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Commentary

Giving Thanks for Special Blessings from God

By November 17, 2010June 20th, 2014No Comments

An Introductory Meditation on Ephesians 1:3–14
by Myron J. Houghton

Introduction

Actually I am attempting to put down on paper some seed thoughts that various readers of this forum would need to expand. As you read this meditation, hopefully ideas come to mind that will cause you to develop the specific points I have raised or to respond creatively, either positively or negatively. I am using the New King James Version, but readers may use whichever version they prefer.

The idea of giving thanks comes from Ephesians 1:3, where the Apostle Paul expressed his thanks to God: “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.”

At least three blessings are identified in verses 4–14:

I. God the Father chose us (vv. 4, 5)

Seed thought #1: Discussions of election and predestination usually create more heat than light, but for Paul, this topic is a cause for thanking God.

Seed thought #2: God chose us “in Him,” i.e., in Christ. In my thinking, this means God’s determination to provide salvation by sending His Son logically precedes His determination to elect, and therefore Christ died to provide salvation for all people. This discussion of the logical order of God’s decree is called lapsarianism and the particular view expressed is called sublapsarianism. A good discussion of the views can be found in Millard Erickson’s Christian Theology, second edition, page 931.

Seed thought #3: He chose us . . . before the foundation of the world. In Romans 9:10 and 11 the Holy Spirit tells us that God’s choice of Jacob over Esau before either was born proves that God did not make His choice based on something He saw in them but on something within Himself. Hmm . . . might this be telling us something about God’s choice of us?

Seed thought #4: The goal of God’s choosing us is “that we should be holy and without blame before Him” (Eph. 1:4). Our being “holy and without blame” describes a future condition that occurs when Christ comes for His own. In Ephesians 5:27 the same Greek words that are translated “holy and without blame” in Ephesians 1:4 are used. Ephesians 5:25–27 states, “Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her, that He might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by the word, that He might present her to Himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she should be holy and without blemish.” The point is that believers are chosen, not merely to salvation but to preservation and glorification.

Seed thought #5: In verse 5, “having predestined us” is an aorist participle in Greek and normally describes action prior (either logically or chronologically prior to the action of the main verb, which is “He chose us” in verse 4). If we press this point, then we have to explain the difference between divine election and predestination. On the other hand, there are times when the aorist participle describes action taking place at the same time as that of the main verb, and that is why some versions read, “He chose us” in verse 4 and “He predestined us” in verse 5. Support for this understanding comes from the goal of predestination (“adoption as sons”) also being the believer’s glorification, described in Romans 8:23 as “the redemption of our body.”

II. God the Father redeemed us with the blood of His Son (v. 7)

Seed thought #1: In Ephesians 1:7 we see our being set free as grounded in the shed blood of Christ. The sinless life of Christ was a necessary requirement for His sacrifice on the cross, but it is the shedding of His blood that sets us free. Thus the Lord’s Supper focuses on the wounded body and shed blood of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Seed thought #2: God has graced us (a better rendering of “made us accepted”) in the Beloved (One). This includes “the forgiveness of sins.” These benefits are properly identified with being justified. See Romans 4:6–8, where justification is explained in terms of God not crediting our sins to us (v. 8 ) and crediting a righteousness to us that is not our own, namely, the righteousness of Christ (v. 6).

III. God the Father sealed us with the Holy Spirit (vv. 11–14)

Verses 11–14 tell us, “In Him also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestined according to the purpose of Him who works all things according to the counsel of His will, that we who first trusted in Christ should be to the praise of His glory. In Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, to the praise of His glory.”

Seed thought #1: Once again predestination is related to our future inheritance.

Seed thought #2: Trusting in Christ comes “after you heard”—an aorist participle that expresses a logical order: We trusted in Christ when we heard. Another example, in the same verse, of an aorist participle emphasizing logical rather than chronological order is, “In whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit.” Being sealed with the Holy Spirit is a reality describing all true believers in Christ. It is not a second experience following conversion.

Seed thought #3: Being sealed with the Holy Spirit guarantees our preservation until “the redemption of the purchased possession,” namely, the glorification of our body. The present indwelling of God’s Spirit is the Father’s pledge, guarantee, down payment that we will someday enjoy our inheritance.

Myron J. Houghton, PhD, is chair of the theology department at Faith Baptist Theological Seminary, Ankeny, Iowa. He can be reached at dr.m.houghton@netzero.net.

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