Ephesians1chapter 1

Ephesians 1:1-2

Paul opens by his office rather than his feelings, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, the same phrase that opens Colossians and 2 Corinthians from the same imprisonment. The saints which are at Ephesus is missing the place name in the earliest manuscripts, so many read the line as addressed more widely, a circular letter carried to several churches of Asia; the traditional destination and this reading are both held without disparaging either. Grace and peace join the Greek world's own greeting to the Hebrew shalom, and Paul makes the double word his standing salutation in every letter that bears his name.

Ephesians 1:3

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ: The doxology opens the letter's long sentence, three to fourteen in the Greek running unbroken as one period, every clause hung on being in Christ. Blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places is the thread's first beat, epouranios naming the unseen world where every gift is located before it reaches earth. The blessing moves from Father to Son and out to the church in the shape the whole paragraph will keep, God the giver, Christ the location, the Spirit the seal at its close.

Ephesians 1:4-5

Chosen us in him before the foundation of the world and predestinated us unto the adoption of children read two ways among the letter's own heirs: Calvin and the Reformed line take election of particular persons to salvation, unconditional and eternal, while Wesley and the Arminian line read a corporate election in the Beloved, of all who by foreseen faith are found in him. Both readings anchor the choice in Christ rather than in the person chosen apart from him, in him standing at the head of both verses. The end named is holy and without blame before him in love, a character given as the goal whichever reading a reader holds.

Ephesians 1:6-7

To the praise of the glory of his grace closes the first stanza of the doxology, the refrain Paul repeats at verses twelve and fourteen to mark off Father, Son and Spirit in turn. Accepted in the beloved renders a Greek verb built on the same root as grace itself, charitoo, so the sentence says grace made us objects of grace. Verse seven names what the beloved has: redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, paid for according to the riches of his grace rather than any scarcer measure.

Ephesians 1:8-9

Wisdom and prudence abound toward the church before the mystery is even named, God's own capacity given rather than borrowed. Made known unto us the mystery of his will opens the letter's mystery thread, musterion in Paul's vocabulary meaning a secret once hidden and now published rather than a riddle still unsolved; the same word returns at 3:3, 3:9, 5:32 and 6:19 as the letter's later argument unfolds pieces of it. The purpose lies entirely within God himself, according to his good pleasure which he hath purposed in himself, prior to any human asking.

Ephesians 1:10

Gather together in one all things in Christ translates anakephalaiosasthai, to sum up under one head, the same root Paul uses of Christ as head at 1:22 and 4:15. The scope named is total, both which are in heaven and which are on earth, a cosmic reconciliation the letter will develop through the powers thread and the armor of chapter six. The dispensation of the fulness of times names an appointed era rather than a random moment, God's own administration of history reaching its intended point in Christ.

Ephesians 1:11-12

We in verses eleven and twelve reads to many commentators as the Jewish believers who first trusted in Christ, hoi proelpikotes, set against ye also in verse thirteen where the Gentile readers are addressed by name; Wesley and Barnes both note the shift though not all agree it is intentional. Predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will restates the Tier A question of verses four and five in the strongest terms the chapter offers, and the same readings and holders apply without a verdict repeated here. The purpose named is doxological rather than merely personal, that we should be to the praise of his glory.

Ephesians 1:13-14

Sealed with that holy Spirit of promise marks the believer as God's own property, the ancient seal that stamped ownership on a letter, an animal or a purchased slave. Which is the earnest of our inheritance names the Spirit arrabon, a legal down payment guaranteeing the balance still to come; Paul uses the identical word at 2 Corinthians 1:22 and 5:5 for the same pledge. The redemption named is not yet complete, until the redemption of the purchased possession, so the Spirit's presence now is security for a future not yet delivered rather than the whole of it.

Ephesians 1:15-16

Wherefore ties the thanksgiving to everything just rehearsed, the report Paul had heard of their faith in the Lord Jesus and love unto all the saints. Faith and love named together are the pair he looks for in every church's report, faith reaching toward Christ and love reaching outward to every saint rather than a narrower circle. Cease not to give thanks turns the report into unbroken intercession, making mention of you in my prayers a discipline rather than an occasional impulse.

Ephesians 1:17-19

The prayer asks three things in one breath: the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him, the eyes of your understanding enlightened, and sight of three objects, the hope of his calling, the riches of his inheritance in the saints, and the exceeding greatness of his power to us-ward who believe. The three objects echo the doxology just sung, calling, inheritance and power all named there first, so the prayer asks that the church see what has already been declared true of it. Enlightened eyes is not new information but a capacity to perceive what grace has already given.

Ephesians 1:20-21

Raised him from the dead and set him at his own right hand in the heavenly places is the thread's second beat after verse three, the location where believers themselves will be seated at 2:6. The right hand draws on Psalm 110:1, the LORD's own oracle to David's Lord, now read of Jesus enthroned. Far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion opens the powers thread's own ledger, ranked and named orders rather than impersonal forces, the same ranks the church will meet again in the wrestling of 6:12.

Ephesians 1:22-23

Put all things under his feet quotes Psalm 8:6, the psalm's own language for mankind's dominion now read of Christ, the same citation Hebrews 2:6-9 makes of the same psalm. Gave him to be the head over all things to the church specifies that this cosmic lordship is exercised for the church's own benefit, not merely displayed over her. The fulness of him that filleth all in all is read two ways, the church as Christ's own complement in some functional sense, or Christ himself filling the church as he fills all things; both readings are held without a settled verdict, and either way the church closes the chapter named as his own body.