Lesson for January 3, 2021
The Book of Ephesians
Chapter 1:1-4
“Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, to the saints who are at Ephesus and who are faithful in Christ Jesus: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. 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,just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and blameless before Him.” The first chapter is the predetermined plan of God for all believers. To the saints indicates that this epistle was a circular letter rather than written to one church. It was a circular letter to the churches in the Roman province of Asia, the seven churches of Revelation 2 & 3. The fact that the closing remarks of this epistle in Ephesians 6:23 are in the third person (those) rather than the second person (you) also indicates that this is a circular letter. So, there is no question about the fact that this was addressed to a number of churches.
By way of background information, this letter was written by Paul from Roman imprisonment in 62-64 AD. Ephesians was delivered to the various churches by Tychicus. Ephesians was designed to correct reversionism in the Roman province of Asia. And not only to correct reversionism but to erect our spiritual building and to ultimately move the believers into the super-grace life of spiritual maturity.
Paul’s name was his adopted name of grace orientation. His name was originally Saul of Tarsus but at the point of salvation he took on the name of Paul, which means little. (Acts 13:9) Apostle means one sent forth with great authority. The gift of apostleship not only carried this great authority and great communication of God’s Gospel message. This was a temporary gift; it did not exist beyond the Canon of Scripture. The writers of the New Testament were all apostles, or someone associated with an apostle. Mark associated with Peter; Luke associated with Paul.
Apostleship was the highest spiritual gift ever to exist in the church. It was sovereignly bestowed by the Holy Spirit to certain individuals. (I Corinthians 12:11, 28; Ephesians 4:11) Apostleship was a temporary gift designed to carry the church until the Canon of Scripture was completed. The gift carried absolute authority in both written and verbal communication of doctrine. The apostles were appointed after the resurrection of Jesus Christ. (Ephesians 4:8,11) This spiritual gift exercised authority over all the local churches. Once the Canon of Scripture was completed, the gift was removed. Today all local churches are to be autonomous with authority residing in the Word of God and the pastor.
Apostles had to be eyewitnesses to the resurrected Christ. This qualified the eleven and Paul became qualified on the Damascus road. (Acts 1:22; I Corinthians 9:1; 15:83-8) The authority of the apostles was established by the possession of temporary gifts which went with it. Every apostle had the gifts of miracles, healing, and languages (tongues). These were spectacular type gifts which they used to establish their authority when they went to certain places. These gifts do not exist today. (Acts 5:15; 16:16-18; 28:8,9) Once the apostle’s authority was established in an area he didn’t use these gifts anymore and eventually when the apostles’ authority was well established these gifts were removed.
Paul belongs to Jesus Christ and we have the description of his appointment and the source of his appointment. Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus through God’s will, purpose, and design. Since God is perfect, His will, His design, and His purpose are perfect. It was the purpose of God in eternity past to take the worst sinner who ever lived and make him the greatest believer who ever lived. (I Timothy 1:12-16) This is grace. Paul became the 12th apostle when he was appointed by God to replace Judas Iscariot.
To the saints means every believer is a saint because he is in union with Christ, not because he is “saintly.” To the faithful in Christ Jesus is used for believers who are building an Edification Complex and moving toward the super-grace life because they are positive toward Bible doctrine.
In Paul’s salutation, everything that is connected with our relationship with God at the point of salvation is mentioned or suggested. At the moment of salvation, we receive 40 spiritual assets which can never be improved upon. They are the greatest assets ever given to believers in any age. Our capacity to appreciate them and our capacity for blessing is going to come as a result of our spiritual growth.
Grace is the Greek word “charis,” which means unmerited favor and undeserved mercy from God. Grace the plan and principle of God for the human race and everything depends on Who and what God is and nothing depends on us.
Peace is the Greek word “eirene,” which means benefit, welfare, tranquility, and prosperity. In other words, it is simply a synonym for blessing. Here it means spiritual prosperity. The believer becomes spiritually prosperous or benefited through the study and application of Bible doctrine. The believer’s spiritual welfare is dependent on the amount of doctrine which is absorbed into his soul. A believer’s tranquility of soul is based upon applying Bible doctrine.
Verse 3 begins with the word blessed which is the Greek word “eulogetos,” which means “worthy of praise and glorification.” Through Bible doctrine in your soul a believer can appreciate that God alone is worthy of praise and glorification and that the capacity for this appreciation comes from what God the Father has provided not from man’s ability or intellect. God feeds our souls as believers with Bible doctrine when we expose ourselves to the teaching of accurate Bible doctrine. God’s Word is the only source of knowing God and appreciating Him for Who He is, what He has done, what He is doing and what He will do for us as believers in Jesus Christ. You cannot legitimately glorify God, praise God, appreciate God or have capacity to love God apart from Bible doctrine in your soul. The key to knowing God is knowing the Lord Jesus Christ. The Lord Jesus Christ is the focal point of the Father’s plan. Christ is the revelation of God to mankind and we learn everything about God through Him. Jesus said, “I am the door.” (John 10:9) Since Christ is the only Savior, He is the entrance into the Father’s plan, there is no other way. (John 14:6)
Who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ means God provides the grace benefits, does all the work apart from human ability, human talent or human good works. The spiritual blessings from God were a part of God’s predesigned plan for believers in eternity past. This means that every blessing that we receive from God is based on grace and not human works. Since they were provided in eternity past, God the Father provided grace benefits which we could neither earn, deserve nor gain by our human efforts. Therefore, God blesses us on the basis of Who and what He is, never on who and what we are. These blessings become a reality through developing capacity through the consistent study and application of Bible doctrine.
Spiritual blessings mean that anything that comes from God is spiritual which is the Greek word “pneumatikos.” “Pneumatikos” combines the essence of God, the character of God into one principle. You can’t see God the Father, but He is real, He is spiritual and therefore anything that comes from Him is a spiritual gift. And all spiritual blessing is based on our union with Jesus Christ. So, a materialistic blessing can be spiritual or not spiritual depending on the source. If the source is God, then it is spiritual even if it is a material possession. In the heavenly places relates all blessings that you have to your union with Christ. Your union with Christ is the source of all your spiritual blessings. All spiritual benefits are from God.
Just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world. In verse 4 we have the doctrine of election, which refers to God’s perfect plan for the believer after salvation (not before). (I Thessalonians 1:4; II Thessalonians 2:13; II Timothy 1:9) God is perfect therefore His plan is perfect. God the Father has selected believers for Himself, but He did not coerce us into believing. All members of the human race have the potential of being elected into the plan of God based on faith in Christ. (II Timothy 2:10; II Peter 3:9) Election for a believer means they share the election of Jesus Christ. In eternity past, Jesus Christ was elected for a service by God the Father. That service was to go to the Cross and pay for the sins of the world. (John 15:16; Ephesians 1:4; II Thessalonians 2:13; I Peter 1:2) Every believer shares the election of Christ being in union with Him and being His ambassadors on earth. (I Corinthians 1:2, 30; Romans 8:28-32; Ephesians 1:4)
That we would be holy and blameless before Him means that at salvation we are positionally holy and blameless, permanently. Our position in Christ will never change. In the Christian Way of Life, we have the potential of being holy and blameless before Him based on our positive attitude toward God and His Word. In eternity, we will be holy and blameless before God for all eternity in a resurrection body. We call these three stages sanctification – positional, experiential and ultimate. Sanctification is the Greek word “hagiasmos” and means “to be set apart to God.” It is the same word used for “saint” and “holy.” Therefore, all believers are saints, and all believers are holy. However, sanctification is in three stages for believers and these stages must always be distinguished in order to accurately interpret the Word of God. Each is a separate and a distinct stage in the life of the believer.
Positional Sanctification
(Hebrews 10:10)
God the Holy Spirit places a believer into union with Jesus Christ at salvation. This is accomplished by the baptism of the Holy Spirit. (I Corinthians 12:13) The baptism of the Holy Spirit is neither seen nor felt. It is a fact stated in the Word of God for us to believe. We must always distinguish between the indwelling, the baptism and the filling of the Holy Spirit. These are all separate and distinct ministries of the Holy Spirit. Once again, none of these ministries is seen nor felt. The indwelling is God the Holy Spirit permanently residing in the believer. The baptism of God the Holy Spirit is placing believers into permanent union with Christ. And the filling of God the Holy Spirit is His control and guidance of believers, which is temporary, depending on the volition (free-will) of the believer.
God’s own righteousness is imputed (credited) to the believer at salvation according to II Corinthians 5:21. This is the only way we can be set apart to God. We have been separated unto God by our faith in Jesus Christ. We have been given at least 40 spiritual assets, which include being made the righteousness of God. This position in Christ sets up the potential for each believer to execute the Christian Way of Life. Our position in Christ and our walk with Christ are different and must always be distinguished in order to avoid confusion and inaccurate interpretation. When the Bible says that we are dead to sin, this is positional truth. When the Bible says to walk in the Spirit and you will not fulfill the lust (desire) of the flesh (sin nature), it is not referring to positional truth, but to experiential truth.
Experiential Sanctification
(Galatians 5:16-26)
Even though we possess the righteousness of God, we will not realize the full aspect of this until we receive a glorified body at the Rapture. (I Corinthians 15:50-53) In the meantime, we still possess a sin nature, which tempts us to commit personal sins. It is our responsibility as Christians to learn and apply the Word of God and to control our sin nature. We can do this only through the power of the Holy Spirit.
There is a war being waged within every believer. It is a battle to see who will control your soul. Each of us holds the key – volition or free will. God did not make us robots. He gave us the freedom of choice.
What do you think is the biggest hindrance to the execution of God’s purpose, plan and will for your life as a believer in Christ? Most Christians think it is Satan. But the biggest hindrance to our executing the Christian Way of Life is you and me!
One passage of Scripture that relates to this battle in our soul is Galatians 5:16-26. The Greek the word for walk in Galatians 5 is “stoicheo,” which means to walk in a straight line or row. If we are “walking in the Spirit,” our steps will align with His. In other words, we will allow the Holy Spirit to guide “our steps.” This means that we are allowing God the Holy Spirit to align our experience with who we are as Royal Family of God. God is not an ogre waiting for us to fail so He can zap us. God loves us and wants only the best for us. Therefore, we should learn to love ourselves, which entails self-worth and self-respect. God in His grace is always there for us, even in times of our failure. Since God has compassion on us, we should have compassion on ourselves. Evaluate yourself, make the necessary corrections and move forward, one step at a time. But don’t spend time beating yourself up or condemning yourself because of some failure. In this way, we can be blameless before God while we are here on earth. (I John 1:6-10)
Every believer has volition (the freedom of choice). Satan is the ruler of this world system and has an army of demons to do his bidding. Satan is neither omnipresent nor is he omniscient. Contrary to popular belief, Satan can be only one place at any given time and most of his time is spent in Heaven before the throne of God accusing believers of wrongdoing. However, we cannot ignore him because he is powerful and brilliant (much smarter than any human being). He uses his knowledge of mankind through years of observation to influence them to do both human good and evil. Satan’s demon army is at work continually leading unbelievers and believers astray. Though demons (including Satan) cannot indwell a believer, they can influence him through this corrupt world system and the sin nature. So, every believer has a three-fold enemy that must be recognized and dealt with effectively: Satan, the world system and the sin nature. How you deal with each will determine your success as a Christian.
The Bible says that we are to flee from and resist Satan. We are never commanded to go on the offensive with him. Satan is much more powerful than human beings. But the power of the Holy Spirit is much greater than Satan’s power so we must learn how to use that power to overcome Satan’s deceit and trickery. Remember that Satan and his demons disguise themselves as “angels of light” and “ministers of righteousness.” Satan is the greatest counterfeiter of truth that the world has ever known. He comes as a wolf in sheep’s clothing in order to devour us. As believers, we must constantly be on guard against the subtleties of Satan’s program. He wants to deceive us into believing that God doesn’t want the best for us and that his way is superior to God’s way. However, a brief study of God’s Word should be enough to convince anyone that Satan’s program leads only to destruction. For unbelievers, following Satan’s program leads to eternal separation from God and for the believer, it leads to destruction of his spiritual life. (II Corinthians 11:3)
Handling Satan’s world system can be successfully overcome only by a power greater than ourselves. This power of course, is the power of God the Holy Spirit in control of our life. It is also a matter of spiritual growth and the utilization of the Ten Problem-Solving Devices. Since it is your thinking that the world system attempts to influence, it is your thinking that must be renewed by the Word of God. The Christian Way of Life is a life of thinking – thinking divine viewpoint instead of human viewpoint. A believer cannot accomplish this apart from a consistent life of study and application of Bible doctrine. A sermon or devotional occasionally will not get the job done. Study is hard work – work to which most believers are unwilling to commit themselves. (Romans 12:1-2; II Timothy 2:15; I John. 4:4)
The sin nature can be controlled by positive volition toward the filling ministry of God the Holy Spirit. Study and application of Bible doctrine gives the believer the necessary tools to understand and use doctrinal rationale to successfully make the right choice to allow the Holy Spirit to control his soul. All temptation comes from your sin nature, not directly from Satan. When a person sins, it is because he wants to sin – Satan didn’t make him do it – he chose to do it. This is why we are all accountable for our own sins, not someone else’s sins. It is sin that must be dealt with after salvation and God in His grace has given us a fantastic system of recovery. By simply naming, acknowledging or admitting our sins we are forgiven of all sins (known and unknown), restored to fellowship with God and filled with (controlled by) the Holy Spirit. (I John 1:5-10)
Success in the Christian life is not an accident and God does not have a “magic wand” that He waves every time you get in trouble or want something from Him. He does, however, have a system of grace that is above and beyond anything that the world system or Satan has to offer. But God never forces His system on anyone, you and you alone must make the decision that you will learn this system and live within it. God has set you apart in a permanent position that will never change regardless of your spiritual condition. You can also be set apart to God experientially by the use of God’s power system – the filling (control) of the Holy Spirit and Bible doctrine in the soul.
Ultimate Sanctification
(Philippians 3:20-21)
We still reside in this body while here on earth, but our true home is Heaven. We are just passing though this life, but our real citizenship is in Heaven. When Christ returns for us at the Rapture, we will realize ultimate sanctification. All the truth of our position in Christ and all the potential of experiential sanctification that the believer fulfilled (divine production) will be a reality when Christ returns for His Church (believers of this age).
For the believer there is going to be a change. Each of us is going to receive a glorified body fashioned after Christ’s body. This will be an instantaneous change as we are being caught up to meet Christ in the air. Ultimate sanctification will be a reality for all believers regardless of their spiritual status. All believers will receive a glorified body and will spend all of eternity in perfect happiness. There will, however, be a loss of magnificent rewards and blessings for those who fail to execute the Christian Way of Life.
A companion word to holy is blameless which is the Greek word “amomos” meaning without blemish or without blame. Positionally and ultimately all believers will stand before God blameless regardless of how they lived their Christian lives. However, experientially all believers do not stand before God blameless. Winning the battle for the control of the soul is how a believer stands blameless before God experientially.
Doctrinal translation of Ephesians 1:1-4, “Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will and authority of God, to the believers who are at Ephesus and who are faithful in the execution of the Christian Way of Life in Christ Jesus: Grace to you and spiritual prosperity (peace) from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing including 40 spiritual assets and much more in the heavenly places because of our union in Christ,just as He chose us for a service in Him before the foundation of the world, that we would be set apart and without blame in all stages of sanctification before Him both now and in eternity.”