Ephesians 1

Salutation

¹ From Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, to the saints in Ephesus, the faithful in Christ Jesus.

Paul was an apostle appointed by the Lord Jesus Christ Himself. A primary apostle was present with Jesus from His baptism from John the Baptist until His ascension. A secondary apostle had to see visually the resurrected Christ. Paul was a secondary apostle who saw the resurrected Christ on the Damascus road. Paul was appointed to be an apostle by the will of God.

The Greek word for "saints" is ἅγιος (hagios), meaning those who are set apart to perform a service for God. Anyone who believes in the Lord Jesus Christ is a saint. Everyone who does not believe is an aint. Saints are not voted into office by Catholic bishops.

Paul spent two years teaching the entire counsel of the word of God at Ephesus. Ephesus was a church that loved Paul and was operating at a very high spiritual maturity level. Ephesus is not found in all manuscripts, but it is found in most of them, including the Textus Receptus and the Westcott-Hort.

In Greek, Christ is placed before Jesus, but it is not translated this way in many English translations. It should be. Christ is the Greek word Χριστός (Christos), from the Hebrew word מָשִׁיחַ (maschiach), meaning the Messiah, or the anointed god-man messianic king who will fulfill all of the prophecies of the Old Testament. All of the kings of Judah from the line of David were anointed with oil by Jewish prophets. Jesus was also a king from the tribe of Judah and the line of David.

² Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ!

The Greek word for grace is χάρις (charis), meaning to show kindness to someone. The Greek word for peace is εἰρήνη (eirana), from the Hebrew word שָׁלום (shalom), meaning peace with God. Grace was the greeting of the Greeks. Peace was the greeting of the Jews. Both grace and peace come from God the Father and Jesus Christ. Grace is listed first, because grace by God must precede before one can have peace with God.

Spiritual Blessings in Christ

³ Blessed is the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms in Christ.

The Greek word for "blessed" is εὐλογητός (eulogatos), meaning to speak well of or to praise. God the Father is to be praised, because He has blessed the believer not with material blessings, but in spiritual blessings. Prosperity preachers teach that the Old Testament promises of material prosperity are still available to the modern church today. However, this is not the case. The New Testament teaches that Christians are called to suffer, not to prosper materially. This is why all of Satan's men are placed in high positions of political, religious, and business operations. Satan wants to seduce the believers in wealth, so that their time will be spent on the things of the world rather than on studying and teaching the Word of God.  

⁴ For he chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world that we may be holy and unblemished in his sight in love.

The Greek word for "chose" is ἐξελέξατο (excelecato), meaning to deliberately pick out for a definite outcome. This verb is in the aorist middle indicative tense, meaning that God Himself emphatically made the choice as a onetime completed action of the past and it is a 100% statement of fact. Armenians falsely teach that God looks into the future and chooses those who choose Him. This one little Greek word dispels this false teaching. God made this onetime completed action choice of the past before the foundations of the world were even created. God made this choice before anyone had ever done anything good or bad. Therefore, man is saved completely not by his own choice, but by the choice of God. Man is saved completely by the grace or kindness of God. This choice made believers holy, meaning set apart by God to complete a task that is sacred to God. This choice made believers unblemished, meaning that God no longer sees sin upon the believer. God made this choice himself, because He loves the believer.

The natural man finds this verse repulsive. The immature Christian finds this verse troubling. The mature Christian understands his own sin nature and finds this verse marvelous and incredible. If God did not choose the believer, then the believer would never choose God. The reason is that the sin nature of the unbeliever is too evil to make this choice. If the believer chose God, then the believer would be able to brag to others that he was smarter than those who did not choose God. If God chose the believer because he was better than someone else, then the believer would be able to brag about how he was better than others. Therefore, some were chosen and others were left to make their own choice. Those who make their own choice will never choose God. The decision for one to believe simply came down to God's grace, or God's kindness. If God chose the believer before the foundations of the world, before he did anything good or bad, then the believer must make the statement that he was lucky and fortunate that he was chosen. Believers were only chosen by the grace, or the kindness, of God.

⁵ He did this by predestining us to adoption as his sons through Jesus Christ, according to the pleasure of his will –

The Greek word for "predestining" is προορίζω (prohorizo), meaning to mark out beforehand. God marked out before the foundation of the world who He was going to adopt into His family. God did this marking out His elect because it brought Him pleasure. He enjoyed doing it. It was fun and pleasurable for Him to predestine others to perform a task for Him. God the Father did the electing. God the Son provided the atonement. God the Holy Spirit sealed the believer. All three of these facets were done for believers, for eternity.

⁶ to the praise of the glory of his grace that he has freely bestowed on us in his dearly loved Son.

The Greek word for "freely bestowed" is χαριτόω (charito), meaning highly favored. It was used only one other time in the New Testament in Luke 1:28, where it stated that the Virgin Mary was χαριτόω (charito) or highly favored, because she was chosen by God to deliver the Messiah. This does not mean that she was a perpetual virgin, as Catholics falsely teach. She was chosen for a very special task.

Believers were chosen by God before the foundations of the world so that they can be holy and set apart to praise God for the kindness (or grace) that He has shown them through His beloved Son.

⁷ In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace

The Greek word for redemption is ἀπολύτρωσις (apolutrosis), meaning to purchase one out of slavery and then set them free. Believers were enslaved by Satan, but Jesus purchased them with His own divine blood and set them free. Jesus forgave them of their sin of rejecting and hating Him. Jesus was wealthy, meaning that He had an infinite supply of sinless blood that could cover the cost of all of the sins of mankind.

⁸ that he lavished on us in all wisdom and insight.

The Greek word for "lavished" is περισσεύω (perisseuow), meaning to cover and lavish all around so exceedingly, that it is above and beyond the expected measure. The Greek word for "wisdom" is σοφία (sophia), meaning the art of using wisdom. The Greek word for understanding is φρόνησις (pronaisis), meaning a Christ-like insight. God has super-surrounded believers with God-like wisdom and Christ-like insight.

⁹ He did this when he revealed to us the secret of his will, according to his good pleasure that he set forth in Christ,

The Greek word for "secret" is μυστήριον (mustarion), meaning a new revelation from God, or something revealed in the New Testament that was not revealed in the Old Testament. The Scofield Reference Bible (p. 1014) listed eleven mysteries in the New Testament.

The greater mysteries are:

(1) The mysteries of the kingdom of heaven (Mt. 13:3–50);

(2) The mystery of Israel’s blindness during this age (Rom. 11:25, with context);

(3) The mystery of the translation of living saints at the end of this age (1 Cor. 15:51–52; 1 Th. 4:13–17);

(4) The mystery of the New Testament Church as one body composed of Jews and Gentiles (Eph. 3:1–12; Rom. 16:25; Eph. 6:19; Col. 4:3);

(5) The mystery of the Church as the bride of Christ (Eph. 5:23–32);

(6) The mystery of the in-living Christ (Gal. 2:20; Col. 1:26–27);

(7) The “mystery of God even Christ,” i.e., Christ as the incarnate fullness of the Godhead embodied, in whom all the divine wisdom for man subsists (1 Cor. 2:7; Col. 2:2, 9);

(8) The mystery of the processes by which godlikeness is restored to man (1 Tim. 3:16);

(9) The mystery of iniquity (2 Th. 2:7; cp. Mt. 13:33);

(10) The mystery of the seven stars (Rev. 1:20); and 

(11) The mystery of Babylon (Rev. 17:5, 7).

God's will was revealed as new information in the New Testament. God was very pleased to reveal His will.

¹⁰ toward the administration of the fullness of the times, to head up all things in Christ – the things in heaven and the things on earth.

The Greek word for "administration" is οἰκονομία (oikonomia), meaning a dispensation or period of time or the administration of a household. Most people do not like this word "dispensation," but God does. God did reveal different spiritual insights and knowledge to different dispensations. During the Millennial Kingdom dispensation, Christ will rule over all things in heaven and on earth.

¹¹ In Christ we too have been claimed as God’s own possession, since we were predestined according to the one purpose of him who accomplishes all things according to the counsel of his will

The Greek word for "predestined" is προορίζω (prohorizo), meaning to mark out beforehand. It is an aorist participle, meaning that believers were marked out beforehand as a onetime completed action of the past. They were marked out before the foundations of the world were created in order to fulfill some type of service for God. God did not look into the future to see who would believe Him and then mark them out. Believers were marked out before they even did anything good or bad. 

¹² so that we, who were the first to set our hope on Christ, would be to the praise of his glory.

The Jews were chosen over the Gentiles to become the first to hope in Christ.

¹³ And when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, when you believed in Christ, you were marked with the seal of the promised Holy Spirit,

The Greek word for "marked with the seal" is σφραγίζω (spragnizo), meaning to sign a legal document with a signet ring. In the ancient Roman world, the one in authority would sign a document with his signet ring, meaning that he will legally keep all of the promises of the document.

Notice the order of salvation is the same given in Romans 10. Believers heard the gospel, then they believed the gospel, and then they were sealed by the Holy Spirit.

¹⁴ who is the down payment of our inheritance, until the redemption of God’s own possession, to the praise of his glory.

Adopted sons receive an inheritance from their fathers. God is the Father of all believers. He is wealthy, as He owns everything. He will leave believers all things, as believers will co-reign with Christ. The Holy Spirit was given by God as His pledge of the believer’s future inheritance in glory. It is a down payment with a guarantee of more to come. It is a little taste of our future blessings in Christ.

Prayer for Wisdom and Revelation

¹⁵ For this reason, because I have heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints,

The Greek word for "love" is ἀγάπη (agape), meaning divine love. The only way to have divine love is by studying and applying Bible doctrine. The Ephesian Church learned the entire counsel of the Word of God from Paul. Therefore, they were able to produce agape love.

¹⁶ I do not cease to give thanks for you when I remember you in my prayers.

If a believer does not have strong Bible doctrine from the entire counsel of the Word of God, then the believer will not know how, when, why, or what to pray. Paul prayed often and for the right things, because his Bible doctrine was so strong.

¹⁷ I pray that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you spiritual wisdom and revelation in your growing knowledge of him,

The Greek word for "wisdom" is σοφία (sophia), meaning the ability to use wisdom, insight, or skill. It is God who gives the believer spiritual wisdom and insight.

The Greek word for "revelation" is ἀποκάλυψις (apokaluxis), meaning uncovering something that was unrevealed in the past.

The Greek word for "knowledge" is ἐπίγνωσις (epignosis), meaning super-knowledge. Super-knowlede is the ability of a believer to have the information available to make divine viewpoint decisions.

Paul prayed that God the Father would give the Ephesians spiritual wisdom, new revelation, and super-knowledge. The process will be explained in later chapters.

¹⁸ since the eyes of your heart have been enlightened, so that you may know what is the hope of his calling, what is the wealth of his glorious inheritance in the saints,

It is not the eyes of the brain, but the eyes of the heart that must be enlightened. Once the eyes of the heart have been enlightened, the believer can understand three important spiritual concepts. First, he can understand the calling that God has for him in his life. Second, he can understand what he will inherit in eternity future.

¹⁹ and what is the incomparable greatness of his power toward us who believe, as displayed in the exercise of his immense strength,

The Greek word for “power” is δύναμις (dunamis), meaning divine power. The third spiritual concept that the believer can understand is that the power that created the universe is available to all of those who believe.

²⁰ this power he exercised in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms.

The power that raised Jesus from the dead and placed Him at the right hand of God the Father is available to all who believe.

²¹ far above every rule and authority and power and dominion and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come.

God's power is greater than that of any angel, man, or demon. This power is available to all who believe.

²² And God put all things under Christ’s feet, and he gave him to the church as head over all things.

God has all of this power, but He has placed everything in the universe under the authority of the Lord Jesus Christ. The Lord Jesus Christ is the head of the church. It is He Who has planned out all things. This plan was created before the foundations of the world were even created.

²³ Now the Church is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all.

So who is the Church and what is their purpose? The Church is the body of Christ who will carry out all of God's pre-ordained plans. Christ is presently adding to the Church daily, filling in the body of Christ until it is complete. When the body of Christ is complete and when it has fulfilled its purpose, then the Rapture will bring the body into heaven to unite with the head. The dispensation of the church will end. God will then begin dealing with the nation of Israel once again.