Ephesians 1:7-8

In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace

which He made to abound toward us in all wisdom and prudence.

in Him (v.7) — in the Beloved (v.6), in Christ

have (v.7) = tense is “are having” — an abiding fact from the past, through the present, and into the future

redemption (v.7) — The definite article appears before “redemption.” It has a two-fold significance, pointing to the particular redemption spoken of in the Bible, and speaking of ownership. It is “in whom we are having our redemption.” The word “redemption” is apolutrosis which is defined as follows; the verb, “to redeem one by paying the price, to let one go free on receiving the price”; the noun, “a releasing effected by payment of ransom, deliverance, liberation procured by the payment of a ransom.” The story of redemption can be told in three Greek words; agorazo, “to buy in the slave market” (1 Corinthians 6:20; 7:23, 30; 2 Peter 2:1; Revelation 5:9); the Lord Jesus bought us in the slave market of sin, the ransom price, His blood; we are his bond slaves; exagorazo, “to buy out of the slave market, to buy off, to buy for one’s self” (Galatians 3:13; 4:5); the redeemed are the possession of the Lord Jesus forever, and will never be put up for sale in any slave market again; lutroo “to liberate by payment of ransom” (Titus 2:14, 1 Peter 1:18); the redeemed are set free from the guilt and power of sin now, to be finally set free from the presence of sin at the Rapture. The particular aspect of redemption spoken of here is redemption from the guilt and condemnation of sin, for the qualifying phrase, “the forgiveness of sins” is added. — Wuest, pages 39-40

His blo0d (v.7) — Christ’s blood paid the price for our sins in the sense that it satisfied the demands of God’s law which states that the wages of sin is death — outpouring blood means death

forgiveness (v.7) = to send from one’s self, to send away, to bid to go away or depart — a release, letting them go as if they had not been committed.

Often the question is asked, “But what about the future sins that one may commit?” Judicial forgiveness is past, present and future. Stop and think: were not all of our sins future when Christ died on the cross? Furthermore, those who lived before the cross are said to be forgiven “through the forbearance of God” on the basis of the shed blood of Christ (Romans 3:25) — Sadler, page 54

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sins (v.7) — Sinners are lost today, not because they sin, but because they have not availed themselves of the salvation which is in Christ Jesus. God’s forgiveness of sin refers therefore to His act of putting sin away on a judicial basis, to His remitting the guilt and penalty. It is for the sinner to avail himself of salvation by appropriating the Lord Jesus as his Savior by faith in what He has done for him on the Cross. The particular word for “sins” here is paraptoma, from parapipto, “to fall beside a person or thing, to slip aside”; the noun form paraptoma means, “a fall beside or near something; a lapse or deviation from truth and uprightness, a sin, a misdeed, a trespass.” — Wuest, page 41.

according to (v.7) = controlled, dominated by

riches (v.7) = wealth, abundance, plenitude — here, infinite

The freeness of this divine factor in the form of grace, the unmerited nature of the divine goodness, is what Paul most frequently magnifies with praise and wonder. Here it is the mighty measure of the largess, the grace in its quality of riches, that is introduced. This magnificent conception of the wealth of the grace that is bestowed on us by God and that which is in Christ for us, is a peculiarly Pauline idea. — Wuest, page 41

which (v.8) — referring back to grace (v.7)

made to abound (v.8) = to exceed a fixed number or measure, to be over and above a certain amount, to exist in abundance — super-abound, more than enough to do the required job.

Paul used this same verb in Romans 5:20 but prefixes the preposition huper, which preposition means “above,” and the translation reads; “Where sin existed in abundance (pleonazo), grace existed in super-abundance, and then some on top of that. — Wuest, page 42.

toward (v.8) = into

all (v.8) = every

wisdom (v.8) = to the Greeks, cleverness and skill in handicraft or art, skill in matters of common life, sound judgment, intelligence, practical wisdom, learning, speculative wisdom, natural philosophy and mathematics — in Scripture, striving after the best ends, using the best means, mental excellence in its highest and fullest sense — always good — when used of God, supreme intelligence

prudence (v.8) = understanding leading to right actions — the use of wisdom to obtain desired ends

This wisdom and prudence is bestowed upon the recipients of God’s grace. Sophia is the collective moral intelligence, insight into the true nature of things and in the Pauline Epistles it is this intelligence in especial as knowledge of the divine plan of salvation long hidden and now revealed; while phronesis is the practical use of wisdom, the product of wisdom, the right use and application of the phren (the mind), the faculty of discerning the proper disposition or action. The riches, the abounding riches, of the grace expended on us stood revealed in the bestowal of these gifts of spiritual discernment with reference to the deep things of the divine counsel and the divine revelation. — Wuest, page 43.

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