used eight times in the New Testament (v. 4; 5:27; Phil 2:15; Col 1:22; Heb 9:14; 1 Peter 1:19; 2 Peter 3:14; Rev 14:5). In the Septuagint it is used of sacrificial animals; only those without blemish could be offered to God.
What does the phrase in love modify? Some agree with the NIV that it modifies the word 'predestined' (Eph 1:5). If so, then God's love is seen in predestination. More likely, it modifies the words 'to be holy and blameless in His sight' for these reasons: (1) In this context the modifying phrases always follow the action words (vv. 3-4, 6, 8-10). (2) The other five occurrences of 'in love' in Ephesians (3:17; 4:2, 15-16; 5:2) ['of love']) refer to human love rather than divine love. (3) Love fits well with holiness and blamelessness, for this would denote a balance between holiness and love. God is love and believers, because of God's electing love, should manifest love with holiness.
ii) STUDY ON ELECTION AND RELATED DOCTRINES:
********************************************************
ELECTION AND RELATED DOCTRINES
I) FOREORDINATION = THE OVERALL PLAN FOR THE UNIVERSE WHICH IS DETERMINED BEFOREHAND BY GOD
God foreordained, i.e., determined His plan for the universe in every minute detail beforehand - not as an ongoing, evolving, reactionary plan, to be adjusted one way or another depending upon circumstances and man's volition. Indeed, all circumstances in every minute detail including the free will choices of every man have occurred as part of God's foreordained plan for the universe.
[J. Dwight Pentecost in his book, "Things Which Become Sound Doctrine", Revell Publishing, Westwood, N.J., 1965, pp. 135-6]:
Foreordination = "To determine, to fix beforehand...
...Within this word is the thought that God possesses the ability to provide, with infinite precision, the things necessary for the ongoing of this universe which He has created. God planned all the details before the work of creation. God did not create and then sit down to decide what He would do with what had been created. As a careful Architect, God planned the use to which each part of creation would be put, the use to which each member within creation would be put."
A) [Compare Eph 1:4-5, 11]:
(v. 4) "For He [God the Father, (v. 3a)] chose us [believers, (v. 1)] in Him [i.e., to be in Christ - to be saved, (v. 3b)] before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in His sight."
[Pentecost, cont.]:
["This truth is presented to us in Ephesians 1:4 where the Apostle reminds us that God has chosen us in Him (that is, in Christ) before the foundation of the world...
God's purpose was determined previous to the actual act of creation....
God, as an Omniscient God... was the Architect of a plan which included evil within it."]
(v. 5) [In love, (v. 4c)] He predestined us to be adopted as His sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with His pleasure and will.
(v. 11) In Him we were also chosen having been predestinated according to the plan of Him Who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of His will"
[Pentecost, cont.]:
"In Ephesians 1:5, Paul tells us that God has worked all things 'according to the good pleasure of his will. Then, in verse 11... God's purpose was to glorify Himself... God... predetermines His purpose, His goal, His aim, and His end in creation, and then God brings into existence that program which will fulfill His purpose and aim. Paul makes this very clear in 1 Corinthians 2:7."
"No, we speak of God's secret wisdom, a wisdom that has been hidden and that God destined for our glory before time began."
[Pentecost, cont.]:
"From that verse we discover that foreordination has to do with the determining of a plan before the plan is put into operation."
II) DECREE = THE ACT BY WHICH GOD ESTABLISHED THE CERTAINTY OF WHAT HE FOREORDAINED
[Pentecost, op. cit., pp. 137-8]:
"[Decree is defined as] The act by which God established the certainty of what He has planned, or predetermined. By foreordination God determines what the program will be. By God's decree God establishes the certainty of that which He has foreordained....
"The king will do as he pleases. He will exalt and magnify himself above every God and will say unheard-of things against the God of Gods. He will be successful until the time of wrath is completed, for what has been determined [by God] must take place."
Daniel is recording the fact that God has issued a decree as to what His plan is and despite the king's will God's decree will certainly come to fulfillment, for Daniel says, '...that which is determined shall be done.'
"[Jesus said] 'The Son of Man will go as it has been decreed, but woe to that man who betrays Him.'
The word 'decreed' in that passage refers to God's decree by which God established what Jesus Christ would do during His earthly ministry in every detail - even with respect to men's free will choices in those ancient times which determined our Lord's trials, crucifixion and where he was buried.
"This Man, delivered up by the predetermined plan and foreknowledge of God, you nailed to a cross by the hands of Godless men and put Him to death."
Notice that God predetermines and as a result foreknows rather than foreknows then predetermines. And it was by God's "predetermined plan", i.e., His decree that Godless men would choose of their own volition to put Him to death by nailing Him to a cross.
(v. 27) "For truly in this city there were gathered together against Thy holy Servant Jesus, Whom Thou didst anoint, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, along with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel.
(v. 28) to do whatever Thy hand and Thy purpose predestined to occur."
[Pentecost, cont.]:
"God had foreordained a certain program, and then God had established the certainty and irreversibility of that program by issuing a decree as to what would take place in detail. The Apostle, proclaiming the facts concerning the death of Christ, points out that Christ's death was no accident, that Christ was not subjected, primarily, to the will of the Jews nor the will of the Gentiles, but that the Jew and the Gentiles were doing that which God - Who had foreordained the course of events - had settled and established by His decree would certainly come to pass. God in foreordination lays the plan and program; God, by His decree and His determinative counsel, establishes the certainty of that program."
(v. 37) "Who can speak and have it happen if the Lord has not decreed it?
(v. 38) Is it not from the mouth of the Most High that both calamities and good things come?"
God is sovereign in all that occurs - the good and the bad. For example, those who of their own volition believe in Christ as Savior were decreed to believe of their own volition and those who reject Christ as Savior of their own volition were decreed to do just that of their own volition.
III) FOREKNOWLEDGE = WHAT GOD KNOWS WITH CERTAINTY WILL COME TO PASS BECAUSE HE HAS DECREED IT
[Pentecost, op. cit., pp. 138-9]
"...Foreknowledge, as used in Scripture, refers to what God knows with certainty will come to pass because He has decreed that event. God knows all things, not only because He is an omniscient God, but because God by His decree has settled and established what will come to pass in fulfillment of His predetermined program. Foreknowledge, then, is the result of God's foreordination, or God's decree, of what would take place. God foreknows, not only what will take place, but the people who will be instruments in the fulfillment of His plan and His program. Foreknowledge has to do not only with what will take place but who will be included within the scope of God's program.
It is that thought that is in mind when the Apostle writes to the Romans and says:
"For those God foreknew He also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of His Son, that He might be the Firstborn among many brothers."
[Pentecost, cont.]
"A widely-held interpretation is that God has elected those whom He knows will accept Christ as Personal Savior. This is an erroneous interpretation, for if God elected those who He knew beforehand would accept Him as Savior then God has not foreordained, God has not decreed, God has not foreknown; but rather, God has exercised His omniscience, and has limited Himself by the will of man. God is no longer a sovereign God if He elects those whom He knew would accept Him as a Savior, those whom would put faith in His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. God is then subject to the whims of the human will, and God cannot act upon, nor go beyond, the limits of the human will. Rather, what the Apostle writes in Romans 8:29 is the fact that God knew whom would be included in His plan because He has foreordained and decreed that they would be included.
We find the same truth is presented in 1 Peter 1:2 where Peter says that we were elect according to the foreknowledge of God...
"[God's elect, (v. 1)] who have been chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the father, through the sanctifying work of the Spirit, for obedience to Jesus Christ and sprinkling by His blood...."
Peter teaches that we were 'elect according to the foreknowledge of God...' The election is in keeping with the foreknowledge, not because of the foreknowledge, or based upon the foreknowledge. Foreknowledge says nothing of what God knew the individual would do but foreknowledge has to do with what God knew He would do with men. God foreordained; that is, He drew the plan. God, by His decree or by His determination, settled, solidified, and finalized the plan. Consequently, God in foreknowledge knows what He will do because of His foreordination and His decree."
The elect = the chosen = the selected out ones = those who are appointed by God for a certain object or goal.
Election = the process of selecting out, choosing, appointing for a certain object or goal.
It is indeed true that God calls out some for the purpose of salvation and others He does not.
(v. 5) "So too, at the present time there is a remnant chosen by grace.
(v. 6) And if by grace, then it is no longer by works; if it were, grace would no longer be grace.
(v. 7) What then? What Israel sought so earnestly it did not obtain, but the elect did. The others [the non-elect] were hardened,
[Notice that God hardened the hearts of the non-elect]
(v. 8) as it is written: "God gave them a spirit of stupor, eyes so that they could not see and ears so that they could not hear, to this very day."
[Kenneth S. Wuest states relative to the term elect in 'Ephesians and Colossians in the Greek New Testament', Wm B. Eerdmans Publishing Co. Grand Rapids, Mich, 1963, p. 29-30]:
"Elect = pick out, choose...[eklego]...
First, the word is used of God choosing out Israel from amongst all nations to be the channel through which He will bring salvation to all those in these other nations who will receive it. This choosing out of Israel from among the nations does not imply that those nations not chosen are rejected or refused salvation. Indeed, the salvation of Israel was for the purpose of making salvation possible to the other nations. The same usage applies in the case of individual sinners selected out from amongst mankind. These are selected for the purpose of being channels through which the knowledge of salvation might be brought to the rest of mankind, so that those who put their trust in the Lord Jesus as Savior might be saved. This precludes the idea that those not selected are rejected or refused salvation;
Second, the middle voice of the verb [elect] gives it the meaning of [God] taking or setting apart something for... [Himself], to see, or choose out something for [Himself]...
The main import is appointment for a certain object or goal;
Third, the word is used of the act of choosing some person or thing for a definite object or calling. The middle voice in Greek represents the subject of the verb acting in His own interest or for Himself...
(v. 4) "Knowing, brethren beloved by God, His choice of you,
["eklogen" = calling out of, election]
(v. 5) for our gospel did not come to you in word only, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction; just as you know what kind of men we proved to be among you for your sake."
(v. 1) "Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, To God's elect, strangers in the world, scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia and Bithynia,
(v. 2) who have been chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through the sanctifying work of the Spirit, for obedience to Jesus Christ and sprinkling by His blood: Grace and peace be yours in abundance."
[Wuest, op. cit., pp. 30-31]:
"The word 'elect.... is the translation of the noun form of this verb eklego. Here these are said to be 'selected out ones', this selection being dominated by the foreordination of God the Father in the sphere of the setting apart work of the Spirit resulting in obedience and the sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ.' We have here three steps God takes in the salvation of a sinner. God the Father selects him out from among mankind. This selection is made in the sphere of the setting apart work of the Spirit, which the Holy Spirit brings that sinner to the act of faith in the Lord Jesus, which faith is answered by the act of God the Son cleansing him in His precious blood. God the Father selects, God the Spirit brings to the act of faith, and God the Son cleanses the believing sinner in His precious blood. This is the same election or selection spoken of in Ephesians....
Expositors says: 'What is meant, therefore, is that the blessing which God bestowed on these Ephesians was not a thing of time merely, but the issue of an election prior to their call or conversion, a blessing that came to them in accordance with a definite choice of them out of a mass of others by God for Himself.'...
...The grammatical classification is locative of sphere, the translation, chosen out 'in the sphere of Christ.' That is, those chosen out were chosen with the provision and limitation that this choice would be followed by the inclusion of the person thus chosen, within the sphere of the saving work of the Lord Jesus, which in turn would result in their position in Him as the Last Adam who would confer upon them righteousness and life as the first Adam by his fall brought sin and death upon the entire human race...
The idea of the Divine election in the N.T. is not a philosophical idea expressing the ultimate explanation of the system of things or giving the rationale of the story of the human race as such, but a religious idea, a note of grace, expressing the fact that salvation is originally and wholly of God...
It is, as is here clearly intimated, an eternal determination of the Divine Will, and it has its ground in the freedom of God, not in anything foreseen in its subjects. Of a prevision of faith as the basis or motive of the election, there is no indication here....
That choice is as eternal as God is...
What a salvation, based upon an eternal choice, which extends through time, into, and throughout the eternity after time ceases. And then some dear children of God are afraid that after God has saved them, they can be lost."
(v. 37) "All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and whoever comes to Me I will never drive away.
[Note that the Father is sovereign in His choice of whom to give to the Son - not depending upon the will of man.
Since not all men will be saved,
then only some will be chosen to be given by the Father to the Son, i.e., only some are elect and will be saved.
The concept of the Father giving individuals to the Son does not infer that the Father is dependent upon knowing that those individuals will believe in Christ as Savior first because the order of events and sovereign priority is that those who are given by the Father to the Son will then come to the Son, i.e., believe in Him and be saved. God cannot be dependent upon the will of man, otherwise His sovereignty is not absolute. Furthermore, we have to consider the Father's drawing and enabling of an individual to come to the Son]:
(v. 44) No one can come to Me, unless the Father Who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up on the last day.
(v. 65) He [Jesus] went on to say, 'This is why I told you that no one can come to Me unless the Father has enabled him.' "
[If all individuals, elect and non-elect are drawn/enabled by the Father to the Son to be saved, then our Lord's statement in verse 44, 'No one can come to Me, unless the Father Who sent me draws him,' of verse 65: "...enabled" would be redundant. But this is not the case, one must draw the conclusion here that only those who are to be 'raised... up on the last day' are drawn/enabled by the Father, i.e., only those who are elect are drawn & enabled.
So, since not all men will be saved,
and since only all of those who are drawn and enabled by the Father to come to Christ will come to Christ,
then not all men will be drawn and enabled by the Father to be saved]
"But I [Jesus Christ, (v. 30)], when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to Myself."
[BKC, NT, p. 318]:
"Jesus said that at the cross He would draw all men to Himself. He did not mean everybody will be saved [or drawn by the Father to the Son] for He made it clear that some will be lost (John 5:28-29). If the drawing by the Son is the same as that of the Father (6:44), it means He will draw indiscriminately [i.e., not just one kind of men, but draw from the entire population of men]. Those saved will include not only Jews, but also those from every tribe, language, people, and nation (Rev 5:9; cf. John 10:16; 11:52).
"I have other sheep that are not of this sheep pen. I must bring them also. They too will listen to my voice, and there shall be one flock and one shepherd."
[Leon Morris states, (THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO JOHN,' Wm B. Eerdmans Publishing Co. Grand Rapids, Michigan, 1989, p. 372]:
"Men like to feel independent. They think that they come or that they can come to Jesus entirely of their own volition. Jesus assures us that this is an utter impossibility. No man, no man at all can come unless the Father [give him to the Son and] draw him. The impossibility was implied in the former statement, [v. 37] but it is explicit here."
The following passage indicates that there are those who will go to destruction, denying the Lord Who bought them out of that destruction - thus indicating that the Father must indeed draw men unto Himself in order for them to be saved:
(v. 1) "But there were also false prophets among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you. They will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the sovereign Lord Who bought them - bringing swift destruction on themselves."
This verse says that "the sovereign Lord...bought them", i.e., redeemed them by what he did on the cross, (cp. Gal 3:13-14). It is saying that the great redeeming work of Christ extends to false prophets and teachers and all men who deny the "Lord Who bought them" [i.e., men who never trusted in Him for salvation], meaning that He made provision for their salvation. But those false teachers are never saved because they never chose to believe in Christ as Savior, they instead "bring swift destruction on themselves" by denying Christ.
[So those who have brought 'swift destruction on themselves' were not given by the Father to the Son, nor drawn by the Father to the Son]
Since every man has already been purchased out of the condition of condemnation, and the only thing remaining for them to do is to accept salvation by faith alone in Christ alone,
and since no man of his own accord can accept the sole condition of faith alone in Christ alone unto eternal life, (Ro 8:7-8), then it surely must take God Himself to bring an individual to Himself unto eternal life through His sovereign electing process.
(v. 7) "The sinful mind is hostile to God. It does not submit to God's law, nor can it do so.
(v. 8) Those controlled by the sinful nature [=unbelievers, (v. 9)] cannot please God [i.e., cannot exercise faith in Christ unto salvation or anything else].
(v. 9) You, however, are controlled not by the sinful nature but by the Spirit, if the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Christ."
"The God of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, Who is the image of God."
Notice that while one is an unbeliever one is blinded to the gospel - helpless and hopeless - unable to please God through faith in His Son.
Since all men before they become believers have sinful minds, are controlled by the sinful nature all of the time and are blinded to the gospel, they therefore cannot please God with faith in His Son unto salvation,
then no one solely of his own accord can be saved.
[Pentecost, op. cit., pp. 139-141]
[Election]"...means 'to call out.' It has to do with selection... Election is the sovereign work of God, according to His own purpose and will, predetermined by His foreordination, in which He selects those through whom the divine purpose will be fulfilled. We refer you again to Ephesians 1:4: We were chosen, in Christ, before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him.
Election is the work of God. It is not a matter of the individual electing God, and then God electing him in response. We find this same truth presented in Romans where, concerning the national election of Israel, the divine principle in election was made very clear. The Apostle [Paul] says...
(v. 10) "And not only this, but there was Rebekah also, when she had conceived twins by one man, our father Isaac;
(v. 11) For though the twins were not yet born, and had not done anything good or bad, in order that God's purpose according to His election [="Eklogen"] might stand, not because of works, but because of Him Who calls [="kalountos"],
[Notice that there was no merit or future actions foreseen or implicated in any way in either Jacob or Esau. God's choice was unaffected by the character or future action of either twin]
(v. 12) it was said to her, 'The older will serve the younger.'
(v. 13) Just as it is written, 'Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated.'
(v. 14) What shall we say then? There is no injustice with God, is there? May it never be!
(v. 15) For He says to Moses, 'I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.'
(v. 16) So then it does not depend on the man who wills or the man who runs, but on God Who has mercy.
[Notice that God chooses one over another without impugning His justice, (v. 14).
Furthermore, that choice is solely in accordance with His will, (v. 15).
Finally, nothing in this operation is dependent upon the will of man, (v. 16).]
(v. 17) For the Scripture says to Pharaoh, 'For this very purpose I raised you up, to demonstrate My power in you, and that My name might be proclaimed throughout the whole earth.
(v. 18) So then He has mercy on whom He desires, and He hardens whom He desires.
(v. 19) You will say to me then 'Why does He still find fault? For who resists His will?'
(v. 20) On the contrary, who are you, O man, who answers back to God? The thing molded will not say to the molder, 'Why did you make me like this, 'will it? [Isa 29:16; 45:9]
(v. 21) Or does not the potter have a right over the clay, to make from the same lump a vessel for honorable use, and another for dishonor?
["dishonor" = "atimian" = "vileness" = points to those who are destined to God's eternal wrath & condemnation.
Notice that God has "a right...to make from the same lump" of the clay of lost humanity a vessel for honorable use, the elect, and another for dishonor = eternal condemnation. And this is His right, without impugning His character, especially considering that all humanity deserves eternal condemnation]
(v. 22) What if God, although willing to demonstrate His wrath and to make His power known, endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction?
(v. 23) And He did so in order that He might make known the riches of His glory upon vessels of mercy, which He prepared beforehand for glory."
[Pentecost, cont.]:
"This passage is very important to understanding of the doctrine of election. You will notice that God [alone] is the One doing the electing; further, election was based upon the sovereign will of God [and not man's]. It was not God's response to good or evil in the one elected, for this election took place while the twins [Jacob and Esau] were in the womb of their mother, before either had done good or evil as the basis for His election or rejection. Election was to fulfill the purpose to God. God's foreordained plan was the reason for God's election of Jacob. God has separated unto Himself those through whom His program would be fulfilled."
(v. 10) "And not only this, but there was Rebekah also, when she had conceived twins by one man, our father Isaac;
(v. 11) For though the twins were not yet born, and had not done anything good or bad, in order that God's purpose according to His choice might stand, not because of works, but because of Him Who calls,
(v. 12) it was said to her, 'The Older will serve the younger.'
(v. 13) Just as it is written, 'Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated.'
(v. 14) What shall we say then? There is no injustice with God, is there? May it never be!
(v. 15) For He says to Moses, 'I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.'
(v. 16) So then it does not depend on the man who wills or the man who runs, but on God Who has mercy.
(v. 17) For the Scripture says to Pharaoh, 'For this very purpose I raised you up, to demonstrate My power in you, and that My name might be proclaimed throughout the whole earth.
(v. 18) So then He has mercy on whom He desires, and He hardens whom He desires.
(v. 19) You will say to me then 'Why does He still find fault? For who resists His will?'
(v. 20) On the contrary, who are you, O man, who answers back to God? The thing molded will not say to the molder, 'Why did you make me like this, 'will it? [Isa 29:16; 45:9]
(v. 21) Or does not the potter have a right over the clay, to make from the same lump on vessel for honorable use, and another for dishonor?
["dishonor" = "atimian" = "vileness" = points to those who are destined to God's eternal wrath & condemnation]:
(v. 22) What if God, although willing to demonstrate His wrath and to make His power known, endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction?
(v. 23) And He did so in order that He might make known the riches of His glory upon vessels of mercy, which He prepared beforehand for glory"
[Pentecost, op. cit., pp. 139-141]:
"Observe that when God elects, God elects out of men who were lost. Election does not separate some unto heaven and some unto hell. Election separates from among men, all of whom are under condemnation, some to fulfill God's purpose and program. Election is of grace because all men were under the curse and the wrath of God. God, to fulfill His predetermined, foreordained, decreed program, has selected those instruments He chooses to use by which that purpose and program should should come to fulfillment. That any man should have been elected by God is a manifestation of the infinite grace of an infinite God."
[For none selected is deserving anything but eternal condemnation]
E) THE ELECT WILL INEVITABLY TRUST IN CHRIST AS SAVIOR UNTO ETERNAL LIFE AND THE NON-ELECT WILL NOT
1) THE ELECT WILL INEVITABLY TRUST IN CHRIST AS SAVIOR UNTO ETERNAL LIFE
(v. 28) "And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to His purpose.
(v. 29) For those God foreknew He also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that He might be the Firstborn among many brothers.
(v. 30) And those He predestined, He also called; those He called, He also justified; those He justified, He also glorified."
Notice that God foreknew therefore He predestined and thus He called, i.e., "EkalEsE" = "elected", resulting in justification and glorification. Man's free will decision to believe or not believe unto eternal life is not in this equation. From man's point of view it is, (Jn 3:16; Ro 3:22-24), but not from God's point of view.
2) THE NON-ELECT WILL INEVITABLY NOT BELIEVE
(v. 7) "Now to you who believe, this stone is precious. But to those who do not believe, 'The stone the builders rejected has become the capstone,'
(v. 8) and, 'A stone that causes men to stumble and a rock that makes them fall.' They stumble because they disobey the message--which is also what they were destined for."
Notice that those who disobey, i.e., refuse to believe the message of the gospel and thereby stumble were destined, i.e., decreed for this to happen by God. All individuals have this incapacity to obey the message of the Gospel, (Ro 8:7) - elect and non-elect alike and therefore all individuals stumble over the message of faith alone in Christ alone, the Stumbling Block until some, (the elect), are provided with God's election work where they are drawn to the Son by the Father, (Jn 6:44), the veil hiding an understanding of the gospel is taken away, (2 Cor 3:16; 4:3-4), and they are provided with the gift of faith, (Phil 1:29); at which time they inevitably trust alone in Christ alone of their own volition and are saved - as decreed by God from the foundation of the universe, (Ro 8:28-30).
(v. 19) "One of you will say to me: 'Then why does God still blame us? For who resists his will?'
(v. 20) But who are you, O man, to talk back to God? "Shall what is formed say to him who formed it, 'Why did you make me like this?'
(v. 21) Does not the potter have the right to make out of the same lump of clay some pottery for noble purposes and some for dishonor"?
["dishonor" = "atimian" = "vileness" = points to those who are destined to God's eternal wrath & condemnation]:
(v. 22) What if God, choosing to show His wrath and make His power known, bore with great patience the objects of His wrath--prepared for destruction?"
Notice that those who are destined for the Lake of Fire were made 'out of the same lump of clay' of humanity 'for dishonor', i.e., for the purpose of condemnation, (v. 21). They were 'prepared for destruction', (v. 22). Although they indeed do have the opportunity to believe and be saved, (Jn 3:16), they evidently were not elect so they are on their own as to the choice to trust in Christ or not. They were thus created for 'dishonor' and 'prepared for destruction', such that they inevitably will 'disobey the message' of the gospel, i.e, choose of their own volition to never trust in Christ as Savior and suffer eternal condemnation.
God predestined each aspect of His overall and foreordained plan for the universe to a predetermined end which includes the predestinated yet free will choices of each individual man and angel who ever lived.
[Pentecost, op. cit., pp. 141-143]
"The next word following election is 'predestination,' which means determine beforehand.' This has to do with the end to which those who have been elected are set apart. This word, when used in Scripture, is always qualified by a statement of the end or the aim in view. In Ephesians 1:4-5 we read...
(v. 4) "For He [God the Father, (v. 3a)] chose us [believers, (v. 1)] in Him [i.e., to be in Christ - to be saved, (v. 3b)] before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in His sight, in love...
(v. 5) [in love, (v. 4c)], having predestinated us to adoption as sons [i.e., as children] through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will."
"...He predestinated us - and what was the end, or the aim? The adoption of [us as] children. Notice it again in verse 11:
(v. 11) In Him we were also chosen having been predestinated according to the plan of Him Who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of His will"
Predestinated - for what end? To obtain an inheritance. See it in Romans 8:29:
"For those God foreknew He also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of His Son, that He might be the Firstborn among many brothers."
'For whom He did foreknow, He also did predestinate [and what was the end?] to be conformed to the image of His Son...'
Or we see it again in 1 Corinthians 2:7 where we were predestinated unto glory. The Apostle [Paul] says:
"No, we speak of God's secret wisdom, a wisdom that has been hidden and which God ordained before the world unto our glory."
From these Scriptures we would emphasize again the important fact that when predestination is used in the Scriptures it determines the end, or the goal in view, for those whom God has elected unto Himself. I find no place in Scripture where it is said that we were predestinated to faith, that we were predestinated to belief, or that we were predestinated to accept Christ. No, we were predestinated for glory. We were predestinated unto sonship or inheritance."
On the other hand whomever God elects and predestinates inevitably believe of their own volition, (Jn 3:16).
[Pentecost, op. cit., pp. 141-143]
The word 'predestination' is logically followed by the word 'called,' which is to be understood in its normal designation in which God summons those whom He has foreknown, those whom He has elected, those whom He has predestinated, unto Himself. The call of God to the elect of God - who have been predestinated unto glory - is the consummating act of God's foreordination. God sees to it that His purpose will be accomplished. Those whom He has chosen for Himself will be brought to Himself, that His foreknown and predetermined program might be brought to consummation. The Apostle, in Romans 8:30, said...
(v. 29) "For those God foreknew He also predestinated to be conformed to the likeness of His Son, that He might be the Firstborn among many brothers.
(v. 30) And those He predestinated, He also called; those He called, He also justified; those He justified, He also glorified."
The call, then, is a summons to Himself, because they have been predestined unto glory by His foreordained purpose and program, [cf. Jn 6:37, 44].
God's call is not a call to the human will, asking the human will, unaided by divine grace, to respond. God's call is also God's enablement; and God, Who issues the call, imparts the power through the ministry of the Holy Spirit to respond to that call, so that the sinner who is dead, who is without life, who us under condemnation and judgment, may hear God's call; and although he has no power in himself because he is dead, and no desire to respond because God has been put out of his life, he is enabled by the Holy Spirit to respond to the gracious invitation: 'Whosoever will may come.' Christ made it very clear that the call was part of God's purpose and program, for in John 6:44...
(v. 37) "All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and whoever comes to Me I will never drive away."
(v. 44) "No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him, and I will raise him up at the last day."
(v. 65) "He went on to say, 'This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless the Father has enabled him.' "
And the drawing and enablement of the Father is the call of the Father to those who have been elected by God's grace, to those who have been predestinated or set apart unto glory, to those who God had foreknown would be the instruments to accomplish His foreordained purpose, which is settled and sure by the eternal and unchangeable decree of God.
"For it has been granted to you on behalf of Christ not only to believe on him, but also to suffer for Him."
The context indicates that the grant to believe on behalf of Christ is a cause of the believer coming to a saving faith in Christ. The non elect are not granted the gift of faith on behalf of Christ, otherwise the verse would have no significance for Paul to mention to believers. Furthermore, if all are granted to believe on behalf of Christ then all would believe and be saved, which is not the case according to Scripture.
Thus unbelievers are exclusively under their own auspices to believe in Christ as Savior or not believe.
Since all who believe are elect which Phil 1:29 is addressing;
and since God only grants to the elect the gift of faith unto salvation;
and since one can only come to saving faith in Christ with this gift of faith
and since God decrees all things, not the least of which is this gift of faith unto salvation to the elect only
then God decrees those who will believe unto salvation and those who will not.
This believing or non-believing nevertheless is by personal volition of the individual.
If it were any other way - such as God discovering through His omniscience who will choose believe in Christ as Savior unto salvation and who will not, then man would be sharing in the sovereignty of God at least on this issue which would make God less than absolutely omnipotent, being dependent upon man's choice to believe or not believe after which God then discovers this and then decrees those who are to be elect.
[Pentecost, cont.]:
"Does this mean that the sinner has no responsibility? Far from it, for Christ has died for the sins of the world. Christ has made a propitiation, or a covering over, for the sins of the world:"
"He is the atoning sacrifice for our [believers', (v. 2:1)] sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world."
Our Lord said:
"For God so loved the world, that He gave His one and only Son, that whosoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have everlasting life"
The 'whosoever' is unlimited. While only those whom God has called will respond to God's call, yet God's invitation is extended to all men.
If you are without Jesus Christ, there is only one thing that keeps you from Him, and that is the response of your will to the invitation which God gives when He says, 'Whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.'...
To me the truth we have presented is one of the most comforting of all the doctrines in the word of God. We delight to know that nothing happens by chance. We are not creatures subject to circumstances, dependent upon luck. There is no such thing as 'good luck' for the child of God. An infinite, sovereign God, has foreordained every minute detail of our lives from before the foundation of the world. God has settled His purpose and His program by His unalterable decree. God foreknows exactly what will take place each moment of each day in our lives because it had been determined according to His purpose. God has elected us, not because of what we have done, but because it suited His infinite purpose. God, Who has elected us, has set us apart by predestination to share His glory forever. God, in infinite grace, called us out of night into His love, out of death into His life, and set us apart unto Himself, not because of what we are, but because it suited God's eternal, sovereign purpose so to do. Every moment of every day we are under His care because He is working all things according to the counsel of His own will, so that we might be found unto the praise of the glory of His grace. In this confidence we rest.'
@@@mt22.htm
VIII) THE RESPONSIBILITY OF THE BELIEVER: TO WALK IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE SOVEREIGN WILL OF GOD
Furthermore, in accordance with Mt 22:14, all believers are called to be faithful Christians but only those whom God has chosen = lit., 'called out' will walk faithfully with the Lord:
(v. 14) "For many are invited but few are chosen."
"invited" = "kletoi" = called
"chosen" = "ekletoi" = called out.
Notice the prefix ek = out, signifying something more than "kletoi" or "called". This is especially emphasized by the contrast between the words "many" and "few" and the conclusion of the parable in which one of the many who were called was cast out of the banquet, (vv. 1-13), for being unfaithful, which is attended by the relatively few faithful believers who were chosen or called out. So all men of all ages are called i.e., invited to attend the Lord's wedding banquet; but God's sovereign calling out of those who will remain encompasses only a few.
Without God's election unto eternal life, (ref. Ro 8:30), man will inevitably choose to reject Christ as Savior of his own finite free will. Thus he will opt out of the kingdom of heaven entirely as well as the wedding banquet, destiny to be the Lake of Fire.
And in accordance with God's varying degrees of election and calling of believers unto faithful service, believers will serve the Lord of their own volition, some will qualify in faithfulness to be permitted to remain in the banquet and receive numerous rewards in heaven but many will not.
(v. 15) "But the Lord said to him [Ananias, (v. 13)] 'Go, for he [Paul] is a chosen instrument of Mine, to bear My name before the Gentiles and kings and the sons of Israel;
(v. 16) for I will show him how much he must suffer for My name's sake."
"You [the disciples] did not choose Me, but I chose you, and appointed you, that you should go and bear fruit..."
"For we [believers, (v. 8-9)] are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them."
And believers will inevitably choose of their own finite free will to be faithful in accordance with the measure of faith that God has provided for them:
"For through the grace given to me I say to every man among you not to think more highly of himself than he ought to think; but to think so as to have sound judgment, as God has allotted to each a measure of faith."
And there will be those believers who will choose not to be faithful at all:
(v. 12) "Now if any man [i.e., any believer, (v. 11)] builds [i.e., does some kind of work, (vv. 2:10, 3:9-10)] upon the foundation [of salvation, v. 11)] with gold, silver, precious stones [or] wood, hay, straw,
(v. 13) each man's work will become evident [whether it is faithful or not] for the day will show it, because it is to be revealed with fire; and the fire itself will test the quality of each man's work.
(v. 14) If any man's work which he has built upon it remains he shall receive a reward.
[And now comes the other possibility: loss of rewards due to an unfaithful lifestyle. The believer will actually suffer loss, barely making it to heaven's shores as if he were escaping through the flames of a burning building, left with nothing but himself]:
(v. 15) If any man's work is burned up, he shall suffer loss; but he himself shall be saved, yet so as through fire."
@@@mt22.htm, eph1.htm
*************END OF STUDY ON ELECTION*****************
2) THE BASIS OF THE BELIEVERS SPIRITUAL BLESSING, cont.
a) GOD'S ELECTION FOR HIMSELF, cont.
ii) [Eph 1:4-5]:
(v. 4) "For He chose us in Him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in His sight. In love
(v. 5) He predestined us to be adopted as His sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with His pleasure and will"
[BKC, NT, p. 617]:
"The cause of election is God's predestination of believers unto sonship (cf. 'predestined' in v. 11). Predestined is from proorisas, 'marked out beforehand.' Thus the emphasis of predestination is more on the what than the who in that the believers' predetermined destiny is their being adopted as full-fledged sons of God through Jesus Christ, the Agent of the adoption. The concept of adoption is also found in Romans 8:15, 23; Galatians 4:4-7. In adoption a son is brought into a family and is given the same rights as a child who is born into that family.
In this context it seems that predestination logically precedes election: after God looked forward to the glorious destiny of adopting believers into His family, He looked down on sinful humanity and chose believers (cf. Rom 8:30 where 'predestined' precedes 'called,' which refers to His efficacious saving). All this was done in accordance with His pleasure (cf. Eph 1:9) and will (cf. vv. 1, 9, 11), that is, He delighted to impart His spiritual benefits to His children."
a) GOD'S ELECTION FOR HIMSELF, (cont.)
iii) [Eph 1:4-6]:
(v. 4) "For He chose us in Him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in His sight. In love
(v. 5) He predestined us to be adopted as His sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with His pleasure and will
(v. 6) to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One He loves."
[BKC, NT, p. 617]:
"The ultimate goal of God's election is that believers will be to the praise of His glorious grace. A similar expression of praise is also given after the description of the work of the Son (v. 12) and of the Spirit (v. 14). 'His glorious grace' (undeserved favor; cf. v. 7) had been freely given us. The words 'freely given' translate the verb echaritOsen, from the noun 'grace' (charis). The verb form is used only one other time in the New Testament (Luke 1:28, where Mary is said to be 'highly favored'). Literally, Ephesians 1:6a might be rendered 'to the praise of His glorious grace which He 'graced' to us.' Since salvation is all of God's grace, Christians certainly ought to praise Him for it! And that is why they were chosen: to give Him praise (cf. 'Praise be to...God,' v. 3). In the One He loves stresses the manifestation of God's love to His Son (cf. 'the Son He loves,' Col 1:13). This reference to Christ also furnishes the transition to the second Person of the Trinity discussed in Ephesians 1:7:12.
God the Father loves His Son; and believers, being in the Son, are also the object of God's love."
2) THE BASIS OF THE BELIEVER'S SPIRITUAL BLESSING, cont.
b) GOD'S REDEMPTION IN CHRIST
i) [Eph 1:7]:
(v. 7) "In Him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God's grace"
[BKC, NT, p. 617-618]:
"1:7. Redemption (apolytrOsin) denotes release or deliverance from a state of slavery (cf. Col. 1:14). The idea of release is seen in some of the other verses where this Greek word appears (Luke 21:28; Rom 3:24; 8:23; 1 Cor 1:30; Eph 1:7, 14; 4:30; Col 1:14; Heb 9:15; 11:35).... This redemption is from sin (Heb 9:15), and thus this work of Christ delivers believers from slavery to sin. This is further defined by the forgiveness of sins (cf. Eph 4:32; Col 1:14), which is hte immediate result of a believer's release from sin's hold. (The word for 'sins' is paraptOma, lit., 'false steps or transgressions,' also used in Rom 4:25; 5:16-17, 20; Eph 2:1, 5, and elsewhere.) God could not treat sin lightly for it required the sacrifice of blood (cf. Heb 9:22).
The means of redemption is the sacrificial substitutionary death of Christ (through His blood; cf. Eph 2:13; 1 Peter 1:19), which completely satisfied God's justice (Rom 3:24-25). This was accomplished in accordance with the riches of God's grace (cf. Eph 1:6; 2:7). The cost of Christ's blood is the measure of the wealth of God's unmerited favor to every believer. It was accomplished not 'out of' but 'according to' (kata) the wealth of His grace (cf. Phil 4:19). Six times in Ephesians Paul referred to God's riches (1:7, 18; 2:4, 7; 3:8, 16).
********EXCERPT FROM STUDY ON REDEMPTION***********
REDEMPTION: A BIBLICAL PERSPECTIVE
A) INTRODUCTION
[J. Dwight Pentecost states, ("Things Which Become SOUND DOCTRINE", Revell, Westwood, N.J., 1965, pp. 73-82)]:
"The return of a victorious general to the city of Rome transformed the staid and austere atmosphere of the city into a festive occasion. When a Roman general had been victorious over an enemy, he returned to Rome at the head of a great triumphal procession. He led back in triumph not only the forces that had served under him, but he also brought back the spoils of the conquered land as well as a large number of captives. All these formed the great triumphal procession. When the news of the victory reached the city of Rome, preparations would be made for the conqueror's return, for it was a time in which the glory won by the conqueror was heaped upon his head. He rode into the city to be received by the nobles and the dignitaries in a manner becoming his victory.
This was a time to which the wealthy looked forward, for they could buy from the spoils of conquest the treasures that would adorn their homes. It was a time anticipated by the slave owner who desired to enlarge the number of his slaves, for after the captives had been led in the triumphal procession, they would be taken to the slave market and there, one by one, would be put upon a slave block where they might be examined and tested by prospective buyers, and then purchased to be brought into a life of bondage and servitude.
It was this concept of slaves in a slave market which was uppermost in the minds of the Apostles as they spoke of the great work of the Lord Jesus Christ as a Redeemer and the work of redemption which He has provided for sinners. The Word of God looks upon men who are in sin as bond-slaves. [And that includes all men - all are slaves to sin, Ro 3:23; 6:16-17]. It looks upon them as being under a master who has conquered and subdued them [Ro 6:19-20], and who can deliver them over to even greater bondage. The Scripture views the sinner as without any will of his own, indentured to serve sin and to be a bond-slave of Satan, to do whatsoever Satan demands [Eph 2:1-2]. Jesus Christ has come into that slave market in order that He might purchase those who are in sin's chains, so that He might set them free. 'Redeemed, How I Love to Proclaim It!' is a song we delight to sing. We lift our voices to extol not only the Redeemer but the redemption which He has provided. But we will never be able to praise our Redeemer for His redemption until we understand our condition in sin, our need of redemption, the cost of redemption, and the deliverance which has been afforded by the Redeemer."
B) REDEMPTION IS THE FORGIVENESS OF SINS THROUGH THE BLOOD OF CHRIST BY THE GRACE OF GOD THROUGH FAITH IN CHRIST ALONE AND THIS REDEMPTION IS A FOREVER POSSESSION
1) [Eph 1:7]:
"In Him [Christ, (v. 3)] we [believers, (vv. 1-6)] have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God's grace"
2) [Compare Gal 3:13]:
"Christ redeemed us from the curse of the Law by becoming a curse for us, for it is written 'Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree. [Dt 21:23]' "
"redeemed us" = "exegorasen" = a compound verb; aorist tense = completed action indicating a once for all time action; indicative mood = a statement of fact indicating a completed position; this compound verb consisting of "egorasen" = purchase, (cp Rev 5:9), and "ex" = out of, i.e., "exegorasen" = "to purchase out of being subject to the curse of the Law, i.e., the slave market of sin so that one can never return to it.
[J. Dwight Pentecost states, ("Things Which Become SOUND DOCTRINE", Revell, Westwood N.J., 1965, pp. 76)]:
"This word emphasizes the result of the redemption, the result of the purchase by the blood of Christ. When we were purchased out from the curse of the Law and bondage to sin we were purchased out so completely and effectively that we can never be returned to that slave market again... The Apostle tells us that when Christ redeemed us in a redemptive act, and purchased us for Himself by the payment of a price, He redeemed us or purchased us out of the slave market in order that we might be delivered from its bondage forever."
3) [Compare Col 1:13-14]:
(v. 13) "For He [God the Father, (v. 12)] has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son He loves,
(v. 14) in Whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins."
4) [Compare Eph 1:13-14]:
(v. 13) "And you also were included in Christ when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. Having believed, you were marked in Him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit,
(v. 14) Who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God's possession - to the praise of His glory."
Notice that upon a moment of faith alone in Christ alone the individual is "marked in Him [Christ] with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit Who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God's possession."
C) MAN'S REDEMPTION REQUIRED A PRICE: THE ONCE FOR ALL TIME SHED BLOOD OF JESUS CHRIST WITHOUT BLEMISH OR DEFECT
1) [1 Pet 1:18-19]:
(v. 18) "For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that your were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your forefathers,
(v. 19) but with the precious blood of Christ, a Lamb without blemish or defect."
"you were redeemed" = "elutrOthEte", aorist tense =completed action, second person, plural, passive mood - Christ has done it all for the believer, once for all time.
[Pentecost, op. cit., p. 74-75]:
"The word the Apostle chose to use in... [1 Pet 1:18-19] ...which is translated by the English word 'redeemed,' is a word that emphasizes an act: it is the act of setting free, the act of liberating. The word the Apostle used here... emphasizes that a purchase was necessary, and a purchase has been accomplished. God owns the world and all that is within creation. Because God is the Creator, all that came into being by the word of His power is rightly His. We are His by creation; therefore we are answerable to Him as creatures to the Creator. But when God would bring many sons into glory - that we should be found to the praise of the glory of His grace - God did not bring us into glory by creating us, but rather by purchasing us for Himself. When the Apostle says we were not redeemed with corruptible things but with the precious blood of Christ, he is emphasizing the fact that God Who had created entered into a separate act, or work, whereby the One Who already possessed us bought us to Himself that we might be doubly His: His by creation, and His by a purchased redemption....
Peter has shown us that the redemption price was the blood of Christ"
'...ye were not redeemed with corruptible things" - and the corruptible things he mentions are silver and gold. Silver and gold are corruptible and are corrupted because they are under the curse. When Adam sinned, the ground upon which he trod was cursed By God. God said to Adam":
2) [Gen 3:17]:
"...To Adam He [God (v. 14)] said, 'Because you listened to your wife and ate from the tree about which I commanded you, '''You must not eat of it,'''
[Pentecost, cont.]:
"Cursed is the ground because of you; through painful toil you will eat of it all the days of your life....
...All that the ground contained, then, was under the curse of God. The silver and gold were cursed by God, and an accursed thing could never be used to pay a satisfactory redemption price to God. So, the Apostle says that when we were redeemed, we were not redeemed with that which was corruptible because it was corrupted, namely, silver and gold; but that we were redeemed with the precious blood of Christ as of a Lamb without blemish and without spot. The Lamb Whose blood was the purchase price was uncorruptible and uncorrupted. And the Apostle [Peter] is contrasting corruptible silver with uncorruptible blood, corrupted gold with an uncorrupted Son of God. And Peter and John agreed that when God purchased us the purchasing price was none other than the blood of God's own Son."
3) [Compare Heb 9:11-15]:
(v. 11) "When Christ came as High Priest of the good things that are already here, He went through the greater and more perfect Tabernacle that is not man-made, that is to say, no a part of this creation.
(v. 12) He did not enter by means of the blood of goats and calves; but He entered the Most Holy Place once for all by His own blood, having obtained eternal redemption.
(v. 13) The blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a heifer sprinkled on those who are ceremonially unclean sanctify them so that they are outwardly clean.
(v. 14) How much more, then, will the blood of Christ, Who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself unblemished to God, cleanse our consciences from acts that lead to death, so that we may serve the living God!
(v. 15) For this reason Christ is the Mediator of a New Covenant, that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance - now that He has died as a ransom to set them free from the sins committed under the First Covenant."
D) THE METHOD OF MAN'S REDEMPTION WAS BY PURCHASE, I.E., ACQUIRING BY RANSOM
1) [Rev 5:9]:
"And they sang a new song: 'You are worthy to take the scroll and to open its seals, because You were slain, and with your blood You purchased men for God from every tribe and language and people and nation.' "
[Pentecost, op. cit., pp. 75-76]:
"Thou hast redeemed us to God by Thy blood!" = We find a different word is used in the original text. It is the word which means 'to go shopping' or 'to go into the market to purchase.'
[From the infinitive agorazO = to buy, redeem, acquire by a ransom or price paid]
The Apostle John, in Revelation 5:9, emphasizes the method by which the redemption of which Peter spoke has been accomplished. It is a redemption by purchase, and the purchase price is stated - it is redemption by blood. The Apostle John [in Rev 5:9] uses a different word [Egorasas = "you were purchased"; aorist tense, a completed action, from the infinitive verb: agorazO, to purchase] than that used by Peter, ["elutrOthEte" = "you were redeemed" from the infinitive verb lutroO = to liberate, release for a ransom]; for Peter was emphasizing that God has done an act, but the Apostle John is emphasizing the method by which this act has been accomplished. We have been bought in the market by God by blood. The Apostle John uses a different word than that used by Peter, for Peter was emphasizing that God has done an act, but the Apostle John is emphasizing the method by which this act has been accomplished. We have been bought in the market by God by blood. The Apostle John is emphasizing not only the act of purchase, but the additional fact of the purchase price."
E) REDEMPTION IS SOLELY, FREELY AND COMPLETELY THROUGH OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST - IN HIM THROUGH FAITH ALONE IN HIM ALONE
1) [Ro 3:21-26]:
(v. 21) "But now a righteousness from God, apart from law [rules of behavior], has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify.
(v. 22) This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference,
(v. 23) for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,
(v. 24) and are justified freely by His grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.
(v. 25) God presented Him as a sacrifice of atonement, through faith, in His blood. He did this to demonstrate His justice, because in His forbearance He had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished -
(v. 26) He did it to demonstrate His justice at the present time, so as to be just and the One Who justifies those who have faith in Jesus."
[Pentecost, op. cit., p. 77]:
"There is a fourth word that is used in the New Testament concerning redemption. We find it in a passage such as Romans 3:24, where the Apostle [Paul] writes, 'Being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus."
["ransom" = "apolutrOseOs" = deliverance that is procured by payment of a ransom]
In the original text the word translated 'redemption' differs from the other three words that we referred to. The word has in view the destiny [i.e., the deliverance] of the one who has been redeemed; it emphasizes the thoroughness and the completeness of the redemption. We have been redeemed through and through; we have been thoroughly redeemed by God. And the Apostle affirms in Romans 3:24 that we have been justified freely by His grace by the through-and-through redemption that is in Jesus Christ."
Note that this "through-and-through redemption" is accomplished freely, i.e., without any contribution whatsoever, by a moment of "faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe".
F) THE FUTURE ASPECTS OF REDEMPTION INCLUDE A PERFECT RESURRECTION BODY
1) [Ro 8:22-23]:
(v. 22) "We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time.
(v. 23) Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption ["apolutrOsin"] of our bodies."
2) [Compare Phil 3:20-21]:
(v. 20) "But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ,
(v. 21) who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body."
[Pentecost, cont.]:
"The body as well as the soul has been redeemed from the curse and from slavery to sin. While we live in an unredeemed body now, God has promised that our redemption will be through and through, and our redemption includes the redemption of this body. It is the future prospect that belongs to the child of God."
3) [Compare 1 Cor 1:30]:
"It is because of Him [God, (v. 27)] that you are in Christ Jesus, Who has become for us wisdom from God - that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption ["apolutrOsin"]."
[Pentecost, cont.]:
"In 1 Corinthians 1:30 the Apostle, speaking of Jesus Christ, says that Christ of God 'is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption: That, according as it is written, He that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord.' The Apostle is anticipating the completeness of our redemption when we shall be transformed into Christ's likeness - body, soul, and spirit made like unto Him."
4) [Compare Eph 1:13-14]:
(v. 13) "And you also were included in Christ when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. Having believed, you were marked in Him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit,
(v. 14) Who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God's possession - to the praise of His glory."
[Pentecost, cont.]:
"In Ephesians 1:14, the Apostle tells us that the Holy Spirit is the 'earnest of our inheritance until the redemption ["apolutrOsin"] of the purchased possession [or, with the view to the redemption of the purchased possession], unto the praise of His glory.'
In this last group of references [1 Cor 1:30 & Eph 1:13-14], the Apostle is emphasizing that which is future. Previously, the Apostles have emphasized that which is our past experience. There has been a purchase. This purchase was by the payment of a price, and the price was blood. This purchase has freed us from the slave market once and for all, and to it we can never be returned. But this purchase has put a glorious prospect before us, the prospect of the redemption of the body, the prospect of the redemption of the total person into the likeness of Jesus Christ, because God's work of redemption will not stop short of completion.
G) FOR REDEMPTION TO BE POSSIBLE, A KINSMAN REDEEMER MUST VOLUNTEER TO PAY THE RANSOM PRICE
1) INTRODUCTION
a) THE LAW PROVIDES FOR THE REDEMPTION OF PROPERTY AND PERSON THROUGH A KINSMAN REDEEMER
i) [Lev 25:47-55]:
(v. 47) "If an alien or a temporary resident among you becomes rich and one of your countrymen becomes poor and sells himself to the alien living among you or to a member of the alien's clan,
(v. 48) he retains the right of redemption after he has sold himself. One of his relatives may redeem him:
(v. 49) An uncle or a cousin or any blood relative in his clan may redeem him. Or if he prospers, he may redeem himself.
(v. 50) He and his buyer are to count the time from the year he sold himself up to the Year of Jubilee. The price for his release is to be based on the rate paid to a hired man for that number of years.
(v. 51) If many years remain, he must pay for his redemption a larger share of the price paid for him.
(v. 52) If only a few years remain until the Year of Jubilee, he is to compute that and pay for his redemption accordingly.
(v. 53) He is to be treated as a man hired from year to year; you must see to it that his owner does not rule over him ruthlessly.
(v. 54) Even if he is not redeemed in any of these ways, he and his children are to be released in the Year of Jubilee,
(v. 55) for the Israelites belong to Me as servants. They are My servants, whom I brought out of Egypt. I am the LORD your God.' "
[Pentecost, op. cit., pp. 78-79]:
"But if we are to have redemption, there must be a Redeemer. In the Old Testament, God, pictorially, was preparing the way for the coming Redeemer, for He had instituted a custom in the Old Testament that graphically portrayed the [future] work of the Lord Jesus Christ as God's Redeemer. If an Israelite was sold into bondage or delivered himself into slavery because of indebtedness, provision was made by which that indentured servant could be set free. It was through the provision we know as the kinsman-redeemer: one who was kin to the slave had the right and the responsibility to pay the price in order that his kinsman might be delivered from bondage."
2) FOUR STIPULATIONS MUST BE MET FOR ONE TO QUALIFY AS KINSMAN REDEEMER
[Pentecost, op. cit., pp. 79-82]:
"But there were certain stipulations laid down as to who could be the redeemer, and upon what terms this redemption of the slave could be accomplished. Briefly, may we point out to you four facts.
a) ONE MUST BE THE KINSMAN OF THE SLAVE
i) [Heb 2:14-15]:
(v. 14) "Since the children have flesh and blood, He too shared in their humanity so that by His death He might destroy him who holds the power of death - that is, the devil -
(v. 15) and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death."
[Pentecost, op. cit., pp. 79-81]:
"First, it was necessary that the one who did the work of redeeming the slave be the kinsman of the slave. Not anyone who was moved by compassion when he looked upon the plight of a slave could redeem him. That right of redemption was reserved for a kinsman. You will recall that when Ruth was to be delivered into bondage, it was the right of Boaz to deliver her because he was a kinsman, (Ruth 2:1-9, 20; 3:1-4:16). If Jesus Christ is to be a Redeemer for men Jesus Christ must be related to men, or He is not eligible to become their Redeemer. The writer to the Hebrews, cognizant of this requirement from the Old Testament, shows us how Christ met this condition so that He could be a Redeemer [ Heb 2:14-15 quoted above]...
Then the [writer of Hebrews] continues by showing us that Jesus Christ did not identify Himself with angels, for if He were an angel He would be ineligible to redeem men. [Heb 2:16-18]. But Jesus Christ, the eternal Son of God, through the virgin birth took upon Himself full and complete humanity in order that He, as the Son of Man, related to men by a human birth, might be their representative and their kinsman-Redeemer. Jesus Christ was related to men - 'He became flesh' for the work of redemption."
b) THE REDEEMER MUST HAVE THE PRICE OF REDEMPTION
[Pentecost, op. cit., pp. 79-80]:
"Second, we find from the Old Testament that it was necessary for the redeemer to have a redemption price to pay to set the slave free. He must be able to redeem. The nearest kinsman of Ruth was unable to redeem, and Boaz came forward to be the kinsman-redeemer, not only because he was related, but because he had an ability that the prior kinsman did not have: he had the substance by which he might redeem. [Ruth 4:1-15]. If Jesus Christ is to become a redeemer for men, He must have a satisfactory redemption price. We find, when we turn to Acts 20:28, that Jesus Christ was One Who was able to redeem, for we read that the elders are to...
i) [Acts 20:28]:
"Keep watch over
yourselves and all the flock of which the Holy Spirit has made you
overseers. Be shepherds of the church of God, which He bought with His own
blood.'
His blood was His purchase price...."
c) THE REDEEMER MUST BE WILLING TO REDEEM
[Pentecost, op. cit., p. 80]:
"The third requirement of the kinsman-redeemer was that he must be willing to redeem. The one who was the nearest kinsman to Ruth was not willing to assume responsibility for Ruth after he had redeemed her. Therefore, he must forego his right as a kinsman-redeemer. Boaz was not only related, not only able, but he was willing to redeem. We follow our Lord into the Garden of Gethsemane and we listen as He poured out His heart to God in prayer and cried...
i) [Lk 22:42]:
" 'Father, if you are willing, take this cup from Me; yet not my will, but yours be done."
...We recognize that He was signifying He was not only able but willing. It is testified of Him in Hebrews...
ii) [Heb 10:7]:
"Then I said, 'Here I am - it is written about Me in the scroll - I have come to do your will, O God.' "
When Peter sought to dissuade Christ from going to the cross, Peter was reproached by Christ Who said, 'Get thee behind me, Satan: ...for thou savourest not the things that be of God...' (Mt 16:23). When Peter sought to protect Christ from those who would lay hand on Him to drag Him before a Roman tribunal, Peter's sword was returned to its sheath, for our Lord reminded Peter that He could call upon God for ten legions of angels who could who could deliver Him from the adversaries. But He went with the Romans because He was willing.
If Jesus Christ had been an unwilling sacrifice, God would have perpetrated the greatest crime ever committed in the history of the universe. But if Jesus Christ was a willing sacrifice, the cross of Christ stands as the greatest demonstration of submission and obedience to the will of God that the world has ever seen. He was willing to redeem."
d) THE REDEEMER MUST NOT NEED REDEMPTION HIMSELF
[Pentecost, op. cit., pp. 81-82]:
"And finally, it was necessary that the redeemer should not himself need the redemption which he purposes to provide for another. This was to say, no slave could redeem another slave, for if a man were in bondage to another he was in no position to redeem someone else. His need was as great as the need of any other slave. If Jesus Christ was to redeem men from the slave market of sin, He must be without sin Himself. That is why it is significant that the writer to the Hebrews... says...
i) [Heb 4:15]:
"For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are - yet was without sin."
...The same writer who said that we were redeemed with the precious blood of Christ also said...
ii) [1 Pet 2:22-24]:
(v. 22) "'He [Christ, (v. 21)] committed no sin, and no deceit was found in His mouth.'
(v. 23) When they hurled their insults at Him, He did not retaliate; when He suffered, He made no threats. Instead, He entrusted Himself to Him Who judges justly.
(v. 24) He Himself bore our sins in His body on the tree, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; by His wounds you have been healed."
...the Word of God presents the truth that Jesus Christ was an acceptable Redeemer for the human race, for sin had not laid its finger upon Him. He, as the sinless One, needed no redemption for Himself but He could offer His blood as the purchase price for sinners everywhere. We can extol God, not only for the redemption that is in Christ, but also for the Redeemer, the One Who took upon Himself flesh, that He might redeem us; the One Who was able to redeem because He submitted Himself to the will of God; the One Who, because He was not implicated in sin, could offer Himself as a sacrifice for the sins of the world.
This Redeemer has made a purchase; it is a purchase by His own blood, a purchase that sets us free and promises that we will never be brought back into slavery again. It is a purchase that sets glory as our destiny, and security as our confidence and assurance, because of the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. If you should be without Christ as our Redeemer, may we say to you, on the authority of the Word of God, that it is not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He has saved us - not by works, but by purchase possession by faith in Christ?"
H) CONCLUSION
[Pentecost, op. cit., p. 78-79]:
"As we mount truth upon truth, we see the care which God, in His infinite wisdom, has taken that we, who were in the slave market to be auctioned off, should be purchased, not because we were of value to the Purchaser, but because the Purchaser delighted to purchase, that He might set us free. We extol the grace of God that has brought us freedom. We praise God, as the Apostle praised God, that there is liberty in Christ, and that we can stand fast in the liberty wherewith Christ has made us free. But that liberty that belongs to the children of God always rests upon redemption. It rests upon the payment of a price in order that we might be set free by the Purchaser. As long as we were in the slave market of sin, as long as we were under bondage and slavery to Satan, God had no right to touch the one who belong to another. God could not go arbitrarily into the household of Satan to set us free. God could not set us free until first of all we had become His property, until first of all He had redeemed us. But when He had redeemed us, then He could dispose of His own property and His own possessions as it pleased Him. In order that Jesus Christ might give us freedom, and that He might deliver us from the shackles of sin, He entered into an act of purchase; He paid the purchase price, His own blood, and He set free whom He had purchased to Himself, in order that they might be brought to the destiny of those who have become members of the household of faith. The Word of God, then, would give us warrant for exalting God because of the greatness of our redemption.
****END OF EXCERPT FROM STUDY ON REDEMPTION*******
2) THE BASIS OF THE BELIEVER'S SPIRITUAL BLESSING, cont.
b cont.) GOD'S REDEMPTION IN CHRIST, cont.
ii) [Eph 1:7-10]:
(v. 7) "In Him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God's grace
(v. 8) that He lavished on us with all wisdom and understanding.
(v. 9) and He made known to us the mystery of His will according to His good pleasure, which He purposed in Christ,
(v. 10) to be put into effect when the times will have reached their fulfillment--to bring all things in heaven and on earth together under one head, even Christ."
ii_a) GOD GRACIOUSLY PROVIDES INDIVIDUALS WITH WISDOM AND UNDERSTANDING OF HIS PLAN OF REDEMPTION THROUGH CHRIST WHICH REDEMPTION IS THEREUPON BESTOWED
"In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God's grace that He lavished on us with all wisdom and understanding." =
Redemption, the forgiveness of sins unto eternal life is bestowed upon an individual as a result of God's grace = free gift, (Eph 2:8; Ro 3:23-24), to that individual of wisdom and understanding of God's plan of redemption through the blood of His Son. Notice that it is all by the will of God, not man's, that an individual has been provided with the wisdom and understanding of God's plan of redemption. No one can come to faith in the Son unless he is provided with this understanding and even the faith to believe, (Phil 1:29). From other passages in Scripture, (Jn 3:16), we can infer that the individual's understanding of God's plan of redemption was followed by a moment of faith in it, leading to the result of God declaring them redeemed.
ii_a_1) [Compare Jn 6:65]:
"He [Jesus] went on to say, 'This is why I told you that no one can come to Me unless the Father has enabled him.' "
So God enables the individual so that they can come to Christ, whereupon God then provides wisdom and understanding of His plan of redemption, i.e., He takes away the veil from the gospel:
ii_a_2) [Compare 2 Cor 3:12-16]:
(v. 12) "Therefore, since we have such a hope, we are very bold.
(v. 13) We are not like Moses, who would put a veil over his face to keep the Israelites from gazing at it while the radiance was fading away.
(v. 14) But their minds were made dull, for to this day the same veil remains when the old covenant is read. It has not been removed, because only in Christ is it taken away.
(v. 15) Even to this day when Moses is read, a veil covers their hearts.
(v. 16) But whenever anyone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away."
Notice that when anyone turns to the Lord, the veil which hides the understanding of the gospel is taken away and God grants 'to you on behalf of Christ... to believe on Him:'
ii_a_3) [Compare Phil 1:29]:
"For it has been granted to you on behalf of Christ not only to believe on Him, but also to suffer for Him"
[BKC, NT, p. 618]:
"1:8-10. God's grace is given to enable believers to understand His will. God gives them wisdom (sophia; cf v. 17; 3:10; Col 1:9, 28; 2:3, 23; 3:16; 4:5), objective insight into the true nature of God's revelation, and understanding (phronEsei), the subjective apprehension of it."
ii cont.) [Eph 1:7-10 cont.]:
(v. 7) "In Him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God's grace
(v. 8) that He lavished on us with all wisdom and understanding.
(v. 9) and He made known to us the mystery of His will according to His good pleasure, which He purposed in Christ,
(v. 10) to be put into effect when the times will have reached their fulfillment--to bring all things in = heaven and on earth together under one head, even Christ."
ii_b) GOD UNVEILED TO BELIEVERS THE MYSTERY OF HIS PURPOSE FOR THE DISPENSATIONS OF THE AGES AND THEIR FULFILLMENT OF PLACING ALL THINGS UNDER CHRIST IN THE DISPENSATION OF THE MILLENNIAL RULE
"gnOrisas ...................hEmin to ..mustErion tou thelEmatos
"having made known to us ....the mystery .....the will
autou kata ..............tEn eudokian ...........autou hEn
His ....according to the .good pleasure ...His ....which
proetheto .....en autO .....eis oikonomian ...........tou .....plErOmatos
He purposed in Himself .for an adminstration ..of the fullness
tOn ...kairOn anakephalaiOsasthai ta ..panta ........en tO christO"
of the times, ...to sum up ...................the all things ..in the Christ.
"And He made known to us the mystery of His will according to His good pleasure, which He purposed in Christ, to be put into effect when the times will have reached their fulfillment--to bring all things in heaven and on earth together under one head, even Christ." =
ii_b_1) THE MYSTERY OF GOD'S WILL DEFINED AS A PREVIOUSLY HIDDEN TRUTH UNVEILED BY GOD'S REVELATION
"the mystery of His will" =
Note that it is by the grace of God, (v. 7b), that God has made known to the believer the mystery = previously hidden truth unveiled by God's revelation = of His plan for the fulfillment of the ages. In view here is the mystery of God's of His plan for the fulfillment of the ages to culminate in Christ's millennial rule. Old Testament Scripture has numerous passages that speak of a Kingdom Age but the specifics were not stipulated until the New Testament was completed, the understanding of which God made available to believers.
[BKC, NT, p. 618]:
"1:8-10. God's grace is given to enable believers to understand His will. God gives them wisdom (sophia; cf v. 17; 3:10; Col 1:9, 28; 2:3, 23; 3:16; 4:5), objective insight into the true nature of God's revelation, and understanding (phronEsei), the subjective apprehension of it. So believers are able to grasp something of the divine purpose of the ages and to see its relevance in the present time. This is accomplished because God made known to us the mystery of His will (cf. 'will' in Eph 1:1, 5, 11). 'Mystery' is a previously hidden truth unveiled by God's revelation (cf. Rom 16:25.."
ii_b_2) God UNVEILED TO BELIEVERS THE MYSTERY OF HIS PURPOSE FOR THE ADMINISTRATION OF THE COMPLETION OF THE AGES = THE MILLENNIAL KINGDOM RULE PLACING ALL THINGS UNDER CHRIST
"To be put into effect when the times will have reached their fulfillment[lit. 'for an administration of the fullness of the time'] --to bring all things in heaven and on earth together under one head, even Christ." =
"administration" = "oikonomian" = dispensation =
The word "oikonomian" in its various forms appears nine times in the New Testament. In six of these appearances (Lk. 16:2-4; 1 Cor. 9:17; Eph. 3:2; Col. 1:25) it is translated stewardship or dispensation and refers to a responsible office or ministry entrusted to one's care by a higher authority. In the other three appearances (Eph 1:10; 3:9; 1 Tim. 1:4) it is translated dispensation, fellowship and edifying in the King James Version and administration in the New American Standard Bible. In these three passages it refers to a particular way of God's administering His rule over the world. Ephesians 1:10 is of special interest, for it appears to refer to the particular way that God will administer His rule in the coming Millennium (the Millennial Dispensation)."
This particular administration/dispensation is stipulated as a period to occur 'in the fullness, [i.e., completion] of the times = ages of history.
[BKC, NT, p. 618]:
"This mystery (unveiled truth) is God's good pleasure (cf. Eph 1:5) to purpose in Christ to bring all things in heaven and on earth under His headship in the consummation of time. The words to be put into effect when the times will have reached their fulfillment are literally, 'unto the dispensation of the fullness of the times.' The 'dispensation' (oikonomia) is an arrangement or administration. This dispensation is the millennial kingdom when 'the times' in God's purposes will be completed (fulfilled), and all things both spiritual and material will be under Christ and His rule (cf. 1 Cor 15:27; Col 1:20).
The words 'bring all things..together under one Head' translate one Greek word (which occurs elsewhere in the NT only in Rom 13:9), to speak of summing up all the commandments under love. In the Millennium everything will be restored and brought together under Christ, the one Head. This does not suggest that everyone will be saved; instead, sin's disorder will be removed and universal peace will be established (Isa 2:2-4; 11:1-10).
[Expositors Bible Commentary, NIV, Vol. 11, Zondervan Publishing, Grand Rapids, Mich, 1978, Skevington Wood, p. 26]:
"The word Paul uses is oikonomia, which occurs nine times in the NT... Its basic meaning relates to household management (Luke 16:2-4) and is extended to cover general provision or arrangement. Eventually it represents the divine government of the universe... Here Paul uses it to suggest the administration or putting into effect of God's far-reaching redemptive plan (3:9).
This takes place when the messianic age is inaugurated. Salvation history is regarded as unfolding in a series of 'times' (NIV) or seasons (kairoi) that reach their climax in the [2nd] advent of Christ (Gal 4:4). The Christian era has still to run its course, however, and not until its close will God's eternal purpose come to full fruition (Acts 1:6). Then universal reconciliation will be achieved. 'All things' (ta panta) is literally 'the all' (Col 1:17; Heb 1:3) and includes the whole creation. Everything in heaven and on earth will be subsumed under Christ (1 Cor 15:24-28; Phil 2:10, 11). The verb anakephalaioO ('to bring together') means to sum up together again (Rom 13:9). It is derived not from kephalE ('a head') but from kephalaion ('a summary, or sum total'). When a column of figures was added up, the total was placed at the top. At the end of the age everything will be seen to add up to Christ. This recognition of His preeminence will ensure that the original harmony of the universe is restored (Rom 8:18-21). The mission of Christ extends beyond the human race and assumes cosmic dimensions."
iii) [Eph 1:11-12]:
(v. 11) "In Him we [all believers] were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of Him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of His will,
(v. 12) in order that we [Jewish believers, (vv. 11, 13 'you also' = Gentile believers], who were the first to hope in Christ, might be for the praise of his glory."
iii_a) GOD PREDESTINED AND CHOSE FROM AMONGST ISRAELITES INDIVIDUALS TO BE THE FIRST HOPE IN CHRIST
"In order that we [Jewish believers, (vv. 11, 13 'you also' = Gentile believers], who were the first to hope in Christ." =
Just as God predestinated and thereupon chose ancient Israel out of all the other nations to be His chosen people in conformity with the purpose of His will - and not according to the will of the Israelites -
(He did not look down in history to see if they would choose to be His chosen people)
- in the same way, God predestinated and thereupon chose a part of Israel out of all of the Israelites to be in Christ according to the plan of Him Who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of His will - and not according to the will of any of those individuals.
Note that neither ancient Israel nor any of those individual Jews chosen to be in Christ are depicted in Scripture as having the capacity or propensity to accept God's plan for them, (Ro 8:7) - it is all described as by the grace of God alone to the glory of God alone.
iii_b) GOD ALSO PREDESTINED AND CHOSE FROM AMONGST THE GENTILES INDIVIDUALS TO ALSO HAVE THEIR HOPE IN CHRIST
"In Him we [Gentile believers] were also chosen [in addition to those from Israel, (v. 11)], having been predestined according to the plan of Him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of His will"
Consider the baseball team coach who has a predetermined plan, and as a result of that plan, chooses some players to play in the next game and not others. These choices are in conformity to the purpose of the coach's will, i.e. his predetermined game plan, and not the will of any of the players.
In the same way, by God's predestined plan He chose some individuals and not others from both Jews and Gentiles to have a sure 'hope in Christ', (v. 12) 'for the praise of His glory'. These choices are indicated in this passage as being exclusively in conformity to the purpose of God's will by the grace of God alone to the praise of God alone, and not by the will or plan of anyone else. The fact that God has predestinated and thereupon chosen some to have a sure 'hope in Christ' and not others does not interfere with the individual's free will to choose to believe in Christ. And all who are chosen believe and all who are not chosen do not believe of their own free wills.
[Expositors, cont.]:
"11 This ultimate reconciliation is brought about in Christ and so Paul passes on to a further consideration - namely, that Christians have been chosen as heirs (eklErOthEmen), or given their share in the heritage (NEB). Israel was regarded as the Lord's inheritance (nahalAh) and portion (heleq). The church as constituting the new Israel now enters into the same privilege (Rom 8;17; Gal 3:29; Col 1:12). This apportionment is said to stem from the divine foreordination (cf. vv. 4, 5). It is no accident that God has allotted to His new people in Christ the inheritance designed for those who recognize the Savior. In no sense are we to think that Christians have somehow usurped Jewish privileges. Before time began, God marked out those in Christ to be co-heirs with His Son. Whatever He decides is put into effect, for He is the One Who ensures that everything is worked out in line with His own will (cf. v. 5).
12. So far, what Paul has written applies to Jews and Gentiles alike, united in the one body of Christ. Now he refers in turn to one class (v. 12) and then to the other (vv. 13, 14). The 'first to hope in Christ' (literally, the Christ - the definite article is significant) were Jews who recognized their Messiah prior to the conversion of the Gentiles. This expectation of God's coming Deliverer was distinctive to the Jews. The Gentiles entertained no such prospect (2:12). This appears to be the most satisfactory interpretation of proelpizO ('hope')... In v. 6 Paul shows that the adoption of Christians as sons furthers the praise of God's glorious grace. Here he says that their participation in the divine inheritance will have a similar effect. The glory, or revealed character, [of] God will shine out through them and evoke praise from the whole universe (3:10)."
[BKC, NT, p. 618]:
"11-12. As a result of the spiritual blessing of insight into the mystery of God's will (vv. 8-10) Paul discussed the Jewish believers' inclusion in Christ. The we in verse 11 seems to be a distinct group from the anonymous 'we/us' in verses 3-10 [i.e., all believers are in view, Jews and Gentiles alike; but not so in v. 11]. This is supported by two facts: (1) verse 11 includes the word also and (2) verse 13 changes to 'you also,' which refers to Gentile believers. Though both Jews and Gentiles participate in God's blessings, the Jews were called first (cf. Acts 3:26; Rom 1:16).
In Ephesians 1:11 chosen (eklErOthEmen) is not the same word used in verse 4 (exelexato). The word in verse 11 (used only here in the NT) means 'to cast a lot' or 'to appoint or obtain by lot.' In this context it is best rendered 'to be chosen, appointed, or destined.' Jewish believers were chosen because they were predestined. But this predestination is not a matter of whim or caprice on God's part; it is according to the plan (prothesin, 'purpose'; cf. Rom 8:28; 9:11; Eph 3:11) of God's sovereignty for including the Jewish believers in the church, which is headed up by Christ. The purpose of God's choice of the Jewish believers is that they might be for the praise of His glory, which parallels verse 6. The words 'for the praise of His glory' serve as a refrain used after a description of the work of each Person of the Trinity (cf. vv. 6, 14)."
2) THE BASIS OF THE BELIEVER'S SPIRITUAL BLESSING, cont.
c) GOD'S SEAL WITH THE SPIRIT GUARANTEES REDEMPTION UPON BELIEVING IN THE GOSPEL
(v. 13) "And you also were included in Christ when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. Having believed you were marked in Him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit
(v. 14) Who is a deposit guaranteeing our [eternal] inheritance until the redemption of those who are God's possession to the praise of His glory."
i_a) 'AND YOU ALSO' = NOT ONLY JEWISH BUT GENTILE BELIEVERS ARE IN VIEW
[BKC, NT, p. 618-9]:
"11-12. As a result of the spiritual blessing of insight into the mystery of God's will (vv. 8-10) Paul discussed the Jewish believers' inclusion in Christ. The we in verse 11 seems to be a distinct group from the anonymous 'we/us' in verses 3-10 [i.e., all believers are in view, Jews and Gentiles alike; but not so in v. 11]. This is supported by two facts: (1) verse 11 includes the word also and (2) verse 13 changes to 'you also,' which refers to Gentile believers. Though both Jews and Gentiles participate in God's blessings, the Jews were called first (cf. Acts 3:26; Rom 1:16)...
God's spiritual blessings for believers are based not only on the sovereign election of the Father (vv. 3-6) and the redemptive work of the Son (vv. 7-12), but also on the seal of the Holy Spirit"
i cont.) [Eph 1:13-14 cont.]:
(v. 13) "And you also were included in Christ when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. Having believed you were marked in Him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit
(v. 14) Who is a deposit guaranteeing our [eternal] inheritance until the redemption of those who are God's possession to the praise of His glory."
The Greek text with English underneath looks like this - notice that it ties in with verse 11 where Jews are chosen in Christ and then Paul declares in v. 13, so are Gentiles:
en .HO ….kai ..humeis ..................................................akousantes
in Whom ..also..you [Gentiles were included, (v. 11)].having heard
[in Christ]
ton logon tEs ….alEtheias to ..euaggelion tEs sOtErias humOn …
the word .of the .truth .......the gospel ........of ..salvation your …….
en HO ...................kai ..pisteusantes ……esphragisthEte
in Whom [Christ] also .having believed ...you were sealed
tO ……..Pneumati tEs epaggelias tO hagiO
with the Spirit …….…of promise ..…Holy
ho ….estin …arrabOn .tEs klEronomias ........hEmOn
Who .is [the] deposit........…of ..inheritance .....our
eis …….apolutrOsin ..tEs ...peripoiEseOs
for [the] redemption ..of the possession
eis........epainon …..tEs doxEs ...autou
to [the] praise ...............of glory His
i_a) "HAVING BELIEVED" IS A COMPLETED ACTION VERB PORTRAYING A SINGLE MOMENT OF BELIEVING SUFFICIENT TO PRODUCE THE STATED RESULTS
Notice "having believed" is an aorist, active, participle which portrays a completed action, i.e., a single moment of believing in order to produce the stated results which are indicated in the passage:
i_b) HAVING BELIEVED ONE IS INCLUDED IN CHRIST FOREVER
"And you also were included in Christ when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. Having believed, you were marked in Him [Christ] with a Seal, the Holy Spirit of promise" =
At the point of having believed the gospel of your salvation the promised Holy Spirit "included" the believer "in Christ".
Notice that being placed into Christ is an eternally secure picture. There are passages throughout the New Testament that picture the building up of the Church, the Body of Christ by believers being included in Christ but never the losing of parts of that body by the loss of believers and then the reinstating of them - especially over and over again as each believer sins and repents and sins again and repents again. Thus one who is placed into Christ, i.e., the Body of Christ, the Church is eternally secure in the church and thus destined to heaven.
i_c) INDIVIDUALS AT THE MOMENT OF HAVING BELIEVED ARE SEALED PERMANENTLY INTO CHRIST WITH THE PROMISED HOLY SPIRIT
"And you also were included in Christ when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. Having believed, you were marked in Him [Christ] with a Seal, the Holy Spirit of promise" =
"seal" = A seal means something which is permanently affixed, not to be broken until the final act of salvation is accomplished - that of going to be with the Lord in heaven in a perfect state of righteousness - a perfect body.
Believers in the gospel are, at the point of believing, sealed permanently into the Body of Christ with the Holy Spirit of promise Who places them into Christ as the Seal within them permanently and forever into the Body of Christ.
In view is a permanent sealing into Christ, i.e., the Body of Christ by the Seal, the Holy Spirit of promise as a promise of God Himself Who indwells the individual as the actual Seal. By definition a seal is a guarantee that the promise will be fulfilled - and that Seal is God Himself!
Furthermore, since there is no obligation of the individual stipulated in this passage except to express a moment of belief in the gospel, then it is a unilateral guarantee and promise and seal of God Himself. Considering the absolute holiness and absolute power of God, any unilateral promise of God will be fulfilled. So here there is no question that the believer will remain sealed into Christ forever, i.e., eternally secure in his salvation.
Notice that at the point of believing the gospel of salvation, i.e., of faith alone in Christ alone unto eternal life, (Jn 3:16; Eph 2:8-9), the Holy Spirit "included" the believer "in Christ" (i.e., into His Body, the Church, (1 Cor 12:12-13). The Holy Spirit Himself thus became the Mark of a Seal in the believer by actually indwelling the believer with His Personal Presence, i.e., Holy Spirit baptism. This action signifies God's absolute guarantee of the believer's inheritance of eternal life - his final stage of redemption into His perfect and eternal body, (1 Cor 15:51-54) and such action establishes that all believers are God's possession forever!!, (2 Cor 5:5; Eph 4:30)]
[Compare Eph 4:30]:
"And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God with Whom you were sealed for the day of redemption."
So God Himself seals the believer's eternal destiny with Him in heaven at the moment that that person trusts in Christ as his Personal Savior. He seals each believer "until the redemption of those who are God's possession" = until the experiential redemption of all believers when they finally receive their perfect bodies.
All believers are promised by God to be redeemed at the point of their trusting in Christ as Savior - this is called positional redemption: believers are permanently placed by God in the legal position of already having been saved. After this, in God's time, according to His plan of the ages, each believer will receive his resurrection body.
[Compare Eph 2:4-6]:
(v. 4) "But because of His great love for us, God, Who is rich in mercy,
(v. 5) made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions - it is by grace you have been saved.
(v. 6) And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with Him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus."
[i.e., God judicially and positionally placed the believer with Christ in heaven at the point that that believer trusted in Christ as Savior]
Upon believing then, the individual is sealed by God "until the redemption of those Who are God's possession to the praise of His glory." =
"those Who are God's possession." = that's you & I - as believers:
[Compare Jn 1:12]:
(v. 12) "Yet to all who received Him, to those Who believed in His name, He gave the right to become children of God [Compare Ro 8:16]:
"The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are God's children."
[Compare 2 Cor 1:21-22]:
(v. 21) "Now He Who establishes us with you in Christ and anointed us is God.
(v. 22) Who also sealed us and gave us the Spirit in our hearts as a pledge."
i_d) INDIVIDUALS AT THE MOMENT OF HAVING BELIEVED ARE SEALED PERMANENTLY INTO CHRIST WITH THE PROMISED HOLY SPIRIT WHO HIMSELF IS A DEPOSIT GUARANTEEING OUR [ETERNAL] INHERITANCE
"Having believed you were marked in Him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit Who is a deposit guaranteeing our [eternal] inheritance" =
"deposit" = "arrabon" = an earnest, a down payment with more to come, i.e., the final redeemed state of the believer’s perfection in Christ. God being the One Who has put down this earnest, Who actually is the earnest, He will absolutely deliver. It is a unilateral and absolute guarantee because there is no stipulation in this passage for the individual to perform except to believe and because God is absolute power and holiness. So there is nothing the believer can do to undo it.
i_e) GOD THE HOLY SPIRIT IS THE DEPOSIT, THE ABSOLUTE EARNEST, THE ABSOLUTE GUARANTOR OF THE ETERNAL INHERITANCE OF THE BELIEVER WHICH IS THE REDEMPTION OF THE BELIEVER, I.E., HIS FINAL PERFECT STATE WHEN HE HAS BEEN COMPLETELY REDEEMED TO LIVE WITH GOD FOREVER
"Having believed you were marked in Him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit Who is a Deposit guaranteeing our [eternal] inheritance until the redemption of those who are God's possession to the praise of His glory." =
So God the Holy Spirit is the absolute Deposit, the absolute Earnest, the Absolute Guarantor of the believer’s eternal inheritance which is the redemption of the believers "who are [now, being in Christ] God's possession, i.e., his final perfect state when he has been completely redeemed to live with God for all eternity.
i_f) HAVING BELIEVED THE BELIEVER IS NOW GOD'S POSSESSION AND IT IS ALL TO THE GLORY OF GOD INFERRING ETERNAL SECURITY
"Having believed you were marked in Him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit Who is a Deposit guaranteeing our [eternal] inheritance until the redemption of those who are God's possession to the praise of His glory." =
Notice, after all is said and done, upon believing, the individual becomes God’s eternal possession and God alone is to get the glory, hence man cannot be involved in contributing to his redemption, but must trust in God to do it all. Since God does it all and the believer is not God’s possession, it is eternally secure.
[Bible Knowledge Commentary, op. cit., p. 619]:
"1:14b. The believer is sealed with the Holy Spirit until the redemption (apolytrOsin..) of those who are God’s possession. This redemption is not release from the guilt of sin; that was spoken of in Ephesians 1:7 and the believer is already "God’s possession". Instead, this is the believers’ ultimate, final release from the presence of sin (cf. Rom 8:23b; Phil 3:20-21). The Greek word for "possession" (peripoiEsis) is also used in 1Thessalonians 5:9; 2 Thessalonians 2:14; Hebrews 10:39.. and 1 Peter 2:9."
"to the praise of His glory" = And God thus gets all the glory because the believer has nothing to do with his eternal redemption. All he did was believe in God to take care of it all.
[BKC, cont.]:
"Again the doxological refrain, to the praise of His glory, is repeated here as it was after the description of the work of the Father (Eph 1:6) and of the Son (v. 12)."
********************************************************
EXCERPT FROM STUDY ON NEW CREATION IN CHRIST
2 COR 5:17
I) [2 Cor 5:17]:
"Therefore if any man is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.'
A) BELIEVERS ARE A NEW KIND OF CREATURE IN CHRIST JESUS, NEITHER JEW NOR GENTILE
"new creature... the old things passed away; behold, new things have come." = "new" = "kaine"
[Theological Dictionary of the NT, 1 Vol., Kittel & Friedrich, Eds, by Geoffrey W. Bromiley, Eerdmans Publishing, 1985, p. 388]:
"As distinct from néos, 'new in time,' ['kaine', str 2537] means 'new in nature' (with an implication of 'better').", i.e., unique as opposed to renewed or improved over time.
1) [Compare Eph 2:10]:
"For we [believers, (vv. -9)] are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do."
Note that believers have become God's workmanship in the sense that they are new creations, new creatures - in Christ Jesus, unique having been placed into the body of Christ, neither Jew nor Gentile, but a third kind of human being who is unique in the sense that he is a part of the body of Christ.
***************END OF EXCERPT*************
i_c) ONCE SAVED ONE IS GUARANTEED REDEMPTION = ULTIMATE RELEASE FROM THE PRESENCE OF SIN BY THE INDWELLING AND SEALING MINISTRY OF THE HOLY SPIRIT
"having believed you were marked in Him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit the promised Holy Spirit Who is a deposit guaranteeing our [eternal] inheritance" =
God the Holy Spirit permanently indwells the believer at the point of that individual's believing in the gospel, i.e., trusting in Christ as his Personal Savior.
'Seal" = A seal means something which is permanently affixed, not to be broken until the final act of salvation is accomplished - that of going to be with the Lord in heaven in a perfect state of righteousness - a perfect body.
The Holy Spirit Himself thus became the Mark of a Seal in the believer by actually indwelling the believer with His Personal Presence, i.e., Holy Spirit baptism. This action signifies God's absolute guarantee of the believer's inheritance of eternal life - his final stage of redemption into His perfect and eternal body, (1 Cor 15:51-54) and such action establishes that all believers are God's possession forever!!, (2 Cor 5:5; Eph 4:30)]
i_c_1) [Compare Eph 4:30]:
"And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God with Whom you were sealed for the day of redemption."
God Himself seals the believer's eternal destiny with Him in heaven at the moment that that person trusts in Christ as his Personal Savior. He seals each believer "until the redemption of those who are God's possession...." = until the experiential redemption of all believers when they finally receive their perfect bodies.
All believers are promised by God to be redeemed at the point of their trusting in Christ as Savior - this is called positional redemption: believers are permanently placed by God in the legal position of already having been saved. After this, in God's time, according to His plan of the ages, each believer will receive his resurrection body.
i_c_2)[Compare Eph 2:4-6]:
(v. 4) "But because of His great love for us, God, Who is rich in mercy,
(v. 5) made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions - it is by grace you have been saved.
(v. 6) And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with Him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus."
[i.e., God judicially and positionally placed the believer with Christ in heaven at the point that that believer trusted in Christ as Savior]
[BKC, NT, p. 619]:
"The last part of verse 13 is literally, 'They were sealed in Him [Christ] with the Holy Spirit of promise.' The word 'seal' indicates security (Matt 27:66; Eph 4:30), authentication and approval (John 6:27), certification of genuineness (John 3:33), and indentification of ownership (2 Cor 1:22; Rev 7:2; 9:4). God is the One Who seals, Christ is the sphere in which the seal is done, and the Holy Spirit is the instrument of the seal. 'The promised Holy Spirit' refers to Christ's promise to His disciples that He would send the Spirit (Luke 24:49; John 14:16; 15:26; 16:13; Acts 1:5).
The Holy Spirit Who seals is a deposit guaranteeing our [eternal] inheritance. The 'deposit' is more than a pledge which could be returned; it is a down payment with a guarantee of more ot come (cf. 'the firstfruits of the Spirit,' Rom 8:23). 'A deposit guaranteeing' translates the Greek arrabOn (used elsewhere in the NT only in 2 Cor 1:22; 5:5). It guarantees believers' '[eternal] inheritance' of salvation and heaven (cf. 1 Peter 1:4)... In essence the 'deposit' of the Holy Spirit is a little bit of heaven in believers' lives with a guarantee of much more yet to come."
i cont.) [Eph 1:13-14 (cont.)]:
(v. 13) "And you also were included in Christ when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. Having believed you were marked in Him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit,
(v. 14) Who is a deposit guaranteeing our [eternal] inheritance until the redemption of those who are God's possession to the praise of His glory."
i_d) THE BELIEVER IS SEALED UNTIL REDEMPTION = THEIR RELEASE FROM THE PRESENCE OF SIN
"Who is a deposit guaranteeing our [eternal] inheritance until the redemption of those who are God's possession" =
i_d_1) [Compare Ro 8:23]:
"Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies."
i_d_2) [Compare Phil 3:20-21]:
(v. 20) "But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ,
(v. 21) who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body."
[BKC, NT, p. 619]:
"The believer is sealed with the Holy Spirit until the redemption (apolytrOsin) of those who are God's possession. This redemption is not release from the guilt of sin; that was spoken of in Ephesians 1:7 and the believer is already 'God's possession.' Instead, this is the believers' ultimate, final release from the presence of sin (cf. Rom 8:23b; Phil 3:20-21). The Greek word for 'possession' (peripoiEsis) is used in 1 Thessalonians 5:9; 2 Thessalonians 2:14; Hebrews 10:39.. and 1 Peter 2:9. Again the doxological refrain, to the praise of His glory, is repeated here as it was after the description of the work of the Father (Eph 1:6) and of the Son (v. 12)."
i_e) THE BELIEVER IS GOD'S POSSESSION
"....until the redemption of those who are God's possession..." =
"God's possession" = that's you & I - as believers:
[Compare Jn 1:12]:
(v. 12) "Yet to all who received Him, to those Who believed in His name, He gave the right to become children of God
[Compare Ro 8:16]:
"The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are God's children."
3) PAUL'S PRAYER FOR THE BELIEVERS
a) THE REASONS FOR PAUL'S PRAYER
i) [Eph 1:15-16]:
(v. 15) "For this reason, ever since I heard about your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints.
(v. 16) I have not stopped giving thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers."
i_a) PAUL'S REASON FOR PRAYING FOR THE BELIEVERS INCLUDES THE SPIRITUAL BLESSINGS UPON THEM WHICH HE JUST ENUMERATED
"For this reason... I have not stopped giving thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers" =
The phrase "For this reason" points back to verses 3-14 which is one complete sentence - which enumerates the many spiritual blessings that these believers had bestowed upon them from God:
being blessed with 'every spiritual blessing... in the heavenly realms', (v. 3);
being 'chosen...to be holy and blameless in His sight', (v. 4);
being 'predestined...to be adopted as His sons', (v. 5);
receiving 'redemption...in Him...through His blood ..the forgiveness of sins', (v. 7);
having 'made known [to them of].... the mystery of His will... to bring all things... under Christ', (vv. 9-10);
being 'chosen... [to be] in Him [= in Christ]', (v. 11) and 'included in Christ', (v. 13);
being 'marked in Christ with a Seal... [of the] Holy Spirit', (v. 14);
receiving an [eternal] inheritance.... [of] redemption ...[as] God's possession', (v. 14)
[BKC, NT, p. 619]:
"1:15. Because of (For this reason) the believers' acquisition of every spiritual blessing - including election, predestination, adoption, grace, redemption, forgiveness, wisdom, understanding, knowledge of the mystery of His will, the sealing of the Holy Spirit, and inheritance - Paul now prayed that his readers might know God personally and intimately. Verses 15-23 are one sentence in the Greek, as are verses 3-14.
i_b) PAUL'S REASON FOR PRAYING FOR THE BELIEVERS INCLUDES THE FACT THAT HE HAD HEARD OF THEIR FAITH IN CHRIST AND THEIR LOVE FOR THE SAINTS
""For this reason, ever since I heard about your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints." =
Paul has been remembering the believers in his prayers ever since he had heard about their faith in the Lord Jesus and their love for all the saints.
i_b_1) [Compare 1 Cor 13:4-8a]:
(v. 4) "Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.
(v. 5) It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.
(v. 6) Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.
(v. 7) It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
(v. 8a) Love never fails.'
i_b_2) [Gal 5:22]:
(v. 22) "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,
(v. 23) gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law."
[BKC, NT, ibid.]:
"Paul heard of the Ephesians' faith in Christ, their vertical relationship, and their love for all the saints, their horizontal relationship (cf. Col 1:4; 2 Thes 1:3). A proper relationship with God should lead to a proper relationship with other Christians. Interestingly Paul wrote about 'love with faith' in Ephesians 6:23."
b) PAUL PRAYS FOR THE SPIRIT OF WISDOM AND REVELATION SO THAT THE BELIEVERS MAY KNOW GOD BETTER
i) [Eph 1:17]:
(v. 17) "I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know Him better"
i_a) THE SPIRIT OF WISDOM AND REVELATION IS NOT GOD THE HOLY SPIRIT
"I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the spirit of wisdom and revelation" =
This does not refer to the reception of the Holy Spirit as that has already been received by the believer at the moment of believing in the gospel, (vv. 13-14).
i_b) THE HOLY SPIRIT IS THE TEACHER WHO IS RECEIVED AT THE MOMENT ONE BELIEVES IN THE GOSPEL
Upon believing the gospel the individual receives the gift of the Holy Spirit as a deposit, (Eph 1:13-14), who job it is to be that individual's Teacher:
i_b_1) [Compare Jn 14:6]:
"But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, Whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you."
i_b_2) [Compare 1 Cor 2:12]:
(v. 12) "We have not received the spirit of the world but the Spirit who is from God, that we may understand what God has freely given us.
(v. 13) This is what we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom but in words taught by the Spirit, expressing spiritual truths in spiritual words.
(v. 14) The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned.
(v. 15) The spiritual man makes judgments about all things, but he himself is not subject to any man's judgment:
(v. 16) 'For who has known the mind of the Lord that he may instruct him?' But we have the mind of Christ.' "
i_c) IN ORDER FOR A BELIEVER TO GROW IN WISDOM AND RECEPTION OF GOD'S REVELATION SO THAT HE MAY KNOW GOD BETTER, GOD MUST PROVIDE THE SPIRIT OF WISDOM AND REVELATION TO HIM
"I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know Him better" =
In order for a believer to grow in wisdom and revelation from God so that he may know God better, he must be granted by God the spirit, i.e., the attitude of wisdom and revelation.
To have a spirit of wisdom and revelation is to have an attitude which is receptive to the wisdom of God's revelation.
Although man is responsible to study and show himself as an approved workman rightly dividing the Word of God...
i_c_1) [Compare 2 Tim 2:15]:
"Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a workman who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth."
...it is nevertheless by the grace of God that the believer is motivated by God's gift to him of a spirit of wisdom and revelation.
[BKC, NT, p. 620]:
"The NIV begins a new sentence here, but this verse is actually a continuation of verse 16. Paul addressed his request to the God of our Lord Jesus Christ (cf. v. 3), the glorious Father, that is, the Father to Whom all glory belongs (cf. 'the God of glory' in Acts 7:2 and 'the Lord of glory' in 1 Cor 2:8). The content of Paul's request is that God may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation. Though the NIV translators interpret 'spirit' (pneuma) as referring to the Holy Spirit, it is better to see it as disposition or attitude because of the two genitives following it ('of wisdom and [of] revelation'; cf. 'a gentle spirit' in 1 Cor 4:21). On the other hand one cannot obtain a spirit or attitude of wisdom and revelation apart from the Holy Spirit. As Isaiah wrote, 'The Spirit of the Lord will rest on Him [Messiah] - the Spirit of wisdom and of understanding, the Spirit of counsel and of power, the Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord' (Isa 11:2). 'Wisdom (sophia; cf. Eph 1:8, 3:10) gives insight into the true nature of things, and 'revelation' is the unveiling of the object discussed, namely, God Himself. The purpose in having this wisdom and revelation is that you may know Him, God, better. The Greek is the phrase, 'in knowing of Him.' This knowing (epignOseOs, in 4:13). It includes an intimate awareness of God's character and will. Philosophy says, 'Know thyself,' whereas Christianity says, 'Know God through Jesus Christ.' "
c) PAUL PRAYS FOR THE BELIEVERS TO HAVE THE SPIRIT OF WISDOM AND REVELATION SO THAT THEY MAY KNOW GOD BETTER HAVING BEEN ENLIGHTENED AS PREVIOUSLY STIPULATED
i) [Eph 1:17-18a]:
(v. 17) "I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know Him better
(v. 18a NKJV) the eyes of your understanding [lit., 'heart'] being [lit., 'having been'] enlightened"
"The eyes of your understanding [lit., 'heart'] being [lit., 'having been'] enlightened" =
Paul inserts this parenthetical participle phrase, (perfect tense), to remind the believers that they have already been enlightened in the ways that he stipulated in vv. 3-14, (believers' acquisition of every spiritual blessing - including election, predestination, adoption, grace, redemption, forgiveness, wisdom, understanding, knowledge of the mystery of His will, the sealing of the Holy Spirit, and inheritance). This past enlightenment is then to lead to further edification about God with the reception of the spirit of wisdom and revelation.
The word "understanding" in this verse is literally heart ["kardias"]:
[Vines Expository Dictionary of Old and New Testament Words, W.E. Vine, Edited by F. F. Bruce, Fleming H. Revell Co. Old Tappan, N.J., 1981, pp. 206-207]:
"The word [heart] came to stand for man's entire mental and moral activity, both the rational and the emotional elements... As to its usage in the N.T. it denotes (a) the seat of physical life, Acts 14:17; Jas. 5:5; (b) the seat of moral nature and spiritual life, the seat of grief, John 14:1; Rom. 9:2; 2 Cor 2:4; joy, John 16:22; Eph. 5:19; the desires, Matt. 5:28; 2 Pet 2:14; the affections, Luke 24:32; Acts 21:13; the perceptions, John 12:40; Eph. 4:18; the thoughts, Matt. 9:4; Heb. 4:12; the understanding, Matt. 13:15; Rom. 1:21; the reasoning powers, Mark 2:6; Luke 24:38; the imagination, Luke 1:51; conscience, Acts 2:37; 1 John 3:20; the intentions, Heb 4:12; cp. 1 Pet 4:1; purpose, Acts 11:23; 2 Cor 9:7; the will, Rom. 6:17; Col. 3:15; faith, Mark 11:23; Rom. 10:10; Heb. 3:12. The heart, in its moral significance in the O.T., includes the emotions, the reason and the will.
i_a) Psalm 73:21]:
"Thus my heart was grieved, and I was vexed in my mind."
i_b) [Hebrews 8:10]:
"I will put My laws in their mind and write them on their hearts."
i_c) [Compare Luke 24:25 and Luke 24:45]:
(24:25) "O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken."
(v. 24:45) "And He opened their understanding [lit. mind], that they might comprehend the Scriptures."
[BKC, NT, p. 620]:
"The NEB, NASB, and NIV state another request: I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened. However, this is not a new sentence in Greek. It seems to be parenthetical, as in the KJV, ASV, and RSV. In other words, Paul had prayed (v. 17) that they might have true spiritual insight into God, and then he included the phrase, 'having the eyes of your heart enlightened' (RSV). Paul's request for them to know God was within proper bounds because their hearts had been enlightened (the Gr. perf. tense indicates past action with continuing results), as discussed in verses 3-14, especially 7-9. In the Bible the 'heart' is the center of one's personality."
d) PAUL PRAYS IN ORDER THAT THE BELIEVERS MAY KNOW THE SURE HOPE OF GOD’S CALLING OF THEM OF THEIR ETERNAL INHERITANCE
i) [Eph 1:17-18]:
(v. 17) "I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know Him better
(v. 18) the eyes of your understanding having been enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which He has called you, the riches of His glorious inheritance in the saints."
"in order that you may know the hope to which He has called you, the riches of His glorious inheritance in the saints." =
Paul prays for the spirit of wisdom and revelation for the believers in order that they may know God better, (v. 17), having been enlightened by the indwelling Holy Spirit, (v. 18a), in order that they may know the sure hope to which God has called them, the riches of His glorious inheritance in the saints.", (v. 18b).
Paul’s prayer to the believers includes an entreaty to God that the believers will have absolute assurance of their eternal inheritance to which God has called them to receive.
"hope" = "elpis" = sure hope
The word rendered 'hope' in the original Greek is not the same as in English by definition. In the Greek it signifies a sure hope not an indefinite possibility.
Certain expectation does not allow for possibility of failure or conditions such as an individual’s faithful or unfaithful lifestyle and certain acts such as water baptism, going to Mass, etc. Sure is certain, an assured expectation - no doubts, absolutely reliable. And look why: it rests in the reliability of God and His promise to save the individual at the moment of faith alone in Christ alone as sealed by the Holy Spirit Himself:
i_a) [Eph 1:13-14]:
(v. 13) "And you were included in Christ when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. Having believed, you were marked in Him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit,
[Notice that God the Holy Spirit seals the believer and becomes a deposit Who guarantees the redemption of those who are God’s possession - the very ones that the Holy Spirit marks into Christ and indwells and seals at the point when an individual believes]:
(v. 14) Who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God's possession--to the praise of his glory." Let’s look at Scripture now to see about the use of the Greek word "Elpida" which God the Holy Spirit inspired the writers of Scripture to pen and which is rendered in English "hope":
i_b) [Titus 2:13]:
"While we wait for the blessed hope [elpida, Str. # 1680] --the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ"
Shall we not conclude that the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ is assured, i.e., it is a sure thing, a certainty? Of course, knowing Who God is. If so then since it is described in God’s Word as an "Elpida" = "hope" then "Elpida" means a certain expectation, an event which is assured = a certain expectation. The same word appears in Scripture to describe the believer’s salvation:
i_c) [1 Thes 5:8-9]:
(v. 8) "But since we belong to the day, let us be self-controlled, putting on faith and love as a breastplate, and the hope [="elpida"] of salvation as a helmet."
[Notice that those addressed, i.e., believers, (1:1, 5:1), have a sure hope, i.e. a certain expectation of their salvation - no matter what. They are indeed assured of eternal life. And the next verse confirms this]:
(v. 9) For God did not appoint us to suffer wrath but to receive salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ."
Note that salvation is dependent upon God alone. If God appointed one not to suffer wrath but to receive salvation as this verse stipulates then one can be assured that God being Who He is will deliver. So one will indeed not ever suffer wrath and assuredly has received salvation - forever.
[BKC, NT, p. 620]:
"1:18b. The first fact [of Paul's prayer] to be ascertained pertains to the past. A believer's present hope has its source in the past when he was called (cf. Rom 1:6; 8:30; Eph 4:1-4; 2 Tim 1:9) to salvation. 'Hope' in Scripture is the absolute certainty of a believer's victory in God (cf. Rom 8:23-24; Eph 4:4; Col 1:5; 1 Thes 1:3; 1 Peter 3:15)."
e) THE SURE HOPE OF GOD’S CALLING OF BELIEVERS OF THEIR ETERNAL INHERITANCE: THE RICHES OF GOD'S GLORIOUS INHERITANCE IN THE SAINTS
i) [Eph 1:17-18]:
(v. 17) "I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know Him better
(v. 18) the eyes of your understanding having been enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which He has called you, the riches of His glorious inheritance in the saints."
"the riches of His glorious inheritance in the saints" =
Notice that the saints are themselves the glorious inheritance of God - they are God's trophy of His marvelous love and grace to the rest of the universe.
i_a) [Compare Eph 2:3-7]:
(v. 3) "All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our sinful nature and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature objects of wrath.
(v. 4) But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy,
(v. 5) made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions--it is by grace you have been saved.
(v. 6) And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus,
(v. 7) in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus."
[BKC, N.T., p. 620]:
"1:18c. The second fact Paul wanted his readers to know refers to the future: the riches of His glorious inheritance in the saints. At the time of the resurrection of believers ('saints' are those set apart by God to God; cf. v. 1) God will inherit those whom He has purchased at a great price according to the riches of His grace (v. 7). This is the second of six times in Ephesians in which Paul referred to 'riches' (1:7, 18; 2:4, 7; 3:8, 16). In 1:14 Paul wrote that the Christians' 'inheritance' is their final redemption from the presence of sin. Here is verse 18 he wrote about God's inheritance, the saints themselves! Because of the 'glorious grace' (v. 6) of 'the glorious Father' (v. 17), He will receive 'His glorious inheritance' (v. 18).
f) PAUL PRAYS FOR BELIEVERS TO KNOW OF GOD'S INCOMPARABLY GREAT POWER FOR US WHO BELIEVE
i) [Eph 1:17-18]:
(v. 17) "I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know Him better
(v. 18) the eyes of your understanding having been enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which He has called you, the riches of His glorious inheritance in the saints
(v. 19) and His incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is like the working of His mighty strength."
Paul's prayer moves from the believers having knowledge of future sure hope of eternal life to the present prayer request for the believers to have a knowledge of God's incomparably great power. Verses 20-23 provide examples of God's working of His mighty strength made manifest through His Son.
[BKC, NT, p. 620]:
"The third fact Paul wanted believers to know pertains to the present time: His incomparably great power for us who believe. The word 'power' (dynamis; cf. 3:20) means a spiritually dynamic and living force. This power of God is directed toward believers. Paul then used three additional words to describe God's power. It is according to the working (energeian, 'energetic power, ' from which come the Eng. 'energy') of the might (kratous, 'power that overcomes resistance,' as in Christ's miracles; this word is used only of God, never of believers) of God's inherent strength (ischyos) which He provides (cr. 6:10; 1 Peter 4:11). This magnificent accumulation of words for power underscores the magnitude of God's 'great power' available to Christians."
g) PAUL PRAYS FOR BELIEVERS TO KNOW OF GOD'S INCOMPARABLY GREAT POWER FOR US WHO BELIEVE WHICH HE EXERTED IN CHRIST WHEN HE RAISED HIM FROM THE DEAD AND SEATED HIM AT HIS RIGHT HAND
i) [Eph 1:17-21]:
(v. 17) "I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know Him better
(v. 18) the eyes of your understanding having been enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which He has called you, the riches of His glorious inheritance in the saints.
(v. 19) and His incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is like the working of His mighty strength,
(v. 20) which He exerted in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly realms,
(v. 21) far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every title that can be given, not only in the present age but also in the one to come."
"[pray] that you may know ...the working of His mighty strength, which He exerted in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly realms, far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every title that can be given, not only in the present age but also in the one to come." =
(v. 7) "But whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ.
(v. 8) What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ
(v. 9) and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ--the righteousness that comes from God and is by faith."
(v. 10) I want to know Christ and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in His sufferings, becoming like Him in His death,
"I want to know Christ" =
Paul already was saved, (vv. 7-9), so wanting to know Christ has to do with Paul's daily relationship with Him as attested to by the phrase "the fellowship of sharing in His sufferings, becoming like Him in His death". This phrase is not an experience which is required in order to be saved but to know Christ as an already saved believer.
"I want to know... the power of His resurrection" = Just as Paul wanted to know the power of the resurrection of Christ so he prays that the believer will also know:
"I keep asking ... God...that you may know...His incomparably great power... which He exerted in Christ when He raised Him from the dead" =
i_a) THE POWER OF GOD IN CHRIST'S RESURRECTION IS THE POWER OF THE BELIEVERS' NEW LIFE IN CHRIST AND HIS RESURRECTION WITH HIM INTO HEAVEN
The believer can know of the existence of God through an honest observation of creation, (Ro 1:19-20). But only through a knowledge of the Word of God can one know of the power of God which resurrected His Son. So much the more must one glean from God's Word the benefit of that power for the believer himself. This cannot be gleaned elsewhere except from an understanding of what God has said in His Word. Scripture teaches that in the all mighty point of view through the awesome power of God, the believer is actually united with Christ in His death which paid the penalty for his sins and also united with Christ in Christ's resurrection from the dead in order to be freed from the control of the sin nature in the believer's mortal life, and be raised up with Christ and seated with Him in the heavenly realms - even at the point of becoming a believer - and live with Him for all eternity:
i_a_[Compare Ro 6:3-8]:
(v. 3) "Or don't you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death?
(v. 4) We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.
(v. 5) If we have been united with him like this in his death, we will certainly also be united with Him in His resurrection.
(v. 6) For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin--
(v. 7) because anyone who has died has been freed from sin.
(v. 8) Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with Him."
i_a_[Compare Eph 2:4-6]:
(v. 4) "But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy,
(v. 5) made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions--it is by grace you have been saved.
(v. 6) And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus."
[Expositors, p. 141]:
"The phrase 'to know Him'... resumes the thought of v. 8 and explains in more detail what is involved in 'knowing Christ Jesus,' Paul wants to know experientially the power of Christ's resurrection. He is not thinking only of the divine power that raised Christ from the dead, but of the power of the resurrected Christ now operating in the believer's life. This power enables believers to 'live a new life' (Rom 6:4) because they have been 'raised with Christ' (Col 3:1; Eph 2:5, 6)."
[BKC, NT, p. 621]:
"Then Paul mentioned three manifestations of God's power which are seen in Christ (Eph 1:20-23). First, this energetic power was exerted (enErgEken) in Christ when God raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly realms. God's energetic power which resurrected and exalted Christ in the past (cf. Rom 8:34; Eph 2:6; Col 3:1; Heb 1:3; 8:1; 12:2; 1 Peter 3:22) is the same power available to believers in the present (cf. Phil 3:10). What an amazing source of spiritual vitality, power, and strength for living the Christian life! (cf. Col 1:11) Christ's Ascension to the right hand of God involves His being exalted above every order of authority (cf. Col 1:16), human and superhuman (cf. Phil 2:8-11), whether present (in the present Age) or future (the Age to come; cf 1 Cor 15:23-28). The words rule and authority, power and dominion may refer primarily to angelic beings (cf Rom 8:38; Eph 3:10; 6:12; Col 1:16; 2:15; Titus 3:1)."
3 cont.) PAUL'S PRAYER FOR THE BELIEVERS
h) PAUL PRAYS FOR BELIEVERS TO KNOW OF GOD'S INCOMPARABLY GREAT POWER FOR US WHO BELIEVE WHICH HE EXERTED IN CHRIST PLACING ALL THINGS UNDER HIS FEET
i) [Eph 1:17-21]:
(v. 17) "I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know Him better
(v. 18) the eyes of your understanding having been enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which He has called you, the riches of His glorious inheritance in the saints.
(v. 19) and His incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is like the working of His mighty strength,
(v. 20) which He exerted in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly realms,
(v. 21) far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every title that can be given, not only in the present age but also in the one to come.
(v. 22) And God placed all things under His feet and appointed Him to be head over everything for the church"
"And God placed all things under His feet" =
[Compare Eph 1:9-10]:
(v. 9) "And He made known to us the mystery of His will according to His good pleasure, which He purposed in Christ,
(v. 10) to be put into effect when the times will have reached their fulfillment--to bring all things in heaven and on earth together under one head, even Christ."
Note that vv. 1:9-10 speak of a future time in which all things will be put under Christ’s feet and 1:21-22 affirm that ‘in the one [age] to come... God placed all things under His [Christ’s] feet’. This latter statement is spoken of as a completed action because God is sovereign, outside of time, and it will come to pass and can be spoken of in the past as a completed even though in man's finite time it is yet future.
[BKC, NT, p. 621]:
"A second manifestation of God's power in Christ is seen in His placing all things under Christ's feet. Whereas Adam lost his headship over Creation when he sinned, Christ was made Head over all Creation (cf. Eph 1:10). This will be fully realized in the future (Ps 8:6; 1 Cor 15:27; Heb 2:6-8).
h) PAUL PRAYS FOR BELIEVERS TO KNOW OF GOD'S INCOMPARABLY GREAT POWER FOR US WHO BELIEVE WHICH HE EXERTED IN CHRIST SUCH THAT THE CHURCH IS HIS BODY, THE FULLNESS OF HIM WHO FILLS EVERYTHING IN EVERY WAY
i) [Eph 1:17-21]:
(v. 17) "I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know Him better
(v. 18) the eyes of your understanding having been enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which He has called you, the riches of His glorious inheritance in the saints.
(v. 19) and His incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is like the working of His mighty strength,
(v. 20) which He exerted in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly realms,
(v. 21) far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every title that can be given, not only in the present age but also in the one to come.
(v. 22) And God placed all things under His feet and appointed Him to be head over everything for the church,
(v. 23) which is His body, the fulness of Him Who fills everything in every way."
"appointed Him to be head over everything for the church, which is His body, the fulness of Him Who fills everything in every way" =