The Epistle of Paul to the Ephesians chapter 1
Ephesians addressed to a group of believers who are rich beyond measure in Jesus Christ, yet living as beggars,
and only because they are ignorant of their wealth. Paul begins by describing in chapters 1-3 the contents of the
Christians heavenly bank account: adoption, acceptance, redemption, forgiveness, wisdom, inheritance, the seal of
the Holy Spirit, life, grace, citizenship-in short, every spiritual blessing. In chapters 4-6 the Christian learns a spiritual
walk rooted in his spiritual wealth. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus (1-3) unto good worksThat
we should walk in them (4-6), (2:10).
The traditional title of this epistle is Pros Ephesious. To the Ephesians. Many ancient manuscripts, however, omit en
Epheso, at Ephesus, in 1:1. This has led a number of scholars to challenge the traditional view that this message
that it was a circular letter sent by Paul to the churches of Asia. It is argued that Ephesians is really a Christian
treatise designed for general use: it involves no controversy and deals with no specific problems in any particular
church. Some scholars accept an ancient tradition that Ephesians is Paul¡¯s letter to the Laodiceans (Col.4:16), but
there is no way to be sure. If Ephesians began as a circular letter, it eventually became associated with Ephesus,
the foremost of the Asian churches. Another plausible option is that this epistle was directly addressed to the
Ephesians, but written in such a way as to make it helpful for all the churches in Asia.
1:3 Blessed here means ¡°worthy of praise.¡± When God blesses man, He confers benefits upon him; when man
blesses God, as Paul does here, he attributes praise to Him. Who hath blessed us (or, ¡°because He has blessed
us): The apostle, then praises God because he has bestowed all spiritual blessings on His people. When did He do
this? Probably in eternity past (cf.vv 4.5). Where are these blessings located? In heavenly places, that is, in heaven.
As the Christian¡¯s citizenship (Phil. 3:20), high priest (Heb. 4:14), hope (Col. 1:5), and inheritance (1 Pet. 1:4) are
all in heaven as his treasure (Matt. 6:20, 21) and affection (Col. 3:1,2) we are to be in heaven,: so also the
Christian¡¯s blessings are ¡°in heaven.¡± These spiritual benefits were granted to believer and are retained in
heaven for him, being progressively dispersed to him on earth in accord with his need and Christian growth, In
Christ, or, ¡°by Christ,: that is, the Father has conferred these blessings on the church, but He did not act alone; He
hath blessed us in Christ. This verse, therefore, makes five points: (1) What has God one? He has blessed us. (2)
With what? With every spiritual blessing. (3) When? In eternity past. (4) Where are these blessings? In heaven. (5)
How did God do this? By Christ.
1:4 The connecting thought linking verses 3 and 4 is this: Just as (According as) God has blessed believers with
every spiritual blessing ¡°in Christ¡± (v. 3), so in like manner it was in [or by] him that he hath chosen us. God never
intended to bless man apart from Christ. All God does for man He does through his Son. Beginning here and
continuing through verse 14, Paul begins to elaborate on the very general ¡°God¡hath blessed us with all spiritual
blessings¡± (v.3). He specifically identifies nine of these spiritual blessings. God has (1) chosen believers (v.4), (2)
adopted them into His family (v. 5), (3) bestowed His grace on them (v.6), (4) redeemed them (v. 7), (5) given them
wisdom and insight into His future plan (vv. 8,9) believers (6) will share in universal reconciliation (v. 10), (7) have
been made God¡¯s treasure (v.11), (8) have been granted the Holy Spirit (v. 13), and (9) are assured of salvation
(v. 14). ¡°He hath chosen us¡± in selecting believers for salvation; God has graciously shaped their lives and
destinies in accord with His will and to their advantage Before him means in His sight. Christians should be, in God's
opinion, holy and without blame.
4,5. The last two words of verse 4 (in love) may well belong to verse 5; the link between verb forms in these two
verses is expressed in this rendering: ¡°He chose us¡ in that He lovingly predestined us. So the divine choice of
verse 4 is further defined by the divine predestination of verse 5. Predestinated means marked out in advance,
determined or appointed beforehand.¡± Prior to creation God appointed those who would believe unto [or, for] the
adoption of children; that is, He appointed them to be His sons. This divine appointment was according to [because
of] the good pleasure of his will; it was due not to anything good in ourselves, but due solely to His kindness. These
verses stress the divine sovereignty and salvation. Verses 12 and 13 which mention our trust and belief in Christ,
emphasizes the human responsibility in the process.
1:6 The reason God predestined us to be his sons (verse 5) is expressed in the words to the praise of the glory of
his grace, that is, in order to magnify the splendor of his goodness to us. Wherein he has made us excepted in the
beloved made also read, which [grace] he has bestowed on us by the beloved Through Christ, we are the recipients
of God's unmerited favor.
1:7 Redemption referred to the release of the slave or captive upon receipt of ransom. But the following words, the
forgiveness of sins, show redemption is used here in a moral sense. Christians are therefore released from there
enslavement to sin and the resulting divine wrath. Redemption is effected for us through his blood, that is, by
Christ's atonement secured by his death on the cross.
1:8 This verse could be rendered, he lavished upon us this grace which consist in all sorts of wisdom and prudence
(or, insight). The word wisdom refers to a knowledge of the true nature of things; prudence has to do with the
practical application of this wisdom leading to the right course of action. But the specific wisdom and prudence¡±
Paul has in view here concerns a future aspect of God's will as delineated in verses 9, 10.
1:9 This verse more precisely identifies that wisdom and prudence (verse 8) God lavished upon us. This ¡°wisdom
and prudence¡± have to do with God's making known unto us the mystery of his will. Mystery here refers to a divine
truth that is incapable of being discovered by human ingenuity and that, until recently, has been kept secret. Why
did God disclose this mystery to us? It was according to [because of] his good pleasure which he hat purposed
[planned] in himself.
1:10. This verse refers back to God's good pleasure (v/ 9)/ Verse 10 is made more plain by the paraphrase, for the
purpose of executing it [i.e., God's good pleasure] in the fullness of times, and His good pleasure is to head up all
things in Christ, things in heaven, and things on earth. In the near future, when the time is ripe, God will put His
good purpose into effect and carry it out. And His good pleasure or intention is the restoration of original universal
unity, when all things are brought back into harmony with Himself and under the headship of Christ.
1:11 In whom also we have obtained an inheritance may be read, " by whom we were also made an inheritance."
That is, believers are God's treasure. Why would Paul regard this as a blessing? As God's treasure Christians are
the apple of His eye, the special objects of His love. He is then determined to care and provide for His people who
are His heritage.
1:12 The purpose of being made God's "inheritance" and having been "predestinated" (v. 11) is that we should be
to the praise of his glory, that is, that we should glorify God. Who first trusted in Christ refers to Jewish believers.
See the note on verse 13--"ye."
1:13 In whom ye also (or, "by whom also you"): The first person plural (we, us) in verses 3-12 refers to Jewish
Christians. The second person plural (you) refers to the Gentile Christians. This seems evident from 2:11,12 where
the second person is explicitly applied to non-Jews: "Ye being in time past Gentiles...ye were...aliens from the
commonwealth of Israel." Compare 3:1 where Paul calls his readers "you Gentiles." The apostle's point in this
"we-you" distinction is that all those spiritual blessings God has bestowed upon "us" Jewish Christians, He has also
granted "you" Gentile brethren. There is no difference. In whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that
holy Spirit of promise may be read "By whom also, when you believed, you were sealed with the promised Holy
Spirit." The Christian receives the Spirit, not "after," but when he believes in Christ as Savior. The sealer is Jesus;
the seal is the Holy Spirit. In biblical times a seal denoted both identification of ownership and protection provided by
the owner.
1:14 Which is the earnest of our inheritance means "who is the guarantee of our salvation." The Holy Spirit is here
called "the earnest of our inheritance." The word earnest means "down payment"; as such the gift of the Spirit is
viewed as an installment or as part of our salvation. God therefore assures the Christian that the realization of the
rest of his salvation is forthcoming. How long is the believer assured of his salvation? Until the redemption of the
purchased possession may be read, "until God glorifies and perfects the believer [the purchased possession] whom
He has bought by Christ's blood."
Ephesians chapter 2
2:8 For gives the reason for this future demonstration of divine grace. It is because man owes his salvation to this
grace or undeserved divine favor. The force of the Greek perfect tense are ye saved indicates that the Ephesians
were spiritually saved at some point in the past, and at the present time of writing they remain in this state of
salvation. The grammatical gender of the word "that," occurring in the expression that not of yourselves, is neuter;
hence, "that" cannot refer to the preceding "grace" or "faith," both of which are feminine nouns, nor can it refer to
"are ye saved" which is a masculine participle. Instead, the neuter "that" refers back and embraces the entire
foregoing "grace, are ye saved," and "faith." This means that no part of salvation is "of yourselves" or due to what
we do--the whole salvation is the gift of God. Man is saved "by grace" that is, by the kindness of God in having Jesus
die for our sins. But this grace is appropriated through faith, that is, man believes what God has done for him and
relies upon Christ's atonement to blot out his sins and bring him into a proper relationship with God.
2:9 The reason, in part, that salvation is not achieved by good works is to prevent men from bragging of having
earned a place in heaven by themselves.
2:10 For verifies the assertion of man's good works having no part in obtaining salvation. Workmanship refers not to
our original or physical birth, but to our spiritual birth: what we are spiritually in the good sense is due to God,not
ourselves. Created in Christ Jesus unto good works means "having been [morally] re-created by Christ Jesus for
good works"; that is, Jesus remade our spiritual lives so that we could then do good works. The apostle's thinking is
this: since the Christian has been given spiritual life for the purpose of doing good works, there could have been
good works by him prior to conversion that would merit salvation. Good works follow--do not precede--salvation.
2:11 Uncircumcision was a derogatory term used by the Jews regarding Gentiles because the latter were
uncircumcised. Jews called themselves the Circumcision since they were circumcised.
2:12 At that time refers to the reader's pre-Christian life. Commonwealth [or, nation] of Israel recalls the concept of
ancient Greek city-states, whereby a city or country provided numerous valuable advantages, benefits, and
privileges for it's citizens, but withheld them from foreigners. Since the Gentile addressees used to be aliens from the
Jewish nation, who were God's people, the Gentiles were without the spiritual blessings given her by God. Without
God means not having His help and assistance. This was their spiritual plight before salvation.
2:13 Because Jews had access to God through His temple in Jerusalem, they were said to be nigh. But Gentile
nations, geographically removed from the temple, were said to be far off. These terms of space came to denote
moral distance, so that to be "nigh" was to have a proper relationship with God, and to be "far off" was to have an
improper relationship with Him.
2:14,15 Who hath made both one: Jesus has formed the two antagonistic groups of Jew and Gentile into a single
new party, the Christian church. He did this by removing the middle wall of partition, that is, the Mosaic Law. The law
was meant to protect Jews from pagan corruptions; but by misconstruing the purpose of the law, the Jews felt
superior to Gentiles, who were incensed at this arrogance. So Jesus abolished this enmity (hatred), caused by an
abuse of the law, by making the law invalid for His church. Of twain one new man: As above, Christian Jews and
Christian Gentiles now compose this "one new man" or Christian church.
2:19, 20. Now therefore draws a conclusion from verse 14-18: Christian Gentiles are no longer alienated from God,
but now enjoy the same intimate relationship with Him and the same spiritual blessings as do Christian Jews. Three
figures express this unity and equality existing between believing Jews and Gentiles. (1) A city: This figure comes
from the Greek city-state political concept whereby all inhabitants of a particular city-state were follow citizens
enjoying the same privileges. (2) A family: Since Gentiles have been reconciled to God (v. 16) and to His people (v.
15), they are now members of the household of God,that is, children of the divine family. (3) A building: Believing
Jews and Gentiles are part of the divine structure, the church. The church's foundation is composed of the apostles
and prophets, it's chief corner stone is Christ, and it's superstructure is composed of Christians. Oriental
architecture placed greater importance on the cornerstone than on the foundation, for it connected the walls and
concentrated the weight of the building on itself, thus bonding and holding together the whole structure.
2:21. Paraphrased, this verse would read, "By whom the whole building, being carefully and harmoniously joined
together, rises into a holy temple for the Lord." Fitly framed together is translated above as "being carefully and
harmoniously joined together." This implies the harmonious blending of the Jewish and Gentile believers in the
church.
2:22. Ye also, in Greek, is emphatic. It stresses that Christian Gentiles, as well as their Jewish counterparts, are part
of the church. Christians are viewed as a habitation or dwelling place in whom God lives through His Holy Spirit.