ephesians 1 commentary

Ephesians 1:8-10. Do we make mention of people in our prayers? But we need something more. To what nobler end could we have been elected? Wherefore I also, after I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus, and love unto all the saints, Cease not to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers; Is that the way that we pray? This is one of the most tremendous thoughts in all Christianity. It is a very wonderful book. It is a part of his wage. Verse 11 In Ephesians 1:19, Paul talks about God’s great power. Ephesians 1:22-23. It is one of the strange facts of Church life that in Church courts, such as sessions and presbyteries, and even General Assemblies, a score of hours might be given to the discussion of mundane problems of administration for every one given to the discussion of the eternal verities of God. He calls the Church by its greatest title--the body of Christ. There is a gathering under the Christ, and he will in the fullness of time perfectly accomplish it. More than that, he knows that he cannot show his love to Christ in any other way than by showing his love to his fellow men. He says, as the King James Version has it, that God has made known to us "the mystery of his will." A Christian employer will be concerned with far more than the payment of minimum wages or the creation of minimum working conditions. This is the fountain from which the living waters flow. He says, times out of number, “in him,” “in Christ.” We have redemption. It is to be wisely handled, but it is not to be gagged and sent into a corner, as it is by some. The only question, dear friends, is this. Wherever the Christian is, he is still in Christ. The Greek word is arrabon (Greek #728). Gabriel looked very doubtful, for he knew well what poor stuff men were made of. First, it was the word of truth; it brought them the truth about God and about the world in which they lived and about themselves. In the Greek the long passage from Ephesians 1:3-14 is one sentence. For there the family was based on what was called the patria potestas, the father's power. (c) It is necessary that we should have a readjusted sense of proportion. Whenever we mention the word grace, we must think of the sheer loveliness of the Christian life and the sheer undeserved generosity of the heart of God. The word which Paul uses for this preparation is intensely interesting. Now Paul, in one sentence, drops his great thought. We were chosen, but chosen in Christ — chosen not because we were holy, but chosen that we should be holy. He puts his requests down in the book, and when they are answered he writes that down. The riches of his grace we have, but he uses wisdom and prudence, teaching us little by little as we are able to bear it, and raising us up by degrees from one stage of grace to another, according as our poor frames can endure the joy. How has he blessed us? Nothing comes but by that silver pipe. There is no peace worth having which does not spring from a work of grace in the soul. This secret was a purpose which he formed in his own mind before time began, so that the periods of time should be controlled and administered until they reached their full development, a development in which all things, in heaven and upon earth, are gathered into one in Jesus Christ. And hath put all things under his feet, and gave him to be the head over all things to the church, Which is his body, the fullness of him that filleth all in all. Yet most people today have never heard of John Gill. It comes from the verb lutroun (Greek #3083), which means to ransom. “Grace be to you, and peace from God our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ.”. You would think, from the talk of some, that God was man’s debtor and must needs do according to the will of man. So be it, gracious Lord. 1:11-14 It was in Christ, in whom our portion in this scheme was also assigned to us, that it was determined, by the decision of him who controls everything according to the purpose of his good will, that we, who were the first to set our hopes upon the coming of the Anointed One of God, should become the means whereby his glory should be praised. Suppose someone who knew nothing whatever about Christianity was brought into a Communion service. The word used is apolutrosis (Greek #629). ADDRESS AND SALUTATION.. Ephesians 1:1. So, then, God chose the Christian that he should be different from other men. We come to the last two verses of this chapter, and in them Paul has one of the most adventurous and most uplifting thoughts that any man has ever had. Here is the challenge that the modern Church has been very slow to face. He is a sovereign, and gives his grace where he chooses, and he would have us know that it is according to the good pleasure of his will. what surpassing greatness there is in his power to us who believe with a belief which was wrought by the might of his strength, that power which wrought in Christ to raise him from among the dead, and to set him at God's right hand in the heavenly places, above every rule and authority and power and lordship. After faith, the Holy Spirit is given to dwell in the soul. He knows that week by week, and almost day by day, new techniques and treatments are being discovered; and if he wishes to continue to be of service to those in illness and in pain, he must keep up with them. The ancient world was haunted by the sense of sin. They may be orthodox, but they are not Christian. That right still continues to exist even if the son is old enough to play an active part in political affairs, even if he has been judged worthy to occupy the magistrate's office, and even if he is held in honour by all men." I am going out to take a good sniff of it, for I shall know that the game is up." Ephesians 1:4 - just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and blameless before... - Verse-by-Verse Commentary Ephesians 1:3. The oikonomos (Greek #3623) was the steward who saw to it that the family affairs ran smoothly. If any say so then I charge him with being like the Jesuit, who hides a part of what he believes. I think that he told me that there is a name down there of a person for whom he has prayed, and that he is not converted yet. of God teach us how to pray! Doctors and surgeons must know about it and be trained to use it. If we are believing in him, then all the privileges, which are mentioned in this Chapter belong to us, and we are quickened and we shall be exalted even as Christ is, at the Father’s right hand. Jesus Christ was above all things God's instrument of reconciliation. We were absolutely in the power of sin and of the world; God, through Jesus, took us out of that power into his; and that adoption wipes out the past and makes us new. Blessed be his holy name forever and ever. Brethren and sisters in Christ, this is a benediction for you as well as for the saints at Ephesus; it is for all “the faithful in Christ Jesus.” May you all have grace without measure, and may you all have “the peace of God, which passeth all understanding,” to “keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus”! It is so with the Christian. The Greek word is charis (Greek #5485) which could mean charm. Ephesians 1:4-5. In ancient Greek (the language Paul originally wrote in), Ephesians 1:3 through Ephesians 1:14 form one long sentence. Paul has heard of their faith in Christ and their love to all God's consecrated people. It is as if God had given us enough to whet our appetites for more and enough to make us certain that some day he will give us all. The exposition of scripture from the pulpit is a first necessity of religious wakening. Some of them splendid and some of them blighted." He determined in his love before time began to adopt us to himself through Jesus Christ, in the good purpose of his will, so that all might praise the glory of the generous gift which he freely gave us in the Beloved. The explanation is that there is only one source of peace in all the world, and that is doing the will of God. And so the Holy Ghost is a part of him. Paul uses the same words here - power, strength and might. Wherein he hath abounded toward us in all wisdom and prudence; Having made known unto us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure which he hath purposed in himself, that in the dispensation of the fullness of times he might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth: even in him: All the things that are in Christ are to be gathered together — believing Jews no longer to be divided from believing Gentiles. As Plato had it long ago: "The unexamined life is the life not worth living," and the unexamined religion is the religion not worth having. The two words in Greek are sophia (Greek #4678) and phronesis (Greek #5428), and Christ brought both of them to us. Ephesians 1:6. There is no end to the blessing which God gives to his chosen. But to a man who knows the story and the meaning of the Last Supper, the whole service has a meaning which is quite clear. But it is the faith of the Christian that in this world God's purpose is being worked out; and it is the conviction of Paul that that purpose is that one day all things and all men should be one family in Christ. A man might live in ease and luxury and on the fat of the land, he might have the finest of houses and the biggest of bank accounts, and yet not have peace; on the other hand, a man might be starving in prison, or dying at the stake, or living a life from which all comfort had fled, and be at perfect peace. A friendship which does not grow closer with the years tends to vanish with the years. The Holy Ghost is first the seal, and next the earnest. Which he wrought in Christ, when be raised him from the dead, and set him at his own right hand in the heavenly places, Far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come: And hath put all things under his feet, and gave him to be the head over all things to the church, Which is his body, the fullness of him that filleth all in all. ", A chapel of hate is a grim conception; and yet--are we always so very far away from it? Blameless is the Greek word amomos (Greek #299). In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace; Redemption by Christ, forgiveness by Christ, still everything through the Crucified. In the ancient world--it is a custom still followed--when a sack, or a crate, or a package was despatched, it was sealed with a seal, in order to indicate from where it had come and to whom it belonged.