By whom is this epistle written?—"Paul."
What does the writer call himself?—"Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus."
Through what is he an apostle?—"Through the will of God."
To whom is the epistle written?—"To the saints that are at Ephesus, and the faithful in Christ Jesus."
With what benediction does he greet them?—"Grace to you and peace."
From whom is the greeting?—"From God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ."
SPIRITUAL BLESSINGS, VERSES 3-12.
To whom does the apostle ascribe blessing?—"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ."
With what has God blessed us?—"Who hath blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places."
In whom are we blessed?—"In Christ."
In accordance with what has God blessed us?—"Even as He chose us in Him."
When did God choose us?—"Before the foundation of the world."
What did God choose that we should be?—"That we should be holy and without blemish."
By whose standard are we to be judged?—"Before Him."
In what did God foreordain us?—"In love having foreordained us (margin)."
Unto what are we foreordained?—"Unto adoption."
Adoption as what?—"As sons."
Through whom are we foreordained?—"Through Jesus Christ."
Unto whom?—"Unto Himself."
According to what are we ordained?—"According to the good pleasure of His will."
To the praise of what are we foreordained?—"To the praise of the glory of His grace."
Through whom is this grace bestowed?—"Which He freely bestowed on us in the Beloved."
What do we have through this grace in the Beloved?—"In whom we have our redemption."
Through what does the redemption come?—"Through His blood."
What does that redemption bring?—"The forgiveness of our trespasses."
According to what are we forgiven?—"According to the riches of His grace."
How has this grace abounded?—"Which He made to abound toward us in all wisdom and prudence."
What does He make known through this grace?—"Making known unto us the mystery of His will."
In accordance with what has He made known His will?—"According to His good pleasure."
In whom is God's good pleasure purposed?—"Which He [God] purposed in Him [Christ]."
Unto what is His good pleasure purposed?—"Unto a dispensation of the fulness of the times."
To what end is His good pleasure purposed?—"To sum up all things in Christ, the things in the heavens, and the things upon the earth; in Him, I say."
What are we made in Him?—"In whom also we were made a heritage."
By what means?—"Having been foreordained."
According to what?—"According to the purpose of Him."
What assurance have we of the power of His purpose?—"Who worketh all things after the counsel of His will."
What is God's object in all His purpose, grace, and blessings?—"To the end that we should be unto the praise of His glory, we who had before hoped in Christ."
Suggestions for Study.
"An Apostle."—The word apostle means "messenger," or "one sent with a message." It has been supposed by many that the word apostle applied only to "the twelve;" but Paul was an apostle, and so were Barnabas and Epaphroditus. See Acts 14:14; Phil. 2:25 (Greek, apostle). So also our Lord is called (Heb. 3:11), making sixteen apostles at least mentioned in the New Testament. The apostle seems to mention still others in 2 Cor. 8:23. The important fact of apostleship is not the office or the man, but the message. No apostle carried with him any other authority save what was in the message; and the authority was in the message, not because an apostle gave it, but because of Him who sent it.
"Through the Will of God."—Paul did not make himself an apostle. God's gifts do not come from man's choice. We may desire to be prophets or apostles or evangelists, but the appointment rests with God. His Spirit divides to each one severally, even "as He will" (1 Cor. 12:11), and always according to our power or ability to use His gift (Matt. 25:14).
"To the Saints."—The word saint means a holy one, a separated one, a set-apart one. It means one separated from the world and set apart unto God. Characteristics of latter-day saints are thus given: "Here is the patience of the saints; here are they that keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus." Rev. 14:12. This epistle was addressed not only to the saints at Ephesus, but to the faithful in Christ Jesus everywhere in all ages, and, hence, to us. One other thought: We do not read of Bible saints calling themselves such. They thus speak of their brethren; but the terms they apply to themselves is ever "apostle," "messenger," or "servant."
Grace and Peace.—In the grace—God's unmerited favor, the revelation of Himself to sinful man—God gives the peace; and He gives it to us. As to what it is and how it comes we will study later. But herein catch the precious thought. It is bestowed upon His people, alike from Father and Son.
"Blessed."—The word "blessed" means to be "well spoken of," eulogized, praised. And the great God, the Father of all, even of our Lord Jesus Christ, is worthy of all praise, because He has blessed us, spoken well of us. What God speaks is so. His speaking it makes it so. Speaking well of God expresses our sentiments and feelings; but God speaking well of us brings to us all that which He has spoken in our behalf. What is this? How much does it include? "Who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings." Do not put them afar off to the future; take them now. It is not God "once blessed," or God "will bless," but God "hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in the heavenly places in Christ." "His divine power hath granted unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him that called us by His own glory and virtue," 2 Peter 1:3. "For it was the good pleasure of the Father that in Him should all the fulness dwell;" "in Him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily; and in Him ye are made full." Col. 1:19; 2:9, 10. If we embrace the Son, if we lay hold on Christ, by yielding all to Him, in Him we obtain all. Every spiritual blessing is ours to grasp if we will. We may die of thirst, believing ourselves on the great salt sea; but God's great flowing Amazon of the water of life is all about us; "dip it up" and drink.
God's Choosing.—O the infinite assurance of His goodness. We did not choose Him; He chose us. He did not choose us to be evil, but to be holy and without blemish. He did not wait for us to develop character, and then choose us; He chose our characters in the beginning. He marked them all out in His own righteousness, sons of God through Jesus Christ; each one of these characters having its own individuality, with a name expressive of its inherent righteousness, its individuality, and its experience; and all these names of characters were written before Him in the Lamb's book of life in the beginning. Rev. 13:8; 17:8. And now He comes down into this evil world by His Spirit, His Word, His Son, His messengers, and calls each one of us to one of these characters, holy and without blemish before Him.
"Foreordained."—The word rendered foreordained means to determine, limit, mark out beforehand. God marks us out beforehand to be His sons, adopted through Jesus Christ. He foresaw the sin, He knew that it would come in the great testing of character, but the characters written in the book of life remain. The ultimate possible character of each sinful soul that He calls (and He calls all) is there written. The sonship which we lost by sin, He will restore by adoption. What man would not have through creation in His Son, God offers in plentitude through regeneration by grace in Jesus Christ. Nor does He place men farther away because they sinned. In love He marks out beforehand our adoption as sons unto Himself. Not one degree in relationship are we to be removed, so far as Infinite Love can do the work. "Wherefore come ye out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch no unclean thing; and I will receive you, and I will be to you a Father, and ye shall be to Me sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty." 2 Cor. 6:17, 18. How could He do more? This is "the good pleasure of His will;" is it our will to accept it? How can we refuse it?
To His Glory.—The character of the workman is proclaimed by his work. The carpenter who can take the poorest material and make it into a house the first of its class is the best carpenter. The house is to the praise of his glory. The wonderful poem made of a combination of common words, the marvelous painting, produced by a combination of common and various pigments, are to the praise of the singer and artist. A number of years ago a noble lady of France laid a wager with a German lord that Paris would take the most insignificant thing and make of it a creation of glory and beauty. A hair was chosen. It was sent to Paris. In the beak of a German eagle in gold and medallion the hair was placed, and suspended from either end of the hair were the symbols in miniature of the provinces of Alsace and Lorraine, underneath was the inscription, "Alsace and Lorraine—you hold them only by a hair." The wager was paid. The thing of art and beauty from the hair was to the praise of the skill of Paris. Infinitely more than this God proposes to do in Christ Jesus; He will take the poor wrecks of humanity sin has made in this world, in whose flesh dwells no good thing, and make them to the praise of the glory of His grace throughout all eternity. We can not see how it is possible to do it, but He "worketh all things after the counsel of His will."
His Grace.—This epistle is a revelation of His grace. "Grace to you," "the glory of His grace," "the riches of His grace;" "by grace ye are saved;" "the exceeding riches of His grace;" "how abundant is the grace," freely bestowed. It brings redemption. It forgives all our trespasses, not according to our poor asking, or conception, "according to the riches of His grace." It "abounds" in our behalf. "Where sin abounded, grace did abound more exceedingly." Rom. 5:20. It gives righteousness for sin, life for death, always sufficient, "in all wisdom and prudence." And in His unfathomable goodness God has made this great "mystery of His will" known, in order that each soul of us may believe and accept His finished work.
"A Heritage."—He goes still farther. He sees us not only as forgiven sinners, not only as sons, not only as a part of that glorious culmination of all the ages when all things shall in Christ Jesus be gathered back to oneness with God; but we inherit it if we are Christ's. In Him "all are yours; and ye are Christ's; and Christ is God's." 1 Cor. 3:22, 23. "He that overcometh shall inherit these things." Rev. 21:7. That is God's foreordained purpose, and He is able to do it all. Will you, will I, let Him work it all out in our lives? He can not fail.
