Ephesians 1:3–14 is an incredibly rich passage of Scripture. What follows is a preliminary study of this passage from my own studies in preaching through this passage.
The Overall Structure and Themes of Ephesians 1:3–14
In Paul’s longest sentence (202 total words in Greek), Paul blesses God for His blessings in Christ to us (Eph 1:3) and then elaborates those blessings (Eph 1:4–14). Many point out that the repeated phrase “in Christ” or “in Him” with reference to Christ brings out our many blessings in Him. Each section within this overall passage emphasizes the spiritual blessings with reference to one member of the Trinity or another: the Father (Eph 1:3–6), Son (Eph 1:7–12), and Holy Spirit (Eph 1:13–14). Each of these sections ends with the purpose for God’s saving activity of His people—the praise of His glory, and more fully, the glory of His grace (Eph 1:6a, 12b, 14b).
Other markers within the passage are more subtle but help to find some structure as well. Eph 1:4 begins with “just as,” introducing what Paul announced as “every spiritual blessing” in Eph 1:3. Paul then gives the first of four primary verbs for Eph 1:3–14, “He chose” (Eph 1:4). The other three primary verbs are “we have” (Eph 1:7), “we have been made an inheritance” (Eph 1:11, LSB), and “you were sealed.” Each of these three verbs follow the phrase “in whom” (en hō), referring to Christ, the source of these blessings. While there are other verbs beyond these four, they are found in subordinate clauses. Eph 1:3–14 has a handful of participles as well. But even in these verbs, we see the main contours of Eph 1:3–14, giving us reason to praise God—He chose us, we have blessings in Christ, we are God’s inheritance, and we were sealed by the Spirit for an eternity with God.
Interpretive Summaries of the Three Sections of Ephesians 1:3–14
If one were to simply compare translations of Eph 1:3–14, it would be clear that the following only gives my own understanding of how to translate and interpret this passage. I do not explain my conclusions but give them as I summarize each section of the passage below.
Ephesians 1:3–6
Paul blesses the Father for our every spiritual blessing in Christ. The Father predestined us to adoption as sons, a decision made in eternity past as the outflow of the kind intention of His overall will. The goal of this all was the praise of the glory of His grace, saving grace bestowed on us in His beloved Son.
Ephesians 1:7–12
In Christ, we as Christians have been redeemed from sin and its penalty by His shed blood and have received forgiveness from sins. These blessings stem from the Father’s infinite wealth of grace. The Father abundantly gave this grace to us with the wisdom and insight necessary to understand the gospel and believe. This message of grace in Christ in its breadth as we know it today, determined in the eternal will of God and hidden from man as a mystery in prior ages, is now revealed in this present age. This revelation is according to the kind intention of the Father that He lovingly purposed for us in Christ as a part of His overall eternal will. This benevolent purpose has as its goal a future administration of God which climaxes all prior times by making Christ the head and central focus of all things in the heavens and on the earth. The Father made us His own inheritance in Christ, having predestined us to Himself according to His benevolent purpose for us. This benevolent purpose and its outworking in our predestination is among all the things that God works out according to His decisive will that issued from His eternal counsel among Himself. The intended end of the outworking of His will and specifically His benevolent purpose for us is that we, already hoping in Christ in this age, would be forever unto the praise of the Father’s glory.
Ephesians 1:13–14
In Christ, and by our hearing and believing the truth of the gospel of our salvation, we have been sealed with the Holy Spirit. The Spirit within us is a promise and pledge of our inheritance to come and is necessary for our coming and full redemption as God’s own possession, all of which will be to the praise of the His glory.
A Chronological Summary of Our Spiritual Blessings
Ephesians 1:3–14 regularly looks from eternity past to eternity future, describing the decisive mind of God in eternity past and His benevolent purpose for us in eternity future. Looking at this passage through the lens of time, I have tried my best to identify what blessings are to us according to the past, present, and future.
The Blessings of Eternity Past
God counseled among Himself concerning the matter of all things (Eph 1:11b), resulting in His decisive will for all things (Eph 1:11b). His purpose is that gracious and benevolent part of His will that specifically involves believers (Eph 1:11).
Just as God’s overall will included His kind intention to us that issued in our predestination to adoption as sons (Eph 1:5), so also God’s purpose involved our predestination to be God’s own inheritance (Eph 1:11).
God purposed kind intention to us in Christ (Eph 1:9). From elsewhere in Scripture, this purpose was determined in Christ Jesus in eternity past (2 Tim 1:9) and involved God’s choice of some to salvation (Rom 9:11). God’s purpose involves salvation, calling, and service (Rom 8:28; 2 Tim 1:9). As a means to these goals, God’s purpose involves the preaching of the gospel (2 Tim 1:9; Eph 3:11; cf. 3:2–10).
The Blessings of the Present
Between eternity past and future, we live in the here and now. In this present age, God has made known to us the mystery of His will for us in Christ (Eph 1:9). His grace extends to granting us the wisdom and insight necessary to receive this infinite grace (Eph 1:8). Thus, we listen and believe in the message of truth, the gospel of salvation (Eph 1:13). As a part of our salvation and being in Christ, we have redemption, forgiveness, grace, and the Spirit (Eph 1:7, 13). Not only do we hope in Christ for the fullest expression of every spiritual blessing in Him, but the Spirit is also a pledge within us of our inheritance to come (Eph 1:12–13). For all of this, we bless the Father now and praise the glory of His grace (Eph 1:3, 6, 12, 14).
The Blessings of Eternity Future
Joined to all of the above are the blessings of eternity future. We will enjoy the future administration of God that climaxes our times by summing up all things in Christ (Eph 1:9–10). We will be perfectly holy and blameless before the Father (Eph 1:4). We will experience the full blessings of our adoption as sons to the Father through Jesus Christ (Eph 1:5). We ourselves will be an inheritance to the Father (Eph 1:11), and we will also receive our inheritance as well (Eph 1:14). Not only will we be cause for the praise of the glory of the Father’s grace to us, but we will also be carrying out that very praise (Eph 1:6, 12, 14).
Soli deo gloria. Both now and forever. Amen.
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All quotes NASB unless otherwise stated
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