{"id":3671,"date":"2015-04-24T09:54:51","date_gmt":"2015-04-24T15:54:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/versebyverse.carpelibra.org\/?p=3671"},"modified":"2022-12-06T09:55:44","modified_gmt":"2022-12-06T15:55:44","slug":"ephesians-13-6","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/versebyverse.carpelibra.org\/?p=3671","title":{"rendered":"Ephesians 1:3-6"},"content":{"rendered":"

3\u00a0<\/sup>Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ,<\/span><\/em><\/h3>\n

4\u00a0<\/sup>just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love,<\/span><\/em><\/h3>\n

5\u00a0<\/sup>having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will,<\/span><\/em><\/h3>\n

6\u00a0<\/sup>to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He made us accepted in the Beloved.<\/span><\/em><\/h3>\n

blessed (v.3) = to speak well of \u2014 from the Greek word from which we get “eulogize” \u2014 used only of God in the New Testament<\/h3>\n

has blessed (v.3) = lit. “the One who blessed” \u2014 does us good, confers benefit<\/h3>\n

us (v.3) \u2014 Paul and the Ephesian saints and all who trust Christ in this age<\/h3>\n

spiritual (v.3) = pneumatikos<\/em> \u2014 produced and given by the Holy Spirit \u2014 not just “not physical” \u2014 the blessings of grace (i.e., the assurance of immortality, the promise of resurrection, the inheritance and privilege of adoption, etc.), the sphere of relations between God and believers<\/h3>\n

in heavenly places (v.3) \u2014 “places” isn’t in the Greek \u2014 so, in the heavenlies \u2014 found in heaven and brought to us from there \u2014 blessings that come from where God is \u2014 Believers now enjoy, while in the body on earth, some of the same blessings that they will enjoy in heaven. This is distinct from the blessings promised to Israel which were all earthy, connected to the land, Jerusalem, and the temple in Jerusalem.<\/h3>\n

in Christ (v.3) \u2014 ours because<\/span> we are in Him<\/h3>\n

just as (v.4) = even as, in conformity with the fact \u2014 here “in conformity with the fact that He chose” \u2014 the ground of the blessing<\/h3>\n

He chose (v.4) = to pick or choose out for one’s self<\/h3>\n

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 gives it the meaning of taking or setting apart something for one’s self, to seek or choose out something for one’s self; however, it is unwarranted to give special prominence either to the element of selection from among others, or to that of preference above others. 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. Thus, this selection of the saints in this age of grace is the act of God choosing out from among mankind, certain for Himself. These become His own, to be used for a certain purpose. \u2014 Wuest, pages 29-30.<\/span><\/h3>\n

foundation (v.4) = lit. “a laying down”<\/h3>\n

world (v.4) = a harmonious arrangement or constitution, order<\/h3>\n

that we should be (v.4) \u2014 not an obligation on our part but a statement of God’s purpose<\/h3>\n

holy and without blame (v.4) \u2014 our position in Christ<\/h3>\n

holy (v.4) = hagios<\/em>, separated to God \u2014 the same word translated “saints” in v.1<\/span><\/a><\/h3>\n

without blame (v.4) = without blemish<\/h3>\n

before<\/span> Him (v.4) = lit. “to see down in” \u2014 a penetrating gaze<\/h3>\n

in love (v.4) \u2014 should almost certainly belong at the beginning of v.5<\/h3>\n

having predestined (v.5) = to mark out the boundary or limits of a place or thing \u2014 to determine a destiny previously \u2014 foreordain (as in 1 Corinthians 2:7<\/a><\/span>)<\/h3>\n

In the New Testament, it [predestined] is always used of God as determining from eternity, sometimes with the further definition “before the age” (<\/span>1 Corinthians 2:7<\/span>) \u2014 decreeing to do something<\/span> (Acts 4:28<\/a><\/span>); foreordaining things or persons (<\/span>1 Corinthians 2:7<\/span>,<\/span> Romans 8:29<\/a><\/span>); or as here, appointing one beforehand to something. \u2014 Wuest, pages 35-36.<\/span><\/h3>\n

to<\/span>\u00a0 (v.5, first usage) \u2014 sometimes translated “with a view to”<\/h3>\n

adoption as sons (v.5) = to place an adult son<\/h3>\n

The apostle here used as an illustration the Roman practice of legally adopting a child, and thus not only bequeathing to him the material possessions of the one adopting, but also giving him his civil status. Thus God takes a believing sinner, regenerates him, and by means of this makes him His child (teknon<\/em>, a born one). Then He takes this child and places him in a legal position as an adult son (huios<\/em>). We thus become joint-heirs with Christ, having been raised to a civil status as adult sons, in which we become heirs of God, inheriting jointly with Christ all that He possesses as an heir of God the Father by virtue of His Sonship and work on the Cross. This is one object of God’s predestination. The other is that the believer is to be conformed to the image of God’s Son (Romans 8:29<\/a><\/span>). \u2014 Wuest, pages 36-37.<\/span><\/h3>\n

__________<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

In biblical times adoption had to do with position \u2014 taking those who were already children and making them full-grown sons. Normally, there was a special gathering of friends and family at which time the father would declare his child to be his son, with all the rights and privileges that went along with this blessing. As the heir, he now held a position of esteem. \u2014 Sadler, page 50<\/span><\/h3>\n

by (v.5) \u2014 indicating the immediate agency \u2014 Christ, by His work on the cross, was God’s agent in adopting us as adult sons<\/h3>\n

Himself (v.5) \u2014 God the Father<\/h3>\n

good pleasure (v.5) = good will, delight, satisfaction, purpose, council<\/h3>\n

will (v.5) = a desire which proceeds from one’s heart or emotions<\/h3>\n

to the praise of the glory (v.6) \u2014 repeated in vs. 12<\/span><\/a> and 14<\/span><\/a><\/h3>\n

The end, God’s end, in our predestination to adoption is, that the glory, glorious nature, brightness and majesty, and kindliness and beauty, \u2014 of His grace might be the object of men and angel’s praise; both as it is in Him, ineffable and infinite \u2014 and exemplified in us, its objects. \u2014 Wuest, page 38<\/span><\/h3>\n

made us accepted (v.6) = the verb form of “grace” \u2014 “graced us”<\/h3>\n

beloved (v.6) = agapao<\/em> \u2014 tense indicates a past act with continuing results<\/h3>\n

The words “election” and “predestination” are so loaded with baggage that it’s hard to study a passage of Scripture that uses them without bringing the baggage along with them. I don’t pretend to have the final answer, or even an answer at all. But I do think it is very important to make sure that each usage of those works is studied in the immediate context. In this case, Paul appears to be saying that God chose, or decided, before the world began that those He blessed would be holy and without blame in Christ.<\/h3>\n

We know Paul is referring to those already saved (“saints” in v.1<\/span><\/a>). They are blessed with all spiritual blessings “just as” they were picked to be holy and without blame. So, it can be read that they are chosen because they are\u00a0 saints, not that they are saints because they are chosen.<\/h3>\n

As for “predestined” here, it is clearly referring to our adoption, not our salvation. He decided before the world began that those who were separated to Him (saints) would be given the legal rights of adult sons.<\/h3>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

3\u00a0Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, 4\u00a0just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3671","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-ephesians"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/versebyverse.carpelibra.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3671","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/versebyverse.carpelibra.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/versebyverse.carpelibra.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/versebyverse.carpelibra.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/versebyverse.carpelibra.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3671"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/versebyverse.carpelibra.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3671\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7207,"href":"https:\/\/versebyverse.carpelibra.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3671\/revisions\/7207"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/versebyverse.carpelibra.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3671"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/versebyverse.carpelibra.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3671"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/versebyverse.carpelibra.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3671"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}