Ephesians 1:3-6

 

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.  4 For He chose us in Him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in His sight.  In love 5 He predestined us to be adopted as His sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with His pleasure and will—6 to the praise of His glorious grace, which He has freely given us in the One He loves (Ephesians 1:3-6).

 

Introduction

In the book of Ephesians, Paul presents an overview of how God has worked out His plans for this world and writes about the practical matters of the Christian life: for example, marriage, behavior, and relationships.  The basic idea of Ephesians is that God’s eternal plan is being worked out through Christ and His body, the church.  In Ephesians 1:3-6, Paul informs the Ephesians (and us) that God’s blessings are eternal, not temporary; salvation depends totally on God; God predestines believers to be His children; God graciously accepts believers (though they do not deserve it) because they belong to His dearly loved Son, Jesus Christ. 

 

Historical and Cultural Context

The Ephesians were inhabitants of the land of Ephesus, which was the fourth-largest city in the Roman Empire and also a principle port on the west coast of Asia Minor.  Ephesus was the Capital of Ionia and was noted for its commerce, intelligence, and architecture.  It was the home of the temple of the goddess Artemis, sometimes referred to as Diana.  Moreover, the inhabitants of Ephesus were very wealthy because of the tourist and pilgrim trade associated with Artemis.  For example, silversmiths earned money trading and selling images of this goddess and of her temple, which is one of the Seven Wonders of the World, and innkeepers and restaurant owners became rich from the large influx of worshipers who traveled great distances to see the temple of Artemis.  The temple treasury served as a bank, loaning out large sums of money to the inhabitants of Ephesus and because Artemis was the patroness of sex, prostitutes sold their bodies without condemnation in order to earn a living in the two-story brothel on Marble Road.  In addition, all sorts of magic and sorcery were conjured up in Ephesus, and the land was overtaken with much defilement.   

 

Literary Context

Ephesians is among the greatest letters under the authorship of the Apostle Paul.  He wrote Ephesians while he was a prisoner in Rome about A.D. 60 to 62 and his purpose in writing the letter was to strengthen, comfort, and encourage the believers in the Roman province of Asia Minor (now the land of Turkey).  In other words, the letter was not written to confront a particular problem or heresy; rather, it was only written to encourage the believers of that day.  Such believers make up what we know to be the saints at Ephesus, from which the book of Ephesians was written to. 

 

Content

In Ephesians, the place of the introductory thanksgiving is taken by a eulogia (in Greek) or expression of praise in the third person: “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ... (1:3).” The Apostle Paul stressed God’s divine plan of redemption should evoke unlimited praise and the focus of praise in Ephesians 1:3-6 is what God has done in Christ (namely salvation).  According to F.F. Bruce, “God is to be praised because He has bestowed on His people in Christ every spiritual blessing.  Such blessings include election to holiness, instatement as God’s sons and daughters, redemption and forgiveness of sins, the gift of the Spirit, and the hope of glory.”   The Apostle Paul recognized that the Christian faith revolved around Christ and therefore introduced this passage with an expression of gratitude for God.  In addition, borrowing the words of Klyne Snodgrass, “Praise be to’ (eulogetos) is used exclusively of God (Father or Son) in the New Testament to indicate the One who alone is worthy of worship.  ‘Father of our Lord Jesus Christ’ is a distinctively Christian phrase used to describe the unique relationship that God has with Jesus.”  The verb rendered by “praise” translates to mean in non-Jewish Greek literature “to speak well of.”  The verbs “to thank,” “to glorify,” “to sing the praises of,” and “to confess” are all appropriate synonyms.  In spite of the fact God’s blessings in Christ are sometimes physical they are more exclusively spiritual.  The Greek word eulogeo influences some to believe that blessings are brought to us through the Word (logos) of God.  God’s blessings have been made secure “in the heavenly realms” (en tois epouranois) where Christ is seated at the right hand of God, having triumphed over the “spiritual forces of evil” (Eph. 6:12).

 

In addition, election in Christ also requires that one would be “holy” and “blameless” in the sight of God (1:4).  To be holy (hagios) means to be set apart for God in order to reflect His purity; it is a matter of righteousness.  Blameless (amomos), moreover, is being “free from blemish,” like the sacrificial animals presented on the alter in the Old Testament were.  Skevington Wood believes that this idea of being holy and blameless is applied to “Christ Himself (Heb. 9:14; 1 Peter 1:19), to the ideal church (Eph. 5:27), to Christians at the end of the age (2 Peter 3:14; Jude 24), and also now (Phil. 2:15).”  Paul is encouraging the saints at Ephesus to be holy and blameless before God.        

 

According to F.F. Bruce, “the NIV uses the phrase ‘in love’ (1:4) to begin a new sentence in order to emphasize the loving nature of predestination (1:5), which has to do with those who through Christ are to be received into God’s family by an act of grace (echaritosen).”  In short, Jesus Christ is God’s son “by nature;” and Christians are God’s children “by an act of grace.”  The saints at Ephesus were considered coheirs with Christ (Rom. 8:17) because when they accepted Jesus Christ as their personal Lord and Savior, they were adopted into the family of God and were no longer under the ruling of Satan.  Through Ephesians, we learn God’s adopted children receive an eternal inheritance into Heaven.

 

Paul also considers all of the saints at Ephesus to be predestined (1:5) by God.  To put it differently, all Christians (then and today) were selected in Christ prior to the creation of the universe.  In view of Woods influential words, “support for this claim is found in the verb ‘chose (exelexato), which indicates that God ‘chose’ Israel; He predestined them to be His people.”  Therefore, He also predestined the saints at Ephesus to be His people.  Paul believed that before the foundations of the world were laid, God determined all who believed in His Son would be saved.

 

Lastly, according to Markus Barth, the gift of grace (1:6) through Christ may be understood in one of three ways: “(1) Before the foundation of the world, the grace to be given to those not yet created was bestowed upon Christ (2) Jesus is the servant enthroned by God and is the instrument by which the saints have now been given grace (3) The coming, the death, and the resurrection of Jesus Christ signifies God’s grace upon His people.” 

 

Application

Have you ever been entertained by a sports team, such as a baseball, football, or basketball team?  And have you ever rooted for you favorite player so loud that everybody in the arena could hear you?  Have you ever been so exited to watch the game that nothing else in the world mattered?  If you have then you understand what it means to praise God.

 

According to Ephesians 1:3-6, the Apostle Paul claims we should praise God because out of grace He has predestined us to receive every spiritual blessing in Christ.  He did not say “maybe” we should praise God, rather he said we “should” praise God.  In other words, we are expected as children of God to pour out unlimited praise to our Heavenly Father.  After all, He has blessed us so much that we should not even think twice about praising His name forever.  He is our Maker and our Creator, and it is important for us to reminisce about that fact daily.

 

For example, when we go out to eat at a restaurant, we could praise God by openly discussing Christianity with the waitress.  We could leave her a Christian tract with her tip and pray that she would receive it with an open mind.  Moreover, we could praise God by reading His Word everyday.  Since the Bible is the food that provides spiritual nourishment for our daily walk with Jesus, there is enough material for a lifetime of learning and growing.  For this reason it is absolutely essential that we continue reading daily.  Also, we could praise God by continually seeking Him through prayer.  Since prayer is our lifeline to God, He delights in listening to us and is willing to help us through our struggles and burdens.  We can feel free to pour out our hearts to God because He is capable to do far more than we would ever ask or imagine.  Lastly, we could praise God by meeting with other followers of Jesus for prayer, Bible study, and worship.  In doing this, we can learn from other Christians how to commend God more.  Not to mention, God never intended for us to be alone in our walk with Him.  Considering this, it is crucial and critical that we never take our Lord God for granted.

 

Constantly pursue God with all your heart, soul, and mind and I guarantee you that you will be blessed.  We do not serve an insignificant God rather we serve an extremely powerful and holy God.  Be sure to approach Him with the honor and reverence He deserves.

 

Works Cited

 

Barth, Markus. Ephesians. 2 volumes. Anchor Bible Commentary. New York:         Doubleday, 1974.

 

Bruce, F.F. The Epistle to the Colossians, to Philemon, and to the Ephesians. New International Commentary on the New           Testament.  Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1984.

 

Life Application Study Bible: NIV. Illinois: Tyndale House Publishers, 1991.

 

Snodgrass, Klyne. Ephesians. The NIV Application Commentary. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1996.

 

Wood, A. Skevington. “Ephesians.” In The Expositor’s Bible Commentary. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1978.